AN: Hey everyone. Been a long time. Between school and a bunch of other stuff, it's just been slow going. And I ended up deleting and rewriting the opening to this like five times. I know how everything is going to go, but the specifics of how certain characters appear and how quickly I want to move are kind of difficult to pin down. Like this chapter, I wanted to put more in about more characters, but it was already getting too long.
It'll be very slow going still as I go on, as life just gets busier and busier, but I'll keep slowly trucking.
Season 2: Digi-Destined to Lose
Episode 2.01: Reboot
"Memory corrupted. Creating recovery matrix... Fail... Fail... Success. Training recovery matrix C... Test Memory playback engaged."
...
"What're you thinkin' about?" Herissmon asked his partner as they both stared up at the Earth far above.
Danny looked over, his ragged clothes blowing in the artificial wind of the Digital World, the tattered holes revealing his scars from over a decade of fighting. The human finally just shrugged and turned away, holding one knee beneath his arm. "We're running out of places to run, Herissmon," he said quietly. "And they keep finding us faster."
"Well, I bet Taj'll get it this time!" Herissmon offered, though he didn't quite believe it himself. "If he does, we won't be on the run for long, huh?"
"Yeah," Danny agreed. He rustled Herissmon's hair with one hand. "... Thanks, Herissmon."
"Hey, I always know what you need. It's my job, right?" he offered. He curled up into a ball, then and rolled around and popped open to land on his feet, earning a chuckle from his partner. "All we can do is hope, Danny. I won't let you stop, not for anything."
"Dan. Herissmon." The two turned, seeing the topic of conversation himself standing in the stairwell leading back down into the building they had only managed to make their current base for barely two weeks. He had his hands in the pockets of his lab coat worn open over a faded shirt, orange vest, and jeans. BlackGuilmon stood beside him, sniffing the air cautiously to ensure no enemy Digimon had found them yet. "We're ready for the next test."
Herissmon looked at Danny and the human grimaced back at him. "It shouldn't hurt this time," Tasuke said as he noticed their apprehension.
"Remind me again why it has to be Herissmon?" Danny grumbled. He pushed up to his feet and rubbed his eyes, his exhaustion catching up with him now that he wasn't on watch anymore. "I feel like it'd be way better if we could use BG. You're our powerhouse, after all!"
"I'd go and fight I could. My way of fixing things would be faster and simpler than yours," BG replied after a moment of thinking. He looked towards the distance and scratched at the ground with his front claws, watching data spiral upwards from the wireframe once he was done. "But I can't."
Danny looked away. This part of the conversation was well tread, but it always bothered him each time. "They can be saved," he said.
"Nothing's impossible," Tasuke cut in before BG could retort. He turned back to the door. "But only if the test turns out right. The trip should work, but I want to ensure it'll be accurate. We only get one shot." He motioned and the group began walking down the stairs.
Danny put on a smile when they started walking through the temporary housing quarters. A couple of small Digimon ran around with the few human children left, laughing and making the best of the bad situation. They all rushed forward and greeted Danny and Herissmon, trying to get the hedgehog to play with them but backing off when they remembered he was with Tasuke and BlackGuilmon. They bounced back after a quick greeting and promise to play later, running off to play tag. "It's good of you to keep their moods up," Tasuke remarked, looking a little sad as the kids ran away. He straightened the slump in his shoulders and kept moving.
The children's moods were the only ones to be kept up. The rest of their movement through the building was... uncomfortable, to say the least. Some people were still mourning those who hadn't been able to make it to the warehouse in the last attack. The others... well, the others had just given up hope. The only thing left was to last as long as possible, then at least die still in control of their own minds.
Danny didn't think living like that was healthy, but what could he do? They were bleeding people with every move, and everything was devoted to the Project. There was always murmuring and angry looks at Tasuke, Danny, and Jennifer, but no one could do anything to mutiny. Without the three and their partners, they would never survive. And the small Digimon kept the few children safe, so no one would touch them despite the... unfortunately deserved prejudice against Digimon as a whole.
Danny let out a sigh when they passed a few of the adults, all of them older than Tasuke. They were huddling around data reformatted into a fire, completely silent as they watched the sparks flutter and die.
Herissmon saw their eyes dully reflecting the fire and he shivered. If that ever happened to Danny, he wouldn't know what to do. And then he realized it would probably do something to him, too. What kind of thing would he turn into if he and Danny lost themselves?
Tasuke walked them out of the living quarters and into the security area, where a few of the adults were keeping watch. "Want the feed sent to the lab, Boss?"
"Please, if there's an alert," Tasuke replied without turning. The man threw a lazy salute to Tasuke and turned back to looking at the screens.
