Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Bad Moon on the Rise ❯ Opening Measure ( Chapter 1 )

Rika shakes her head to clear it, convinced that the tint must only be her eyes playing tricks on her. Still…

“I'm not exactly sure what's responsible for the attacks,” Renamon tells Rika, “but I plan to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible.”

“Maybe we could patrol the park together tonight or something?” Rika suggests.

“No,” Renamon disagrees. “I think it's best if I go out alone. Too dangerous.”

“Are you sure?” Rika asks.

“Positive,” Renamon replies, kissing her lover warmly on the mouth. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I plan to head to the library for a little while.”

Rika looks at the calendar. Sure enough, it's Sunday and the library is closed, perfect for Renamon getting around without people seeing her.

“All right,” she says, “but be careful.”

“Always,” Renamon says as she fades out of the room. The digimon gone, Rika pulls out a newspaper and reads more about the attacks. Nobody has ever been able to see exactly what the creature looked like, each time the victim was alone, and none had regained consciousness yet. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't human.

 

******

 

It's now noon, the sun high in the air. The park is full of life, save a small part of it cordoned off by yellow police caution tape, for the beast hunts only at night. The green grass has a very disturbing redness to it in the taped off section, a sight that turns the stomach of even the heartiest of souls. One young man remains far from the sight, instead hanging around an old abandoned tool shed. His name is Takato Matsuki, age 14, and he is in the park every morning, rain or shine, beast attack or no.

“How come I have to stay here every night?” his companion, a large red and black lizard asks.

“Because, Guilmon,” Takato answered, “You have a nasty habit of eating all the food in the house. I'd rather you stayed with us, boy, but you can't be trusted around food.”

Guilmon's face falls, ears drooping. “Ohhh. I'm sorry, Takato.”

Takato fondly pats Guilmon's head, reassuring the creature. “Don't worry about it. I'll be here every morning to bring you fresh bread like I promised.”

“Speaking of which…” Guilmon hints, perking up noticeably. Takato laughs, reaching to the bag by his side and dumping the contents on the floor of the makeshift `cave'. Guilmon happily picks up a couple pieces of bread, and stuffs them into his mouth. He chews noisily, enjoying the bread very much. Smiling, Takato sits down next to his buddy and picks up a roll for himself, biting into it thoughtfully.

“I don't suppose you've ever seen this creature that's been attacking those people?” Takato asks delicately, feeling that it could be a touchy subject. Guilmon shakes his head.

“I've been asleep when it shows up,” the lizard tells his friend. “It scares me, Takato.”

“Yeah, I'm afraid too. Maybe there's something we can do about it?” Takato suggests. Tossing the last piece of bread into his mouth, Guilmon stands up excitedly.

“Yeah!” he says. “Maybe we can stop it from hurting anybody else!”

Takato stands up proudly, laying a hand on Guilmon's wide shoulder. “That creature doesn't stand a chance against the two of us!” he says proudly. Together he and Guilmon leave the shed, hoping to catch the creature's scent.

Renamon pauses in her trip to the library to listen to their conversation. She frowns at their interference, but she figures they stand no chance of confronting, let alone finding the beast. Satisfied, she continues to the library.

 

******

 

The library is empty, save one busy fox Digimon. Renamon moves from room to room silently, there isn't much time before nightfall. She pauses, claws ready to sweep across the keyboard, trying to remember the word. It's a strange word, purely human in design. She curses herself for her weakness at such an important time before trying to jog her memory. When the word comes back into her mind, she types it into the computer and it appears in large letters on the screen. Lycanthropy.

A search turns up several results, all in the fiction section. If they only knew, Renamon thinks to herself. She glances at the clock, and sees that there's still some time left tonight before the change. A rudimentary search for cure turns up no results, a disheartening fact. Still, she notes several books on the subject and races to pick them out.

Renamon leafs methodically through one such book, fiction presented as if it were fact, but fails to find anything useful. Another look at the clock confirms what she is beginning to feel inside. The change will happen soon, and her time at the library is up. She replaces the unfinished book on the shelf and fades from the room.

