FSE

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I woke up feeling one warmth, not two, and instantly began to investigate. Renamon was right next me, clutching me fairly tight, but Raia was nowhere to be seen. I swung my legs out from the bed and looked out my bedside window. It was raining, hard, and that got me in a good mood. A crack of thunder broke the silence and as the echo faded, the pounding rain began to come into focus. I stood, a smile on my face and walked out of the room, not sure whether or not Renamon followed. I walked into the dark living room, the heavy clouds in the sky killing off most of the outside light, to find Raia curled up on the couch. She looked adorable, honestly, and I almost couldn’t bear to stroke her cheek for fear of waking her, but I did anyways. I also couldn’t resist the temptation to lay down on the couch with her. Just as I got in place, her eyes fluttered open and she groaned groggily. She opened her eyes fully and, upon seeing me, promptly shoved me onto the floor.

“What the hell!” I called out from the hardwood floor. She simply giggled lightly in response and rolled over. I stood, involuntarily dusting myself off. “Well shit, what’d I do to you?”

She grunted and giggled. “Nooooothin’.” Another giggle.

“Alright, this is great, it’s…” I checked the clock. “8 am and we’ve already said ‘fuck logic’. It’s gonna be a great day, I can feel it.” Another giggle sounded from the couch. Seems I’m a freakin’ comedian today.

“So, one more Deva, right?” Renamon said, walking from the bedroom. “Then we’re off to the digital world?”

“Yep.” I chirped, walking to door leading outside. “And if you like chaos, today you’ll be like a pig in shit.” I laughed to myself a bit, knowing full well that while we weren’t the pigs, but we were definitely the ones about to be in shit. “I’m gonna step outside for a bit, wake up Raia for me.”

Renamon stared at me. “It’s a downpour out there.” I grinned and nodded.

“Kinda the point.” I said, stepping out and letting the cold, wet air wash over my skin as the rain quickly hammered my clothes down, adding weight near-instantly. I closed my eyes and place my hands at the back of my head, enjoying the feeling of the rain drenching me.

=====

Renamon stared at her tamer as he stood in the rain, enjoying it as if it were a summer breeze. She sighed. She’d never completely understand him and his strange ways, she knew that. Her eyes were averted to the sleeping form on the couch. She poked Raia, rousing her a bit, but when the silver Renamon refused to raise, Renamon did the first thing she could think of.

Raia was awoken to being yanked to the floor. “Sorry! Crap, I didn’t think it hurt or anything!” She said, her eyes shut tight. After a moment, she opened them to find Renamon standing over her.

“What are you talking about?”

Raia rose, stretching as she did so. “Luke came out here and laid down with me and I pushed him off the couch.”

Renamon stared at her in confusion. “Why did you do that?”

“I thought he was trying to comfort me for sleeping out here or something and I didn’t want him to.” She explained, realizing how stupid that logic was. “I’ve decided I don’t want him to comfort me anymore, I don’t need him to.”

“Well-” Renamon was cut off by the door opening, Luke walking in and down the hall, trailing a river behind him, towards the bathroom, probably to shower. “Good lord. Our tamer is a total nutcase.”

“Yeah, but I still love him.” Raia said, stifling a laugh at her tamer’s antics.

“I know,” Renamon said, knowing there was a lot of good beneath that outer layer of foolishness. “I do too.”

=====

My shower was quick and felt pretty good since I was already wet. I got some clean clothes and went back out into the living room. As I did, Renamon rose at my presence.

“Luke, will the Deva today be particularly troublesome? I mean, Kumbhiramon was hardly a problem.”

I nodded. “Short of Indramon, this is probably our biggest problem. If you were wanting to scout, I’d just ask that you check and pre-warn us of him if you can.”

“I’ll try to pick up on disturbances, but that’s about the most I can do.” I nodded.

“If that’s all you can do, that’s all I can really ask, isn’t it?” I embraced her briefly and gave her a quick kiss. “Be careful, be safe. Head back any time you get a whiff of the Deva.” She nodded and left. This was convenient for me, because I needed some alone time with Raia, but not for the usual reasons. I sat on the couch and pulled Raia down onto it with me.