Finally, the four came to a stop in Tasuke's laboratory. It was a spartan room, only containing a machine in an inner, glass like ring; the computers to control the machine; and a series of screens to display data or – if necessary – display the security feed. With nearly all personal effects long ago lost to the many last minute escapes and traded for scars that Tasuke hid well. The only one left was a simple photograph, taken just before everything had gone to the Dark Ocean in a Handbasket. Tasuke, May, Davis, Henry, Takato, Rika, and the Digimon right before Takato and Rika left for Japan. Where they'd died without ever seeing their son again.
Herissmon rolled through a door, then over to the machine at the center and jumped into the main compartment, letting the glass descend around him followed by large electrodes around the compartment. "You promise it won't hurt this time?" Herissmon finally asked.
"It's a little late for that, Buddy," Danny remarked, chuckling. "You, uh, do promise though, right?"
"Shouldn't. The data extraction will be significantly toned down," Tasuke remarked as he moved about the room, reading data output and making changes. The electrodes began to glow and Danny left the inner ring, closing the door behind him. Small bolts of electricity shot out of the machine and through the glass, crashing into Herissmon. He yelped and Danny shot towards the controls, only to stop as the yelp turned into consistent laughing.
"IT TICKLES! NO-NO! IT TICKLES, STOP IT!"
The machine operated for a few minutes, the energy suffusing the giggling hedgehog Digimon at its center. Tasuke turned to the screens and began to write down the data coming through. "Quantum Entanglement process is advancing safely. Pain is clearly... in acceptable bounds," he remarked, smiling softly at Herissmon. "Importing Tachyon data. In three... two... Data imported... Wait, the Power output – dammit!" There was a surge of energy through the room for a moment and Tasuke immediately shut the machine down, yanking down an emergency shutdown that kept the machine locked down and frozen. Herissmon, still suffused with energy, rolled up to his feet in surprise. There was silence in the room, the only noise the pounding of hearts in ears. Danny tried to say that it looked like they weren't noticed, but Tasuke threw his hand up to silence him.
The screens flickered from data to security, and Tasuke stiffened. "All three..." He shut his eyes and took a deep breath.
When he opened his eyes, they were steely and cold despite their red coloration. "Dan, stay here," he ordered. He pulled out his Digivice and ran through it, activating a few cards. "If anything bad happens, hit this red button." He held his finger over a specific button. He paused and thought for a moment, then turned to Danny. "The machine will be damaged if you do, but it will release Herissmon and Digitize the lab."
"But we don't have anywhere to go. We should let him -"
"Danny! This is an order!" Tasuke snapped, and the younger man flinched backwards. Tasuke glared at him, then turned. "BG, let's go." He sprinted out of the room, BG on his tail.
The Digimon paused at the door and glanced back, a sad look on his face. "Bye, Dan." Then he turned and followed after Tasuke.
Danny watched them go, fists clenched at his sides. "Danny!" He turned to Herissmon, who was pointing at the screens, then followed the small claw.
ChaosGallantmon X had appeared quickly, standing not far away from where his three opponents had simply waited for him to appear. "All three of you, huh? I was hoping my last attack would have kept you down for at least a little while, May."
The Dexmon across from him bristled slightly, its form shaking angrily before InJESmon readied his weapons. "You always were smart, Davis. Why risk one of you losing when you could just mob me?" ChaosGallantmon ignited his blade. "It's only a matter of time before Armordramon gets here, though. You think you can handle us both with no casualties?"
MadValkyrimon didn't even give him time to ready Gorgon, dashing up and slamming her lance into his. "Brynn... you were better as a coward!" He shoved back, spinning and pouring energy into Balmung as he did. "Fafnir's Edge!"
…
"Memory matrix test complete. 95% accuracy achieved. Applying matrix to further memories."
X X X
15 years earlier...
I leaned back and stared out of the classroom window, barely paying any attention to the teacher as he droned on about... uh... I glanced at my book. Dracula. English class, I guess. I looked away from the book and back out the window, letting the conversation wash over me. It was boring. All of it was boring. Even as someone forced the class discussion in the direction of Digimon, comparing the evil of Dracula to the way that they sucked out the safety of the human world. Hard to argue against it, if you didn't know anything personal about Digimon.
Because I did know. I had saved the world. All of it. Classmates? Saved 'em. Teacher? Saved her. This dumb school building? Yeah, that too. And now here I was, going to school and doing homework and worrying about reading a 200 year old book that had already been made into thirty movies, dozens of shows, and at least five Digimon.
