Ben10 & Digimon Tamers
Heroes and Humanity
Part 02: Humanity and Heroes
The Invasion – Chapter 31
Originally Written: September 22, 2015 1203AM to 318AM
. . . . .
Albedo shifted his eyes to Swamps. He laid down on the convertible bed slash couch, a multitude of covers sheltering him. He managed to get a few hours of rest from the insanity by staying in his and Jenrya's apartment. He had listened to the conversations from Safehouse Six via his D-Terminal. The Plumbers were not happy that he had managed to infiltrate their ranks. Many of them were even more displeased that Ryo trusted Albedo so much as to know that he had infiltrated their ranks and didn't do anything to stop him. Luckily, as Albedo predicted, Ryo managed to convince many of them that overthrowing the Incursean Coup held much more importance than getting Albedo. Albedo managed to further cement Ryo's argument as correct by working endlessly on the transmitter/receivers that would surely help to cement Earth's victory.
As such, though he was in no mood to battle and defend himself on three different fronts, at least the onslaught from the Plumbers and Tamers side strayed further away from "Albedo Must Die" levels. So, he focused on Swamps who stood next to the apartment door, instead of bolting for the next safest, nearest exit.
"It's Takato and Guilmon." Swamps looked at him.
Albedo nodded and pushed the sheets off him. He sat up on the bed, letting his bare feet touch the floor. "Let him in."
Swamps didn't question him as he opened the door.
"Thanks." Takato replied, rubbing the back of his head as Swamps let him in.
Albedo stood and walked into the kitchen, the cold floor not bothering him in the least, "Matsuki."
"Alex," Takato looked at the kitchen walkway as Swamps closed and locked the apartment door, "or should I say Albedo?" He continued.
Guilmon looked at Takato curiously.
"Cut it out Matsuki." Albedo shifted so he could see into the living area.
Takato held up his hands.
"What are you here for?"
"To let you know you've got the Plumbers more riled up than the Incurseans, mainly."
Albedo watched Takato look at the Plumber grade blaster sitting on the table. "I'm quite sure I knew the risks of doing what I did, Matsuki."
Swamps sat on the bed. Guilmon followed him, tail wagging. Swamps smiled and patted the Digimon's head with a green and black plant appendage. "Bet lots of humans were scared of you at first."
Albedo rolled his eyes and walked back to the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water, "What are you really here for?"
"Ryo sent me. The Plumber's have Fridge and Hugh on close watch."
"Dammit." Albedo heard Swamps mutter.
"They won't let it up until both you and Swamps return." Takato continued, "They're lucky people recognize Hugh as the one who tag teamed with Andromon. Those guys aren't happy. Some of the Plumbers want to get Hugh's mishap labeled as an attack."
"What the fuck!?" Swamps stood up. "That wasn't an attack! That was an accident! It bet if a fat or heavily muscled human somehow managed to tip over a table that way they wouldn't label that an attack!"
"It's only a thinly veiled threat they've no plan of really carrying out, Swamps." Albedo leaned on the kitchen door frame. "Threaten them to make you and I show up doing something stupid. They don't even know that Fridge and Hugh are really Fridge and Hugh." Albedo looked at Takato as Swamps calmed down. "Ryo told you that, didn't he?"
"Rika said you were running around as Alex Strong. Ryo jumped to your defense and quickly explained before any Plumbers heard. He's," Takato looked at the floor, shifting his eyes, "oddly protective of you."
"Hn." Albedo looked into his glass, silent for a moment. The answer was obvious if everyone around him wasn't a complete intolerable idiot. He had no idea what Takato was thinking, but surely he was wrong.
"Swamps. Out." Albedo spoke casually as he shifted so his back leaned against the door frame.
"You sure?" Swamps looked at him.
Albedo took a long drink of water. He lowered the glass from his lips, "I wouldn't have said it if I wasn't. Take Guilmon with you."
"Takato?" Guilmon questioned.
"It's alright Guilmon. We're not gonna break out in a fight." Takato looked at Albedo with a silent, 'I hope,' in his eyes.
"Okay." Guilmon followed Swamps obediently.
Albedo nearly scoffed. Seems Guilmon had as much trust in Takato as that fool Azmuth had in Tennyson. A fool's gamble from what he could tell.
"We'll be right outside." Swamps spoke up before leaving.
Albedo casually waved a hand. The door closed with a soft click. A fool's gamble he strongly forced himself to believe in. There was no doubt those civilian humans trusted Matsuki, way more than the more competent Ryo. Albedo pushed off the door frame and headed to the kitchen. Disappointing. Takato's footsteps followed him.
Albedo placed the glass on the table, "As you know, the Incurseans have Hypnos in their grasp." he didn't turn around, leaving Takato to look at his back.
"Yea..." Takato spoke softly.
"Jenrya is there." He ran a finger along the rim of the glass.
"I figured that..."
