Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. The Digimon descriptions belong to the owners of the Digital Monsters Almanac.
Tamers Unlimited
Chapter Two: Black Dawn
"It's Realized, sir. We couldn't stop it." One of the women told the blond haired man.
The clicking of a lighter was heard in response, before the man replied.
"Send her out then."
The woman nodded, already picking up her cell phone. She hesitated before calling though.
"Sir, it doesn't seem to be a Wild One. We think it may be another of them."
There was a contemplative silence.
"Ask her to leave the Digimon alive so long as it isn't a threat. If it turns out to be another partnered Digimon, tell her not to kill them. Tell her to see what they've got, instead."
A woman nodded and a call was made.
XxXXxX
"You're my Tamer?" Impmon asked, a ting of disbelief in his voice.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Takato asked, feeling a bit offended.
It stared hard at him for a second, looking him up and down, before rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
"Nothing."
Takato decided to drop it; he had more important things to worry about.
"You're…Impmon, right?" He had to admit, this wasn't what he had been expecting. Though, to be honest, he wasn't sure what he'd been expecting.
"Obviously."
Takato blinked. He was actually pretty proud of himself for remembering that name off the top of his head.
"I'll take your word for it. And you're my partner, right?"
"You sure like stating the obvious, don't you?"
Takato looked at him in silence for a long moment.
"And you said I was your…what? Tamer?"
Impmon was looking at him like he thought he was a blathering moron, but he nodded.
"What does that mean?"
"Huh?" Impmon looked confused at the question.
"What does being a Tamer mean?"
"A Tamer is a human bonded to a Digimon. Do you really not know this?" Impmon asked.
Takato shook his head. Impmon sighed.
"Okay, here's how it works. I'm your Digimon and you're my Tamer. That makes us partners, I guess. As a Tamer, you're supposed to make me stronger. Thanks in advanced."
Takato was just getting more confused.
"Stronger? How do I make you stronger?"
"I have no idea." Impmon stated bluntly. "That's just what everyone says Tamers do."
"What?" Takato said, alarmed.
"Hey, I've never had a Tamer before."
"Then…how do you know I'm your Tamer."
He looked at Takato like he was an idiot again and pointed to the device in his hands.
Takato felt like hit himself. Oh, yeah, the Digivice.
Speaking of which…
"Hey, Impmon, do you know what this thing does?" Takato asked, pointing towards his Digivice.
Impmon took one look at it and replied bluntly; a manner Takato was beginning to think he replied to everything in.
"You know what?" Takato said after a moment of silence. "It doesn't matter. You're here now."
Impmon chuckled at that.
"Yeah, I am. Did I keep you waiting long?"
"Only a day." Takato said, before tilting his head towards the way he came. "Let's go."
XxXXxX
Shortly after, they stood together by the Dinosaur statue, with Impmon inside of it so that he'd be out of site.
Takato was showing his partner his Digimon cards, or at least the ones he'd brought with him in the collector tin. Impmon, for his part, was commenting on the familiar faces.
"Hey, I know this guy."
"Who?" Takato asked, shifting to look at the card. "Bakemon?"
"Yeah."
"What was he like?"
"Kind of a jerk. Tried to kill me just because I accidentally entered his territory. Didn't matter though; he was a complete and total weakling."
Takato thought about that, and tried to figure out how to approach the topic he wanted to discuss.
"You come from the Digital World, right?"
"Obviously."
"What's it like there?"
Impmon exhaled slowly.
"There are worse places to be; only, not really."
"It's that bad?"
"If you don't have the power to defend yourself, you're basically looked upon as a piece of meat. I like to think of myself as strong, but…I can't fight Perfects." It seemed to cost him something to admit that.
Takato looked at him for a moment.
"Well, that's what you're here for, right? To get stronger? That's where I come in, isn't it?"
Impmon chuckled.
"Yeah, I guess. Too bad neither of us knows how that works."
"We'll figure it out. I promise."
He meant it. He wanted to a good Tamer more then he wanted anything else.
But Impmon was right, a small part of him thought. He had no idea what he was doing.
Takato shook himself, and looked for a distraction.
"Hey, are you hungry?" Takato asked Impmon, who looked at him in confusion by way of a response. "Because I live in a bakery, so we can always get some bread if you get hungry."
Impmon tilted his head to the side, and Takato got the distinct impression that he knew what he was trying to do. But he also went along with it.
