Samayouru
Rabid Dusclops Fan
Author's Notes: Sooooo I've always kinda wanted to write a Digimon fanfic and actually get the guts to put it up on the internet. With a bit of encouragement from the guys in the fanfic chatroom this dream has come to pass. Now I have something to work on besides Balance. Yay.
Originally this was an RP I made about half a year ago and unfortunately it got abandoned after the first scenario. Truth be told, I don't think I planned it out enough and that is why it probably failed in the end. I did consider rebooting this as an rp but my strengths lie in writing novels rather than campaigns so I thought it would be better suited to being a fanfic.
There's nothing really bad beyond cussing and a tiny bit of blood and violence at the moment so I think the PG-13 rating will suffice. Hopefully this'll breathe a little bit of life back into the non-pokemon fanfic section!
A fanfic by Samayouru
Maddison Pellerzi checked her watch – fifteen minutes. She was finally about to reach her quota for the day. She slipped a sigh in between her huffs. Thank god, her throat was starting to feel like it was on fire. She pressed the off button and the treadmill slowly drew to a halt, allowing her trembling legs to wind down. When she finally got the chance to stand still, her legs felt like jelly. She frowned when she caught a glimpse of them and tutted. To other kids in the gym they probably looked like they were made of jelly too, and this thought lingered as she concluded her workout for the morning.
Maddie rubbed the back of her neck as she caught her breath, feeling the sweat as it clung to her skin. She’d worked hard today, maybe she’d actually shed more than half a pound for once. Not that it mattered anyway. Maddie knew fully well that she stuck out from the other students – they’d made sure to remind her of this for over five years and this tradition was still going strong. A couple of students stopped as she passed them by several minutes later, fresh from a hot shower to aid her now aching legs. One of them snickered and whispered something to her friend, causing the both of them to giggle under their breaths. Maddie pressed her lips together, held her head high as best she could and walked on without a word. It wasn’t like she could give them a reaction they hadn’t seen before anyway.
She stole the chance to look back at the girls over her shoulder when she was sure that they weren’t looking anymore and scowled.
Yup, the academy’s trademark gingham plaid skirts looked much better on them than it did on her backside.
Her dorm room was empty when she finally made it back. Normally Maddie would’ve been thrilled to be alone. She would’ve whipped out the old PS2 hidden under her bed, hooked it up to the TV at the other end of the room and spent the rest of the morning trying to complete the Alchemilla Hospital section of Silent Hill. Her shoulders slumped back when she turned to the name tag on her bedside table. Nope, not today. Exploring that creepy little fog-coated town would have to wait a little longer than usual.
She fiddled with the name tag for a minute as she attempted to fasten the little bugger to the formal, coal black blazer Patriot Academy forced her to wear five days of the week. Her name stood out in big, bold letters – it was a must, she’d been told, apparently to make it easier for students to pick her out as a helper. Maddie had raised an eyebrow at this instruction – students were foolish sometimes but she didn’t think they were dumb enough to not be able to spot a clearly older student from a bunch of people, especially if they were dressed in the uniform. She would’ve said something about this had she not been trying to win brownie points from her parents.
It had been her mother’s idea to volunteer for the Art Festival trip the newest batch of students were going on. Maddie narrowed her gaze instinctively when the memory resurfaced. Her dad still wasn’t talking to her – not after he’d discovered that she was failing art – she’d mentioned that during their last phone call. She thought that it would show him that his daughter still cared about the subjects she’d chosen to pursue.
In Maddie’s eyes, it was just another way to pacify him before the next big thing came along to piss him off.
She slung the scruffy backpack holding her school gear over her shoulder before heading off to where the coach would be waiting and pushed her parents out of her head. It wasn’t really worth thinking about right now – surviving this thing was paramount and she didn’t want to blow it quite frankly.
Most of the other helpers had already gathered around the royal purple school coach. Heat haze danced across the tarmac, giving the parking lot a psychedelic blur and Maddie pulled at the collar of her blazer. It had to be at least twenty-five degrees Celsius – what the **** were they thinking forcing everyone to wear these stuffy old clothes in this heat?!?
She didn’t get time to think of an answer, because soon heads swivelled in her direction and other student began to acknowledge Maddie’s arrival. She didn’t offer a friendly wave to anybody nor did she even say hello. It was unlikely that anybody would say anything back.
A figure dressed in office clothes parted the crowd to meet her. Maddie shut her eyes, drew a deep breath and swallowed. At last, something was going right for her today. Mr Ackerman had been her art teacher back in Year Nine and he’d done a damn fine job of it. He scribbled her name down on the clipboard in his hands and nodded at her as she joined the small group. ‘Didn’t expect to see you here, Maddie,’ he said as he adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses.
Maddie shot him a glance. ‘Didn’t think I would be here either,’ she replied. ‘It’s not by choice, sir.’
Mr Ackerman chuckled lightly as he finished writing her name down. Maddie stopped herself from clenching her fists. He meant well, after all.
‘All right,’ he said after a moment, placing the pencil behind one of his ears. ‘I think that’s everyone.’ He cast his gaze out on the group of sixteen-year olds and slid a hand into his trouser pockets. ‘First of all I’d like to thank all of you for volunteering to be helpers on this trip,’ he began. ‘I know an art festival isn’t exactly all that exciting but still, your help is greatly appreciated.’
A faint murmur rippled through the group in a weak attempt to feign enthusiasm.
‘Now I’m sure you’re all aware that you’ll be setting an example to the Year Seven students,’ Mr Ackerman continued, pausing briefly to adjust his glasses. ‘So please, for the love of god, try to be on your best behaviour.’ He shot looks to a few of the students, including Maddie. ‘And try not to swear – we want to give them at least half a year of innocence before they start picking up these sorts of behaviours.’
The students giggled and this time they meant it. Maddie huffed. This was going to be a long day indeed.
It wasn’t long before a swarm of chattering twelve and thirteen year olds descended upon them, being led by a tall woman in a beige skirt. This was Miss Blanc – she could tell because she was wearing her trademark hot-red high heels. She offered the helpers a curt wave and turned to the gaggle of kids, shushing them with her hands. What followed was the typical speech they always gave before heading out: where they were going, that they had to be on their best behaviour and on and on and on. Maddie mostly tuned this out and folded her arms. Thank god she wasn’t one of these little sods anymore.
The one good thing about being a helper was that unlike the kids, Maddie got to sit up front. She’d never liked how rough it felt to be at the back of a bus – every jump and swerve always made her large body jerk and flop. Sure, it was comical for everyone else watching, but not so fun for the person who had to live in said large body. Plus it also meant not having to deal with any little bastards making fun of her.
She sat down behind the seats that the teachers would be taking and whipped out her smartphone, tapping the app on the menu screen that had a folded up newspaper on it. There didn’t appear to be much going on with the world right now – just the usual stuff like fraud, new government policies and so on and so forth. There had also been a lot of articles talking about weather. Maddie tapped on one of these stories and slowly scrolled through it. She frowned as she followed the article as it listed off all the different things happening around the world. Damn, snowstorms in Australia? Droughts in Germany? Well that didn’t sound good.
‘Hey.’
Maddie’s concentration broke and she looked up to find another helper staring down at her, her green eyes quite striking against her wavy black hair. SYLVIA IRVING was written on her name tag. Maddie blinked. She’d seen Sylvia before – but mostly in the hallways as she went to classes. She rubbed the back of her neck and her chest tightened. She was going to have to say something. ‘Uh, hey there Sylvia.’
Sylvia gestured to the empty seat beside Maddie. ‘Mind if I sit here?’
Maddie’s eyebrows lifted. Now this was a first for her. Her eyes darted from the empty seat to Sylvia. ‘S-Sure, go right ahead.’
Sylvia smiled thankfully and sat down as the first of the kids filtered past them. One of them caught Maddie’s eye as she got on – a little Aryan girl with square framed glasses. There was an extremely posh-looking holdall slung over her shoulder. Maddie frowned. She hadn’t seen the girl around before, maybe she was part of the new student exchange program?
‘So, is this your first time being a helper?’ Sylvia asked, drawing Maddie away from the Aryan girl.
