Ben10 & Digimon Tamers
Heroes and Humanity
Part 02: Humanity and Heroes
Another Myself – Chapter 100
Originally Written: Thursday, October 19, 2017 557PM to Friday, October 20, 2017 509PM
. . . . .
"I keep hearing you're looking for me." Jeri sang in an amused raspy voice. She circled around Albedo in her ADR-01 form. Golden eyes pierced through his very being, highlighting all wrong with the caged Galvan before her.
"Yes, I was. Am." He looked down at the ground. A strong gust breezed through the area. He pushed white hair out of his face. "I have something for you."
She tilted her head, eyes shining. She pressed the palms of her hands together. "I do like presents."
"I am not sure if you will like or appreciate this one." He shuffled through his bag. He pulled out the orange D-Arc, and held it tightly in his hands. He held it for a long time.
Jeri spun around on the ball of her right foot. She spread her arms out ever so slightly as she spun around, waiting.
"You seem happier."
"You're changing the subject." She sang.
"Perhaps." He looked away, unable to meet her bright golden eyes.
"Everyone was a bit surprised when I showed them my ADR-01 form, but Takato gave them what for." She giggled, a light sound that somehow almost made Albedo feel better about his actions. "It was quite romantic."
"I see."
Young digimon ran around playing with a soccer ball, kicking it around the sand lined streets with the ease of many times before.
He turned to face Jeri. He held her D-Arc out towards her. "Here you are."
Jeri faced him and leaned in close, examining the lit up screen. "What did you do?"
"I believe I have fixed your D-Arc."
"What did you do!?" Her head shot up and she glared at him. Her lips curled into a distasteful scowl. He could practically hear her clenching her teeth together.
He refrained from looking away from her. He clenched his free hand into a shaking fist. He saw the aura of energy radiating from her, watching as sparkles of data appeared around her. It was as though in her anger she was deleting the very air itself.
He held his arm out a little farther. Her digivice dangled in his hands, waiting to be returned to its true owner.
She took a few deep calming breaths. "How did you even do this?" She shook her head, disbelieving.
He directed his thumb and pressed a button on the device.
Her eyes widened and she gasped. "What the hell Albedo?! What possessed you to think this was a good idea!?" She clenched her hands as she screamed. Then she snatched the digivice from his hands.
He knew she focused all of her attention on the small pulsing digiegg on the device's screen. She cradled the device in her hands. Tears dripped from her eyes, turning into sparkles of data before they had a chance to run down her face. "Why did you do this?"
"Because you take everything wrong with your life without complaint. I could not stand it anymore." He looked off to the side. "Because I'm certain you have assisted me in ways that I am currently unable to comprehend the full extent of. You do all this without asking for anything in return. I..." He took a deep breath. "I needed to do something. Anything."
Jeri sighed. "How did you even do this?"
"I scanned Beelzemon's data for the base code. Then I scanned the data of quite a few Leomon to fill in what was missing."
"I'm gonna kill him." She spat, "And you." She sharply glared at him. "This shouldn't even be possible!"
"I wasn't certain I had done it correctly. I concluded that it would take a lot more scanning than I previously thought. I didn't get the chance to scan Leomon's prior digivolutions before Eon...you know. However, your D-Arc determined that doing so wasn't necessary. Or maybe they did..." He looked at the ground, "I thought for a while..." He blinked quickly, "A long while. I contemplated undoing my work."
"You don't undo things like this. At least, I don't think you should."
"I couldn't bring myself to. I'm not even sure if he'll remember..." His eyes widened as she hugged him tightly. "Jeri?" He stiffened as he looked around, eyes darting this way and that.
"You heartless emotionless bastard." Her arms tightened around him. "You're worse than Takato."
"I'm not surprised you'd say such a thing." He slowly wrapped his arms around her, wondering where Takato was.
Jeri pulled away from him, sparkles of data still slowly floating away from her body, starting at her eyes. "You." She placed her hands on her hips. "You can't fix everything. It doesn't work like that." She wagged her finger at him, "And don't tell me you'll try to anyway despite the odds."
He glared at the sand below him and clenched his fists.
"And that pose tells me you already tried something else that was crazy and probably shouldn't have been attempted in the first place." She sighed a heavy sigh.
"I contemplated it, but I didn't get the chance to fully follow through." He looked off to the side, still glaring. He scowled, fuming inside. "It just struck me wrong. The Universe's random generator makes him save four different worlds without his consent or really asking him and gives him the you-still-lost,-but-at-least you-didn't-cause-Armageddon-across-time-and-space 'reward' in return for his assistance."
"Are you talking about Ryo?" Jeri asked him.
"He's a hero, a much better one than Tennyson, and way more likable at that." He glanced at Jeri. "The universe tells him this, and then has the gall to thank him by permanently attaching him to his Vilgax stuck in the form of a Monodramon, who he can't walk away from because the second he does, all hell will break loose. Even Monodramon is starting to realize and fear the implications."
She tilted her head. Those golden eyes focused right to the deepest parts of him. "That's not why I gave you those games. At all."
He sighed, "What was I supposed to do when I realized the game's plotline, j-just let it stay that way?"
