I don't own digimon.

Story 18.5

No room here

Veronica wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do here. Even with Volcdramon now 'pacified', that still left the issue of getting both of them home without causing a major accident. A task easier said than done.

"Can we play once we get home, Vere?" Volcdramon inquired and got an eye roll from Veronica in return. Was that really the only thing on her partner's mind currently? They were lucky the building had been insured for 'surprise digimon attacks' (whatever the heck that meant). She would still probably get disciplined for this. Regardless of this technically not her fault here. If anything, this was obviously Ophani's fault. She just had to show her face once more. Obviously oblivious to all the damage she had caused for the family. If anything, this just further justified in cut-

Before Veronica had a chance to finish that thought, an Examon passed by the pair. Paying them little mind, they looked to be heading further into the city. Just one more threat to keep an eye out going forward in her life.

"Wonderful." Veronica muttered and got a look from her partner. Getting a confused look, the HR specialist let out a sigh. "We'll see if you get more playtime at my house."

Volcdramon nodded and headed off. This was so much fun. Not only did she have her partner back, they were also heading to her home. A home that the pair could call their own. No parents or other authority figures, this was a dream come true. Or at least, that was how it felt. Her only complaint had to be Vere's attitude. For someone who used to be so fun to be around, she had become the very thing she hated most - dull. Refusing at every opportunity to play with her, up until she forced her hand. Hopefully, this wasn't a sign of things to come. If it somehow were, she would need to do some investigating and get to the bottom of this.

"Vere, are you still there?" Volcdramon announced, craning her neck about to make sure the HR specialist was still following and not off playing a surprise game of hide and seek. Not that the dragon digimon would refuse a time like that. If anything, she would welcome it with open claws. Maybe once they had finished that, the pair could have a tea party of sorts. No, a tea party would require them to have a third person. Of which there were none in the vicinity.

"I'm right here." Veronica announced and watched Volcdramon spin around. Taking care for her body and tail to not hit her partner, Volcdramon tried to meet the HR specialist's gaze. Easier said than done on a narrow sidewalk. "If you're so worried about losing me, why don't you put me into one of your dress pockets?" Veronica suggested as Volcdramon's hand came down. Scooping her up, she was deposited right around the chest area.

"Is that better, Vere?" Volcdramon announced and looked down to her passenger. Perfectly still, the only response the dragon digimon got was a muffled 'yeh'. Tempted as she was to give her partner a head pat, Volcdramon decided to wait. Plenty of opportunities to do that would come once she and Vere reached their destination. "Off we go then."

Heading down the sidewalk, Volcdramon did her best to avoid looking about too much. With so many sights, sounds and smells all about tempting her to go off and explore, this was easier said than done. Nor was the whining coming from her passenger for that matter. A far cry from when Vere was younger. She had always wanted to get a piggyback ride from her. Yes, Vere was a lot taller and crabbier, but that shouldn't mean she couldn't continue getting piggyback rides. Now, there were even more reasons for her to give them. Not that Vere would ever see it her way. No, Vere was probably plotting to get rid of her. Once they got home, she would tell Volcdramon to wait out front. Then Vere would go inside and never come back out to play. Even as she clawed and screeched to be let back in. This time, it would probably be for wrecking that lobby. Yeah, that sounded about right. But Volcdramon had a trick up her sleeve. When Vere went to go in, she would grab her and force her to wait. That way, she would truly know all the pain and loneliness that the dragon digimon had experienced over the years.

"You shouldn't have pushed me down so hard!" Veronica announced and looked up to her partner's head. The nerve of Volcdramon. Nice as her princess did feel, it was very clear to her that the garment was not designed for carrying around people. Let alone adults, for that matter.

Nonetheless, Volcdramon came to a stop. Craning her neck to meet Veronica's gaze, the HR specialist found herself treated to a nod. Looking ahead, their destination was thankfully only a block or two away. What wasn't as nice, was the prospect of introducing her partner to her family. They had most definitely seen the news coverage of Volcdramon's attack on the lobby and Ophani's 'supposed' intervention. Which just raised the question of how they would react to all of this.

"I'm sorry, Vere." Volcdramon announced as she continued to walk towards the pair's destination. Hopefully Vere had all sorts of fun toys to play with. While the dragon digimon had done really well using just her imagination and scavenged materials, having a bunch of toys around made the process all the easier. Especially around friends. She wasn't completely sure what had happened between Vere and her brother, hopefully they could figure out their differences. That way, she could get to know Ophani and any other digimon that lived over there. A win-win in everyone's book.