"Now that you mention it, yeah, I am a bit hungry."
"Then let's go!" Takato said with a smile. However, his smile faded a bit around the edges when he remembered something. "Oh, but we'll have to hide you from my parents."
Takato looked Impmon up and down and nodded to himself.
"It shouldn't be too hard; you're not that big. If they ever catch us, I can just pass you off as a new Digimon toy."
Impmon looked at me with an expression between shock and disbelief.
"Toy! I'm not toy, kid!"
Takato just laughed. He had a feeling things would be getting interesting from now on.
XxXXxX
"I'm home!" Takato said.
"Welcome home." His dad's voice replied from the kitchen. "You're home late today."
"We'll be having dinner soon." His mother chimed in.
"Okay, I'll be down in a minute." Takato told her, walking past carrying Impmon under one arm and doing his best to appear casual. He wasn't sure how well he did, but when he pause to listen if his parents were going to say anything about it, he didn't hear anything.
"So this is your room?" Impmon said a minute later.
"Yeah. What do you think?"
Impmon looked around and was silent for a few seconds before replying.
"I think you have a lot of Digimon stuff." He stated, blunt as always. He walked over to Takato's desk and jumped onto it.
Takato laughed again.
"Yeah, I'm a huge fan; I got everything my allowance could buy. Which was mainly cards, actually, but I'm fine with that; I play the game everyday with HirokazU. I think I have your card, as a matter of fact."
"My card?" Impmon asked, suddenly interested. "Wait, Hirokazu."
"Hirokazu is a friend of mine. Give me a second; I try to find your card."
A few minutes later, Impmon was looking at himself.
"God, am I that good looking in real life, too?" He asked.
Takato wasn't really paying attention; he was busy looking through his stuff for something.
"Ah-ha; found it!" He said triumphantly. He quickly put something over his head and turned back towards his partner.
Impmon looked back, somewhat perplexed.
"What are those?"
"My goggles." He told him.
"I…realize that. But why are you wearing them?"
"Because I'm your partner."
Impmon simply looked at him, uncomprehending and unbothered by it.
"You'd get it if you watched the show." Takato assured him.
Impmon looked like he was about to say something, but he suddenly stopped and looked towards the window.
Takato quickly noticed his partner's reaction.
"Is something wrong?"
Impmon didn't say anything, but his entire body grew tense as he looked out the window. Takato walked over behind him, trying to figure out what was wrong.
"There's nothing out there, Impmon." He said, beginning to feel a little bit worried.
XxXXxX
"Sir, we have another Wild One emerging!" The woman told the blond haired man.
"Who's nearby?" He asked.
The other woman typed something on a keyboard, her fingers moving with the deftness of someone who had done this a thousand times.
"She is already on her way towards the source." She said after a few seconds of typing.
"Then there isn't a problem."
The women nodded at that; they were well aware of her skill.
"Has she found the Digimon you said could be a partner yet?" The blond man suddenly changed the topic.
"No, sir. She said that when she reached the realization point, there was no one there."
"Was there any damage to the area?"
"No, sir, she said it seemed fine."
"That would seem to support the partner theory. Normal Wild Ones don't generally leave areas unharmed." The man said, speaking as much to himself as to the women. "When does she think she'll be able to track it down?"
The notion that she wouldn't find her target never even crossed his mind.
"She said she would find them within two days and likely by tomorrow."
"Good."
A lighter clicked shut.
XxXXxX
Meanwhile, in another construction sight, a young girl was looking at the newly evolved Fugamon. Moments before, it had been a Child level Goblimon, but it had somehow managed to evolve. She wasn't worried, though; it didn't particularly matter what level it was.
"Kyuubimon." She said, and her partner moved behind her in response.
"Yes?"
For a moment, she looked like she wanted to say something; words of encouragement, perhaps. But she seemed to change her mind at the last minute.
"Get rid of him."
Kyuubimon nodded once and blurred into motion. She knew what her partner wanted to say, and she also knew why she didn't say it.
Less than a minute later, Fugamon cried out as blue flames washed over it. It exploded into data particles moments later; particles which Kyuubimon quickly absorbed.
XxXXxX
Impmon slowly relaxed, but he didn't turn away from the window.
"What was that about?" Takato asked.
"Another Digimon broke through." Impmon said with a frown.
"What?" Takato blinked. "Should we, I don't know, do something about it?"
"There's no point now. It's gone; probably dead."
Takato looked alarmed.