Maddie nodded. ‘Yeah – my parents thought it would be a good idea.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ Sylvia replied, rubbing her chin. ‘That’s what most helpers generally say.’
Maddie didn’t respond but she it didn’t take much for her to silently agree with her.
‘Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be fine,’ Sylvia continued as the bus whirred to life. ‘Just try to enjoy the trip and keep an eye on your group, that’s all you really need to do.’
‘Thanks for the advice,’ Maddie said and went back to reading stuff on her phone. Dear god, this whole thing better be worth it, or there’d be hell to pay.
By midday, Maddie wasn’t just certain that she didn’t like this trip – she absolutely hated it.
The Art Festival itself wasn’t actually too different from the big music festivals they held every year. Someone had just rented out some fields that were large enough to hold three or four stages and a handful of events scattered across the space they didn’t need to use.
But that wasn’t the problem. No, for Maddie the problem was incredibly simple: the crowds sucked. Of course, she had been anticipating a lot of people, but the group she had been appointed to watch was so easy to lose. Just keeping track of them was a job all in its own right. They finally stopped for lunch at the dining area (which was basically just a set of decrepit bench tables that were so frail that Maddie was sure that they’d fall apart at any moment). Maddie peered over her shoulder to the kids at the other tables talking away to each other loudly. At least they appeared to be having fun. She had opted to sit away from them and get to drawing.
In the distance there was the muffled sound of the musicians over at the stage on the far left gearing up their instruments to play another classical piece of music. But most of this was drowned out by the constant garble of chatter. There was the roar of applause coming from the centre stage too. Maddie bit her lip. They were putting on some scenes from Shakespeare’s plays – it would probably be best to take the group there next. A ghost of a smile crept across her face. Yes, and then after that they could go to see the art section, maybe doodle a couple of pictures there and then it would be time to go back to campus.
She referred to her watch. It seemed like a good plan and they could take their time, all she had to do was finish this sketch of the clouds and the jagged, black crack going across it and they’d get going –
Wait, what?
Maddie dropped the pencil in her hands and slowly lifted her gaze from the sketchbook to the sky, just to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. She frowned, her eyes meeting the black line again. It couldn’t have been an insect – it would’ve moved by now, right?
Maddie stole the chance to glance to the kids she was taking care of, who were still chatting away as if nothing had happened, and gulped. When she brought her attention back her heart plunged. The tips of the black line had grown, creating smaller, jagged cracks that made the sky look like it had been made from a sheet of glass and was about to cave in at any minute.
She rubbed her eyes again and yes, the crack was still getting bigger. Her ears tensed. Surely someone besides her had to be seeing this, right? Maddie reached down for the pencil and focussed on the crowds. But there was no sign of anybody else freaking out – no rising volume, no fingers pointing to the sky. Not a single word gave Maddie any sort of indication that others had noticed.
There was a sickening crunch and Maddie instinctively shrank into her skin. She shot back up to the sky and felt her stomach tighten when she noticed that the crack was starting to widen. She tilted her head. No, it wasn’t widening – it was opening up.
She didn’t get much time to dwell on this though, because within a heartbeat the crack had stretched out so far that it reminded Maddie of the gaping maw of a shark. And then it happened – a blur of white dropped down through the crack and with it came a blast of air that completely floored the unfortunate people who happened to be standing below it.
But that wasn’t what left Maddie’s jaw hanging open. No, what had caught her attention was the giant bird now clumsily flying over the crowd.
The screams had silenced the kids too, who were now looking in the general direction of the bird too (it was actually more of a giant chicken when Maddie thought about it). It hovered in the air for a few seconds with wings that had to be at least as long as she was tall and landed on the ground with a tremor-inducing thud. Screams escalated and people began running – the unmistakeable trademark of growing panic.
‘What’s going on?’
It was one of the kids, calling to Maddie. Maddie clutched her chest, her breaths quickening. What was she going to do? What should she do?
The image of the coach in the parking area flashed across her mind.
‘G-Go,’ she began, then cleared her throat. The bird reared its head and screeched, revealing that its beak was lined with saw-like teeth. Maddie shut her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘Go back to the coach,’ she said, her tone wavering slightly. Her pulse was hammering in her ears. ‘Be sure to stick together now!’
The kids shared worried glances and started moving, abandoning their meals without a word. Maddie led the way and for once she was glad that she was overweight, at least she could act as a shield of sorts should the chicken decide it wanted to chase after them. Now focussed, Maddie could pick up on what others were saying. ‘What the hell’s going on?’ she heard one person shout.
‘I-I don’t know,’ another said loudly. ‘People got blasted away by something and then there were some tremors!’
Maddie raised an eyebrow. Tremors? Blasts? What about the giant ****ing chicken that, judging from the unmusical crashes erupting from behind her group, was probably causing all sorts of carnage? She rubbed her temples and groaned. None of this made any sense what so ever.
It took no time at all to reach the entrance. Maddie could just make out the gingham plaid skirts of her school uniform in the distance. ‘There,’ she called to her group, pointing to them. ‘Head in the direction of the other students, you’ll be fine!’
The twelve year olds didn’t question her in the slightest. She stepped aside so that she could count each head that walked past. She knew she was going to kick herself if she was even one short.
‘Maddie?’
At first Maddie didn’t hear the voice calling from behind. She was too busy confirming students six and seven as they made their way to the bus.
‘Maddie?’ There it was again. This time Maddie perked up, straightening her back as the last of the ten students in her group went by. She looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes. But all that met her gaze was a narrow passage between the entrance of the festival and the flat-packed building she assumed to be either for storing equipment or where the staff went for breaks.
She shrugged her shoulders. Maybe she was just hearing things.
‘I’m over here!’
No, Maddie’s ears weren’t fooling her. Someone was definitely calling her name – someone who sounded very young. The tight feeling in Maddie’s stomach resurfaced. Someone had probably gotten separated from their group and was calling for help. She scanned the incoming crowd, but couldn’t see anyone else in the academy uniform.
And then she remembered – the voice had come from behind, hadn’t it?
Maddie turned to face the small passage as another ear-splitting screech came from the rampaging chicken and her line of sight darted back to the group of students she should be following. She bit her lip. That… thing – whatever it may be – could probably tear her in half if it wanted to.
But then again, it could probably do the same to a twelve year old too.
Maddie’s muscles tensed, and she quickly followed the path without thinking about it. She stopped when she reached a corner and her determination faded when she saw that there wasn’t a child in sight. Her legs buckled a bit. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her after all? She shuffled her feet. Maybe it would be a better idea to go back to the bus – she had probably just been hearing things. Maddie’s lips parted, surely calling out once couldn’t hurt. ‘Hello?’ the word came out a lot quieter than she’d anticipated and raised her voice when she added: ‘Is anybody here?’
‘… Maddie!’
Maddie turned back, expecting to see a panicked twelve year old running towards her. She took several steps back when she finally saw who had been calling her name. There, bouncing at quite an alarming speed in her direction, was what at first appeared to be a purple blob with grey cat ears. She was proven wrong when she noticed how the ears were also connected to a dome covering most of the blob’s face, surface producing a metallic gleam as it caught the sun – in fact it was a bit like a helmet. Its stripy tail was wagging back and forth excitedly like a dog’s and Maddie barely got any time to take this all in before the little creature opened its mouth and started talking again, jumping up and down in place like a hyperactive toddler.
‘Hiya, Maddie!’ it said, confirming that this was the same creature who had been calling her earlier. ‘We’ve been looking for you for ages and ages and I’m so happy that I finally get to meet you!’
Maddie groaned and clutched her head, which was full to bursting with thousands of questions that muddled her train of thought. She snapped back when she heard the sound of something very heavy slamming against the surface of a wall, producing a low whang that made her shudder a bit. She asked the first question that came to her mind. ‘What the hell are you supposed to be?’
The little blob stopped bouncing and beamed up at Maddie with quite possibly the biggest pair of eyes she’d ever seen in her life. They were almost like a puppy’s, in fact. ‘I’m Kapurimon!’
Maddie tilted her head. ‘Pardon?’
‘Kapurimon,’ the blob repeated, a big smile forming on his (at least she assumed that it was a he at least) muzzle. ‘I’m a digimon!’
