7. Together At Last

Kumomon paced in front of the restroom, muttering under her breath. It was bad enough that her human seemed to insist on drawing as much attention to herself as possible. Now they were going to show up late to an important event hosted by the city's leader. She could already feel all the eyes that were going to be on her.
Her anxious thoughts were interrupted by a loud booming sound, and she turned to see smoke rising from the direction of City Hall.
"Oh, no..."
The branches of the surrounding trees were swept back by a figure speeding past them through the air. It came to a halt above Kumomon revealing itself to be a Jazardmon with a Baromon seated on it's back.
"You!" Baromon pointed a gloved finger at Kumomon. "Have you seen a human around here?"
"H-Human? I haven't s-seen any h-humans today." Kumomon tried to keep her tone light and casual. She just hoped the two digimon didn't notice her legs shaking.
"There's one in the restroom." Jazardmon spoke in a metallic voice as his red eyes glowed, scanning the small building.
"O-Oh! There is?" Kumomon began to back away. "W-Well, I had no idea. S-Since this has n-nothing to do with me; I'll j-just leave you t-to it."
The restroom door swung open and Charlie stepped out.
"Ah! That's better. Sorry for the wait, Kumomon. Let's get to that banquet."
Jazardmon and Baromon looked from Charlie to Kumomon.
"Aw, n-nuts." Kumomon's voice shrank to a squeak.
"So this is your human." Baromon's three eyes narrowed at Kumomon. "In that case, you'll both be coming with us."
He raised his hands which became engulfed in flames, while panels on Jazardmon's shoulders opened to reveal a pair of machine guns.
"Whoa!" Charlie put her hands up in surrender. "Okay! I'm sorry we're late! I had to water the flowers, if you know what I mean."
Kumomon rolled her eyes and edged closer to Charlie.
"W-When I say 'run', r-run."
She walked closer to their threateners with her front two legs held up.
"Pl-Please let me g-go! I didn't even w-want a human! Sh-She's so annoying! You can h-have her!"
"Ha! Nice try." Baromon leaned down to glare at Kumomon. "You File City digimon practically worship humans. You'd never give them up."
Kumomon gave a little shrug.
"I-It was worth a sh-shot. Shock Spit!"
A wad of sparking webbing shot from her mouth, hitting Jazardmon in the face. Electricity spread from it along his metal body, causing him to shudder and swerve in the air. Baromon struggled to hold onto his ride, extinguishing the flames in his hands.
"Run!"
Kumomon jumped into the air; landing on a tree branch, from which she sprang to another, making her way speedily through the treetops. Charlie had to sprint to keep up with her.
"Oh no, you don't!"
Baromon formed a ball of light in his hand but, before he could attack, Jazardmon flipped upside down and fell from the air, trapping the Demon Man digimon underneath him.
"Bon sang! What was all that about?!" Charlie called up to Kumomon as she ran through the wooded area.
"I-I told you the D-Digital World was d-dangerous!" Kumomon answered as she leapt from branch to branch.
"Well hey, that was some good acting back there. Almost made me believe you didn't want me around."
Kumomon gave a noncommittal grunt as she led Charlie through the park.

