Glancing up to the night sky she thought about the countless times she had looked up at its calmness. It was a precious thing, she realized. An ocean of black illuminated by the scattered lights of a million billion stars from across the universe free for all to she and others took its peacefulness for granted and never stopped to be thankful for it
She shuddered glancing at the ground below. All she could do was hold herself in a terrified embrace.
There was no peace to found tonight.
Where once the quiet of the starry night granted peace, in its place was a grid-laden tear that ran across its surface.
Stretching into the horizon, its ominous blue light bore down to the dark streets. Alone it might have been enough to fill her with nightmares.
Instead, she found the nightmares themselves emerge from the grid.
Monsters.
They tore one another apart as they emerged, vying for dominance and supremacy in a battle the flicker of light scattered at the maw of the grid. Those who emerged victorious changed themselves, growing bigger, stronger, and fiercer. Then in a twist of fate, they resumed their battle against others who had emerged victorious.
She dreaded what would happen when the ultimate victor was found.
But they were not alone.
Terrors came from the sky.
And from the ground? Nightmares.
Nightmares came forth from the darkness and protection of the night and took all. Men, women, and children, none were spared or offered mercy as their very souls were taken from them no matter where they were.
Echoes of laughter invitations to join the party, to lose herself in the fun being given freely from the witches to those that followed them beckoned to her. They filled the dark street and blackened buildings with their delightfully horrible sound.
She could hear them calling to her. Her friends, her family, the people that lived in the city. From the shadows, inside of the terrors that had consumed or were consuming them.
Her hands moved from her side, and she knelt over, clutching her hands to her ears. She shut her eyes and cried to herself. That this couldn't be. This wasn't reality, not her reality. How could it be? A world full of monsters and nightmares? No!
They told her how pointless it was, how easy it would be to let herself fall into delight bliss. They told her this, despite the certain end they faced. She raised her defeated head, only realizing just now that she had been crying.
The alley's darkness crept closer and closer to her, the laughter of her friends and family growing as black hands reached out toward her.
The sound of laughter gave way to the sounds of festivals, and carnivals. Looking, she could see all manners of rides and games. Like photographs or stills from a magazine, they were plastered everywhere awkwardly and ridden by everyone. Pages and pages were ripped from the invisible, unseen magazines plastered their still images as backgrounds that filled themselves with the people who ran to them.
Frames of films came to life, playing themselves within their audiences. Candy rained from the ceilings and the walls and the sky into the happy mouths of everyone who asked for it.
And they kept laughing and laughing. They spoke of joy, and happiness.
They asked her to join them.
Her hand reached out, trying to meet with just one of the black hands coming from the alley. Her friends were calling to her and she felt herself begin to slip into bliss.
There was a price to be paid like an entry to a ride or experience, but she thought that it might be a good one to pay.
Only a fingernail length from her, she closed her tear-stained eyes and let defeat wash over her.
As though the ground itself rose in defiance for her, however, a thundering crash shook the ground beneath her.
Her eyes shot open, quickly reclaiming herself from the jaws of bliss and despair as loud whistles rang out.
Streams of light flew rapidly overhead meeting the masses of approaching shadows descending from the torn sky above. Like fireworks in a hot summer, they erupted. They did not bring a wonderous and spectacularly colored show, however, instead, they burst into fireballs that devoured all that surrounded it.
The wails and roars and cries of the nightmares from above echoed silenced quickly as more streams shot forth towards them.
The loud, thundering crash resumed, and a fog set over the street she had been at. Glancing to the alley she saw that the terrors had withdrawn.
The thundering crashing got closer, the ground shifting and echoing with its force.
She stood up, looking down the street from where the sound was coming from. The fog, rapidly setting over the city, had nearly blinded her to anything, not within immediate view. She squinted, keeping herself steady despite the loud crashing approaching her.
In the distance, only barely made out by her sight, she saw a building approaching her.
No, she quickly thought, it could not have been a building. It held a frame like a person's, but longer arms than any human she had ever met. Its head was shaped like an upside "T". Broad, circular shoulders moved from side to side as it took powerful step after powerful step.
Without wasting another thought, she turned away and began running.
The empty fog-filled streets erupted with life, as nightmares began to take shape on the sidewalks once full of people.
Those with bodies shaped like people, but with long gangly limbs that bore claw-tipped hands. Large snout-like heads that hissed with razor-filled mouths with frames that crushed whole cars under their heel. Even some who looked like chimeras formed from everyday items and weapons.
But as she ran past them despite her fear, they paid no attention to her. Their heads were seized by the thundering giant. She felt them crying out, not in sadness or fear but in brutal near animalistic rage.
Without warning, streams of cherry blossom petals came forth from the endless gray of the fog. She lost her footing, caught in the powerful gust of wind as the petals passed. She fell to her knees but ignored any pain that might have come from it. Futilely she covered her head catching only as glimpse as the currents washed away the nightmares.
