Digimon Fanfiction
Guilmon's Choice
Snow fell from the sky outside my office. It was that time of year for the gentle flakes. I looked over the paperwork on my desk, nothing much to garner excitement. My eyes scanned each page slowly, methodically as my pen, held in my left hand, jotted down notes on a separate sheet off to my side. I'd have to notify the new intern that adding extra spaces between each paragraph did not help make the work look 'official' in any capacity. Nor did it give the illusion that she was doing more work. The higher ups would spot such juvenile antics a mile away and she'd find herself working a couple floors lower in the company rather quickly.
I'd rather that not happen if I could help it. Call it crass, but she was rather cute, and I felt the stirrings in my heart for a chance in the dating game once more. Setting the papers aside, my eyes darted to the large glass window for but a scant few seconds. I spotted several flakes of white drifting by.
I wished spending time outside was an option right now, but being an adult had its downsides. For one, I had to work to keep a roof over my head. Simply telling one's boss that the urge to frolic in the snow for a couple hours before getting back into the nine-to-five grind was sadly, not something that worked.
Of course, I might try it anyway, given that if the currently innocuous little ice crystals kept falling, I would have to clock out early just to get home safely. My boss knew this about my living situation, and while he disliked it, he knew fate had dealt me a rather weird hand. I had been rather unceremoniously gifted a house from my mother's dying will at the young age of seventeen, albiet one found out on the outskirts of the big city I called my territory.
Ever been to Oregon, America? Probably not for anything grand I imagine. It boasts nice coastal towns, and deep forests, but that's about it. The rest of the state is more focused on retirement settings for those at the end of their biological line.
My dad was, well, 'ill equipped' I could say, to help even himself, let alone take over ownership of a house and property. Drugs can do that to a person. I'll leave that story alone for now. After my father's poor attempt at claiming sanity, the state decided I would inherit the structure and surrounding acreage instead. A decision that, to this day my father hates me for.
I don't rightly care. His opinions and viewpoints never really kept me enthralled, I was a free thinker. He hated that too.
However, I had never owned a home or land. Unsure of how to proceed with my new real estate, I'd gotten a hold of a family friend (now my current boss) and sought help in getting foundation stones under myself before I did anything reckless. My boss, named Mr. Donners, had been very helpful in getting the paperwork to make sense to me. Showing me where to sign/not sign, and where to call a lawyer as shady people tried to steal the house out from under me was also a major boon.
He had also known enough people that were knowledgeable in getting the house back into a live-able place than the nearly decrepit state it had been in when we'd found it. The house was old, needed some internals updated and replaced, but nice. Good stone work on the bottom half of the walls helped keep insulation, while the upper parts of the house were made from sturdy, dependable old wood. I think he said it was built in the eighties, but I couldn't be sure. Being thrown a bunch of information about it on the first day confirmed that I'd forget most of it in rapid response.
The house was a single floor set up. Walk up the six step porch/deck, through the front door and you'd find the living room took up most of the house's floor plan. Light from a large frontal window helped keep the space well lit. The kitchen had a zone split off from the living room by an L-shaped counter top, in the northeastern section of the house, next to the master bedroom. It had a smaller window looking into the back yard just above the sink.
Off on the left side of the living room, farthest from the kitchen was a short little...well, I wouldn't call four feet of wall a 'hallway' but what else was there to call it? It led to two smaller bedrooms that honestly felt like they'd been added on to the place a couple years later.
They felt like kid's rooms, with their smaller dimensions. Both were thankfully devoid of any child like motifs. I'd take a dog or house cat over a child any day.
Two bathrooms, one in the master bedroom and one located in the tiny hallway next to the spare rooms rounded the whole place off. The back wall of the kitchen had a sliding glass door that led to the covered back patio, but it had been swallowed up by the woods and surrounding foliage. Mr Donners said he knew someone who could come rebuild it if I ever got the money to do so, and while I thanked him for the offer, I honestly liked the idea of being closer to nature.
A couple weeks worth of hard labor with twelve or so of my friend/co-workers and 5 years later, the place was being inhabited by yours truly.
Oh. I never gave you my name did I? Damn, not exactly what I'd call a great start, but here we are regardless.
The name is Jay Royalton. Single, twenty-two years old, male white guy. Nothing too spectacular about me really. Black hair, blue eyes, the beginnings of a mustache and beard on my chin, and a tall thin body. Generic in just about every way to most people.
Women look at me and see absolutely nothing of value, something I'll say I find disheartening. Men see me as a non threatening individual to their own schemes and machinations to gain said women so...that's a plus I guess.
