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.
Just a quick note: with the introduction of the Babel 2.0 system in the last chapter I'm going to pretty much abandon the use of underlining to denote Japanese speech. I may occasionally use it where appropriate (i.e. - when some people present don't speak Japanese and don't have access to Babel).
Chapter Fourteen: Deva
Digital World, Desert Level - Day Cycle - Time and Date Unknown
"Keep moving! We're almost there!" a well-tanned Japanese boy of about fourteen with short brown hair shouted from atop a ten foot tall bipedal dragon clad in sleek black armour.
"Going…as fast…as I can…" gasped a slightly taller silver android that looked like it had been patched together from spare parts. "Kazu…recharge me…please?"
The visor-wearing Japanese boy riding on the robot's back nodded and quickly swiped a recharge card through his black-ringed D-Arc. "Dude, you really need more exercise…"
"As I am not organic, that would be rather pointless," Andromon replied and quickened his pace before launching into a longwinded explanation of why robots are unable to benefit from exercise.
"Any excuse…" a ten foot tall humanoid lion wearing a pair of tattered jeans interrupted with a chuckle. "Are you okay back there, Jeri?"
"I'm fine…" squeaked a rather queasy-looking Japanese girl in a green dress with short, brown hair as she struggled to hold on to her partner's mane. "Look, there's the crater!"
As the eclectic group skidded to a halt next to a large crater, Andromon fell to his knees in a flash of light and was replaced with a smaller, more primitive looking spherical robot with armour the colour of rust. "I need a better battery…" Guardromon moaned as his partner swiped another recharge card.
"Don't worry, chumley - we made it! All we need to do is get on the Ark and…where's the Ark?"
"Oh, no…" Ryo moaned as he pulled out the PDA-like communication device Yamaki had given him. "We're twenty minutes early - the Devas will be on top of us long before the Ark gets here!"
"Is there anything we can do?" Jeri asked hopefully, glancing back at the rapidly-approaching dust cloud on the horizon. "Maybe if you contact Yamaki…"
"That thing has never worked before - why would it work now?" Kazu complained.
Suddenly, the communications device let out a series of beeps and a tinny voice erupted from the speakers. ["…can you hear me? This is Yamaki to Digital World, can you hear me?"]
"That was convenient…" Leomon noted with a grin.
"Yamaki, it's Ryo. We have a problem - the Devas are gonna be on top of us in about two minutes. We need the Ark here now!"
"Hey, what about Kenta?" Kazu complained, and glared at his idol, Jeri nodding in agreement beside him. "We can't just lea-"
["Kenta is safe,"] Yamaki interrupted via the communicator. ["He and MarineAngemon somehow managed to Bio-emerge at Rika's school in England. I assume this means you did not receive my previous message?"]
"Ouch…I'd have preferred the Devas…" the visor-wearing Tamer joked.
"We received the part about the Ark," the eldest Tamer explained as he shot a quick glare at Kazu. "The second half of it got lost in transit. Now, can you get the Ark here sooner or not?"
["Alright, the Ark is not an option, but we do have a plan to get you out of there. You might want to brace yourselves - this could get a little bumpy…"]
"Just how bumpy are we talking here?" Jeri asked, flinching as the ground began to tremble and a strong wind picked up. "Oh, that bumpy."
A series of glowing green cracks began to appear in the dusty earth beneath the Tamers' feet as a sound like tearing cloth echoed through the desert. Suddenly, the cracks flared white and the ground collapsed from under the exhausted group, revealing a swirling green vortex beneath the earth. Humans and Digimon screamed as one as they were sucked into the portal along with a copious amount of digital debris.
Friday 22nd October - 11:59pm Local Time (2:59pm English Time)
HYPNOS Command Centre, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo
"The portal is active, power levels stable…and the Tamers are in!" a blonde-haired woman wearing a white jumpsuit and a complex headset called. "Projected emergence point is on the roof of the…wait a minute…I'm getting some power fluctuations! They're being scattered!"
"Try using MAELSTROM to compensate!" a blonde-haired man wearing a black suit and square sunglasses growled.
"I'm trying…locking on…damn it! It's no use, the modified tracer program has been destroyed. I can't get a lock."
"What were their last known trajectories?"
"Jeri and Leomon were still on target for the roof of Tower 1, Kazu and Guardromon were headed for Shinjuku Central Park. Ryo…" the woman let a small smirk pass across her face. "Let's just say Kenta's gonna have some company."