The streets were left barren and empty save for claw marks and cinder imprints.
Glancing above the buildings, she caught the faint form of a woman. Sparkles of gold and petals fell off of her and at her side was a long staff adjourned with rings. Most shockingly, her face was shaped like that of a fox with long flowing pigtails.
But as the thundering crashing footsteps reached her, she scrambled to her feet running into one of the alleys as a giant clawed foot dug itself powerfully into the ground.
Nearly frozen in fear, she could raise her hand and see the massive foot attached to an equally large, and every ascending leg.
The rhythmic and drawing sounds from before began again, different this time as the cried out in lullabies that drew out memories of childhood and infancy. This time however she did not feel the same pull, her gaze and attention were still locked onto the giant next to her.
And then with a soft but high-pitched whine, a maelstrom of loud BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG erupted. It cut through her now clutched ears, her eardrums pounding with every second that passed.
Her teeth and bones were rattled to their core. She was scared that the sound alone would shake her apart.
Lights and flares sprung from above, past the legs where she could faintly make out a ring of fire coming from where she thought its hands would be. Metal rained from the sky as casings fell and buried themselves in concrete, cars, and even buildings.
Clutching her head, she could hear the piercing sounds of the carnivals, festivals, joyous laughter, and cheers of the dark be drowned out by the earsplitting cry of metal and fire. Perhaps it was merely one sound prevailing over the other. Maybe even, as the petals had done to the nightmares, this had been a banishment.
But as then the sound faded, and as she slowly opened her eyes, she was instead flying! Her eyes and heading darted from side to side as even the breath to scream failed her. She wasn't falling, she couldn't feel the air blowing against her, but it was clear she was in the sky.
Hanging high in the sky she looked down below and witnessed with her eyes something out of a fairytale.
A knight in gleaming white armor and gallant red cloak charged ahead against a towering, shadowy figure of unimaginable sight!
Wonder and awe filled her as she witnessed a battle of myth play before her.
His spear struck against the cage-like frame as the shadow arms swung wildly at the knight.
A great shield came up, defending the knight but scattering him away from the body of the Shadow. The knight did not relent, however, raising his lance proudly into the sky. Blue lightning crackled as it grew into a weapon that split even the sky! The light returned to the lance before shooting forward when the knight thrust his mighty weapon forward. The lance drove itself into and through the body the shadow with speed befitting the lightning it held.
The shadow's arms fell backward, its body arching like it had been fatally wounded. With a single twitch, however, its arms swung out once again in a long wave. For a single moment, she feared the worst, but when she looked again the knight was in the skies. The knight somehow had lept into the sky with a single mighty kick.
She felt relief for the knight, silently thanking whoever might listen that they had escaped.
Then came a terrible gasp from the Knight, and for a moment, she worried for him. But his gaze was not to some injury, nor a tired one. His gaze remained faced down to where he had once been. But the knight wasn't cornered about himself, no his gaze remained below, where he had been. Following his gaze, a foreboding knot had formed in her stomach. As she met the same place where the knight had been looking, her hands came to her mouth and tears began stinging her face.
The city, her city, the home of her friends….
She didn't know why. Maybe it was anger or just some kind of sick retribution, but the Shadow hadn't been attacking only the knight. No, it had struck everything beyond it. Each swing the knight had avoided had continued beyond it, into the city. Each arm had flattened everything, reducing it to a plain flat wasteland devoid of anything resembling a building.
"Horrible." and for the first time, she heard her broken, weak voice "It's too horrible. Now everyone-now everyone is..."
She trailed off unable, or maybe unwilling, to say that terrible word.
They couldn't even be granted the fate of a gravesite, a tombstone in the shape of the city that they once lived and laughed in. The memories she had shared with her friends at school, the times spent after going through the city together. The potential joys, laughter, and even sorrow that could have been shared.
All gone, reduced to nothing in a single moment.
The Knight let out a mighty roar, raising lance and shield in another assault against the tower shadow.
Droplets of oil paint began to fall onto a blank canvas. Only these droplets lacked color, falling into a rippling landscape as droplets into the bucket. Moved by an invisible brush, the landscape was washed over by colors. Sick reds, pale yellows, and twisting whites swept over everything.
Before her very eyes, the sky unfurled itself into a more flat space for the brush to paint over. It left a void, a space with nothing of what she once saw.
Descending to it, the Shadow raised its arms. Higher and higher they went. It called and beckoned the knight to its grim embrace.
The Knight despite the sight playing out before him remained dauntless. His shield came forth and radiated a brilliant red light to push back against the growing painting below. There was no relent in their attack forcing everything into this last battle.
"They're quite strong. However, if it's just them then this can only end in despair and destruction for the world." Unable to look away as the Knights crimson light grew more and more the voice continued uninterrupted
"But you can change all that if you wish for it."
"If... If I wish for it." her voice grew in her ears, and she curled her arms to her chest. She was frightened by it, her voice and the idea of her wish. There was no reason to be afraid, deep down something reassured her about it, but still, she was.