-

Kartik looked at the book in his hand as he and Tarumon stepped out of the library. It was entitled 'Guide to the Known Digital World vers. 9'.
"That should answer any questions you have about our world." Tarumon said. "At least, until the next update."
"Update to the book or... "
"The world." Tarumon nodded, happy to see Kartik catching on. "Data surges from the Physical World can cause major changes to the geography. Landscapes can be rearranged, or whole new ones can spring up. It's been happening a lot more frequently lately; so we may get version ten or even eleven before long."
Kartik slipped the book into his bag and took out his phone to check the time.
"What?"
Tarumon looked up.
"What's wrong?"
"My phone says it's four o'clock, but that's what it said when I checked it back at the nursery - huh?"
Kartik noticed the bushy yellow tail hanging down from the back of his phone.
"Relemon!"
Tarumon reached up and took the phone from Kartik. It disappeared in a puff of white smoke and, in it's place, was a tiny round digimon. It was covered in yellow fur and; aside from it's white-tipped tail; it's only features were a mouth and slanted, barely open, eyes.
"She must've slipped into your bag." Tarumon looked towards the park. "Ganimon will be worried sick."
"We should take her back then." Said Kartik.
Tarumon shifted his gaze to the direction of City Hall.
"Yeah, but we've been away from town so long already. We may have missed the announcement for the banquet."
His ears flicked up as he saw a figure approaching them from the direction of town.
"Hey, maybe this guy can help. Excuse me?" He called out to the digimon heading their way.
It was a large brown furry digimon wearing a white and red mask over it's head and similarly coloured rope around it's neck. It's tail was a large zigzag shaped blade. As it drew closer on four clawed feet, Kartik saw that the blade had a red eye on either side that, to his shock, turned to look at him.
"Hello there. Reppamon, right? I don't think we've met before. I'm Tarumon, and I was wondering if you could do me a favour."
Tarumon approached the newcomer, holding Relemon in his hands. As they drew closer to the stranger, Relemon began to tremble. She gave a frightened squeak and buried her face in Tarumon's chest. He gave her a comforting pat.
"Don't worry. I'm going to take you home now." He looked back to Reppamon. "Would you be so kind as to show my friend Kartik the way to Town Hall? I need to drop this little one off, and I don't want to make him late."
The digimon turned his head to Kartik and stood facing him in silence for several seconds. Finally, he gave a single nod.
"Thank you very much. I'll catch up with you later, Kartik." Tarumon started walking back towards the park.
Kartik looked at Reppamon. Something about his silent stillness unnerved him. The way his tail was staring at him with narrowed eyes didn't help.
"Um, Tarumon? I don't -"
Kartik was interrupted by the sound of battle. Looking towards the town, he saw two groups of digimon fighting each other. They were exchanging vicious blows and firing projectiles that tore up the ground and blasted parts of buildings clean off.
"What in the world?"
Tarumon stopped in his tracks and stared at the chaos erupting before him.
Reppamon turned towards Tarumon's exposed back and crouched low. With horror, Kartik realised he was about to pounce.
"Tarumon! Look out!"
Tarumon turned to see Reppamon in mid-leap, his claws aimed right at him. He threw himself to the side; feeling a sharp pain in his ear; and curled around Relemon as he hit the ground.
Reppamon turned as he landed; his claws digging grooves into the ground.
"You missed!"
Kartik"s eyes darted around, trying to find the source of the new voice. To his shock, he realised it was coming from Reppamon's tail, which was violently swinging back and forth.
"Can you see anything through that mask? Uurrggh! Forget the Rookie and grab that human!"
"No!"
Tarumon got to his feet. His left ear was torn and leaking particles. He put Relemon down and nudged her away from him.
"You're not taking Kartik! Hook Horn!"
His horns shot off his head, trailing chains behind them that were still attached to his stumps. They wrapped around Reppamon's tail, halting his advance on Kartik.
Reppamon growled and turned his attention back to Tarumon.
Tarumon dug his hooves into the ground and leaned back, pulling at the bigger digimon with all his strength.
"You stay away from him, poacher!"
Reppamon's tail let out a snort.
"We're not poachers! We want these humans out of our world! Now, unless you want to wind up inside an eggshell; let us do our job!"
Reppamon quickly whipped his tail around, dragging Tarumon off his feet. He landed flat on his stomach on the ground.
The masked digimon stalked towards Tarumon, letting the chains go slack between them.
"Stay down, Rookie. A human ain't worth this."
Tarumon pushed himself up to his hands and knees, keeping his head bowed towards Reppamon.
"My human is!"
The limp chains went taut as they were rapidly reeled into Tarumon's horn stumps. He launched himself forward, speeding along the chain line until he collided, head first, with Reppamon's masked face.
The bigger digimon reared back with a squeal of pain. The chains around his tail unravelled and Tarumon's horns returned to his head. He landed on his hooves between Reppamon and Kartik.
Relemon hopped up close to Tarumon and gave a fierce squeak.
"He's not done yet." Tarumon waved the baby digimon away. "Go and take care of Kartik."
Kartik came forward and picked Relemon up. He slipped her into his bag.
"Just stay put, okay? Tarumon's got this." He turned to his friend. "You have got this, right?"
