Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Bad Moon on the Rise ❯ Fortissimo ( Chapter 2 )

From her perch on a light pole in the electronics section of the city, Renamon watches the morning news and sees the rendition of the beast. Sadly, she closes her eyes and hangs her head, knowing that, for her, things just got infinitely more complicated. Seconds after the image fades, she feels the familiar tug of Rika calling for her, but for once she does not answer the call. It comes again stronger, and her head spins as she resists. She can't face Rika, anymore, not until everything is resolved. Renamon heads for the library, ignoring the fact that it's open. For her, time is of the essence.

 

******

 

Rika slumps back into her seat, Renamon not responding to her calls. The TV moves on to other stories, but it doesn't register. It, along with the still ringing phone, sits somewhere in the back of her head. She still can't believe what she had seen, that Renamon has been the one attacking the people in the park. She refuses to believe that it could be true, she knows Renamon better than that. At least, she hopes she does.

 

******

 

Henry hangs up the phone after Rika fails to answer and begins to pace around the room; his eyes are still glued to the television set. In his head, he goes over the events of the past few days, trying to remember anything out of the ordinary regarding Renamon. Aside from hearing that her relationship with Rika had been taken to the next level, nothing registers. The ring of the telephone briefly interrupts his train of thought, but still he quickly picks it up.

“Henry, tell me I didn't see what I thought I saw,” Takato says on the other side of the line.

“Well, if what you thought you saw was Renamon pegged as the beast,” he says, “then I can't tell you that.”

“There's got to be some mistake,” Takato protests.

“Well, that's what I'm hoping,” Henry agrees. “But, I can't think of what it could be. Our digivices would have sensed another Digimon showing up.”

“Renamon wouldn't do something like that. I can't imagine her hurting anybody like that on purpose.”

“Not like this anyway,” Henry mutters. “It's simply not normal behavior for her.”

 

******

 

But, then again, when one is at one's limit, normal behavior means nothing. Such is the case with Renamon, who very blatantly appears right in the middle of the library. The crowd of people collectively scream in horror and flee from her, but she ignores them and instead returns to where she had found the books before. It isn't long before Renamon can hear the sirens of approaching police cars, which only prompts her to work faster. She grabs every book on the subject of were-creatures she can, piling them high on the floor before the first police arrive on the scene. The news cameras arrive on scene a short time later.

 

******

 

“Are…” Takato says slowly, “are you still watching the news?”

Namely the breaking news, “Beast spotted at local library.”

Henry nods with a barely audible grunt of recognition. “What is she doing at the library?”

“In all seriousness,” Takato answers, “she's checking out some books. But, why would she show up in the middle of the day, even after everything on the news?”

“I'll bet the answer's in those books.”

 

******

 

Renamon analyzes the motions of the police in the building and knows that they have her surrounded. More books join the stack but the rhythm of falling books is interrupted by an ominous click. Renamon whirls, a book in her hand, to find that she is staring down the barrel of a rifle wielded by a very nervous cop. The man reaches to the radio on his shoulder, about to inform his comrades that he has located the beast. The words fail in his throat, however as Renamon uses the one weapon she has at hand. The officer falls, clutching at his throat and gasping for breath, the book that Renamon has thrown into his neck clattering to the floor.

Renamon grabs the pile of books and crouches, ready to flee, when a loud blast causes her to twist around, catching a load of buckshot on the pile of books. The tomes fall to the ground as the man with the shotgun cocks the weapon, preparing to fire again. Renamon is too fast though, and she floors the man with a flurry of punches, throwing his gun away as far as she can. It is then that she notices the ring of weapons around her.

 

******

 

Rika gasps as the scene at the library plays out on the TV and sees the ring of armed police around Renamon. She reaches out ineffectively towards the set as Renamon turns to face the camera. A look of infinite sadness on her face, Renamon mouths something then leaps high into the air, her arms crossed over her head. "I'm sorry…"

The space above Renamon glows brightly, shedding a glare on the camera lens. "Diamond Storm!" The officers surrounding Renamon cry out and fall backwards as Renamon brings her arms and the glowing projectiles down towards them. Static replaces the image of the scene on the television for several seconds that feel like an eternity for the Tamers watching.

Rika slumps back into her seat and turns away, tears brewing in her closed eyes. Her digivice falls from her hand and bounces down to the floor as chaos continues to erupt onscreen. She can do nothing but watch as a second camera crew arrives. Police officers help their injured comrades limp out of the building and they report that the monster has disappeared.

 

******

 

The Tamers can only watch in shock as everything unfolds on the televisions in front of them.

