DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon or any video games, books, films, TV shows or pieces of music referenced in this story. Original characters owned by me are stated in my profile.
A quick note on formatting: underlined speech like this: "Hello, I am a lemming!" means the speaker is talking in Japanese.
Also, I've gone back and fixed a few formatting issues in chapters 2 and 3 (horizontal rules missing, that kind of stuff). If I ever forget that in a chapter again, pleas point it out in a review or PM and I'll fix it ASAP.
Chapter Four: Training
The next ten days were…interesting for Takato. He was forced to avoid the main social areas at break and lunchtime, spending most of his free time in the library with Henry. Oddly enough, the library was never actually quiet, being filled with pupils of all ages shouting and laughing throughout lunchtime. Cam and Steph usually joined the Tamers, partly out of pity, but mostly to avoid scum like Luke Aaron who knew of their friendship with the two boys. Rika, on the other hand, seemed to disappear into thin air as soon as the lunch bell rang. Takato had a sneaking suspicion that she was using Renamon's teleportation abilities to do exactly that. The boy had considered asking her about it, but since she was still treating Henry and himself with an unhealthy amount of contempt, he decided against it.
On top of all the bully problems, the Tamers had to deal with a sudden spike in Digimon attacks. There were a total of six Bio-emergences over the first two weeks of the school year. Rika and Renamon handled the first three with ease, with Henry and Terriermon dispatching the fourth Digimon without too much trouble. Takato and Guilmon were the first on the scene at the fifth emergence site, finding themselves up against an angry Vilemon. The goggle-wearing Tamer and his saurian partner had to be bailed out by Henry and Terriermon, the long-eared Digimon being unbearably smug about this little fact for days afterward.
The sixth fight was…different…
Friday 17th September - 3:35pm
Digital Field, somewhere in Kirkfield Park
"Bone Club!"
The ten foot tall green ogre roared in frustration as its golden-furred quarry dodged the attack for the dozenth time.
"Too slow, big boy!" Renamon taunted as she dodged a thirteenth swing of the Ogremon's massive club. The kitsune had not yet been able to get close enough to the foul-smelling Digimon to land an attack, and was now trying to tire her opponent out, weakening him before delivering the killing blow. So far, it didn't seem to be working very well.
"Change of tactics, Renamon!" Rika called mentally to her partner, drawing a card from the holder on her belt. "Try aiming for his eyes, then striking while he's blinded."
"Understood…"
"Digi-Modify! Target Lock activate!"
The vulpine Digimon dodged yet another clumsy attack by her opponent before leaping into the air, summoning a cloud of glowing crystals.
"Diamond St-OOF!"
Renamon was caught off guard as Ogremon threw his weapon with surprising accuracy straight at her chest. The blow knocked her out of the air and sent her flying into a nearby tree, dispelling her charging attack.
"Renamon!" Rika called out in fear for her wounded partner. The redhead winced as Ogremon turned and glared at her, apparently noticing her presence for the first time. She began searching furiously for a Seed of Health card as the ten-foot tall monster licked his lips and began stomping towards her.
"Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum! I smell-"
"Pyro Sphere!"
A ball of red flame struck Ogremon right in his open mouth, stopping him in his tracks and eliciting a surprised yelp from the hungry Champion. Rika used the momentary distraction to her advantage and quickly swiped her Seed of Health Card, restoring much of Renamon's energy. After a couple of seconds, the green creature grinned and let out a loud, foul-smelling belch.
"Mmmm…SPICY!" he mocked before resuming his march towards Rika, only to be met by a charging Guilmon.
"Leave scary girl alone!" the red dinosaur growled, leaping at Ogremon with outstretched claws. "Rock Br-URG!" Guilmon was intercepted by a backhand blow from his target, which sent him flying through the air to land on top of his Tamer.
Stupid Gogglehead! Guilmon's too slow to get within arm's reach of Ogremon… Not for the first time, Rika felt herself cursing her fellow Tamer's inability to use modify cards. Renamon used the distraction provided by Guilmon to carry out Rika's original plan of attack, leaping into the air and summoning a second cloud of crystals.
"Diamond Storm!"
The white crystals embedded themselves in the green ogre's face and eyes before detonating furiously, tearing his face to ribbons. Ogremon let out a roar of pain and began lashing out at random with his massive fists. Renamon quickly darted beneath his flailing arms, summoning blue flames around her hands and feet.
