I want to be a Hero, just One Last Time
Written by: Juggalomalice
Chapter 9
Free days, Tai sort of liked free days. At one point in time they were just devoted to finishing school work, now they were mostly devoted to hunting wild digimon. Agumon had left to get some hotdogs for them to eat, leaving him to plot out their remaining patrol route. He knew what the city needed was active 24 hour patrols, but 3 days a week was usually the best he could give it. As for the kids, well they thought wild digimon came maybe once a week or something. Like some kind of super sentai show. Tai grinned to himself as scanned the map before him.
"Like we're part time heroes."
The thought offered a small respite as he began to take notice of the huge amount of territory he wouldn't be able to cover tonight. Tokyo was a big city and the digivice's range only extended so far. Taking that into consideration, the thought of how many wild digimon may have managed to sneak in and hide under the radar almost frightened him. The worst part was that some digimon weren't content to just hide.
Several months ago three people were attacked and killed along the outskirts of the city. Officials thought some wild animal and wandered in from the nearby woods, but it wasn't an animal. If not for Agumon's nose there's no doubt more would have died. Sure, not all digimon were evil or violent, but recently…recently a lot of them were. Some were even almost fanatically anti-human.
Hell, last night there was a mysterious car wreck that claimed a life and injured two more. Police were blaming it on a drunk driver, but what if it wasn't? It was then that Tai thought came to him again. A thought he always pushed out of his mind, but kept returning to him like a bad copper. As he scanned the huge city map and noted all the areas he could be and the huge chunks of the city he could never be. The sheer colossal size of the city and the seeming futility of his efforts all falling down on his him and, as if the burden physically weighted down on him, he lowered his face into his hands and cradled his head.
"I can't do this anymore, not by myself," he mumbled as he reached into his pocket, searching as frantically as a man who wished no one to notice his plight could. He slowly pulled out his phone and regarded it.
"Call them, Tai. They're still your friends. One phone call and they'll all come to help. Just ask," He thought, his hand trembling as he opened up his contact menu.
A crestfallen smile crossed his face as reason once more took control of his panicked mind. That's right; he deleted all their numbers and changed his own. Self imposed isolation. It was what was best for everyone, especially for them. It kept them safe. It's not like they even had digimon anymore so they couldn't really help anyway.
"Hey Tai, what you looking at there?" Agumon's cheerful voice called from behind.
Tai quickly composed himself so that no sign of his distress was left on his face. "I was just checking my phone. I thought someone might have called me."
Agumon grinned as he handed his human partner a hotdog, "But no one ever calls you Tai. I sometimes wonder why you bother keeping that thing."
At that time, as if to prove Agumon wrong, Tai's phone vibrated once as a message appeared to signify a missed call. Both youngsters looked confusingly at the phone as Agumon looked up at Tai and said, "Tai are you a wizard?"
"No, but that was weird. It didn't ring. It was, like, as if whoever called just dialed the number and hung up before the first ring. Should I call back?"
"Don't bother. If they hung up before the phone even rang, they probably realized it was a wrong number," Agumon explained. "So what's the plan for the rest of the evening?"
Tai looked up at the orange sky and said, "It's getting late. We'll do a run by the park and if time allows we'll hit the warehouse district."
"But that's so far away. It'll be nighttime by the time we hit the park," The digimon whined.
"Yeah, but in is enroute to our last stop. Plus, there's a subway station nearby there that'll take us straight home if we can get there before eleven," Tai explained as he lead the way.
Elsewhere
Rika sat by her table as she read the message on her phone before throwing it to the side.
"I'm such an idiot."
She wasn't sure why she called him. To talk maybe, but about what she had no clue. Renamon had been missing for two days now and that had begun to bother her more than she was willing to admit. Part of her just wished someone could tell her it would be alright, but at the same time she hated the idea that she might appear weak. Asking to be coddled like that was just so childish.
"Hey Miss Sourpuss, nothing wrong with appearing childish, especially since you're a child," His voice sounded off her in mind.
"Damn it, now he's in my head!" She cursed as she laid her face on the table, finding the cool wood refreshing. She sat like that for several minutes as she thought about her situation. She would have stayed like that too if the familiar humming and blue light of her digivice hadn't caught her attention. In her anger she had thrown it in the garbage and now, within the dark room, the bluish light was even more demanding of her attention than ever before.