Maddie raised an eyebrow. Well, that didn’t help very much.
There was another whang and this one was almost so loud that it caused Maddie to clench her teeth and cover her ears. More screams followed. Kapurimon jumped back a bit, his tail fluffing up in the way a cat’s would when it was startled. ‘Right, Kapuri… whatever your name is,’ Maddie said, forcing her jaw to move. ‘We’ve got to get out of here right now.’ She pointed towards the source of the noise. ‘There’s this big bird causing havoc out there and we need to be as far away as possible from it, understand?’
Kapurimon opened his mouth to respond but was cut off when another weird creature turned the corner and into Maddie’s line of sight. She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. Not another one of these things. The newcomer was a bean-shaped creature with stubby paws and was flying using what Maddie believed to be a pair of bat wings on its head. It was a pretty set of colours though, being a much more vibrant shade of purple on top and white underneath. ‘Kapurimon!’ it called and glanced back briefly. ‘Fiona, Sylvia, I’ve found him!’
There was the patter of rapid footsteps and two girls soon followed, both of whom Maddie recognised. One of them was the Aryan girl she had caught sight of on the bus. She was clutching the frame of her glasses to stop them from falling. Then there was Sylvia, who was chatting with what Maddie assumed to be another digimon. This one appeared to be a walking plant with two flowers for arms. Most of its face was covered by a magenta helmet and petals of the same colour adorned its neck like a collar.
The flying creature swooped down and landed beside Kapurimon, frowning. ‘You shouldn’t just run off like that,’ it said in a firm, but kind voice. ‘Imagine what that Kokatorimon could’ve done to you if it knew we were here!’
This did nothing to sway Kapurimon’s beaming expression. ‘But I found her, Tsukaimon,’ he replied, starting to jump up and down again. ‘We’ve all found our partners now!’
Maddie flung Sylvia and the Aryan girl – Fiona, the flying bean had called her – a hopeful look. ‘Did you both see that bird too?’
Sylvia nodded. ‘Fiona and I were separated from our group when everyone started panicking,’ she replied, shoving her hands into her pockets and glancing towards the plant creature beside her. ‘And then these three showed up.’
The flower creature folded her arms. ‘Are we going to stand around talking all day, or are we actually going to get out there and start brawling?’
Fiona took a step forward and the flying bean landed on her arm as if it were an eagle. ‘I’m Fiona,’ she said in a thick, yet posh German accent. Maddie nodded, her thoughts about this girl being an exchange student now confirmed. ‘I believe this little guy – Tsukaimon, I believe he calls himself – can explain what’s going on better than I could.’
The flying bean gave her a thankful nod. ‘Thank you, Fiona,’ he said before offering Maddie a polite bow. ‘Hello there, Maddie, I’m Tsukaimon.’ He gestured to the plant creature. ‘That digimon over there is Floramon and I see that you’ve already met your partner, Kapurimon.’
Partner. There was that word again. Maddie finally found her voice again and took a slow breath. ‘What do you mean by “partner”?’
At that moment a familiar screech erupted in the distance, followed by the sound of talons scraping against the top of a metal roof. The overgrown chicken peered over the edge of its perch, causing the fragile top to whine and bend in a feeble attempt to support its weight. Sylvia and Fiona stepped back, proving that they could definitely see the monster too. Kapurimon stood in front of Maddie, high-pitched energy whirring between the points of his helmet. ‘Don’t worry, Maddie,’ he said. ‘We’ll protect you.’
The chicken twisted its head to meet Kapurimon in the eye and roared, baring its still very sharp and painful-looking teeth at him.
But Kapurimon was not swayed. He leapt up as best he could and flung himself forward, releasing the wave of whistling energy in the bird’s direction. ‘Howling Hertz!’
It was a direct hit, smacking the bird directly across the cheek. It snarled and pulled away, giving Maddie a chance to join the girls on the other side of the path. Kapurimon followed but halted when the other two creatures came to meet him underneath where the bird was standing. Tsukaimon placed a stubby paw on Kapurimon’s head and patted it. ‘Leave this fight to us,’ he said before leaping up into the air on his wings.
‘Yeah, we’ll take care of him,’ Floramon chimed as she aimed her arms at their opponent. ‘Allergy Shower!’
Orange clouds of pollen burst forth from Floramon’s hands, delicately drifting straight into the bird’s eyes. It howled and reared up before jumping down to the passage. The humans took more steps back, but Maddie faltered when she noticed that Kapurimon wasn’t moving.
Tsukaimon had noticed this too, for he swooped down low so that he was within earshot. ‘Go on, Kapurimon!’ he shouted before sucking in as much air as he could. ‘Purple Fog!’ A murky haze spewed forth from Tsukaimon’s mouth, coating the bird in a thick fog that Maddie was sure wouldn’t be too out of place in a game like Silent Hill. Floramon and Tsukaimon then charged in themselves, presumably ready to end this fight before it got too out of hand.
And still Kapurimon didn’t move.
There were yowls and screeches all around as the fog began to disperse. Floramon had climbed up onto the bird’s back and was aiming her arms at its eyes. Meanwhile, Tsukaimon was busily dodging its snapping beak, luring its attention away from Floramon. Ah, they were going to try and stun it properly this time. That wasn’t a bad idea.
‘I think we should get some distance between us and them,’ Fiona suddenly said. ‘While we still can.’
Maddie nodded quickly. ‘I think that’s a very good idea.’ She cupped her hands and called to Kapurimon. ‘Come on, let’s get to safety.’
The whistling sound revved up again. Kapurimon was preparing another attack, and this time neither Tsukaimon nor Floramon noticed that he was doing it.
Maddie’s instincts took over. She bolted, barely registering Sylva and Fiona calling her name, she just kept her eyes on Kapurimon. He was going to die. The little fuzz ball who was probably just a little kid no different from the kids she’d been looking out for was going to get himself killed if she didn’t intervene.
The Kokatorimon, now aware that the other monsters had stopped moving, seized its chance and shook its head left and right violently. Floramon yelped in surprise as she lost her grip, being thrust into the air and landed face-first into Tsukaimon, bringing the both of them down to earth rather ungracefully. ‘K-Kapurimon!’ Maddie called, not even aware that she’d gotten his name right this time. ‘Kapurimon, stop!’
Kapurimon turned around, his brow furrowed. ‘Don’t get too close.’
He didn’t see the Kokatorimon raising its now glowing wings so that it could strike him down in one fell swoop.
‘Maddie!’ Came the sounds of the other girls, mixed in with Kapurimon’s cry of astonishment when he suddenly found Maddie blocking the path between him and the Kokatorimon. The giant bird digimon roared and brought its wings down –
And in that moment, Maddie couldn’t hear anything anymore. Maybe it was the work of the adrenaline surging through her body. Maybe it was the need to protect a kid who clearly had no idea what he was doing. But regardless of what it was, that small second of silence was all Maddie needed to brace herself, anticipating the raw pain of claws and teeth digging into her skin.
But then something happened that Maddie did not expect – something that changed the tide of the battle entirely. As soon as the second of silence came to an end a bright flash of orange light blinded both Maddie and the Kokatorimon, sending it teetering back dizzily. Meanwhile, both Sylvia and Fiona were going through a similar experience, but where the light surrounding Maddie was orange, Sylvia’s was a lovely shade of red. Fiona’s, on the other hand, was a brilliant shade of purple. There was something else happening in Maddie’s right hand – an expanding feeling – her fingers instinctively opened up and the sensation of chilled metal grazed her fingertips.
When she finally got the chance to open her palm, Maddie found that she was holding something. She furrowed her brow. It was a device of some kind, not unlike a Gameboy Advance or something akin to that sort of console. The main body of the device was a bold shade of orange and this was complimented by scarlet coloured buttons. She pocketed this strange new item – now was not the time to think about it.
She shielded her eyes with her left arm as Kapurimon began to glow, transforming into an orb of what she believed to be energy before starting to grow in size. ‘Kapurimon, digivolve to…’ the roundish form began to spread out, becoming wider and more circular. Two more misshapen circles started forming on his sides. Maddie’s lips parted. She didn’t think Kapurimon was a cat or a raccoon anymore. ‘… Hagurumon!’
