CHAPTER SUMMARY: A new player joins the game!
Ch. 3— Cards Have Power
The three days that passed after my first dangerous Digimon encounter were comparatively quiet. I found that odd and suspicious—and, to be honest, a tad underwhelming. I'd have figured that after becoming a Tamer and being made at least slightly aware of what was going on, Digimon sightings would be a lot more frequent.
Not the case here. I didn't see any more Digital Fields appear, and my digivice didn't go haywire again in the few days afterwards. In the shows, the kids seemed to face monsters on a near daily basis.
I had asked Wizardmon about this on one of the occasions he appeared to me, and the most he could say was that there was no pattern to how often Digimon came through from the other side—no rhyme or reason. Sometimes, many Digimon came at once, other times it could be days before one showed up. Weeks, even.
"I can usually sense when there is a Digimon emerging nearby," he'd told me. "And so far, nothing."
"What about Digimon who already showed up to the real world?" I'd asked, remembering the Digital Field I came across before meeting him. "Like, Digimon who've been here a while and are just running around freely now. Can you sense them?"
He'd considered that for a moment.
"It's possible that there are more Digimon out there. It's a big world, much less a big city," he'd answered, though he didn't sound a hundred percent sure. "Digimon are naturally drawn to each other, but there are some who—if they have the capability—can make themselves unseen by most. And by the looks of it, they haven't caused enough trouble to bring attention to themselves so far."
Like most everything else he's said to me since we've met, I found that strange. I mean, I knew that not all Digimon wanted to wreak havoc, but still, you'd think monsters from another world would be easy to spot.
That brought me to another issue: the news media was no longer giving reports about the fog apparitions. I figured that, since things have been normal for the last few days, everyone just assumed that it really was a "rare but natural climate occurrence," like experts had said before. Even so, the fact that people just stopped talking about it seemed a little off to me.
I guessed the world had enough problems to deal with instead of worrying about a couple of patches of fog that, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't causing too much trouble to the public domain.
If only it were that simple.
In the meantime, though, I went on with my daily routines like I normally did: going to school, doing my chores, going on my daily walks, reading my loaned books, looking after Andy, giving the occasional "hello" to my dad when he wasn't too busy or grouchy—the usual stuff us kids got up to.
The only difference this time around? I was pretty sure I had a shadow following me wherever I went, and his name was Wizardmon.
Like I mentioned earlier, he would sometimes appear to me when no one else was around, but only to discuss matters with Digimon and receive some food from me whenever I offered it, like our first day together. Other than the times when I felt the need to call for him (which wasn't very often), he seemed to just come and go as he pleased, and I had yet to get used to him randomly popping up out of nowhere, flinching almost every time he did so. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he took amusement out of startling me, and then disappearing the second I looked away—not that I could truly tell with that cloak covering most of his face.
But even during the times when he didn't make himself known to me, it was like he never truly left. I wasn't sure how to explain it, but for some reason, I always had this strange feeling that he was still somewhere nearby—especially whenever I was out in public. Sometimes, when I would go out for a walk, I could see fast movement either from somewhere up above, or off to the side, just out of my peripheral vision. But whenever I turned to properly look, all I saw were empty rooftops and clear alleyways.
I know I saw something while I was at school on Friday. I was in music class, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow pass over the corner on the rooftop outside the window next to me. However, when I turned to get a good look, it was gone.
I frowned with suspicion. Considering I was on the second floor, nothing that big could be out there…and Wizardmon was known to be able to fly.
"I'm not hearing anything on your end, Max," my music teacher called to me over the other students playing their instruments.
I quickly straightened back in my seat and regarded the middle-aged man across the room, one of my nicer teachers in the school. "Oh! Uh, sorry, Mr. Braxton. Just loosening up the keys before getting into it," I said, my fingers clacking against the keys of my saxophone for show.
Mr. Braxton didn't exactly buy my excuse, but he gave a friendly smile nonetheless. "It's okay to get lost in your musings, but in the right way. Channel those thoughts into your playing. I'd like to see some more of what we got from your rendition of How High The Moon. That was some fine riffing."
I heard low sniggers among a few of the kids around me, and I gave Mr. Braxton a tight smile as I sank a little in my seat, my face heating up. "Right," I muttered, my smile fading as everyone's attention moved away from me and back to their menial playing. Taking one last glimpse out the window, I sighed before I went back to halfheartedly practicing my scales in tune with the others.
So it went onwards. You'd think I'd take to getting used to such odd happenings by then, but I guess I was still new to it all. I mean, sure, there is something great and exciting about Digimon being real—not to mention having one for a partner. But a part of me couldn't help but be confused—and admittedly a bit frustrated—by a lot of it. How were Digimon coming here in the first place? And if so many of the Digimon coming through turned out to be anything like Gremlinmon—wild and malicious—it could mean seriously bad news for the real world. If that was the case, I wasn't sure if Wizardmon and I would be able to handle it, no matter how good at fighting he was. At least, not on our own.
It felt like a real dilemma, and it wasn't like there was anyone else I could talk to about it all—or at least, anyone I could tell without having me come off as totally crazy.
Luckily, I would soon come to realize that I wasn't as alone on this as I'd initially thought. And from a most unexpected place.
I left school that Friday afternoon feeling a mixture of exhausted relief. On top of already having had a stressful week dealing with digital monsters outside of school, I had two big tests to take that day in math and history class. As mentally tiring as the week had been, it gave me some peace of mind knowing that it was done and over with, making me look forward to the weekend.
After being cooped up inside all day, I decided it'd be good for me to spend the rest of my free afternoon outside in the fresh air. So, after stopping by a food truck and purchasing some hot french fries for a snack, I headed straight for the park. I walked through the busiest area, with younger kids running around and climbing on the jungle gym, and kids around my age and older playing basketball or just hanging out nearby, all happy to be free from school for the weekend like I was. I made my way past them towards a more secluded area, until I found myself a little ways away, close to the forest, just along the lake It was nearly out of sight from prying eyes but still close enough to hear them bustling about.
