I don't own digimon.

Story 14

Just a phase

Guardromon carefully turned the corner of the sidewalk. Whoever the heck decided that he needed to have legs this short needed to be fired from the digimon design committee. In their place was whoever decided to give him a set of boosters. Those had been far more useful than these stupid legs of his.

"This better be the place." he muttered, trying his best to not trip by accident and go flying. Looking to the left, he could easily make out his previous two attempts. So close but somehow out of reach of the one thing that he so desperately wanted - actually getting to this stupid house and seeing if his partner was still interested in that 'Warhammer 40k' thing. Seriously, was playing with a bunch of small figurines that much better than having your own digimon? Everyone he asked that same question had called him some variant of crazy. Outside of a random wisemon who claimed that he could see the appeal. Though, they were about to host a session of 'Dungeons and Dragons'. Whatever the heck that was. He would've asked, but the wisemon had managed to disappear in the time it took Guardromon to turn around. "Just a little bit further."

Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, the robot digimon's focus shifted to his destination. As long as he didn't trip or accidentally activate his boosters, this should be smooth sailing. Or would it be walking in this situation? He actually wasn't sure, nor did he care enough to really decide on an answer as he made the transition from sidewalk to driveway. Passing over the crack with ease, that was the first of many obstacles to overcome to just reach the front door and its elusive doorknob. What he would give for a way to press it without destroying the door right now. Not that such a power would do any good if this somehow turned out to be the wrong house. All of that work, wasted in just a fraction of the time it took to even get here. But that was the worst case scenario. Not much use in dwelling on that. No, he needed to pick up the pace.

"Bart, what the heck is up with the large hunk of scrap metal walking up the driveway?" a voice announced as the front door opened up. Shifting his body to face that general direction, Guardromon found himself facing down a girl with a short pink mohawk. A magenta shirt emblazoned with 'Fear the Marching Fishes' sort of complimented the leather jacket covering part of that. Even if the partially ripped up jeans and black boots were a bit of a strange combination to go with that.

"First off, I am a digimon. Not a hunk of scrap metal, contrary to what my appearance would suggest to you. Secondly, could you help me up to the door?" Guardromon announced and got an eye roll in return. Of course his partner found the one person who would be absolutely unhelpful in his time of need. Just his rotten luck. Sort of like his previous two attempts to even get here.

"I would, but it's likely that you'll need a ramp to make it up the last step." the girl announced and shot a glance back inside. Then it's right back to Guardromon. Taking a couple steps forward, she made sure to jump down to the driveway. "Though, what the heck was that racket earlier?"

Guardromon attempted to look away, only to find himself right back in the girl's vision. Perhaps this was Bart's girlfriend or something. Maybe they had even gotten him out of that stupid warhammer crud and onto something that could really help with having a stable adult life. But judging by the paint on the girl's hands, that was asking too much here. Oh well. He could deal with that once inside and reacquainted with his partner. Yeah. That sounded best for this situation.

"That was me trying to get here." Guardromon answered and let his arms fall down. Looking away from the girl, it's right back to the doorway. There, a guy dressed in a similar outfit to the girl making an exit. The only real difference was gelled up locks of spiky black hair rather than a pink mohawk. In his hands was a ramp. Or was that a little dolly? "Don't tell me that fashion choice is just a phase as well?"

Bart rolled his eyes and tried his best to hold back the laughter. Of course that was the first thing that came to mind for his partner. Not anything along the lines of how he was doing or what he had gotten up to. No, it was him or the figurines. Why the hell was that so hard for him to grasp? Yes, the argument was absolutely stupid at the time. But there was no way that he was really hanging onto that for that lo-

Before Bart had a chance to finish that thought, a renamon of all digimon walked by and lifted his partner up. Setting Guardromon down on the porch, their attention shifted to further down the road to what looked to be a giant cow. Walking on two legs, they were trying their best to catch up to their partner. Even if the distance that needed to be traveled was a heck of a lot farther than one would expect.

"Uh… thank you?" Guardromon announced and got a shrug from the renamon. Teleporting away, he shifted his focus back to Bart. Getting a shrug from his partner, the pair made their way inside. Not even taking the time to look about the entranceway, it was right onto the living room. There, time had been taken to set up a mini painting studio. Instead of canvas, it was miniatures that were getting painted.

"Before you go on a tirade about me choosing my hobbies over you… I'm sorry." Bart muttered, Guardromon's focus shifting away from him and over to a table. A small figure sat in the middle, airbrush and paints placed about the perimeter. Taking care to approach the table, he put his full attention on that.

"Is that me?" Guardromon announced and Bart headed over to the opposite side of the table. A nod followed.

"Yeah. I guess I missed you a touch." he announced and looked down at the figure. While it most definitely needed a few more coats of paint, that could wait. Right now, the only thing that mattered was mending this bridge. "How have you been?"

Guardromon let out a sigh. Likely as it was that his two failures had been noticed by both Bart and what he could assume to be his friend. Perhaps a girlfriend, but it would be rude for him to pry. But now that he was here, a new question came to mind. One that was probably too on the nose, yet absolutely necessary to ask.

"I've been better." he answered and looked at Bart. "Did the new episodes of battlebots finally come out?"

Looking away, Bart did his best to hold back a chuckle. Shifting his focus back to the entranceway, his companion heading over to the pair.

"How does a whole new series of it sound?" Bart announced and Guardromon's face lit up. Watching him take a seat, he did his best to do the same. Perhaps this would all work out. Maybe.