"Yes, you possess the power to change Fate itself. So make a contract with me and become a magical gi-" The voice was silent. Cut off by the brilliant emanating crimson light of the Knight, the voice vanished and left her alone.
Blinded by the light, she could only make out the final scene before her.
Large bat-like wings that came with a spear-tipped tail as the crimson glow began to wrap around itself, eclipsing even the Knight that produced it. The Crimson light finally took shape, but she found herself too overwhelmed to look upon it.
The battle between the Shadow and the Crimson Light continued. A terrible scream like the Apocalypse shattered her into a billion pieces.
And the world found itself silenced for all eternity.
"Whoa, and then what happened?"
"Oh, um, and then I woke up in my bed." Madoka still didn't know what to make of the nightmare. She had bad dreams before but none of them stayed so present in her mind as this one. Until Sayaka just now, she hadn't told anyone, not even her mom. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell or that she felt that she couldn't tell her. It was just that her mom was excited for her work today and she didn't want to take any of that away from her.
But a tiny selfish part of her felt that she should have. Sayaka was her best friend, but sometimes she could get a little-
"Hmm, once I dreamt that I didn't have legs and all I could do was use my arms to move around. Turns out it was just me sleeping with a pair of socks that were a bit too tight. Stuff like that can affect how you sleep you know?"
Madoka smiled crookedly.
Yeah, Sayaka liked to get carried away. Not intentionally sure, but she felt like her mom would have told her something more useful than tight socks being the culprit.
"Still, knights fighting against big nightmares for the safety of everyone? Ufufu how romantic of you Madoka. You haven't been reading something saucy, have you?" Before she could say anything Sayaka vanished and appeared behind her grabbing her sides "No good, no good! I'll have to take you for myself before your eyes start wandering."
"Sayaka! Stop it!" she said between forced laughter as Sayaka's hands ran across her sides relentlessly.
"Morning Madoka, Sayaka." Halting altogether, Hitomi approached them as elegantly as ever "Starting the day off as usual huh?"
Madoka was not surprised but Hitomi was once again flawless. Hair sheen and brilliantly combed. Skin flawless without any hint of product. Even the school uniform somehow looked better just by her wearing it.
"That's right Hitomi, this is true love right now. You can't possibly hope to keep us apart anymore." Sayaka was relentless, despite her protesting and Hitomi decided to play along.
"I should have known better than to keep your star-crossed lovers from each other, but even still." She cleared her throat and right on time, the school bell rang.
Sayaka let her go and Madoka and Hitomi proceeded on their way.
"Thanks, Hitomi." Sayaka was her best friend without a doubt, but she was also glad to have someone as cool and levelheaded as Hitomi to balance her out.
"Oh hey by the way guys did you catch the news yesterday? That bit about the new Digimon-Tamer duo that showed up in Fukushima? It was a Tokomon!"
Digimon, Digital Monsters.
Until four years ago, simply a franchise that ranged from everything from video games to animated shows to card games. But then, the impossible happened. Digimon materialized in the real world, blurring the lines between fiction and reality. The news spread like wildfire, igniting a mix of excitement and fear across the globe.
Madoka had never really been a fan of them, that had always been Sayaka. Still, she remembered the day when Shinjuku had been plunged into chaos by the assault D-Reaper. It had been a digital lifeform that…
How in the face of it, three kids no older than she had been, were all stood against it with the aid of their Digimon partners.
Henry Wong.
Rika Nonaka.
And Takato Mitsuki.
There had been someone else, but Madoka couldn't remember…
Since then, more and more Digimon have been appearing in their world. Unlike the encounter with the D-Reaper or even the other Digimon that had appeared and wreaked havoc, they found partners, Tamers.
Like the original Tamers, they lived their day-to-day lives in peace.
Or at least that's what she hoped anyway.
"That's the orange lizard one, right?" Hitomi asked honestly only for Sayaka to gape at her answer.
"That's Agumon, Hitomi. Tokomon is the in-training stage of Patamon. Agumon isn't a lizard either he's a dinosaur." Hitomi only gave a nod, and Madoka wondered if she said nothing about how Sayaka sounded so proud of her Digimon knowledge out of kindness.
"Anyways that makes four more Digimon across the last five months. That's just in Japan too. You wanna know what the weirdest part is?"
"What's that?" asked Madoka, happy at how excited Sayaka was.
"None of them have been from Shinjuku."
"Why would that matter?" Hitomi chimed in as well though now Madoka was just a little curious.
"Shinjuku is where the original Tamers live. It's ground zero in terms of Digimon history. Not just their Digimon, but the other Tamers got their Digimon there too." While she couldn't speak for Hitomi, Madoka admitted to finding that a little interesting.
"I even found this chart online that's tracking the bio-emergence of the Digimon relative to the location of Shinjuku and it forms a spiral based on when and where the Digimon first appeared."