What are my strong suits? Hmm, I suppose art and nature. I'm an artist for my other job. Mostly I do online commissions for folks. It helps pay for my groceries at least. As for nature, I volunteer as a security guard/ tour guide at the local zoos and animal parks around the state. Been doing that long enough that I'm on call for a couple of em in case they need help and whatnot.
It's not as cool as it sounds, trust me. I do night shifts walking around with a flashlight making sure idiots aren't breaking in to hug the predators, and give tours during the day. I yammer facts to tourists about animals they've seen on youtube being held by models and famous people for tik tok. Most don't listen, and repeatedly ask me if they can pet the three hundred pound tiger that's behind me eyeing them like the chunks of meat they are.
Sometimes I tell em yes, just to watch their faces melt from excited to sour as they realized I was indeed joking and no I am not going to just open the tiger's pen and let em waltz in with their I-phones held high on selfie sticks.
Look, the point of this story is not to slog you down with my life story okay, it's for me to...to remember where I was when it all changed so drastically. My friends said keeping a journal was a good idea, helps get one's thoughts in order.
And order was something I needed really bad after the world shifted violently a couple weeks back. All my troubles, my happiness, my...my love...it all started today.
December 11th 2023
Shuffling the papers and setting em into my 'out' tray, I heard a tap on the door and looked up, seeing Mr. Donners with a hot mug of coffee in his hand. His tie was off, and he had his jacket slung over his shoulder.
"Royal, how're things in here, nothing seems on fire." He said gruffly as he walked in. His eyes darted around rapidly, as if checking for anomalies. I smirked and stood, stretching before grabbing my own jacket. Any time the boss had his, it meant either we were closing down for the day...
Or...
"Nothing has bust into flame yet, as far as I can tell, sir. Something come up?"
He grimaced, eying the window again. I looked ass well and saw several sheets of paperwork flutter down into view."Yeah, we're evacuating. Floor fifty-seven has a fight breaking out at the moment."
As if to answer his statement, the floor shuddered a little, and we both widened our stances. My eyes caught smoke drift into view from the window. Chunks of debris fell down as well, quickly vanishing from view. He set his coffee down and started briskly walking to the exit.
"Leaving now, follow if you so feel inclined."
I did so, making sure to have my wallet and phone on me as we entered into the hall. Several people were already leaving the floor, and more were streaming down from the upper floors of the sky scraper we called work. A seventy floor tower located in the central zone of the city.
Oh right, Oregon, we are in Portland, Oregon. Forget to mention that part. Big city, rather dirty, cold too, and lotta homeless people. Oh and some crime rates that go abnormally high whenever the political folks need them to sound worse than they are for their social benefit.
Typical bustling center of humanity and all that. Except for...well, the other problems. Problems like the one we were currently facing.
Donners and I shuffled into the mix of bodies and I wasn't surprised when he grabbed my hand and held it tight. I held it firmly, squeezing it a few times to help my boss and friend stay calm as we maneuvered each floor. I could feel the sweat on his palm, and see the way his eyes darted around frantically as we walked.
Claustrophobia he said.
I hated seeing him when he had panic attacks, and recalled that talking helped. "So, what levels are they this time, sir?"
"No idea, didn't wait on the phone to find out, figured it'd be better to just act as soon as I heard the word evacuate."
"Smart choice, probably." I said as a guy shouldered past me, and then immediately he apologized. I simply smiled at him and nodded, letting him relax as we got to the lower landing. The base floor was far more open and I let go of Donners hand, knowing what would come next.
As expected, most people made a beeline for the double doors that exited the building. Donners was no different, I walked quickly but let him get ahead of me, looking around for stragglers. About two thousand people called this building their place of work, and after the attacks had started, I put my security guard skills to work guiding people from the building.
The elevators had been obviously shut down for safety reasons, so when the main hall eventually emptied out, I watched the stairs for extra entries into the hallway. Several fire fighters, a couple nodding to me as I flashed them a security badge, entered and ran past me, into said stair well.
I turned to leave feeling they'd have it handled, only to be stopped by a shout. "Hey, Sir!" Turning, I saw one of the firemen leaning out the doorway to the stairs. "I got two injured people here, help me!"
"Yes sir!" I said, quickly running over and allowing him to pass me the first one. A young man of twenty or so. His leg looked broken, the calf muscle swelling to a nasty purple. Leaning and lowering my arm under his, I hooked him close and started gently scooting towards the exit. "I gotcha, bud." He grunted and grit his teeth in reply as I moved.
"What happened? Talk to me, it helps." I stated confidently. "Judging by the angle of that bruise and the boot marking, I take it ya got run over in the stairwell?"