"Then, since we're both up to speed, I should only need to say this once." Albedo turned his head to look at Takato. "Without me, no matter what you do, you're not getting Hypnos or Jenrya out of their grasp." He watched Takato clench his fists. "Allow me to further clarify. Do you know exactly what the Incurseans did to block communications, to block and break up any rebellions against them? Do you know what they did to simultaneously deactivate not just every ID mask in Japan, but, more than likely, all ID Masks on the planet?"
Takato lowered his head.
"The Plumbers may know how it was done, but look around at them Matsuki, "Albedo folded his arms as he walked around the table. "These are rookie plumbers. Very few elite plumbers stay on the planet they're from."
Takato looked up at him.
"Plumbers are mostly idiots in my book, but it works in their favor, diplomatically speaking as," Albedo uncrossed his arms and held them out to his sides as he shrugged his shoulders, "most all other species in the universe are absolute bumbling fools as well." He dropped his arms, "The Plumbers may know why and how it was done, but neither they nor you or any other tamer can reverse or get around it." He narrowed his eyes at Takato, "I can."
"Ryo and I figured that too, but you don't have to be so dramatic about it." Takato pointed at him, eye twitching in annoyance.
"You call it drama. I call it getting my point across."
Takato sighed heavily. "I'm not sure if I could get any Plumber or Tamer off your back."
"I doubt your doubt." He partially sat on the tabletop pressing his hands against the edge as he loosely gripped the table. "They listen to you for some reason I can't quite fathom. You and Ryo make quite the tag team, as unfortunate that may be."
Takato sighed. Then he fell silent for a bit. Albedo waited, somehow refraining from rolling his eyes.
"When we, my friends and I, were fighting Mother D-Reaper, the last chance we had at stopping D-Reaper, people all throughout the area saw me inside Gallantmon fighting it's forces. Since we beat it, they look at me like I'm some kind of miracle worker. Drives me nuts." Takato clenched his fists as he glared at the tile.
Albedo looked at him for a long moment. Somewhere his consciousness evidently eventually decided that throwing Takato out the window was not the best course of action to take by far. He chose to pinch the bridge of his nose instead.
"Stop it!" Takato spat. "Not everyone wants to parade around with more power than they know what to do with!"
Albedo continued looking at him, ever so slightly intrigued, eyebrows raised, but mostly unphased. He determined long ago that Matsuki was the boring one.
"You have no idea the weight on my shoulders! How many people expect me, just me, to protect them!"
Before he even comprehended that he was doing so, Albedo offed and clocked Takato in the jaw with his fist.
Takato's head snapped to the side. Takato's red eyes glared at him, shining with fury. A deep scowl marred his face as he clenched his teeth.
"I helped build the omnitrix, human." Albedo spat. "I helped to lay the foundation for the very watch that rests on that idiot fool Tennyson's wrist."
Takato looked at him wide eyed.
Albedo dropped his fist, "So, if that lowlife, pompous, pathetic shell of a mortal, jerk so do something that kicks off a universal war signaling the very end of our universe, who do you think bears that weight? Tennyson certainly will not. So don't you dare come bitching to me about your pitiful, negligible, burdens." Albedo growled low in his throat as he spoke. He turned around and grabbed his glass off the table. He would kick himself for revealing such information in the near future, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Takato wasn't likely to just pretend he never heard such information. Albedo walked to the sink and refilled his glass.
"I'm not you, Albedo. I'm not Ryo." Takato spoke softly, "The others got their digimon because they were strong. I got Guilmon because I have an overactive imagination. You take it seriously when a Digimon you've never heard of shows up from what used to be your card reader, but you take it with a grain of salt because good guys always win."
Albedo leaned up against the sink.
"Adults tell you you only have one life and it's not a game and you're just like, whatever." Takato lowered his head. "They tell you to avoid this and avoid that and you'll be just fine. They don't tell you that sometimes there's things you just can't avoid. They don't tell you how to get past those things either, not even a hint. Guess it's because not everyone knows how. I don't know. So it winds up being you grabbing at straws and throwing ramen at the wall hoping you pick the right straw and something sticks."
'What a lovely time to have a breakdown Matsuki.' Luckily for Takato, Albedo managed to keep such words unspoken. He took a drink of his water. "What happened between you and Trang Shion?"
"What?" Takato looked up.
"What happened between you and Trang Shion?"
"W-why are you even asking about that now?" Takato raised his voice.
"Because you chose now to be a giant baby." Albedo raised a hand as Takato practically snarled at him. "I already know about you and Jenrya. we'll just call this a...hm, hunch, yes, a hunch, I have." Albedo waved a hand to a chair at the table.
Takato sighed and sat at the table. "Trang found out about Henry and I. When I went to talk to him. To see if I could get him to stop hurting Henry." Takato shook his head, "That's all you see on tv. Have a conversation with a jerk, if they can be helped that conversation will be enough. And like, a part of you knows that doesn't quite make sense, but adults sugarcoat everything. 'I don't want to scare my baby. Oh, he's too young to learn about such things!' " Takato mimicked the adult's voices as he sat at the table, resting his arms on the piece of furniture.
Albedo stood silent, drinking his water.
"Gallantmon is a good fighter. Takatomon," Takato smiled half heartedly as his own joke, "not so much. I went to have a civil conversation and left so black and blue my appearance scared myself."