Nonaka Residence - 3:04pm
Rika sighed contentedly and closed her eyes as the deluge of hot water rained down on her body, washing away the troubles of the day. Nothing like a hot shower… she thought idly as she squeezed a blob of shampoo into her hands and began washing her hair. God, I'm glad it's half term. A whole week off school! I could really do with a week of rest and relaxation…not that I'm likely to get it. After a few minutes, the girl yawned and opened her eyes again, frowning in confusion at what she saw.
That's weird…it never usually gets that steamy in here. Did I forget to open a window or something?
The redhead switched off the shower and pulled back the curtain, reaching out with her left hand to grab a towel from the rack. As her hand closed around the soft fabric, she flicked her head to the side to clear her vision of the long strands of hair obscuring it, only to scream in surprise and leap behind the curtain as she looked up into a pair of panicked, azure eyes.
"RENAMON!"
Minutes Later
"Rika, I'm really, really sorry…" Ryo apologized as he pressed a bag of frozen peas against the lump on the back of his head, rubbing idly at the large red handprint on his left cheek as he did so.
"Save it," the now fully-clothed redhead growled in reply with a light blush.
Rika, Ryo and Monodramon were all sat around the small, round wooden table in the kitchen. The girl's grandmother had dragged them all down there to treat the wounds Rika and Renamon had inflicted on Ryo and his partner before she left to try and call HYPNOS. Kenta and MarineAngemon were stood (or hovering) behind Rika looking highly confused, as nobody had decided to explain the situation to them yet.
"It's not like we wanted to Bio-emerge in your bathroom!" Monodramon whined, his voice having taken on a distinctively nasal quality thanks to the wads of cotton wool stemming the tide of blood flowing from his broken snout. "I don't get why you humans are so sensitive about that 'naked' stuff anyway. I mean, it all looked okay to me."
"What?" Rika growled, blushing furiously and reaching out to grab the frying pan on the stove next to her as Kenta fought to suppress a burst of laughter.
"GAH! I thought that was a compliment!" the little purple dragon yelped as he ran for the door, narrowly ducking the pan as the girl threw it at his head.
"Rika, I've managed to get through to HYPNOS!" Seiko called.
"Okay, thanks grandma," she replied and stood up, heading for the living room and picking up the phone. "Yamaki, what the HELL are you playing at?"
["I assume this means that Mr Akiyama arrived safely…"] the man replied dryly.
"Yes he arrived you moron! He appeared in my house about ten minutes ago. Why did you send him here?"
["We didn't have a choice in the matter. Are he and his partner both intact?"]
"Apart from the beating me and Renamon gave them, yeah."
["Rika, why did you…on second thoughts, I don't want to know. It will take us a while to sort out a way to get everyone back to Japan - can Ryo and Cyberdramon stay at yo-"]
"Oh, no you don't! I've already got the Sandworm living in my basement - I can't deal with Mr Perfect too! And it's Monodramon - he de-Digivolved when they Bio-emerged."
["I don't even want to know where Kenta got a nickname like tha-"]
A familiar loud, insistent beeping interrupted the man and Rika looked at her D-Arc to see a Bio-emergence alert. The girl grinned and quickly threw the phone to her grandmother, running for the door.
"Gotta go, grandma!" she called as Renamon phased into existence next to her, a smirk gracing her golden-furred features. "Digi-Modify! Digivolution activate!"
"Wait for us!" Ryo, Kenta and Monodramon shouted as they ran to catch up with the rapidly-moving redhead.
"Pipipuhpipi!"
Kirkfield Park - 3:21pm
"That's a big one…" Takato mumbled as he stared at the Digital Field.
"Uh-huh," Guilmon nodded beside him, equally awestruck by the massive cloud of fog.
It was easily the biggest Digital Field they had ever encountered, dwarfing even IceDevimon's gargantuan ice dome. It enshrouded a large clearing and an enormous chunk of the surrounding forest near the outskirts of Kirkfield Park, the far edges encroaching onto Rika's property.
"Well, here goes nothing…" the goggle-wearing Tamer sighed, trying to repress the rising tide of fear he felt. "You wanna Digivolve for this one, boy?"
"Yes please, Takatomon!" his saurian partner growled as the boy drew the necessary card and slashed it, encasing the saurian in a glowing red Data Sphere.
"Digi-Modify! Digivolution activate!"
DIGIVOLUTION
"Guilmon, Digivolve to…Growlmon!"
The two-storey tall dinosaur snarled and sniffed the air cautiously as he stomped forwards into the Digital Field, his Tamer following behind him. The interior of the Field was mistier than normal, making it hard to see anything more than a vague outline of the area. The draconic Digimon stopped near the centre of the clearing and growled hungrily.
"I smell him, Takatomon…he's strong. Stronger than anything we've ever fought before."