I removed my blue backpack from my shoulders and sat down under a tree, shading myself from the heat of the afternoon sun. I leaned back against the trunk, stretching my legs out before crossing them. I chewed absently on my fries as I gazed up at the sunrays that bled through the canopies above, trying to let my mind wander. However, that bizarre, barely noticeable sensation in the back of my head was getting harder and harder to ignore, like a gut feeling. The feeling that I wasn't alone. It wasn't bad or anything—didn't make me feel anxious or nervous, just…aware.
But it'd also be better if the culprit was somewhere I could see him.
"You can come out. There's no one else nearby," I finally spoke up.
For a moment, there was no answer, making me wonder briefly if perhaps I had only imagined the sensation. But then there was a gentle gust of wind brush against me from my left side. I turned my head in time to see Wizardmon gently land next to me from somewhere above. I looked up at him, and he looked back with his head tilted slightly, almost in a scrutinizing manner.
After couple of seconds of silently regarding me, he asked, "You don't mind?"
My brows furrowed slightly, wondering what exactly he meant by that. Did I not mind that he was in my presence? "Why would I?"
He fell silent for another few seconds, still looking at me as though observing. Then he carefully went to sit down beside me under the tree.
"Here." I pushed my basket of fries so that it sat between us. "Try some of these. They're good."
When all he did was stare down at the food, then glance back up at me, I straightened a little with realization, then mentally berated myself for not getting it sooner.
"Oh. Hang on…" I scooted a bit around the trunk so that I was mostly facing away from him, making it so that the only way for me to see him was if I twisted my upper body around, and I didn't have the energy for that. "Okay, go ahead."
He remained quiet for a few more seconds, but I could somehow feel his gaze on the back of my head, making a sense of quiet nervousness course through me.
"Are…you sure?" he asked.
I couldn't help but be a little surprised by the hesitation laced in his voice. He sounded so…well, human. "Yeah. They gave me a big serving, so I'm not gonna eat it all anyway. And don't worry, I won't look. Promise."
After another tense moment of feeling his eyes on me from behind, I heard the soft crinkling of the wax paper, indicating him taking some fries. I settled back against the tree trunk, relieved that he took the offer. Deep down, I was also shocked that he actually trusted me not to look while he was right there; he usually either turned away himself, or disappeared to eat somewhere else whenever I'd given him food thus far. So this was pretty new. Settling back against the trunk with soft sigh, I reached back to take some fries for myself too.
After taking some time to taste it, he eventually asked, "This food...it's called 'fries', is it not?"
"Yeah, french fries. They're strips of potatoes deep fried in oil."
"Yes, I see," he said thoughtfully. "I once came across a dwelling of Digimon called Potamon in the Digital World. Their specialty was fries. I see now where the concept originated from."
Since our current positions prevented him from seeing my face, I had no qualms in showing an amused smile. "Yeah, pretty much. You like them?"
"They are…salty. But in a good way? They're savory."
"Be glad there's no vinegar on them. I know a lot of people like it, but it can be…potent for those not used to that kind of taste. I personally like to sprinkle black garlic powder on them. And dip them in ketchup. That's like a tomato-flavored sauce."
"Black garlic and ketchup…" he repeated, as if testing the words on his tongue. "Interesting."
We didn't talk for a while after that, letting the mixing sounds of nature and urban life become our background filter as we ate. A couple of times, I had to remind myself not to turn my head, keeping my eyes fixed on the river that flowed several yards straight ahead of me, not wanting to upset Wizardmon in any way. The silence between us wasn't…uncomfortable, per se. But it still felt like there was something between us being unsaid that needed to be said, though I wasn't exactly sure why or what that was at first.
After some time, though, I broke the quiet between us.
"You don't have to follow me around all the time, you know," I said softly. "I'm not always in danger."
"Hmm. I thought that at first…then you were attacked by Gremlinmon," Wizardmon countered, though not unkindly.
That gave me pause. He had me there. "Touché," I muttered.
"Sorry?"
"It means 'good point.'" I lifted my head toward the sky. "Still…you don't have to do that if you really don't want to."
I heard him grow still, not answering, and I tensed.
"I will stop if that's what you want, if it makes you uncomfortable," he said finally. His voice was projected directly towards me, telling me that he was looking at me again. My jaw tightened momentarily, resisting the urge to turn around again to meet his gaze.
"That's not it. It's just…" I frowned, unsure how to better explain, "I'm sure you got other things you'd rather be doing than…being with me."
Once again, there was a moment's pause before he asked, "Like what?"
I shrugged as I replied in an unsure mumble, "I don't know."
Silence fell between us once more, the tension not having lessened one bit.
And I just made it awkward, didn't I? I mentally berated myself as I rubbed my eyes.
"You may look now. I'm finished," he told me a minute later.
After a few seconds of hesitation, I scooted back to my original position. When I finally looked over at him, it was to see him staring out at the city skyline over the treetops, not showing any indications of leaving—though I wouldn't blame him one bit if he wanted to.
With a soft sigh, I forced myself to relax again, letting my mind wander. I mostly thought about the whole Digimon situation. Even though I probably shouldn't try to trouble myself too much over it, I couldn't help it—couldn't help but keep on asking myself the how and why. About Digimon being real and coming into our world. Did it all have something to do with that strange blue card I somehow found by accident? The same blue card that seemed to have magically disappeared shortly after I scanned it and turned my reader into a digivice?
At the thought of my digivice, I pulled out the said device from my backpack, along with my case of playing cards, and looked down at it. I turned it around in my hand, studying it. How odd it was; how something so meager as a card reader could have transformed into something entirely new and different. You could even say it had evolved.
I pressed one of the purple buttons, and with a high-pitched beep, the digivice came to life, the screen glowing bright purple. I waited for a moment before I realized that it was basically in stand-by mode, waiting for me to do something. Unsure of what else to do, I pressed the downward button until it showed me the option: Digimon Archive. Curious, I pushed the same purple button again to select it, and suddenly the screen projected out a circular screen, showing me a holographic image of Wizardmon in a fighting stance, along with all his information in text underneath it.