When he nodded, I kept my eyes forward. '"Yeaah, it ain't fun. Sorry to–"
I was about half way across the hall when a roar shattered the windows of the lobby and deafened my ears. I fell backwards as the sound pummeled my senses and we both dropped to the floor. Cupping my hands to my ears as the sound reverberated around us, and then it ended, I looked up in time to see the ceiling bulge downward before it exploded in a shower of debris. A large gray mass slammed into the floor of the lobby with another burst of sound.
Something else dropped down from the ceiling, even bigger this time. Golds, reds, and blues covered it's armored serpentine body coiling around the other creature as the two began thrashing around and snarling at each other. Each beast was twice the size of a delivery truck and much heavier.
Quickly I found myself overwhelmed by their size and might. The snake like one towered over us, coiled tighter around the gray cat like beast and slammed it's armored horn into the side of the gray creature's chest drawing out a gasp and then a roar of pain as blood began pooling onto the destroyed floor. The beast didn't seem to let up though and bit down on the side of the snake's body, heat rising from it's maw as fire burst through the bite.
Digimon. My mind whispered the word as I stared. Creatures from the other side of our technology...the digital realm...
My thoughts halted as I was scooped up by arms under my own. The other firefighters were dragging me and the younger man away from the fighting creatures and out the exit. The man gripping me was saying something to me, no, he was shouting, but it sounded like he wasn't speaking at all. I blearily pointed at him, and tapped my ears, before shaking my head. He seemed to understand, made some sort of verbal explicative, and dragged me outside. Once down the steps, he pulled me over to a pair of paramedics who seemed already swamped in work. Twelve or so people were strewn about the area, in worse states than I.
One had a cloth covering their form. I cringed, and looked away.
It seemed I would be a lesser concern with my hearing loss, so I sat, and focused on the building. Seeing a gaping hole in the side of the fifty-seventh floor was...disheartening. It seemed the fight had been far more severe than Donners or I expected. I looked back down at the lobby zone and found the destruction to be quite bad. Debris from our building had fallen on cars in the street, and several other adjacent buildings were damaged during the fight.
Another rumble shook us, and we were suddenly flooded with light from the lobby as the two beasts within were enveloped in the glow. A huge beam then rocketed into the sky, slipping through the building and other objects like they didn't exist, yet causing no more damage.
Moments later, the square was silent, save for the fluttering of papers from the floors above, and the crackling of fires and glass as people moved about. My eyes drifted back to the lobby, and I saw something peculiar. A young man maybe the same age as me, wearing a large black jacket was in the lobby, was talking down to a...to a smaller digimon of some sort, I'd never seen it's type before.
It was like a blue dog and a golden snake had mated, and the creature I was now seeing was the result. It seemed to understand the man, and the two exited the building, talking to the police that soon swarmed around them. It glanced over at me, its serpentine slitted eyes were...sad. It held my gaze for only a couple seconds before it lowered its head and looked away, ears lowered.
Does it...does it feel remorse? I felt myself ask. Did it cause the fight? I lost sight of them, my eyes tilting to a paramedic who approached me and started checking my ears. As they tilted my head to the sky, I felt the snow falling touch my cheeks, and for some reason I smiled.
Well, I guess I got my wish. I got to go outside.
"Welp, the building has to be torn down, and rebuilt, shit's fucked for now, Jay." Donners spat over the phone as I walked down my driveway. He was in a roil at the situation, and to be honest I didn't blame him. This was gonna lay several people off, the company was going to go into debt for the fixes, and all because a couple of the higher ups thought 'digimon didn't exist'.
They had never bought digital insurance. Literally with the emergence of the creatures several years ago in japan, there were new forms of insurance out there to protect against such damages, and my boss's bosses were old hold outs of the 'it is a hoax' era. I scowled as I unlocked the old iron gate to my main drive way and entered my yard. The freshly cut lawn, the cleaned up front area, all of it felt nice to see instead of its decrepit state I'd earned it in.
"So where's that leave us, sir?" I asked, holding the phone against my neck while I walked up my front porch steps to the door, my hands rummaging around in my pockets for my key.
Donners sighed over the phone and I heard the tell tale sound of a sip from his coffee mug. "We're both on paid leave, you and I were high enough that we won't have to worry about the financial side of things, but your coworkers are practically screwed. Mind breaking the bad news to em for me?"
Damn, there went that cute new hire.
I grunted. "Yeah, but only if you put a hatchet in the Bmw of that CEO we both hate so much, seriously who in this day and age thinks digmon don't exist!?" I jammed my key into the lock and clicked it left, swinging the door open with a foot. "They've been around now for what? Six years? There's multiple Digi-destined, embassies worldwide for Tamers, and even jobs for the folks who make connections with em, and yet our boss "thinks it's all a hoax!" Walking in and closing the door behind me, I tossed my back pack onto the couch and went into the kitchen. "Doesn't he know that won't save him when the state comes knocking on his doors, asking him questions?"
