Episode 1.05: Stadium Love, Part Two

BlackAgumon and Dracmon charged, and the two Digimon mirrored each other in their speed and ferocity. Joshua stood between them, immobile from both fear and because of his fervent belief that the Digimon would not go through with the threatened violence if it meant going through him. Unfortunately for Joshua, both Todd and Paul refused to call off their Digimon. Each of them was determined not to cede any advantage to their rival and each was convinced that Joshua would get out of harm's way.

Just before the situation could reach its tragic conclusion, a high unsteady voice called out, "Ice Prism!" Dracmon skidded to a halt and looked up at Penguinmon, while BlackAgumon continued barreling forward, at least until a rough pyramid of ice struck his shoulder. The projectile shattered upon impact but the force of Penguinmon's attack sent BlackAgumon rolling to the ground. BlackAgumon grunted as pulled himself back up into a crouch and glared at Penguinmon, dark fury lurking blazed to life in his hitherto dull green eyes.

For a moment, the fight came to a screeching halt. BlackAgumon rose to his feet and then stood stiffly as he waited for Paul's next command. Dracmon had backed off from where Joshua and BlackAgumon were standing and was now smiling at Penguinmon and flashing him a thumbs-up. As for Penguinmon, he was still perched at the top of the half-pipe catching his breath as he fearfully realized that he was now the center of attention.

The tension boiled over as Todd extended his left hand and snapped, "BlackAgumon! Retaliate!" The saurian Digimon whipped his head up, reared back, and then unleashed a fireball that hit the wooden structure on which Penguinmon was standing. The whole ramp shuddered as BlackAgumon's attack punched through it. His target was still struggling to regain his footing when a second blast hit the half-pipe and Penguinmon came close to tottering over the edge.

"Penguinmon!" Joshua cried. "Get out of here!" But instead of listening to the tamer, Penguinmon regained his balance and instead somehow seemed somehow emboldened by being under attack.

BlackAgumon narrowed his gaze and was about to fire off a third fireball when Dracmon leaped onto him, wrapping his short limbs around the larger Digimon's head. Dracmon's surprise attack had BlackAgumon bucking and twisting as he tried to tear off his assailant, his own attack momentarily forgotten. As the two Digimon wrestled, Joshua finally moved to find a safer spot to stand and watch their fight.

In the midst of the two Digimon's struggle, Dracmon clamped his hands over BlackAgumon's eyes and gave a raspy shout of, "Eye of Nightmare!" As he did so, a sinister-looking black mist poured out from the Dracmon's palms before seeping into BlackAgumon's eyes. Although he initially roared in pain and anger, BlackAgumon's violent protestations ceased when Dracmon uttered, "Stop."

At once, BlackAgumon's stood motionless as Dracmon crawled off of him. The hypnotized Digimon's eyes were glassy and dilated with dark mist bleeding off of them to float away to dissolve in the air.

Paul was smirking from his position on the sidelines, but Todd's normally cool facade was under immense strain as he shouted command after unheeded command at his Digimon, only for BlackAgumon to ignore them all.

"Hey, big guy," Dracmon said with a wide toothy smile, "hit yourself in the face."

Without hesitating, BlackAgumon raised one clawed hand and struck his own snout without flinching.

"Quit messing around, Dracmon," Paul hollered, but he was unable to keep his laughter out of his order.

Dracmon grinned apologetically and said, "You got it, Boss." He then started to raise his hands threateningly, but then he stopped after a flash of inspiration. "Hey, Penguinmon," Dracmon called to the Digimon uneasily watching him and BlackAgumon from his perch on the damaged half-pipe, "come on down!"

Penguinmon shot a questioning look at Joshua and, after receiving an approving nod, began to carefully crawl down the beams and supports holding up the half-pipe. Once he reached the ground, Penguinmon dragged his bulk to Dracmon and stammered, "What do you want?"

"Why so rude, my feathered friend?" asked Dracmon with mock offense. "I just thought you'd like to help me finish this ugly lizard off."

Another meaningful glance passed between human and Digimon and Penguinmon said, more forcefully now, "No. We should not be fighting. There is no reason for it."

