Chapter Ten

Digital Decision

Puppetmon flailed at the keyboard. "What is the meaning of this! The gate must be found!" it screeched discordantly, waving its white-gloved hands. Then it spun around at the sound of the opening door.

Kim stamped boldly into the room, arms crossed. "Stop sitting on that poor innocent kid," she ordered.

The puppet Digimon cackled jollily at the sight of Kim, slapping its knees. "You've walked right into my arms, little girl. My plan is working too well- this shall be too easy." Its voice sounded like creaking wood.

Nagainamon flew around Kim's legs, and landed between her and Puppetmon, her head lowered aggressively. She leaned into Puppetmon's personal space, breathed down its nose. Sparks blowing out of her throat left tiny marks on the wood. "We're here to whip you, one way or another. I don't care how smart you think you're being."

"You! A rookie- it's just too much!" Puppetmon mocked, howling with laughter. Faster than the eye could follow, it pulled its strings around Nagainamon, tying her tight. It spun her like a lasso around its head. While Puppetmon was busy, Kim pulled the boy away from it. She felt a little guilty about not helping her partner first, but…

Gentle face, mop hair, this boy, too, looked like Gen. His arms were tied to his sides, and his legs were tied together. His mouth was gagged with cotton balls and a strip of cloth with paisleys on it. Cautiously, Kim glanced at her Digivice. It had responded to Puppetmon, then fell silent. And the boy felt real enough. Kim had to assume this Gen was, well, genuine. He looked at her with a mixture of surprise and gratefulness. Kim set about untying him.

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A few minutes ago, the woman in the flowered dress had given a signal to the woman impersonating Gen's mother. The impersonator then changed shape, to look like Gen himself. The ugly potted plant, which had somehow followed them downstairs (Gen wasn't sure how. He'd just blinked, and there it was.), also changed, becoming small, round and green, with two long droopy leaves sprouting from its head. The impersonator then donned some ropes, half cut, and left through the door. All at the orders of the woman in the flowered dress.

This woman had been occupied at a fast computer for a long time. It looked a bit like an old Macintosh, outrageously souped up. The monitor looked like it had been fished out of a dumpster, while the computer itself had a wooden board duct-taped to its side, a lot like stitches sealing up slits from surgery. The woman had sat on Gen, as if the tightly-wound strings wouldn't keep him still enough. She was surprisingly- perhaps even suspiciously- light, however.

After awhile, the woman began to mutter in frustration. From these outbursts, Gen gathered that she was looking for some sort of gate. On the internet? It made no sense. She seemed to be merely surfing through different sites. But when the woman's skin suddenly, inexplicably faded away, leaving a skeleton of weathered wood, an internet gate sounded quite plausible by comparison.

Then Kim showed up out of nowhere, accompanied by a terrier-sized blue dragon, antagonizing the skeleton. Things happened quickly, and suddenly Gen was free of the bonds. Kim asked him what had happened, and he told her everything.

She, whose head constantly looked like it was exploding, grinned. She never had any dimples, Gen noticed in a dispassionate sort of way. "Let's get out of here!" she said.

The dragon was tied up in the strings hanging from the skeleton. It really looked more puppet-like than skeleton-like, now that he saw it from a different angle. Its unrealistic face was carved on, with a long nose stuck in a socket. It was repeatedly slamming the dragon into the floor, but the little creature had a determined look in its eye.

"Watch. You're gonna love this," Kim told Gen, still smiling faintly. She seemed to be in her element. She held a plastic toy in front of her. It looked like a blue version of the Digivice she had given Gen the previous day; the one that had turned on. Its screen was now glowing an orange-red as she slowly pulled the card through the indent on the device's back. A bit of orange light filtered through there, too. "Digimodify! Firewall Activate!" she shouted, striking a pose.

Gen was about to tell her to stop fooling around, when the dragon became surrounded by a shield of fire. The strings caught ablaze, and puppet dropped the dragon, in favor of beating desperately at itself to put the fire out. As soon as it was home free, the flames around the dragon dissipated.

"You sure were fast," it said dryly. The voice was feminine.

"Come one! Let's get out before Puppetmon recovers!" Kim called, waving her arm toward the door. They all ran.

The puppet stopped firefighting for a second, and took a lunge at Kim, the last out the door. "Wait!" it screeched. Kim slammed the door in its face, and it hit it with a resounding 'thump'.