 

******

 

Night descends upon the park, and so does the hunter. The game is scarce tonight, the residents of the city have, for the most part, regarded the warnings. This night the majority of the humans about travel in pairs, armed with tranquilizer dart guns. She lets out a frustrated growl, and briefly considers finding a new hunting ground. A slight rustling in the bushes reaches her keen ears and alerts her to a hidden observer. It's the boy and his dinosaur.

Amateurs, she chuckles to herself. She weighs her options carefully. The urge to feed is strong this night, but the choice of victims is small and their weapons dangerous. The boy is a tempting target, but something holds her back. A sudden outcry from another part of the park catches the attention of both her and her trackers. She leaps off in a flash to investigate.

A human is on the ground, unmoving. His companion is crouched over him, gun at the ready. His mind barely registers the soft thump of her landing, but it does register the sudden starburst of pain as her fist clubs into the side of his head. The boy and his Digimon arrive late on the scene, finding only the still unconscious man.

She deposits the bleeding man on the ground and quickly glances around. The sounds of motion are still far off enough, and this time no internal voice silences her desires to feed.

 

******

 

Takato arrives in the clearing where the creature had been until a few seconds ago, catching nothing more than a flash of yellow. A grisly scene awaits them when they arrive, and Guilmon cringes in disgust. Takato turns and noisily empties his stomach onto the ground, repulsed by the sheer amount of gore on scene. Shuddering violently, Takato gingerly places two fingers on the man's bloody neck, and strains to find a pulse.

“Oh, shit,” Takato curses softly, turning away from the sight of the man's mauled chest. “Guard the body, Guilmon, while I call the police.” He sprints off full speed in the direction of the nearest phone, leaving his partner behind should the beast return.

 

******

 

The next morning cannot come too quickly for Takato as he tosses and turns in bed, unable to sleep any substantial time for fear of dreaming the images back into his mind. He awakens from a brief respite in a cold sweat, breath coming in ragged gasps. Rubbing his weary eyes, he makes his way into the living room where the TV is showing the news. Takato's parents look at him with concern, but his concentration is fully on the screen.

“The attacks continued last night,” the reporter tells all watching, “and this time the severity was increased. The latest victim, one of the Animal Control agents assigned to patrol the park, was discovered still on the scene of the attack, severe wounds on his body corresponding to teeth marks.”

 

******

 

“Are you watching this, Henry?” Terriermon asks his partner, as glued to the screen as Takato. Henry can only mutely nod as the reporter continues.

“This just in. We have received word that one of the previous victims of the attacks has regained consciousness. We now go live to the hospital, where our reporter on the scene has been granted an interview.”

 

*******

 

Rika sits upright in her chair as the scene on the TV switches to a hospital room. A heavily bandaged man lies on the bed, a microphone held up to his mouth.

“It was horrible,” the patient says, his eyes wide in fright. “There I was, minding my own business, walking through the park, when I felt something come up behind me. I turn around, and the next thing I know, some large beast is all over me. It was huge, thick, and had these razor sharp fangs and claws.”

The man shudders, unable to continue as the painful memories return to him. The reporter in his room is shooed out, and the door closes behind her. She regains her composure and begins to speak.

“Based on the descriptions of the creature given by the victim, this composite sketch has been compiled.”

 

******

 

Henry's mouth drops open as a rough picture of the night stalker is shown. He frantically reaches for the phone and dials a number.

“It can't be true!” he protests even as the phone continues to ring unabated.

 

******

 

“There's just no way!” Takato says as he stared long and hard at the image on screen. The combination of the yellow flash and the picture of the culprit seem to be damning evidence.

 

******

 

Rika's phone rings and rings, but she doesn't notice it. She sits limply in her seat, unable to believe her eyes.

“Dear God, no,” she gasps, unable to look away from the picture on the TV.

The conception of the beast is figured to be about six feet tall, humanoid, with three-clawed hands on feet. It looks for the entire world like a large, shaggy Renamon.