Prelude to the Hunt

Digital World

Lunamon was travelling back to the pier with a wide grin on her face. Ever since the appearance of the blue-haired boy she noticed Alice was always happier when he was around, and looked distracted whenever he had to leave. Curious to learn about their behaviour Lunamon did some research around the Web, and came to the conclusion the best way to get these two moving was to put them in a situation they couldn't refuse. Though she didn't get a chance to try out Digitamamon's Delights she could always book for another day, and she wanted to see if her theory about the two humans was true. In any case the pink bunny Digimon had an enjoyable couple of hours meeting with some of her friends who were in the nearby area, before returning to collect the pair.

Approaching the bay she was a little disappointed to see that Alice was standing by herself, holding the purse Lunamon gave her before fleeing the scene. I guess his time was up, the pink bunny reasoned before docking. At the sight of the boat approaching Alice turned and bowed to the maitre d', thanking him for waiting with her while Lunamon came to pick her up. As she got into the back of the boat she showed no emotion about how their lunch went, and soon they were pulling away from the pier, heading back towards their cabin.

Did the meal go well? Why isn't she saying anything? After a few more minutes of silent travelling except for the boat bouncing along the lake Lunamon couldn't take it anymore. Setting a course for the boat to travel on its own the bunny Digimon turned towards the blonde girl.

"So?" Lunamon began inquisitively, "How was the-"

SMACK!

"Ouch!" Lunamon jumped back from the blow to the head by her own purse, though it was more out of shock rather than actual pain that she exclaimed so loudly. "What was that for?!"

"That was some trick you pulled there, Lunamon," Alice said, folding her arms and giving a stern gaze to her Digimon friend, "If I knew you were going to run away I would have thrown you off the boat first!"

"Oh come on," Lunamon gave her a playful grin, "It wasn't that bad was it?"

Images flashed before her eyes of their interaction before and during the lunch, and the blonde girl could feel her cheeks burning up, looking away from her Digimon companion, "It was so embarrassing! First you went away, then I blurted some things out loud, then I thought I got the wrong end of the stick but he just went along with it anyway! Maybe he did it just to be nice but it got really awkward when it was the two of us. My only saving grace was that he managed to stay for the entire meal before he woke up! Can you imagine what it would have been like if he left halfway through the main course and I ended up eating by myself?!"

Lunamon looked at her human companion more closely. She wasn't truly angry at her, more uneasy about the entire experience. "But I thought you wanted to go on a date with Henry?"

Alice turned to her with a look of pure shock, "You…you heard that?!"

"Er, hello?" Lunamon pointed to her ears, "Have you seen these things? I was walking past the living room one day when I heard you say that."

"I was just talking to myself! Not like I ever really considered it…well I did a bit…" Alice started to play with her hair, a nervous quirk she didn't know she developed. "But in any case, I figured I'd have to at least get out of the Digital World before having to worry about that! Do Digimon even know what dating is?"

"Nope! At least I didn't, but I looked it up on the Internet-"

"Dangerous move there, Lunamon."

"-and most websites suggest that a restaurant would be the perfect place for a date! After all that's what most couples do right?"

"Sure, Henry and I are a couple…" Alice said absentmindedly before whipping round to face Lunamon, blushing heavily at what she just said, "Wait who said we were a couple?!"

"You did, just now," Lunamon winked, before giving her Human companion a reassuring look. "I've seen the way you two look at each other, how you are when you're around him. Whether you or Henry gets it first, eventually you have to see that there is something special between you two, and I know for a fact that he definitely means a lot to you."

Alice looked at Lunamon. It's amazing to think that in just a few weeks this pink bunny, who was once so formal and polite and worried about the smallest detail, was now giving her advice about boys. She started to feel calmer, comforted by the thought that after all this time she still had a friend she can talk to about the more trivial things in life.

"Thanks Lunamon," Alice gave the Digimon a warm smile, "and sorry about hitting you on the head,"

"No problem," Lunamon had a small glint in her eye, "Though you still haven't told me how the date went."

Alice looked back towards the shore where the restaurant stood. It was placed in one of the most secluded and cosy spots that she had ever seen, and the girl had to give it to Lunamon for choosing such an ideal location for a romantic meal.

"It was…nice," Alice said. As she thought about the last two hours she spent with Henry she felt something warm and content build up inside of her, and the blonde girl gave herself a small smile. "Yes, it was definitely nice."