"Well..."
Before Tarumon could finish, Reppamon snarled and raised his tail in the air.
"You asked for this, Rookie! Razor Wind!"
Reppamon leapt up skyward and spun around several times. At first, Kartik couldn't understand what he was doing. But then the ground next to him seem to explode, leaving behind a groove that looked like it had been cut out with a giant knife.
"Take cover!"
Tarumon ran for the trees as more gouges appeared in the earth around them.
Kartik hurried after him, only to pull up short when a furrow was bored right in front of him. More appeared around him, seeming to strike whichever direction he turned.
Motion at the corner of his eye drew his attention to a fissure working through the ground, straight towards him.
He heard Tarumon calling his name, but his legs refused to heed his brain's order to run.
Time seemed to slow down as he felt the air part in front of his face - only to speed up again as something collided with him, knocking him to the ground.
Laying on his back, Kartik found himself looking up into a pair of dark blue eyes. Practically on top of him was a Caucasian girl wearing a gray beanie hat with strands of shaggy blonde hair poking out from under it.
"You okay?"
Kartik opened his mouth to answer the girl, only to scream at the sight of a cat-sized spider landing on the ground next to them.
"W-What are you doing? The S-South Bridge is that w-way!" The spider pointed back the way it had come; ignoring Kartik's shrieks.
"This guy was in trouble! I couldn't just ignore him!"
The girl seemed to realise that she was lying on top of Kartik and got to her feet, offering him a hand.
"Hi. I'm Charlie. This is my buddy Kumomon. You don't have to be scared of her."
As Kartik was helped to his feet, Tarumon came running up to him.
"Kartik!" He threw his arms around Kartik's waist. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were right behind me!"
"It's okay." Kartik's voice was a bit shaky as he patted Tarumon's head. The thought that he could've just died was still being processed in his mind.
"Say, guys? We still have a problem." Charlie nodded towards Reppamon, who had landed back on the ground.
"You dummy! You almost sliced that human in half! Where did you learn to aim?" Reppamon's tail rocked back and forth as it berated him. "And now there's two of them! Just get rid of those Rookies and let's bring them in!"
Reppamon ran towards the group, letting out an aggressive hiss. Tarumon lowered his head and met his charge, colliding once again with his mask.
Reppamon reeled at first, but quickly rallied and pushed back against Tarumon. The smaller digimon tried to stand firm, but his hooves began to slip under Reppamon's greater strength.
He suddenly felt something briefly land on his shoulders before leaping into the air above them. It was Kumomon.
"Shock Spit!"
A wad of webbing hit Reppamon in the middle of his back. He stiffened up as electricity arced along his body.
Seizing his opportunity, Tarumon jumped back and aimed his horns at Reppamon.
"Hook Horn!"
This time, the chains wrapped around Reppamon's neck. With a loud bellow, Tarumon swung his head around, dragging Reppamon through the air before slamming him hard into the ground.
Kartik winced and slowly stepped towards Reppamon's prone figure.
"Is... Is he...?"
"Don't worry. He's just stunned." Tarumon replied while he reeled his horns in. "It takes more than that to take out a Champion."
"O-Okay. Let's go." Kumomon quickly crawled back towards the treeline. The others began to follow her, only for Tarumon to suddenly stop.
"Wait. What about the nursery?"
Kartik looked in the direction of the park. The fighting didn't seem to have spread that far yet; but he imagined the little digimon and how defenseless they'd be against an attack.
"Th-There's no time f-for that! We n-need to go n-now!" Kumomon called back to them.
"Hold on a sec." Charlie said to her, then turned around. "What nursery?"
"It's a place filled with little digimon. Sort of like a daycare." Kartik replied. "Only one digimon is there to look after them. What if the attackers go there?"
Charlie's eyes narrowed and she held up a clenched fist.
"Well then, we gotta get over there. Let's go, Kumomon!"
Kumomon threw her front legs up in exasperation.
"D-Don't you get it? They h-have no reason to attack the n-nursery. It's you humans th-they're after. If you g-go there, you'll just be p-putting the babies in d-danger!"
Tarumon realised she was right. Still, the thought of abandoning Ganimon and the little ones made his stomach knot.
Kartik saw the conflicted look on his face and knelt down before him.
"It's okay, Tarumon. You can go back. I'll stay with Charlie." He reached into his bag and took out Relemon who was disguised as a bottle of hand sanitizer. "Take Relemon with you. She's safer away from me."
Tarumon held Relemon in his hands and looked into Kartik's eyes. Although the boy had a reassuring smile on his face, there was no hiding the fear in his eyes. Tarumon thought of how close he'd just come to losing Kartik and knew he couldn't leave him now.
"No." He gave his head a decisive shake. "Ganimon will look after the children. You're my human now and I'll protect you."
He gave Relemon back to Kartik.
"Keep her with you. We'll take care of her."
"G-Great. Now that that's all s-settled; can we please get the f-flip out of here?!"
Without another look back, Kumomon leapt onto the closest tree branch and started speeding through the forest again. The rest of the group ran after her, leaving Reppamon lying in a shallow pit. A low growl escaped his mouth as he gingerly got back to his feet. His tail's eyes were bloodshot with rage.
"They are not getting away!"