"So, what does that mean?" In just that one explanation Madoka had gone from curious to a little put off by just how frantic Sayaka was sounding. The thought of a spiral forming from the emergence of the Digimon sounded ominous.
Cupping her chin, Sayaka gave her a sure and knowing look before snapping her fingers. Madoka focused her gaze and prepared for the worst.
"To be honest I have no idea." Hitomi sighed and Madoka looked at Sayaka in a bit of disbelief and some honest disappointment. All Sayaka could do was stick out her tongue in obvious guilt at dashing her expectations for a grand reveal.
"Honestly you were starting to sound like one of those conspiracy buffs. It's okay to be a fan of Digimon, but I honestly don't think you should buy into those sorts of things." Hitomi was partly right in scolding her, Madoka felt. Sayaka loved to exaggerate and blow things up further than what they were. Mixing conspiracies and theories into that was just a recipe for trouble.
"Sorry, sorry, I saw this cool post online talking about it and I saw that the pattern was showing Mitakihara as being next for a Digimon appearing. Couldn't keep myself from falling into it." Madoka perked up a little at that. A Digimon in Mitakihara? That would mean someone would get to be a-
"I mean, could you imagine how exciting it would be to get to be a Digimon Tamer! Not just the games, the cards, or the show but an actual Digimon partner all for yourself." Sayaka practically swooned, and once more Hitomi had to sigh, though Madoka found herself smiling.
As Hitomi had said, Sayaka was a fan of Digimon and ever since they became real four years ago, she had only become an even bigger one. Madoka was almost certain she had brought Guilmon bread for lunch today.
"I don't know Hitomi, maybe it would be fun. Especially if you got one of the cuter ones."
"Right! And the cute ones always turn out to be the strongest anyway. Smart thinking Madoka." She'd trust Sayaka's word on it. She wasn't at all familiar with Digimon to begin with.
"And on top of being a tamer, you'd get to work with the original three in keeping the worlds, both ours and the digital world, safe."
"You think so? Hasn't there been a lack of Digimon attacks?"
"Sure, but that just means the Tamers must be ready to save the world again like true heroes." Hitomi was right after all, Digimon attacks didn't happen anymore. The Tamers themselves lived mostly normal lives, not unlike themselves, at least from what little she knew of them. Except maybe Rika, who Madoka remembers seeing in a magazine once.
Still, that didn't stop Sayaka from idolizing them.
Madoka could understand it. The Tamers had battled the D-Reaper, and even before then, it had been revealed that they had also been battling hostile Digimon. To them, they might have been the closest things to actual heroes from fiction. Still, she had to wonder how much the image of them matched to the reality.
After all, they were the same age as them.
The School bell rang a second time and with it the three friends took off in a full sprint.
"Sayaka you've made us all late!" despite how they were now running, Madoka was jealous about how even running Hitomi still held her grace.
"Ah, hurry, or else will single us out in the morning for being dumped again."
"How do you know she got dumped again?"
"Women's intuition!"
"I still can't believe you were right about . I guess we were lucky that Nazakawa was there to soak up all her attention." Madoka fed on another fry, letting its salty and crunchiness blend with the soft drink she had taken.
"What's with her always picking on him anyway? I'm starting to feel a little bad for him." Hitomi's concern was brushed off by Sayaka who took another bite of her cucumber hot dog.
"In the end, all that mattered was that we didn't get scolded and didn't arrive late. Anything else is just a detail."
There was something to be said about Sayaka's nonchalant attitude, but Madoka didn't feel like being the one to say so let her be with a friendly smile.
She didn't much feel like there was anything wrong with the moment at all. Even if she wanted, maybe the trip was what she needed.
The sound and bustling of the mall flowed well with the quiet and calm music of the cafe they had stopped at for lunch. People went in and out of the cafe, moving throughout their day without any sort of care in the world.
Madoka found herself happy at the sight. There was something there that she felt had been taken for granted. The normalcy is just moving from place to place without any real urgency or need. The fact she could enjoy a time like this with her very best friends made it even more special, even if she knew it wasn't.
"So Madoka." Hitomi's voice had a curious tone, drawing her back from her absorption of the scene. "What were you and Sayaka talking about this morning?"
Flashes of a desiccated and abandoned city. Dark forces clawing and battling against each other amongst the hollowed-out home she knew. Then, the hopeless battle of the Knight and the Shadow.
The distorted, happy voices of friends and family calling to her…
She jumped in her seat, startling both Sayaka and Hitomi.
Embarrassed, her face went bright red. Silently, she chastised herself for her actions. She had talked with Sayaka so freely in the morning; why was she acting so scared right now?
"Hey Madoka, it's fine if you don't want to talk about it." Sayaka reached out and grabbed her hand, and only then did she notice she had been shaking a little bit.
"I didn't know that it would bother you like this. I'm sorry Madoka."