“Raia, can I ask you a question?”

“Hmm?” He voice was curious, and I hoped this topic wouldn’t be a rough one.

“Do you remember anything from before you came to this world?”

“Have you been talking to Renamon?”

What the hell was she talking about? Great, now I had to ask Renamon about this shit too. “Uh, no.”

“Oh, well, not really.” I sighed, knowing this had been something of a hopeless endeavor. “I can remember bits and pieces, but I don’t have any actual memories.”

My ears perked at this new information and I decided to inquire again. “What kinds of bits and pieces?”

She looked a bit troubled in the face, as if it were hard for her to remember. “Dark things. I remember a lot of black, swirling darkness, that kind of thing. There was a lot of hatred where I came from, I can feel it.”

“Do you think it has something to do with the Demon Digimon we fought? They seemed really interested in you.”

“I would have to say so, but I really can’t make any solid connection.” She sighed, obviously frustrated. “Sorry that I can’t remember more. I hate that all of this happens because of me.”

I smiled and kissed her. “You’re worth the trouble.” She took on a bashful look and probably blushed beneath her fur. I smiled at how cute she was when she was embarrassed and pulled her into a hug. “I’ve lost you once, and I damn sure won’t let anything even try to get you again.”

“I hope you can live up to that.” She muttered into my shoulder, unsure. “Because I’m not so certain.”

=====

Renamon rushed through the house, nearly knocking down a ton of shit in the process. I heard her coming and turned to see her dripping all over the floor, drenched from the rain.

“Guess it’s time?” She nodded briskly, her eyes wide open. “Alright, well, I guess we’ll be having pork ribs for dinner.” She looked at me as if I were insane as I stood and gathered my supplies, meanwhile, Raia woke up from the nap she’d been taking and stood to stretch.

“Do you not understand how big this thing is!?” Renamon asked franticly. She hadn’t been this worked up in the show, or ever from my understanding.

“’Bout seven stories if I remember. We’ll be fine.” I looked back to Renamon and saw her shaking her head, her eyes looking genuinely fearful. “How far off am I?”

“Try twice that size.” My eyes went wide and my mind sped up. Twice the size!? Shit the bed, we’re beyond screwed. I feigned composure, but I knew it was completely transparent.

“We’ll be alright.” I flat out lied. “Let’s just get there so we can get a jump on him.”

I walked out the door and waited to be phased, Renamon undoubtedly shaking her head in derision of my apparent ignorance of the clear and present danger. Hardly the truth though, I was every bit as fearful as she was, but I wasn’t about to show it. The phase hit me, a feeling I was just beginning to get used to. Before I knew it, I was in the middle of a crowded street, chaos surrounding me as a people ran in all directions, seeking shelter. I saw Takato and Henry a ways off to the left, but my attention was pulled to the right as a form came into being; grey, shadowed, and shifting at first, then slowly coming into clarity. Renamon had been right, he was bigger than I thought, because he was bigger than he was supposed to be. I barely had time to consider the odds of the fight when he fully emerged, his weight dropping to the ground and cracking the earth beneath him, sending out shockwaves that toppled some of the people who were running, causing them to be trampled quickly, but they were barely a concern at this point. Vikaralamon was going to go on a rampage, and I wasn’t sure we could stop him.

My first measure, one copied by the others, was to digivolve Renamon and Raia, but that wouldn’t be nearly enough. I looked back and spotted Calumon in Jeri’s arms. Perfect, take an early edge, maybe we can take this big bastard down. I ignored that they were here pretty early and instead focused intently and laid a hand on my deck, only drawing when I felt a strange heat on my fingertips. I whipped the card out, slashing it through the card slots as quick as I could. Two Taomon stood before me and I smiled.

“I told you two how to do that, and you damn sure better do it!” I called back to Takato and Henry, and a few moments later I saw Rapidmon dashing through the air toward the mammoth hog, who was trudging down the street already, followed by WarGrowlmon X. Apparently the effect was permanent, but the X Antibody’s additive power was welcome at this point. It was at that very moment it came into focus. Of course! Vikaralamon is bigger because he has to be! The universe is scaling to the changes I make! Glad I didn’t do something stupid like trying to alter Raia’s power levels, we’d have been seriously screwed.