Donners laughed. "The dude's got enough money that he can lay off the whole building and start a new company tomorrow, you think he cares what the state thinks of him?" There was the sound of laughter, and then clattering dishes and Donners cursed. "Shit, hang on, I'll call ya back in a bit, maybe tomorrow, the wife need help with dinner."
"Ooh, I'm jealous, you guys making anything good tonight?"
He hung up just as the sound of glass breaking and a kid squealing met My ear. It left me perplexed, but I shrugged and stuffed my phone into my pocket. Being a dad of four kids must be rough. "A roughness I'll thankfully never know."
Grabbing two cans of chili from the pantry, a pair of hot dogs, and then some cheese from the fridge, I set about making dinner. I'd actually gotten a new can opener recently and loved how cleanly it sliced the tops off cans. The old one had been a hand-me-down from my mother, and well, it had to go. I could put paper between the blades and it wouldn't cut em.
As I set the food to cook in the microwave, I turned on the Tv, and found the headline news had my building all over it. Shots from the beginning of the fight, before and after popped up multiple times as the lady on screen explained the fight and how it happened. Even ctv camera footage from floor fifty-seven emerged. I watched with rapt attention as the scene unfolded.
"Eye witnesses from floor fifty-seven–a floor known to have a Digital Tamer by the name of Drake Rantin– stated that at four fifty-four pm today, a digital portal opened up in the break room area and a champion class digimon came through. Rantin engaged the digmon only after making sure everyone on above floors were clear, and lower floors began evacuating. His digimon was also a known entity on the floor, having been Rantin's digimon for seven months now. The two fought and ended up defeating the rogue digimon, but heavy damages to the building have caused it to be scheduled for demolition later this week. Seventeen people were injured, and one person lost their life in the aftermath." The woman shuffled her papers and realigned her eyes to the camera. "It should be stated that the deceased man died of heart failure, and not from the digimon directly attacking him."
A scene cut away to reveal the man's face, one I thankfully didn't recognize, and a moment of silence was given. Then the woman came on screen once more, looking somber. "I am afraid to say that due to the damages and investigation, many are undoubtedly getting the bad news that they must once again, hunt for new income. Rantin had a few words to say after the fighting concluded."
Rantin then came on screen, his sharp red hair and crisp green eyes seemed to be in contrast to the gray and dusty backdrop of the destroyed lobby. His gaze was somber though. "It pains me to see my workplace in such a state, and to that man who lost his life, I will be grieving for you...as will my digimon. He meant no one to get hurt by this and we tried to remove as many potential casualties from the area before the fight broke out. Truly, we are sorry to those hurt, and those now jobless."
He then looked to the screen, and his eyes grew soft. "May you find peace on the other side." He murmured.
I blinked at that, and rubbed my hands together, finding them shaking slightly.
Right, get up, move around, don't let it get to you. I did exactly that, standing and walking around my living room as the news lady kept talking.
"Rantin went on to report that the rogue digimon stated its reason for arrival was not initially combat, but to find someone. A newly minted Tamer. As the world knows, Tamers are people who have a direct link to the digital realm, they are a bridge of unity between the digital world, and ours. This however comes to a clashing point between different factions of digimon. Dark digimon seek to destroy that unity, but can have tamers as well," Here several images of former dark Tamers and their digimon popped up on screen. Most of the people presented seemed...demented, or sociopaths in demeanor.
I shuddered and went into the kitchen to retrieve my chili. When I came back, the pictures had switched to the Light side Tamers, who were like Rantin. I was always so surprised to see many of them were kids no older then fourteen.
The news lady spoke up again. "These factions are constantly trying to collect tamers for their digital war, taking place here and in the digital world." The lady on screen shuffled hr papers and then went on to describe a different aspect of the scene, and I simply focused on consuming my food. I was well aware the CEO was under a shit ton of fire for his radical beliefs of digimon, and I also knew the history of the company, so as the news lady rattled off facts about the company's successes and failures, I took my dishes to the sink and washed them.
Being single and alone made such chores very quick. Setting the dishes down on the drying rack and then shutting the tv off, I then wandered into the master bedroom.
A large queen size bed covered in king sized phaux fur blankets, and fuzzy body pillows took up the far right corner of the room, under the only window in the room. The wooden slat blinds were always down, keeping the sunlight out. To my immediate left was a small desk with enough room for a drawing pad, a monitor, and a keyboard and mouse. A hydro flask sat next to the mouse, filled with water. Above the desk was a shelf with a few well made figurines of characters from some of my favorite movies.
On the walls were art pieces I'd collected and had printed and then framed. None of them were art pieces I myself had done, as I felt my art was far too low in skill level to be worthy of such things, but who knew, enough time and practice and maybe one day I'd get something made from my hands into a print.