And then the light ebbed away, leaving behind quite possibly the strangest monster Maddie had encountered today yet. What now floated in front of her was quite literally a giant cogwheel, with two smaller cogwheels that Maddie guessed were meant to be its hands or something. The bright, wide eyes of Kapurimon stared back at her from two sockets on the body of the main gear. ‘Oh my god,’ she heard Floramon say. The plant was slowly getting to her feet while the Kokatorimon was still teetering about. She couldn’t say the same for Tsukaimon, who was out cold. ‘He digivolved – the little runt actually managed to digivolve.’
‘Maddie?’ came a tinny, robotic voice that had a high-pitched youth to it. Maddie’s senses returned and found that the set of gears was wearing a jagged smile. ‘Are you okay?’
Maddie didn’t respond – her mouth had gone dry. Instead, she replied by nodding wordlessly. There was a hiss and they both gave their attention back to the Kokatorimon, who was now lurching forward towards the two.
‘Stand back!’ the gears told Maddie and this time she obliged. The two gears on the monster’s sides came forward as he shouted out: ‘Cog Crusher!’
Dozens of tiny black cogwheels popped out from Hagurumon’s sides and charged towards the furious Kokatorimon. Maddie watched with baited breath, waiting for the moment the gears would start bouncing off of the bird’s plumage. But they didn’t – instead, the gears made direct contact with the Kokatorimon and dug into its body, causing it to reel back and roar once again in pain. Maddie grasped the straps of her backpack. ‘What did you do to it?’
‘Simple. I used Cog Crusher,’ Hagurumon replied. ‘It allows me to take control of another digimon for a short amount of time.’
‘Tsukaimon!’ it was Fiona, who had broken from her position at the back and was probably coming over to help.
Sylvia soon joined her, waving to Floramon as the plant slung Tsukaimon’s body over her shoulders. ‘Come on – get out of the way before that thing breaks loose again!’
Floramon rolled her eyes. ‘I’m coming as fast as I can!’ she spat. ‘But that Kokatorimon hits extremely hard.’
Maddie ignored her and kept focus on Hagurumon, who had started muttering inaudibly. It didn’t stop her from occasionally checking on the Kokatorimon, who had stepped back and was now clutching its head and whimpering. Maddie couldn’t blame it for doing that though, having tiny gears forced into your body against your own will probably hurt like hell. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Trying to find out what’s making the Kokatorimon act so crazy,’ Hagurumon replied. ‘Now let’s see here…’
Suddenly Hagurumon faltered, the wheels that made up his hands falling back a bit. ‘There’s… more of them.’
Fiona was the first to respond. ‘What do you mean?’
‘There’s more of them,’ Hagurumon repeated. ‘Digimon – lots of digimon – waiting to pass through as well.’
Maddie’s chest tightened. ‘You mean to tell me that this isn’t over?’
Hagurumon shrugged but didn’t respond. Maddie took that as a yes. The Kokatorimon growled and shook its head. Hagurumon glanced at the others. ‘I’m losing control,’ he told them. ‘Get ready you guys.’
But something had changed. It was in the Kokatorimon’s eyes – there was a gleam in them, something that Maddie could’ve sworn wasn’t there before. It folded its wings and for a minute there was nothing but the distant shouts of the last people still evacuating the area.
A line suddenly ran across the sky, not unlike the black one which had brought the digimon to the festival in the first place. The Kokatorimon tilted its head and the corners of its beak shifted upwards, it was only when its teeth were bared did Maddie understand what it was doing: it was attempting to offer the group a smile.
‘I’ve lost control,’ Hagurumon said. ‘But it’s okay, the Kokatorimon’s not crazy anymore, I think.’
Maddie gulped. He better be right about that.
The light widened and the Kokatorimon tilted its head so that it could watch the pillars of light encompass it. These beams of light attached themselves to the Kokatorimon’s body and began to lift it. ‘What’s going on now?’ Sylvia asked in a hushed voice.
‘Simple,’ Tsukaimon murmured, having woken up. He followed the rising bird with his golden eyes. ‘It’s going back to our world.’
Maddie took a deep breath to ask where that was and then stopped. Nope, it wasn’t worth it. If there were parallel universes out there then they would have to wait until tomorrow because she had had enough of this garbage for today.
The crack widened even more so it could swallow the Kokatorimon with ease and once the talons had slipped through it shrank back, transforming into a straight line again before starting to shrink.
And within about three seconds it had gone, leaving behind no trace that it had ever been there in the first place.
The silence that fell upon the group was almost palpable and it wasn’t hard to see why. After all the chaos, Maddie couldn’t exactly blame the girls for being quiet, but still she felt that maybe it would be better to start talking again. The device passed across her mind and she dug it out from her pockets. ‘Did you get one of these things too?’
Fiona responded first. ‘Yes.’ She showed the device in her hands to Maddie – a royal purple one with white buttons.
‘So did I,’ Sylvia added, keeping her gaze on the deep red device with apricot buttons in her palm. She offered Floramon a questioning gaze. ‘Do you have any idea what these things are?’
Floramon shrugged. ‘Dunno.’
Maddie rubbed the back of her neck as Hagurumon . ‘How are we gonna explain this to our teachers?’
‘I doubt that will be a problem,’ Fiona said. ‘Nobody mentioned the Kokatorimon while we were looking out for, uh…’ she turned to Hagurumon. ‘What is your name now?’
Hagurumon grinned. ‘Hagurumon.’
‘Right, thank you.’ Fiona adjusted her glasses. ‘I don’t think I saw anybody pointing out these creatures either.’
It made sense, or at least to Maddie it did. They slowly made their way back to the coach and it was there that Maddie finally got the chance to run through everything in her head. Fiona was carrying Tsukaimon in her arms, having taken over from Floramon. Both of them appeared pretty damn tired to her at least. Floramon was rubbing her shoulder, muttering sharply under her breath, and Tsukaimon had dropped off. Maddie frowned. How were they going to take on anything more powerful than that Kokatorimon when just taking one digimon on could leave their so-called partners like this?
Only Hagurumon seemed well. He gave her a happy wave when he noticed that she was watching him. She didn’t smile back – she only furrowed her brow and rubbed her right arm. He kept smiling, completely unfazed by her reaction as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Maddie’s shoulders sunk. She wished she could be as happy as he was right now.
‘Oh my god here they come,’ Sylvia said quietly as the figures of their teachers began making their way over to them. Fiona shot her a glance.
‘Leave this to me,’ she replied. ‘I’ll handle this.’
Miss Blanc was practically red from head to toe. ‘Where have you three been?’
Maddie’s eyelids sank. If it weren’t for the fact that she’d nearly gotten eaten alive by a giant chicken with fangs she would’ve dreaded the wrath of the science teacher. She stopped herself from rubbing her face. God, she needed to go to bed.
Hagurumon watched this display with his mouth open. ‘Wow, she’s angry.’
Maddie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Yeah, no ****.
‘Please, Miss,’ Fiona suddenly said, cutting Miss Blanc mid-sentence. ‘Don’t be so hard on them – they were only trying to help me.’ Miss Blanc pulled back while Mr Ackerman stayed put. ‘I-I got lost from my group in the confusion,’ Fiona continued. Floramon snickered briefly at the charade. ‘And these two stayed behind after helping their groups to escort me back.’
Maddie nodded, partially to get in on the act and partially because she thought Fiona was making a smart move. It seemed to work, because the redness in Miss Blanc’s face faded. ‘Girls,’ Mr Ackerman finally said. ‘You need to understand that what you did was reckless.’ He put a hand on his hip. ‘Your hearts were in the right place, and I’m not knocking that, but you need to be more careful in future, alright?’
‘Yes, sir,’ Maddie and Sylvia replied in unison.
They got back on the coach without a word, and all three of them decided to sit together for the sake of their partners. It was a short trip back, but time didn’t matter to Maddie any longer. Her hand kept moving back to the strange device in her pockets and somehow, as she watched Hagurumon’s reflection in the windows peering down at her from the luggage rack, knew that she had gotten herself into a very big mess.