"Dead? How?"
Impmon's frown deepened.
"I don't know, but…I don't think we're alone. There's probably at least one other Digimon in this city." He sounded sure of himself.
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"Do you think there are other Tamers?" Takato wondered. He hadn't even considered the notion in the excitement.
"How would I know?" But the thought made Impmon furrow his brow. "But whoever it is, they're strong; that Digimon was gone in less than a minute."
Impmon turned to his Tamer.
"I'm going to stick close to you until we know what's going on."
Takato blinked and scratched his head.
"That should be fine; we'll just have to keep you out of sight at school."
XxXXxX
"Damn it, Impmon, what happened to sticking by me?" Takato muttered. Sometime during the school day, Impmon's boredom had gotten the better of his resolve. As a result, he'd gone wandering sometime during gym class, and had scared several teachers, including the principal.
As a result, his Tamer had ended up running all over the school, trying to find him. He stopped briefly near the cafeteria; the lunch ladies were complaining about someone taking literally all of their bread and leaving everything else basically untouched.
Takato shook his and sighed. If Impmon really needed to eat the lunch food, he could have at least had the grace to eat the other stuff and spare the students from it.
"Impmon, why did you come to school if you just wanted to have fun? I could have taken you to the park before school, or something." Takato paused for a minute in order to catch his breath. "Where are you, Impmon?"
"You just said 'Impmon', right?" A voice asked. Takato looked towards it in alarm. "That's a Digimon, isn't it?"
It was a boy about his age. He had blue hair and grey eyes, and wore an orange vest over a black T-shirt. He was taller than Takato, and seemed better built. Takato wasn't really paying attention to that though; the boy had mentioned Digimon calmly, as though they were but another aspect of everyday life. He knew, Takato realized.
"H-how do you know about that?"
"This guy is a Tamer?" Another curious voice asked. Someone walked out of the doorway the blue haired boy stood next to. Rather, a Digimon walked out; a Terriermon, to be precise. Takato's eyes widened, and he glanced back at the boy, only now noticing the device that hung from his waist; a Digivice, green where his was black.
Takato gasped. That certainly answered his question about whether he was alone or not.
Terriermon chuckled.
"If you and your partner don't understand each other, then you have no right to call yourself a Digimon Tamer." He said.
Takato felt like he'd been slapped.
"Terriermon!" His Tamer snapped.
"Moumantai!"
The boy with the Terriermon sighed.
Takato opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find something to say. In the end, he just shook his head, turned, and ran. He still had to find Impmon and as much as he wanted to deny it, it's not like he could refute what Terriermon said; he barely knew Impmon. But that didn't matter; Impmon was his partner, and he didn't care what anyone else said about it.
But if he didn't know his own partner, he really was a shitty Tamer, a part of him pointed out.
The boy just watched him go.
Takato stopped running. Terriermon was right, damn it. First day as a Tamer, and he was already screwing up.
"Where are you Impmon?" He said, looking to the sky.
The answer came to him in a flash, and he felt like hitting himself. He pulled out his Digivice. Why was he wasting time looking around, when he had a compass that points straight towards his partner. He randomly pressed buttons until the compass came back up, and then he just followed it.
He found Impmon on the Roof of the school. He was sitting near the edge looking at the sky, but he glanced towards his Tamer when he stepped on the roof.
"Hey, kid."
Takato was trying to be angry, but he was having a hard time managing it due to how relieved he was to have found his partner.
In the end, he just sighed.
"Hey, yourself." He walked over and sat by his partner. "School will be over soon; will you be okay up here until then?"
"Tch. Of course." Impmon wasn't looking at him. Did he think he was mad.
Takato silently put his hand on his partners head.
"There's a lot of ruckus going on down there due to what you did…" He said, causing Impmon to glance at him, waiting.
He smiled gently.
"…So classes will probably be delayed a little while; I'll stay up here until then."
Impmon snorted and looked back at the sky.
XxXXxX
Several hours later, they found themselves doing the same thing on the playground. They were, unsurprisingly, by the Dinosaur statue. Impmon was staring at the sky while Takato was letting his mind wander.
"Hey, Impmon?"
"Hmm?"
"What should we do now?" Takato pondered.
Impmon took his eyes from the sky and looked too his partner.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, now that you're here, what should we do?"
Impmon looked confused.
"I mean, we decided to get stronger together, but what are we going to do with that strength?"
"Huh?"