"No, I'm not ready yet." She whined as she placed her hands to the side of her head, but the blue light would have none of it. It continued to glow in response to a digital portal and it didn't care the least bit about her feelings.
The Park
"One, two, three, four, five…" Tai rattled on as he counted the stairs as he ascended them.
"You know, this park is close to where all those kids hang out. I wouldn't be surprised if they've already beat us to this one as well," Agumon commented sounding slightly annoyed. Not even half way to the park and the portal decided to open on them.
"True, but we still have to check it out just in case," Tai said as he turned off the path and cut across some trees in order to get to their destination faster. Already they could hear the sound of combat ahead of them, urging them to move faster. As the two pulled the foliage aside they were greeted with the sight of Renamon fighting a white winged digimon with the upper body of a woman which resembled a mythological harpy. The children watched from a small group nearby.
"Harpymon," Tai heard one of the boys say out loud. The college student simply rolled his eyes at the somewhat obvious namesake.
"Well she isn't Bird-Womon that's for sure," He scoffed.
"Hey, so you know I dated a Bird-Womon in high school," Agumon added, his snout lifted slightly into the air as if he was offended by Tai's joke.
Tai giggled as he pushed his digimon down, "You didn't even go to high school, now be quite, because this is serious."
With the humor out of their systems the two refocus once more at the situation as hand. It didn't' seem like they needed to do much though. Renamon had the situation under control, especially after she leapt into the air and delivered what looked like a 100-punch combo into Harpymon's face. The armored digimon crashed into the ground like a lead weight and Renamon stood before the collapsed figure in triumph. Tai lost interest at this point as he began to turn away. It was clear they weren't need here.
"Why isn't she delivering the killing blow?" Agumon pondered as he stared at the fox digimon's stoic figure. "Rika isn't giving any orders either."
Tai turned back briefly and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well just look," Agumon replied as he pointed a claw out, "They're just standing there like idiots. Renamon even has her eyes closed!"
Tai quickly turned back around and looked once more at the former battleground just in time to see the still figure of Harpymon twitch awake.
"Agumon, get out there now!"
Nothing else needed be said. Training and a lifelong bond took over as Agumon dashed out instinctively knowing what he was suppose to do. If everyone else wasn't paying attention to Harpymon as she sat up and prepared to unleash an attack on the unsuspecting Renamon they may have noticed the tiny orange blur that dashed out from the underbrush into the fray.
"Wind Seeker!" Harpymon cried out as she slashed her wings across creating her trademark green air blade. Renamon, whose eyes were closed till just now, didn't have the time to dodge as she braced herself as best she could for the attack to collide with her. To her surprise and confusion, the fox digimon found her self hitting the ground, but didn't feel any of the pain she had expected.
"God damn it Renamon, what did I tell you about keeping your eyes on the opponent?" The orange lump wrapped around her chest mumbled.
"Agumon, what are you doing here?"
"Saving your furry butt since you're not smart enough to do it yourself. Now move!" The orange dinosaur shouted as he pulled Renamon so they rolled to the side just in time to avoid the being skewered by Harpymon's razor sharp talons. Harpymon wasn't giving up so easily, forcing the two to continuously roll left and right to avoid the flying digimon's furious swipes.
Tai was regarded by the rest of the children and digimon as he stepped out from his underbrush and joined them. He nodded to them as he scratched the back of his head.
"You know, despite how strong Agumon is, this is a bad situation for even him. At this rate he may not even want to turn the tables," He commented as he observed the battle.
"What do you mean?" Takato asked.
"I'm just saying that if it was me, I might drag out the situation just so I could keep my head nuzzled in Renamon's chest," Tai jested with a knowing wink to the two young boys, though judging by their confused stares the adult humor may have flown over their heads.