Rapidmon was zipping all around Vikaralamon, laying down hits where he could, but it was bee stings to the beast, more of a distraction until WarGrowlmon X could get in and lay down some hits. WarGrowlmon X was really the only one who looked like he could make a shit’s worth of difference, standing close to two stories himself. While Vikaralamon was busy rearing his head at Rapidmon, WarGrowlmon X got to one of the legs and began hacking at it with his arm blades, doing more than Rapidmon, but still not much. Both of them had to keep moving though, as Vikaralamon was not about to let them tie him down to one spot. I shot an arm out at Vikaralamon, a signal for Raia and Taomon to go in, both of them brandishing their brushes as they flew in. Taomon launched scrolls at Vikaralamon in as large a mass as she could manage, while Raia used her brush to create a shield on Rapidmon, who remained the focus for Vikaralamon. The fight wasn’t progressing quickly, but they were laying some serious hurt down on Vikaralamon and slowing his never-ending romp down the road, so we were starting to get there. Just as my confidence was building, I looked back to find Henry and Takato running towards me, pointing at the sky. I turned away from them and noticed the data stream leading from Vikaralamon to the sky and I suddenly remembered my serious oversight in this fight. Juggernaut was powering up and was about to fire.

Just then, the Digimon began to glitch, stopping dead in their tracks and being stretched upward toward HYPNOS. It’s firing! Goddamn it!

“Juggernaut’s coming online!” I said to Takato and Henry, who’d just gotten to me. Vikaralamon roared in laughter though, ignoring the Juggernaut and taking the advantage to kick WarGrowlmon X down and try to step on him, but the foot was barely pressed up by the Digimon beneath. Meanwhile, Raia extended Rapidmon’s shield, herself and Taomon making a beeline to get inside it. With all these developments, I was left with only the ability to state the obvious. “We are so screwed.”

=====

“Maka!” A shriek sounded across the war-torn city street. My eyes immediately darted to where Jeri, Kazu, and Kenta were standing. Makuramon dashed by them, ripping Calumon from Jeri’s arms and launching high into the air. As he rose, he pitched his orb at the vortex forming above, which was literally tearing the sky in half.

Somehow or another, it caused the Juggernaut to back fire, freeing us of the effect quickly, leaving me to solve our other current problems, like Vikaralamon making a WarGrowlmon X pancake. “Maka!” Makuramon sounded off again, entering the rip high above. A thunderous crack sounded off and the heavy rain which had persisted the fight began to turn red. Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

“Heh, first they crack the skye, and now it’s raining blood? Well, it’s sad but true; I have to thank that shit pitcher for saving our asses.” Taomon, Raia, and Rapidmon left the shield and re-focused on Vikaralamon, knowing they needed to save WarGrowlmon X’s ass. “Takato? You need to do something, man.” Takato had been caught up in the whole spectacle as much as I had, but I needed to get him to focus.

“Huh? Oh, right!” He shook his head, his focus returning to his partner. “What should I do?”

“Scan a card for strength, but you’re gonna have to help him out.” I tapped my skull. “Mental link, remember? Gotta use it from time to time.” Takato nodded, searching through his deck for a sufficient card. Meanwhile, knowing the girls were doing fine for a moment, I decided to take stock of our surroundings.

The skyline was drawn by crushed and shattered buildings, which had been lost in the fight, the street was covered in spidering cracks from Vikaralamon’s every step, and the sky was a dark color, dominated by the clouds which continued their seemingly bloody rain. Rapidmon was moving slower, losing energy from extended form maintenance, but then everyone was suffering from that.

I looked to my own partners, finding that Taomon was nursing an arm, although she was trying to hide the injury, while Raia was exhausted from maintaining the shield on Rapidmon. Neither of them made the weaknesses obvious, but they were dead giveaways to me, and I knew this had to end soon. Vikaralamon, despite his tank-like nature, was being worn down, albeit slowly, but he was getting close. Much more punishment and he would be done for. All we needed was for WarGrowlmon X to get back into the fight and it could end soon.