"Power Paw!"
The thunderous uppercut tore straight through the blinded monster's skull, reducing him to fragments of data. Renamon absorbed the fragments immediately, healing the damage that Rika's modify card had been unable to repair. When she was finished, the kitsune turned and walked calmly towards her Tamer.
"Are you alright?" she asked the fiery-haired girl, laughing inwardly at the spark of irritation the question provoked in the redhead.
"Of course I'm alright! He never got anywhere near me!" Rika replied with a touch of annoyance.
"You're welcome!" Guilmon called cheerfully from behind the girl. Rika turned and sighed exasperatedly as she saw that the dinosaur was still sat on top of his suffocating partner.
"We didn't need your help you bread-inhaling moron! And would you get off of Gogglehead before you crush him to death…"
The red dinosaur looked down, finally noticing what he was sat on and leapt to his feet with a confused look.
"Takatomon? Why is your face purple? Are you turning into a plum?"
The boy merely groaned and shook his head before getting to his feet shakily. "We really need to put you on a diet boy…"
"Good idea! Maybe if he loses enough weight he'll be able to move faster than a one-legged turtle!" Rika called as she began to walk away from England's version of the dimwit duo, Renamon phasing out of view a second later.
"Well, if you'd just show me how to use those modify cards I'd be able to make him a little faster!" the boy replied, running to catch up with the redhead.
"Do I look like a schoolteacher to you?" she replied curtly, not even bothering to turn around.
"Look, I know you hate me and everything, but think about it logically!" Takato pleaded as he leapt in front of his fellow Tamer, stopping her in her tracks. "What if there's a Bio-emergence and you're miles away? Or if you're ill? Or if you can't get away from your parents?"
"It's parent Gogglehead. Singular. And I don't get sick!" Rika spat venomously, pushing past Takato and keeping walking for a few steps before pausing as Renamon made contact with her telepathically.
"He does have a point, you know. Remember what happened in our battle with that Monochromon? You were in hospital for a week and Jeri had to handle things practically on her own. Imagine the results if Takato and Guilmon were left as sole protectors of the area in their current state…"
Rika winced as she imagined the nationwide devastation that would inevitably follow in such a scenario. "I guess it could be…useful to have more than one competent Tamer in the country…"
"Alright, Gogglehead, I'll show you how to use the stupid cards. Meet me at Guilmon's cave in half an hour - and bring some sausage rolls with you!"
Takato blinked, surprised by Rika's seemingly-spontaneous change of heart. "Great, thanks! Uh…wait, what do sausage rolls have to do with Taming?"
The redhead shook her head in exasperation and started walking again. "The sausage rolls are for eating, you moron - I'm starving!"
Takato grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Oh yeah, never thought of that…can you get back to the hideout on your own, boy?"
"Uh-huh!" Guilmon nodded excitedly before sprinting towards the tree line, making an unbelievable amount of noise as he crashed through the undergrowth.
"Could you at least try to be stealthy?" the boy called after his partner as he set off home at a much more comfortable pace. It was only as he walked in through the back door of the bakery that he realised something.
Wait a minute…how does she know where Guilmon's cave is?
Guilmon's Den, Kirkfield Park - 4:05pm
Takato frowned in confusion as he spotted Guilmon slumped dejectedly at the bottom of a large hill, just outside the concealed entrance to his den. The boy walked up to his partner, making sure to keep the bag of food he was carrying hidden behind his back.
"Hey, boy! What are you doing out here?" he asked, patting the miserable dinosaur on the head.
"Renamon threw me out 'cause Rika kept yelling at me for getting in the way…"
"Oh, right…I'll go have a word with her, see if she'll let you come back in!"
Rika turned out to be much easier to convince than Takato had anticipated. She immediately folded when Takato offered her a week's supply of free sausage rolls if she'd let Guilmon sit in on the lessons.
Damn it…I can't believe he's discovered my only weakness… the redhead thought semi-sarcastically as she munched away happily on one of the freshly-baked delights Takato had brought with him.
"Um, Rika?" the goggle-wearing Tamer mumbled nervously while glancing around the cave. Guilmon's den had a two metre high roof, was about three metres wide and extended about ten metres back into the hill. "I was just thinking…this might not be the best place to learn to use modify cards - what if one of Guilmon's attacks caves the roof in or something?"