My eyebrows rose, impressed. Huh. Guess it can show data of my own Digimon too.
Even though I knew much about him already, I couldn't help but read though his information.
Name: Wizardmon
Level: Champion
Type: Wizard/Demon Man
Attribute: Data
Special Attacks: Thunder Bomb—releases a ball of electrical energy with varying effects; Magical Game—summons lightning from his magical staff, as well as demonstrations of his magical abilities; Electro Squall—summons a thundercloud which unleashes an intense lightning strike
Other Information: A Digimon advanced in magic, originated from the realm in the Digital World called Witchelny, he is an elemental master of fire and earth sorcery. He keeps his face hidden until he trusts someone completely. The zippers on his outfit lead to an infinite subspace where he can store items.
"Hmm..." I glanced from my digivice to the real Wizardmon, who had been discreetly watching me. "Says here you're from a part of the Digital World called Witchelny. Is that right?"
He glimpsed sharply down at the screen, but then looked away just as quickly. "It's where my kind was originally from, yes. I've traveled to a lot of places in the Digital World, though," he replied in a tone that I assumed was supposed to come off as dismissive, but there was the slightest hint of an edge in it.
I eyed him with interest, but when he didn't explain any further than that, I turned back to the screen, biting my lip. My digivice may have been able to give me the basic rundown on Wizardmon, but every other detail about him specifically? As his own individual? I suppose I would have to find all that out for myself.
Which, as we've seen earlier, was something I was not the best at.
"Well...at least this digivice does your image more justice than the card game—at least, the original artwork before it was updated."
I pulled out the first card from my deck and showed him. It was part of the first set of cards I had collected in a trade-off from a tabletop game event at the Gamer's Corner when I was eleven. It was also part of what got me into the game in the first place.
Wizardmon studied the card closely, his eyes narrowed a bit. "Hmm. Seems...grotesque."
I shrugged. "Yeah, that was just the art style back then. But they usually change it up every few years or so. Here..." I pulled out two more cards—some of the more recent versions—and gave them to him to see. "These are a little better, in my opinion."
When he merely looked between the cards with an unreadable demeanor, I added diffidently, "But I guess they're nothing compared to the real deal, right?"
His eyes shifted toward me, still not saying anything. I quickly looked away and cleared my throat. Why did I say that?
But then his gloved hand slowly came into my view a moment later, offering me back my cards. I looked up and was caught off guard by his slightly softer gaze.
"Thank you," he said gently.
I blinked once, but then cleared my expression and took my cards back. We fell into another silence once more. I didn't mind it so much this time, as I spent mostly spent it fiddling with my digivice; checking to see what other features it might have. I tried to scroll through the rest of the archive, and found that, after Wizardmon's page, was a data bank showcasing information on the first Digimon we've faced, Gremlinmon. After that, though, the rest of the archive was blank. That made me conclude that my digivice only displayed information on Digimon that I've come across face-to-face. So if I wanted more Digimon to read up about, we'd have to encounter more of them—which could either go really well, or really badly.
I backed out of the archive, which made the holographic screen projection disappear back into the screen, shutting down. Not knowing what else to do with it, I absently turned the device around in my hands, looking it over. I was about to put it away when something else caught my attention. Rotating it to where its right side was facing up, I noticed in that particular side of it, was some kind of small gap. It was so narrow I might not have seen it had I not been looking; hardly a centimeter wide and half an inch deep toward center of the digivice, by the looks of it. I brought it in close, squinting to try to peer into it better. I could just barely make out thin, parallel lines like that of a microchip along the walls inside.
Weird, I thought, staring at it with a small frown. Why would that be on a digivice?
Wait…
I turned my gaze toward the cards I still had out before me. I picked one of them up, my eyes flickering between it and my digivice inquisitively.
I wonder…
"Yo, Max!"
A familiar voice jerked me out of my thoughts. I looked over and saw that not twenty feet away from where I was, standing at the bank of the lake, was one of my classmates, Tito. He gave me a friendly wave before he picked up his backpack off the ground and started strolling over my way.
A jolt of panic swept through my body as I quickly shoved my digivice into the side pocket of my backpack, then turned to where Wizardmon sat on my other side, about to warn him. But when I did, all I found was an empty space. He must have noticed Tito beforehand and disappeared before the boy could see him.
And judging by the easy-going expression on Tito's face, he clearly didn't see anything. He merely took one last glance back at the water before continuing to approach me. I sighed in relief, the tension slowly leaving me.
"Hey," he greeted as he stopped right in front of me.
"Uh, hey...Tito," I returned, trying to come off as casual. "What's up?"
He shrugged. "Not much. Just trying to enjoy the nice afternoon, especially after the math and history tests." He made a gagging sound as he rolled his eyes.
"I know, right?"
"I think I only did okay on both of those."
"Then you did a lot better than me."
He gave me an amused smile at that. Then his gaze drifted further downward and zeroed in on my cards, which had scattered around me in my rush to hide my digivice. "Oh, you're organizing your Digimon cards or something?" he asked me.
I started to gather them up, inconspicuously. "Yeah...something like that."
Then his face brightened up. "Oh, hey, you're not doing anything else right now, are you?"
I stopped in my task, regarding him with a mix of confusion and—admittedly—some suspicion. "No, why?"
He reached into his bag and pulled out his own card case, as well as a small bag of a rolled-up rubber mat—a game mat, to be specific. "Wanna play a few rounds with me?"
I didn't respond for a moment, and when I did, all I could get out was, "Uh..."
I probably looked like an idiot.
Mentally shaking myself out of my stupor, I asked, "You sure?"
"Yeah! It'll be fun. And honestly? It'd be nice to finally play with someone who'll actually take the game seriously, and not get easily distracted by the pictures—or literally anything else in her line of sight."