And she was going to have to go through it weither she liked it or not.
Originally this was an RP I made about half a year ago and unfortunately it got abandoned after the first scenario. Truth be told, I don't think I planned it out enough and that is why it probably failed in the end. I did consider rebooting this as an rp but my strengths lie in writing novels rather than campaigns so I thought it would be better suited to being a fanfic.
There's nothing really bad beyond cussing and a tiny bit of blood and violence at the moment so I think the PG-13 rating will suffice. Hopefully this'll breathe a little bit of life back into the non-pokemon fanfic section!
Digimon: The Seven Seals
A fanfic by Samayouru
001
"Another day to live through. Better get started."
- Richard Matheson, The Last Man on Earth
- Richard Matheson, The Last Man on Earth
Maddison Pellerzi checked her watch – fifteen minutes. She was finally about to reach her quota for the day. She slipped a sigh in between her huffs. Thank god, her throat was starting to feel like it was on fire. She pressed the off button and the treadmill slowly drew to a halt, allowing her trembling legs to wind down. When she finally got the chance to stand still, her legs felt like jelly. She frowned when she caught a glimpse of them and tutted. To other kids in the gym they probably looked like they were made of jelly too, and this thought lingered as she concluded her workout for the morning.
Maddie rubbed the back of her neck as she caught her breath, feeling the sweat as it clung to her skin. She’d worked hard today, maybe she’d actually shed more than half a pound for once. Not that it mattered anyway. Maddie knew fully well that she stuck out from the other students – they’d made sure to remind her of this for over five years and this tradition was still going strong. A couple of students stopped as she passed them by several minutes later, fresh from a hot shower to aid her now aching legs. One of them snickered and whispered something to her friend, causing the both of them to giggle under their breaths. Maddie pressed her lips together, held her head high as best she could and walked on without a word. It wasn’t like she could give them a reaction they hadn’t seen before anyway.
She stole the chance to look back at the girls over her shoulder when she was sure that they weren’t looking anymore and scowled.
Yup, the academy’s trademark gingham plaid skirts looked much better on them than it did on her backside.
. . .
Her dorm room was empty when she finally made it back. Normally Maddie would’ve been thrilled to be alone. She would’ve whipped out the old PS2 hidden under her bed, hooked it up to the TV at the other end of the room and spent the rest of the morning trying to complete the Alchemilla Hospital section of Silent Hill. Her shoulders slumped back when she turned to the name tag on her bedside table. Nope, not today. Exploring that creepy little fog-coated town would have to wait a little longer than usual.
She fiddled with the name tag for a minute as she attempted to fasten the little bugger to the formal, coal black blazer Patriot Academy forced her to wear five days of the week. Her name stood out in big, bold letters – it was a must, she’d been told, apparently to make it easier for students to pick her out as a helper. Maddie had raised an eyebrow at this instruction – students were foolish sometimes but she didn’t think they were dumb enough to not be able to spot a clearly older student from a bunch of people, especially if they were dressed in the uniform. She would’ve said something about this had she not been trying to win brownie points from her parents.
It had been her mother’s idea to volunteer for the Art Festival trip the newest batch of students were going on. Maddie narrowed her gaze instinctively when the memory resurfaced. Her dad still wasn’t talking to her – not after he’d discovered that she was failing art – she’d mentioned that during their last phone call. She thought that it would show him that his daughter still cared about the subjects she’d chosen to pursue.
In Maddie’s eyes, it was just another way to pacify him before the next big thing came along to piss him off.
She slung the scruffy backpack holding her school gear over her shoulder before heading off to where the coach would be waiting and pushed her parents out of her head. It wasn’t really worth thinking about right now – surviving this thing was paramount and she didn’t want to blow it quite frankly.
Most of the other helpers had already gathered around the royal purple school coach. Heat haze danced across the tarmac, giving the parking lot a psychedelic blur and Maddie pulled at the collar of her blazer. It had to be at least twenty-five degrees Celsius – what the **** were they thinking forcing everyone to wear these stuffy old clothes in this heat?!?
She didn’t get time to think of an answer, because soon heads swivelled in her direction and other student began to acknowledge Maddie’s arrival. She didn’t offer a friendly wave to anybody nor did she even say hello. It was unlikely that anybody would say anything back.
A figure dressed in office clothes parted the crowd to meet her. Maddie shut her eyes, drew a deep breath and swallowed. At last, something was going right for her today. Mr Ackerman had been her art teacher back in Year Nine and he’d done a damn fine job of it. He scribbled her name down on the clipboard in his hands and nodded at her as she joined the small group. ‘Didn’t expect to see you here, Maddie,’ he said as he adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses.
Maddie shot him a glance. ‘Didn’t think I would be here either,’ she replied. ‘It’s not by choice, sir.’
Mr Ackerman chuckled lightly as he finished writing her name down. Maddie stopped herself from clenching her fists. He meant well, after all.
‘All right,’ he said after a moment, placing the pencil behind one of his ears. ‘I think that’s everyone.’ He cast his gaze out on the group of sixteen-year olds and slid a hand into his trouser pockets. ‘First of all I’d like to thank all of you for volunteering to be helpers on this trip,’ he began. ‘I know an art festival isn’t exactly all that exciting but still, your help is greatly appreciated.’
A faint murmur rippled through the group in a weak attempt to feign enthusiasm.
‘Now I’m sure you’re all aware that you’ll be setting an example to the Year Seven students,’ Mr Ackerman continued, pausing briefly to adjust his glasses. ‘So please, for the love of god, try to be on your best behaviour.’ He shot looks to a few of the students, including Maddie. ‘And try not to swear – we want to give them at least half a year of innocence before they start picking up these sorts of behaviours.’
The students giggled and this time they meant it. Maddie huffed. This was going to be a long day indeed.
It wasn’t long before a swarm of chattering twelve and thirteen year olds descended upon them, being led by a tall woman in a beige skirt. This was Miss Blanc – she could tell because she was wearing her trademark hot-red high heels. She offered the helpers a curt wave and turned to the gaggle of kids, shushing them with her hands. What followed was the typical speech they always gave before heading out: where they were going, that they had to be on their best behaviour and on and on and on. Maddie mostly tuned this out and folded her arms. Thank god she wasn’t one of these little sods anymore.
The one good thing about being a helper was that unlike the kids, Maddie got to sit up front. She’d never liked how rough it felt to be at the back of a bus – every jump and swerve always made her large body jerk and flop. Sure, it was comical for everyone else watching, but not so fun for the person who had to live in said large body. Plus it also meant not having to deal with any little bastards making fun of her.
She sat down behind the seats that the teachers would be taking and whipped out her smartphone, tapping the app on the menu screen that had a folded up newspaper on it. There didn’t appear to be much going on with the world right now – just the usual stuff like fraud, new government policies and so on and so forth. There had also been a lot of articles talking about weather. Maddie tapped on one of these stories and slowly scrolled through it. She frowned as she followed the article as it listed off all the different things happening around the world. Damn, snowstorms in Australia? Droughts in Germany? Well that didn’t sound good.
‘Hey.’
Maddie’s concentration broke and she looked up to find another helper staring down at her, her green eyes quite striking against her wavy black hair. SYLVIA IRVING was written on her name tag. Maddie blinked. She’d seen Sylvia before – but mostly in the hallways as she went to classes. She rubbed the back of her neck and her chest tightened. She was going to have to say something. ‘Uh, hey there Sylvia.’
Sylvia gestured to the empty seat beside Maddie. ‘Mind if I sit here?’
Maddie’s eyebrows lifted. Now this was a first for her. Her eyes darted from the empty seat to Sylvia. ‘S-Sure, go right ahead.’
Sylvia smiled thankfully and sat down as the first of the kids filtered past them. One of them caught Maddie’s eye as she got on – a little Aryan girl with square framed glasses. There was an extremely posh-looking holdall slung over her shoulder. Maddie frowned. She hadn’t seen the girl around before, maybe she was part of the new student exchange program?
‘So, is this your first time being a helper?’ Sylvia asked, drawing Maddie away from the Aryan girl.
Maddie nodded. ‘Yeah – my parents thought it would be a good idea.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ Sylvia replied, rubbing her chin. ‘That’s what most helpers generally say.’