I glanced down at the parking lot, my eyes immediately landing on BG snoozing behind a car. It probably should have been hard, but ever since we'd X-Biomerged it was kind of like something had changed. The compass was always in the back of my mind, letting me find my partner on instinct no matter where he was. Useful trick, but I doubt that May liked it. She was a couple seats away, looking out towards my home where Dorumon was still holed up, banned by May's parents from visiting just like me, Henry, Aunt Suze, and Davis. Anyone related to Digimon were kept at arms length, at best. At worst... well, Dorimon's name wasn't even allowed in May's home and they hadn't called May's grandparents in ages.
"Um... do you have an extra pencil?" I turned to the voice, the girl sitting behind me whispering as she clicked hers to show it was out of lead.
"Yeah sure," I mumbled, grabbing another, handing it over, and looking back out the window.
"Oh, uh... Thanks..."
I barely heard her, instead focusing on a sudden burn behind my eyes. The other benefit of our X-Biomerging was a low rumbling that I'd learned was connected to other Digimon, like my brain was piggybacking on the signal that BG got when one was around, getting stronger as more Digimon showed up or as stronger ones appeared. Unlike the usual low level feeling, this was definitely something more. And things over Rookie tended to get violent fast.
I surged to my feet. "Bathroom," I charged out of the class, ignoring a slightly jealous look from May and the protests of my teacher telling me to sit down. I bolted down the stairs and took a winding route out of the building to take advantage of blind spots in the school's cameras, running to my car at full speed once I could. Davis would've given me an A for that sneak out if it was still months ago.
"Champion, at least," BG said when I got close, bounding towards the truck on his tiny legs.
I threw open the door for him and grinned. "Well, let's hope we get there before D-CARD does. Don't want to get out of shape, huh?"
"If you are, I'm leaving you behind," BG joked. He jumped into the car and bounded into the passenger seat. "Now hurry up or we will lose out on a fight!"
It didn't take long to get there. BG had the best nose in the business, and having that in my own head meant I could figure out where I was going way faster than if I had to rely on checking my Digivice all the time. "Okay, okay..." I took a left turn way too fast and saw the fog cloud rising in front of us, barely managing to stop in time before going in. "You think it got swept up in the blue streams or just ran right into it?"
"Accident. The ones who want to be here are usually dumb enough to go through the permanent Digi-Gates," BG returned. He wasn't wrong. The doors are always open now, so there's bound to be someone trying to make sure that an entire world of WMDs doesn't just walk through. D-CARD set up their field headquarters where we'd opened the Gate and recalled all the agents they could to manage Bio-Emergences around the country. As more agents had to go around the country to handle them, they were starting to get spread thin here. Which meant, maybe, just maybe, we could finally get in a fight.
I watched the people running from the fog. "Well, that takes care of the 'being seen' problem," I mumbled. I pulled my goggles over my eyes. "Ready, BG?"
"I've wanted two feet for months!" he growled.
I slammed my foot down on the gas and shot into the Digital Field, screaming for joy the entire way.
X X X
She had spent all night thinking about what she'd seen the day before. After the boy who sat in front of her in English class had tried to sneak out, her Digivice had begun buzzing in her sweatshirt pocket. It didn't take a genius to figure out exactly what that meant.
He had a Digimon.
So, she had slipped out of class a few minutes after him, the teacher still flustered and answering a question from a girl in a purple jacket who had distracted him so the boy could escape unnoticed. Brynn didn't risk following him directly, instead just hurrying to her car directly. Her mom had yelled at her all night for clearly ditching the school.
But she knew it had been worth it.
"Digi-Modify! Digivolution, activate!"
When she had followed him into the fog, her eyes had stung behind her glasses. It was difficult to see anything, but her Digivice swirled to describe what was out there. "BlackGrowlmon and SaberDramon?"
"Digi-Modify! Hyper-Wing, activate!"
Glowing blue exploded into being in the fog and wings flapped, blowing it apart and letting her see for a moment. A huge, black dinosaur with white hair launched into the air, crashing into a bird made of black flames. "Dragon Slash!" The blades on the dinosaur's arms shot out, glowing, and it swiped up at the bird.
"Black Saber!" The bird's claws glowed and crashed into the blades, sparking as they bounced off, forcing the bird to flip upward while the dinosaur hit the ground on his feet.
"Digi-Modify! Hyper-Sonic, activate! Agumon Expert, activate!"
The dinosaur flashed, a blue energy traveling over its body. It blurred and vanished, appearing on its wings above the bird. "Black Exhaust Flame!" Black flames shot from the dinosaur's jaws, the attack somehow eating away at the flames that made up the bird's body. It shrieked and the dinosaur stopped using its wings, falling feet first as it launched flames into the bird's body. They fell together, creating a shockwave and a crack running through the cement. The bird cried out in pain once, glitching, then shattered into a thousand sparks of tiny light.