BlackAgumon's eyes remained glazed over, but Dracmon's expression soured. "Are you calling Todd stupid?" the small Digimon asked pointedly.

"No, I did not mean any offense," Penguinmon stuttered as what little confidence he had scraped together evaporated.

"So why not help me end this prehistoric eyesore?" Dracmon spat as he took a step forward and BlackAgumon followed after him like a tethered animal. "I mean, he attacked you, right? Hell, you even attacked him first!" Dracmon looked at Penguinmon suspiciously. "Don't tell me you're one of those lame Digimon who don't like fighting."

Penguinmon's silence and visible discomfort answered the question for him.

"Oh man," Dracmon laughed, "you are!" His mismatched eyes became at once both pitying and predatory. "You had the chance tonight, but you let it go. Looks like you need a lesson in how things really work. It's eat or be eaten. Kill or be killed." Grinning maliciously, Dracmon took a step back and then extended a red-clawed finger at Penguinmon. "BlackAgumon," ordered Dracmon, "attack."

The hypnotized Digimon obeyed his new master's order at once, rearing his head back and gathering a mouthful of flames from the back of his throat. But just as BlackAgumon was about to launch his attack, a thick vine shot out from the diminishing fog and wrapped itself around BlackAgumon's arm and then gave him a powerful tug that rotated the black-scaled Digimon so that his attack was now aimed at Dracmon instead of Penguinmon. Even though Dracmon was frantically screaming for him to stop, it was too late for BlackAgumon to call of his attack.

Dracmon barely leapt out of the way of the exploding fireball which struck the ground where he had been standing a moment before, but the force of the blast sent chunks of earth and dust flying. The surprise of the ferocious attack broke the Dracmon's concentration and the black mist which had been casting a veil over BlackAgumon's eyes vanished. With a long-suppressed roar, BlackAgumon lunged for the still flat-footed Dracmon, only to be halted by the vine still gripping his arm. With an annoyed snort, BlackAgumon traced the vine to its source, and five other pairs of eyes did the same.

At the edge of the park were four figures, two humans and two Digimon. Both of the humans were girls, with the one standing closer to the boys smiling good-humoredly as a gentle breeze tousled her wavy red hair. Her outfit was nondescript, a baggy pair of cargo pants and a red t-shirt emblazoned with the name and design of an up-and-coming alternative band, but in spite of her plain outfit, the girl and her smile radiated confidence and charisma. This was in sharp contrast to the other girl, who stood further off to the side. She was definitely attractive, with her brown hair worn shorter in a simple but fashionable style and an ensemble consisting of tight, form-fitting jeans and a sleeveless pink top which showed a fair amount of skin. Despite her physical appeal, she had a demure, almost shy, air around her. The second girl's smile was not as big as her companion's, and it seemed to take more of an effort for her to maintain it.

The two Digimon with the girls seemed to reflect their differences. The one who was connected to BlackAgumon by a length of vine bore a bit of a reptilian appearance itself, with scaly skin and small white fangs. These features were largely overshadowed, however, by the creature's botanical traits, including green trunk-like legs, arms that opened up into flower-like hands, and a head covered by dark red petals which formed a kind of helmet. It struck a casual pose, and even gave the vine emanating from its right hand and binding BlackAgumon's arm a playful tug. The other Digimon with the girls was much smaller than any of the others, small enough that it was comfortably draped over the brown-haired girl's bare shoulders. It was a curious-looking cross between a snake and some type of rodent with a long serpentine body ending in a more mouse-like torso complete with paws and a head tipped with a tiny nose. The sinewy creature was devoid of fur, but instead had stark white skin that appeared to be impossibly smooth.

The two groups looked at each other for a few seconds before the red-haired girl broke the silence by playfully saying, "Howdy, boys! I'm sorry, are we interrupting something?"

Todd only fixed her with a cold stare, but Paul returned the girl's smile. Running a hand through his flaccid black hair, Paul flashed a disarming grin of his own before saying, "Not at all, sweetheart. Me and Dracmon here were just about to get rid of these guys, but then how about you and I get to know each other better?"