"Are we going to conquer the world, or become superheroes, or what?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, kid." Impmon flat-out stated.
"What I mean is…you and I must have come together for a reason, right?"
Impmon shrugged.
"I guess I just want to know why."
Why it was me, he thought; why I was special, why it was me who was chosen and not someone else.
"Don't think to hard, kid; you'll hurt yourself." Impmon said as he stood "If there isn't a reason, then there is no point in wasting time thinking about it."
"But what if there is a reason?"
"And if there is reason, then–"
What Impmon would have said, Takato didn't know, because Impmon was interrupted by a yellow blur. Takato didn't see what hit his partner, but by the way Impmon went flying it did so with the force of a freight train.
"Get out of the way, rookie." A voice said. "This is a Digimon battle."
On the other side of the playground stood a girl his age, with red hair done up in a strange style and violet eyes. She was about his height and wore a T-shirt with a broken heart on it. She also had a belt with…a deck attached? Honestly, she was very pretty, and Takato likely would have been paying more attention to the details of what she looked like if this was any other situation. As things were, this was the first time they'd ever met and she was already kicking his ass.
"Who are you?" He demanded.
The girl ignored his comment utterly.
"Renamon wants to fight. Get out of the way."
"Renamon?" Takato repeated confusedly before slowly looking upwards. In the tree above the girl there was a yellow, fox-like Digimon with cold blue eyes. Ignoring her vulpine features, she looked basically humanoid. She wore purple gloves with ying-yang symbols on them.
Takato mentally took stock of her based off of her appearance, compared her to Impmon, and thought about her desire to fight his partner.
He heard someone spitting behind me.
"This is going to suck." Impmon spoke his thoughts.
The girl drew her Digivice, but I couldn't see what color it was, and lifted it. A holographic screen appeared and she spoke.
"A Rookie-level Imp-type Digimon; a Virus with a child-like appearance. He looks forward to deceiving his opponents in many ways, whether by using his almost adorable appearance to his collection of practical jokes. When an Impmon appears, electrical appliances around him temporarily corrupt, and some say that when these gadgets freeze up, it may be because Impmon has played one of his tricks on them. This Digimon prefers to confront stronger opponents with his bold and brash attitude. He attacks his opponents with "Summon", where he summons the elementals of fire and ice, and "Night of Fire", where he attacks the enemy with a dark flame." She casually leaned against the tree behind her. "He's all yours, Renamon."
The yellow fox jumped down from her perch while Takato fumbled through his pockets for his Digivice. He hadn't know the Digivice could do that. That one monologue had told him a lot about his own Partner.
He drew his Digivice and, sure enough, the screen appeared.
"This fox-like Beast Man Type Digimon is a Data Type. She tosses about opponents with her speed. She trains for all kinds of circumstances in order to make calm judgment. It is said that in comparison to other Child races, she has reached the point where she is highly intelligent."
"Shit, not just a pretty face, huh?" Impmon jibbed. "Fine, then. Come on then; Kick. My. Ass."
"You heard him Renamon. Kick his ass."
Takato only managed to see the first attack in a technical sense. He saw Renamon's left leg start to move, but then it was like he skipped a scene in a move. He only saw her foot leave the ground; he didn't see it kick Impmon across the face, nor did he see it cross any of the points between the ground and Impmon's face.
But Impmon still went flying, so he must have been hit.
Takato looked to the side, towards where his partner had landed. He was already struggling to get up. Takato quickly realized that Impmon was wide open, but he didn't even have time to spout off a warning before the yellow blur that was Renamon dove towards him with blinding speed.
But Impmon wasn't stupid, and didn't need anyone to state the obvious. He flicked his wrist and in an instant a flame flickered into life upon his fingertips. Not a moment after coming into life, they were sent flying over the few feet between Impmon and Renamon.
Of course, as the Digivice had told him, Renamon wasn't stupid either. She had obviously expected an attack, and as soon as her suspicions were confirmed, she reacted. Without even breaking stride, she took a larger step then normal and the flame went past her face without touching it. Then she attacked.
The first blow was a simple punch to the stomach, but it had enough force behind it to lift Impmon three feet off the ground, and would have lifted him even higher if not for the second blow.
As soon as the full force of the punch was delivered, Renamon took a single step back and started to turn, lifting her left leg in the process. While Impmon was being lifted by the force of the first blow, Renamon finished her turn with her leg high in the air. A leg that she immediately brought down on the back of Impmon's head, slamming him face first into the ground.