"Mop-head, you are so useless sometimes!" Rika shouted as she picked up a sharp stick and charged into the fight without warning. As she rushed forward, vaguely, registering Tai behind her, she pulled back her stick like a dagger and stabbed it as deep as she could into Harpymon's back. The feathered digimon reeled in pain as she ceased her barrage against the two digimon and turned to refocus all her attention on the small girl who had stabbed her. A moment of panic and fear crossed everyone's mind as Tai pulled the girl down and shielded her body with his own. The lack of death or blinding pain though caused both humans to look up just in time to notice the Renamon's digi-volution into Kyubimon.
The appearance of the horse-sized, nine-tailed, fox digimon standing before them once more forced Harpymon to re-prioritize her targets. She flew backwards away from Kyubimon in order to get into an optimum attack range, but Kyubimon had no need for such things. The large fox spread out her tails and shouted,
"Fox Tail Inferno"
With almost blinding haste each of her nine tails lit up with sacred blue fire before launching out and slamming into Harpymon with machine gun like speed. The barrage of fire was too much for her to handle as she was immolated before finally exploding into digital dust.
With the immediate threat gone, Rika disentangle herself from Tai and approached Kyubimon. Some words were exchanged between the trainer and digimon, but Tai heard none of them. He simply allowed himself to fall backwards onto the stone pathway. That was perhaps the closest he had come to dying in sometime and all because a little girl couldn't take a joke.
"Tai?" Agumon questioned as he looked down at his partner.
"No worries buddy. Just coming to grips with the fact that this girl may be the death of me."
"Oh, I thought you were just processing the fact that we were totally useless again."
"Yeah, dying and being useless. Sounds like the usual night out on the town for us," Tai joked as the two shared a laugh. He sat up and observed the scene before him involving Rika and Renamon. Whatever walls existed between the two were slowly coming down. They weren't gone completely, but it was a start. "You know, I think they're going to be OK."
Agumon turned to the fox digimon and her trainer and nodded, "Yeah, I think so too."
"Oh no, she noticed us staring. Quick act, like you said funny," Tai suggested to Agumon as he forced out a laugh.
"Won't that just make her think we're laughing at her?"
"Shit, you're right. OK, new plan. Act nonchalant," Tai whispered as the two quickly stopped their laughing and gave their best efforts to appear indifferent to the events around them. If Rika noticed she said nothing as she approached them with Kyubimon at her side. She stopped a few feet away from them, her face redder than she would have liked.
"Hey," The young girl said as she cast her eyes slightly away. If she had any intention to say anything beyond that she took no initiative to say it.
Tai stared at her. He still couldn't quite figure this girl out just yet. One moment she's demanding all your attention and then she doesn't even bother contacting you for several days. Unsure of what he should do and growing wearily of the growing silence he replied, "Hey."
She looked once more at him as if to say something, before she looked away. Silence again. Even Tai was starting to grow embarrassed due to the prolonged and awkward hush. Unsure of what else he was to do or say Tai simply stood up and began to walk away. His actions apparently being the motivation Rika needed to finally speak.
"Thank you," She finally said. It was just a little bit too fast and tad too loud for it to be considered part of her normal speech pattern. It was almost like she forced it out at the last moment. Regardless, she seemed to be able to speak much more freely afterward. "Thank you for trying to protect Renamon and me."
"We didn't do much," Tai confessed as he stopped to face her. She looked tired, as if she hadn't been sleeping much recently.
"Still, um, thanks," She repeated, once more looking at her feet. She made the motion as if she wanted to say something else, but each time she stopped herself before she could say a word. Once more the awkward silence returned and Tai grimaced in mild annoyance. Where ever this girl's mind was right now it was stopping her from thinking normally. He closed the distance she had between them as he gently tilted her head up towards him.
"You know, now that I'm getting a really good look at you I noticed something."
"What's that?" She nervously asked, her eyes drawn into his. A strange fluttery feeling arising in her gut as her body tensed with energy.
"Your hair kind of makes your head look like a pineapple," And with those words, whatever spell that was gluing her eyes to his was broken and that fluttery feeling was destroyed. In its place was a new sort of energy.
"Damn it Mop-head!" She screamed as she grabbed his collar and began to shake him back and forth.
Shortly afterward
"Are you sure you don't want to head home with your friends," Tai asked Rika as he waved goodbye to the two other boys and their digimon.
Rika turned away, as if his concern for her was a bother. "I'll be fine Mop-Head. They live in the opposite direction from me anyway."