"Okay, keep your eyes peeled and your claws ready. If we keep a cool head we should be able to take him down no problem."
"Your overconfidence shall be your undoing…" a voice growled in Takato's ear and the boy span on his heel to see…nothing.
"What the…who's there? Come out and show yourself you coward!" he shouted with false bravado. Great, now I sound like someone from a bad fantasy film.
"As you wish…Samurai Tiger Tail!"
A purple and yellow blur flashed across the Tamer's vision and Growlmon roared in pain as something smashed into his right side. The dinosaur was sent toppling to the ground as an evil chuckle rang through the clearing.
"Growlmon! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Takatomon. Boy, I'm gonna need a lot of peanut butter after this fi-"
"Samurai Tiger Tail!" the voice interrupted as the blur smashed into Growlmon again, this time striking him just behind his left eye. The saurian was sent crashing to the ground with a yelp as his opponent landed, allowing Takato to get his first good look at their attacker.
The Digimon looked like the unfortunate offspring of a tiger, a parrot and a Viking longship. Its body was basically feline in shape, with purple-striped golden fur and a red neckerchief tied around its neck. Its forelegs were clad in purple bracers, while a pair of bird-like wings protruded from its shoulders. The top half of each wing was covered in striped fur, while the bottom half was made up of snow-white feathers. Finally, attached to the top of each of its four legs were four purple and silver round shields, a vicious spike protruding from each one. Takato pulled out his D-Arc and scanned the feline, feeling his fear increase tenfold as he read its statistics.
Name: Mihiramon
Level: Ultimate
Attribute: Data
Note: One of the Twelve Devas
Special Attacks:
Armoured Tiger Tail
Samurai Tiger Tail
Tiger Wing Blades
"He's an Ultimate? Oh man, what have I gotten us into now…" he moaned as Mihiramon padded towards him.
"Hmmm…I've never tasted human before. They say it tastes like pork, but I've never had that either. What do you think you'll taste like, little boy?" the tiger chuckled and licked his lips, showing off his massive fangs.
"Um…something horrible? Please?" the boy replied, trying and failing to think of a witty comeback.
"I sincerely doubt it. Ah, well - we're about to find out!" the Deva snarled and leapt at the boy.
"Digi-Modify! Hyper Speed activate!"
"Dragon Wheel!"
Takato blinked as a streak of blue fire shot across his vision and slammed into Mihiramon mid-pounce, throwing the feline to the ground. The fire quickly dissipated to reveal a smirking Kyubimon.
"This is what passes for an Ultimate these days? My, my - standards really are slipping…" she chuckled as the tiger climbed to his feet.
"I am going to make you scream for that insult…" he growled and leapt into the air, flying at the kitsune at breakneck speed. "Armoured Tiger Tail!"
As he closed in on his vulpine opponent, Mihiramon's tail transformed into something resembling a three-part set of nunchakus. The Deva suddenly jinked to the left, somersaulting in mid-flight and striking the ground next to the fox with his tail. A powerful shockwave tore through the clearing, sending Kyubimon flying through the air like a ragdoll. She slammed into Growlmon - who had just managed to get back to his feet - with bone-jarring force and sent the dinosaur crashing back to the ground with an exasperated moan.
"What, no screams?" the tiger snarled and began circling the clearing, remaining just far enough away to be hidden by the mist.
"This isn't good…" Rika muttered and began rifling through her deck in search of a particular card. "Here we go…Digi-Modify! Target Lock activate!"
Kyubimon's eyes flashed white for a second as she gazed slowly around the treeline. Suddenly, she spun around and fanned out her nine tails, gathering ghostly blue flames around each tip.
"Fox Tail Inferno!" she called and launched the fireballs into the mist. She was quickly answered by a shriek of pain from Mihiramon. "Looks like it's you doing the screaming, kitty cat…"
"Oh, you are going to pay for that…Samurai Tiger Tail!" the Deva roared and flew at the kitsune, only to jink right at the last second and alter his target.
"RIKA!" Takato shouted as he saw the tiger flying straight at the redhead. He threw himself into her, shoulder-barging her out of the line of fire, but placing himself squarely in it.
"GOGGLEHEAD!" Rika shrieked as she saw Mihiramon's nunchaku-tail slam into the boy's solar plexus, winding him and sending him flying a dozen feet through the air. He landed hard and rolled several times, finally ending up in the foetal position at the foot of a tree. The girl quickly ran to his side, wincing as she saw the tears of pain in his eyes.
"Goggles, are you okay? Talk to me!"
