DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs introduced in this story (except where stated).
DEVIATIONS
Chapter 6
Dates, Demons and Digivolutions
That night, Takato secretly stayed awake far later than his parents would let him. He hoped his parents were still overjoyed by his return home, apparently they were about to call the police. He simply couldn't sleep; he wasn't tired, despite being exhausted earlier. The day's events had scared him about losing Guilmon, exhausted him in his searches, overjoyed him in finding Guilmon and terrified him in Rika's sudden changes.
What had happened to her anyway? At one point, she would have said no to stopping pursuing his partner, but something had changed. She had learnt something, whatever it was, from Renamon.
It hadn't made that much difference in how she acted, she still acted in much the same way, but she suddenly seemed nicer during the events of yesterday. Only slightly, to a degree that anyone new to her would still think her terrible, but it was an improvement on before. Despite his usual wishes for them to be a team and all, it was at least good to see that she wouldn't be attacking him anymore, and that there was the possibility of fighting alongside one another, particularly in the tougher battles. Since she now had a partner capable of champion level, it'd definitely help, although he hoped he wouldn't be left behind at all. Rika would be likely to take that kind of attitude, and he'd just have to deal with it…
'…until Guilmon digivolved in a really cool yet totally emotional battle!' he thought, smiling widely.
"I'm not getting into one of your silly fantasises about Digimon Tamers and everything…"
Takato chuckled; he considered that that should be written on a poster on his wall to remind him, before thinking that something else would be better.
"This isn't the TV show you idiot!"
Still, he hoped that Guilmon would digivolve soon, but also considered that he'd have to draw his partner's champion form. He'd learnt a lot of lessons from drawing Guilmon, and he was going to make the champion form even better.
"Red as always…" he whispered, trying not to wake his parents with his endless energy, as he took his red pencil and continued to fill in his lines. He'd drawn a much larger Guilmon, a more bulky, muscular form, with black lines crossing his skin, much like Guilmon's. He had spikes on his back, and all in all the drawing was rather crude, as more tiredness began to draw on at this later hour.
He frowned, something coming to mind as he stared at the image. He'd made a big mistake, one that would cause him big problems later.
"Great, now I can't ride on his back…" he complained. "Compared to Kyubimon, he'd be useless…"
He sat, resting his head on his hand, elbow propped by the table.
"Meh, I'll start again tomorrow…I still need a name though…lets see, I called his rookie form Guilmon…I like the 'g' thing, and he grew, so Grewmon…Growmon…Growlmon! Growlmon!"
A sharp thumping came on the wall. "Takato, are you still awake?!" came his mother's annoyed voice. Takato gulped, switching off the lights, leaping into his bed and pulling up the covers. He faked a yawn, and then changed his voice to be tired and groggy, although it wasn't completely convincing all the same.
"…yes Mom…" he called, as he begun to try to sleep. 'Please no more dreams about Rika…' he thought, smiling nervously at the thought. 'I'm not sure how I'd explain it again…I'd be knocked unconscious for the next century…'
Meanwhile, a man was sitting on a bench, doing the complete opposite of Takato and trying to think of the woman on his mind. She sat next to him on the bench, the silences far less often and a complete lack of uncomfortable silences at all.
"It's cold, out here…" the woman noted.
"A fire would be nice…" the man replied.
"Your wish is my command! BADA BOOM!"
The woman screamed while the man looked on in shock, a fireball going between their heads. Impmon leapt onto the seat back, as they stood up. He laughed at them, as they ran.
Like Tamer like partner, and Takato and Guilmon were no exception. Rather than drawing, however, Guilmon was doing his own favourite past-time…eating.
Oh, and digging.
"Yay, I found it…" he cheered, pulling out a box of bread he had buried in the wall for reasons that would never be known by anyone. He smiled widely, beginning to scoff them down, a loaf bouncing away behind. Not one to let his food escape without eating it, he ran after it, box still in hand, as it rolled away and through the bars. He looked up as a red gloved hand grabbed it, one conjoined to a purple imp.
"Geez, dis tastes like crap, that bakery has gotta get its act together if it wants to keep in business…" he complained, eating it as Guilmon watched, bewildered.
The hand stretched through the bars again, Guilmon moving back defensively.
"It may be crap, but it's free food, so gimme another one! Or several!" he ordered.
"Ah…okay…" Guilmon replied, unaware of the fact that Impmon planned to eat the whole box, Guilmon continuing to pass them out.
"More!" he ordered time and time again, Guilmon continuing to put bread through the bars.
"Um…do you mind if I keep some, Takatomon won't be back until the morning?"
"You sound so stupid with your little Takatomon! You're in a cage my lumpish friend!" he taunted, leaping on top of the bars. "Are ya really happy being cooped up in here all the time like an animal at the zoo?"
"Yeah, I am…Takatomon's my friend and I don't see any problem with it…"
Impmon choked all of a sudden, falling off the bars. "What did ya just go and say?" he asked, standing up. Guilmon went to open his mouth, quivering in fear slightly. "Takato's yer friend? Wrong buddy, friends don't lock their friends up in cages!" he taunted. "You've gone and made me sick to my stomach…"
"Maybe you should keep your mouth shut then…" a voice said, as Impmon turned to see a shadow.