At my puzzled expression, he quickly explained with a mildly embarrassed look, "I'm talking about my little sister. She's the only one in my family who even bothers to play with me. Everyone else? Nothing."
"Ah..." I nodded knowingly. I could understand where he was coming from, in a way. I was the only one within my social/family circle who was as interested in Digimon. My brother, Andy, thought the designs were cool, but he had his own interests to keep him occupied. And my father? Forget it. He was a practical, no-nonsense man who wasn't much for using his imagination; he'd sooner see himself on the most wanted list than have anything to do with something like Digimon.
The only other person I knew who might have been a little intrigued by Digimon was my grandmother. At least, she always sounded engaged with what I'd told her about it whenever we talked on the phone or exchanged messages. But I was pretty sure it was just out of politeness. I couldn't tell for sure, not when she lived so far away.
Coming out of my musings, I looked up at Tito. After another moment's consideration, I finally said with a small shrug, "Yeah, sure. We can play."
He smiled and went to sit down across from me. He rolled out his game mat and set it down between us, revealing that it had artwork of WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon.
"Just to warn you before we start, I'm a bit rusty on the rules when it comes to competitive play," I told him while we were setting up our decks. I wasn't going to tell him that the reason for that was because I've never really had the chance to play with anyone else before.
Tito waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. I've played this with my sister too many times in too many ways to even remember how to properly play anyway."
"Really?"
"Yeah. And you want to know a secret?" He looked around for show before leaning in and saying in a stage whisper, "Nobody actually plays exactly by rules."
I stared at him. "Uh…are you sure?"
He nodded. "At least, I think so."
My brows furrowed thoughtfully for a moment. "So I take it you don't play other tabletop games? Like MTG? Or D and D?"
"No, why?"
Ah. Confirmed. "No reason. Let's just go classic style—first one to a thousand points wins."
"Cool."
With that, we turned our cards over in the duel zone and began to play.
At first, the odds were more in my favor. I had won the first duel with a strong Digimon and a digivolution, but the longer we played, the more the odds seemed to shift over to Tito. He was remarkably tactical with his hand, knowing almost exactly when to use a power play, an option card, or to hold back until just the right moment.
It was a close game, but in the end, Tito was the one to come out on top of it all, finishing it off with a modify card to boost his Digimon's power level.
I let out a small huff when it was over, leaning back to rest on my hands. It was hard not to feel a little frustrated at losing. But like I said, only a little. Overall, it was kind of nice to be able to play the game with someone else for once.
And, well...it was fun.
Swallowing my pride, I mustered up a small smile directed at Tito. "Good game," I conceded. "You're pretty good at this."
He smiled back, not a trace of smugness or arrogance in sight. "Not so bad yourself." He shuffled his cards before delicately pressing them together into a deck. "It's just always a good idea to keep in mind your options. Sometimes, even if your opponent is a higher level than you, you can even the playing field with modifications. Remember: cards have power."
The words he spoke sounded innocent enough, like someone giving free, friendly advice. But the way he said it almost gave off the impression of importance—like he was speaking from personal experience, somehow.
I opened my mouth to say something, but a noise distracted me, like a splashing sound. I turned my head toward the lake, where I could see choppy ripples growing along the water, the sign of the surface having been broken through. I didn't see anything, though. Perhaps a fish had jumped out and fallen back in? They tended to do that, right?
Before I could ponder anymore on it, Tito's voice grabbed my attention again. "Ah, look at the time. I'd better get going," he said after a quick check of his phone. He started to gather his things together. I helped him do so until we both stood up.
"Thanks for playing with me. It was fun," Tito said with a grin.
"Yeah, same."
"Maybe we could go another round sometime? When you're not busy?"
"Sure."
"Cool. See ya around!"
As he walked away, I turned my back on him to pick up my backpack, getting ready to head home as well. When I turned back around, though, I saw Tito in the same spot I had first seen him before: on the shore of the lake. He was in a crouching position, his backpack in front of him, but hardly a second later, he swiftly straightened up again, zipped his backpack closed, and swung it over his shoulder. He looked around, and when his eyes met mine, he went still for a brief moment, as if startled. But then he gave me another casual smile and waved. I merely gave a loose wave back before he started walking away for good this time.
Once he was gone and out of sight, I felt more than heard a soft breeze rustle up from behind and stop right beside me.
"Who is he?"
I blinked and looked over at a materialized Wizardmon. "Hmm?"
"That boy you were with. Who is he?" he clarified, his eyes narrowed at the path Tito had taken.
"That's just Tito. We go to the same school together." Then, after a moment's hesitation I asked, "Why, what's up?"
At first, he didn't answer, keeping his searching gaze ahead, as though he were still able to see Tito even from a long distance. Eventually, his demeanor seemed to relax slightly. "Just curious," was all he said on the matter.
I raised an eyebrow, but decided not to press him further. I slung my backpack over my shoulders. "Well, I guess I'm gonna get—"
"Wait."
He put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. His entire body seemed to tense up, his eyes glinting.
I looked at him, alarmed.
"I sense something coming," he said slowly, as if still attempting to fully realize what it was he was 'sensing', until his eyes sharpened even more, if possible. "A Digimon."
I followed his intense gaze, and sure enough, I could barely make out a bright blue beam of light shoot up into the sky in a short distance—the same blue light I had seen when Gremlinmon appeared.
"Oh, great," I muttered. I pulled out my digivice and pressed one of the buttons. And as though it could tell what I wanted, it projected out the tracker screen that directed me to nearby Digimon.
I glanced back at Wizarmdon. "I'll meet you there?"
He simply gave a wordless nod before he jumped up into the air and disappeared.
With that, I broke into a run through the park and, eventually, the streets, speeding past pedestrians going through the rush hour. Following the compass' arrow without question, I soon found myself in a small, mostly empty parking lot between two buildings—save for a few cars—where a looming, grey fog formed right in the center. A Digital Field.
No sooner than I stopped right in front of it, Wizardmon came down from above and landed right beside me.
"It's almost through," he informed. "Are you ready?"
