Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Blue Card Diaries ❯ Devil in the Shadows ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Izumi Ryu 
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.08.2012 | Updated On: 11.08.2012 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 263 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 11.08.2012 | Updated On: 11.08.2012 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 263 | Status: Completed
Jessa ignored her mother's ranting as she slammed the door closed to her apartment. She didn't have time to waste, wanting to meet David and go with him to Brad's with the others. She rounded the corner once she reached the next floor down, finding David's apartment. As the girl knocked on the door, David almost immediately answered the door.
"Hi, Jessa. I'm ready." David stepped out and closed and locked the door behind them. V-mon had already left out the window, but told him he'd remain close in case Brad did anything. He looked at his friend's annoyed expression. "Are you okay?"
"Just fine, another argument with Mom," Jessa told him, reaching the next flight of stairs going down.
"Should I ask what the problem is now?" David asked, looking over at her.
"It's best you don't get involved," the girl told him. "It's not anyone's place."
"You know I'm just downstairs if you need to get away," the Tamer offered. "I'm not gonna do anything to you. Stan's been staying over more often."
"Thanks," she replied with a sad smile. "You don't have to really. It'll just make it easier for her to find me."
"The offer is still there," David said as they left the apartment building.
David's D-Arc blipped to life. He reached for it and showed the compass pointing in the opposite direction they were about to leave. "Shit. Not now," the Tamer cursed.
"David!" V-mon called from the rooftops.
"I'm coming! Go!" David shouted back, before turning back to Jessa. "Stay here, I'll be back."
"You better," Jessa told him, her expression serious. "I don't want you dying on me adding to my already bad day."
David rushed down the streets again, glancing down at his D-Arc again. Thankfully, this digimon was close by. However, he earned strange looks as he hurdled over short brick wall and various other obstacles, trying to remain unobstructed before he reached his goal. David rounded a corner and came to a fog bank that had formed not long ago. V-mon landed next to David from where he was travelling, unnoticed by the people more focused on the strange mist.
"David," V-mon told him.
"I know." David grabbed onto his D-Arc and reached for a card in the deck box, his heart beating faster as he waited for the digimon to come out. With the people around him, it put more pressure to put this digimon down immediately.
Both waited patiently as time passed, this fog not showing signs of dissipating anytime soon. Visibility started to slowly improve when it finally started to dissipate. But when the fog bank fully cleared, nothing out of the ordinary appeared. Cars drove by as if nothing happened and the people that stopped to watch ran off.
"What?" David asked. He looked at his D-Arc, which didn't react at all. "Where did it go?"
"I have no clue. It didn't go back," V-mon said as he looked around, expecting an ambush at any moment. As a couple of more minutes passed, it was obvious nothing was happening.
David sighed in frustration. "Nothing we can do about it. If it's still here, it's obviously not causing problems."
"Yeah," V-mon said, unsure of that logic. He kept his guard up anyway.
"We better meet the others," David told him. "If I don't go, the whole point of talking to Brad is moot." The boy walked back towards home, uneasiness showing in his eyes as he walked back the way he came.
V-mon nodded as he jumped back up onto the building, climbing along its ledges and following David back.
Blue Card Diaries
Entry 04: Devil in the Shadows
Author: Izumi Ryu
Tamers Diaries Concept: Lord Archive
Disclaimer: While this story is my work, the Digimon franchise is owned by Toei Animation. This story was written for no monetary gain.
"What took you guys so long?" Stan asked, standing next to Jared in front of an apartment. Jessa and David walked up to them.
"Another digimon," David said with a sigh.
"Again?" Jared asked, annoyance showing in his tone. "You know that's going to be an annoyance once school starts."
"We'll burn that bridge when we get there," Jessa told them.
"So, how did it go this time?" Stan asked.
"It didn't," David shrugged, earning strange glances from his friends. "When the fog cleared, there was nothing there. My D-Arc had picked up a signal before, but when I checked after the field cleared, it was gone."
"Did it go back?" Jessa asked, some hope showing in her tone.
"I don't know. V-mon thinks it didn't," David explained. "If it shows up again, we'll deal with it. Now, we need to see what this guy knows."
"Does he know we're coming?" Stan asked.
David looked up to a third story window at that moment, feeling as if they were being watched. He caught sight of a curtain being closed. "If he didn't know before, he does now. Think we better head on up?"
The teens looked at each other before nodding, unsure about whether to question him now. David was the first to move to the front door, the others following close behind. When, David was looking for the buzzer leading to Brad's house, the door opened.