"I'm Rayburn," the girl drawled in response as her eyes swept over the rest of the boys and Digimon. "Emily Rayburn." She then titled her head at the Digimon by her side and added, "And this is my partner, Floramon."

"Hey, what's up?" Floramon offered. BlackAgumon gave a snort of derision and tested the vine with which the other Digimon had restrained him by giving a quick tug. The vine held fast and Floramon gave the other reptilian Digimon a playful tut-tut gesture with one of the fingers of her flower-like hands.

Emily shook her head in amusement at the Digimon's interaction before she turned to the other girl and asked, "Y'all want to introduce yourselves?"

When the human on which it was perched shrugged, the small white Digimon on her shoulders spoke instead. "I am called Kudamon," she said calmly and crisply, "and this is my tamer, Lynnette Fortas."

Now the girl smiled softly and quietly added, "Lynn for short."

Satisfied, Emily turned back to the boys. "So, what're y'all's stories?"

Joshua was about to speak, but his eager response was cut short by Todd's annoyed interjection, "We were in the middle of something when you barged in. Order your weed to let go of my Digimon before BlackAgumon turns her into ashes."

"Ooh, scary," said Floramon with a high, airy laugh.

BlackAgumon growled and slashed through the vine connecting the two Digimon with the claws of his free arm before taking a step toward Floramon. She let the remnants of the vine fall from her grasp and then Floramon widened her stance and beckoned BlackAgumon forward, saying, "Let's dance, big boy."

Emily gave Floramon a sharp look and said, "There's no need to fight, Floramon. After all, we're all tamers here." To punctuate her point, she pulled out a phone that appeared to be enclosed in a white case with green trimmings. Taking the cue from the other girl, Lynn also retrieved a similar white and yellow device from the back pocket of her tight jeans.

While Joshua's heart leapt at the sight of two more Digivices, the other boys seemed unimpressed. "Cute, but how about you ladies let the men finish our business together?" Paul suggested. Todd himself had completely turned away from Emily and Lynn.

Emily's smile thinned at that. "Business? It looked more to me like you idiots were just butting your heads and measuring your parts." With a swirl of her long mane, she turned to Lynn and Kudamon and sighed, "Typical men."

Now Paul's face twisted into an ugly sneer. "Look, you stupid girl," he scoffed, "this has nothing to do with you. Just get the hell out of here."

Emily's green eyes flashed and her smile evaporated completely. "You morons are tamers just like us, so, yeah, it does concern us if you force your Digimon to kill each other."

Dracmon started towards the girls now with his hands spread wide in a gesture of false geniality. "Listen here, lady," he told Emily. "No one's forcing me to do nothing and I sure wouldn't need an order from Boss to shut you up."

Floramon held out one of her arms and trained her hand on Dracmon as its petals opened. "Please," she said, "just give me an excuse to put you in your place."

Dracmon paused briefly, and shot Paul an unsure look over his shoulder. Paul's only response with a sharp nod and Dracmon's hesitation vanished as he leapt at Floramon, his red claws extended and his mismatched eyes twinkling with eagerness. His attack was cut short by Floramon raising her arm to track Dracmon before she gave a short cry of, "Rain of Pollen!" A burst of yellow dust erupted from Floramon's hand and as the tiny pellets struck him, Dracmon let out a startled scream. He fell to the ground and writhed in pain as yellow sparks danced across his face and bare chest. Floramon gave Dracmon a savage kick in his side and was about to deliver another one to the incapacitated Digimon when Emily stopped her.

"Floramon! That's enough! He's done."

Floramon looked disappointed, but contented herself with watching as Dracmon pitifully dragged himself back to Paul's heavy black boots before he fell unconscious.

After a brief check on Dracmon, Paul glared up at Emily. His fists were clenched and his eyes were full of fury, but there was an impotent quality to his anger now that his Digimon had been defeated. "You'll pay for this," Paul muttered darkly.