Maddie didn’t respond but she it didn’t take much for her to silently agree with her.
‘Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll be fine,’ Sylvia continued as the bus whirred to life. ‘Just try to enjoy the trip and keep an eye on your group, that’s all you really need to do.’
‘Thanks for the advice,’ Maddie said and went back to reading stuff on her phone. Dear god, this whole thing better be worth it, or there’d be hell to pay.
. . .
By midday, Maddie wasn’t just certain that she didn’t like this trip – she absolutely hated it.
The Art Festival itself wasn’t actually too different from the big music festivals they held every year. Someone had just rented out some fields that were large enough to hold three or four stages and a handful of events scattered across the space they didn’t need to use.
But that wasn’t the problem. No, for Maddie the problem was incredibly simple: the crowds sucked. Of course, she had been anticipating a lot of people, but the group she had been appointed to watch was so easy to lose. Just keeping track of them was a job all in its own right. They finally stopped for lunch at the dining area (which was basically just a set of decrepit bench tables that were so frail that Maddie was sure that they’d fall apart at any moment). Maddie peered over her shoulder to the kids at the other tables talking away to each other loudly. At least they appeared to be having fun. She had opted to sit away from them and get to drawing.
In the distance there was the muffled sound of the musicians over at the stage on the far left gearing up their instruments to play another classical piece of music. But most of this was drowned out by the constant garble of chatter. There was the roar of applause coming from the centre stage too. Maddie bit her lip. They were putting on some scenes from Shakespeare’s plays – it would probably be best to take the group there next. A ghost of a smile crept across her face. Yes, and then after that they could go to see the art section, maybe doodle a couple of pictures there and then it would be time to go back to campus.
She referred to her watch. It seemed like a good plan and they could take their time, all she had to do was finish this sketch of the clouds and the jagged, black crack going across it and they’d get going –
Wait, what?
Maddie dropped the pencil in her hands and slowly lifted her gaze from the sketchbook to the sky, just to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. She frowned, her eyes meeting the black line again. It couldn’t have been an insect – it would’ve moved by now, right?
Maddie stole the chance to glance to the kids she was taking care of, who were still chatting away as if nothing had happened, and gulped. When she brought her attention back her heart plunged. The tips of the black line had grown, creating smaller, jagged cracks that made the sky look like it had been made from a sheet of glass and was about to cave in at any minute.
She rubbed her eyes again and yes, the crack was still getting bigger. Her ears tensed. Surely someone besides her had to be seeing this, right? Maddie reached down for the pencil and focussed on the crowds. But there was no sign of anybody else freaking out – no rising volume, no fingers pointing to the sky. Not a single word gave Maddie any sort of indication that others had noticed.
There was a sickening crunch and Maddie instinctively shrank into her skin. She shot back up to the sky and felt her stomach tighten when she noticed that the crack was starting to widen. She tilted her head. No, it wasn’t widening – it was opening up.
She didn’t get much time to dwell on this though, because within a heartbeat the crack had stretched out so far that it reminded Maddie of the gaping maw of a shark. And then it happened – a blur of white dropped down through the crack and with it came a blast of air that completely floored the unfortunate people who happened to be standing below it.
But that wasn’t what left Maddie’s jaw hanging open. No, what had caught her attention was the giant bird now clumsily flying over the crowd.
The screams had silenced the kids too, who were now looking in the general direction of the bird too (it was actually more of a giant chicken when Maddie thought about it). It hovered in the air for a few seconds with wings that had to be at least as long as she was tall and landed on the ground with a tremor-inducing thud. Screams escalated and people began running – the unmistakeable trademark of growing panic.
‘What’s going on?’
It was one of the kids, calling to Maddie. Maddie clutched her chest, her breaths quickening. What was she going to do? What should she do?
The image of the coach in the parking area flashed across her mind.
‘G-Go,’ she began, then cleared her throat. The bird reared its head and screeched, revealing that its beak was lined with saw-like teeth. Maddie shut her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘Go back to the coach,’ she said, her tone wavering slightly. Her pulse was hammering in her ears. ‘Be sure to stick together now!’
The kids shared worried glances and started moving, abandoning their meals without a word. Maddie led the way and for once she was glad that she was overweight, at least she could act as a shield of sorts should the chicken decide it wanted to chase after them. Now focussed, Maddie could pick up on what others were saying. ‘What the hell’s going on?’ she heard one person shout.
‘I-I don’t know,’ another said loudly. ‘People got blasted away by something and then there were some tremors!’
Maddie raised an eyebrow. Tremors? Blasts? What about the giant ****ing chicken that, judging from the unmusical crashes erupting from behind her group, was probably causing all sorts of carnage? She rubbed her temples and groaned. None of this made any sense what so ever.
It took no time at all to reach the entrance. Maddie could just make out the gingham plaid skirts of her school uniform in the distance. ‘There,’ she called to her group, pointing to them. ‘Head in the direction of the other students, you’ll be fine!’
The twelve year olds didn’t question her in the slightest. She stepped aside so that she could count each head that walked past. She knew she was going to kick herself if she was even one short.
‘Maddie?’
At first Maddie didn’t hear the voice calling from behind. She was too busy confirming students six and seven as they made their way to the bus.
‘Maddie?’ There it was again. This time Maddie perked up, straightening her back as the last of the ten students in her group went by. She looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes. But all that met her gaze was a narrow passage between the entrance of the festival and the flat-packed building she assumed to be either for storing equipment or where the staff went for breaks.
She shrugged her shoulders. Maybe she was just hearing things.
‘I’m over here!’
No, Maddie’s ears weren’t fooling her. Someone was definitely calling her name – someone who sounded very young. The tight feeling in Maddie’s stomach resurfaced. Someone had probably gotten separated from their group and was calling for help. She scanned the incoming crowd, but couldn’t see anyone else in the academy uniform.
And then she remembered – the voice had come from behind, hadn’t it?
Maddie turned to face the small passage as another ear-splitting screech came from the rampaging chicken and her line of sight darted back to the group of students she should be following. She bit her lip. That… thing – whatever it may be – could probably tear her in half if it wanted to.
But then again, it could probably do the same to a twelve year old too.
Maddie’s muscles tensed, and she quickly followed the path without thinking about it. She stopped when she reached a corner and her determination faded when she saw that there wasn’t a child in sight. Her legs buckled a bit. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her after all? She shuffled her feet. Maybe it would be a better idea to go back to the bus – she had probably just been hearing things. Maddie’s lips parted, surely calling out once couldn’t hurt. ‘Hello?’ the word came out a lot quieter than she’d anticipated and raised her voice when she added: ‘Is anybody here?’
‘… Maddie!’
Maddie turned back, expecting to see a panicked twelve year old running towards her. She took several steps back when she finally saw who had been calling her name. There, bouncing at quite an alarming speed in her direction, was what at first appeared to be a purple blob with grey cat ears. She was proven wrong when she noticed how the ears were also connected to a dome covering most of the blob’s face, surface producing a metallic gleam as it caught the sun – in fact it was a bit like a helmet. Its stripy tail was wagging back and forth excitedly like a dog’s and Maddie barely got any time to take this all in before the little creature opened its mouth and started talking again, jumping up and down in place like a hyperactive toddler.
‘Hiya, Maddie!’ it said, confirming that this was the same creature who had been calling her earlier. ‘We’ve been looking for you for ages and ages and I’m so happy that I finally get to meet you!’
Maddie groaned and clutched her head, which was full to bursting with thousands of questions that muddled her train of thought. She snapped back when she heard the sound of something very heavy slamming against the surface of a wall, producing a low whang that made her shudder a bit. She asked the first question that came to her mind. ‘What the hell are you supposed to be?’
The little blob stopped bouncing and beamed up at Maddie with quite possibly the biggest pair of eyes she’d ever seen in her life. They were almost like a puppy’s, in fact. ‘I’m Kapurimon!’
Maddie tilted her head. ‘Pardon?’
‘Kapurimon,’ the blob repeated, a big smile forming on his (at least she assumed that it was a he at least) muzzle. ‘I’m a digimon!’