"Aw nuts…"
"DIAMOND STORM!"
'Oh oh…Renamon, do I run or do I stay? Takatomon, you really have to explain these things more…' Guilmon panicked, as Impmon ran for it. Renamon smirked, amused at the events unfolding. She glanced to the dino, noticing his confusion and curiosity.
"Um…hi Renamon…" he greeted, Renamon noticing that he and his partner seemed to have become alike in several ways. Had she become like that with Rika?
She hoped that vice versa had happened in the very least; at least this dinosaur along with his partner had taught her about how Tamers and partners should treat each other, albeit her relationship with Rika was far less of her being a pet and far more a contemporary.
She smiled at his confusion, finding it amusing. "I am not going to attack you…" she said, although there was still a tone in her voice that worried Guilmon slightly. Maybe it was simply being attacked by her in the past, although the bulk of his memories of the battles themselves were hazy or completely missing, a strange problem he seemed to have.
"Okay…" Guilmon replied. "Why are you here?" he asked, not realising how unintentionally blunt his question seemed.
Renamon narrowed her eyes. Was this weakling suggesting that she was watching him in some way? "I am checking the area for threats, as I do regularly…"
"Okay…" Guilmon replied, Renamon surprised at how he was instantly okay with that, where others would be asking further questions.
Renamon frowned, vanishing into thin air. Guilmon looked around, wondering where she had gone.
"Um…bye…" he muttered, before returning to his bread.
A new day dawned in Tokyo, and so it was back to school for both of its Tamers. Rika's school was simply snotty as always, so Takato's was far more interesting, as Mrs Asagi gave some news to the children.
"Listen up class; there have been numerous reports of a child playing in Shinjuku Park after dark…" Gasps went out around the class at what Mrs Asagi had said, including Takato's.
'Hey, I was only out there with Guilmon, for only about ten minutes, how did anyone see us? And wasn't Rika there too for some of the time? And Guilmon isn't exactly unnoticeable…' Takato thought, even mooting the concept of it being Hypnos' attempts to capture him, his partner, or his fellow tamer and her partner, although he knew that the later two would once again put up a fight, and probably not be captured in the first place if the attempt were to happen again.
"I don't think I need to remind you; no wandering around after dark, okay?" Mrs Asagi continued.
"Okay!" came the reply from the class.
"Good…I have to go get more headache tablets…" she noted, walking out of the class for a second.
"Antisocial Takato as ever…" someone muttered.
"I've seen him running around the park on his own, what's he doing?"
"I heard of someone scaring couples…"
"Scaring couples? That's terrible…"
"Yeah, while they're kissing, can you believe it?"
"Must've been a boy…"
"They better fess up…"
"Hey, don't always blame us…"
"Yeah, I heard it was a pyromaniac…"
"Playing with fire too? Geez, someone has really turned antisocial…"
"Doesn't sound like Takato…"
"Meh, what do you know, you've never tried to talk to him…"
"Neither have you…"
"Yeah, but I heard everything via the rumour-vine…"
"Are all rumours necessarily true?"
"When they're good they are…"
"Sounds like a cool plan to me…"
"How do we know it wasn't you then?"
"Because my mom would ground me for weeks afterwards…"
Takato, groaning, put his head down on the table; the comments around the class were less than reassuring, and they had got louder as they'd gone on. He lifted his head as he saw Mrs Asagi enter and the class more or less silenced, his picture of Guilmon catching his eye.
'Oh Guilmon, what have you done this time?' he thought.
Henry and Takato once again were eating their lunch outside on this September day, as the playground was a hive of activity, rumours bustling about. Takato frowned, he hoped that everyone hadn't believed it was him, but he still was concerned about Guilmon. Another thought came to his mind, however.
"What if it was Calumon?" he said, looking to Henry.
"I don't know, he doesn't exactly seem like the kind to throw fireballs at people."
"Yeah, I see your point…"
"I don't even think he has any attacks…plus, I wouldn't expect everyone to scream and run at him, he doesn't exactly look threatening…"
"Yeah, he'd just ask to play…"
"Or for food…"
Takato chuckled, Henry had a point, it was surprising but, of all the things he had seen Digimon do, eating was clearly the favourite for most of them. Then again, he was talking about two out of three Digimon that he knew well enough for that, and Renamon seemed to be the opposite. Henry looked at him concerned, recalling something that he knew Takato should hear, although also knowing that he couldn't mention knowing about Guilmon in doing so. Regardless, at some point, he would have to find where Guilmon was hidden, then he could tell Takato that he knew about his partner without the Gogglehead making up some bizarre excuse that was, albeit unconvincing, hard to question without pressing the matter too hard.