“Something is seriously wrong here,” Henry says, to which Takato agrees.

“We need to find out what,” Takato announces. “Before it's too late.”

“You check the library, I'll try and find Renamon.”

“What about Rika? We can't just leave her alone right now.”

“I know that, but…” Henry prompts. He hopes his friend understands.

Takato does. “But it's more important that we stop anyone else from getting hurt,” he finishes. “Right.”

“Let me know what you find.”

“Be careful,” Takato tells his friend, hanging up the phone. Grabbing his jacket, he runs out the door yelling an excuse to his parents. He hops on his bike and pedals as hard as he can to the library.

 

******

 

In the chaos following her attack, Renamon is able to escape from the library, still clutching her precious cargo of books. It is her hope that, in one of these books, she can find all the information she needs and especially a cure for the transformation or at the very least a means to prevent it. The one thing she needs the most is time, which is the one thing in short supply. It's only a matter of hours before the transformation happens again this night, so Renamon works to find an out-of-the-way area to look over everything.

A series of alleyways in the city appear ideal; they're well lit at this time of day, but unlikely to attract any mid-day strollers. It is at the back of one of these alleys that Renamon settles in and starts to skim the works she has collected.

 

******

 

Henry begins his search for the elusive Renamon as quickly as he can, but even so he receives the call from Takato before he is successful. Takato tells Henry everything he has managed to find out at the library.

“So that's it,” Henry says as realization strikes. “I don't think Renamon is completely responsible for the attacks.”

“How is that?”

“From what I understand,” Henry explains, “people afflicted with lycanthropy generally aren't able to control their actions in their transformed state. Often times, they don't even remember that they did anything.”

“Well that's good at least,” Takato says. “She's not doing this because she wants to. Where do we go from here?”

`I'm still trying to find Renamon. You tell Rika what's up, and get over to the park with Guilmon in case we can't prevent another transformation.”

“Got it,” Takato nods on the other end. “Just… be careful, okay?”

“Of course,” Henry smiles, hanging up the phone and continuing in his search.

 

******

 

Renamon tosses another book away with a loud growl of annoyance. She has not been able to find any cure so far in the books at hand, and the pickings are getting slimmer by the minute. The only thing she has managed to learn from the books is a number of different methods of destroying a werewolf entirely. Renamon's head shoots up as a shadow past the mouth of the alley lengthens, signifying that somebody approaches.

Renamon picks up the four books that she hasn't yet looked at and leaps, bounding from wall to wall up to the roof of the building. From her perch, Renamon watches as Henry jogs towards the pile of books. He picks one up and glances at the title, nodding to himself. Straightening up, Henry begins to look around, and Renamon ducks backward to obscure herself from sight.

The motion dislodges a bookmark from one of the books in Renamon's hand, and it flutters to the ground. Renamon curses softly as Henry looks directly at her. Even though she knows he can't make out anything other than shadow, Renamon leaves her hiding spot. She leaps lightly to the ground, carefully setting down her books.

“Good,” Henry says, breathing a sigh of relief. “I caught you before the transformation.”

“You know about that,” Renamon states, to which Henry nods. “Then you also know that there is no controlling the change, and that your life could very well be in danger right now.”

“I know you wouldn't harm me on purpose,” Henry says. “I'm hoping that somehow I can stop you from hurting anyone else.”

In response, Renamon looks up at the hint of the moon in the sky. “It's a beautiful thing, you know. The moon, I mean. I remember always looking up at it a couple of years ago, my only companion those lonely nights. But now, the moon brings only pain, and when it hits its fullest point, my pain will be eternal.”

“It doesn't have to be that way,” Henry says, his voice full of hope. “We can find a cure. I'm telling you that there's got to be one somewhere.”

Renamon gestures to the stack of discarded books. “That's what all those told me, and yet I'm little better off than I was before. But now, time is running out, and I must go.”

“I can't let you go anywhere,” Henry says firmly, spreading his arms. Renamon recoils, staring over Henry's shoulder.

“Look out behind you!” Renamon gasps.

Henry shakes his head resolutely. “That's an old trick. Did you really think it would work?”

“It was worth a shot,” Renamon sighs sadly.

“Now,” Henry says seconds before his eyes glaze over and he slumps to the ground. Renamon's hand has impacted hard with a nerve on his neck, and consciousness slips away. The fox digimon double-checks that Henry is only knocked out. Nodding, Renamon picks the four books back up and disappears into the fading sunlight.

A good distance away, Renamon flips through the remaining pages. Three of the books get tossed away as well, but she stops on the last few pages of the only book left. She taps the page thoughtfully as she realizes what she must do.