With a quick nod, I jumped into the Digital Field alongside him…
…And my sight was immediately blurred by the fog. I had forgotten about that part from the last time.
I cursed under my breath. "Okay, maybe I wasn't ready." I had my hands stretched out as I made wary steps forward, praying I wouldn't run into anything, much less a hostile Digimon.
Then a leathery hand took hold of mine, firm in its grip but not uncomfortably so. I squinted, but it didn't take much to see that it was Wizardmon.
"I've got you. Just follow me."
He guided me through the murky mist until we reached the center, where the strange blue light was emanating from.
Just as we reached it, though something else caught our attention: two voices coming from close by.
"How can someone with such long legs be so slow?"
"I can only run so fast, you know! You don't like it, you can get another ride!"
Wizardmon and I looked at each other, unblinking.
"You heard that too, right?" I asked him, and he nodded in reply.
Out of the corner of my eye, a figure began to take shape in the fog, getting closer. And the closer it got, the more apparent that it was a human.
Someone else had entered the Digital Field, and was approaching fast.
I didn't even have time to warn Wizardmon. Whoever it was burst through the thick of the fog, revealing themselves.
I didn't know who I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't one of my classmates.
"Tito?" I blurted out in utter confusion.
The boy in question stood there, staring at me with his mouth parted in surprise. He was wearing sunglasses over his eyes—no doubt to see better in the Field— but he all but yanked them off a second after he had spotted me, as if making sure I was actually there and not some illusion.
"Max?" he said, just as baffled.
"What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?"
Then his gaze shifted slightly so that he was looking past me, and his shock increased tenfold. "Uh..."
I blanched, knowing that he was staring at Wizardmon. I dared to glimpse back at my partner, but he seemed...oddly unbothered by being caught by another human.
Tito's gaze flicked from Wizardmon to me. "That's..."
Then the light beam in the center of the Field dispersed. In its place was a blurred figure, taking on a physical form. Only this one was clearly not human, being at least twelve feet tall with a dragon-like body that seemed to glow. A low growl resonated from it. And it may have been my imagination, but the air around us was getting warmer by the second.
The Digimon was here. And Tito was right in its line of sight with us, I realized with apprehension.
In our panicked states, Tito and I shouted warnings over each other, "Watch out, Tito!" —"Get out of here, Max!"
And then we finished in perfect unison, "That's a Digimon!"
We both halted abruptly, everything seeming to freeze in time for a mere moment. Then we whipped our heads toward one another, eyes wide and mouths open.
"You know?" we said at the same time yet again—which I would've found funny if I wasn't so riled up at the time. "How do you…?"
I lowered my gaze, and saw to my utter disbelief that he was holding a digivice just like mine, except his color scheme was silver and royal blue. Unknown to me, he had done the exact same thing, catching sight of my own digivice in my hand. We raised our gazes to meet each other's once more.
"You're a…?" I trailed off, as the realization finally sank in.
"And you…?" It was hitting him just as hard too, his eyes darting from me, to my digivice, to Wizardmon, and finally back to me. You could practically see the lightbulb go off above his head.
His eyes widened even more, if that was possible. Then, slowly, his lips curled up into a huge grin.
"I—"
Whatever he was going to say, he didn't get the chance to, as the unknown Digimon finally completed gaining form. It let out a gravelly roar, snapping both of us out of our stupor and focusing on the main problem. Looming over us was an anthropomorphic, dragon-type Digimon with a silver, metallic helmet covering his head and razor-sharp, silver claws for hands. But what truly stood out was the fact that his entire body was engulfed in scorching, orange flames. Heat flowed out of him in waves so intense, I started to sweat.
"Oh, wow," I whispered, while Wizardmon assumed a defensive stance in front of me.
However, before either of us could do anything, a different, more child-like voice spoke up from right behind Tito.
"Welp! Guess that Gatomon's out of the bag now! Let's get to it!"
Tito's backpack ripped itself open from the inside—though not without a little struggle. Then a flash of white, red-orange, and bits of purple leaped over Tito's shoulder and landed in between him and the realized Digimon.
My mouth fell open once more with bewilderment. "Gomamon?"
There was no mistaking the recognizable sea lion-like creature, with white fur, purple spots and markings, red-orange mowhawk, and green eyes.
Gomamon shot a delighted grin my way, his little canines glinting. "Oh ho ho! Looks like someone's a fan of mine! I can see why you like her, Tito."
Instantly, my eyes flashed to Tito, who stiffened.
"He—that's not—" he stammered, flustered, before quickly shaking it off, glaring at Gomamon. "Just stay focused!"
Gomamon chuckled and loosely waved him off with a clawed foreflipper. "Alright, alright." Then, taking on a more serious disposition, he turned back to the unknown Digimon and narrowed his eyes at it.
Tito held out his digivice, and a familiar holographic screen transmitted out of it, showing him the Digimon's stats.
"Flarerizamon," Tito read aloud. "A Champion level fire dragon type. His Blaze Buster attack fires super-hot flame spouts, but his Tower of Fire attack is the one to really look out for, using the flames of his entire body to blast enemies in one fell swoop."
"So he likes it hot. We get it," Gomamon said. He stretched out his neck to one side, preparing to fight.
"Hold it, Gomes," Tito warned. "We don't know for sure what he's here for."
"Well, let's find out. Hey! Walking fire hazard! You here to fight or you just in the neighborhood?"
Flarerizamon's growl grew louder, his body hunching over slightly. Then he raised his head, his eyes landing on us—or most notably, Wizardmon and Gomamon.
"Dataaaa!" he ground out, his gaze growing hungrier and more feral by the second. Suddenly, he lashed out a wave of fire. But then Wizardmon swiftly slid in front of us and spun his now glowing staff in front of him like a propeller before the fire hit him head on. The flames gradually fizzled out until they were gone completely. Wizardmon held his staff aloft as he glared at Flarerizamon, wordlessly daring him to try that again.
"Guess that answers our question," Gomamon told Tito drily, then turned to Wizardmon gratefully. "Nice save, by the way."