"By the way, I heard the principal telling the teachers that they have to start patrolling the park tonight…"
Takato's expression changed to one of alarm. "But they'll find…Calumon for sure…"
Henry frowned, it was clear to him that Guilmon was hidden in the park, but where? It was far too large for him to check every potential place, and he didn't have that much time to do so. Plus, he worried about Takato finding him snooping around, and that could only hinder his attempts at finding out about the red dino. "Maybe you should try to find him and hide him…"
"Yeah, or at least tell him to keep out of the park for a few days at night…"
Takato knew that he couldn't do that with Guilmon, and Henry's advice, while intended to be helpful, would only really be effective with Calumon. He only hoped that it really wasn't Guilmon that was scaring the couples. Takato began to think about what he needed to do.
He'd have to prove Guilmon innocent, but how? Maybe he could go into the park at night and see if it happened to him. But this 'child' only seemed to go after couples. Maybe he and Rika could…
Takato blushed lightly, confusing a Henry who had no idea of what he was thinking, as he dismissed the proposal. Rika would never agree, and it wouldn't work either in all eventuality, if it was Guilmon then he'd leap at Takato, and if it were another Digimon, Rika would just enter into a battle.
'What's Takato thinking about?' Henry pondered, looking with bewildered eyes at Takato's changing expressions. "Yen for your thoughts?" he asked.
"Um…nothing, don't worry…"
Henry frowned; Takato must've been thinking about Guilmon, no-one would naturally make those expressions without thinking. But, in that case, why did he blush? What was embarrassing?
"Another Digital Anomaly reported by sensors…" Tally reported.
"Another wild one I suppose…" Yamaki muttered, anger in his voice. "Put a tracer on it Riley, as always…" he ordered.
Riley began to type, before frowning. "It's moving away, it won't lock…"
'We need a different approach…' Yamaki thought.
Takato bent over, looking at what his partner was currently doing upon his arrival at the hideout. He'd only dropped by earlier to give him bread, bread that was now being buried for reasons known only to Guilmon. Upon his return after playing cards with Henry, he had decided to talk to Guilmon about what had been bugging him, but Guilmon's current actions had sidetracked him.
"Why are you burying your dinner?" he asked.
"Then I can dig it up and eat it later…"
"I had to ask, didn't I…logic isn't your specialty…"
"Nope…" Guilmon replied.
"Guilmon, can you promise me that you'll stay here tonight?"
"Okay…"
"Good…" Takato replied, hoping that Guilmon had understood his question. "I've got to go now, bye…"
"Bye…"
Takato decided not to mention exactly why he wanted Guilmon to stay here, to avoid giving him any ideas. He left the hideout, beginning to run home. 'I am so late…please listen, just this once Guilmon…'
"I don't see why we have to do this; it was just a childish prank. Why isn't the Principal here?" Mrs Asagi asked, strolling through the park with a flashlight in hand. She had ended up having to patrol alongside Mr Mori, a timid man who clearly had feelings for the female teacher.
"But we must see to the moral safety of our students, they're so impressionable at such a young age, so innocent…" Mr Mori replied, a tone of surprise in his voice at Mrs Asagi's attitude. He glanced around, seeing couples kissing and walking around, hand in hand, his pace slowing. "…and this…isn't! Mrs Asagi!" he called, catching up with the woman who continued to walk at her normal pace.
"Oh Mori, will you grow up?" she groaned.
"Mrs Asagi…" the male teacher began, causing Mrs Asagi to stop and groan in annoyance, throwing her hands down. Why was she forced to put up with so many annoying people, who didn't listen to her, even if they had good intentions? Mr Mori, Takato, not to mention some of the worse students in her class who clearly didn't have good intentions at all, and never had. "It's not safe for a woman alone!" Mr Mori continued, stopping as Mrs Asagi turned her head slightly.
"Mr Mori…" she spoke strongly
"Um, yes?" he replied nervously.
Mrs Asagi swallowed her annoyance, but it still remained in her voice. "I think I…left my oven on or something, I need to get home right away…" she replied, beginning to walk away. She groaned as Mr Mori continued to talk.
"Wait, don't go! Who will protect the children?!" he panicked, looking around.
"Now where did I bury my dinner…?" Guilmon muttered, digging away. A whistle came from the door, and he turned to see the purple Imp once again. "Hi!" he greeted. "Did you come for more bread? Sorry, but I just buried it…"
"Geez, you're a dumbass, hoping it'll grow are we?"
"Hmm…I never thought of that…"
"I was making fun of ya, ya red dumball! But of course, how could ya learn anything all cooped up in here? Come on, let's go have some real fun!"
"Huh? Me go with you?"
"That is correct…if you're not afraid of that dark, I mean…"
"I'm not afraid!" Guilmon cheered.
"Good grief, chicken…"
"What's chicken? I should ask Takatomon if I can eat it…Takatomon also said that I've got to stay inside…"
"Pah, listening to your little Tamer about everything, ya make me sick!"
"But Takato is always right!"
"What if he told ya to stab yourself in the foot with your big dumbass claws, would ya do it?"
"Um…"
"Exactly, so why listen to him this time?"
"Um…"
"Forget it, you're no fun…" Impmon muttered, walking away.
"But I am fun, really…" Guilmon replied, moving the lock with his claw. "Wait for me!" he called.