With a silent nod, Todd ordered BlackAgumon to advance towards Dracmon's huddled form lying in front of Paul's feet. BlackAgumon's approach was halted by another one of Floramon's vine shooting from her flowered hand and wrapping itself around BlackAgumon's leg. The surprised Digimon managed to maintain his balance, but he still had to stop short of Dracmon. Floramon smiled sardonically at BlackAgumon and tugged on the vine to pull him away from his prone target.

"Don't try it," Emily said in a cold tone which clashed sharply with her accent. "No one's losing a Digimon today. No matter how skeezy its tamer might be."

"You think I can't handle a two-on-one fight against your Digimon and that little rat thing?" Todd shot back as BlackAgumon supported him with a low guttural growl.

"What about three-on-one?" Joshua said as Penguinmon stepped towards BlackAgumon. A pale blue glow was visible from inside of his slightly open beak.

BlackAgumon spun around as best he could given Floramon's snare and fixed his reptilian green eyes on each of the other Digimon, even Kudamon where she lay on Lynn, before returning his silent attention to Todd. The boy had completed his own impromptu survey of the situation and only then met his Digimon's eyes. A tension hung over the assembled figures before Todd finally sighed and let his shoulders fall with his exhale of breath. BlackAgumon took his cue from the boy and relaxed alongside Todd. "Fine," Todd growled, "I'll settle my score with Russell later." His eyes flashed over to Joshua and, for a moment, it looked as though Todd was going to address the other boy as well, but then he thought better of it.

Satisfied, Emily gestured for Floramon to release BlackAgumon, and the Digimon complied, albeit grudgingly. Once the vine had slithered off of his ankle, BlackAgumon stoically watched it retreat as he exercised his newly-freed leg. Then, BlackAgumon walked over to Todd and the pair of them strode away until they had vanished into the almost completely dissipated fog surrounding the rundown skate park.

Todd and BlackAgumon had only managed a few yards when Paul started after them.

"Oh no you don't." Emily and Floramon blocked Paul's path, and they were quickly joined by a less enthusiastic Joshua and Penguinmon. "Just what do you think you're doing, hotshot?" Emily asked. "I didn't stop his Digimon from killing yours just so that you could go picking a fight with him as soon as our backs were turned." Emily extended her arm and pointed behind Paul before telling him, "You take your partner and y'all start walking that way and don't come back."

"You crippled my Digimon and you just expect me to leave?" Paul growled.

"Oh relax," Emily said with a roll of her eyes, "the effects of Floramon's pollen should wear off in a couple of minutes."

Todd's aggressiveness waned slightly, but his fists remained tightly clenched so that his knuckles turned white. He forced himself to take a deep breath in, let it out in a shaky exhalation, and only then did he heave Dracmon's limp body into his arms. Before he made to leave, Paul looked right into Joshua's eyes and snarled, "You losers deserve each other," before spitting at Joshua's feet. Only then did Paul and his Digimon departed the gray battleground.

Joshua, Penguinmon, Emily, Floramon, Lynn, and Kudamon all silently watched Paul departure from the skate park and only when he and Dracmon were out of sight did the half-dozen humans and Digimon finally relax. Emily was the first to break the silence, offering her hand to Joshua as she said, "Thanks for the help with those guys, it's good to see that not every boy in this state is a complete idiot. I don't think I caught your name, though."

"Joshua, Kleberg, Joshua Kleberg, I mean," Joshua responded as he took Emily's hand and received an impressively firm handshake in return, "and it was nothing, really. Me and Penguinmon were just glad to lend a hand."

The Digimon in question looked a little skeptical of this claim, but Penguinmon held his tongue as he carefully studied the girls and the other Digimon. Both Floramon and Kudamon seemed much more comfortable than he did, with Floramon looking upon Emily and Joshua's conversation trying to look interested while Kudamon resting her eyes as she lounged on Lynn's tanned shoulders. Floramon noticed Penguinmon studying her, and she flashed a cocky grin and a thumbs-up at him, who, startled, began carefully examining his clawed feet instead.

"Seems like you don't have the attitude that your friends do," Emily said with chuckle.

"Oh no, my mom always taught me to be polite," Joshua offered weakly.