Maddie raised an eyebrow. Well, that didn’t help very much.
There was another whang and this one was almost so loud that it caused Maddie to clench her teeth and cover her ears. More screams followed. Kapurimon jumped back a bit, his tail fluffing up in the way a cat’s would when it was startled. ‘Right, Kapuri… whatever your name is,’ Maddie said, forcing her jaw to move. ‘We’ve got to get out of here right now.’ She pointed towards the source of the noise. ‘There’s this big bird causing havoc out there and we need to be as far away as possible from it, understand?’
Kapurimon opened his mouth to respond but was cut off when another weird creature turned the corner and into Maddie’s line of sight. She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. Not another one of these things. The newcomer was a bean-shaped creature with stubby paws and was flying using what Maddie believed to be a pair of bat wings on its head. It was a pretty set of colours though, being a much more vibrant shade of purple on top and white underneath. ‘Kapurimon!’ it called and glanced back briefly. ‘Fiona, Sylvia, I’ve found him!’
There was the patter of rapid footsteps and two girls soon followed, both of whom Maddie recognised. One of them was the Aryan girl she had caught sight of on the bus. She was clutching the frame of her glasses to stop them from falling. Then there was Sylvia, who was chatting with what Maddie assumed to be another digimon. This one appeared to be a walking plant with two flowers for arms. Most of its face was covered by a magenta helmet and petals of the same colour adorned its neck like a collar.
The flying creature swooped down and landed beside Kapurimon, frowning. ‘You shouldn’t just run off like that,’ it said in a firm, but kind voice. ‘Imagine what that Kokatorimon could’ve done to you if it knew we were here!’
This did nothing to sway Kapurimon’s beaming expression. ‘But I found her, Tsukaimon,’ he replied, starting to jump up and down again. ‘We’ve all found our partners now!’
Maddie flung Sylvia and the Aryan girl – Fiona, the flying bean had called her – a hopeful look. ‘Did you both see that bird too?’
Sylvia nodded. ‘Fiona and I were separated from our group when everyone started panicking,’ she replied, shoving her hands into her pockets and glancing towards the plant creature beside her. ‘And then these three showed up.’
The flower creature folded her arms. ‘Are we going to stand around talking all day, or are we actually going to get out there and start brawling?’
Fiona took a step forward and the flying bean landed on her arm as if it were an eagle. ‘I’m Fiona,’ she said in a thick, yet posh German accent. Maddie nodded, her thoughts about this girl being an exchange student now confirmed. ‘I believe this little guy – Tsukaimon, I believe he calls himself – can explain what’s going on better than I could.’
The flying bean gave her a thankful nod. ‘Thank you, Fiona,’ he said before offering Maddie a polite bow. ‘Hello there, Maddie, I’m Tsukaimon.’ He gestured to the plant creature. ‘That digimon over there is Floramon and I see that you’ve already met your partner, Kapurimon.’
Partner. There was that word again. Maddie finally found her voice again and took a slow breath. ‘What do you mean by “partner”?’
At that moment a familiar screech erupted in the distance, followed by the sound of talons scraping against the top of a metal roof. The overgrown chicken peered over the edge of its perch, causing the fragile top to whine and bend in a feeble attempt to support its weight. Sylvia and Fiona stepped back, proving that they could definitely see the monster too. Kapurimon stood in front of Maddie, high-pitched energy whirring between the points of his helmet. ‘Don’t worry, Maddie,’ he said. ‘We’ll protect you.’
The chicken twisted its head to meet Kapurimon in the eye and roared, baring its still very sharp and painful-looking teeth at him.
But Kapurimon was not swayed. He leapt up as best he could and flung himself forward, releasing the wave of whistling energy in the bird’s direction. ‘Howling Hertz!’
It was a direct hit, smacking the bird directly across the cheek. It snarled and pulled away, giving Maddie a chance to join the girls on the other side of the path. Kapurimon followed but halted when the other two creatures came to meet him underneath where the bird was standing. Tsukaimon placed a stubby paw on Kapurimon’s head and patted it. ‘Leave this fight to us,’ he said before leaping up into the air on his wings.
‘Yeah, we’ll take care of him,’ Floramon chimed as she aimed her arms at their opponent. ‘Allergy Shower!’
Orange clouds of pollen burst forth from Floramon’s hands, delicately drifting straight into the bird’s eyes. It howled and reared up before jumping down to the passage. The humans took more steps back, but Maddie faltered when she noticed that Kapurimon wasn’t moving.
Tsukaimon had noticed this too, for he swooped down low so that he was within earshot. ‘Go on, Kapurimon!’ he shouted before sucking in as much air as he could. ‘Purple Fog!’ A murky haze spewed forth from Tsukaimon’s mouth, coating the bird in a thick fog that Maddie was sure wouldn’t be too out of place in a game like Silent Hill. Floramon and Tsukaimon then charged in themselves, presumably ready to end this fight before it got too out of hand.
And still Kapurimon didn’t move.
There were yowls and screeches all around as the fog began to disperse. Floramon had climbed up onto the bird’s back and was aiming her arms at its eyes. Meanwhile, Tsukaimon was busily dodging its snapping beak, luring its attention away from Floramon. Ah, they were going to try and stun it properly this time. That wasn’t a bad idea.
‘I think we should get some distance between us and them,’ Fiona suddenly said. ‘While we still can.’
Maddie nodded quickly. ‘I think that’s a very good idea.’ She cupped her hands and called to Kapurimon. ‘Come on, let’s get to safety.’
The whistling sound revved up again. Kapurimon was preparing another attack, and this time neither Tsukaimon nor Floramon noticed that he was doing it.
Maddie’s instincts took over. She bolted, barely registering Sylva and Fiona calling her name, she just kept her eyes on Kapurimon. He was going to die. The little fuzz ball who was probably just a little kid no different from the kids she’d been looking out for was going to get himself killed if she didn’t intervene.
The Kokatorimon, now aware that the other monsters had stopped moving, seized its chance and shook its head left and right violently. Floramon yelped in surprise as she lost her grip, being thrust into the air and landed face-first into Tsukaimon, bringing the both of them down to earth rather ungracefully. ‘K-Kapurimon!’ Maddie called, not even aware that she’d gotten his name right this time. ‘Kapurimon, stop!’
Kapurimon turned around, his brow furrowed. ‘Don’t get too close.’
He didn’t see the Kokatorimon raising its now glowing wings so that it could strike him down in one fell swoop.
‘Maddie!’ Came the sounds of the other girls, mixed in with Kapurimon’s cry of astonishment when he suddenly found Maddie blocking the path between him and the Kokatorimon. The giant bird digimon roared and brought its wings down –
And in that moment, Maddie couldn’t hear anything anymore. Maybe it was the work of the adrenaline surging through her body. Maybe it was the need to protect a kid who clearly had no idea what he was doing. But regardless of what it was, that small second of silence was all Maddie needed to brace herself, anticipating the raw pain of claws and teeth digging into her skin.
But then something happened that Maddie did not expect – something that changed the tide of the battle entirely. As soon as the second of silence came to an end a bright flash of orange light blinded both Maddie and the Kokatorimon, sending it teetering back dizzily. Meanwhile, both Sylvia and Fiona were going through a similar experience, but where the light surrounding Maddie was orange, Sylvia’s was a lovely shade of red. Fiona’s, on the other hand, was a brilliant shade of purple. There was something else happening in Maddie’s right hand – an expanding feeling – her fingers instinctively opened up and the sensation of chilled metal grazed her fingertips.
When she finally got the chance to open her palm, Maddie found that she was holding something. She furrowed her brow. It was a device of some kind, not unlike a Gameboy Advance or something akin to that sort of console. The main body of the device was a bold shade of orange and this was complimented by scarlet coloured buttons. She pocketed this strange new item – now was not the time to think about it.
She shielded her eyes with her left arm as Kapurimon began to glow, transforming into an orb of what she believed to be energy before starting to grow in size. ‘Kapurimon, digivolve to…’ the roundish form began to spread out, becoming wider and more circular. Two more misshapen circles started forming on his sides. Maddie’s lips parted. She didn’t think Kapurimon was a cat or a raccoon anymore. ‘… Hagurumon!’