"Hmm…something…doesn't feel right…" Takato muttered, walking along with his head bowed, considering Guilmon. Guilmon only seemed to consciously understand things when Takato looked him right in the eye, and earlier he had been distracted by digging. He only hoped that the dino had listened to him. Takato paused, seeing a shadow and looking up to see a police officer looking down patronisingly at him.
"Boy…" an intimidating voice said. "I say, are you the one?"
"Err…the one?"
"The one interrupting the process of human courtship…"
'What is this guy talking about? I thought policemen knew how to make things clear…' "Err…I don't know…"
"Boy, are you or are you not interfering with the activities of consenting adults?" he continued to question.
"What part don't you understand son?"
"All of it…"
Mrs Asagi, flashlight in hand, crossed the top of a set of stairs nearby, hearing a familiar voice, and its all too familiar nervous way of talking.
"You meant to say you don't understand your native tongue boy?"
"Yes sir…I mean no sir…I mean…whatever you want, and I mean that sir…"
"Boy, you're starting to annoy me…"
"Me too…"
Mrs Asagi groaned, walking down the stairs. 'Oh Takato, will you never learn…' she thought, somewhat surprised to see him out at this hour. Then again, Takato wasn't exactly the kind to be involved in what the allegations were, he seemed far too naïve, and hardly the kind to start playing with fire. She decided to intervene before things escalated, and Takato ended up in trouble for saying something in a bad way to the police officer, who began to open his mouth again as Mrs Asagi reached the foot of the steps.
"Takato I am so sorry about that…" she begun, confusing both officer and Gogglehead.
'This couldn't get any worse…' Takato thought. 'No wait, Rika could turn up and make things a helluva lot worse…or Calumon…what is Mrs Asagi talking about anyway?'
"You see officer; I was walking him home…when we ran into one of my friends…"
'Mrs Asagi has friends?! Wait, get back on topic Gogglehead…oh great, now I'm starting to think like Rika…'
"Are we there yet?"
"No…"
"Are we there yet?"
"No…"
"Are we…"
"No!" Impmon insisted, turning around to face the dino. "Oh wait, yes…" he said mischievously, coming to a bush and poking his head out, Guilmon copying soon after.
"Excuse me, but am I suppose to be having fun?" Guilmon asked.
"Just watch and learn…" Impmon replied, ducking out of the bush as Guilmon copied. He gestured for the dino to stay back, while he headed forward to a couple embracing in front of a statue. He smirked, raising a haunting red flame that swirled around them.
They screamed, as he leapt out of the bush, roaring. They ran, as Impmon laughed, leaping into the path.
"That was priceless!"
"Is that it?" Guilmon asked, surprising the Imp, who continued to laugh. "I don't get it, I'm going home…" he added, turning and walking away down the path. Impmon stopped laughing and turned.
"Hey, where you going, I'm just getting warmed up?!" he yelled, before groaning again.
"No, blown up is more accurate…DIAMOND STORM!"
Impmon cursed as he leapt aside, Renamon leaping from a tree and landing in the path. Impmon turned around, hands as fists shaken at the fox.
"Hey, what is your problem?! Are you spying on me or something?!"
"I am monitoring the neighbourhood, and I see it is you who Rika's grandma mentioned…scaring couples, you are more pathetic than I thought…"
"Hey, I'm not pathetic, I'm better than all of you!"
Renamon chuckled, vanishing, leaving an annoyed Impmon behind.
"Hey, come back here and fight with me!" he insisted, waving his fist to the air.
"Thank you Mrs Asagi…" Takato said, following his teacher with the flashlight through the park. "Um…I don't know what to say…"
"Nothing new there Takato…" the teacher replied, Takato chuckling a nervous laugh. "Just, say you'll stay out of the park at night from now on…"
"Yes ma'am…but, it wasn't me you know…"
She smiled, turning to him. "I never said that you were Takato, you may be antisocial at times but you're not the kind to do something like that…"
"Thanks, I guess…"
"You have to admit though; it looks kind of suspicious…"
'What's more suspicious than a big red dinosaur?' he worried.
Takato frowned, picturing Takato being captured by Hypnos, or the police, or anyone. He couldn't bear losing him again. Or worse, they'd shoot him, and think him a threat. Guilmon wasn't a threat to anything but bread.
"I won't let them do it!" he called out loud, not noticing what he'd done, as he turned and ran away from his teacher.
"Takato!" Mrs Asagi said in surprise, watching him run away into the dark.'What's wrong with him?'
'I must be the worst Tamer ever…why'd I make him so big and unwieldy? Why not something small and portable, like Calumon is? Or able to vanish like Renamon? Why didn't I just use an existing Digimon like Terriermon or Agumon, they'd probably listen to me more?!'
He reached the hideout, his suspicions confirmed as he stared into the empty hut.
"Guilmon!" he called, holding onto the bars, desperation and anger growing by the second. "No, you promise me you wouldn't leave, why do you never listen to me?!"
Tears began to well in his eyes as he shook the bars with his quivering hands.
"I'll never see him again, until Hypnos turns up at my door to question me or worse…"
"Who are you talking to?" Guilmon asked, returning from his misadventure with the imp. "You have a new friend?" he asked, as Takato turned around in surprise, both happy and annoyed at the same time. The happiness faded, as Takato walked up to his partner.