"What do you guys want?" the older boy asked. What David saw was someone that had 'goth' written all over him. He had dyed black hair and even lipstick. His skin was pale from being inside all of the time. Even his clothes, while appearing casual, was completely black. If David hadn't been told he was in senior high, David would've thought they were the same age as he appeared to be about the same height.
David cleared his throat. "Hello, Brad. We came to ask you a few questions."
"I don't feel like answering anything, then," Brad told them, looking at them in contempt before trying to close the door.
"Even if it's about Alice?" Jessa asked.
Brad froze before he fully closed it. Then, he looked slowly opened the door, looking at the younger teens once again. "What about her?"
"She vanished years ago. You're the only one that thought she's alive still," Stan spoke up. "Even after that, people would have given up on her as dead, but you know something, don't you? You know where she really is."
Brad chuckled at this. "One problem with that. Even if I knew where she was, why the Hell would I tell any of you?"
Jared would've stepped up and smacked Brad if the others weren't between them. "Oh, get off your high and mighty horse! We're asking for your help!"
"And I'm not gonna give it to you. None of you have any right to anything. Especially you, who abandoned the very people that needed you for your own personal fun," the goth told him. "Your folks are disappointed in you and the track team wants your damned head. Personally, I think that's too good for you."
Jared stepped back, surprised at how much this guy knew.
"Okay, now you're going too far," Stan said, trying to push his way past Jessa and David.
"And you wouldn't have the guts to say that if it weren't for the others around you," Brad belittled the boy. "You can't even stand up for yourself. Maybe you were over-coddled by your parents. Doesn't matter. Until you stop letting your so-called friends fight your battles, you're not worth my time."
Stan stopped his struggling, staring into space as if Brad hit a sore spot. Jessa saw this and turned to glare at Brad, but he didn't look phased at all. In fact, he just smirked knowing he even had her where she wanted him. "Be glad you have a family, as fucked up as it is, little girl. You may hate the choices they're forcing on you, but they are looking out for your well-being. You don't appreciate that at all, don't you? Well, I'd hate to see what happens if you went against them."
Jessa's glare turned into a stare in pure fear. How this boy knew things she never told anyone outside of the people there was beyond her.
"What are you? Some kind of creepy stalker?" David asked. "I only found out about you a few days ago and now I know why people hate your guts."
"You know, the funny thing about you approaching me about Alice, none of them believed me until the digimon started to come into this world," Brad said. "Then again, that's no fault of yours, Tamer."
Something snapped in David the moment Brad said that. David placed a hand on the door and shoved it open. "That's it, you're telling me everything I need to know, now. If you know I'm a Tamer, then you know I need Alice's help more than anything right now."
Brad never flinched, not intimidated by David's approached. "And you don't deserve it. As bad as these people are, you're the biggest scumbag of them all."
"What did you just call me?" David spat out.
"If you were even half a Tamer, there would not be a single injury, a single death. No, you let those people die, too concerned with your pathetic ass. Lives that would be far better than yours were ended because you failed," Brad berated him.
David stepped back, his hand dropping from its position on the door.
"By the way, I think you have a rogue digimon to look for. You should find it. I hope it kills you." With that, Brad slammed the door in David's face, leaving the group dumbfounded about what just happened.
Brad walked back toward the stairwell leading to his apartment with a smile on his face. He took pleasure in seeing David and the others suffering. Then, he picked out something he kept hidden from the view of David, a pure black D-Arc with a compass pointing out the direction of a digimon. "It's your turn," he said to no one in particular. "Torment them."
V-mon stood squatted on the edge of one of the apartments, watching the cars pass by down below. He looked around, having a feeling that he was being watched, and most likely by the digimon that emerged this morning. Why it was watching was beyond him, but he tried to shove that question to the rear of his mind.
"Hey!" a voice called out. V-mon turned to look at the source of the voice, an adult man in a maintenance uniform. He held several tools in belts around him, and was ready to grab one of them to hit V-mon with. "What…are you?"
"Calm down, I'm not going to harm you," V-mon said, holding his hands up while slowly walking towards him.
"But I am," a third voice said, followed by maniacal laughter. V-mon didn't have time to turn around as he was hit from the back, knocking him unconscious and left on the roof.
"No! No! Stay away from me!" the man shouted, throwing the wrench he grabbed at the new threat.
