I promised a fight and I will fulfill that promise. I hope to reawaken some of the Digimon King's old skills. After all, this boy, the Legendary Tamer, should demonstrate why he is the only one to beat Rika. He may not have his memories, but some things come naturally to people. Besides, he is already beginning to remember some of his past (though the memories dealing with Milleniummon and his "old friends" will be harder to recall for him and Monodramon than those that occurred afterwards). I predict by the rate that this story is going so far, it will be longer (and hopefully better) than "Destiny" was. Not that I didn't like that story, but I think that my writing has improved since then. Now, on to Ryo!
"Okay, that's Vilemon," indicated DemiDevimon through the undergrowth. "All you need to do is beat him."
"Any suggestions on how?" growled Monodramon, eyeing his opponent warily. "You said it's a champion."
The creature was currently drowsing on a boulder in the shade of the forest. His appearance certainly matched his name. His body was covered in charcoal fur with yellow claws. Long fangs jutted out of his mouth. Wings attached to his back, but seemed too small to support the diminuative creature. On top of his head was spiky red hair and a patch of white fur decorated his chest. Faint scar marks ran across his eyelids. He ended up looking like a mixture between a vampire bat and a monkey.
DemiDevimon rolled his eyes and then addressed the human, "Look, do you have a deck of cards or anything like that in your pockets? If you do, you can use those to help your friend, Ryo. Go ahead, kid, and check."
The tamer knew what the bat was talking about, having found the cards when he was younger. He didn't know why he possessed them at the time, any more than he understood the reason he owned a D-arc before he met DemiDevimon, but Ryo still kept them. He pulled out the deck and showed the virus type.
"If you slide a card through your D-arc, it does different things," explained the bat. "Monodramon can gain power or speed or really good aim or other stuff."
"How do you know that?" asked the boy.
He answered, "I've seen them be used before." The small rookie shuddered as he remembered the hat-wearing boy use his "Seek and Destroy" card to find the right target. "Just be careful. I don't want you dead again. Can't help anyone from beyond the grave."
The boy flipped through the cards, not wondering why he could apparently read the writing, and selected one. "I think this should work. Ready?"
"Whenever you are, Ryo," nodded Monodramon.
The vaccine type ran towards the sleeping creature. As the reptilian digimon drew near, his partner slashed the card.
"Digi-Modify! Power Activate!"
The purple creature leapt into the air and came down on Vilemon, shouting, "Beat Knuckle!"
The champion cried out in surprise, pain, and anger as the boulder he was on cracked with the force. Vilemon struggled upright after the blow, his eyes glaring around. His pupils were sky-blue, but the surrounding area that should have been white in color was bright red. The virus type appeared to be extremely ticked off.
"Alright, whoever interrupted my nap is going to pay," he growled. His oddly colored eyes locked on Monodramon. "You? Do you have a death wish?"
"Not really, shrimp," grinned the rookie, enjoying the flood of power the card had provided.
Vilemon's expression morphed to one of pure fury, "Don't call me 'shrimp'! Demon Darts!"
Ryo selected another card, moving on instinct and forgotten memories rather than conscious thought. "Digi-Modify! Hyper Speed Activate!"
In addition to his left over power, Monodramon gained enough speed to dodge the darts that the champion fired. Continuing, the rookie became essentially a battering ram and slammed the virus type with his enhanced strength and velocity. Disoriented by the blow, Vilemon didn't see the next attack either.
"Cracking Bite!"
Screaming at the pain and indignity of being in the reptile's mouth, he retaliated with a cry of "Demon Scratch!"
Startled by the assault, the yellow claws having raked across his muzzle, Monodramon spat the champion out. The purple being growled softly at the angry virus. While the rookie possessed type advantage, Vilemon was a level stronger. The smart thing would have been to avoid the battle in the first place. But DemiDevimon wanted this digimon destroyed and Ryo wanted to help. Thus, the purple creature would have to win. Besides, his tamer was giving him a real advantage.
And Vilemon's temper was the guy's disadvantage.
"You're such a tiny problem," teased the vaccine. "I'm surprised no one's dealt with a pest like you already."
"Stop calling me 'tiny'!" the champion shouted, flinging himself at the vaccine.
Ryo called, "Digi-Modify! Angemon's Fist of Fate Activate!"
Vilemon didn't even have time to react as an champion angel attack consumed him. As he vanished, DemiDevimon flew over and began to absorb the data.
