9) Ruki's Choice
Hypnos Headquarters
"I've never seen anything like this before", one of Chief Yamaki's techs was explaining: "this Wild One: it's not just trying to materialize itself, but apparently its whole environment"
"Is that possible?", Yamaki asked, as he habitually clicked his ever present Zippo open and closed.
The answer came with the destruction of the Tracer that was pursuing the Wild One, and the breaking of any connection to the Digital World.
"We lost it. No idea as to where - if - it materialized".
"Try to find out as much about it as you can", Yamaki requested.
Mitsou Yamaki, the Chief of Hypnos, thought he didn't need this. He was not going to follow his predecessor, Capt. Satsuma Rentaro, in the ignominy of failure. The forerunner of Hypnos, DATS, had failed, and failed spectacularly, in its mission to keep the public at large from knowing that the Digital World even existed, let alone that the creatures it had spawned, the digimon, were invading the Material World.
East Shinjuku
Ruki was walking down the street, ever present MP3 player in place. She wasn't paying any attention to what was playing, as she was too lost in thought over what she'd witnessed the day before.
"I don't understand it", she thought to herself, "Guilmon evolved. He had not been in a single digibattle, hadn't loaded so much as a single byte, and he evolved. That friend of his, that Jenyra, his little dog/bunny also evolved. Even though he said he didn't want Terriermon evolving at all".
The more she thought about it, the fouler her mood became.
Ruki was suddenly distracted, as though she was being followed. She suddenly whirled around, but saw nothing but normal street activity. There wasn't anyone even near her. But she thought... she was certain someone would be there. It was just her imagination, she told herself.
The next day, Ruki had an unwanted admirer: Calumon. Ever cheerful, but Ruki was in no mood for cheerful. She looked back and glared at the little white "digimon". His already wide smile brightened: "Culu?"
"Will you stop following me?", she asked, none too friendly.
With that, Calumon leaped into her arms, and began to hug her.
"What do you think..."
"Ruki!", called out a familiar voice, and one she did not want to hear: that of her mother, Rumiko.
"What?", Ruki asked flatly.
"What?", her mother repeated. "Today'sphotoshootwasactullyscheduledfortomorrow", she began to explain. "IguessIforgottomakeanoteofthechangeinmypersonalorganizer". This was typical, Ruki thought, always thinking of herself, never letting anyone get in a word edgewise. Ruki had no idea as to what her mother wanted, as she began to back away.
"I... I... was on my way to see a friend", she said, hoping to get out of there as soon as possible.
"Hey, Ruki, I didn't know you were interested in that sort of thing?", her mother finally noticed as she pointed at Calumon.
"What are you doing?", she asked the bundle of white fluff she still carried. Calumon simply smiled back at her. Ruki got lucky, and melted into the crowd that was gathering, as the people passing on the street noticed that the woman on the sidewalk was the same fashion model whose pictures graced the windows of the department store outside of which Ruki had been accosted. She never learned what her mother wanted, but was certain it wasn't anything she actually wanted to do.
"Don't you ever follow me!", Ruki roughly reprimanded Calumon as soon as they'd arrived in Ruki's back yard.
"Pika, pika, pika", he said, as he walked off, finally realizing he was not wanted.
"Do you understand me?", she called after him.
"What did I ever do to her?", Calumon asked himself. "The others always seem so friendly. Their partners like to play as much as I do".
That feeling returned: that sudden chill, that sensation of being watched. Like yesterday, but this time, more intense. What was even worse, was she was standing in her own back yard.
"Renamon?", she called out almost on reflex.
The anthrovixen appeared at once: "Yes, Ruki", she greeted.
"Where were you just now?"
"I was on the roof of that building", Renamon explained, as she pointed to an apartment tower not too far away.
"I see..."
"Is something wrong?", Renamon asked, concerned. "You're not looking well", she observed.
"It's nothing", Ruki dismissed, as she walked off. Renamon looked all around the backyard, looking for anything out of the ordinary, seeing nothing out of place. Nothing that looked as though it might pose a threat to the well being of the one she swore to protect: Ruki Makino, her Tamer and partner.
"So we meet again?"
This time it was Impmon: "Oh, it's you", Renamon replied. Perhaps Impmon was up to something? Did he do something that scared Ruki?
So far, Renamon wasn't very impressed with the fast talking Rookie. He didn't approve of human/digimon partnerships: he'd made that clear enough. He also claimed to have a solution to the problem of evolution for independent digimon, but, so far, all she saw was talk without evidence.
"What's that supposed to mean?", he asked as Renamon turned and walked off.
"What! You're ignoring me?", Impmon called back. Then he thought of something.
"I came to deliver a message from Terriermon. He says he wants a battle".
"Heh", she dismissed.
"'Heh?' Whaddaya mean 'heh'?"