Rika sighed and glared at the Gogglehead. "We're not gonna try it out on real Digimon yet, Gogglehead. First I'm gonna teach you how to play the card game."
"Uh, okay…why?" Takato replied as the girl reached into her backpack and took out a card reader, a large torch and two lunchboxes filled to the brim with cards.
"Mainly because the basic principles are the same as in a real battle, but also because I'm bored and feel like completely destroying someone."
"Oh, okay then…"
"Let's get started. You've got a bunch of different types of Digimon card - these are your attack cards, these are your…"
5:10pm
After a little over an hour, Takato had lost count of the number of games he had played (and lost). He had grasped the basic principles pretty quickly, but Rika was just too good for him - she used ingenious combos, devious strategies and had an irritating habit of tricking Takato into thinking he was winning before finishing him off dramatically.
"You could try going easy on me, you know?" the boy said after one particularly swift defeat.
"I am going easy on you. If I went any easier I'd just be handing you a win."
"That doesn't sound too bad to me! I wouldn't mind if I actually started getting better - if anything you've been killing me even quicker these last few games!"
Rika sighed and rubbed her temples, trying to fight off the headache Takato's loud voice was causing. "You are getting better, Gogglehead! The reason I'm killing you quicker is because you're not leaving yourself open to my blindingly obvious, longwinded and humiliating strategies anymore."
"Oh, um…thanks…I think…"
The redhead glanced at her watch and sighed. "Ah, crap…I gotta get home for dinner…"
Takato grinned and leaned back against the cave wall. "Wow, I didn't realise you enjoyed spending time with me so much!"
Rika glared at the boy, shutting him up and turning his grin into a look of sheer terror. "It's not that you moron - my mum comes back from London every Friday and I have to sit through the Spanish Inquisition about my week while we're eating dinner."
"Oh, right…so why does your mum go to London? And who do you live with when she's not around?" he asked as Rika put away her massive collection of cards.
"What's with all the questions? You stalking me or something? Or maybe those rumours are true and you are in love with me!" Rika teased, nearly cracking up as Takato's face turned as red as Guilmon's.
"What? NO WAY! I…I mean I…no! I…I'm just curious!"
"Well, save your curiosity Lover Boy. Be here at 10am tomorrow if you want more practice. And if you tell anyone apart from Brainiac that I'm training you, I'll gut you with your own shin bone!"
"Message received…"
Saturday, 18th September - 10:30am
Guilmon's Den
Takato and Rika had been playing the Digimon card game for half an hour when Guilmon began complaining that he was bored. The redhead's limited patience quickly wore thin and she eventually turned to Takato with a mischievous glint in her eye that terrified the Tamer more than anything he had ever seen.
"Gogglehead, I think it's time we moved on to using modify cards for real!" she said, a cold smirk on her face.
"Really? Awesome!" Takato exclaimed, his fear overshadowed by his excitement. "Do you hear that boy?"
"YAY! I'm gonna get moditifi…modicif…modigimo…"
"Digi-modified?" Renamon called from her vantage point outside the cave.
"YEAH! That thing!" the child-like dinosaur laughed gleefully, leapt out of his den and began running in circles. The two Tamers followed the ecstatic Digimon out of the cave, shielding their eyes from the bright sunlight.
"We need somewhere open but out of the way for this next part…" Rika said thoughtfully, peering out at the trees around them.
"I think I know a place - there's a clearing this way, come on!" Takato said before wandering off into the forest. Rika and Renamon immediately set off after him, Guilmon following when he realised he was being left behind.
When they reached the clearing, Rika took a look around. It was perfect - lots of open space, but in the middle of the forest so nobody was likely to stumble across them. There were even a couple of dead logs on the ground and a cluster of rocks which would make perfect target practice.
"Okay, Gogglehead," the redhead said in her best "all-business" tone of voice. "Renamon and I will give you a little demonstration, then you can have a try. Ready Renamon?"
"Of course," the vulpine warrior replied, phasing into existence on the ground next to her Tamer.
"Alright then, let's see…how about this one…Digi-Modify! Hyper Wing activate!"
Three pairs of glowing, bird-like wings materialised on Renamon's back, drawing gasps of wonder from Takato and Guilmon. The kitsune quickly took to the skies, weaving between the trees and performing a series of graceful aerial manoeuvres before landing back where she started, the wings disintegrating into spare data.