"N-no that's not it." She glanced around, shifting in her seat trying to think up an explanation or answer
"I just hit the side of my chair with my ankle was all, hehe."
Both Sayaka and Hitomi exchanged unsure glances with each other. Madoka sat there with a forced smile, hoping that they would buy her a white lie and play along with it. Instead, there was just an awkward pause of silence, followed by Madoka's deepening embarrassment.
Finally, Sayaka broke the silence by reaching into her bag and pulling out a plastic-covered treat.
"Guilmon bread!" she exclaimed laying down the pastry on the table "Was going to eat it during lunch but you can have it Madoka."
The wing ears drew into the pastry's small face. Blueberries were placed as its eyes, and tiny holes were made into its nose with cream frosting poking from them. On its shiny golden-brown surface, between the eyes was a set of triangles.
Madoka looked on, entranced by. Picking up the packaged treat she brought it closer to her face.
"Um, Madoka?" Sayaka asked concerned but Madoka could only think back on the nightmare's final moments. Crimson light swirled and took form, growing and growing within itself into a more powerful and more terrifying form than the Knight.
"I saw him." Madoka muttered softly and breathlessly.
"Madoka?" Now Hitomi voiced her concern.
"I'm pretty sure I saw him in my dream." Placing the wrapped treat down, her brow furrowing as her finger pressed lightly on it. She rose her head up to meet the curious expression of Sayaka and the thinking gaze of Hitomi.
"You mean Guilmon? Hold on you didn't mention that to me this morning though." Sayaka was right of course. She didn't mention Guilmon, but thinking back to it, the details began to become clearer. At least some of them were.
"I didn't see him, not like this. He was bigger, a lot bigger, but I'm sure it was still him. I mean, I feel like it was him anyway."
"Hmm if you saw Guilmon then that would make the Knight..." The sound of a chair rasping against the ground came with Sayaka's smile and open eyes as she jolted from her seat "Gallantmon!"
"Hmm, Madoka did you remember watching the D-Reaper newscast back when it first aired? And with how often Sayaka eats Guilmon bread, it's entirely possible your subconscious drew upon both to make the dream that you experienced."
Madoka looked back down at the Guilmon bread. She hadn't told Hitomi all of her dreams and how Guilmon and Gallantmon only made up a small portion of it. There was still everything before It, and what were those other two figures she saw?
"Hey, what do you mean "With how often Sayaka eats Guilmon bread?" I take offense to that." Snapped Sayaka as Hitomi merely smiled back at her "But maybe Hitomi's got a point. I mean why else would you dream of Digimon?"
Madoka looked at the Guilmon bread. Maybe Hitomi was right, and the dream had been a combination of just Sayaka's love of Digimon impressing itself upon her subconscious. But something told her that this was wrong, that it was something else more important.
She just didn't know and somehow this made her feel even more uneasy.
"Oh wait, I know." Sayaka began with a wink that left Madoka puzzled.
"Madoka maybe you're a Digidestined? This dream is your call to action to go out and find your Digimon partner to save the world from destruction!" Sayaka laughed as she fell back on her seat, Hitomi letting out her chuckle.
"Hey quit it!" Madoka cried out indignantly. How was it that Sayaka could be so attentive and yet so mean at the same time?
"Well, it wouldn't be so bad now, would it? You'd have a partner at your side all the time, and you'd get to have adventures besides that."
"Yeah, just think Hitomi, our Madoka raising her D-Ark and calling out to her Digimon to Digivolve into its Champion form. Like this!" Sayaka swiped a fry in the air before eating it.
"You guys..." her shoulders hung dejectedly, drained from the barrage of teasing and laughing.
"Well jokes aside, I do think you'd make a great Digimon Tamer, Madoka." Madoka's perked up as Hitomi spoke earnestly "You're kind, listen, and have great patience. I mean you put up with Sayaka assaulting you every day. Frankly, a Digimon would be a good change of pace for you."
"Hitomi..." Madoka felt tears swelling in her eyes, thankful for the series of events that led to her being friends with someone as mature as Hitomi and further raising the image of her in her mind to new heights.
The thought of being a Tamer had never crossed her mind, but Hitomi's praise made her think of it just then. What would her partner be? How would they get along, and what grand adventures would they go on together? Thoughts swirled in her head about their first meeting, and how important it would be to both.
A cast was sent into the ocean, her mind reaching out in a sea of nothing. She felt it, an already forming connection to the formless, non-existent digital monster in her mind. A flicker of light where there was none-none-at-all that filled her with a foreign warmth that could not be explained by heat. It could not be explained by anything, she thought. Yet it was familiar to her, known to her, as though it had stood beside her, her entire life.
She reached out more and more, hand hovering above it, scared about what would reach for it, unwilling to stay longer but just as unwilling to deny its purpose as a hand.
But just before the formless nothing could touch her, it was cut short, as Sayaka rose from her seat.
There was no sadness because nothing had been formed, and no regret because nothing had lost.