Sitting at the desk, pushing buttons on my computer and prepping my lighting, I set about getting to work on some art. Most of the commissions I got asked to draw were...well, mature in nature. Sadly people seemed to want to sexualize so much of the fandoms that about ninety percent of the work I did was nsfw in its content.
In other words, it was under-stimulating and boring work. Another thing I came into contact with was the 'oddballs of the internet' as I called them.
These folks had tons of money, too much time on their hands, and wanted nothing more than to throw their money at the idea of seeing one digimon fuck another digimon silly, or worse. While I don't like to judge people for their ideas or decisions, the quality of their concepts were rather flat.
Yet...I couldn't fully blame them either. Some of these creatures were very...I'll say 'alluring' in their designs. I don't know how digimon come into being exactly, something about digital code and a connection to our world, but what I do know is that some of the creations are absolute eye candy for the fandoms.
Take renamon for example. I've never seen one in public, or in person, but I have been paid a LOT to draw them a LOT. If I ever meet one, it's gonna be a bit awkward for me, cause well...they are attractive.
And if they just happen to have actual genitalia...well. Even more awkward cause then I'll have actual reference material to go off of. I wouldn't really know if they do or not, as the closest I've ever gotten to a digimon was today, and they were thraashing through all the destruction, fire, and debris.
Again, a reason I don't judge people for paying me to draw their favorite digimon getting railed. I have my preferences too, and I won't die on that hill to save face. There are a couple breeds of digimon that I intimately think about, not too much, but I have my own curiosities.
As I booted up my computer and began the process of planning my work night, I felt the urge to look out my window. Glancing over at the glass, I hemmed and hawed at the idea before getting up and peering out through the slits of wood. The forest before me was devoid of lights or any weirdness.
There was a few deer tracks in the snow though, so that brought a smile to my face. I'll have to remember to throw some corn out for em. They'll make good neighbors. I chuckled, and stepped back to my desk. As I sat down and lifted my pen to the tablet, pulling open my drawing program, inspiration struck me and I fell into a pleasant yet energetic streak of art. For the next several hours I drew, doodled, and painted my way through commissions, art prompts, and requests. Many were for digimon, and other critters, as well as a few OC's.
Through it all I felt energetic. Maybe it was just me blocking out the danger I'd been in today, or the tremor of fear and awe I'd felt at being so close to those titanic creatures. Either way I ignored the thoughts and attacked my work with focus and determination.
It was another couple hours into the night when I finally felt the dredges of sleep pull on my eyelids. Shutting down the computer, stripping to my nude form, stretching, and lazily flopping into my bed, I wormed myself under the warm furs. A deep sigh escaped my mouth as my arms crushed a body pillow close to my bare chest. Today had been...an ordeal, but one I'd survived and come out of pretty much unscathed. The hearing loss had been temporary and problematic, but with a couple drops in each ear, they'd begun healing.
Turning off the lights with a clap of my hands, I drifted off to sleep.
Normally I don't wake up to noise, I sleep right through it. Music, snoring, people yelling in the other room, it doesn't affect me. Alarm clocks and such, sure, I wake to those. But let's be real here, thats because my brain seems to like reminding me that I have a job and being an adult keeps my stomach full.
Priorities am I right? Anyway not the point. The point, was something had successfully reached through the deep haze of sleep I was in, and it was a sound I didn't recognize. Sitting up and rubbing at my eyes in grumbling mid slumber, I looked over and saw the sound was coming from my computer.
Hadn't I shut it off? I guess not... Sitting up and grumbling more I reached over to hit the power button when my eyes happened to glance down at the power brick I plugged the device into. There wasn't any light coming from the brick...and the button was firmly in the 'off' position.
Yet...My monitor was on...I blinked a few times, rubbed my eyes again, and looked around my room. I could feel the softness of the carpet, the coldness of the room, and the damp sweat that had collected in my pits...so I was not asleep any more.
I leaned over the desk and instinctively landed my hand on the mouse. I was startled to see a message blink onto the black screen the moment I moved the mouse.
"What the..." I looked at the mouse and found the power to it was also 'off'. Looking up again, I realized I had never seen this sort of message pop up before. It was a grayed out window pop up, that had a simple message scrawled over the front. It simply said.
'I arrive with a gift for you, master.'
Underneath that, was a button with the words 'Accept gift?".
Firstly, I wanna state that I was half asleep, basically delirious from lack of it in fact, and was in a situation I thought ridiculous. My brain was not firing on all cylinders, so to me, this was some sort of prank or a stupid hacker that had managed to pull some bullshit with my system, so when I saw those words, I laughed. I disregarded the fact that by all rights my computer shouldn't even be on.