"That…was so…COOL!" Takato yelled excitedly and turned to Rika. "I have GOT to try that on Guilmon!"
"Not so fast! Hyper Wing takes a long time for a Digimon to master - even one as experienced as Renamon. I'd recommend starting with something a little simpler, like a speed or strength card."
"Uh, okay then…" the brown-haired boy mumbled, taking the Hyper Speed card offered to him by Rika. As he was about to slash the card through his D-Arc, he paused and glanced nervously at his fellow Tamer. "Uh, Rika…there's something that's been bugging me…"
"Spit it out, then!" she growled, wanting to get this over with.
"Um…do I have to shout the whole 'Digi-Modify' thing? I just think it'll make me look kinda…dumb…"
The redhead narrowed her eyes angrily, glaring at Takato. "Are you saying I look stupid when I slash cards?"
"N-no! I just think I won't be able to pull it off quite so well…" Takato babbled, thinking quicker than he ever had in his life.
"You're a terrible liar, Gogglehead. And yes, you do have to say the whole 'Digi-Modify' line. It's kind of an involuntary thing…you'll see what I mean when you slash the card."
"Oh, okay. In that case…Digi-Modify! Hyper Speed activate!"
Wow, she wasn't kidding! The words just shot out of my mouth as soon as I slashed the card…
Guilmon leapt into action, running around in circles at incredible speed before starting to do laps of the clearing while shouting "WHEEEE!" at the top of his lungs. After a few seconds of this, Rika handed Takato another card.
"Here, try this one!"
"Okay…Digi-Modify! Rock Armour activate!"
Guilmon stopped in his tracks as his skin turned brown then suddenly hardened. After a few seconds, the Digimon was completely encased in stone.
"Guilmon!" Takato yelped and ran over to his petrified partner. "What have I done to you, boy?"
"Oh, relax. It'll wear off in about ten minutes. Until then, let's make the most of the silence and have another card game."
The brown-haired Tamer reluctantly left the stone dinosaur and sat down next to Rika, taking the deck of cards she offered him.
"You know, Goggles, you should really get your own deck of cards. That way you'll be able to get cards of your own favourite Digimon, like your little fossil over there," the redhead smirked, pointing at Guilmon.
"Hehe, good idea. I actually have a few out-dated cards at home, but I doubt I could get a Guilmon card…" the boy replied sadly.
"So it's a rare card? You can buy them pretty cheap online, you know."
Takato gave Rika an odd look before understanding dawned on him. "It's not that it's rare, it's that aren't any Guilmon cards."
"That's impossible - every Digimon has a card! How can he not have one?"
"Because I created him," Takato explained. Seeing Rika's sceptical look he elaborated a little. "When I got my D-Arc, it scanned some drawings I made of Guilmon and created him based on the stats I made up for him. He Bio-emerged in the middle of the park the next day."
"Wait, he was born at Rookie level?" Rika looked confused for a second before an idea occurred to her. "Exactly when did he Bio-emerge?"
"Um, let me think…I think it was ten days before the fight with Airdramon, which means he was born on…August 14th!"
"You're telling me he's only a month old?" No wonder he's so childish…
"Um, yeah. Why, how old is Renamon?"
"Don't you know it's rude to ask a lady her age?" Rika smirked as Takato began to look uncomfortable.
"Actually, I am technically not a 'lady'. Digimon do not have biological genders like hum-"
"Yeah, yeah I know. You've given me this talk before remember? And I still don't believe you!" Rika rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively as Renamon gave a smirk so tiny that Takato almost missed it. "Anyway, I met Renamon about five months ago, and she'd been wandering the Digital World for years before that."
"Whoa…you've been a Tamer for five months? How are you not dead from exhaustion?" Takato gasped, shocked that anyone could keep up the routine of constant fighting for so long.
"Back in Tokyo there were four Tamers besides me, which made things a little easier…well, some of the time, anyway. Also Digimon tended to Bio-emerge between 10am and 6pm, instead of in the middle of the night."
"Four other Tamers…whoa…and to think I always assumed me and Henry were the only ones. What are they like? And what are their names?"
"Ryo is an arrogant asshole who's hardly ever around. Kazu is a useless fanboy who worships the ground Ryo walks on. Kenta's okay, I guess - a little quiet, and he needs to grow a backbone. He always follows Kazu around and acts like his little slave, which is pretty annoying. Jeri is…a good person. That's the only way I can think of describing her."