Madoka hadn't forgotten anything at all, so there was no reason for her to feel lost.
None.
"Hey, wait a minute what do you mean assaulting? You're going to make everyone think the wrong thing, Hitomi!" cried Sayaka in righteous fury, as Hitomi merely gave a coy smile as she raised her cell phone up.
"Oh, I forgot I must take tea ceremony lessons in just a bit. This was fun, but I'll see you both tomorrow at school." Madoka waved her goodbye as she left in a small dash as Sayaka called out for her to stop only to be met with another coy smile this time with a dismissive wave of the hand by Hitomi.
Defeated, Sayaka sat back down and turned to her cold fries.
"I didn't think Hitomi still had to take Tea lessons anymore." To Madoka's knowledge, Hitomi had piano lessons.
"Must come with being a rich girl, I guess. Hitomi is going to grow up to be a refined woman." Of that, Madoka felt confident about,
"Hey Madoka, wanna hit the music store? There's this new track I've been wanting to listen to all week."
"For Kamijou, right?"
"Wha-No, not for him. I just really wanted to listen to it is all." Sayaka made no effort to hide her crush on Kamijou, but she was also stubborn when it came to admitting it even existed at all. So Madoka patiently smiled and nodded, leaving with Sayaka after having tossed away what remained of her meal.
She picked up the Guilmon bread, tenderly holding it as she looked up at its face one more time.
"Just a dream." She said to herself, tucking away the pastry as she left with Sayaka.
"Madoka Kaname... Please help me!"
With a solid jerk, she pulled the headphones off her head, looking around rapidly for whomever called out to her.
"Madoka? What's- Ah!" With no warning, Sayaka tore off her headphones, a loud static emanating from them. Not just Sayaka, but soon all those listening to music were attacked by the same static noise. It echoed across the store, forcing everyone to their knees as they held their ears tightly shut.
Mustering up the strength to open her eyes, Madoka saw the static noise manifest itself onto the screens inside the store. The static drove itself into a higher and higher pitch, and with the force of resistance she had used to open her eyes was stripped from her.
"Madoka! Please help me!"
A voice that came not from inside a storm of noise keeping her trapped, but startingly enough from inside her head. One that she had never heard before in her life but that filled her with greater urgency than she had felt before.
Clenching her shaking teeth, Madoka forced herself to her fight. She fought, struck, and battled against the impulses of her body and common sense to give up. But she was driven, determined to follow the cry for help. Her eyes were still closed, unable to waste effort on them and so by instinct alone she took her first step. Feeling the assurance of the ground, she took another step, and then another.
Bit by bit she moved herself forward in defiance. But the sound fought back. It pushed and struck her with greater and greater noise for her troubles.
But it was too late, she had set herself on this and was going to see it to the end.
And like a great weight was rapidly lifted from her chest, she fell forward, and her eyes shot open in an instant as the noise ceased.
Catching herself just before falling, it was only after the ringing in her noise ceased that she could hear both her breath and heart beating happily.
"M-Madoka, are you okay?" asked Sayaka groggily as she struggled to her feet.
"Hmm, yeah Sayaka I'm okay, how about yo-" Straight from a nightmare, the monitors and screens around the music store erupted in a fiery display. Shook, but undeterred by the screams and cries of all the people frantically trying to run from the store, Madoka took off running in the direction of the cry.
Dipping, pushing, and moving through those running from the music store, and those that had gathered around it, it wasn't long before she was standing before a closed-off part of the mall. A long staircase left barely lit and blocked off by a thin sign held up chains.
It was here, she could tell that the voice was leading her here.
Swallowing her fear and hesitation, she went up the stairs and opened the heavy door. Stepping out into a section of the mall that was still heavily under construction, she let her breathing go soft and quiet.
The rattling of nearby chains and the ominous red lights on the pillars created an otherworldly air. It was only because of the distant light of day at the end of the unfinished space that let her know she was still in the mall.
Then without warning or prompt, a crashing, thudding noise came from the ceiling above. Falling back, she saw metal plates buck and break, crashing into the ground in front of her as a small, creature curled its body at her feet.
Its white fur was stained and disheveled. Red marks where fur should be littered its body. Soft, forced breaths saw its tiny frame rise and fall. Its long ears also had pieces of them missing.
Kneeling Madoka picked it up into her arms, holding it closely against her chest.
"Was that you?"
"Help me…" it answered weakly, though once again speaking to her through her mind rather than a voice of its own.
"Who did this to you?"
And in the second right after her question, her answer came forth.
Madoka took the small creature and shielded it with her body as entire sections of the metal ceilings came crashing down with vicious fury. Dust and debris were quickly cleared by a single, powerful gust of wind.
"There he is!"
"Thought you could get away did you?!"
"Whose the girl?"
Three bat-like creatures loomed over her. Their body was covered in dark, purple cloth that looked stapled to their body. A skull was imprinted on their foreheads. Sharp deadly teeth came coupled with razor-tipped clawed feet.