But Impmon had already realized how fast she was after she first took him by surprise, and he had never intended to hit her with his attack. At least, not with the first attack.
Behind her, the fireball curled around in mid-air and flew back towards Renamon's defenseless back. This time he was the one to use speed to his advantage. Just as Takato had been unable to warn Impmon due to the pace of the battle, now it was Renamon who received no warning.
At the last moment, it seemed like Renamon sensed something, but she could do no more than shift slightly, causing the fire ball to hit her arm instead of her chest. In a reflexive reaction to the impact and pain, Renamon leapt away, putting distance between her and Impmon, just in case he had prepared another attack. After landing, she hurriedly snuffed out the flames.
As soon as she was off of him, Impmon scrambled to his feet. Off to the side, Takato had to give his partner credit; he was tough, if nothing else.
"Impmon, keep your distance." Takato shouted the first idea he could think of. It was pretty obvious who had the advantage in close combat, but with those fire balls, maybe Impmon could win at a distance.
"I figured that out by myself, kid!" Impmon shouted back while scrabbling away, trying to increase the distance even further.
Renamon and her Tamer just watched them with cold, expressionless eyes, until Impmon stopped moving at what he judged to be a safe distance. It was within range of both of his attacks, but far enough that he should be able to notice an attack. Seeing this, Renamon's Tamer let loose a smirk.
"Keeping your distance is only a good plan if your opponent is weaker at ranged combat then you are." She turned towards Takato. "You're his Tamer, right? Shouldn't you know it's a bad idea to make assumptions based on limited information?"
She tsked, once, twice.
"Renamon?"
In response to her name, her partner jumped into the air and curled her body. A pale bluish-green light began to show around her crossed arms. Takato's eyes widened in tandem with Impmon.
"Impmon!"
"I know-"
"Attack!" He cut his partner off. Maybe he was stupid to make assumptions based off of limited information, but he was pretty sure he was right this time. Renamon was fast; she hadn't made a single attack yet that either Impmon or his Tamer had been able to keep up with. If he accepted that as a pattern, then this attack was likely to be fast as well, and he didn't like Impmon's odds at dodging it, much less blocking it.
But they say that the best defense was a good offense. If they couldn't block Renamon's and couldn't dodge them, then they had no choice but to take it. Therefore the only winning strategy would be to cause Renamon damage at a faster rate than they were taking it.
I saw understanding fill his eyes before he refocused on Renamon. He spread his hands and two rings of fire appeared one within the other.
Renamon uncurled her body and the energy around her shattered in to shards of glaring white light.
"Koyousetsu!" She declared, as though she were pronouncing a criminals death sentence. And in response to her voice, the shards fell like rain.
Impmon faced it fearlessly, and faced it with a cry of his own.
"Summon…" He started as he tore a large sphere of fire from the rings with both hands and lifted it over his head. As he did, the sphere swelled and grew until it was as large as Impmon's own body. He shifted his feet, and Takato's heart started pounding as he noticed Impmon wasn't throwing it. The shards were getting closer and closer, and they no more faltered in their approach then Impmon in his stance.
There were less than three feet away when Impmon made his move.
"Fire!" He finished, throwing the flame through the gathering shards. The small shards shattered like the glass they so resembled as Impmon's fire plowed through them. Renamon's eyes widened at the sight. On the ground, she would have dodged the attack with ease, but airborne as she was, she had no say in the matter.
The Summoned flame blazed through the air, and Renamon could do nothing cross her arms and take it. The resulting explosion forced Takato and the girl to turn away and cover their eyes.
When the explosion cleared, they looked back. Takato and the girl quickly took stock of the situation. They noticed that Renamon had been knocked into a tree, and her arms had been heavily burnt, but she stood and, he had to give her credit, showed no signs of pain. The girl relaxed.
Takato quickly tried to find his own partner, and he felt his body tense against his will when he couldn't find him. He didn't even have a chance to worry when he heard his partner's voice
"Summon…!" Takato drew his eyes skyward. Impmon and Renamon had changed places, and now it was Renamon on the ground and Impmon in the air. And Impmon was imitating Renamon.
In front of Impmon, the two rings had appeared again, though they were now several times large in diameter. But that wasn't the only difference.
This time, the rings were made out of icicles suspended in mid-air.
"Renamon!" Takato heard the girl shout behind him.