"Yes." She gave him a hard stare, as a mother would their child, "According to Ryo, you all saw why first hand."
He flinched. His shoulders slumped. "I didn't mean for that to happen. Any of that. I just wanted..."
"I know." She smiled softly.
"It's not fair." He muttered. "He's easily hundreds of times more deserving of something, anything good, than Tennyson is. He can't even see his friend. His best friend."
"And?" She resumed staring at him. "Deal with it."
"W-what?" He looked at her, sputtering. "How can you-"
"That's life. Deal with it. He has."
He matched her staring with his red eyes set in a firm glare. "Ryo deserves so much more than that! He's worked much harder than Tennyson! He's sacrificed so much more! Tennyson's barely given up a thing!"
"So, you want to try again?" She folded her arms. "Eon will be glad for you helping him out by sending Ryo through yet another emotional roller coaster. For all we know that madman wants to form a team up with Millenniummon and he just wants Ryo around to keep Millenniummon from trying to kill him."
He lowered his eyes and shook his head. "There..."
"Stop saying that. Stop thinking it. I don't know exactly what you guys went through, but I know it has to be enough that you realized that there isn't another way. It hurts. It sucks. Let it, but just accept it. It's the only thing the universe is going to let you do about it."
"Fuck the Universe and fuck Eon." He blinked quickly. He clenched his fists, and held back the urge to stomp his feet and scream.
"The Universe and Eon both say 'fuck you' too. With glee in Eon's case."
He looked at her. He wanted to smack that mocking smile off her face so badly, regardless of how much Takato as Gallantmon would tear into him for it.
"So, you, the universe and Eon can all have a nice shouting match where you guys scream 'fuck you' at each other. Eventually Eon will get bored and go away, and then you and the universe can continue the pointless shouting match. But I guarantee you, if you go through life acting as though the universe owes you to balance out the bad things it's done to you or anyone else you like, instead of focusing on what little you can learn or have gained from those bad things, you will always end your life with a bad ending. And not a peaceful bad ending either."
He frowned. "What's peaceful about Ryo's ending?" He looked down. "Or mine? Or yours?"
"The fact that we make our endings seems enough for me." She held a hand out towards him. "You can end your life at the point you 'see' or 'realize' that bad ending if you so choose, but I don't suggest it." She shook her head. "I really don't."
He took a deep breath and shook his head.
"Ryo didn't end his when he saw his 'ending', and it's good he didn't. Are we, myself, Takato and the others? Are we not something good? Should we all stop being friends because Ryo's bad end suddenly balances out to make our friendship not matter? Digimon aren't turning us into slaves, invading the planet every other week. There's no Sovereign trying to punish us for trying to limit their evolution. Millenniummon isn't running around causing mayhem that would apparently destroy the entire universe in and of itself."
His mind raced, unable to think of a proper response.
"What? You and Ryo being friends is nothing special now? Should he just off himself and leave you by your lonesome because of some events that occurred like forever ago for him?"
He looked up. He searched her face as she shrugged her shoulders. "I doubt the universe would let him." He replied in an emotionless voice.
Jeri smacked him upside the head. "Now you're just being a brat." She shook her head and laughed a small laugh. "You didn't see it or think about it, did you?" She tilted her head. "Or maybe you did, but didn't believe that you and Ryo are friends?" She spun around on the toes of her right foot, a small smile on her face. "Do you even know what a friend is?"
"I..."
"You know better now though."
He nodded ever so slightly.
"Ryo's not from this planet. And neither are you. Everyone here can be as polite and cordial as our abilities allow, but deep within you, you will always have that feeling of 'This place is weird'. Sure, over time you may come to terms with and get used to the feeling, but it won't ever stop the homesickness from popping up. Usually at the worst moments ever, too. You both still remember home well enough to ask, 'I want to go home. This place is weird. Just for a moment...'". She turned away and folded her arms behind her back. "And that's what you and Ryo have bonded over."
"You think?"
"Anyone can see it if they know enough about you both and just take the time to look." She shrugged her shoulders, "Sure Ryo has Rika, but Rika's own alienation from society doesn't come from technically being an alien. And you have Jenrya, but the same still applies. Ryo considers you his friend, no doubt about it. And you consider him yours. You want to protect him, like you do Henry. That's why it hurts you so much, that his journey won't and cannot have the happy ending both he and you would like no matter what you or he does. You can help Henry move on from Trang, and overcome Juggernaut, but it's nearly impossible, as I'm sure Paradox told you, to overcome the power that time travel abilities give anyone."
"So I just...accept it?"
"That's what I said before, silly. Sometimes that's the best course of action to take. Other times you run up and go punch the universe in its big dumb metaphorical face!" She cackled, dramatically pressing a hand to her chest.
He couldn't help but laugh a small bit. She looked absolutely ridiculous.
Eventually she calmed, and looked back at him. "The hard part is figuring out which one to do when."
Albedo felt he wouldn't mind punching Eon in his face a few, or a few hundred times.
"By the way, the next time you want to say 'Thanks for being my friend', just say 'Thank you.' Seriously." She grinned a wide exasperated grin at him.