"As you wish," the newcomer said before hitting the man with a black beam, the man hit the ground as soon as the shock stopped, falling out of consciousness and into a hellscape. Dead trees surrounded him. A mix of skeletal remains and fresh corpses littered the forest, some of the corpses impaled in the trees themselves. The man looked as he saw several beings surrounding the hellspawn he saw earlier. They looked like grotesque zombies to him. One of them looked at him and moaned something unintelligible.
"Get away from me!" the man shouted in fear as he backed up. That was his mistake, attracting the attention of the others. The creature looked at him in confusion while the zombies walked toward him slowly, each moaning as they approached. "I said get back!" the man told them, walking backwards slowly, before he felt his foot hit something.
The man's arms circled back as he started to fall, seeing nothing but a sharp dive down a rocky cliff. He was already too far gone to be saved as he saw some of the zombies suddenly running for him. It was either zombies or the plummet to his death. He'd rather fall. He finally lost his footing, falling backwards towards a rocky death.
Except for a general consensus to get lunch, nothing was said among the group. Even while they sat at the same table eating, not a single word crossed their lips to each other. As the group finished their lunch, David finally decided to break the silence. "Okay, what the Hell just happened back there?" he finally asked.
"I'm not sure," Stan said. "How the Hell does Brad know so much about us?"
"He's a loner," Jared said. "People ignore him unless they want to torment him, but he pays attention to the world around him."
"Not that much," David said. "He'd have to have been stalking us at different points. I'm sure if he found out about V-mon, I was a particular subject of interest for him."
"We shouldn't let what he said get to us," Jessa said, particularly disturbed. "We can't do anything about him unless he acts anyway. How are we going to find Alice? Our only lead won't tell us anything."
"We can't. I'll just have to live without help until something else comes up," David glanced over at the others. "We better go find V-mon. See if he found anything on the realized digimon."
The others nodded, but the numb emotion was evident among the group. Brad had effectively disarmed the entire group with nothing more than his words. David thought it was no wonder why Brad was picked on. The bastard deserved it.
As the group of teens left the restaurant, David took out his D-Arc and switched it to the compass. He looked around as it led him around. He looked up at the various buildings and back down it, noticing the compass kept pointing at one apartment in particular.
David nodded towards the alleyway so that the others knew where he planned to meet his partner. When they got into the abandoned alley, David finally called for his digimon, looking up at the building. He waited a couple of moments with no response. He looked down at the D-Arc for confirmation that he was still there.
Without warning, David bolted back the way they came from, pushing past his friends. Worry showed in his eyes that the digimon hadn't responded. Obviously V-mon was still alive, but he couldn't figure out why he wouldn't respond. He rounded the corner onto the sidewalks and around to the apartment's entrance. Not even thinking about why the complex was unlocked, the boy rushed into the building and up the stairs. He skipped one or two at a time each step, rounding several flights as he climbed to each floor. Each flight of stairs felt longer than the last.
Eventually, David busted a door wide open that led out onto the apartment's roof. He looked around and saw V-mon lying face first on the roof, not moving. "V-mon!" David called out as he rushed to his partner's side. The boy placed a hand on the lizard's shoulder, trying to shake him awake.
"Is he okay?" Jessa asked, the next to reach the roof.
"I hope so," David told her, continuing to shake his partner awake.
The lizard finally moaned and stirred, his eyes opening up. "What hit me?" he asked.
"That's what I was hoping you'd tell us," David answered.
Stan eventually joining Jessa and David as V-mon got up on his feet. Jared looked around and saw the man standing, staring into space, his mouth gaping. "Hey, are you okay, sir?" Jared asked, slowly approaching him as not to startle him.
"Get away from me!" the man yelled, surprising Jared in the process.
David, Jessa, Stan and V-mon suddenly looked at the man, who started walking slowly back. "Sir, it's okay. Nothing's gonna happen," Jessa told him slowly starting to approach him.
"I said get back!" he reiterated, continuing his slow walk backwards. Stan and David had slowly spread away, the four kids surrounding him and trying to calm him down.
"Come on, sir," Stan finally said. "You're fine. Nothing here will harm you."
David started to worry. At this point, he was wondering if he was seriously afraid of V-mon. Maybe seeing them rush to the Digimon's aid added more to his phobia. Then, he noticed just how close to the edge of the roof the maintenance worker was. Part of the boy thought to let him go, but mentally slapped himself for even considering it. "Sir, if you don't stop now, you're gonna fall off the building!"
At that, the man's foot finally hit the brick marking the edge of the building. He began to lose his balance, waving his arms to try and keep it. The boys charged forward, looking to grab the man before he fell. David reached for his arm, but the man kept it away from him, opting to fall off than let himself be saved.