"Where the hell have you been, you promised you'd stay in there? You scared me to death…"
"Oh Takatomon I wish you had been there…I scared some people and they screamed really loud and ran away but anyway it wasn't any fun so I came home and here I am!"
Takato was speechless; his greatest fear about the events had come true. "I can't believe it, it really was you…" he said, emotions flooding into him. "That's it, Guilmon, I just can't take this anymore!" he yelled. "I've had it with you, you never listen to me, you continually try to escape and now you deliberately disobey me! I've had it!" he yelled, running past his confused partner and away from the hideout.
"Hmm…oh…what…Takatomon? What did I do wrong?" he said, his ears dipping in sadness.
A new day dawned, the typical happiness replaced with anger and sadness for the Tamer and partner, although for the most point the later lacked the anger half. Guilmon went hungry, as Takato didn't turn up that morning, and continued to be bugged by Impmon, and Calumon's attempts at cheering him up, all day.
Meanwhile, for the Tamer, it had also been a bad day. Mrs Asagi had asked him about the previous day, and he couldn't think of a reply, leading to a detention. He was still mad with Guilmon, and Henry noticed it, his usual cheery self vanishing.
As for Renamon, she told Rika about what she had seen the previous day, at her home before school on that new day.
"So Impmon was the nut-job scaring couples that my grandma mentioned?" Rika asked, checking what Renamon had told her.
"Yes, and Takato and Guilmon had a large fall out yesterday…Takato thinks that it was Guilmon…"
"I thought you destroyed Impmon…"
"I did not, but I have continued to track his actions…he lacks a Tamer, and he seems to persist in annoying Calumon and Guilmon…"
"So why exactly should I care?"
"I thought that you might consider intervening…"
"Why? I couldn't care less about the Gogglehead. If he's going to harm his chances as a Tamer by falling out with his partner then he can, I have better things to do…" Rika asserted, grabbing her bag and walking through the door of her room, heading to school. Renamon nodded, and frowned.
'I have a feeling this may affect us too Rika…particularly if we do not have support in battle…'
She vanished into thin air once again.
Takato, finished with his detention, put his books away in his bag. Normally he'd be eager to see Guilmon, and hence annoyed at having a detention, but this time, he simply wasn't. Guilmon had disobeyed him time and time again, and he had had it up to here with him. Henry watched him, concerned, as he stormed out of the school, having decided to wait so he could track him.
'Takato's been acting really strange, is this about Guilmon?' he thought, following Takato into the park.
To his annoyance, in all the time he was following him, Takato never visited Guilmon, and continually seemed to be in a foul mood. What had gotten him so worked up?
Henry frowned, checking his watch. He had to go to his martial arts school; perhaps he could talk to his sensei, although he knew it wouldn't be in detail about anything. Hopefully, he'd be able to help Takato in some way, but he'd have to know what the problem was first.
Guilmon frowned, the efforts of the ever-cheery Calumon in front of him lacking their effect.
"We could play a game?"
Guilmon groaned. "Nothing's fun without Takatomon…" he complained.
Calumon frowned. "Come on, I want to have some fun! I'm bored, Impmon's a meanie and I hate him chasing me!" he ranted. "Let's play!"
"No…"
Calumon groaned. "Then I'll go find some fun!" he cheered, his boredom subsiding as he danced out of the door. Guilmon groaned.
"Everyone's left me…" he moaned.
Impmon kicked a can in anger as the night once again drew on. The day had been nothing but boring since Guilmon had pooh-poohed him the day before.
'I'm fun! I'm tons of fun! Far better than any pathetic human could ever be!'
He, for once, didn't feel like scaring couples that evening. He cursed the red dino once again, for taking away his source of fun.
He felt a tingling in his skin, as he sensed a Digimon bioemerging nearby. He looked around, overjoyed at his chance to either have a fight or get a friend to get payback on those humans and their pathetic Digimon, until he spotted a fog appearing nearby, a massive figure within it. He smiled widely, beginning to run.
"Huh?" came a voice, and he paused, turning around to face a blue haired boy, looking at him curiously.
"What are you looking at?" Impmon threatened.
"You're a Digimon, right?" Henry asked.
"Yeah, what's it to ya?"
'They're appearing everywhere…' Henry thought, as Impmon's anger grew.
"Hello? Don't just say hello and then ignore me, ask me something if you're going to or buzz off!" Impmon replied.
"Do you have a Tamer?" Henry asked. Impmon growled.
"I'd never have a pathetic human, now buzz off or I'll BADA BOOM!" he yelled, throwing a fireball at the boy who ducked. Impmon laughed, before continuing on his trail towards the bioemergence. Henry frowned, looking to where he was running to see the fog.
"That can't be good…" he muttered. "I have to see this…" he added, heading to find a safe vantage point on the battle.
"Hey, watcha doing there four eyes?" Impmon taunted, looking into those eyes from his vantage point on a shrine. The demon was enshrouded in fog, trapped by it. His two pairs of eyes were complimented by a large black dragon-like form, and wings.