"If you know what's good for ya, human, you'll hand over the creature and leave now."
"But he's hurt!" she cried, earning a collective laugh from the trio. She held the tiny creature closer to her chest.
"Yeah and? He's about to be hurting a lot more."
"That's horrible! Why would do you that to him?"
"Maybe it's because we like pickin' on things smaller than us?" answered the first one with a sneer.
"Or maybe it is because we're hungry and decided he was good enough to eat." spoke the second as it circled to her back and path to the door she came in from.
"Heck, it might even just be that we want to get stronger. Us Digimon need to get what we can these days." The third circle ahead to her right side, which she saw led out to another exit.
"You're… Digimon? But wait! If that's true then why would Digimon kill other Digimon? Aren't you all the same?! Doesn't that seem wrong to you?!" her earnest plea fell on deaf ears as they all cruelly laughed again.
"Hey, that's pretty funny! You humans have been trained well by those Tamers and their partners!"
"Yeah, for any real Digimon, it's kill or be killed!"
"Eat or be eaten!"
"Besides…" the first one flew close to her, hanging overhead as its yellow eyes pierced into her soul "He isn't a Digimon."
More even then the terror she felt, was a foreign sense of betrayal she could not explain.
She knew about how Digimon had attacked Shinjuku, but it had all been for a reason right? Sayaka told her so, and ever since then, they were supposed to be calm, and peaceful wanting to come to their world for a better life. To find friends, smile, and play with them like anyone else.
Instead, she had been told that the nature of Digimon was conflict. Predation dominated them and they ruled through the conquest of strength.
Had she been so naive? To assume what she was told of them to be the reality?
Struggling to hold onto something, she held the injured creature to her chest.
And what of him? If he was not a Digimon, then what was he?
But all of that could wait, she knew what she had to do.
"Even if that's true…" She found her strength in the weakness of the injured creature "He called out to me! He asked for my help! So that's why—! That's why I won't let you hurt him!"
"Stupid human, alright then! Let her have it! Demi-Dar—ARGH!" A white cloud washed over them, blinding them as they picked at the white powder in their eyes. The loud clanging of metal hitting the ground was followed by the rush of someone grasping her hand, and carrying her to her feet in a dash.
"C'mon Madoka, this way!" yelled Sayaka, and Madoka didn't answer, only listened to the beat of her heart as she ran as hard and as fast as her legs let her go. The exit was close by all they needed to do was-!
"No, you don't! DEMI-DARTS!" a fast gust of air ripped Sayaka away from her and Madoka quickly let out a cry. The large syringe that pierced the nearby pillar had ripped into Sayaka's arm. Sayaka held her cry, grasping the wound tightly and doing her best to keep a strong face.
"I'm fine Madoka, keep running!" But Madoka saw the red bleeding through the cracks of her fingers and stalled. Sayaka was hurt and came to her rescue. Sayaka was here because somehow she had decided that she alone could save this small creature alone.
"Scared are ya? Well, it's too late to grovel, I'll tear you apart with my bare claws! DEMIDEVI CLAW!" Still stuck at the sight of Sayaka's blood and her uselessness being the cause of it, Madoka was primed to get rent by the uncaring claws of the Digimon.
"PYRO-BLASTER!" A powerful red bullet came crashing into the winged Digimon. Its body was blown back, overwhelmed by the raw force carried behind the unexpected attack. Madoka heard its wails before in an instant it was silence, broken into bits that vanished into space.
"One of you?! But how?! Aren't you supposed to be-" One of the two remaining Digimon was silenced by a roar. Footsteps, heavy and tearing into the ground approached Madoka. She looked up, eyes widened as the figure stepped into the frame for her and Sayaka to see.
"That!" Sayaka began, the pain of her arm fading in just one moment of awe.
A large red, sleek frame was held up atop two powerful legs with two sharp claws for its feet. Its arms were long and his fingers were three in number, all tipped with the shame claws as it felt. White scale painted with black symbols littered its underside. Other black symbols painted his body and face. Sharp teeth were paired with sharp amber eyes, with fiercely dilated black pupils.
"Guilmon…" whispered Madoka as the legendary red Digimon stood before her.
"Right then, DemiDevimon, you better leave them alone! Or else!" warned Guilmon, the softness of his voice betraying the finality of his warning. He placed himself between herself and Sayaka against the two remaining DemiDevimon.
"We can take him." Said one of the two DemiDevimons, only to be given a frightened and flabbergasted look by the other "We can take him!"
"No way, I ain't ready to die."
"We'll both die if we come back empty-handed! Besides, I don't see a Tamer with him. It's probably not even THAT Guilmon. Just a dumb wild one that thinks it a hero."
"Huh, yeah that's true!" the DemiDevimon sneered at the Guilmon, who lowered his head and began emanating a deep growl "If you don't have a Tamer then that means you ain't anything to be worried about, you overgrown Iguna!"