Takato nodded as he processed this new information. "Who are their partners?"
"Ryo's partnered with a Cyberdramon, Kazu with a Guardromon, Kenta with a MarineAngemon and Jeri has Leomon."
"What? They're all Champions or above! And MarineAngemon's a Mega!"
Rika grinned evilly. "Yep, and Renamon kicked all their butts at one time or another. Well, except Cyberdramon. She never got into a fight with him…" she trailed off and shuddered suddenly, looking thoughtfully into the distance and rubbing at her throat subconsciously.
"Uh, Rika?" Takato called hesitantly, a little worried by the girl's sudden space-out.
"What? I mean…" Rika coughed a little before continuing. "What do you want now? You gonna ask me even more personal questions?"
"No, it's just you looked a little…weird for a second there. Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay! Why wouldn't I be? Stupid Gogglehead…"
Takato was surprised at the venom in her voice. There's obviously something wrong…ah, well - I guess if she doesn't wanna talk about it…
A loud beeping interrupted the boy's thoughts, and he turned to see Rika pull an iPhone out of her pocket. She pressed a couple of buttons, then stared at the screen for a second before cursing loudly.
"Shit!"
"Uh, something the matter?"
"Now, what gave you that idea? OF COURSE THERE'S SOMETHING THE MATTER! My mum is bringing some big fashion magazine guy over for lunch and she wants me to be there to entertain his bratty son…" The girl groaned and buried her head in her hands.
"Ouch…anything I can do to help?"
"Got a 12 gauge shotgun I can borrow?"
"Uh, no…"
"Then you're not much use for anything, are you Gogglehead?" Rika sighed and got to her feet slowly. "I've got to go get ready. Same time again tomorrow for your lesson?"
"Yeah, sure. Do you mind if I bring Henry along?"
"Go ahead, as long as you pay me another week's worth of sausage rolls. Maybe his partner'll be slightly less annoying…"
Takato grinned as Rika said the last part. "You really haven't spent much time around Terriermon have you?"
Nonaka Residence - 3:30pm
That…was…HELLISH! Rika thought as she slumped onto her futon, exhausted from having to put up with Michael Kaidan's bratty son. The self-obsessed fashion magazine editor and his equally narcissistic offspring had stayed at the house for over three hours, two hours of which the girl had been forced to spend alone in the vile fourteen-year-old's company.
What the HELL was mum thinking? The guy was almost three years older than me, we had nothing in common, he was more stuck up than the royal freaking family - and I'm not even remotely interested in boys yet! It's a miracle I didn't KILL that slimeball! I wish she'd stop trying to set me up with strangers…or with anyone at all for that matter!
"In that case, I would recommend that you not tell your mother about the time you are spending with Takato."
Rika blinked in surprise. She hadn't even realised that she had been sending her thoughts telepathically. Damn, it's been a while since I lost control like that.
"Just what is that supposed to mean?" the redhead growled mentally, sending her thoughts on purpose this time.
"Nothing, except that Takato is the first boy that I can remember you willingly spending any real amount of time with. Your mother could easily get the wrong idea, much like you just did."
"That's ridiculous! I don't even like the stupid Gogglehead! I'm only training him so that I can have a break from kicking ass every once in a while. And I'm gonna be training Henry too, remember?"
"Yes, but you cannot tell your mother about any of that without revealing my existence."
"Good point…I'm gonna have to start coming up with some convincing lies…"
"The best lies are ones that have an element of truth in them - if she ever finds out, tell her that you are teaching them to play the card game."
"Renamon, that has got to be the most…wait a minute, you have a point…it could even come in useful as an excuse if she ever overheard me talking about a battle…"
Renamon let a small smile grace her features as she de-digivolved to Viximon. "And to think you doubted me…"
Sunday 19th September - 11:30am
I hate to admit it but…Brainiac is pretty damn good at this! Rika thought as she watched Henry lead Takato's Greymon into a devious trap. I can only think of five ways to escape from the little kill zone he has set up there, and I don't think Goggles is smart enough to spot any of them…not bad for his first day.