"Why the hell would I even consider that...No." I hovered the mouse over where the 'x' would be in the message's top righ corner, and clicked it.
The message did not vanish. I clicked it again, and then again when the message still didn't go away. I frowned, and in my tired state, grumbled and mumbled. "Whatever."
I clicked the main offer button and then nearly jumped out of my skin when the screen flashed bright white and then the screen went black. I rubbed at my now blinded eyes and growled. "What the fuck was–"
A loud, nearly explosive crash at my back door made me freeze up and glance behind me at my closed bedroom door. "Wha...what the hell was that?!" I whispered.
The silence was broken by the sound of large footsteps outside thumping towards my house, and then I heard something that sent fear coursing up my spine. My heart started hammering as a loud growl reached my ears. Quickly reaching under my bed, I gripped an aluminum baseball bat Donners had given me as a house warming gift.
"Ya won't buy a gun, so I figured ya wouldn't complain if I gave ya a blunt object." He'd said so long ago. I now held it like a sword, as I slowly opened my door and peered out into the living room. Cold air hit me and I shuddered. Was the back door open?
Is...is something inside my house with me?
Immediately I heard footsteps off to my right in the kitchen. I felt my mouth go dry as adrenaline surged into my system. My heart started picking up pace as I leaned around the corner of the kitchen.
A medium sized dark form stood by the kitchen table, having blown the back door completely off it's hinges. Glass from the door's little window cracked under its large paws as it stepped around. I gulped, gripping the bat like a life line. The thing lifted it's head and sniffed, I could see puffs of air escape its nostrils as it sniffed. Something akin to ears atop it's head twitched and it looked around.
"GRWWWL..." It immediately dropped whatever was in it's mouth and the body dropped to the floor with a wet slap of flesh on linoleum. I felt ice in my veins...was that a person in it's jaws? It shuffled around the kitchen, nudging the table aside so firmly that the chairs were knocked to the floor, and the edge smacked against the counter as it turned toward me.
That's not a human...I thought, as it lifted it's head and golden glowing eyes stared right at me. It growled, and started stepping forward. I whipped back into my room and slammed the door. Backing away from the doorway, I slipped around my bed, and backed up to the bathroom.
"Thats a fucking digimon...and it killed some one..or something..." I whispered. The heavy thumps stopped outside my bedroom door.
"M..master." A gravelly voice said through the door. "I...I bring gift."
I wasn't listening so much as I was actively trying to block out that the thing was talking at all.
The door was not blown off it's hinges this time, and I held my breath, watching in horror and fascination as the door handle slowly turned, and the door swung open. There stood the Digimon, in the light of the bed side lamp. I stared at it.
Several memories of my art surged to my mind as I beheld the red hide, and the raptor like snout of the beast that stood in my doorway. The white belly, the symbols on it's arms and belly, the triangles on it's forehead as it opened it's blood covered muzzle and spoke. I knew what this digmon was called, but my eyes locked onto the blood dripping around it's snout and my logical mind flew the coop.
"Master–"
I screamed. I screamed and backed away into the bathroom, the bat shaking violently in my grasp as I flailed for the door. Slamming that one too, I rapidly dove my hand for my pocket, only to realize I was completely naked, and my phone was on my bedside table.
Shit...shit shit shit! I went to step forward for the doorknob but then froze as the digimon's heavy footsteps came toward the the door. I practically leaped into the tub and pointed the bat at the door. Several seconds went by, before the beast nudged the door. I saw the hinges creak as it did so, testing the material.
"...Master." It said again, In that voice I knew so damn well... "Please...no be scared. I bring gift."
"N-NO!" I yelled. "Y-You get out of my house!" I I tried to scream the last part but found my strength leave me as the door started opening as well. I felt the bat slip in my grasp and redoubled my efforts to hold onto it as the door swung open.
The digimon took a step into the small room. It's eyes watched me as it did so. It lay its ears flat against its head and it lowered said head as it came forward. "Master...I sorry...I scare you. Please, let Guil–"
The moment it was in range I yelled and swung, my fear driving my actions past rational thoughts and my adrenaline overriding the words it had uttered. There was a loud clang of bat meeting what I assumed was bone, but to my surprise I found that the digimon had let the bat smack its cheek without so much as a flinch. I felt the tingles go up my arm as the bat vibrated in my hand.
Its reptilian eye looked down at the bat, and then back up at me. For a few seconds, it simply stared at me, and I believe it was here my brain started to come back to me. The Guilmon, for that is in fact what I knew it to be, slowly lifted it's triple-clawed left paw, and set it gently on the bat, lowering the metal down until I simply let the bat clatter to the floor.