"Terriermon wouldn't challenge anyone to a battle. His Tamer has forbidden it". Renamon kept on walking away.
That was a mistake: failing to be sure of his intel before acting.
"So I was right all along, he isn't a digimon anymore, he's just a talking pet", Impmon said to himself. "I guess I'll just have to beat some sense into him". All was not lost completely.
Ruki's mother was waiting for her when she went inside.
"So cute!", she exclaimed, "how about this dress?", she asked. She held up the new outfit she'd purchased for her daughter.
"I wouldn't be caught dead in that monstrosity!", Ruki declared with finality. This dress was pink and yellow, decorated with teddy bears, and lots of lacy frills. How anyone who made a living as a fashion model could have such hideous taste in kids' clothes escaped her completely. "How many times do I have to tell you I hate dresses!"
"Ruki, what about that cute toy you had yesterday?"
"That was... ummmm...", she had to think quick. "A promotion of some sort. They were giving them away, and this weird guy just shoved the thing into my hands, besides, I already threw it away".
"Oh...".
"Ruki has her own sense of style", Sieko Hata, Ruki's grandmother, explained. "You can't expect to change that overnight. How about yourself? You didn't, did you?"
"I wish she'd at least try to be a little more feminine, at least occasionally".
"You worry too much", Seiko said, "being a tom-boy is something she'll outgrow in her own good time". And your taste in kids' clothes could stand considerable improvement, she thought to herself. If there was a more hideous, less practical, dress for an active ten year old girl, she'd yet to see it.
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Impmon had been waiting for this, as he concealed himself from view in a tree. He dropped down, catching a low hanging branch with the talons of his feet. Hanging upside down he issued his challenge:
"Oh little Terriermon!", he called out with a sarcastic, sing-song voice.
Terriermon looked back.
"Don't you even think about it. Just ignore him", Jenyra told him.
"Guilmon", Takato called out, and the crimson dinosaur came. The three of them headed for the exit of the park.
"Hey assholes!", Impmon called after them. "If I bother you so much, then why don't you fight me?"
"Terriermon!", Jen reprimanded as soon as he saw his partner begin to turn to look back.
"Renamon was right", he thought to himself. "He really won't fight".
"Take that!", he said as he threw a fireball at Terriermon.
"Petit Twister!", Terriermon retaliated. Impmon watched, surprised, as Terriermon's attack broke up and dispersed his fireball, totally ineffective. Terriermon hit him, sent him flying, before returning.
"What did I tell you about fighting?", he asked.
"I'd hardly call that a fight", Terriermon retorted.
"Sometimes you're incorrigible", Jen said, as he gave him a noogie.
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Ruki was headed down the breeze way behind the house, towards her bedroom door, when it happened again. This time, the feeling of cold so intense she thought she saw her breath actually condense. The feeling of being watched worse than ever. As she whirled around, she thought, just for the briefest instant, she caught a glimpse of a ghostly figure.
She ran to her bedroom, closed the door, breathing heavily as she tried composting herself.
"Renamon!", she called out.
Ever composed, the yellow anthrovixen appeared.
"Check the back yard", Ruki ordered.
"The back yard?" Renamon scanned the whole back yard, and the breeze way.
"There's something out there, isn't there?", Ruki asked anxiously.
"No...", Renamon started.
"You're lying!", Ruki suddenly, and unexpectedly, accused.
Renamon stood there, perplexed. She would never lie about any sort of threat to the partner she swore to protect. It went against everything she believed as a digimon warrior. It went against the Digimon Code of Houour.
"What's with that look?", Ruki demanded. Renamon wasn't as successful concealing her feelings as she'd hoped.
"Ruki", she began to explain, "Whatever is going on, know that I will always protect you".
"Protect me?!", Ruki demanded with an angry tone. Renamon could not understand why. "Just who the hell do you think you are?!"
"I'm your partner..."
"My 'partner'? How can you be my partner? You're nothing more than a digimon!"
Any pretense of hiding emotions was gone at hearing this. The words could not have cut deeper even if Ruki had fired her own Koyousetsu attack at her.
"You don't need to follow me", Ruki added as she turned and exited the bedroom, leaving Renamon standing there, alone, as she tried to understand what had just happened here.
The sun hung low in the western sky, a large orange ball. Renamon was sitting on a rooftop, her favorite place to sit and think, unobserved and undisturbed.
"I know it was just a relationship of convenience, that's how it started out. I wanted to become stronger, and Ruki wanted to be the strongest Tamer. It all seemed that simple. Then we discovered the real key to Evolution: it isn't in the cards, has nothing to do with defeating opponents. It's caring: that's what we discovered when I was finally able to evolve to defeat Dukugumon: she cared.