Tito, after taking a short moment to look impressed by Wizardmon's move as well, made a small grunt of resignation. "Yeah okay, he's gotta go."
"Ya think?" I snarked.
Barring his fangs, Flarerizamon charged forward. The fight had begun.
Wizardmon and Gomamon each darted to opposite sides, barely dodging his flames and claws.
"MAGICAL GAME!" Wizardmon attacked first, blue lightning shooting from his staff. It struck true, but other than nearly throwing Flarerizamon off balance, he didn't seem phased by it at all.
Flarerizamon turned to Wizardmon with a snarl, eyes blazing. His fire burned brighter and hotter.
"TOWER OF FIRE!"
A hulking inferno erupted from his entire body, roaring at all of us, about to burn us to a crisp. My heart stopped beating for a moment as Wizardmon stood his ground and faced it head-on, gripping his staff more firmly. The wall of fire nearly engulfed Wizardmon, but with a grunt of effort and concentration, he just managed to will away the fire, fuming it out.
But not without some damage. Wizardmon leaned forward to rest his weight against his staff as he took some deep breaths. The edges of his cloak and hat were singed with black soot.
"Careful! Lightning is a variant of fire!" Tito informed.
"Right," I muttered with grim comprehension before calling to Wizardmon, "Try not to use your special attacks on him! They're just fuel to him!"
With a cleansing exhale, he heeded my warning and stepped back, but kept himself between us and Flarerizamon. He held his staff ready, knowing that the best course of action for him would be to defend. "Understood."
Then Gomamon jumped in. "Don't worry! I'll give him a good smack for both of us! MARCHING FISHES!"
An entire school of fish—of all the colors of the rainbow—seemed to materialize out of nowhere around Gomamon, streaking toward Flarerizamon and smacking him right in the face. He roared with anger, trying to swat them away, but the onslaught kept on coming. Right as the fish collided with Flarerizamon, they'd physically break apart into data, but then more would immediately take their place.
"Haha! Get fish-slapped, idiot!" Gomamon taunted, which earned him a sigh from Tito, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Oh my God, Gomamon, don't bait him further."
An unusual method, for sure, but apparently effective. At least, it mostly kept Flarerizamon from attacking again. Gomamon was quick to maneuver around Flarerizamon as he summoned his army of fish at him, and whenever Flarerizamon had an opening to lash out his flames, Wizardmon was right there to deflect it.
But it could only work for so long. And Flarerizamon wasn't tiring out much. If anything, he was just getting angrier.
"Dataaa!" Flarerizamon roared again, slashing away a wave of fish.
"Hey, Tito!" Gomamon called over. "Let's do that thing we did last time! You gave it a funny name!"
"The pinball move?"
"Yeah, that one!"
Tito frowned, considering. Then he gave a resolute nod. "Right. It could work."
Gomamon called off his Marching Fishes attack, the artificial sea animals disappearing. Then he jumped straight into the air.
"BUBBLE BARRIER!"
As if drawn out of the air itself, water began to take form, swirling all around Gomamon until he was completely encased in an aquatic sphere.
Meanwhile, Tito pulled out some of his Digimon cards. After a quick scan through them, he singled one out of his deck.
I watched, bemused, as he held his chosen card aloft with one hand while aligning his digivice with the other. What is he—?
"Digi-modify!" In one swift motion, he slashed the card through the tiny slot in the side of his digivice, causing it to buzz and brighten with activity. "Hyper speed activate!"
"Whaaat?!" I couldn't help but draw out in disbelief. In response to Tito's card slash, a strange power visibly pulsed into Gomamon while floating inside his water bubble.
Then, quick as a flash, Gomamon took off rolling, plowing right into Flarerizamon. Because of Gomamon's water field, he didn't get burned at all; if anything, it actually hurt Flarerizamon more, his flames simmering with a hiss once contact was made.
Wizardmon, seeing Gomamon's intentions, leaped out of the way and came to land next to me within seconds.
The rest all happened so fast—almost too fast for me to catch up. But whenever Gomamon hit a wall or any kind of stop, he'd just ricochet right off it and redirect his trajectory straight for Flarerizamon multiple times as he zoomed around in his water ball, whose fire got weaker with every strike.
Just like a giant pinball. Go figure.
The whole time, I just watched in silent awe. I looked from Gomamon to Tito, who still had his cards and digivice at ready.
"He can do that?" I muttered. Then I shook my head and looked down at my own digivice. "We can do that?"
Eventually the effects of the card wore off, Gomamon's water ball slowing to a stop before dispersing. Gomamon flopped to the ground, his head swaying with dizziness.
"Ohhh, not a fan of this part," he groaned.
Flarerizamon was on his knees, his fire nearly out completely. He struggled to get up, glowering at Gomamon with hatred. He reached a claw out towards him. "Da…dataaa!"
"We got him on the ropes now," Tito said. He pulled out a different card and slashed it through his digivice as well. "Digi-modify! Energy boost activate!"
Once more, Gomamon's body pulsed with new energy. His expression cleared immediately.
"WATER SHOT!"
A stream of water burst from his mouth with the power and velocity of a fire hose. It struck Flarerizamon head-on, causing him to cry out as the force of the water knocked him back. Steam swirled around him as his fire was extinguished, until finally he couldn't take anymore damage. His body burst into small packets of red data particles, and soon even those dissolved as well. Following him, the fog cleared away, leaving no trace of a fight ever happening.
Well…except for one of the cars being on fire from one of Flarerizamon's wild blasts.
"Aw shoot!" Tito exclaimed in distress.
"I got it!" Gomamon hurried over and started to hose it down with his Water Shot attack, only this time not nearly as intensely.
Seeing the problem being taken care of, Tito sighed. Then he turned to me and Wizardmon and approached us with a strangely serious expression. "Are you two okay?"
"All things considered…" I looked at Wizardmon who, with a wave of his hand, magically mended his clothing before giving me a reassuring nod. I looked back to Tito. "...Yeah, we're fine."