"Ice!" Impmon completed as he swept a hand down at Renamon. In response, the icicles poured from the sky, falling upon Renamon like frigid lightning. If it had been Summon Fire, she would have dodged it. But it wasn't. It didn't look as powerful as Summon Fire, but it hit a larger area.
Takato looked at Renamon as she disappeared beneath the following. He heard Impmon laughing in triumph, but be never got a chance to join in himself, however, because of what he heard next.
"Card Slash!"
Takato turned towards her just as she dragged a card through her Digivice.
"A Digimon card? What are you-"
"Alias, activate!"
What is she doing, he wanted to ask. He'd tried that earlier, and it hadn't done anything.
Had it?
Renamon had been on the ground; she couldn't have dodged. That was a direct hit from a Virus Type. Even if she wasn't down, she should be hurt badly.
So why was she in the air above Impmon. The card?
No wait, that's not the issue!
"Impmon, look out!"
He looked at his Tamer and saw fear in his face.
"Huh?"
"Touhakken!" Renamon shouted as her hands and feet were engulfed in pale blue flames.
Impmon's eyes widened in realization as he heard the voice behind him, but he didn't have time for any other reaction before Renamon hit him. The force of her punch was strong enough to send both of them flying, albeit in opposite direction. They were booth heading towards trees, but only Impmon hit it. Renamon contorted her body in midair, and managed to land on her feet in a crouch, on the vertical surface of the tree.
The moment she landed, however, she immediately went airborne again, this time heading towards Impmon. She reached him before he even the ground and slammed him back into the tree he'd hit with enough force to splinter the bark of the tree. It was up for grabs as to what hurt him more; her fist, the flames, or the tree.
She absently tossed him to the ground and looked towards her tamer. Impmon's body was barely staying in one piece; it looked like it could explode into data at any minute.
"I may have over done it."
Her Tamer shrugged as Renamon walked over to her. She was wondering if Impmon's Tamer was going to say anything. He did, but not what she expected.
"Card Slash!"
Alarmed, the Tamer looked at the boy. As he said, he was slashing a card. But where…?
She noticed the collector tin on the ground by his feet.
"Command Program, activate; 'Augmentation'!" He shouted.
The Tamer growled; she knew what that card did. It forcibly increased a Digimon's physical health by writing over their current data. It would keep your partner alive, but according to Renamon, it hurt a lot.
"Renamon, attack Impmon!" She ordered. Renamon seemed surprised by the order, but didn't question it. She attacked the prone Impmon, who had only just opened his eyes and seemed to be about to scream, without the slightest hesitation.
But a moment before she made contact, Takato slashed another card.
Her fist slammed into the ground. Impmon was nowhere to be seen.
But she still heard him.
"Night of Fire!"
She heard it, but she knew she wouldn't move fast enough to dodge.
"High speed plug-in B, activate!"
But what a Digimon was normally capable of meant little when Tamers were thrown into the mix.
To Impmon, it looked like he'd missed a scene in a movie; on second Renamon was kneeling on the ground, and the next second a flame covered fist was heading straight for his face. Renamon was moving with a speed he could hardly even believe!
"High speed plug-in H, activate!" He heard his Tamer call just before everything slowed down. Renamon was still moving extremely fast, but less so then before. Impmon managed to shift slightly to the right at the last second. It was a close call, though, and Impmon had to close his left eye to keep it from getting singed along with that side of his face.
He grit his teeth and attacked.
"Night of Fire!" He conjures a ball of flame in one hand and hurls it at Renamon. She dodges it easily, leaping back over five meters before the dark flame could reach her.
They stared at each other from across the field; eyes narrowed, bodies tensed, waiting for the single. It came as two voices crying out in unison.
"Offense plug-in A, activate!" The Tamer behind each of them roared as though it were a battle cry. And their Digimon did nothing to dispel the illusion. High speed still enabled, they dove across the field. They moved to fast for their Tamers to see them at all, and closed the distance so fast that they didn't even hear the voice of their opponents Tamer until after they made contact.
Renamon's blue burning fist hit the sphere of dark flames Impmon held in his hands in an explosion that blew both of them back to their starting points.
The two Digimon didn't take their eyes off of each other for even a moment. They were both on their knees before their Tamers, both breathing heavily. But neither of them was willing to concede the fight.
And neither were their Tamers.
Takato made the first move.
"Black Gear, active!" Impmon's Tamer screamed.