-

The sounds of fighting rang all around Shinyu as he followed Tigremon. They were avoiding the main streets; ducking down alleys and hopping fences. Their goal was the South Bridge which; according to Tigremon; was located furthest away from the main city, so there should be fewer attackers there.
Just as they broke clear of the last building and started to run towards a forested area; a shadow appeared over them.
Looking up, Shinyu saw a large green dragon-like digimon diving through the air towards them. Another digimon was on it's back; this one a humanoid wearing blue and yellow armour with a long horn on it's helmet.
"Shinyu, stay behind me!"
Tigremon raised her paws towards their assailants.
"Paw Force!"
The ball of air she unleashed hit the dragon digimon in the chest, but barely slowed him down. His passenger jumped from his back and landed a few feet from Tigremon and Shinyu.
A sense of weightlessness suddenly overtook Shinyu. He looked down and was shocked to see his feet leaving the ground. The same thing was happening to Tigremon. She flailed helplessly in the air as the armoured digimon walked past her.
"Anti-gravity field." He winked at Tigremon. "Wouldn't look good for the Master of Thunder to beat up a Rookie."
Tigremon swiped at him with her claws, but he was just out of her reach. He approached Shinyu and looked him up and down.
"This is what all the fuss is about? Doesn't look that dangerous to me."
"Stop wasting time, Blitzmon." The dragon landed further away, seemingly out of the range of the anti-gravity field. "Our comrades are fighting while you're messing around."
"Okay, Coredramon. Keep your scales on." Blitzmon turned his attention back to Shinyu. "Sorry little guy, but you're coming with us."
As he raised his hands towards Shinyu, Tigremon let out a vicious snarl.
"Get away from my human!"
The device on Shinyu's belt lit up. He instantly knew what was about to happen.

Tigremon digivolve to... Smilomon!

Blitzmon froze up in shock as Tigremon transformed right in front of him. A costly mistake.
"Roar Force!"
The shockwave that shot from Smilomon's mouth hit Blitzmon dead on and carried him off his feet; sending him crashing through the wall off a building.
With his absence, the anti-gravity field dissipated and Smilomon and Shinyu returned to the ground. Shinyu fell forward onto his hands and knees as his body's weight came back.
Coredramon overcame his surprise and launched an attack.
"Flare Breath!"
A stream of green fire erupted from his mouth.
Smilomon gave a mighty leap, clearing the fire and landing next to Coredramon. The dragon swung his tail towards her, only for Smilomon to catch it in her jaws. With a powerful heave, she swung Coredramon through the air and unleashed another shockwave; sending him smashing into a tree.
As Shinyu wobbly stood up, Smilomon bounded up to him and crouched down.
"Climb on. There may be more on their way."
Shinyu's mind was so shaken by the chaos happening around him that his body was basically running on autopilot. He clambered onto Smilomon's back, and almost fell off as she started running. He threw himself forward and gripped her goggles' strap, closing his eyes against the wind and trying to keep from passing out.