"Isn't that sweet…" Mihiramon laughed as he circled the clearing again. "Don't worry, little girl - I'll put him out of his misery soon. And then you can join him."
The redhead stood up slowly, clenching her fists at her sides. A look of cold, barely-contained fury passed across her face as she drew a random card from her card holder, not noticing the fact that it changed colour to a glossy blue in her hand.
"Nobody threatens my friends," she spat as she slashed the card. "Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution activate!"
MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION
"Kyubimon, Digivolve to…"
Kyubimon shone with a bright blue light and reared up on her hind legs as a glowing blue Data Sphere formed around her. After a few seconds, the Sphere exploded outwards revealing her Ultimate form in all its glory.
"…Taomon!"
Taomon was more humanoid than even Renamon, but was still distinctly vulpine in appearance. Her face was flatter, but still covered in golden fur and her front paws had developed something approaching opposable thumbs. She was clad in purple robes with long, white sleeves and a gold-edged white tabard over the top with a Taijitu symbol emblazoned over the centre of her chest. A pair of white fin-like protrusions rose from her shoulders, each marked with a flaming Taijitu symbol, while a plain black fin rose from her head.
"You digivolved?" Mihiramon growled in surprise. "No matter, I can still destroy you with ease."
"Your overconfidence shall be your undoing," the vulpine Digimon chuckled as she drew a small, red piece of paper from her sleeve. "Talisman Spell!"
The piece of paper flashed white briefly, then fluttered harmlessly to the ground to lie at Taomon's feet, prompting a laugh from the Deva. "You call that an attack? THIS is an attack! Samurai Tiger Tail!"
As the tiger rocketed towards the kitsune, the piece of paper began to glow softly. When Mihiramon was too close to break off his attack, the spell paper flared white and a sphere of transparent energy appeared around Taomon. The feline yelped in pain as he slammed face-first into the shield, falling to the ground as a line of digital blood began trickling from his nose.
"My turn! Thousand Spells!" the vulpine Digimon shouted and pointed both of her robed arms at her opponent.
Dozens of small, red pieces of paper flew from Taomon's sleeves and slammed into the prone form of Mihiramon, exploding and eliciting a roar of agony. As the Deva tried to climb back to his feet, the kitsune let out another cry of "Thousand Spells!", this time firing the spell papers in a ring around the tiger. The papers flashed white and a glowing cord of magical energy flew from each piece, connecting to the piece of paper opposite it in the ring. Within seconds, Mihiramon was trapped in a glowing net of energy, unable to dodge as his foe readied her most powerful attack.
"Talisman of Light!" Taomon called as an oversized paintbrush emerged from her sleeve.
She quickly and expertly drew a complex symbol in the air in front of her, the ink miraculously attaching to the empty space as if it were a solid object. When the symbol was complete, the black ink began to glow white and Mihiramon's eyes widened in fear.
"NOOOOOOOOO!" he roared as a beam of pure, white light slammed into his body, tearing through him as if he were nothing more than the weakest of Rookies. Taomon didn't bother absorbing the Deva's data, leaving it for the wounded Growlmon.
As soon as the Digital Field had dissipated, Rika turned back to Takato and knelt down next to the injured boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Gogglehead, are you okay?" she asked, a surprising amount of concern in her voice.
"I'm…fine…" he croaked and nodded, still clutching his ribs. "Nothing…broken…"
"No offence, Goggles, but you're not the best judge of that. Damn it, where's Kenta when you need him?"
"Right…here…" a voice gasped from behind Rika, the speaker sounding as if he was in as much pain as Takato. "What…seems to be…the problem?"
"Goggles took a hit from Mihiramon's tail, I think you sh-"
"Mihiramon? HERE?" the green-haired Tamer shrieked in terror and began to panic. "We have to run! We have to hide! We have t-"
"SHUT UP!" the redhead shouted and slapped him hard across the face. "He's dead - Taomon took him out. Now, would you please take a look at Gogglehead's ribs?"
"Oh, sure…wait, you killed him? That guy gave Cyberdramon trouble! And who's Tao…" the boy trailed off as he finally noticed the seven foot tall wizard Digimon stood at the centre of the clearing tending to the now-de-Digivolved Guilmon's wounds. "Oh, right. Nevermind."
"Thank you!" Rika sighed as Kenta finally began to examine the wounded boy's ribs. "Wait, speaking of Cyberdramon, where the hell is he? It's not like Mr Perfect to miss out on a fight."
"Right here," a voice mumbled from behind Rika yet again, and she turned to see Ryo stagger into the clearing supported heavily by Monodramon. "It's not easy to run with a concussion, you know!"