Henry had spent an hour battling against Rika, learning the basic principles of the game. The blue-haired Tamer had caught on pretty quickly and showed a natural flair for strategy. He did, however, have more than a little trouble with visualising the battles in his mind's eye - a rather ironic weakness, considering his line of work. This meant that he often left out certain important details or scenarios when making his strategies - such as Takato using a Hyper Wing card to escape the sneak attack from Henry's MachGaogamon.
Never thought Gogglehead had it in him… Rika smirked as Takato digivolved his Vaccine-Type Greymon to the Virus-Type SkullGreymon, stealing the type advantage from Henry. One Hyper Speed card and a series of brutal attacks later, and SkullGreymon was munching on MachGaogamon's scattered data.
"Not bad, Gogglehead. I expected Henry to tear you apart with that trap, but you spotted the main flaw - he didn't plan for a flying opponent escaping his close-in attacks."
"Hehe…actually I just liked the image of a flying Greymon…" Takato lied badly, uncomfortable with the praise from the girl who terrified him.
"Takato, you really need to learn how to take a compliment…" Henry chuckled and grinned at his friend's discomfort.
Terriermon let out a small giggle, and began to sing mockingly. "Takato and Rika, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-URGH!"
"I'M GONNA RIP YOU IN TWO YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" Rika roared as she began strangling the little dog-rabbit, only relenting when he fired a "Bunny Blast" at the wall behind the furious redhead, showering her with flying dirt.
"Gee, thanks for all the help Henry! Man, Rika, you need to mo-"
"If you say Momentai I swear to all the kami that I will rip off your horn and gouge out your eyes with it."
"…Mosey on up to the bakery? I hear they got a fresh shipment of sausage rolls…" Terriermon said, wincing as a cold smirk flickered across the girl's face.
"First of all, Goggles already paid me two weeks' supply to teach you guys. Second, they don't get shipments of food you moron - they bake it themselves. It's in the name - say it with me, now: BAKERY!"
"Anyway…" Takato interrupted, trying to steer Rika's attention away from the dangerously irritating green-and-white bundle of sarcasm that was Terriermon. "Where did you learn to play cards, Rika? You must have had a good teacher…"
"I had the best - myself."
"Wait, you taught yourself? How did you learn all those strategies and combos?" Henry piped up, a look of respect on his face.
"I made most of the strategies up myself, and used common sense and my imagination to figure out the combos. Anything else came through experience."
"Whoa…you said they had card competitions back in Japan, right? Did you ever enter one?" Takato asked.
"Rika entered as many tournaments as she qualified for every year. You are looking at the four-time Japanese national champion of the Digimon Card Battle Game," Renamon's voice called from outside, tinged with more than a little pride.
"Great, why don't you just go ahead and tell them the colour of my underwear while you're at it?" Rika sent, her mental voice tinged with annoyance.
"The way that you are sitting, I'm pretty sure Terriermon has a good view of that anyway…"
Sure enough, as she had sat down in the spacious cave, Rika's shirt had ridden up and her jeans had ridden down, revealing a line of violet waistband sticking out above the girl's belt. Rika humphed and adjusted her position, hiding the offending clothing before meeting Takato's awed stare.
"What, you think I signed my name as 'The Digimon Queen' just for kicks? I had to earn that title, you know!" she growled, enjoying the fear that flashed across Takato's face.
"Wow, you really weren't kidding when you said you had the best teacher…" Henry joked.
"Damn straight! Okay, I gotta get home, but before I go you might as well try using a modify card on Terriermon - here, use this…" the redhead said, trying to repress a sadistic grin as she handed the blue-haired Tamer the card.
"Okay…Digi-Modify! Rock Armour activate!"
"Why didn't I think of that an hour ago?"
Guilmon's Den - 1:15pm
Takato groaned as he lost his fifth game in a row to Henry. The half-Chinese Tamer had learned from his mistakes, and had quickly started tearing Takato to shreds in practically every game they played. The pair were playing with spare card readers and cards that they had borrowed from Rika in return for a third week of free sausage rolls. Damn it! At this rate I'll be neck-deep in debt by the time I'm thirteen! I'm gonna have to get Henry to start paying for half of Rika's supplies…
"WOOHOO! Go Henry! Who da man? WHO DA MAN?" Terriermon whooped as he began dancing on top of his Tamer's head, only to be silenced by a quick knuckle-rap to the head from the blue-haired boy.
"Terriermon…"
"Momentai! Takatomon's gotta be used to it by now!"