The beast growled, and Impmon laughed.
"Aw, what's wrong, little baby can't get out of the mean ol' fog?" he mocked, before pointing to the creature. "Ha ha, guess you're not so tough now, eh four eyes?" he asked teasingly. "And you don't even say a thing!" he added, blowing a raspberry at the beast.
'What is he trying to do?' thought Henry, observing Impmon's strange taunting behaviour.
The beast growled louder, drawing his jaws wide as he struggled to wait.
"Aw, still can't escape?" Impmon asked. He laughed so hard his eyes closed, a mistake when he reopened them as the digimon started to escape the mist.
'I think that's a Devidramon…' Henry thought, recalling the card. 'He's going to be mad now…'
Impmon tried to grovel his way out of the situation. "Oh come on, I didn't mean it, I'm laughing with ya!" he yelled, as a claw swatted him into a patch of long grass.
Henry looked on in fear as the mothbitten wings of the beast flapped, and he rose into the air. He had to follow, to see the battle and hopefully give him some answers to his questions. He began to run from his position, trying to follow the flying beast.
"Uh oh…" Impmon exclaimed, poking his head out of the bush. "This is what's called a tactical error…"
Guilmon sniffed the air, sensing a Digimon in the area. He moaned at his lack of Takato to help, as he carefully opened the bars of his cage, running out.
Takato or no Takato, he had to help.
Mrs Asagi frowned; she was back out on patrolling duties, although she had purposefully lost Mr Mori a way back. She sincerely hoped this evening would be less eventful, there were about a million other things she would rather be doing right now. She waved her flashlight around, considering the brunette she had 'rescued' from the police officer yesterday. She sincerely hoped he'd heeded her words, but even with a detention he still wouldn't explain his escaping from her yesterday. It was something she'd need to find out soon, there was in general something very strange about Takato lately, stranger than usual, and that was saying a lot.
She turned as a sound approached, and quaked in fear as a large black dragon-like serpent flew over her. The wind ruffled through the trees, leaves touching the ground softly as she watched the beast fly away.
"That…was no pigeon…" she exclaimed.
The beast flew through the sky, the wind in its wake as it flew low over buildings ripping off signs and roof tiles as citizens looked up in fear. Takato saw it fly overhead, and knew he had to do something, before it hurt someone, even possibly his partner.
"Guilmon!" he exclaimed, running faster.
Rika placed a card on the table, building her strategies that she would use. As she slimmed down the number of cards she used each battle, her strategies had become simpler, but upon Renamon's words, she had begun to build a new set of tactics, for dealing with whatever tried to attack her. She ordered the cards into a set, so they could easily be accessed from her card holder on her rear of her belt.
Renamon materialised behind her. "Ready to fight Rika?" she asked.
"Of course…" Rika replied, gathering her cards into her holder. Card number one of the set was a digivolution card; it would be a perfect opener for any battle. She clipped her D-Arc onto her belt.
Devidramon had risen, now flying around office buildings, before looking out upon the city, landing on a roof, that of the Tokyo Metropolitan building. "Who out there dares fight me?" he asked. "In this pathetic world of humans, no-one is worthy of defeating me…"
His glance moved downwards, spying a red figure crossing a road bridge below. His eyes narrowed, as he roared, swooping down as the figure stopped, looking up.
Yamaki clicked his lighter as the beast swept past the window. "This is becoming a personal embarrassment…"
Henry stopped for breath as he joined the crowds on the road, watching the beast and the dinosaur face off. He noticed Takato arrive on the bridge nearby.
"Guilmon!" Takato called from nearby, on the path of the park leading up to the bridge. He had his D-Arc with compass activated in hand, as the dino ducked to avoid the beast swooping over him. The beast flew into the air again, as Takato's D-Arc changed to bring up data on the beast. "Devidramon, Virus Type, Champion Level, attacks Crimson Claw, Dead Eyes, Dark Gale and Black Bite…" he read.
Guilmon growled, eyes feral as he faced off with his foe, who growled in response.
Takato knew that there was going to be a battle. But could he trust Guilmon? The same Guilmon who ran off from him, who went berserk in battle, who deliberately disobeyed his orders. He was paralysed by it, as he stood, D-Arc in hand, watching the staring contest.
Rika arrived on the other side of the bridge to Henry, looking up at the beast and pausing in awe, before reaching for her D-Arc. "Renamon…" she called.
"Not this time…" her partner replied. "This is Guilmon's battle, in exactly the same way that we take battles for ourselves…" she added, Rika cursing herself for forcing herself into a situation where she couldn't join in without being a hypocrite.
Rika groaned. "And Gogglehead is, as always, right in the middle of it all…how does he manage it?" she asked rhetorically.
Renamon frowned. She knew that Rika wanted to fight, but she also knew that she couldn't intervene in this battle. Perhaps one day, when they would as Tamers ask each other for help, but for now, they would keep back until anything got too dangerous.
"PYRO SPHERE!" Guilmon roared, but his fireball was swatted aside by the demon, who then took off into the air.