"You know, if you ask I'm pretty sure they both would jump at the chance the walk you home."
"That would just be troublesome." Tai simply grinned at her callous reply as they both began to head towards the stairs that lead down to the main park path.
"Hey quick question," Tai asked as he held up his phone, "Did you call me earlier?"
Rika's face flushed red as she looked away, "Maybe I did."
"Well if you did, make sure to leave a message next time. I promise I'll call you back. Anyway I'd offer to walk you home myself, but I still have something's to do to-," Tai ended his sentence abruptly as he grabbed Rika and pull her to the side behind a tree. His hand wrapped around her mouth to muffle her voice. "Quiet," He hissed at her as he peered around the corner down to the foot of the stairs.
There, with an almost menacing aura around him, stood a blond haired man wearing a black suit and sunglasses. It was clear he was watching Takato and Henry in the distance. Thankfully he made no motion that he noticed Tai and Rika standing just above him to the side. Tai eased his grip on Rika as he turned her to face towards him. Although her original attempt was to struggle and shout at him she quickly went silent when she noticed the serious look in Tai's eyes.
"I'm going to go down there. No matter what you hear or see I want you to stay here until I come back, understood?" Though he posed it as a question it was clear to Rika that this was an order. Whatever was going it was enough to flip the goofy Tai into serious mood. Rika simply nodded that she understood as he stood up and walked off.
Tai moved quickly and silently through the foliage so that he could flank the black suit man. Tai popped out about 30ft behind his target. He had already given Agumon orders and as he silently creped up behind the blond man he cast a glance upwards to ensure Rika was still hidden. No sign of her and that was good enough for him to proceed. He balled his fist up as he closed the distance.
"Hey buddy, you got a light," Tai asked as he tapped the man on the shoulder. Like any normal person the combination of a question and shoulder tap caused the man to turn around in confusion to face Tai and in that moment Tai's fist collided straight with his face. The punch was strong enough to knock the man unconscious for a few moments which was enough the time for Tai. Agumon quickly appeared at his side and they both easily dragged the dazed man deeper into the surrounding woods.
Yamaki was slammed onto a nearby tree where hew as jolted back into consciousness. The strong throbbing on his right eye acted as a constant reminder that he was just recently punched. He groaned out load as he struggled to bring his vision into focus taking note of his broken glasses which now loosely hung off his ear. An image of a young man with messy brown hair glaring death at him began to come into focus. It only took him several seconds to recognize the figure.
"Kamiya Taichi, it's been a long time. I heard you stopped seeing your therapist." Yamaki's comment was not appreciated as he was slammed against the tree behind him as Tai jammed his right forearm against the older man's throat.
"Cut the crap, Yamaki. Why are you following those two kids?"
Yamaki grinned, "Why Tai I don't know what you're talking about?"
Unfortunately for Yamaki, Tai was simply looking for an excuse to hit him, even an arbitrary one. His reply seemed to be a good enough reason for the college student as he punched the man in the stomach.
"Keep talking shit, you piece of crap. Just give me those reasons to beat you to a bloody pulp. Now again, what are you doing following those kids?"
Yamaki wasn't a masochist. Tai meant business and it was clear he was willing to beat it out of him. "I would think the answer was obvious Mr. Kamiya," a layer of venom lacing the name, "I was simply investigating a digital anomaly. I just happened to notice those children being present. What about you Mr. Kamiya? According to your non-disclosure contract, you agreed to no longer investigate these occurrences independently."
"It does matter why I'm here. What matters is I saw your ugly mug tailing some kids and when you take interest in children they tend end up dead."
The figurative jab was even more noticeable than the physical punch as it was the only thing that seemed to cause a chip in Yamaki's perfect emotional guard in the form of a subtle twitch.
"I told you before Kamiya, that was an isolated incident on behalf of the agency," he answered back through clenched teeth.
"Shove it! I don't have time for your cover up bullshit!" He grabbed Yamaki by the collar and pulled him to his face. "I'm only going to say this once Yamaki. If you so much as touch a hair on any of those children's head or their friends, and you know what I mean by that, I swear I will find a way to level that building you're so proud of. No get out of my sight you social parasite," Tai shouted as he spun Yamaki around and tossed him back onto the main pathway.