-

"There it is!"
Charlie pointed ahead to a white bridge that lay above a fast flowing river. There was no sign of any of the invaders.
Kumomon jumped down from the last tree and crawled quickly towards the structure.
"Slow down, Kumomon!" Charlie called after her. "I think Kartik needs to catch his breath."
Kumomon gave an aggravated sigh as she stopped. It was bad enough when she'd had to babysit one human. At least Charlie could keep up with her.
Kartik had his hands on his knees, taking in gulping breaths.
"Sorry." He gasped. "I didn't expect to be doing so much running today."
"We're almost there, Kartik." Tarumon said as he rubbed his back. "Once we're over the bridge; we can find a place to hide and figure out our next move."
"B-But first, we have to g-get over the b-bridge!" Kumomon yelled back at them.
"No. First, you have to deal with us!"
Reppamon came racing out of the trees, heading straight towards them. Tarumon turned to aim his horns at him.
"Rolling Tackle!"
Reppamon launched himself into a forward somersault, quickly closing the distance between himself and Tarumon. His masked head collided with Tarumon's face and sent the bovine digimon tumbling to the ground.
Kartik took a step towards his fallen friend, only to freeze when Reppamon pointed his bladed tail at his throat. The tail's eyes narrowed menacingly at him.
"Not one step, human. Baalmon wants you brought back alive, but accidents can happen."
It's gaze shifted to Kumomon, who was about ten feet away from the group.
"I can see you don't want to be here." It's tone took on a friendlier note. "You can just turn around and be on your way. No sense in getting yourself egged for a human."
Kumomon glanced behind her. The bridge was right there. She could leave. It wasn't like there was anything she could do here. That talking tail had a point. There was no sense in fighting a battle she had no hope of winning.
She looked back at Charlie. The girl had a questioning expression on her face. Was she asking Kumomon what to do? How should she know? Why should this human be her responsibility anyway?
Why hadn't she left yet?
A terrifying roar rang through the air, causing everyone to look towards the treeline.
A large striped digimon that looked like a sabre-toothed tiger sprang from the shadows and charged towards Reppamon.
Charlie grabbed the back of Kartik's shirt and pulled him away from Reppamon's tail, but the sentient blade was too focused on the newcomer to notice.
"Roar Force!"
Charlie and Kartik covered their ears as a roaring shockwave shot out of the digimon's mouth. It hit Reppamon and sent him flying back. Kumomon dived out of the way as he sailed over the bridge, hitting the ground on the other side. After rolling a few feet, he came to a stop and lay in an unconscious heap.
The stranger closed her mouth and smirked.
"Not so tough against someone your own level, huh?" She looked around at the group before her. "Are you guys okay?"
Seeing that this digimon was friendly, Charlie ran up to her.
"That was awesome! You showed up at just the right time. My buddy Kumomon was about to fight that guy alone."
"I-I was?"
Kumomon walked towards the big digimon. She had to be at least a Champion Level to have dispatched Reppamon. Maybe it would be better to stay with the group for now.
Kartik was helping Tarumon sit upright. There was a gash across his muzzle that was bleeding particles. Along with his torn ear, he certainly looked the worse for wear.
"Oh, Tarumon." Kartik took a first aid kit out of his bag. "Let me patch you up."
Relemon hopped out of Kartik's bag and rubbed up against Tarumon's leg, giving comforting squeaks. Tarumon patted her head as Kartik dabbed his muzzle with a cotton ball.
Charlie heard a groan and noticed for the first time that the tiger digimon had someone on her back. It was an Asian boy dressed in a white shirt and jeans. He was lying on his stomach, gripping the strap of the goggles around the tiger's neck. His face was pale and his shadowed eyes were barely open.
"Uh... is he okay?"
The digimon looked over her shoulder, as if she'd forgotten the boy was there.
"Oh. Yeah. He's just had a long day."
"H-He's not the o-only one."
Kumomon came up to join them. Upon laying eyes on her, the boy sat straight upright and screamed.
"Oh c-come on!" Kumomon rolled her eyes. "I c-can't be the sc-scariest thing you've seen t-today!"
Charlie snorted as she tried to hold back her laughter. The relief she felt at the danger being past was making her giggle uncontrollably.
Kumomon stared at her in bafflement for a while before shaking her head and started walking towards the bridge.
"I-If there are no more in-interruptions, can we please cr-cross the stupid br-bridge?"
"Right. I'll watch our backs." The tiger said. "Shinyu, are you okay to walk?"
Shinyu nodded and climbed off of her back. He was a bit shaky on his feet, so Charlie took a hold of his arm and shoulder to steady him. He felt embarrassed at being so fragile in front of strangers.
Tarumon got to his hooves; his ear and muzzle bandaged up. He nodded his thanks to Kartik, then turned to their rescuer.
"Thank you for saving us. What's your name?"
"Smilomon." The tiger grinned at him. "This is my partner, Shinyu. And don't sweat it about the rescue. Us strong digimon gotta look after the little guys."
Charlie could've sworn she heard Shinyu say 'Ha!' under his breath.
The group walked along the bridge, with Smilomon bringing up the rear. They had almost reached the end when a voice called out behind them.
"Hold it right there!"
"Urrggh! W-What now?" Kumomon turned around and froze upon recognising their new pursuers.
Jazardmon zoomed through the air towards them, with Baromon riding once more on his back.
"You guys get to the other side! I'll hold them off!"
Smilomon turned around and fired off a shockwave. Jazardmon dodged it and returned fire.
"Laser eye!"
While this shootout was taking place, the rest of the group ran towards the end of the bridge. They pulled up short when they found their way blocked.
"Oh, come on!" Charlie threw her hands in the air. "Does this guy ever give up?"
Reppamon looked like he could barely stand. Particles were leaking from several wounds across his body. His tail was standing straight up and it's eyes were so bloodshot they were practically pink.
"Razor Wind!"
He leapt into the air and began to spin.
"Run!" Tarumon cried out.
Everyone turned around and ran back the way they had come, while blades of wind rained down around them.
"White Spell!"
Baromon held up a ball of white light that shot multiple beams at Smilomon. She jumped back, only to find herself among the rest of the group.
"Why are you still here?" She shouted.
Before anyone could answer, the stone floor beneath them started to shake. The continuous barrage of attacks was breaking the bridge apart.
With a crack, the floor they were standing on broke off as a slab and dropped to the river below, taking them with it.
Reppamon and Jazardmon raced to the gap in the bridge and looked down. Their targets landed in the water that sped below them; disappearing downstream in seconds.
The three digimon shared a look and spoke in unison.
"Oops."