“Alright.” I analyzed the beast and decided we’d have to play a little dirty to give Takato a hand. “Go for the eyes!” I called out. Raia stared at me, confused, I guess, but Taomon understood and flew at Vikaralamon and drove the handle of her brush deep into his left eye. He reared up out of pain and WarGrowlmon X rolled out from beneath him. I looked to Takato and his posture told me he was synced up with his partner. I normally would have grinned, glad to have the advantage again, but this really just put us back on par, equalizing the playing field. The fight began to stall again, calling for someone to make a move. Out of balls or stupidity, I’m never sure which when it comes to me, I reached through my mental link and began to guide Raia’s movements, drawing a symbol with her brush.

What the hell are you doing? Raia asked mentally, attracting the attention of Taomon, who was also included in the link. I tossed a brainwave her way, telling her to withdraw her brush and fall back, then returning my focus to Raia’s brush work. You’ll see. I pinged back, finishing the kanji I’d begun drawing. The symbol burned into the boar’s thick hide, revealing itself as the kanji of fire, one of the few I actually knew. The massive digimon began to buck and roar in pain as the drawing continued to sear his skin. I scanned a power card of some sort, Hyper-speed or Strength, one of the like, signaling the beginning of the next wave of assault.

“Strike while he’s weak!” I roared in an almost inhuman voice, which would have scared me, had I not been focusing on the fight. Taomon resumed her prior tactics while Raia drew Talismans of Light, one after another, to counter the black muck that Vikaralamon began to spew out of desperation. She began this after Rapidmon was captured by it once and continued it, seeing as Vikaralamon was still spitting up the bog. Rapidmon, speaking of which, began to pepper his target with rockets and projectiles of all sorts, hoping to cause some damage. All of this, however, was a distraction, and we all knew it.

We weren’t doing shit, that became very clear quite quickly. Takato, as and linked to WarGrowlmon X, sauntered up to the beast and began laying down heavy hits. Slash after slash hit the monster, but it was obvious that his standard attacks wouldn’t be enough. Takato began to roar in his own voice, which began to distort, as his partner’s blended with it. The dual tones echoed beside me and I could tell a big attack was coming. Although I was unsure, I decided to motion to fall back over the mental link. Taomon ceased her scroll barrage and Raia spun her brush, excess ink flying from the tip, and brought it to her side before both retreated, although they didn’t turn, their eyes never left the enemy, in case he were to try to strike them down.

Either Herny did the same as me or Rapidmon wasn’t dense enough to ignore the fact that he was out there alone now. Whichever it was, he fell back as well, returning to his tamer’s side, as my partners did. As they approached, both degraded to their rookie forms, and I saw that Terriermon had done the same. I sighed inwardly, knowing they couldn’t last any longer. I looked to WarGrowlmon X, knowing he was our single hope here, and the knowledge that he would soon fold as the others had hung over my head, like a lethal weight, just waiting to drop. WarGrowlmon X primed himself for an attack, but Vikaralamon did as well, looking as if he were about to spray another load of Boar Bog.

Just as both seemed ready to strike, another roar echoed across the barren and decimated street, it’s origin being the young boy next to me, possessing a voice unlike any human ever had or should. The cannon in his partner’s chest was fully primed and a red bloom began to shoot from it as he shot, just as Vikaralamon released his bog all over the red dragon. The bloom cut through it, though, piercing the darkness and spearing the immense beast, draining all expression from the pig’s face as black slime dripped from his maw.

After the blast subsided, WarGrowlmon X collapsed, his from disappearing into the bog. Takato shook himself from the mental link which had dominated him and ran to his partner. I looked pleadingly at both my partners, but found that neither was in the condition to be able to reassume their ultimate forms to disperse the bog. Renamon’s arm was not just injured, but borderline on a compound fracture, and Raia wasn’t simple exhausted, her right leg had been bashed, swelling heavily around the knee. I would’ve been surprised if I didn’t have to carry them home, but damn if they hadn’t soldiered through the fight.