Two days later, Human World

Henry scowled at his homework. He tried to approach the problem from one angle, then another but to no avail. Hoping a change of surroundings would help him think better the young Tamer had moved into the living room, though he soon realised that didn't improve his situation much. After a few more agonizing minutes of trying to force the numbers together into some comprehensible answer Henry let out a massive sigh, chucking his pencil onto the table in defeat.

"I remember when I was good at this," Henry said to himself, rubbing his temples to get his thoughts flowing. As he tried find a new way of attacking the problems Suzy stumbled through the door, with Lopmon following in behind her. Before she even said anything the young Tamer slumped onto the couch, headfirst into a pillow.

"Hello to you too," Henry greeted. Suzy gave a weak wave in his general direction before sitting up straight. "A long day then?"

"Tell me about it," Suzy yawned, as her Partner grabbed a cold drink from the fridge to give to Suzy, "Thanks Lopmon. Honestly 2 Bioemergences in 3 days? It feels like more hostile Digimon are crossing over each week."

"You're probably not used to it," Henry teased, causing her sister to stick her tongue out at him, "I'm sure Yamaki's gonna have you on top Tamer form in no time. Who was on your team?"

"Kazu and the new girl, Konoka. It was a Tortomon so it wasn't too bad, though they wanted me to take the lead since Yamaki saw this as a good 'training exercise'".

"Kazu and Konoka? That must have been an interesting combination."

"Well to be honest Konoka helped me the most; I think Kazu was trying to show off to her but all of Guardromon's attacks weren't doing any good with the cards that he was using. It was very flashy, but nothing much after that."

After a moment Henry decided to get back to work while Suzy relaxed on the couch and Lopmon went to find her brother. There was a peaceful calm as the two Tamers sat in their living room, with a view of the Sun setting in the distance while they were thinking about nothing and letting their minds wonder.

"Hey Henry?" Suzy asked after a minute or two, breaking the silence.

"What's up?"

"What do you think of Konoka?"

"Er…" Henry continued to scribble as he tried to form his thoughts, "She's pretty cool, I guess, why?"

"Oh nothing." Suzy took a sip of her drink as she let her brother continue with her work. "So Henry…"

"Yes, Suzy?"

"You wouldn't mind going on a date with her, would you?"

An almost audible screech could be heard as Henry halted writing down a formula.

"Where did you get that from?!"

"Well I figured if Kazu had a shot I don't see why you couldn't have a go." Suzy passed off nonchalantly.

"Suzy, you haven't done anything on my behalf did you?" Though she was only 12 years old, Henry started to feel her sister was developing a more devilish side to her.

"Come on, brother, I have a bit more faith in you than that," the younger Wong took a small sip from her cup, eyeing Henry over the rim, "so if an opportunity presented itself you would go out with her, right?"

A sudden image of long golden hair flashed across his mind, accompanied with a cosy French-styled restaurant. Before he had time to understand what those were he blurted out, "I don't think so, she's not my type."

This time it was Suzy's turn to react, half-choking at what the blue-haired Tamer said. "Not your type?!" she managed to say after a brief coughing fit, "She's smart, she's kind to others, she's student body president and not to mention drop dead gorgeous and you say she's 'not your type'?! How high are your standards?! Unless…"

Suzy crawled along the couch towards Henry, squinting at her brother as if scrutinising every detail.

"Henry Jianliang Wong," the young girl accused her brother, "You haven't gotten yourself a girlfriend and didn't tell your dear sister, have you?"

"No!" Henry said rather quickly, "And if I did why would I tell you?"

"Well someone's being defensive," Suzy smirked, ignoring Henry's question, "which means there's someone you like, am I right? Is it someone in your class? Or maybe someone in the group?"

"Hold up there, Sherlock…"

Before the inquisition could continue further their mom came through door, laden down with shopping, and mercifully called them over to help bring the groceries in.

"This isn't over," Suzy told her brother slyly. "I will find the truth!"

Henry rolled his eyes as he helped bring the shopping bags in. As the evening drew on though, his mind wondered back to the image which flashed across his mind of a blonde girl in the restaurant. The Tamer found it strange that during Suzy's interrogation that image would appear from seemingly nowhere. Even after dinner and with everyone else calling it a day, Henry still couldn't solve the puzzle.