"I not hurt you." It growled and took another step forward, its closed right paw reaching for me.
It was also here my legs gave out and I collapsed into my tub. I'm not entirely sure what happened next, because I'm pretty sure I fainted.
Yeah...not exactly what you'd call a picture perfect way to start a greeting huh?
You ever have a dream so vivid you wake up thinking it was real? The kind that knocks you awake, lunging your torso up into a sitting position?
Yeah that was me the next morning. I sat up white faced and with my heart already hammering in my chest. Hands clammy with sweat, and my body shivering from laying in a bathtub all night long. Sleeping in an awkward position for several hours did not help my muscles and I was sore all over.
I hear hitting thirty years old will do that to ya, but I wasn't even in my mid twenties! Enjoy your younger years while ya got em, cause once ya hit thirty it's all over. Say goodbye to near invincibility, and say hello to rolling over in bed and pulling a muscle. It sucks or so my boss tells me, and I tend to trust him.
When I'm grumpy I spit facts okay? Deal with it. For me, I had to deal with the immediate fact that I was naked, sore, in my bathroom, and the bloodied Guilmon from the night before was casually laying on the floor on it side like a cat would, raptly watching me as I sputtered for breath in my bathtub.
I had to come to terms with the fact that this was not a dream.
Its very clearly a nightmare. I mused. My eyes watched the digimon as I tried to slow my heart down. I was able rationalize that A. I was not in danger, because it left me alone the rest of the night and seemed hopeful to see me awake, and B. That I needed my heart to stop trying to jump out of my chest, like I was running a marathon or I'd have a heart attack.
Several minutes of silence were devoted to simply breathing in and out in slow collected patterns. Guilmon seemed content to sit quietly, watching me with the occasional flaring of its nostrils or blinking of its eyelids. I don't know where the idea came from, but I got the idea that it knew I needed quiet at the moment, and a tiny part of me thanked it for such a gracious moment of clarity.
After a few more minutes of just watching each other, Guilmon moved. I watched as it slowly stood up, and here in the morning light I realized something else. Guilmon was smaller than I'd thought it to be. If I were standing at my full six foot height, the digimon's snout would only come up to my belly button. It was like a raptor really, fast, agile, but low to the ground and maneuverable.
I'd always liked that about Guilmon, at least when drawing them. This Guilmon turned around and walked out of the bathroom, only glancing back once, before disappearing out of site. I took another several minutes to simply get my bearings.
"Okay...okay keep it together, this digimon, came into your house, last night, and...and what...had a gift for you... what does that even mean?" I whispered to myself. Grabbing at the toilet, I clambered back into a standing position and extricated myself from the tub with more grace then I felt I deserved to claim, given the frantic movements I'd made hours ago to get in here.
Peering out of the bathroom I saw no sight of the Guilmon, and sighed. Maybe it was in the living room, but for the moment I felt a moment of comfort knowing it wasn't in my room anymore. I quickly retrieved my phone and my wallet, and then I grabbed my clothes from the day before. Quickly dressing, I leaned around the corner of my bedroom door and found the Guilmon in the kitchen.
Standing over the bloodied carcass of a white tailed deer.
I felt my brain lock up at that too, and for several seconds I stared at the dead deer, then the digimon, and then the destroyed kitchen. "I...this...what..." I mumbled. Guilmon looked up and it's ears perked up.
"Master feels better?" It asked.
I stared at it for long enough that the ears dropped again and it looked back down at the deer, licking it's lips. "...Guess not." It whispered to itself.
I slowly came out of my room and simply beheld my kitchen. There was bloody foot prints everywhere, in the kitchen, the carpeted floor of the living room and my bedroom. The kitchen table was basically okay but one of the chairs had been obliterated by the door cleaving it clean into splinters. The deer's blood had pooled to the back door and over the lip of the now destroyed doorway. I'd have to replace the framework and door completely. One of the cabinets was punctured through and cracked in pieces from the buck's antlers going through it.
I kept staring, lifting my hands to my head. "M-My kitchen...what the fuck ...happened to my kitchen!?" I yelled the last part, flinging my arms out in front of me, making Guilmon flinch. It took a step back, snapping the ankle bone of the deer carcass and my brain hated that sound.
But it did focus my ire on the beast. "You!"I yelled pointing a finger at it. "What the hell were you doing last night?! Huh?"
Guilmon lifted it's paw off the deer's leg and stepped back around the table, coming toward me, I was apparently too angry to even contemplate safety because I let it get right up to me. It lifted it's right paw and flipped it over, holding out a device I also knew very well.
"I brought gift...Master." It said with lowered ears. It seemed to shrink down as I slowly reached out and took the device, it's voice softer. "Guilmon mess up though...anger master...a lot. Broke things in den...understand if...not want."