It took a bit for the feeble attempt at a joke to land, but when it did Emily had the courtesy to laugh at it, and more loudly than it deserved. "Hey, you're funny!" Emily said without any trace of mockery in her voice. She turned to the other girl and asked, "Isn't he funny, Lynn?"

"I guess so," offered Lynn simply, and Joshua felt his face heat up at her feeble compliment.

"So, you guys are tamers too, huh?" Joshua said, scrambling to deflect attention away from himself. "What's it like?"

Floramon planted her hands on her hips and snipped, "What do you mean? You've got a Digimon! Ask yourself!"

At that, Joshua lowered his head and sheepishly replied, "Well, I mean Penguinmon and I have only known each other for a few days. We're still really new at this."

"That's okay," Lynn said with traces of a smile gently tugging at the corners of her mouth. "We didn't have our partners until about a week ago ourselves."

Emily nodded her agreement. "That's right. We're all kind of on the same page here."

Relief and disappointment dueled within Joshua but the latter won and he asked, "So you don't know why we were chosen then?"

Both of the girls looked at one another, confusion written on their faces. "What do you mean by 'chosen'?" Lynn asked.

It was Emily who figured out what the young man meant. "Oh, you mean 'chosen' like the kids in the Digimon cartoon!" she exclaimed with a snap of her fingers. "What were they called again? Not 'tamers', that came later, I think. This one had more weight to it."

"Digidestined," Joshua offered under his breath.

Emily snapped her fingers again. "That's it! 'Digidestined'! You really know your stuff, huh, Joshua?" Then her smile faltered and Emily told Joshua, "Sorry, I don't think that's the case with us. That's just a cartoon, y'know, kid stuff."

"You don't think we were selected by someone for a special purpose?"

"Honestly, no," Emily replied amicably. "I can't really speak for you or Lynn, but I'm no one exceptional. And those other two guys? No way. I figure the fact that I got a Digimon was just a matter of me being lucky."

"And pretty darn lucky to get such a great Digimon, too," Floramon interjected with a short barking laugh.

"But if we weren't chosen, then what's the point of getting Digivices and meeting these Digimon at all?" Joshua continued to press.

Emily thought over Joshua's question very briefly before giving him a shrug and her answer, "Digimon are showing up around the cities. They might hurt people, so it's our job to stop them. Seems pretty cut and dry to me." She noticed how unsatisfied Joshua looked, so Emily lightly punched the boy's shoulder and said brightly, "But that's still a pretty big deal, right? It might not be saving the world or anything like that, but we're helping people."

Lynn softly added, "And that's what counts, right?"

"Um, I guess so," Joshua said with a slight stammer in his voice as he suddenly became very interested in his feet.

"Well, it was good to meet you, Joshua," Emily offered after a brief period of silence. He looked up and saw both of the girls and their Digimon smiling at him.

"And you too, Penguinmon," Lynn added.

"Well, thank you," offered Penguinmon weakly and Joshua followed his awkward lead.

After another lingering bout of quiet, Emily pulled out her Digivice and, after a few taps of its screen, handed it to Joshua. "It's probably for the best that we keep in touch, in case there're any Digimon that need fighting," Emily explained.

Joshua put his name and number into Emily's phone and then handed it back to her.

"Great!" Emily said as she pocketed the green and white Digivice in her pocket. "I'll pass your number onto Lynn and give you text when I get home. Seeya!" With that, Emily began to walk away with Floramon.

"Take care," Lynn added before she and Kudamon followed after the others, leaving Joshua and Penguinmon standing by themselves in the empty skate park.

"I think that went well," Joshua said sarcastically once they were out of sight.

"Well, none of us died," said Penguinmon.

"What are you talking about?"

"Um, I'm talking about how we survived encountering five other Digimon in one day and weren't killed."

"I was thinking about how I acted like a total loser around those girls," Joshua said.

Penguinmon cocked his head as he studied Joshua carefully. "They kept us from being killed, chased off our attackers, and seemed friendly with you. How did you lose?"

"On the other hand, I've never had a girl ask me for my number before," Joshua mused aloud, without any reference to what Penguinmon had said.

The Digimon could only mutter to himself, "I don't understand humans."