She had played it over and over in her mind a dozen times. That fight was... fast. The ones that showed up on the news took a lot longer if they were one on one, with so much more collateral damage, destroyed buildings and vaporized cars. But that boy and his... 'BlackGrowlmon' had contained the Saberdramon and taken it down in a few quick moves. The idea he could do better than people whose job it was to do it was crazy to her. But it had happened either way.
And so, sitting behind him again in English class, she could barely hear the teacher talking about Dracula. She just stared at the back of his head as, yet again, he just stared out of the window. She looked down at the pencil in her hand, borrowed the day before from him. She needed to ask him to help.
She clenched her fist on the pencil. She... she would ask him.
The bell rang and she watched him leave. She stayed behind for a few moments, forcing her apprehension into her stomach as best as she could,then surged up and after him.
X X X
"What the hell were you thinking!?" May hissed at me, dragging me around a corner of lockers and shoving me into an empty room.
I sighed and walked towards the other side of the room. "What? I got to a Bio-Emergence and handled it. No one even saw me leave."
"Cause I was covering for you! Everyone thinks you have IBS now. Serves you right, too." She shook her head. "You know what Smith told us!" She glared at the ground and added almost under her breath, "...You and Davis, really."
"'Don't let anyone know.' Yeah, thanks, Mom," I shot back. IBS? Really? "Look, me and you know more than anybody to keep it quiet. Your grandparents' house was burned down, and someone sent anthrax to Dad's office. I won't let anyone know, because I have no interest in letting him get hurt. We already risked everything to save him."
"Then why are you risking it now? If someone figured out you have - "she cut herself off. "They'll come after you. Out there, and in here. They'll try to kill you and BG because they think that... they destroyed the world."
"May, I can handle a bunch of kids -"
"You are a kid," May pointed out, but I ignored her.
" - after all, we killed something that thought it was the devil. We have fought murderers hand to hand as humans. What's the Karate Club going to do?" I shrugged. "Nothing, that's what. I'm not trying to get caught, but it isn't a real problem and you know it. If they tried, me and BG would handle it. Easy."
"Do you want to live like I do? If BG helps you beat up a bunch of teenagers at school, they'll take him from you. You don't want that!" she snapped, moving up and shoving me back.
I bit back a retort and turned away. She was family, there was no reason to get personal in a fight. "Dorimon misses you, too," I said quietly. May looked like that shattered her mood and she took a step back. "Look, May, I'm... I'll be fine. Don't worry about it, okay? Besides, if Digimon help out, maybe it'll change things. I don't know."
"But that's not why you're doing it," she said simply.
I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry.
"You're just bored. Henry still holes himself up, and your parents have been gone over a month now. You want to fight, because you don't want to figure anything else out to do."
She... wasn't wrong. But I wasn't going to admit that. I turned towards the door in the hope it would help me figure an excuse out of this, and froze instead. "Uh... Hello?" I said, raising my hand and waving.
An eye with red hair around it widened, hesitating for a few moments. Eventually, the door flew open and slammed shut in the space of a single breath. "You look familiar..." I muttered, putting a hand on my chin. Where did I..?
"She's been sitting behind you in English for a year, Dummy!" May snapped, slapping the back of my head.
"Ow! Hey, what did I do?!" I growled back at her. "I was figuring it out. I gave her a pencil yesterday before I – uh..." I turned bright red. "My IBS kicked up."
May snorted while I glowered death at her. After a second, I remembered our guest and turned away. The redhead fiddled with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, struggling to say something. "Um... I, uh... I know."
"Yeah, she told everyone -"
"No, I - I know, uh... you..." She kept mumbling and stuttering. She took a deep breath and looked down, letting her hair cover her face. She was silent for a while, then finally: "IknowaboutBlackGrowlmon."
We went silent for a few moments. "You Digivolved to Champion!? You aren't even trying to hide, are you, DUMMY!?" May snapped, turning on me.
"Hey! This just means the IBS lie didn't work on -"
We stopped as we saw the girl yank something out of her baggy gray sweatshirt's pocket and hold it out in front of her. "A 3D... so she got an alert and put the otherwise impossible clues together," I remarked, pushing away from May. "See? No problems."
May glared at me, but said to the girl, "It's Brynn, right?" she asked, getting a timid nod in response.
I was slightly bewildered. I sat in front of her, but I didn't even remember this girl. How'd she know that? May continued, "Okay, Brynn... go to D-CARD. It's safer than whatever you think we can do for you."
I couldn't help it. I laughed. May turned to glare at me. "What? May, we are both half of two of the most powerful Digimon-Human partnerships on the planet. There's no way Commandramon and Jen aren't using us as some kind of boogeyman."