The man finally fell backwards over the edge. A crowd of people screamed in horror when the man's body hit the sidewalk below, lying prone and motionless on the ground.
David, Stan and Jared had watched the man fall, helpless to do anything to stop him. "Damn it," David muttered as he got up, looking back at Jessa.
"David…" Jessa said, trying to get him out of his mood.
"Some fucking hero I am," David said, before storming towards the door leading to the stairwell. David didn't stop for any of his friends calling for him, slamming the door behind him. David just rushed down as fast as he could downstairs without killing himself.
Brad smiled as he watched the scene unfold from his own apartment window, next to the building David's friends were now standing. Next to the high schooler stood a creature that looked like a scrawny imp, his head and wings looked disproportionately large compared to the rest of the body. His demented smile dwarfed everything else about him. You could almost mistake the creature for one of the witch's minions from the Wizard of Oz.
"Nice touch, Evilmon," Brad congratulated.
"I hoped you approved. I'm impressed with you. You know how to manipulate the heart and mind of people in ways my power cannot," Evilmon told him.
"All it takes is a little information," Brad explained. "Nothing more." Brad held up his black D-Arc to show Evilmon. "So, I take it you approve of our partnership?"
"Yes, as long as you don't intend to take that Tamer's job," Evilmon agreed.
"Fuck that. The world can burn for all I care," Brad told him.
"Then we'll make a very good team." The demon digimon laughed maniacally. As cheesy as it was, the goth boy couldn't help but smile. This was true power, and he had intended to exercise it for a very long time.
David plopped down on his bed with the sun still setting. He took his pillows and buried his head underneath them. His frustrations apparent, but he wanted nothing to do with the world around him anymore. Too many people were dying because of him. Brad may have been an asshole, but he was right.
David didn't even flinch when he felt something jump on top of him. He lazily lifted his head to look out from underneath them. "V-mon, not now," David growled.
At that V-mon ripped the pillows out of David's grip and threw them off to the side. Then, he flipped the boy around and pinned him down on the bed face up. It was a reminder to the Tamer that despite how small the digimon was, he was strong beyond belief.
V-mon glared down at his partner. "When are you going to get over yourself?" the digimon demanded. "You know that was not your fault."
"If I acted faster," David started.
"Damn it, David. The man was hallucinating. He would've reacted the same way no matter how fast you acted," the digimon spat back.
"Hallucinating?" David asked in confusion. "How?"
"Whoever knocked me out did it I guess. I was told by your friends to let you know that man is still alive. Unable to walk even if they let him out of the straightjacket, but alive," V-mon explained.
The lizard finally stood up and got off of his Tamer, allowing him to sit up. "I'm guessing our mystery emergence and the guy that did all this is one and the same."
"That's what I guess. We have to be careful. These types of digimon can be deadlier than the ones that rampage," the digimon answered.
"Sorry, V-mon. This is just starting to be too much," David told him.
"Well, that's what we're here for," V-mon said. "Sure, we couldn't find this other Tamer, but you can do this. Just keep pushing." The lizard walked out the door. "Now, open the door. The others are waiting on you."
"Others?" David asked.
"Yeah. They brought pizza, too. And it's getting cold," V-mon prodded.
David got up and went for the apartment's front door. He only stopped for a minute to look at V-mon. "Thanks for dealing with me. I'm sure there are far better Tamers than me out there."
V-mon looked up with a smile. "I wouldn't have had it any other way."
"Hi, Jessa. I'm ready." David stepped out and closed and locked the door behind them. V-mon had already left out the window, but told him he'd remain close in case Brad did anything. He looked at his friend's annoyed expression. "Are you okay?"
"Just fine, another argument with Mom," Jessa told him, reaching the next flight of stairs going down.
"Should I ask what the problem is now?" David asked, looking over at her.
"It's best you don't get involved," the girl told him. "It's not anyone's place."
"You know I'm just downstairs if you need to get away," the Tamer offered. "I'm not gonna do anything to you. Stan's been staying over more often."
"Thanks," she replied with a sad smile. "You don't have to really. It'll just make it easier for her to find me."
"The offer is still there," David said as they left the apartment building.
David's D-Arc blipped to life. He reached for it and showed the compass pointing in the opposite direction they were about to leave. "Shit. Not now," the Tamer cursed.
"David!" V-mon called from the rooftops.
"I'm coming! Go!" David shouted back, before turning back to Jessa. "Stay here, I'll be back."
"You better," Jessa told him, her expression serious. "I don't want you dying on me adding to my already bad day."