"Right, time to be a proper Tamer…" Takato decided, drawing his cards out. "DIGI-MODIFY…Power Activate!" he called, Guilmon roaring as the fireball flew forth from his mouth. The demon closed his wings to block, laughing menacingly at the pair.
'Is Takatomon my friend again now?' Guilmon thought.
"I thought you said they were having an argument…" Rika noted.
"Maybe they are putting it aside for this battle…" Renamon mooted.
"That should've worked!" Takato complained, drawing another card, eyes fierce with determination as he saw what it was. "DIGI-MODIFY…Hyper Wing Activate!" he called, wings materialising on the saurian's back.
"Does he just use random cards?" Henry asked himself.
"No idea…" replied Calumon, walking up near him. "Why are they fighting?" he asked.
Guilmon flew towards Devidramon, growling, before being swatted aside and tumbling into a building.
"No way!" Takato exclaimed.
"What is he doing?" Rika questioned. "Is he just using whatever cards he gets from his pocket first?" she added.
"If he uses too many cards he'll use up all of Guilmon's energy…" Renamon noted.
"Yeah, and they'll become less effective too" Rika replied.
Guilmon's wings vanished and he fell to the ground, as Takato used the next card, his voice now turning far more nervous as his determination faded. "DIGI-MODIFY…Speed Activate!"
Devidramon's claw flew out, as Guilmon quickly sped away, moving to the dragon's side. The claw went into the building, as Guilmon was swatted away by the dragon's large tail.
"Speed's not going to help him here, what the hell is Gogglehead doing?" Rika complained.
Renamon frowned, looking at the pair. In all of her battles with and alongside the pair, she'd always noticed glanced between them of reassurance, a feeling that they were a pair, but here, they felt so disjoined. Takato's cards, apart from arbitrarily increasing or changing elements of Guilmon, seemed to completely mismatch the battle. Takato was simply not fighting alongside Guilmon at all, he was more of an observer.
"He's his own worst enemy…" Rika summed it up. Renamon looked to her, realisation dawning on her from what she had witnessed the previous day.
"I know why Rika…" she began, Rika looking to her curiously.
Guilmon was thrown to the ground, groaning in pain. "Give up yet?" Devidramon taunted, as the beast laughed.
"Get off of him!" Takato called. Henry raised an eyebrow, Takato seemed to be lacking his usual…well, he was lacking him in this battle. He seemed so off-personality, blundering as always, but Henry had always seen him and Guilmon as a pair in battle, and here they were, not even helping each other. Takato's call was one of battle strategy, albeit flawed, rather than caring. What had happened between them?
Devidramon pummelled Guilmon with each fist in turn, as Takato looked on helpless.
"This is going great, look at him! Left, right, left, right!" Impmon laughed, standing on a road-sign, thinking he was somehow part of this battle.
Guilmon was thrown against a wall, and Takato felt pain of the heart. Pain of seeing Guilmon in pain, and yet feeling that he couldn't help him. Couldn't trust him. Maybe it was how they met in the first place, Guilmon always had to build his trust with Takato, after they first met and the dino scared the boy to death. They never really had it easy, and their friendship got them through it. But now…it was gone, Guilmon was weak, and was about to become nothing more than data, a task which Rika had attempted several times.
"Takato…" Guilmon muttered, as his Tamer watched speechless. Devidramon growled, snapping Takato out of it, as he fumbled around in his pockets.
'I'm running out of cards…' he thought, as they dropped to the ground, and he fumbled through them, looking for something.
Rika arrived on the path, looking at the boy who once had seemed to have good luck in battle. But it hadn't run out, he'd made himself lose. He and Guilmon were once an example that Rika and Renamon eventually followed to some extent.
She'd considered not helping him, not telling him what Renamon had told her, but she couldn't. Not seeing this, not with all the similarities to her own battles recently alongside Renamon and Kyubimon. The pangs of similarity to the battle with Allomon were clear, Renamon was weak in that battle because Rika herself didn't believe in her, and the same was happening here with Takato and Guilmon. Had it been another situation, the role reversal would've been amusing, but right now she had to snap them out of it.
"Gogglehead, do you really think that Guilmon did it?" she asked, standing near him. He looked up, confused slightly.
"Huh?" he said, his voice nervous and panicky.
"Renamon says that it was this pathetic little rookie called Impmon…" she told him. Takato's expression changed from confusion to regret, as he stood up and looked to his partner.
"And I…I didn't trust him…I didn't listen to him…" Takato muttered. "Guilmon, you have to get up…" he said, seeing Guilmon pressed against the wall by Devidramon's claw.
Rika frowned the oddity of the role reversal, she was telling Takato about being nice to your digimon and everything, still a topic with doubts for her.
"But…I'm trying…" the dino muttered.
"Then we'll try harder!" Takato said. "I don't want to lose you! You're my best friend…my only friend…"
Henry frowned, watching from nearby, having moved to better see the events now occurring. Had it been a school situation, he'd probably have complained about the 'only friend' line, but then again, it was the heat of the moment, and Takato did seem to cross his words far too often to catch him out on them. Calumon still sat on his head, watching sadly, his symbol beginning to slow.
"Best friend…not mad?" Guilmon groaned.