"Taj...I can't believe – Dammit. Fine. Do whatever the hell selfish thing you want, just don't get me and Davis in trouble." She pushed off from the table. "We did everything for you, Taj, even if it cost..." She trailed off and we looked at Brynn's confused look. She sighed. "It cost everything. The least you can do in return is actually try not to screw us over."
"May - " I began, but she just pushed past me and out the door. I watched her go and groaned. That was going to be fun to deal with. Especially after she told Davis.
But that was future me's problem. Present me turned to Brynn and looked her over. Curly red hair over her freckled face, glasses, a baggy gray shirt with the words 'Sew What?' on the chest in purple. Baggy jeans and sneakers. She looked at me and I blushed at her bright green eyes, turning away and coughing. "Ugh – ahem. So... you've got a Digimon, huh?" I asked, walking towards one of the desks and leaning against it. I motioned over my shoulder with my thumb. "BG – er, BlackGuilmon – is my partner and has been for... almost seven months now."
Brynn's eyes widened. "That's from... before all this."
I nodded. "Yeah. So I guess that means you were weird enough to download the app after the world ended," I joked, only to receive a confused look. I waited for clarification, but she was so quiet all the time. "What?"
"There was... there was no app," she said. She cautiously moved closer, placing a desk between us and crossing her arms over her chest. It seemed that spending more time alone was making her less timid, like she was more comfortable with me than even just two people. "Salamon's egg just, er, showed up. In my house. Then I woke up and my phone changed."
"You didn't download the Digimon game?" I asked, surprised.
"I, well, I don't even really like Digimon. The shows are dumb."
I choked on my spit, coughing violently until I finally calmed down. Dumb? I felt insulted suddenly. "Weird... Digimon usually only partner with people who want one, or at least like them. When was this?" That didn't sound normal. But since we opened the Digital World, what was?
"When the sky opened up," she said. "I was doing what that video said, just hoping and praying for them to beat that thing. And..."
"And what? It could be important," I suggested. I was already an expert in Digimon in fiction – or whatever it was, according to Datamon. Might as well become an expert in Digimon in real life, too.
She turned bright red. "I just... I wanted... a friend."
That... did explain it. "Well, Digimon that end up as partners are definitely friends. Even if some stretch the definition of 'friendly,'" I said, thinking of BG. "So you don't know anything about Digimon, but you followed me to a fight. That means you want to fight."
She turned her eyes up to me, a glimmer of something like steel in them finally. "You're right. You are better than the government at this. Your fight was... it was over in seconds. No one got hurt."
I grinned. "Well, I am pretty awesome." Finally, getting some recognition. I saved the world, keep those compliments coming. I sobered as I remembered everything we'd had to go through to save the world... and everything we'd done to make it need saving. "But... it isn't always that easy. Digimon have four stages, usually, that they can fight in. Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, and Mega with a few above that for some rare Digimon. But if you aren't good at it, fighting even at the weakest level can destroy a building. Especially if you aren't careful." I paused, considering the destruction of the mall's garage in my first fight a great example of that. "And if the strongest showed up, people are probably going to die even if you do everything right. My partner is literally nuclear at the second highest stage, but thankfully there's almost never a reason to go even that high."
"That sounds kind of dangerous," she pointed out quietly.
"Only if you're in the laser's path," I joked back. "Which, uh... well, you don't have to worry about that. If an Ultimate ever showed up, me and BG would go Mega to make sure it couldn't cause any problems. Better safe than sorry, right?"
She looked down at the desk. "How do I help?"
"You hear about Nuclear lasers and mass death and you just want to jump right in? Then you really are a Digidestined," I muttered, earning a confused glare from Brynn. "I just mean – you fit in with me and my friends. It's a good thing."
"But how to help? Honestly, right now you'd just get in the way. You don't know Digimon, you don't have cards, and you don't know how to fight." With every item on the list her face began to drift downward, growing more and more disappointed. I let out a sigh. Why did I feel bad about telling her the truth? Her big green eyes looked up at me. "But... no one starts out ready. You skipped school to follow me to a fight, so you have the guts for it and that's the hardest part. The rest I can... teach you, I guess."
Her face lit up and she rushed forward, grabbing my wrist. "Thank you! Thank you, Tasuke!"
"Er, j-just call me Taj. We're friends now," I mumbled, pulling my hands from hers and patting my jeans with my palms. "Look, I have a jillion cards and the game is step one to the fights. Here, give me your phone."
"Huh? But um -"
"I need to be able to talk to you. You should be happy: my teacher kidnapped me, stole my phone, and blackmailed me." I paused as I texted myself on her phone and stared at the wall. "Saying it like this, I can't believe Davis and me are friends now."
"Davis... the new kid from last semester? He kidnapped you?!" Brynn exclaimed, seeming surprised by the idea. "But he's so... quiet!"