And then the light ebbed away, leaving behind quite possibly the strangest monster Maddie had encountered today yet. What now floated in front of her was quite literally a giant cogwheel, with two smaller cogwheels that Maddie guessed were meant to be its hands or something. The bright, wide eyes of Kapurimon stared back at her from two sockets on the body of the main gear. ‘Oh my god,’ she heard Floramon say. The plant was slowly getting to her feet while the Kokatorimon was still teetering about. She couldn’t say the same for Tsukaimon, who was out cold. ‘He digivolved – the little runt actually managed to digivolve.’
‘Maddie?’ came a tinny, robotic voice that had a high-pitched youth to it. Maddie’s senses returned and found that the set of gears was wearing a jagged smile. ‘Are you okay?’
Maddie didn’t respond – her mouth had gone dry. Instead, she replied by nodding wordlessly. There was a hiss and they both gave their attention back to the Kokatorimon, who was now lurching forward towards the two.
‘Stand back!’ the gears told Maddie and this time she obliged. The two gears on the monster’s sides came forward as he shouted out: ‘Cog Crusher!’
Dozens of tiny black cogwheels popped out from Hagurumon’s sides and charged towards the furious Kokatorimon. Maddie watched with baited breath, waiting for the moment the gears would start bouncing off of the bird’s plumage. But they didn’t – instead, the gears made direct contact with the Kokatorimon and dug into its body, causing it to reel back and roar once again in pain. Maddie grasped the straps of her backpack. ‘What did you do to it?’
‘Simple. I used Cog Crusher,’ Hagurumon replied. ‘It allows me to take control of another digimon for a short amount of time.’
‘Tsukaimon!’ it was Fiona, who had broken from her position at the back and was probably coming over to help.
Sylvia soon joined her, waving to Floramon as the plant slung Tsukaimon’s body over her shoulders. ‘Come on – get out of the way before that thing breaks loose again!’
Floramon rolled her eyes. ‘I’m coming as fast as I can!’ she spat. ‘But that Kokatorimon hits extremely hard.’
Maddie ignored her and kept focus on Hagurumon, who had started muttering inaudibly. It didn’t stop her from occasionally checking on the Kokatorimon, who had stepped back and was now clutching its head and whimpering. Maddie couldn’t blame it for doing that though, having tiny gears forced into your body against your own will probably hurt like hell. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Trying to find out what’s making the Kokatorimon act so crazy,’ Hagurumon replied. ‘Now let’s see here…’
Suddenly Hagurumon faltered, the wheels that made up his hands falling back a bit. ‘There’s… more of them.’
Fiona was the first to respond. ‘What do you mean?’
‘There’s more of them,’ Hagurumon repeated. ‘Digimon – lots of digimon – waiting to pass through as well.’
Maddie’s chest tightened. ‘You mean to tell me that this isn’t over?’
Hagurumon shrugged but didn’t respond. Maddie took that as a yes. The Kokatorimon growled and shook its head. Hagurumon glanced at the others. ‘I’m losing control,’ he told them. ‘Get ready you guys.’
But something had changed. It was in the Kokatorimon’s eyes – there was a gleam in them, something that Maddie could’ve sworn wasn’t there before. It folded its wings and for a minute there was nothing but the distant shouts of the last people still evacuating the area.
A line suddenly ran across the sky, not unlike the black one which had brought the digimon to the festival in the first place. The Kokatorimon tilted its head and the corners of its beak shifted upwards, it was only when its teeth were bared did Maddie understand what it was doing: it was attempting to offer the group a smile.
‘I’ve lost control,’ Hagurumon said. ‘But it’s okay, the Kokatorimon’s not crazy anymore, I think.’
Maddie gulped. He better be right about that.
The light widened and the Kokatorimon tilted its head so that it could watch the pillars of light encompass it. These beams of light attached themselves to the Kokatorimon’s body and began to lift it. ‘What’s going on now?’ Sylvia asked in a hushed voice.
‘Simple,’ Tsukaimon murmured, having woken up. He followed the rising bird with his golden eyes. ‘It’s going back to our world.’
Maddie took a deep breath to ask where that was and then stopped. Nope, it wasn’t worth it. If there were parallel universes out there then they would have to wait until tomorrow because she had had enough of this garbage for today.
The crack widened even more so it could swallow the Kokatorimon with ease and once the talons had slipped through it shrank back, transforming into a straight line again before starting to shrink.
And within about three seconds it had gone, leaving behind no trace that it had ever been there in the first place.
The silence that fell upon the group was almost palpable and it wasn’t hard to see why. After all the chaos, Maddie couldn’t exactly blame the girls for being quiet, but still she felt that maybe it would be better to start talking again. The device passed across her mind and she dug it out from her pockets. ‘Did you get one of these things too?’
Fiona responded first. ‘Yes.’ She showed the device in her hands to Maddie – a royal purple one with white buttons.
‘So did I,’ Sylvia added, keeping her gaze on the deep red device with apricot buttons in her palm. She offered Floramon a questioning gaze. ‘Do you have any idea what these things are?’
Floramon shrugged. ‘Dunno.’
Maddie rubbed the back of her neck as Hagurumon . ‘How are we gonna explain this to our teachers?’
‘I doubt that will be a problem,’ Fiona said. ‘Nobody mentioned the Kokatorimon while we were looking out for, uh…’ she turned to Hagurumon. ‘What is your name now?’
Hagurumon grinned. ‘Hagurumon.’
‘Right, thank you.’ Fiona adjusted her glasses. ‘I don’t think I saw anybody pointing out these creatures either.’
It made sense, or at least to Maddie it did. They slowly made their way back to the coach and it was there that Maddie finally got the chance to run through everything in her head. Fiona was carrying Tsukaimon in her arms, having taken over from Floramon. Both of them appeared pretty damn tired to her at least. Floramon was rubbing her shoulder, muttering sharply under her breath, and Tsukaimon had dropped off. Maddie frowned. How were they going to take on anything more powerful than that Kokatorimon when just taking one digimon on could leave their so-called partners like this?
Only Hagurumon seemed well. He gave her a happy wave when he noticed that she was watching him. She didn’t smile back – she only furrowed her brow and rubbed her right arm. He kept smiling, completely unfazed by her reaction as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
Maddie’s shoulders sunk. She wished she could be as happy as he was right now.
‘Oh my god here they come,’ Sylvia said quietly as the figures of their teachers began making their way over to them. Fiona shot her a glance.
‘Leave this to me,’ she replied. ‘I’ll handle this.’
Miss Blanc was practically red from head to toe. ‘Where have you three been?’
Maddie’s eyelids sank. If it weren’t for the fact that she’d nearly gotten eaten alive by a giant chicken with fangs she would’ve dreaded the wrath of the science teacher. She stopped herself from rubbing her face. God, she needed to go to bed.
Hagurumon watched this display with his mouth open. ‘Wow, she’s angry.’
Maddie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Yeah, no ****.
‘Please, Miss,’ Fiona suddenly said, cutting Miss Blanc mid-sentence. ‘Don’t be so hard on them – they were only trying to help me.’ Miss Blanc pulled back while Mr Ackerman stayed put. ‘I-I got lost from my group in the confusion,’ Fiona continued. Floramon snickered briefly at the charade. ‘And these two stayed behind after helping their groups to escort me back.’
Maddie nodded, partially to get in on the act and partially because she thought Fiona was making a smart move. It seemed to work, because the redness in Miss Blanc’s face faded. ‘Girls,’ Mr Ackerman finally said. ‘You need to understand that what you did was reckless.’ He put a hand on his hip. ‘Your hearts were in the right place, and I’m not knocking that, but you need to be more careful in future, alright?’
‘Yes, sir,’ Maddie and Sylvia replied in unison.
They got back on the coach without a word, and all three of them decided to sit together for the sake of their partners. It was a short trip back, but time didn’t matter to Maddie any longer. Her hand kept moving back to the strange device in her pockets and somehow, as she watched Hagurumon’s reflection in the windows peering down at her from the luggage rack, knew that she had gotten herself into a very big mess.
And she was going to have to go through it weither she liked it or not.