Henry sighed and shook his head gently, causing his partner to lose his balance and fall painfully to the floor. "One of these days I'm gonna have to teach you the meaning of the word 'tact'…"
"He does have a point, though," Takato laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "You've beaten me in practically every game we've played, and we've been at it all day. I think I need a break. And maybe something to eat…"
As the last sentence left Takato's mouth, the gently-snoring form of Guilmon suddenly sat bolt upright and opened its eyes. "Food?" he said hopefully, gazing at his Tamer with his best 'puppy-dog' eyes.
"Wow, Takatomon had a good idea…" Terriermon said sarcastically as his stomach rumbled noisily. "I need to get some food soon or I'm gonna pass out!"
"And that would be such a shame…" Henry grinned, picking up his diminutive partner.
"I'll head back to the bakery and grab some stuff for us. What do you guys want?"
Takato immediately regretted his display of goodwill as Guilmon and Terriermon launched into seemingly-endless lists of the food they wanted. Their excited rambling was only interrupted several minutes later by an incessant beeping coming from Takato and Henry's digivices.
"Uh-oh - a Bio-emergence signal! Looks like you're gonna have to work for that feast, boy!" the goggle-wearing Tamer joked as he leapt out of the den, following the arrow on his D-Arc's holographic compass.
Takato's D-Arc led the group to the clearing where Rika had petrified Guilmon the previous day. A thick cloud of fog extended five metres beyond the edge of the clearing in every direction.
"Wow, this isn't good…I've never seen a Digital Field as big as that!" Henry gasped, fear plain in his voice.
"Yeah, I don't wanna think about what could make a cloud that big…" Terriermon said from atop his Tamer's head and shivered, equally worried.
"Come on guys - whatever it is, he's no match for Guilmon! And anyway, even if we do get into trouble, Rika and Renamon are nearby, remember?" Takato grinned confidently, trying to reassure his friends.
"Yeah, anyone who isn't scared of those two needs their head checking out!" Terriermon laughed until a knuckle-rap from Henry shut him up.
"Terriermon…let's just get in there before we come to our senses," Henry joked and walked cautiously forwards into the Digital Field, Takato and Guilmon following close behind.
"Whoa, creepy…" Takato mumbled as the group made their way through the mist-shrouded trees into the clearing itself. Terriermon began whistling a funeral march, but stopped when they caught sight of their opponent stood on the far side of the clearing.
It was massive - at least eight feet tall. The Digimon could have easily been mistaken for an oversized gorilla were it not for the massive minigun replacing its right hand.
"Why did it have to be BlackGorillamon?" Terriermon sighed, unwittingly drawing the massive ape's attention.
"You couldn't have just kept quiet for five more seconds, could you?" Henry yelled as BlackGorillamon levelled his arm cannon at the group. They scattered as a hail of bullets shredded the ground they had been standing on half a second earlier.
"Ah, would you just momentai and MODIFY ME ALREADY?" the diminutive Digimon yelled in his Tamer's ear angrily, startling the boy into action.
"Digi-Modify! Hyper Speed activate!"
"OH YEAH!" the dog-bunny cheered as he leapt at his attacker. "Terrier Tornado!"
As the small green tornado rocketed at BlackGorillamon, the ape merely raised his gun arm and swung it, hitting Terriermon through the air like a baseball. The little Digimon slammed into a tree with bone-breaking force, landing in a fortuitously-placed patch of stinging nettles. With a grin, the black-furred Digimon pointed his arm cannon at the now-concussed Terriermon, the motors whirring as the barrels cycled up to full speed.
"Digi-Modify! Hyper Wing activate!" Takato yelled from the ape's right and Guilmon leapt into the air as three pairs of glowing wings materialised on his back. The red dinosaur slammed into his opponent's face, knocking the massive Digimon back a step before he levelled his cannon at the flying saurian.
"Takatomon! I can't stooooooop!" Guilmon yelped as he narrowly dodged a volley of bullets. The child-like Digimon was out of control - he kept ricocheting off of tree trunks every few seconds. Ironically, his erratic flight path was the only thing that kept him from being reduced to mincemeat by the bullets being fired at him. Guilmon's luck ran out as BlackGorillamon's next shots tore through his wings, reducing them to spare data and sending the saurian crashing to the ground with a yelp. The dinosaur leapt to his feet quickly, taking cover behind a small pile of rocks.