David rushed down the streets again, glancing down at his D-Arc again. Thankfully, this digimon was close by. However, he earned strange looks as he hurdled over short brick wall and various other obstacles, trying to remain unobstructed before he reached his goal. David rounded a corner and came to a fog bank that had formed not long ago. V-mon landed next to David from where he was travelling, unnoticed by the people more focused on the strange mist.
"David," V-mon told him.
"I know." David grabbed onto his D-Arc and reached for a card in the deck box, his heart beating faster as he waited for the digimon to come out. With the people around him, it put more pressure to put this digimon down immediately.
Both waited patiently as time passed, this fog not showing signs of dissipating anytime soon. Visibility started to slowly improve when it finally started to dissipate. But when the fog bank fully cleared, nothing out of the ordinary appeared. Cars drove by as if nothing happened and the people that stopped to watch ran off.
"What?" David asked. He looked at his D-Arc, which didn't react at all. "Where did it go?"
"I have no clue. It didn't go back," V-mon said as he looked around, expecting an ambush at any moment. As a couple of more minutes passed, it was obvious nothing was happening.
David sighed in frustration. "Nothing we can do about it. If it's still here, it's obviously not causing problems."
"Yeah," V-mon said, unsure of that logic. He kept his guard up anyway.
"We better meet the others," David told him. "If I don't go, the whole point of talking to Brad is moot." The boy walked back towards home, uneasiness showing in his eyes as he walked back the way he came.
V-mon nodded as he jumped back up onto the building, climbing along its ledges and following David back.
Blue Card Diaries
Entry 04: Devil in the Shadows
Author: Izumi Ryu
Tamers Diaries Concept: Lord Archive
Disclaimer: While this story is my work, the Digimon franchise is owned by Toei Animation. This story was written for no monetary gain.
"What took you guys so long?" Stan asked, standing next to Jared in front of an apartment. Jessa and David walked up to them.
"Another digimon," David said with a sigh.
"Again?" Jared asked, annoyance showing in his tone. "You know that's going to be an annoyance once school starts."
"We'll burn that bridge when we get there," Jessa told them.
"So, how did it go this time?" Stan asked.
"It didn't," David shrugged, earning strange glances from his friends. "When the fog cleared, there was nothing there. My D-Arc had picked up a signal before, but when I checked after the field cleared, it was gone."
"Did it go back?" Jessa asked, some hope showing in her tone.
"I don't know. V-mon thinks it didn't," David explained. "If it shows up again, we'll deal with it. Now, we need to see what this guy knows."
"Does he know we're coming?" Stan asked.
David looked up to a third story window at that moment, feeling as if they were being watched. He caught sight of a curtain being closed. "If he didn't know before, he does now. Think we better head on up?"
The teens looked at each other before nodding, unsure about whether to question him now. David was the first to move to the front door, the others following close behind. When, David was looking for the buzzer leading to Brad's house, the door opened.
"What do you guys want?" the older boy asked. What David saw was someone that had 'goth' written all over him. He had dyed black hair and even lipstick. His skin was pale from being inside all of the time. Even his clothes, while appearing casual, was completely black. If David hadn't been told he was in senior high, David would've thought they were the same age as he appeared to be about the same height.
David cleared his throat. "Hello, Brad. We came to ask you a few questions."
"I don't feel like answering anything, then," Brad told them, looking at them in contempt before trying to close the door.
"Even if it's about Alice?" Jessa asked.
Brad froze before he fully closed it. Then, he looked slowly opened the door, looking at the younger teens once again. "What about her?"
"She vanished years ago. You're the only one that thought she's alive still," Stan spoke up. "Even after that, people would have given up on her as dead, but you know something, don't you? You know where she really is."
Brad chuckled at this. "One problem with that. Even if I knew where she was, why the Hell would I tell any of you?"
Jared would've stepped up and smacked Brad if the others weren't between them. "Oh, get off your high and mighty horse! We're asking for your help!"
"And I'm not gonna give it to you. None of you have any right to anything. Especially you, who abandoned the very people that needed you for your own personal fun," the goth told him. "Your folks are disappointed in you and the track team wants your damned head. Personally, I think that's too good for you."
Jared stepped back, surprised at how much this guy knew.
"Okay, now you're going too far," Stan said, trying to push his way past Jessa and David.
"And you wouldn't have the guts to say that if it weren't for the others around you," Brad belittled the boy. "You can't even stand up for yourself. Maybe you were over-coddled by your parents. Doesn't matter. Until you stop letting your so-called friends fight your battles, you're not worth my time."