He nodded curtly. "Great. Awesome. Now that all that's done and over with…" He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath through his nose, then abruptly burst out, "Oh my God you're a Tamer too!"
I leaned back, a bit thrown off by his blatant excitement. "Uh—yeah."
"This is—this is unbelievable! I thought I was the only one!"
He looked like could've gone on, but Gomamon rushed up to him, jumping onto his shoulder. "Okay, so I put out the fire, but we should probably scram before somebody shows up—preferably to somewhere we can get food. "
Tito thought for a moment before regarding me again. "So, uh, I assume you have questions."
"A couple," I said blandly, both of us knowing full well that was an understatement.
"Yeah, me too. What do you say we answer them elsewhere?"
"With food!" Gomamon urgently provided.
Tito rolled his eyes. "Yes, with food. My treat."
Wizardmon and I looked at each other for a passing moment, before I turned back to Tito with a half smile. "'Kay. Lead the way."
Several minutes later, the four of us were sitting at a picnic table back in the park—in an area that was mostly covered with trees and no one else around, so that Wizardmon and Gomamon could be freely out in the open. True to his word, Tito treated us to some Thai food to go.
"Okay, so…proper introductions," Tito started once we were settled. "This is my partner, Gomamon, but you already knew that."
"'Sup!" Gomamon greeted with a mouth full of dumplings. He was sitting on the table next to Tito, across from where Wizardmon and I sat. Tito had offered Wizardmon some food when we'd all sat down, but he'd politely declined.
"And this is Wizardmon," I said after taking a bite from my cup of yellow curry.
"Nice," said Tito with a smile. Then he tilted his head, studying Wizardmon a little more closely. "Hmm…a partner Digimon who's already at the Champion level. A bit out of the norm, but not entirely unheard of."
"All I know is you got some slick moves there, Mr. Tall-dark-and-mystic!" Gomamon told Wizardmon, grinning. "Ten out of ten, would have you in my corner any day!"
It was hard to tell if Wizardmon was uncomfortable being under Tito and Gomamon's varied scrutiny. If he was, he didn't show it, his head bowing forward ever so slightly, to the point where most of his face was obscured by the brim of his hat.
"If you don't mind my asking, how did you two meet? And when?" Tito enquired me.
I carefully told him all that I knew; about how I had found a blue card shortly after he and I had talked on that fateful day, how I came across a Digital Field, how my card reader turned into a digivice after scanning said blue card, and finally how Wizardmon emerged out of my home computer.
Tito was nothing short of astonished.
"You say you found a blue card?" he asked softly.
"Yeah, as in it was all blue, except—"
"Except for the 'D' symbol in the middle, right?"
I furrowed my eyebrows at him. "I take it you found one too?"
He nodded. He wiped some noodle broth off his chin with a napkin before he began to tell us his own story.
"It was about two weeks ago. I was…well, I was already having a very off day. My alarm clock didn't go off, and my older sister, Margo, was home visiting from college, and that always means she controls the bathroom when she's here. So, I was late for school, I botched a science test, and to top it all off: when I got home, I found my younger sister, Lea, playing in my room, my Digimon cards spilled all over the place."
"Just how many sisters do you have?" I couldn't help asking.
He shot me a tired expression. "Just the two, but trust me, that's already too many when it comes to them."
"And you're smack-dab in the middle, huh?"
"Yeah, don't remind me. Anyway, I was cleaning up the mess when I saw it: a blue card, just lying there among all my other cards on the floor. At first, I thought it might be one of Lea's that got mixed up with mine, but when I asked her, she was clueless.
"I was curious about what it could be, so I tried to scan it with my camera phone—just to see if it had some kind of code in it, you know? But as soon as the camera focused onto it and clicked, my phone got all bright. And then it turned into this."
He held out his digivice for me to see.
"Your phone turned into a digivice?" I said incredulously.
"Yep. My mom chewed me out real good when I told her I 'lost' my phone afterwards. I'm just lucky I was able to convince her to get me a new one."
"So your phone changed to a digivice. And let me guess, your computer turned on all by itself and Gomamon spilled out of it?" I prompted.
"Well, my tablet, actually. But yeah, that's pretty much what happened."
Then Gomamon cut in, after swallowing his seventh dumping (yes, I kept count), "And then I turned Tito's bad day into his best day ever!"
Tito scoffed as he flicked a piece of food off Gomamon's jowls. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."
"Well, it turned into my best day ever," Gomamon insisted, his teasing manner momentarily dropping as he sent a genuine smile his partner's way. "I can hardly remember how I ever made it through the Digital World before I finally met you."
Okay, not gonna lie, my heart melted a little at his earnest words.
Tito was obviously moved as well. He smiled back as he caressed Gomamon's head.
Bringing us back on topic, I asked Tito, "So, that fight back there, with Flarerizamon…I take it that wasn't your guys' first one?"
"Nope." Then he regarded me with a shrewd smirk. "Why, was it yours?"
I bristled with indignation at what he was implying. "No!"
A stiff silence ensued for a moment, before I looked away and muttered, "It was our second."
He chuckled. "Well, you guys did great for just your second fight."
"Really helped us out," Gomamon added.
"How many fights have you two been in anyway?" I asked.
At that question, Tito took his digivice and activated it. He went to what I recognized was the Digimon Archive. "Let's see.." he started to scroll through the pages of his Archive, listing off the names of the Digimon, "…first there was Scumon, then Porcupamon—"
"Don't forget that duo of Mushroomon!" Gomamon said with an air of annoyance. "Those jerks ruined my cannoli!"
Tito shot him an unimpressed look. "I got you another one right afterwards."
"But you never forget your first cannoli!"
I simply stared in confusion. Tito saw this and explained with a sigh, "Ever since he got here, he's kinda had this goal to eat all the best food he could get his hands on."
I nodded. "Ah…" I looked to Gomamon with a tint of sympathy. "My condolences about your first cannoli. They're otherworldly."