"Great work, guys," complimented the bat-like digimon. "I'm impressed. One down, four more to go. Next up is a real charmer called LadyDevimon. We'll have to go to another level of the digital world to find her." His yellow eyes seem to glint dangerously. "But I have faith in your skills. We'll regain my power and avenge your deaths soon."
Mitsuo Yamaki leaned against one of the buildings that made up the village and stared at the smooth lake surface. The interior of the building was too short for his comfort, but the ceilings were made with Floramon's height in mind rather than a grown man. It only made sense that he was too tall for them. Still, the flowery digimon were hospitable hosts, offering food and a place to stay for the weary travelers. Strangely, he, Suzie, nor the digimon were hungry before the food was offered. Lopmon explained that you ate in the digital world because you want to, not because you need to. And the brown rabbit had been correct so far, so he trusted she was right.
He grinned softly to himself. Trusting a digimon. The idea once was completely beyond his ability to even contemplate as a possibility for him. He used to have trouble accepting them as actual living beings. Now, he took advice from one, was partnered with another one, and currently stood in a village of digimon without (much) concern all because a girl talking about "prophecies' and "destiny" told him to. When did he change so far? When she gave him a D-arc? When he agreed to give the tamers better control when dealing with digimon, even knowing that he would need to hide this from his superiors and try to minimize the knowledge of their power within Hypnos? Not that the rumors didn't spread anyway, but he still maintained they were only "specialists" that he took advantage of, just as the Monster Makers were expert advisors in the technological part. He was permitted to make use of specialists in a specific field in order to accomplish a goal. Until he could develop a better idea, like suggesting they join Hypnos officially as the aged. Maybe he changed when the D-reaper arrived and he was forced to stand aside. Or maybe his views began to alter when he was fired. When did he start to change?
"Yay!" squealed Calumon, gliding by the man's head. "Swimming! Swimming! Splash!"
The adult tamer shook his head as the hyper creature dropped into the lake. Did he never get tired of being overly happy? Even when everything goes wrong, the tiny white digimon kept right on going. After all, they were in the digital world and the others were gone, and Calumon was still excited. He didn't even seem worried that they had no way to find Ryo.
"Please explain now," frowned Yamaki. "We were told that Ryo Akiyama and his partner, Monodramon, were here. Start at the beginning, if you would."
Floramon sighed, "A short time ago, a digi-egg was left in my possession by a hooded stranger. She asked me to care for the digi-egg and those who came from it. Two beings emerged in time from inside. One was a digimon, Ketomon, and the other was a human. I guarded and helped raise the pair as requested. I never told them where they came from nor that Ryo was human; they don't remember their past anyway."
"You're Wyo and Monodwamon's mommy," suggested Suzie.
"I supposed I did fulfill that role," the digimon agreed slowly. "I, and the rest of the village, treated them as we would any other young digimon. We knew someone would come for them someday, so we were trying to keep them safe and well until them."
"You claim neither remember their past,' the adult tamer remarked.
Lopmon explained, "Often when a digimon is reborn as a digi-egg, they might lose some or all of their memories. They may later regain some memories or they could be gone forever. A digimon can hatch from a digi-egg and essentially be a new digimon than their previous life."
"They don't wemember?" asked Suzie. "They don't wemember me?"
Floramon shook her head, "I'm sorry, they don't. But as time passed, they grew more adventurous and curious. Now, they've wandered off into the forest and we can't find them. You are the only ones we've located so far."
"I see," sighed the blond man heavily. "So we have no way to locate him. On the one hand, we can search the forest blindly and hope to locate the boy. On the other, we could attempt Lopmon's idea of seeking assistance from the Digimon Sovereign in finding them and hope that he is feeling benevolent towards humanity. Or we could remain here and wait for the other tamers to rejoin us. In addition, it is possible that Ryo and Monodramon could return here. I believe that, for now, the smartest decision would be to remain. If it is alright, Floramon."
"Of course," she assured. You are welcome for as long as you wish to remain. Come inside. There is food if you would like some."
"Goodie!" laughed Calumon. "Food! New friends and yummy food!"
"Excuse me, sir, but does this belong to you?" an amused voice asked, pulling the man's attention away from his thoughts.
A large, red, fin-like structure was wrapped around a dripping wet Calumon. The red structure was attached to a serpentine green creature that rose out of the lake surface and ended in a yellow head. Blue eyes studied the man as he released the in-training digimon to Yamaki.