Impmon's heavy breathing stopped, and he straightened. His green eyes glowed red and a black aura seeped from his skin like smoke. He lifted his hands, looked at his right hand, and spoke.
"Night of Fire!" He said, snapping the fingers of his right hand, and a perfect sphere of flames formed in it. He looked at his left hand and spoke once more.
"Night of Blizzard!" Shards of ice swirled into a sphere when the fingers of his left hand were snapped. He looked at his opponent, waiting for her move so that he would not be taken by surprise by her Tamers actions.
That was his mistake. For though she acted second, she chose a much better move.
"Evolution plug-in E," Renamon's Tamer slashed the card of her choice. "Activate!"
Renamon was consumed utterly by blue flames; they swallowed her from sight and left the Tamer and his Digimon effectively blind to what was within.
Within the flames, Renamon's body was changing drastically. Her skin was peeled away, revealing the framework that took the place of blood and bone. Her body warped, switching from a biped to a quadruped form. Her already vulpine face twisted and elongated, becoming completely fox-like, from muzzle to ears. Her single tail lashed randomly as it was torn into three different tails, and then when each tail was torn in three again.
Only then did the flames recede, though even then they didn't do so completely; blue flames still flickered upon the tips of her tails and on the feet of all four of her legs.
Takato lifted his Digivice, somewhat reluctantly; he didn't really want to know. He already knew the most important detail. A glance at the screen did nothing but confirm it.
"Kyuubimon, Adult Bewitching Beat Digimon." He read with a wince. "Data Type. She is proud of her mighty perseverance and skill. In ancient times, she was revered as a messenger of peace. Her attacks are called Ko En Ryuu and Oni Bi Dama."
Impmon glanced at her.
"I don't think we're going to get much peace out of her, kid." But even as he said that, he stepped forward.
"Impmon, are you sure-"
"Save it, kid." He cut him off.
Takato took a deep breath and nodded. If his partner was going to fight, so was he. He looked though his cards, but only saw one he thought would help.
"Defense plug-in C, Activate!"
"Still gonna fight, rookie?" Renamon's, no, Kyuubimon's Tamer said.
"Yeah. I guess I am." Takato said, not backing down from her gaze.
She chuckled.
"Good boy. Kyuubimon, finish this."
Kyuubimon braced herself for her next attack.
"Ready, Impmon?"
"I was born ready, kid." He said as he did the same as Kyuubimon.
Takato nodded, more to himself then to anyone else.
"Okay. Let's do this." He said
"Kyuubimon, end this." His opponent said.
At the same time Impmon dove forward, still holding his spheres of fire and ice, the flames of Kyuubimon's body flared up once again. She leapt forward, her body twisting and curling into a ball before the flames consumed her and formed an immense Dragon of blue flames.
"Ko En Ryuu." Kyuubimon's voice said from within the dragon.
Impmon growled as he threw the ice sphere at the Dragon barreling towards him. It evaporated on contact. He knew the sphere of flames would have no more effect, but he threw it anyway, just out of spite.
And then he faced down the dragon himself, with nothing but his bare hands. He shouted a battle cry just as the Dragon hit him, and that was the last thing Takato saw before the thunderous explosion took his hearing and the flames filled his sight.
The flames died down surprisingly quickly, and Takato immediately looked for his partner. The sight of him made his eyes widen before he rushed to his side.
His body was covered in burned, and laid splayed on the ground. But he was alive.
"Impmon…" He whispered.
Impmon opened his eyes and looked at his Tamer, before he started struggling in his grasp.
"Move, kid. I'm not done, yet." He managed to escape Takato's grasp, mainly because his Tamer didn't want to hurt him any worse then he already was, which, with those burns, disclosed holding on too hard.
Kyuubimon spoke.
"You are out matched and near death. Even so, you will not give up?" She asked.
Impmon spat on the ground.
"Of course not."
Takato sat there on his knees for a moment, holding back tears, before nodding tersely in resolution and getting to his feet.
"You heard him." His voice sounded a bit hoarse.
Kyuubimon tilted her head, and he thought she might have smiled, before crouching again; getting ready to pounce. Behind her, her Tamer was looking at her opponents a bit differently, with a bit more respect, perhaps.
"Kyuubimon," She spoke. "Do it."
Kyuubimon leapt forward, and Takato found himself thinking this was it before something, someone, cut in.
A voice cut across the battlefield.
"Stop!"