Yamaki hit the ground hard. Still he refused to look defeated as he picked up his battered body in the most dignified way possible and, acting as if he was never punched to begin with, walked off. After several steps he turned back to glare at Tai who was stepping out of the bushes to watch him. In what could only be called a declaration of war he reached into his pocket and pulled out another pair of sunglasses before putting them on to replace his broken ones. With that he turned away and walked off. Tai made sure to keep watching him till he was out of sight.
When Yamaki was out of sight Tai looked up the stairs only to see Rika staring at him. Her expression was some kind of mix between shock and just plain confusion. Chances are she saw the whole affair of him beating up a guy she's never seen before. Did she think he was the bad guy? Is that what she thought? The idea made him furious. He was still mad about seeing Yamaki, but from her place so far above him and couldn't help but feel like she was casting judgment on him.
"I'm not the bad guy," he shouted in his head as he marched up the stairs. As he closed the distance he noticed she seemed to flinch as if she was debating the idea of running. It didn't matter anymore as he finally reached her. He knelt down, grabbed her by the shoulders, and looked her in the eyes.
"If anyone, man or woman, wearing a black suit with sunglasses approaches you, you run. Understood?" He told her as he shook her by the shoulders to give emphasis.
"What?" It was the only sound that would leave her month. The only thing that should could think of in her confused state.
"I'm serious, Rika! If that man, or anyone like him, comes near you I want you to run. Run home, run to your friends, run to me, run anywhere that is any from them. Just run! Understood?"
Why? Why was it that when he finally chose to use her real name he sounded angry or was he perhaps scared? She didn't understand. Why did he refuse to tell her things?
"Understand!" he shouted waking her from her thoughts.
"Yes," she stammered out. Already she could feel her eyes tear up a bit in fear. Fear of him, fear for him, or was she simply fearful of what he knew? What was it about this mad that made her so scared?
"I'm scaring you. Why are you scared of me? I'm the good guy," He shouted, his eyes wide in realization as he suddenly brought her into a hug. "I'm the good guy," He said it several more times almost like he was trying to reassure himself more than her.
"I know," she said as she hugged him tightly back. "I know."
Warehouse District
I was walking down the street when out the corner of my eye,
I saw a pretty little thing approaching me.
She said, I never seen a man who look so all alone,
Could you use a little company?
Tai quietly sang the verse to himself as he observed the fight before him from his seat on a wooden storage crate. One of many ultra flammable objects within this abandoned warehouse. After whatever was stopping digimon from crossing over was removed there was a sudden influx, as he predicted. Nothing serious, it just meant more work for him. He tapped his pen to the beat of the music from his headphones as he pulled out a small pocket notebook with his left hand. With practiced ease he flipped it to the desired page with one hand as he began to take down a few notes.
Tai didn't always give orders to Agumon. In fact, for many of the easier 'trash' Tai practiced a form of benign neglect and allowed Agumon to fight as he wanted. It allowed Agumon to release stress by treating the fight like a game and Tai was able to gather data on digimon and how to best use Agumon's preferred style and strengths in future fights. Low stress work for both of them. After the earlier events, its what they both needed right now.
"Mach Jab!" Agumon cried out as he released several quick punches at one of his many enemies, a small candle shaped digimon with two faces. The multiple strikes were too much for the tiny digimon as it was easily deleted. The orange digimon knew Candlemon wasn't really a threat by itself, but in packs of six, like they were in now… well let's just say that the Shinjuku Fire of 20XX wasn't caused by an electrical short like it was reported on the news..
"Bonfire!" several Candlemons shouted as they launched fireballs at Agumon.
"Mach Jab!" Agumon shouted once more as his claws swiped out in ever direction to extinguish the flames.
"Good work Agumon, but stay on guard. If you miss even one of those fireballs we could easily find ourselves standing in an inferno," Tai warned as he casually looked up from his notepad.
"Don't worry, I got it all under control," Agumon said with a dismissive tone as he grabbed a nearby Candlemon and brutally smothered the flame on its wick. The digimon struggled for a few moments before it went limp and turned to digital dust before it even hit the ground.