"Yeah…I should've trusted you…and I can't stay mad at you…you've got to win this!" he said.
"Okay…" Guilmon replied, his noises then changing to strangulation as Devidramon pressed his claw in further into the dino's neck to silence the conversation.
"Guilmon!" Takato called. Calumon leapt forward from Henry's head, surprising him as his symbol burst into red light. Guilmon glowed red as Takato's D-Arc burst into life, white beams of light flying from it. "Wow…" Takato exclaimed speechlessly, red light bursting from his form.
DIGIVOLUTION
Guilmon Digivolve to…
Guilmon's data was ripped off of his head, arms, legs and tails, running to his core. His wireframe changed somewhat, as red skin reappeared on it, crossed by black lines. White hair formed as he roared, looking upwards as his jaw materialised, before an explosion ripped around his form, and he slashed across with his bladed hands. He snorted fire, as he pronounced his name.
…Growlmon!
Growlmon roared up to his foe, as Takato stared on in amazement. Even Rika was surprised, particularly by the size of this new form. She thought that Guilmon was big enough, but Growlmon overshadowed even that, his bulky muscular form glaring at the demon above. Of course, she knew that Kyubimon had to be stronger, even with the type difference that would take effect in a battle between the pair, which she no longer had any intentions of doing, much to Takato's relief she had noted.
"It's hurting my ears!" Calumon complained, running away.
Henry stared up at the dinosaur, amazed at what he had witnessed. He had seen a real Digimon that digivolved. It was incredible. And he longed for a chance to have his own partner one day.
Devidramon flew up into the air, as Growlmon's jaw opened, flames boiling inside. "PYRO BLASTER!" he roared. Devidramon flew aside, the blast colliding with the Hypnos building.
"This can't be happening…" Riley noted.
"It isn't…we will make a cover story, and then we will create a program to destroy all of these wild ones permanently…"
Growlmon climbed onto the bridge, as Devidramon swooped down.
"Persistent aren't we?" the demon taunted.
"DRAGON SLASH!" Growlmon roared, his side-claws glowing blue as he slashed at the beast, before grabbing it. Each tried to get the upper hand.
"So is it going well or not?" Takato asked, watching the struggle from his new position on the roadway alongside Rika and Renamon.
"That'd be a judgement call…" Rika replied, as Devidramon freed himself and grabbed Growlmon, taking to the skies. "But now I'd say no…" she added in response.
"Growlmon!" Takato yelled, running up onto the stairs leading to the bridge in time to see Growlmon collide with and destroy it. "Growlmon!" he called again, as red eyes lit up menacingly, the hazards on his shoulders glowing bright as Growlmon lifted his head, looking to the sky. "Wow…" Takato exclaimed.
Devidramon swooped down from above, and Growlmon looked directly up, his eyes narrowing on his target. "PYRO BLASTER!" he roared, Takato feeling the heat as the flames roared past, a tremendous funnel of fire rising and burning Devidramon away into mere data.
The data continued downwards, to be absorbed by the dinosaur, who smirked and laughed at it, something which brought about unease in those watching.
"That was so cool!" Takato exclaimed, as Growlmon glanced to him, before looking back to the roadway. He roared loudly, facing Rika and Renamon standing below.
"What's he doing?" Rika asked Takato, as Growlmon glared at them.
"Um…down…boy?" Takato asked nervously, looking to his partner, as the hazards flashed erratically out of control. Growlmon's eyes flashed red.
"It's all that Digimon do, stupid…they fight, they load data, they get stronger and they digivolve, your dino is just my partner's stepping stone…"
"Who said anything about things having to be fair?"
"Renamon, whatever or whoever he is, destroy him…"
"Rika wishes for me to defeat you…I'm not letting anyone else do so first…"
"I am going to free my Tamer, I will be back to destroy you…"
"Next time we meet Gogglehead, that dino is toast, so me helping you is a one off thing, got that?! I'm not helping you again if they get you!"
"Time for round three…Renamon, attack!"
"Digimon are simply nothing more than data…not living things, not friends, just data…"
"Next time Renamon finds Guilmon, she is attacking without warning, got that?"
"This is mine and Renamon's battle; she still has yet to take out your little pet…you'll have to wait…"
"It's going to get us! This is all your fault!"
Images of battles, attacks against him, threats against him, painful groans and his worried partner ran through his head. Sure, those days were over, but Growlmon's rage-induced state from his battle prevented any logic from taking effect, as his jaws opened.
"No…way…" Henry muttered, watching the battle.
Rika paralysed in fear as flames were drawn into the dinosaur's throat. Renamon was similarly stuck in fear, as Takato stared into his partner's eyes, making a futile call.
"No!"
"PYRO BLASTER!"
TO BE CONTINUED…
And so Rika's battles come back to bite her. I originally planned this to be a longer chapter extending beyond this point, but the word total so far is already over 7000, and I don't want to end up putting too much in one chapter.
Anyway, please review.
Next time…
Is this the end for Renamon and Rika? Will Takato be able to stop his partner? What's causing Growlmon to act like this?
Find out in 'Role Reversal', Chapter Seven of Deviations.