Guilmon replied only in his growl.
And then in one bold move, the DemiDevimons began their assault.
"DEMI-DARTS!" They cried as a hail of metal syringes crashed down upon Guilmon. Madoka raised her voice to cry out and warn but silenced herself when she watched the syringes shatter and break upon the Guilmon's scale like glass against the rock.
"What?! Not even a scratch?!"
Fire came forth onto Guilmons claws, and then the large dinosaur-like creature vanished from sight in blinding speed.
"FIRE-ROCK BREAKER!" fiery claws came down not as a slash, but instead in a heavy blow meant to crush and pulverize. The DemiDevimon were scattered. One had been sent flying away by the sheer force of the attack. The other, the unlucky one, had been the one to receive it head-on. Madoka watched its body crash and crater into the ground.
"No! How— I'll make you pay, just watch!" Just before the last remaining DemiDevimon could engage Guilmon, there was a loud pop. A distinct pop that sounds like the confetti poppers at a party.
The DemiDevimon stopped glancing around frightfully, before looking back at Guilmon and then finally at her. No, not her, but instead the creature still held against her chest.
"Tch, We're too late. Hey Guilmon! I hope you live because I intend to settle the score with you!" The DemiDevimon looked at its fallen ally "Pray for Death."
And then it bled into the shadows and vanished.
"N-n-no, wait… Ah.. AAHHHH!" The injured DemiDevimon found itself lifted into the air as its body split. No, not split but torn like poorly kept paper that had been allowed to yellow and rot. Then like a note tossed into a fiery kindle, its body was broken into the same particles as the previous DemiDevimon.
Butterflies like those out of a still frame floated and impressed themselves into the ceiling. Their wings moved up and down as puppets. The ground replaced itself with cards from a deck of tarots, their image blurry and grainy. A picture of a picture that hurt her eyes to look at.
From around her, she watched as the empty, under-construction mall space saw itself be torn away like unwanted wallpaper, replaced instead by a shifting landscape of mad images moving themselves.
"Sayaka!" she called, unable to see her friend no matter where she turned.
Instead, she witnessed cotton balls sprout from the stems of flowers whose base was the small butterflies as before. Their teeth-filled moves were taken from the still images of teeth, haphazardly placed together as thorny scissor-covered hands placed themselves at the end.
She thought they were coming from her, that the madness around her was seeking to snuff out any sense of order left here, and decided her sanity was an affront to its joy.
Instead, she saw them pile upon Guilmon, raising their scissored hands as they struck his body again and again and again. They aimed to take him as they had taken the DemiDevimon, and once more she was powerless to stop it.
"But you can help him, you can change this." A voice like a dream called to her, and she left herself to listen.
"If you wish for it, you can become a magical girl and save hi-"
"PYRO-BLASTER!" His body nearly vanished to the swarm before him, his red light shone through the tiny spaces. In one instance a red dome of fire burst around from Guilmon, scattering the creatures and burning away the madness at his heels.
And just as quickly as it had happened, Madoka found herself returned to the space of the mall.
"Madoka!" cried Sayaka as she rushed to her "Where did you go? You were here one second and then gone!"
"Sayaka…" Madoka muttered weakly, regaining her common sense at the sight of Sayaka's boody arm "Sayaka you're hurt!"
"What this?" Raising her arm Sayaka grinned right "Pretty cool right? I took on a Digimon attack and I got a cool wound from it. Bet no one is going to believe me on it, so be sure to back me up you hear?"
Madoka said nothing, letting her sadness and fear be calmed by Sayakas's impervious and confident nature. And then it faded with Sayaka's worried expression looking behind her.
"Madoka." in a tone almost alien to her, Madoka turned around to see the face of Guilmon looking straight at her, eyes dilated and with a low growl in the back of his throat.
"Yeah, for any real Digimon, it's kill or be killed!"
She wished the words of the DemiDevimon would have vanished along with itself, but as she looked upon her would-be savior she could not help but feel their pressing force. They had said this was a wild Guilmon, not the one known for being a hero.
Had she been saved only to be turned to its next meal? Or was he also after the creature in her arms?
"Guilmon bread." Said Guilmon, softy but surely.
"Huh?" both Sayaka and Madoka said in unison, blinking awkwardly.
In the blink of an eye, Guilmons eyes softened into a child. He laughed and walked towards them, pointing with one claw near Madoka's bag.
"Guilmon bread! It's the new blueberry-cream frost-filled one right? Oh, can I have it, please? Just a bite even?" he begged and waved his tail happily.
Without saying anything, without blinking or even changing the look on her face, Madoka reached into her bag and pulled out the now crumpled and smushed Guilmon bread.
Wasting not even the time to take off its wrapper, Guilmon dropped it into his mouth and began chewing happily, beating his tail against the ground like a puppy.
"Madoka, I think you just became a Tamer."
And for a split second, watching Guilmon happily eat his treat, Madoka very much hoped Sayaka was right.