"You didn't tell anyone."
"I hid from everyone, and if they asked, I said I wasn't feeling well." Takato shook his head, "He told me if he ever saw me with Henry again, he'd kill me. So I told Henry I couldn't see him, couldn't help him anymore, and I ran. Ran like a giant baby." Takato leaned his head against the table. "You know...When Beezlemon killed Leomon while we were in the Digital World, I was so angry that he not only hurt Leomon, but Jeri as well, that I turned Guilmon into an absolute monster, and stared down a bullet from Beelzemon's gun," Takato lifted his head, and turned to face Albedo, "headed right here," he tapped his forehead right between the eyes, "without much of a care. I just wanted Beelzemon dead." Takato dropped his arm. "I confronted Trang, just as angry that Trang would hurt my friend this way, and I only made things worse. How the fucking hell is a puny human with a knife and his fists, more scary than a six foot tall, clawed monster named after a being straight out of Hell wielding two double barreled guns!?" Takato clenched his eyes and pounded on his legs with his fist. He clamped his mouth shut tight, and screamed.
Albedo stared at the brunet. 'I was not expecting that...'
Takato finished his partial scream, and took a deep breath.
'Keep this up and I might just pity you instead, Matsuki.' Albedo shook his head and looked down at his glass. "Fears don't make sense."
"That's stupid." Takato spat.
"It would be nice if they did, but they don't and probably never will. We'll all just need to buck up and deal."
"I can't have stupid fears making me do stupid things! I'm expected to-"
"-At some point tell Jenrya your side of this tragic adventure." Albedo raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"I said you should tell Jenrya."
"What good will that do?" Takato held his arms out as his sides, "I'm sorry Henry that your supposed to be fearless leader and best human friend left you to die in the arms of a madman instead of calling the cops. Here's why I did it though. I hope one day you forgive me." Takato stood up, leaning on the table, "Tell me you're kidding. I have to protect my friends. Help my parents as they get older. I'm supposed to look out for everyone!"
"Says who?" Albedo folded his arms, casually holding his glass.
"They do. This is what they expect of me. I've got to..." Takato stood straight, back rigid and shoulder's square. "They need me to."
"Then they are idiots and you're an even bigger one." Albedo glared at him. "If you keep giving them fish, what happens should you, no, when you die?"
Takato looked at him, shoulders slumped.
"You are no miracle worker. You are a lowly human as low as the rest of the humans on this miserable rock of a planet you call your home. You spout such an overly dramatic speech about teamwork and then try and do everything yourself even though you know you can't. Even I work with people as annoying as I find it, and you know I'm leagues above you in natural skill."
Takato sputtered, but was unable to find much of anything to say.
"You then screw up, and decide that running away and ignoring it is best!" Albedo set his glass down on the counter, lest he break it. He sharply turned around. "You ran away and so did I but there's a difference between you and I. Not that it makes what I did any more right." Albedo folded his arms. "Not a soul thinks I lead them." Albedo refrained from lowering his eyes, 'Not a soul believes in me.'
Takato looked at him. A smirk slowly came to his face, "So, you think I'm a good leader, huh?" His eyes shined.
Albedo waved a hand, "No way. I wouldn't follow you if the last three people left in the galaxy were Tennyson, myself and you. Replace Tennyson with Vilgax and I still wouldn't follow you. I wouldn't-"
"-Okay! Okay! I get it." Takato held up his arms.
"Good. All the more reason for you to notice that leaders make mistakes. Sentient beings make mistakes. It's one of the ways they learn. As long as you don't pull a President Nixon, or Bush Jr, stay far away from the Middle Eastern rulers, Hitler, and the style of Chinese dictators, you should be alright. So, how can you call yourself a leader or expect yourself to be one, if you start a trend of running when you screw up or are afraid of screwing up?"
"Because I never screwed up this badly before. Henry nearly died Albedo and not from a digimon or a rogue program. A human!"
"But he didn't."
"And the only thing I've done since to help him is make him feel like shit and call him a mistake because I can't explain or do anything right anymore."
"Then you pull on your big boy britches, or whatever that phrase is and you do everything in your power to make sure those Incurseans don't have Jenrya too much longer because we're all screwed if they just happen to figure out what Juggernaut is, and manage to control it." Albedo looked hard at Takato.
Takato looked right back at him.
"Then you do everything in your power to make these Incurseans understand they're not welcome here. If you decide after that the whole leadership thing is not for you so be it, but at least get one person to see you're not a Celestial Sapien who can fix everything with a ridiculously sparkly and wondrous wave of your digivice." He looked at Takato with a bored expression. "Preferably one person with a good deal of influence, who matters in the whole grand scheme of things."
He really needed to get back to work on the transmitters and receivers, but he could not do that if the Plumbers tore him a new one. He needed both Takato and Ryo to knock some sense into all of his current major threats.
He watched Takato steel himself. Takato took a few deep breaths and rolled his shoulders. "Okay." Takato nodded. "I can do that much."
"It will be appreciated more than you think it will."