Gen finally recovered his voice. "'Puppetmon?' You're obsessed!" He gaped.

Kim turned her eyes skyward, exasperated. She put her arm around Gen's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "You saw it all yourself. Don't tell me it's all in my head!" she admonished him. "Look at Nagainamon!"

Nagainamon, at the moment, was a receding tail in the doorway. The kids ran after her. When Kim caught up, the so-called Digimon said gruffly to her, "The greatest warriors also know when to retreat."

"Whaddaya think I was doing?" Kim countered good-naturedly.

A crunch echoed from behind. Gen turned backwards while running and almost tripped. Puppetmon had jumped through the roof, and was perched on the edge looking down at them, hat bobble blowing in the wind.

Suddenly, it appeared that strings were extending in all directions from the wooden puppet. A few of the strings moved, and a creature swung out of nowhere. It was human shaped with a cat face, and leopard-spotted arms and legs. She had rings on every saber-clawed hand, and multiple gold bracelets on her arms and two tails. Her long red hair was woven into a braid.

She ran gracefully between Gen and Kim, arms held out to rake them with her claws. They both dodged. The cat lady spun, and jumped into the air. "Vampire Dance," she hissed, and began to twirl in place.

Kim held out her Digivice. A miniature hologram of the cat woman appeared above it. "Bastemon (Ultimate)," it said, "loves to play with her prey. She'll dance circles around her victims with Vampire Dance, only moving in for the kill if her life is threatened."

Just like the show. Well, that totally beats me, Gen thought. So much for thinking logically.

Turning to Nagainamon, Kim asked, "D-do you think she's the lady who was with Dad? They both have a red braid…" Gen could tell what she was saying, but he didn't know what she was talking about.

Nagainamon shook her head. "I was the only Digimon in the area at the time."

Bastemon spun towards the group. When she got within range, she lashed out with a foot. Kim was bowled over, and Gen, who was hit first, flew a few feet before falling. In the same movement, Bastemon scooped up Nagainamon and threw her into the air with a savage smile, readying to swat the dragon on the way down.

Nagainamon balanced herself in flight, and curved. She attempted to dive-bomb Bastemon. The catlike Digimon purred, "Helter Skelter," and split into a dozen slightly transparent clones. She formed a circle around Nagainamon, and pounced when she reached the bottom of her dive.

"Nagainamon!" Kim called out to her partner, getting up and running into the fray. She looked furious.

Gen looked at the palm of his hand. He found himself wishing for the little dog who had defended him the night before. He found himself wishing for… his Digimon.

The brown and red Digivice dropped into his open hand. Gen was so startled, he jumped, and dropped it again. Paws pattering on the road, the brown puppy with the flowering tail raced past. He stopped for a moment, and looked back at Gen, who stared. " Can I even go to sleep without you getting into trouble? "the dogwhined, though not unkindly. " It took all afternoon to find you, even with that thing! " Uchimon then smiled, tongue hanging out, and wagged his tail.

Gen gripped the Digivice again, firmly, and pushed himself to his feet. He wondered what to say. Puppetmon was nowhere to be seen. Kim was throwing wild punches at the Bastemon shadows, hitting nothing but air. Nagainamon spat bolts of lightning, all of which disappeared into the road. Both partners were already covered in scratches, though smiling Bastemon didn't seem to want to do any decisive damage. " So, go on, chase a cat, " Gen said awkwardly to Uchimon.

" Well, I never… " the dog began to say. Then the cat woman smacked him, and he slid painfully across the pavement.

Gen felt guilty for distracting Uchimon, but he remained standing still. Why did working with a Digimon seem to come so naturally to Kim, yet feel so awkward to Gen? The question answered itself. Because you have no faith in them. Not even Uchimon.

Uchimon stood up, hackles raised. He tried to aim his flower, but Bastemon's many copies moved too quickly to pin. The tail pointed from one to another. Two Bastemon clones lifted circled around Uchimon. "Petal Pistol!" he howled. The attack hit one of them. She flinched, but otherwise brushed the attack off. She purred, baiting the puppy.

Now Gen couldn't take it anymore, either. He rushed the Bastemon from behind, a surprise punch at each sending them sprawling. Gen stopped at Uchimon's side, and murmured to him, " I don't care how this is going to go, but I'll be with you, okay? " Uchimon nodded.

Bastemon circled.

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