“Jesus Christ,” I said, unsure of just what to do, “What did I let happen to you two!?” I did the first thing which came to my mind and gently pulled Renamon into an embrace, but a wince of pain and a faint whine, a noise I never thought I’d hear out of her, told me to release her.

“Ribs.” She said, her voice breathy and weak. “Fractured, or broken.” I fell to the ground, utterly at a loss. How could I have let them get this hurt? What the hell had been going through my mind that caused me to ignore this? This is my fault.

I must have uttered the last thought as Raia tried to kneel, but inevitably fell to the ground beside me, bringing new waves of guilt over me. My mind wracked by self-accusations of fault, I was pulled back to reality by the embrace of a pained creature. Raia was hugging me, ignoring the pain which she was obviously enduring. “Not your fault.” She said, her eyes telling me truth laid in her words. “We’d have stopped if there was another way. Sacrifices must be made.” She looked up to Renamon who nodded.

“You shouldn’t be the ones to sacrifice.” I said, my eyes to the ground, unable to meet theirs despite the lack of blame being thrust at me. “You’ve both already given up for me, when comes the time I sacrifice for you?” My arms lay useless at my sides, ignoring Raia’s careful embrace pressing on them.

“That time will come,” Renamon said, wisdom her primary tone. “But we are partners, and we wouldn’t stick around if it wasn’t worth it, right? We aren’t stupid.” I nodded, my conscience not cleared, but partially cleansed at least. I stood slowly, pulling Raia onto my shoulder so I could carry her. She began to pound on my back, throwing a fit.

“Let me down!” She cried. “I want to walk!”

“Are you fucking crazy? That leg isn’t gonna sustain a pound of your weight, you’ll collapse after a step!” Raia was undeterred, continuing to pound on my back until I was forced to release her. I leaned and gently let her to the ground, my reluctance hardly concealed.

“Thank you.” She said. “I don’t need to be carried through life, I can support my own weight.”

I sighed. “Raia, I love both you and Renamon. I’d carry you from the depths of hell with lead shoes on if it meant I could save you from unhappiness. I don’t see ‘carrying you through life’ as a burden, whether that’s metaphorical or not. You, both of you, are worth it.” I placed an arm lightly around each of their necks, kissing both of them on the cheek. “I can honestly say I’d die for you both, and I’ve never said that about anyone.”

“Anyone?” Raia asked, somewhat bashful at the sudden emotion of the moment. “You haven’t ever felt that way before?”

“Are you kidding me?” I replied. “No one from my universe is worth a damn, that’s for sure. You two are the only thing I’ve ever had that hasn’t had some Faustian twist to it.” My mind wandered to all of the downright stupid things I’d had to endure in the name of caring for a person. “Naw, you two… You two are worth all the bullshit I’ve ever dealt with combined.”

“We should get home… it’s getting late and we need to recover.” Renamon said, stuttering slightly. I grinned and nodded.

“Did I get the iron-willed fox all bashful too?” I teased. “Yeah, we’ll get home in a minute, but I need to check on the others first, alright?” They nodded briskly and I left to briefly check on the status of the troops. Takato had recovered Guilmon X from the bog, and although he was still coated in the black muck, he was in decent enough shape. I told them goodbye for the night and headed over to Henry. Terriermon was pretty bruised up, but Henry assured me he’d live, so I bid them a good night as well, instructing Henry to inform me if any of them discovered a way for us to track down Makuramon and, by extension, Calumon. He nodded, replying he’d call me as soon as he had an answer.

I returned to my partners and pulled Raia’s arm over my shoulder to support her weight, despite her protests. We returned home and I put them in the bed and insisted that I sleep on the couch so they could rest properly, since a crowded bed and two injured didn’t sound like it’d mix well. They caved after I ordered them to do it, as their tamer, a move which I despised pulling, but found a necessary measure this time. From the looks of them, it looked as if I’d spend the next day playing the roles of doctor and servant bitch. Wonderful, I thought, just how having a girlfriend used to be, me serving at beck and call. I smiled as I lay on the couch, falling asleep knowing they wouldn’t abuse the privilege.