"Hi again," giggled Calumon. "Seadramon is fun. Do you want to come swimming too?"
"I believe I'm done with your antics for today, small one," the aquatic digimon remarked. "You and your friend," he nodded at the adult, "can try again tomorrow, maybe. Just warn me next time. It is rather startling to have someone dive right on top of you, after all."
Seadramon then slid his long body beneath the surface of the water. The only evidence left behind was a soaked Calumon still laughing about the whole event, and a surprised Yamaki, who wondered what else was hidden just out of sight.
"I think I have a battle plan," remarked Mr. Olkowski, covering a yawn with his hand. "After researching all night, I have a few ideas of how to keep Hypnos out of their direct control, at least temporarily, but it won't be easy. One problem that still exists that they'll try to take advantage of: our children."
The tired lawyer was currently addressing a smaller group than had been present the night before. Mrs. Katou and Mrs. Wong eventually left with their remaining children so that they could sleep and had not returned yet. Rumiko Nonaka presently was attempting to reschedule today's photoshoot, with mixed results. All she'd succeeded in so far was to push it back a few hours. The Matsuki pair depended on their bakery for their livelihood, so they'd returned home for to run the shop. Doubtless, one would return later during a lull in business to check in. Riley, Tally, and the Monster Makers were running off coffee, but were still present. Mrs. Shioda and Mrs. Kitagawa volunteered to call the schools about the absence of the children, Kazu's mother used to dealing with the administration.
His audience was essentially his wife, a couple of the Monster Makers currently on break, including Janyu Wong, Riley, Tally, Mr. Katou, a distracted Rumiko on a cell phone, and newly arrived Seiko Hata, who was the maternal grandmother of one of the tamers. Honestly, he should be headed for work for the day already, but he'd called in early to claim he was dealing with a family emergency (true enough) and his partners had shuffled around his workload to cover for him. Mr. Olkowski really owed them big after this.
"They'll see the children's involvement in this matter as evidence that Mr. Yamaki is unfit to make decisions regarding Hypnos," nodded Seiko. "Even if we know that Rika and the others are responsible and would continue with their actions regardless of what we say," her eyes crinkled with amusement at the thought of the willful nature of the tamers, "the idea of the younger generation taking control too soon always worries those who cannot adapt to a changing world."
He agreed, "They'll claim he had no right to allow the children to be involved. They'll say Yamaki could have and should have prevented their involvement. By allowing them to continue, and even assisting them in their 'vigilante' routine, Yamaki could be viewed as failing in his job. He is supposed to keep digimon activity under control. That includes digimon battles fought by the tamers. Hypnos is supposed to handle all digimon."
"And the only reason why the kids' partners have been left alone is because of the whole 'D-reaper incident,'" sighed Janyu. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be surprised if they would have put a tracking collar on all of them. If they were even allowed to come back at all."
"Exactly. Yamaki is really pushing his luck," explained the lawyer. "He's only been able to keep the wolves off his trail this long, from what I can tell, because of the loyalty of enough key members of his staff, the popularity of the kids with other members of Hypnos because of them saving the world, the faintness of the rumors that are circulating, and the fact Miss Suzuki does not make herself well-liked even to her superiors. Still, he'll need to strengthen his position if he wants to stay in charge here."
"He's risking his career just to make sure he doesn't make the same mistakes and that those with the best knowledge deal with the situation," smiled Riley. "That man never ceases to amaze."
Mr. Olkowski noticed the technician's expression soften as she considered her absent boss. The brown-haired woman obviously felt something for Yamaki beyond a normal employer-employee relationship, but the lawyer didn't know enough to tell if it was friendship… or something more.
"If we want to keep control of Hypnos out of the hands of strangers, before and after Yamaki's return, it'll take some work," he concluded. "Specifically, we'll have to make some decisions concerning our children's futures. But if we do this, we might be able to lessen a few problems. I only hope that it is the right choice."
"What do you have in mind?" asked Mr. Katou.
Da-dah-DA! (dramatic music) I thought I'd elaborate a little on Yamaki somewhat. After all, even if he kept that idiot from ripping apart the human and digital world after he was fired and was returned to the government "good books," they still wouldn't be happy with his decision to let the kids be in charge dealing with bioemerged digimon. Thus, he would try to keep that knowledge limited as best he could. Most members of Hypnos would think they were just working for Yamaki (but are likely suspicious). Luckily, the home team has a lawyer on their side and they can hopefully find a way to keep the idiots at bay.