"Oh, stop overreacting. I barely touched you!" the girl sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, what's the verdict, Doc?"
"I don't think anything's broken, but there's gonna be a nasty bruise there pretty soon," Kenta replied as he helped the goggle-wearing Tamer to his feet. "You got lucky there, Takato."
"I know," he replied and grinned weakly, then turned to Ryo. "So, this is the infamous Ryo? What're you doing in England?"
"Well, this guy Yamaki opened a dimensional portal to try and get me, Monodramon, Jeri, Leomon, Kazu and Guardromon back to Japan. Unfortunately, I'd say his aim needs a little work."
"You can say that again!" Takato chuckled, then frowned when he noticed the older boy's injuries. "Damn, you look worse than I feel. What happened to you?"
"Uh, well…" he began and glanced at Rika, both of them breaking out into simultaneous blushes.
"On second thoughts, I don't wanna know…"
A sudden series of beeps interrupted the conversation and Ryo reached into his pocket, pulling out what looked like a matt-black PDA. ["…repeat, Yamaki to Ryo, come in Ryo. Riley, are you sure this thing is working?"]
"This is Ryo, reading you loud and clear! Did the others get home safely?"
["They're all fine. We detected a Bio-emergence in your area, has it been taken care of?"]
"Yeah, Prin…I mean, Rika managed to take care of it. That's another Deva down, by the way - Mihiramon is dead."
["Excellent. Give her my congratulations. Also, when Mihiramon Bio-emerged, he did so using the channel created by your little emergency exit. He has widened the channel enough for us to send the Ark through to pick you up. ETA is one minute."]
"I'm going home? YAHOO!" Kenta cheered as he heard the news.
"Wait, what about Calumon?" Rika asked with a frown. "We need to find him and send him back with you guys. I'm pretty sure Jeri will want him back."
["There's no time. The Ark will only be able to stay in the real world for less than a minute - if he isn't on it, it'll leave without him."]
"Okay, thanks, Yamaki. Well, I guess this is goodbye!" Ryo said with a sad smile, then glanced at Rika. "At least I got the chance to say it this time…" he said in a quiet, pained voice intended for her ears only.
What the hell was that? the redhead thought with a puzzled frown. Before she could ask about the strange comment, a gale-force wind suddenly blew through the clearing as a five-metre wide ball of light appeared floating in mid-air. A pair of metal rails extended downwards from the light, hitting the ground with an audible clang. A few seconds later, a cube-shaped glass box descended slowly down the rails until it touched the floor and the doors opened with a musical chime.
"That's the Ark?" Kenta said and frowned as he stepped into the box. "It's just a big glass elevator! It even has the same crappy music!"
"Would you prefer to walk?" Ryo asked with a laugh and staggered into the Ark, Monodramon following close behind.
"Going up," a computerized, feminine voice said as the Ark's transparent doors slid closed.
"Bye, Rika! Thanks for the room!" Kenta called, MarineAngemon poking his head out of the boy's pocket and agreeing with a series of 'pi's and 'puh's.
"Catch ya later, Wildcat! Thanks for the concussion!" Ryo added with a grin as the glass box began to ascend.
"I'm gonna break your legs, Akiyama! I swear, next time I see you, you're a dead man!"
"Renamon…you were amazing out there!" Rika cheered telepathically as she walked back to her house, Takato leaning heavily on her right shoulder.
"I aim to please," the kitsune replied coolly. "I must admit, it was exhilarating to feel so much power."
"I can imagine. There's one thing that bothers me, though - what do you think Ryo meant by what he said?"
"You mean the 'Wildcat' remark? I think that was intended t-"
"Not that! I meant the whole 'goodbye' thing."
"Oh, I see…" the kitsune replied with a frown. "It may be something to do with the fact that you never actually told him you were leaving Japan. It is likely that he only found out second-hand from Jeri or Kazu long after you had left."
"You think that's it? I mean, it's not like we were friends - I hate the guy and he got on my nerves even more than Kazu. Not to mention the fact that his partner's a complete psycho who tried to kill me! Why would he be bothered about that?"
"I do not know. I still do not fully comprehend the unpredictable nature of human relationships. The interactions between Jeri and Kenta in particular tend to confuse me."
"Yeah, those two are a 'special' case. Wait a second, you don't think Ryo…likes…?" the redhead started to say, then trailed off with a dry chuckle. "Yeah, right - like that'd ever happen!"
"What's so funny?" Takato asked, oblivious to the mental conversation taking place between the two partners.
"Oh, nothing," Rika replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Man, that thought was disturbing…at least now I know what my nightmares are gonna be about for the next month!"