Who is she? Henry asked himself as he lay there, waiting to fall to sleep like the rest of the house. It was a simple question with a vague answer, but he had a strong feeling that once he finds it, the girl's identity, it would mean more to him than he would have ever imagined.

Digital World

Amongst all the infinite miniverses and planes that make up the Digital World, those which are closest to the Human World are often the most desolate. While some Digimon choose to remain there, set in their old ways and succeeding in growing a community, most of their kind has chosen to seek other pastures, lands which are more suited to their species needs. Unless you knew the vast, intricate valleys that makes up the Lowest Layer someone could get lost for days on end, and possibly even disappear with no one realising until it was too late.

Therefore this was precisely the best location to carry out his interrogation. He suspected that he was close, but he needed to confirm his findings as his target was particularly well hidden. Though he looked like a seasoned traveller his appearance only served as a ruse to hide his true power. The inside of his mantle was covered in amulets, each holding a different countermeasure for any attack; his head was wrapped in a blue bandana save for a small opening, from which emitted a sinister red glow. In his left hand held the Spiritual Whip, a red blade that could deliver a devastating blow at the user's smallest discretion; his right arm was usually hidden, clothed under a sleeve decorated in amulets and leather bindings. Only in rare occasions does he ever draw his hand from under his sleeve, an action that would spell certain doom for his enemies, and right now his right hand was unsheathed, holding on to a severely damaged opponent over the edge of a canyon. Reapmon was close to his target, and he knew his capture was the final key to his puzzle.

"There have been reports that you know where they are hiding her," Reapmon said to his victim, a Vegiemon who was struggling in Reapmon's powerful grasp.

"Please…I don't know what to say…" Vegiemon whimpered as he felt the grip around him tighten.

"Do not lie to me," Reapmon growled, "my informants have led me to you, the last of whom assured me you knew everything there was about Azulongmon's domain."

"C-c-could they have been lying? M-maybe they were giving you false information."

"Unlikely. They all staked their lives on it."

The yellow vegetable Digimon struggled to gulp. He could tell that if there was any hope of a way out, maybe telling this monster what he wants would be the way to do it.

"T-there were reports that something arrived, a-about a month ago, in the Woodlands miniverse. Some say they saw DigiGnomes fly to and fro from a destination, but when they try to follow they just disappear among the trees. Even the best woodland Digimon couldn't track where they were going, a-as if they were being hidden."

"So Azulongmon is shielding her," Reapmon deduced. He turned his gaze to the Digimon in his hand. "You have done well to give this information."

"T-thank you, oh great Reapmon," Vegiemon praised pathetically, "C-can I leave now?"

"Not yet." Before Vegiemon knew what was happening he felt a sharp pain on both his sides. As Reapmon dug his claw-like hand into the round yellow Digimon he felt his power seep through his arm and into his captive. Vegiemon could feel the very data inside of him being re-written, every part of him being altered; though he tried to resist the Digimon could feel Reapmon's code overwriting that as well. It was as if the very essence of him was disappearing into nothing more than a shell of the Digimon he once was.

With a final shudder Vegiemon stopped struggling, and Reapmon put him down.

"From now own you will obey me. When I call for you you will answer. When I seek your assistance you will give willingly. If it comes forth that you will need to be sacrificed you will offer without hesitation. Is that understood?"

"Yes, master." Vegiemon replied, bowing low. From the outside nothing looked wrong; however in his eyes there was a subtle, ominous red glow, a feeling that something wasn't the same as before he met this Demon.

"Then return to where I found you. Embedded in you is a code that will persuade others to my cause. Spread it far, for the time will be soon when I will call for your aid."

With one last bow Vegiemon bounced away, eager to please his new master. Reapmon turned back, looking over the canyon and the vast expanse that makes the Lowest Layer.

"I have finally found you." The Demon Man Digimon declared, as he brought his right arm back under its sleeve. "Soon, your time in the Digital World will be over, Alice McCoy."

A/N: I've always found Reapmon to be an interesting opponent, back when he was introduced in Digimon Xros Wars/Fusion. He had a stoic quality that made him a different type of villain, one which I hope to explore more of in this story.

Apologies for the shorter chapter, but work is picking up and I didn't want such a long wait between chapters like last time. Hopefully I'll find time to work on this story, so see you soon!