"Takato, regardless of his real or imaginary deficiencies as a Tamer, he cares. Jenyra cares. Their partners evolved. I thought Ruki understood: she said she understood. Then why is she being like that? Why can't she learn? Is it my fault? Have I somehow not demonstrated adequately that I care? That hearing her say things like that hurt me? Is it her fault? Is there something wrong with her? Or both of us?"
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Ruki was on her way out of the subway station when it happened again. This time, the cold was undeniable, so much so she wrapped her arms around herself for warmth, as her breathe actually condensed, and she shivered.
"What the FUCK do you want?!", she demanded.
The two balding, middle aged, businessmen looked, first at this strange girl to whom they'd done nothing, then at each other, wondering what this was all about.
"Get out of my way!", Ruki demanded, as she shoved herself between them. "You! Hold up!", she demanded. The two men followed her with their eyes, seeing nothing, as she disappeared up the stairs leading to the street.
They wordlessly exchanged a glance and a shrug before going their separate ways.
Ruki paused on the last landing. The last of the sun sent a shaft of light down the final flight of stairs, as Ruki caught her breathe.
"Show yourself!", she demanded of the apparently deserted landing. This time, she was certain she'd seen the strange apparition that had been harassing her. She looked around, as the cold returned once again.
Had anyone been watching, they would have seen two very large hands wearing armoured gauntlets extend from the wall, wrap around the girl, and pull her into the wall from a cloud of fog-like mist. There were no witnesses.
Ruki found herself standing unsteadily on a floor of ice. The cold was unbearable, as she was not dressed for this. It was like being in a deep freeze, as her teeth chattered. She looked around, but saw very little, as there was barely enough light to see anything.
"So cold", she announced the obvious to herself.
From behind her, silently, a tall anthroform figure rose from the floor. The tall, slender figure wrapped white, leathery wings around Ruki, startling her.
"You like the cold", the figure announced.
"You are a digimon?", she asked, as she looked up at the figure.
"Yes, I am", he confirmed.
"This is a digital field?", she asked.
"Correct", he agreed once again. He was pleased to see he hadn't underestimated her intelligence. "Isn't it a great place?", he asked. "Suits you perfectly, Ruki".
Ruki should have been more afraid than she found herself to be. Whoever this was, she found him less threatening than she should have. How did he know her name? Why, in his embrace, did she no longer feel the cold that moments ago was very uncomfortable?
"The perfect place?", she asked more herself than her companion.
"You don't like it: wondering if you have a partnership or a friendship, do you?"
"Yeah", she agreed.
"You treat others coldly because you want to be as cold yourself, right?"
"Uhhhh", she grunted out an agreement.
"I know you as well as anyone could, Ruki...", he said. He paused for dramatic effect: "...because I am your partner".
"Partner?", she asked.
"Yes, your partner".
"Partner?", she asked again. "Uhhh... I guess you mean Renamon?"
The Sun had set, and Renamon was sitting on the roof of Ruki's house, waiting for her return. She leaped up, sensing something: "Ruki, where are you?", she asked the last of the twilight. Then she remembered the horrible things Ruki had said to her. She hesitated. Let her take care of herself. Renamon was just following orders, she reasoned.
Ruki reached for her digivice, more out of habit than anything else.
"Renamon", she said again, as the figure's hand gently clasped her own.
"I am your partner", he insisted.
"Partner?", Ruki asked again.
"Yes, I know you always wanted a strong digimon so you could be the strongest Tamer. It is I who am that strong digimon you always wanted, and I am the partner you always deserved".
Ruki said nothing.
"Behold: my power", he announced. With the wave of a wing, lights came on, illuminating the space. Dozens of figures were encased in thick ice. They all seemed to be Rookie digimon. She recognized some: Gotsumon, Electmon, a Gomamon. Others, she wasn't familiar with right off hand.
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
"This way, culu?", Calumon urged Takato, Jenyra, Guilmon and Terriermon onwards. "I think Ruki's in trouble, culu?", he announced. They had no choice but to take his word for it. Even though they knew little about him, and he seemed to be very evasive and about his past and his present plans, they had never known him to raise false alarms. That's when they saw it: a digital field surrounding the top of a building nearing completion.
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
"I fought and survived", the unfamiliar digimon was explaining to Ruki, "only the strongest survive here. Icy death awaits all who prove unworthy".
"Then these are..."
"All the digimon I've defeated"
"That's... horrible", Ruki said.
"It's not horrible", the figure explained. "It's for strength, and for evolution. It is the same thing you've been doing all along Ruki".
"This... is what evolution means? I've ordered Renamon to do this... Disgusting"
"Are you trying to convince me... or are you trying to convince yourself?"
She struggled free: "Stop calling me 'Ruki' like you know me!", she demanded. "How could you possibly understand how I feel?"
"I thought you were being too easy", the figure explained. "No matter, I like it better this way. To earn you as my Tamer. I can't think of anyone more suitable than you".