"Yeah, well... I'll let him tell you about it," I handed her phone back, my name and number saved in her 3D after I texted myself my own address. "Okay, I put my address in there. We can meet up after school."
"Can I... ?" she trailed off, growing silent as the question was caught in her throat. I waited for a few moments for her to finish her thought, to say anything. Nothing.
"Gatomon got your tongue?" I remarked as I got closer, causing her to lean backwards, face turning the same color as the red hair covering it. She sputtered and began fiddling with her sleeves again. "Come on, Saberdramon was way scarier than this. Where's the fiery redhead who snuck out of school?"
Brynn flushed a bright red at the comparison, but didn't look like she'd be able to do it. I sighed and leaned back. "Then I was wrong. Don't bother coming over," I remarked. "If you can't ask me a question, how can you fight a Digimon?"
"That's not the same thing..." she muttered, barely loud enough that I could hear.
I turned back to her. "No. It's actually a lot of publicly talking to each other."
She glanced at her feet, unsure how to shoot back. I felt bad for a moment and scratched my cheek. "Okay, look, if you can figure out how to ask me... whatever before I go home, we'll still be on. Right up until I jump in my truck and drive off."
Her head didn't move. She clearly didn't think she could do it either. I shrugged and kept going.
Right until my 3D beeped in my pocket. I reached in and grabbed it, letting out a snort when I saw Brynn's name on the text message. "Can I bring Salamon?"
"You know, that's... that's funny," I remarked. I turned and pocketed it. "But we can say it counts." She smiled at that and clutched her 3D tight in front of her in both hands. "Of course, it wouldn't have been much training without bringing her. It isn't your training. It's both of yours." She turned pink and embarrassed again, one hand drifting over to anxiously pick at one sleeve.
"Man, how am I going to explain this to Henry or Davis?"
X X X
"Taj, you're – uh, woof woof woof!" Dorimon exclaimed, surprise in her eyes as I came through the front door with another person on my heels. Momentai was beside her, actually barking excitedly as I held the door open for BG and our guests. Dorimon stopped her terrible fake barking a moment later when she saw the Digimon at Brynn's side. BG was snickering at how Dorimon was embarrassing herself. "Oh, uh... I wasn't barking. You were barking. Shut up."
"This is Dorimon and Momentai," I said, gesturing at the two in turn as I closed the door behind Brynn and Salamon. I reached down and picked up Momentai, scratching behind his ears and earning myself a happy yip.
"You do know that isn't May, right?" Dorimon asked, interjecting before Brynn could muster up the courage to speak.
"Really? That's a surprise to me," I replied dryly. "I must be going blind, you ugly dog."
"Hey, I'm not -"
"Oh you must be Dorimon!" Salamon exclaimed, jumping ahead and grinning at the purple furball. "I'm Salamon, and this is my partner Brynn! We're super excited to learn from all you guys!"
"Uh -"
"Wow. You can even out talk Dorimon," BlackGigimon stated from nearby, face plastered with disbelief.
"Is that a challenge, Jerkmon?" Dorimon suddenly asked, eyes narrowing on BG.
"Oh... Brynn, they're so cuuuute!" Salamon jumped forward, tackling both BG and Dorimon and pulling them in to a hug with her front legs. "Come on, they don't bite!" BG bit her, gnawing on the leg holding him.
"Ow! I was wrong, Brynn! I was wrong!"
I let out a sigh and grabbed BG now, carefully detaching him form Salamon's leg. "Yeah, he definitely bites. But he... means well?"
"W-was that a question?" Brynn piped up, barely audible.
I laughed. "I mean, he means well enough," I supplied. I tossed him towards the couch. He bounced once and landed on his back, shouting about turtling. Brynn made a scared noise as I threw him, but I ignored it. "Just let me tell Henry we're here. BG and Dorimon'll lead you to my room."
"O-o-"
"Cool! Show us the way!" Salamon exclaimed, rushing over to flip BG back to his feet while I headed to the basement.
I stopped in front of the door in the basement, feeling something stop me just outside of his workspace. He was down here most of the time now, working on his actual job and... personal projects. Better than when he was locked up in his room, at least. I shook off the nerves and knocked. "Hey, Dad? You in there?"
There was a surprised noise inside and footsteps came towards the door. It clicked, unlocking, and Henry opened it. "Oh, Tasuke! Sorry, I was... lost in my work," Henry said, looking a little disheveled as he took his earbuds out of his ears. I caught the faint sound of classical music as he did. He ran a hand through his hair, calming it a bit. "Did you get to school on time today?"
"Can't be late every day," I offered, casting a look past him at his Digivice laying in carefully deconstructed pieces on the desk next to the Terriermon pin that matched the one sticking out of my winter vest. He saw where I was looking and moved to the side, blocking my view. "I, uh, a gi - a friend came over with me. I'm just going to hang out in my room for a while if you need me."