Tai nodded in acknowledgement as he pulled out his digivice. He pressed a few buttons on the side to scroll through the screens till it arrived at one that read, "Data Usage". The bar it showed was small, red, and read a meager 15%. 10% lower than normal. Agumon had insisted on lower data usage; something about trying to make it a challenge. It was more than enough for trash, but tended to drag out fights when dealing with large numbers like this. The four Candlemons left knew they couldn't take out their foe directly and had now surrounded Agumon.
"Melt Wax!" they all shouted as they each shoot out balls and streams of wax at Agumon from every angle. The wax then hardened instantly, freezing Agumon's legs to the ground.
"Agumon," Tai called, his voice sounding more scolding than worried.
"I can handle this," Agumon assured as he swatted fireballs aimed at him out of the air with ease.
"I know you can, but I still have a paper to finish for class so I kind of want to get home."
"How many pages?"
"Two and a half. Shouldn't take more than an hour, two at most, but I have classes in the morning, remember? I'd like to get some sleep tonight."
"Well what do you suggest?" Agumon asked as he continued to swat fireballs and struggled with his feet in an attempt to break free.
"I'm increasing your data usage to 25%," The college student answered back as he pressed a few buttons on the digivice. The red bar slowly increased with every press till it turned a light orange.
"That's overkill Tai," Agumon whined.
"Yeah, but it's also fast. We'll pick up pizza if you hurry," Tai offered as he put the device back in his pocket. The music once more slowly becoming the only thing he could hear as he once more sang along at a volume only he could hear.
There ain't no rest for the wicked.
Money don't grow on trees.
The difference was immediate as the wax that Agumon was struggling with before now easily broke for him. He no longer bothered defecting attacks either, instead choosing to take them full on as he charged his first target. Agumon's sharp claw easily impaled the malleable wax body of the Candlemon and then launched it at another enemy. Its body shattered into a million white data dots on impact and hurtling the second Candlemon towards the other two.
I got bills to pay. I got mouths to feed.
Ain't nothing in this world for free.
The three remaining Candlemons broke out into a panic as each one began throwing fireballs and wax at Agumon in endless waves. Agumon merely stood still and took every hit as he slowly focused. An orange aura briefly appeared over his body before he dashed forward.
Oh no, I can't slow down. I can't hold back.
Though you know I wish I could
"Cross Fire!" The orange dinosaur yelledas he slashed out at his enemies. The cross shaped attack instantly slicing throw and deleting two of the enemy digimon. The third and last Candlemon probably received quite the surprised. Blinded by the spray of data from his two companions before a mouth full of razor sharp teeth burst into its vision severing its body in half. Agumon casually spit out the wax center allow it to fully delete.
Oh no, there ain't no rest for the wicked,
Until we closed our eyes for good.
End Chapter 9
Notes: Sorry about the delay. School has been a hassle and against all better judgment I tried to start a small business and threw a good chunk of money into. It's been stressful, but at least I'm not failing, yet. This chapter turned out to be rather long. By far the longest chapter in this series. I'm going to start submitting chapters for editing tomorrow, correcting the chapter numbers, as well as inserting proper credits for those who helped out. There are several and do apologize for not mentioning them. As I said, been busy. As for this chapter, well I feel like I forced it out a bit and already I feel my writing skill dulled a bit. I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some basic grammar, but I figured you guys deserved this after waiting so long. I rewrote this chapter several times too. The last section was the remnant of a pervious version that I just liked too much to delete, so I pinned it at the end. Anyway, do enjoy the chapter and thank you for sticking with me through my problems.
Another note: A lot of people have asked me about my other Digimon fanfic, Mirror Images. I really liked that story myself as anyone can tell it was much more verbose and descriptive in the wording. Probably because it was a straight romance without much else to distract from the story. Sadly, that reasoning left me with a big hole in the story in the form of the "Digital Anomaly" I wrote in. The reasoning just screamed 16 year old, lol. Now that I'm older I can't help but feel like it was stupid for hitching some much of the story on that. I'll probably go and re-write that whole thing if I can't figure out how to make it work. Until then, sorry for those of you who wanted to see it continued.