Damn, Rika wasn't kidding about that Hyper Wing card… Takato thought as he searched for a useful card. The boy started to panic when he couldn't find anything useful, and ended up fumbling and dropping the deck.
"Damn it!" he cried as he tried to gather up the scattered cards.
"I hate to borrow a line from Rabbitmon, but you need to momentai Gogglehead!" a familiar voice called from behind the Tamer. He stood up and turned around, grinning as he realised who had spoken.
"Rika! Boy, am I glad to see you - Guilmon's in trouble, you gotta help him!"
"No."
"WHAT? What do you mean 'no'?"
"I mean no. I can't keep holding your hand forever, you know! You're gonna have to win this on your own."
"PLEASE! He's gonna get pulverized out there!"
"No, he's not. Because you are gonna snap the hell out of it and look at those cards again. You already have exactly what you need right there in your hand."
The goggle-wearing Tamer looked at the cards in his hand, seeing a WarGreymon card, a Seed of Health card and a Strength card. It's all useless - WarGreymon's shield is way too heavy for a Rookie to lift. Wait a second…if I use the Strength card, then WarGreymon…
"ARGH! I'm so STUPID! How did I not see that before?" he yelled in frustration, taking the two cards he needed.
"Because you were too busy panicking to think straight!" Rika snapped, crossing her arms and leaning against a tree.
"Alright, here we go…Digi-Modify! Strength activate! WarGreymon's Brave Shield activate!"
A massive golden shield materialised in Guilmon's hands as he felt an incredible burst of strength flow through his limbs. The red dinosaur leapt out from cover and charged at BlackGorillamon, using the shield to protect himself from the hail of bullets. The ape quickly switched tactics – the multiple barrels of his minigun fused into a single larger one and a golden glow began to suffuse his arm cannon as he called out his most powerful attack.
"Battle Cannon!"
Guilmon leapt forwards, pressing his shield against the barrel of the cannon just as BlackGorillamon fired. The energy bolt detonated before it could leave the barrel, tearing the cannon to shreds in a blaze of golden light and reducing its owner to free-floating data. Guilmon didn't absorb the data, leaving it for the wounded Terriermon, who was currently trying to talk around a mouthful of nettles.
"Oh, gy aching heg. What the…I can'th theel gy dung. HERRO? CAN THUMGOGGY SHWIKE A SHEEG OB HEALTH CARG?"
Henry did as his partner asked, only to collapse howling with laughter as the rabbit tried to talk again.
"Ah, nuck gekker. GAH! I SHTILL can'th theel gy dung! HENRYYY!"
"Wow, today really couldn't get any better could it? I don't need to babysit Gogglehead anymore, Rabbitmon can't talk…" Rika said sarcastically, smirking at Terriermon's angry glare.
"Rika…only you could pull an insult from the jaws of victory…" Henry sighed, handing an armful of dock leaves to his furious partner.
"I'm back," Rika typed into the text box of her instant messaging program.
"How did it go?" the reply came within a few seconds
"Piece of cake. Guilmon was getting his butt whipped by a BlackGorillamon and Goggles was having a panic attack when I arrived. I had to give him a…pep talk before he realised he was holding the perfect card combo."
" 'Pep talk'? You didn't hit him did you?"
"No, I didn't hit him…" Rika typed with a sigh.
"Oh, good. Wait a minute - I thought u said they didn't know how 2 use modify cards?"
"I've been teaching them how to play the card game and use cards in battle since Friday."
"Awww…is my 'ickle Rika making some new friends?"
"Jeri, if you ever do that again I swear I'll fly all the way back to Japan just to kick your ass!" the redhead replied with an angry growl.
"…Yes ma'am…"
"And no, I'm not making friends. I can barely stand to be in the same room as them."
"So…why are you doing it then?"
"It was Gogglehead's idea, and Renamon convinced me to go along with it. This way we have some backup Tamers in case I get run over by another Monochromon."
"Yeah, that was a RUFF couple of weeks…" came the reply after a few seconds and Rika let out another irritated sigh as she quickly typed her own answer.
"You just typed that with the sock puppet didn't you?
"…Maybe…"
"Next time please don't use such a horrible pun."
"Okay…Damn it I have to go. My dad realised I was still on the computer."
"You're gonna have fun getting up for school tomorrow…"
"Yup. See ya! Xxxxxxxxxx"