"See? She gets it!" he exclaimed to his Tamer, pointing his claw at me.
Tito gave me a long, suffering look. "Please do not enable him."
I merely smirked and shrugged.
"Okay, so yeah, those two Mushroomon...and then Flareizamon today. That's about it."
I stared down at the table pensively. So he and Gomamon have been in quite a few battles already, so it was safe to say he was pretty experienced—at least, compared to me.
Which reminds me...
I lifted my gaze to meet his once more. "How did you do that thing with your cards? How did you know to do it?"
For the briefest of moments, he looked puzzled, before quickly putting the pieces together. "Oh, you mean using modify cards?" He took out some of them, fanning them out in his grip. "Well, I noticed the scanner on the side of the digivice and eventually put two-and-two together on what it was for."
"But how?" I emphasized. "They're just trading cards. Just a game."
He put his cards away before explaining gently, "Well, until recently the same was said about Digimon themselves, right?"
That gave me pause, looking between Gomamon and Wizardmon. "That's true."
"Exactly. So I figured that if the Digimon turned out to be real, maybe other aspects of the game could be too. And good thing it is; these cards have really helped us out in a jam."
I took a moment to stare down at my own digivice, turning it over slightly to see its card scanner. I was definitely going to try out that feature in the near future.
Bringing my attention back to Tito, I asked him one more question, "Tito, have you ever thought about how Digimon are real, and just...what are they doing here in the first place?"
He nodded sagely. "Oh, believe me, I've been wondering that nonstop—ever since Gomamon and I met." He sat back and crossed his arms over his chest with a contemplative frown. When he next spoke, it was more like he was talking to himself than to me, "I can understand Digimon being real. You often hear stories about artificial life-forms gaining sentience and agency on their own. But still...to have them show up in the real world; that's what stumps me the most about it. Are they coming through for a particular reason? Or are they just stumbling in here by accident?"
"Well, Wizardmon says that the barrier between the real world and the Digital World has been weakened."
That definitely got his attention. He snapped his head towards us, straightening up fast. "What? Seriously?"
Wizardmon—who had been so quiet and still this whole time one could easily forget he was even present—spoke up for the first time, "Yes. The rift that once kept our worlds apart has thinned. Because of this, Digimon of all kinds have been bio-emerging into your world."
Tito was flabbergasted. "Do you know why that is? What caused it?"
Wizardmon simply shook his head, going silent again.
Tito's eyebrows creased. "Huh...that's quite a head-scratcher. Has our technology advanced so much that it was a catalyst for the Digimon to come here? Did the Digimon themselves get strong enough to break through? Or was it something else entirely that we're not aware of?"
He rubbed his temples and sighed. "Man, I don't know..."
I watched him curiously. I could see why he was considered one of the smartest kids in our class. Always asking questions, testing theories. He certainly was inquisitive.
Then Gomamon gently poked Tito with a claw. "Careful, bud. I told you, you'll make your brain cramp from doing that too much."
Tito looked back, the worried creases in his face slowly receding. He chuckled. "Yeah, I know. And whatever the reason, at least it made us partners."
Gomamon beamed.
I snuck a thoughtful glance over at Wizardmon, then back to the two of them.
"I am sure about one thing, though," Tito then said, focusing on me again. "However this happened...you and me becoming Tamers? I have a feeling that's no coincidence."
I nodded grimly. "Yeah, I think so too."
"Good. We're in agreement." His expression then grew uncertain. He cleared his throat. "So...do you want to maybe work together from now on? I think we'd figure this whole thing out faster as a team. And if you want, I can help you with using your cards and whatever else you're curious about. Plus…it's just nice to finally be able to talk to someone else about this stuff. But if not, I get it. It's up to you."
For a long moment, I just sat there, hesitant. Until lately, I've never been much in the way of being part of a team, AKA making friends. Call it a little quirk of my personality, but it was just hard for me to interact well with other people, especially in a long-term way. Maybe I just rubbed some people off the wrong way, or vice versa.
But I was also honest enough with myself to realize that, maybe, it'd be beneficial to work with someone else who actually knew what was going on like I did—knew what he was doing. And call me naive, but Tito seemed to genuinely want to be friends with me. After all, he did take the time to play the card game with me earlier, right?
I bit the inside of my lip, considering. I looked to Wizardmon, wondering what his input was. Sensing my gaze, he looked back. He kept silent, but he did give me the lightest of shrugs with his shoulders, head inclining ever so slightly. I didn't know how, but somehow, I was able to understand that was his way of telling me, 'I'll go along with whatever you decide.'
Exhaling steadily, I turned back to Tito and answered, "Sure. Why not?"
Tito smiled, pleased. "Cool." Then he took a moment to pull out his cell phone. "Is it alright if I add you to my contacts? You know, in case we need to call each other or something?"
"Yeah, hang on."
I took out my own cell phone, and we exchanged our phone numbers.
Once we were finished, Gomamon let out a triumphant whoop. "My boy got a girl's number! I always believed in you, bud!"
Tito, the color of his face darkening, promptly dunked Gomamon's face into a cup of noodles. "It's not like that, and you know it!"
"Hey! Mmph!" Gomamon raised his head, slurping up the entire cup in one go. "You're lucky these are delicious!"
I quirked an eyebrow at the two of them as they started to banter back and forth. After watching them critically for another moment longer, I sighed, letting my posture relax slightly.
What did I just sign myself onto?
A/N: Man has it been a hot minute since I've updated this one! Guess that happens when you're consumed by life and other fandoms. But I've been on a huge Digimon kick lately-ever since I started watching the Digimon Adventure 2020 English dub. And it's inspired me to want to continue this fic.
Tito and Gomamon have joined our party! I've always wanted to write a Digimon fic featuring my favorite main Digimon from the season one cast.
(And I just gotta add: his new voice in the 2020 reboot is just the cutest thing!)
This particular Gomamon's stats:
-Water Dog
-Master of the Pond
-Ultimate Wingman
-Absolute Menace
-Will fight God for the last potato chip