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The Wager

Despite what some seemed to believe, Renamon was not someone who preferred her surroundings to be quiet at all times. On the contrary, noise was often a good thing in her mind. It kept her alert to her immediate vicinity, and was often a source of information for her. This wasn't always new information, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

That was the case on this particular afternoon. As she sat on a high branch of tree in Shinjuku Park, her friends and fellow digimon scurried about beneath her. They were playing some game they had come up with on the fly and seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Renamon took a second to focus more closely on the four digimon beneath her, finding that their number had suddenly decreased to three. She began to look around to figure out where her missing friend had disappeared to, only for the answer to drop himself right in front of her.

"Hiya!" Calumon yelled happily.

Renamon made it point to not let her surprise be shown. Calumon knew nothing about subtlety, so the fact that he was able to sneak up on her was more down to her own carelessness.

"Hello, Calumon," Renamon said calmly.

"Wanna play?" Calumon asked, cheery demeanor remaining constant.

"I'll pass, thank you."

"You sure?"

"Eh, don't waste ya time wit dat stick in da mud, Cream Puff," a voice called out from below them, signaling that the game being played had been momentarily paused.

"Yeah, she's too afraid to join us anyway," another added.

Renamon sighed, deciding it was better to face her hecklers now rather than let them go on. She phased out of view and then reappeared on the ground in front of them.

"You think I'm afraid?" Renamon asked, looking right at Terriermon as she spoke.

"That's what I said," he reaffirmed proudly.

"Of what, might I ask?"

"Nothing!" Guilmon cut in nervously. "We all know you're not afraid of anything, Renamon."

"I disagree," Terriermon sang in response.

"What's she afraid of then?" Calumon asked as he landed on the ground at Renamon's feet. He looked between his friends with wide eyes. "Losing?"

"Nope."

"It's pride," Impmon answered confidently, crossing his arms and grinning as he often did when he thought he was correct about something.

Renamon blinked. "Please elaborate," she requested.

"You're afraid dat if you play wit da rest of us, you'll look stupid."

"That's absurd," Renamon stated, knowing no other way to describe Impmon's assessment. She was a warrior at her core, and the notion that she was concerned about appearances was so farfetched that it bordered on insanity.

"Then why do you sit all our games out?" Terriermon goaded further.

"Simple..." Renamon planted her feet and crossed her arms. She wasn't going to give any ground here. "I don't partake because there would be no sport in it. My agility is far greater than any of yours. The game would stop being fun for all of us if I won every time."

Terriermon's grin somehow became larger. "Oh really?"

"I'm only stating the facts."

"Whose facts?"

"Terriermon..." Guilmon whined. He was wise enough to understand that continuing down this path would not yield positive results for anyone.

"Hows about a little wager?" Impmon suggested slyly.

"I'm listening," Renamon replied, her curiosity piqued.

"Tag," Impmon declared. "Da four of us against you. If you can dodge us all for two minutes, you win."

"Any other rules?"

"You can't phase outta view, and we gotta tag you with both hands."

"Fine, I accept your terms." Renamon decided that, at the very least, the exercise wouldn't hurt.

"Hold up," Terriermon cut in again, now stroking his chin like a cartoon villain. "Every good bet has to have stakes."

"Oh!" Calumon chimed in. "What if the looser has to crawl on the ground like Wormmon? Or hop around like Frogmon?"

Terriermon shrugged. "Either works for me."

"Why not both?" Renamon put forward. It made no difference to her what menial task they would have to perform afterwards. "Now can we get started or do the four of you need a minute to come up with a strategy?"

"Feeling generous today, are we?" Terriermon raised an eyebrow in her direction.

"I won't even listen in to your conversation," Renamon assured him.

"Okay..." The four of them gathered in a small circle and began to converse.

Renamon backed away and leaned against the nearby tree and watched. She kept her promise and didn't eavesdrop, but had no reservations about watching them and reading their individual body languages.

Terriermon and Impmon seemed confident, with the former in particular doing quite a bit of the talking. He apparently had a plan that he thought would work. Guilmon still seemed weary about the whole situation, which was not surprising. He had never been very competitive. Finally, there was Calumon, who just seemed happy to be involved.

Eventually their huddle broke and they lined up in front of her. They seemed ready, or at least as ready as they could be given the circumstances.

"On your mark, boys," Renamon taunted.

"Ready, set, go!" Calumon said instantly as he threw himself forward. Predictable, but understandable. He was here to have fun, not win a bet.

Renamon easily sidestepped the tiny Celestial and allowed him to tumble off into a nearby bush. She turned back to the other three, curious what they would try to do.

"Who's next?" Renamon asked, receiving a swift answer.

Impmon and Terriermon broke off into separate directions, with the obvious intent to surround her. A fair enough strategy, if not a little short-sighted. She had plenty of options when it came to dodging them.

Renamon waited a couple second before jumping into the air and onto the closest tree branch in reach. She quickly looked below to see how her opponents would adapt. Impmon stopped short to avoid crashing into the others. The other two kept moving, with it quickly becoming apparent that this was by design.

Guilmon spun around at the last second, allowing Terriermon to catch his tail. After the completion of one full rotation, Terriermon let go and allowed the momentum to send him flying in Renamon's direction. It was a clever trick, one she was disappointed she hadn't anticipated.

All Renamon could do was act on instinct. She propelled herself off the branch and allowed Terriermon to collide with the tree's trunk. She landed back on the ground soon after that, knowing she would have to react again soon.

Impmon leapfrogged off Guilmon and was soon falling downwards at her. In a bit of a compromised position at the moment, Renamon could only roll out of the way at this point. Luckily, Impmon couldn't course correct while in the air and ended up crashing into the spot on the ground she had once occupied.

That only left Guilmon. While not particularly agile, he could shoot straight forward like a rocket and she was currently on the ground with no easy way to dodge. As Guilmon charged, Renamon considered her options before literally springing into action.

Pushing her arms hard against the ground, she launched herself into the air and over Guilmon. As Renamon somersaulted and landed back on her feet, the saurian ended up face-planting hard.

None of them made any immediate attempt to follow up their actions, leading Renamon to conclude she was victorious. She straightened out her posture to address them.

"I guess that's that," Renamon began. "I admit I've had fun, but-"

"Gotcha!" Calumon suddenly cheered.

It took Renamon a couple seconds to register what happened, and even at that point she was unsure how to properly react. What else could she do besides stare at Calumon as he clung to her right arm?

"And with time to spare!" Terriermon joined in as he returned to ground-level.

"So what are ya gonna do first, Fox Face?" Impmon teased as he strolled up to her. "Crawl or hop?"

Renamon glared down at him, but quickly stopped. After all, she had lost on the terms she had agreed upon. She felt her shoulders sink, unsure how to mentally prepare for how she was about to debase herself.

Perhaps pride had been a factor after all.

Another short chapter today. This one actually evolved from a random question that popped into my head while writing the last one, which briefly mentions that the digimon are off playing a game on their own. I was stuck wondering if Renamon would join them or not.