I wasn't paying attention to Guilmon at the moment. I was holding a digivice after all. "What...is this what you came to give me?" I asked, running my fingers over the item. The glass was smeared with a little blood but the white, gold, and red metal work was good craftsmanship, and it clearly was new.
Guilmon nodded. "It yours...if..if you want Guilmon."
"If I want you?" I scoffed but without anger, looking around at nothing in particular. "You are asking me to be your tamer?" I then chuckled, then the chuckle became a laugh. Guilmon perked it's ears up, and watched as I laughed pretty damn hard, leaning against the counter top for a few seconds.
"You...you come into my house like a hurricane, you get blood everywhere, destroy my back door and kitchen, and scare me half to death–"
Guilmon frowned, lowering its ears, looking away. "G-guilmon not meant to scare, she thought–"
"All to ask me to be your Tamer!?" I asked, with a near manic laugh. 'Why not just knock on the door, or I don't know wait till morning when I can see you coming?" I said pointing at the now destroyed framework.
Guilmon looked back at the doorway, and then to the floor. "Guilmon thought," The creature shuffled it's paws a few seconds and then looked up, with a hard glint in its eyes. "Guilmon thought master was under attack, saw deer and confused it for... rogue digimon..so attacked...and broke door."
Before I could speak, it lifted its head and growled. "Guilmon sorry! She not mean to scare Master! She...she was trying to give gift...failed."
I blinked and watched as the digimon wilted, its...no, her paws lowered to the floor, the claw tips sliding over the bloodied linoleum. "You...you didn't mean to do any of this then? It was just a misunderstanding?" I asked quietly.
When she nodded, I looked to the digivice. I hefted it a bit in my hand and caught it "...Alright, that, that changes things a bit then." I held out the device. "No harm done on the door, I can get it fixed, but ah, here, I appreciate your offer but I can't accept. Things in my life are already hectic as it is. I can't be your tamer."
I hled the device out to her, but she only blinked from it to me. "Well, take it." I said.
Guilmon backed up a step, eyes shifting to the side. "C-can't."
My eyes rolled. "Yes you can, here." I held it out to her, closer this time. But she took another step back. I frowned. "Go on, I don't want it, find someone else."
Guilmon seemed to scrunch her muzzle up, and shook her head. "Is yours now, Master."
My eyes narrowed and I felt my frustration rise. "One, not your master, two, take the damn device!" I reached for her paw and felt the hairs stand on my neck as her eyes turned to slits and she opened her mouth, letting loose a threatening hiss that I swore I felt in my bones.
I pretty much stopped moving altogether. I had completely in that moment forgotten this was a two to three hundred pound animal in my house. Not some dog or cat I could coddle...the way her eyes are stared at me was unnervingly worrying. I simply stared at her for several seconds, while she slowly closed her lips, and relaxed her ears. "You accepted gift. Can't take back...Guilmon, is now yours...Master."
I blinked once, heard the words in my head, then blinked again, slower, as my eyes looked to the device. "Are you implying, that the moment you gave this to me, I trapped myself with you?"
When she nodded, I stood up promptly and clenched my right hand closed into a fist. "Yeah...Nope." I said with finality and tilted my hand to the side, letting the device drop to the carpet with a thud. "Nu uh, no way, not happening. I am not a tamer, not a digimon owner, and sure as hell not your master. That's...that's weird, okay?" I said backing away from her, closer to the extra bedrooms behind me.
I pointed to the deer and then the now blown open doorway. "Take that outside, and ah, keep going? Easy peasy. I'm sure if you go to the nearest school, you can find a slew of kids and teens who would gladly be your tamer in a heartbeat."
I folded my arms and leaned against the back of my couch as if to shut the conversation down. Please work please work pleaaase work?
Guilmon didn't move. She blinked at me. "Master not good at humor." She growled gently.
I scowled. "That wasn't a joke, Guilmon, I said No, you even said IF I accept you, that implies there was a choice. Are you now saying there wasn't right from the get go?"
Guilmon's head tilted to the side. "You say no, true, but I decide yes. So yes, you are Guilmon's master." I swore I heard the slightest hint of mirth in its child like raptorian voice. Before I could sputter out a rebuttal, she turned on her heals, and walked over to the deer carcass. Leaning down, I heard her growl as her jaws opened. Saliva leaked from her powerful jaws and into the ungulate's fur as she latched her large teeth around the buck's neck once more, and without any effort, hoisted the deer up and started dragging it out the door.
I stay by the couch watching her as she disappeared from sight. Looking around me as if to find an answer to the chaos that had just entered my life, my eyes fell to the degivice. I glared at it, pointed a finger in it's direction, and walked away.
"No."