Henry nodded. "Okay, yeah. That's fine. What time is it?" He checked his watch. "Will they be here for dinner? I can make some extra sesame beef if you want."
He was going to forget about dinner, I could already tell. "Er... I don't know. I'll ask." I'd just order pizza. And if he actually remembered, I could just eat it tomorrow. I nodded. "See ya, Dad."
"Good talk, Son," he said, reaching out to ruffle my hair. I let it happen before he closed the door and locked it again behind him.
I clenched my fists then let out a sigh. "Better than locked in his room."
When I finally got upstairs, I was surprised to find that BG was laying on his back, growling impotently as Salamon gave him chin scratches. "Uh...what?"
"Save me! She thinks I'm cute!"
Dorimon snorted from her spot beside them on the bed. "Oh, does the wittle guy need some spacey wacey?"
"I... I uh, wasn't s-sure how to -"
"Okay, stop that before he bites you again," I told Salamon, gesturing at Brynn to help pull them apart. "And you, thank you for not biting her."
"I was trying to. She got my chin and I couldn't turn," BG explained hotly.
"Dorimon, could you just – keep them separated?" I asked. "I have to show her the card game."
I put BG down beside Dorimon and went to my closet to grab my huge box of cards. "Oh, but I'd much rather watch him get pinned again. It was hilarious!"
"I will eat you," BG growled simply, staring directly into Dorimon's eyes.
I ignored that empty threat, even if it seemed to make both Salamon and Brynn absolutely horrified. "So, you've got a few important card types," I began, fishing around the box until I could find a few copies of some key categories. I stacked these cards up in a few piles that I placed on the bed between us. "The ones that will get the most mileage are these ones." I put a finger on my extra copies of the Agumon trio. "Digimon have three big types: Data, Vaccine, and Virus. They're a bit like rock paper scissors, and it can make a big difference when two Digimon are the same level."
She didn't ask about anything yet, but I paused anyways. I glanced up at her face, seeing that she was biting on the nail of her thumb as she examined the cards, nose wrinkling as she focused. I frowned and leaned forward. "Something wrong? If you keep those questions inside, you won't focus on what I'm telling you."
She turned bright red as I got close, stumbling backwards and catching herself before she fell off her bed. "Erm... Just – uh – just wondering what Salamon is."
BG, Dorimon, and I stared at her blankly. "You're wondering..." Dorimon began.
"What type..." BG continued.
"Salamon is..." I finished, all of our voices the same monotone of utter disbelief. Every word had made Brynn realize there was suddenly three times the attention on her, and her bright red face had turned deeper and deeper red until it looked like her head was about to pop.
"What?" Salamon asked, jumping up in front of her partner. "Stop looking at her like that, you're being mean!"
I slammed my forehead down on my hands. "Brynn... take out your Digivice and point it at Salamon..."
Brynn blinked once, holding it out at her partner. There was a beep and a whirling noise, then an image of Salamon appeared on the screen. "Huh? Oh, uh – Ahem – S-Salamon. Va-Vaccine type Holy Mammal Digimon. B-Because she is very young, she can't use her Holy powers or its destiny. One d-day, she will d-decide to travel down the paths of Light or Darkness t-to become a great f-force of power. Y-Your... partner..."
"So Vaccine," I replied dryly. I leaned back. "Salamon's actually one of the big ones from the first show. She comes in late as the -" I froze and let out a dry laugh. "As a late addition to the group! You're a perfect fit like that, Sixth Ranger!"
"Sixth Ranger?" Dorimon asked, turning on me in bewilderment. "Wow, you really are a Dummy. They would make eight, not six. We're already six!"
I groaned. "It's just a reference, Dorimon. It means a new team member who wasn't there at the beginning."
"Hm... but they would still make eight."
I shoved the purple ball away. "Okay, so, any other questions or can we get to the next group of cards?"
"N-next..." Brynn squeaked out. I decided to let it go instead of making her say it louder.
"Okay, next we have item cards. Pretty simple – swipe the card, get the item. Like... here we go." I handed her a card. "Gatomon's Ring. With a Salamon, that card should work really well for you. I don't know how, but it would be good."
"... be-because of the -"
"Yeah, the TV show again," I explained. I looked through the cards, slowly putting together a tactical deck for her to use with the Digivice. "Next up... attack cards. Some Digimon cards let you use a Digimon's strong attacks and body parts. Dragon killing claws, rockets, a literal sun."
Brynn blanched. "Hey, you wanted to know what it's like. And these attacks depend on how strong your partner is. That sun attack is pretty good when BG's in Rookie. But I used it once when he was in Ultimate – it's more dangerous than the Nuke in his chest then."