"We're almost there." Veronica muttered, a two story home coming into view. Done up in a pale shade of yellow, a couple of the windows appeared to be illuminated. No signs of movement could be seen from this far out. "Please don't do anything stupid when we get there."

Volcdramon looked down at her passenger, confused. Ignoring the fact that she kind of came close to wrecking an entire office building, the dragon digimon considered her track record to be relatively stellar. Not that Vere would say the same here. Probably tell lies and slander about her. That was pretty much what all adults did. Hopefully, Vere hadn't learned to do that as well. Nonetheless, Volcdramon made a beeline for the house. Taking care to go much slower than she had up to that point, it was remarkably easy to make the transition onto the lawn. Pulling out Veronica, she set the HR specialist on the lawn in front of her.

"Do I get to see your family?" Volcadramon inquired and watched Veronica walk over to the door. Pulling it open, she doesn't even look in her partner's direction. Slamming the door shut, it's met by a plume of flames. "Is that all I am to you?! Just some fucking toy to discard when you don't want anything to do with me? Tough luck. If you won't play with me, I'll just make you! How does that sound?!"

Increasing her flames, Volcadramon got ready to burn down the house. Part of her had hoped that it wouldn't come to this. That somehow, the years spent all alone would matter. But no, Vere had become even worse than those adults. Not only had she told a lie, she had done it with the intent of abandoning her once more. Vere should be thankful that she went through all the trouble of attempting to reconnect with her. Yes, eating people's plants and

Pendragon's Gate!

Before she could get a chance to continue her fiery blaze of glory, a ball of energy slammed into Volcadramon's back. Turning to her new opponent, it was the Examon from before.

"Your draconic grace, may I ask why you're torching this place?" the royal knight digimon announced and got an eye roll in return. Reaching behind himself, care was taken to pull Natalie off their back. Just to be on the safe side, of course.

"My partner abandoned me. So I'm going to make sure that she only has me to play with!" Volcadramon announced and found herself facing down not just Examon but also Natalie. "Wonderful. The very thing I needed is more adults intruding on my space. Be gone!" Volcadramon announced and got an eye roll from Natalie in return. What exactly did she plan to do here that would somehow make a world of difference in the grand scheme of things.

"If I drag her out, will you not set the house on fire?" Natalie inquired and watched Volcadramon give a nod. Approaching the burnt up door, the shop teacher took the time to kick it open. Inside, the whole place looked relatively untouched by Volcadramon's attempt at arson. The cream carpet had a couple specks of ash on it, but those could be thankfully vacuumed up. The shards of woods that were now sticking into the lavender-colored walls because she had kicked the door down… less so. Natalie's gaze had already moved on from that. Coming upon Veronica, not a word was spoken. Instead, The shop teacher made her way over and slapped her.

"What was the meaning of that?!" Veronica screeched and Natalie rolled her eyes. At one time, she had considered this woman to be her friend. Sadly, those days were long behind both of them and weren't coming back anytime soon.

"That was your digimon partner you just blew off!" Natalie responded and watched her former friend try her best to ignore the truth. "I get that what happened makes it hard for you to trust people. But could you at least tr-"

"No." Veronica answered and turned around, heading right for the stairs. She didn't get particularly far. Mostly because Natalie grabbed hold and pulled her out of the house. By no means the heaviest thing she had to pull along, it was up there. Not that any table saw compressor had anything on this idiot. Her students were more behaved than Veronica. Not that this was a real accurate metric to judge a person by.

"Thank you!" Volcdramon announced and held her attention on the shop teacher for a couple seconds. "Wait. You're Nat-Nat! You've grown quite a bit since Vere used to play with you."

Natalie nodded, Examon making their way over. While their memory of such an encounter was murky on that particular event, that sounded right.

"Can we trust you two to play nice?" Examon added and received a nod from Volcadramon. Veronica, on the other hand, remained silent. Even as her gaze met that of the royal knight digimon.

"I guess." she muttered, watching Natalie get onto her partner. Shooting her a glare, the HR specialist didn't receive a response. No, Natalie's attention was focused on ascending into the sky once more. Quickly becoming a speck in the sky, there was little in the way of things that could make th-

"Hi honey! Did something happen?"