"Go look for someone else!", she demanded.
"I just want to get stronger", he said again. "And you want to be the strongest Tamer, isn't that right?"
"No..."
"Are you really that concerned for that digimon, Renamon?"
Ruki reached for her digivice, but held back.
"Why don't you call her? You don't need two partners. Call Renamon, and I'll arrange a battle. Winner partners with you. Fair enough? That way, you'll see who's the strongest digimon, and the most worthy partner for you".
Ruki stood there, doing nothing.
"You still aren't calling her? You don't want to see how easily I defeat and destroy that Renamon? No matter, I'll call her myself".
With that, the figure placed a long, thin index finger to his forehead, and projected a blue, laser-like, beam upwards, out of the ice dome he'd created, and into the night. It created an aurora-like effect in the sky. The other Tamers saw this, as they approached the building. The only way up was to take the stairs, as there was no power, and no elevators.
"Digital field?", Takato asked.
"I don't know what else", Jen said, "we're goin' in", as he pulled on his sunglasses, and Takato pulled his goggles over his eyes. They opened the door leading onto the roof.
"What is this place?", Jen asked.
"Over there!", Takato announced.
He read off the ID:
Icedevimon
Fallen angel digimon
Champion
"What are you doing with Ruki?!", Takato demanded
"Heh, the small fry have finally decided to put in an appearance", Icedevimon dismissed the new arrivals.
Guilmon began to growl: "Hold up", Jen said. "It looks like they're discussing something". Ruki didn't look to be in any distress.
"Ruki is my Tamer", the fallen angel digimon announced.
"What the hell are you talking about, you frozen freak?! Ruki is Renamon's Tamer, not yours!", Takato challenged. "Ruki, tell him!"
She said nothing.
"Jen?", Takato asked.
"He must be unusually powerful: look at the influence he has over his surroundings. We got no alert from our digivices. Not only that, but neither Terriermon nor Guilmon detected his materialization".
"That's right", Guilmon agreed. "I always thought I'd know whenever a digimon crossed over".
"What do we do?", Terriermon asked.
"You should never have had anything to do with them", Icedevimon explained. "They're a bad influence, and you should become as you were when your heart was as cold as this place".
He didn't need an answer, as Renamon broke through Icedevimon's ice dome.
"Renamon?", Ruki asked.
"So you show up at last, eh?", Icedevimon asked. "I'll destroy her and then we can start over, like it should have been from the beginning"
"Koyousetsu!", she tried to attack, but wasn't quite fast enough.
"Frost Claw!", Icedevimon struck first, knocking Renamon off her feet.
She leaped up: "Koyou..."
"Frost Claw!", he struck again.
Renamon sank to her knees, then dropped onto her left side.
"She'll be defeated if she doesn't evolve!", Takato called out. He expected Ruki to do something, anything, but she just stood there, watching, as if it meant nothing to her.
Ruki remembered. Just two days ago, she'd seen Guilmon digivolve to Growlmon - a digimon who'd never fought a single digibattle; who had not loaded even so much as a single byte from any opponent. Guilmon: whose Tamer was a whiny little chicken shit who begged and pleaded like a little girl when challenged to a digibattle. Despite having an inadequate Tamer who couldn't even use the cards correctly, despite that, Growlmon had defeated Devidramon.
There was Terriermon, the pathetic and ridiculous little dog/bunny who'd evolved into Galgomon. Despite that his Tamer was a sentimental fool who actually thought digimon should be spared from fighting. A pathetic pacifist who paradoxically was studying Kenpo for no good reason she could see.
And what of Renamon? She had loaded one opponent after another, and refused to evolve. Ruki remembered all the excuses: "It's not time", "The time isn't right", "I haven't loaded enough opponents", "I don't know". There was that time she ordered Renamon to defeat and load Guilmon - a Rookie with an inexperienced Tamer whose power rivaled that of a Champion. Yet Renamon didn't even try. Of that, she was certain. How else could she miss every time with the Fox, Leaf, Arrowheads unless it were deliberate? Even when given the Heavy Metal impact hammer that could have cracked Guilmon's skull like a walnut, Renamon had missed at point blank range. That was just before Jenyra came along to rescue Takato. Like he was Takato's babysitter.
There was that time in the underground garage, when that Jenyra interfered once again, on behalf of chicken shit Takato. Terriermon had evolved to Galgomon after he'd accidentally stepped in front of Renamon's attack meant for Guilmon after it was beyond recall. Then there was the fight with Galgomon. Renamon was winning, and could have loaded a full Champion. Once again, she refused. As Galgomon advanced on her, intent on blowing her head off, it was Guilmon - not Renamon - who had rescued her.
"Why are you looking at me like that?", Icedevimon challenged. "Why? Because of her? What is this weak digimon to you?", he asked.
"Nothing", she replied.