"The -"
"But even then, they're not nearly as strong as they are on the original Digimon. Good way to get some broad coverage, though," I remarked, ignoring her fear of the casual Nuke laying on my bed. I finished assembling her deck, then picked up another two cards. The first, I handed over to her. "I don't think this'll be useful for you yet, but it's a Digivolution card. You use that once you learn how to Digivolve Salamon, and you can do it on demand. I don't know what she'll turn into, but she'll be stronger once it happens."
The other card I held up in between us. "And then there's this."
She looked at it and raised an eyebrow. Her confusion made sense – it was just another Training Braces card after all. Until I focused on it, feeling a familiar pull that caused the card to shimmer and distort. It was suddenly heavier in my hand, the more dense data represented in more dense physical memory generated by the quantum coagulation of energy into matter. It was as it always was, a burning crimson adorned with the black and red image of the Digital Hazard. "Wha – That was so cool! How'd you do it!?" Salamon asked, bouncing up and standing on her back feet to get a better look. "Brynn! Brynn! Can you do it too?"
"N-no..." she muttered sadly.
I let the card change back. "And you won't for a while, probably. It's used to Digivolve to Ultimate, and it's..." I frowned, trying to figure out how to explain it. "The card is... I... I guess it's the – and this is going to sound really corny – but it's your friendship becoming physically real." And that wasn't even the most real it could get... But Dad, Takato, and Rika had said that you had to be in the Digital World for Biomerging to work the first time. But the Digital World was a lot closer, now. Eh, we'd deal with that when we got there. "Honestly, it's pretty cool when you get past how scary it is to go Ultimate."
Brynn was silent as I handed over her deck. "Those'll be your cards for if you get in a fight. But first, we have to work on familiarizing you." I reached back in the box and pulled out an unopened pair of Starter Decks I got as a kid. "Using this deck is as easy as I'm going to go on you, got it?"
"I... I don't know if I -"
I pushed the deck forward. "Come on. You're in this now, whether you want to or not. And you know it."
Brynn stared at the starter deck, then nodded in defeat and let me set up the game to show her how to play. This was going to be the start of a great friendship, I could already tell.
X X X
Dan sat quietly in his room, listening to his parents arguing loudly with his big sister. His other siblings were in other rooms of their home, having been grounded for getting angry at their parents for being told they were moving soon. Dan wasn't happy with it either, but May and Taj had told him to be good. So he would.
He sat on his bed and sighed; his parents had taken all of the Digimon gifts he'd gotten from Taj over the years, and the cartoons that May had watched with him before. It was boring without the toys and shows, but he had been able to keep one thing a secret from them. Dan ran over to his door and put his ear on it, still hearing the scolding from downstairs as his parents demanded May stop seeing her boyfriend. That meant he had some time...
Davis turned and dashed, rolling under his bed and pulling some toys and shoes he'd stuffed there apart to get to his one hidden treasure. He held up the special card that Taj had given him, the purple Rasenmon. He pulled it out and got up on his bed to look at the card. "So cool..." Dan muttered, eyes wide as he stared at the card. He shut his eyes and held the card close. "Digi-modi- er, modfily! Rasenmon -"
He day dreamed about what it would be like, to partner with Rasenmon. To fight bad Digimon. That, if he did that, if he could save people, maybe his parents would stay. Or let him see Dorimon again. Or Taj. He slowly drifted off to sleep, dreaming of his own Digimon Adventure.
And as he did, there was a quiet pulse of red and violet energy that filled the room. A dull glow of the two colors began to shine from behind his toys, where he had hidden the card just moments before. The lights slowly died down, leaving its source completely hidden in the darkness under the bed.
X X X
"Memory playback partially recovered. Play partially reconstructed memory? [y/n]"
"y... Available memory playback engaged..."
"That's our best shot."
Danny looked up at Taj, who was busy running through a list of moments from their past on a whiteboard. He looked... sad, the younger man noted. Taj nodded. "You know when to send Herissmon back?" he asked instead of focusing on his mentor's hardened jaw.
Taj seemed... somehow sadder than usual. BG beside him looked up. "We knew it would be this one."
"I know," Taj replied to his partner. His scowl got deeper. "I'm not happy about it, but I'll get over it. I won't even remember it... But if Herissmon can keep me from meeting Brynn, we'll have our best shot at stopping [][][][][][][]."
"Memory corruption encountered. Continuing training on Matrix D..."
X X X
Whoa, what's going on here? Takato and me are dead? Where's Henry? And who's the one they're fighting? Jeez, this reminds me way too much of one of the Gogglehead's stupid cartoons to make any sense. Hopefully we can figure it out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!