Stan stopped his struggling, staring into space as if Brad hit a sore spot. Jessa saw this and turned to glare at Brad, but he didn't look phased at all. In fact, he just smirked knowing he even had her where she wanted him. "Be glad you have a family, as fucked up as it is, little girl. You may hate the choices they're forcing on you, but they are looking out for your well-being. You don't appreciate that at all, don't you? Well, I'd hate to see what happens if you went against them."
Jessa's glare turned into a stare in pure fear. How this boy knew things she never told anyone outside of the people there was beyond her.
"What are you? Some kind of creepy stalker?" David asked. "I only found out about you a few days ago and now I know why people hate your guts."
"You know, the funny thing about you approaching me about Alice, none of them believed me until the digimon started to come into this world," Brad said. "Then again, that's no fault of yours, Tamer."
Something snapped in David the moment Brad said that. David placed a hand on the door and shoved it open. "That's it, you're telling me everything I need to know, now. If you know I'm a Tamer, then you know I need Alice's help more than anything right now."
Brad never flinched, not intimidated by David's approached. "And you don't deserve it. As bad as these people are, you're the biggest scumbag of them all."
"What did you just call me?" David spat out.
"If you were even half a Tamer, there would not be a single injury, a single death. No, you let those people die, too concerned with your pathetic ass. Lives that would be far better than yours were ended because you failed," Brad berated him.
David stepped back, his hand dropping from its position on the door.
"By the way, I think you have a rogue digimon to look for. You should find it. I hope it kills you." With that, Brad slammed the door in David's face, leaving the group dumbfounded about what just happened.
Brad walked back toward the stairwell leading to his apartment with a smile on his face. He took pleasure in seeing David and the others suffering. Then, he picked out something he kept hidden from the view of David, a pure black D-Arc with a compass pointing out the direction of a digimon. "It's your turn," he said to no one in particular. "Torment them."
V-mon stood squatted on the edge of one of the apartments, watching the cars pass by down below. He looked around, having a feeling that he was being watched, and most likely by the digimon that emerged this morning. Why it was watching was beyond him, but he tried to shove that question to the rear of his mind.
"Hey!" a voice called out. V-mon turned to look at the source of the voice, an adult man in a maintenance uniform. He held several tools in belts around him, and was ready to grab one of them to hit V-mon with. "What…are you?"
"Calm down, I'm not going to harm you," V-mon said, holding his hands up while slowly walking towards him.
"But I am," a third voice said, followed by maniacal laughter. V-mon didn't have time to turn around as he was hit from the back, knocking him unconscious and left on the roof.
"No! No! Stay away from me!" the man shouted, throwing the wrench he grabbed at the new threat.
"As you wish," the newcomer said before hitting the man with a black beam, the man hit the ground as soon as the shock stopped, falling out of consciousness and into a hellscape. Dead trees surrounded him. A mix of skeletal remains and fresh corpses littered the forest, some of the corpses impaled in the trees themselves. The man looked as he saw several beings surrounding the hellspawn he saw earlier. They looked like grotesque zombies to him. One of them looked at him and moaned something unintelligible.
"Get away from me!" the man shouted in fear as he backed up. That was his mistake, attracting the attention of the others. The creature looked at him in confusion while the zombies walked toward him slowly, each moaning as they approached. "I said get back!" the man told them, walking backwards slowly, before he felt his foot hit something.
The man's arms circled back as he started to fall, seeing nothing but a sharp dive down a rocky cliff. He was already too far gone to be saved as he saw some of the zombies suddenly running for him. It was either zombies or the plummet to his death. He'd rather fall. He finally lost his footing, falling backwards towards a rocky death.
Except for a general consensus to get lunch, nothing was said among the group. Even while they sat at the same table eating, not a single word crossed their lips to each other. As the group finished their lunch, David finally decided to break the silence. "Okay, what the Hell just happened back there?" he finally asked.
"I'm not sure," Stan said. "How the Hell does Brad know so much about us?"
"He's a loner," Jared said. "People ignore him unless they want to torment him, but he pays attention to the world around him."
"Not that much," David said. "He'd have to have been stalking us at different points. I'm sure if he found out about V-mon, I was a particular subject of interest for him."
"We shouldn't let what he said get to us," Jessa said, particularly disturbed. "We can't do anything about him unless he acts anyway. How are we going to find Alice? Our only lead won't tell us anything."
"We can't. I'll just have to live without help until something else comes up," David glanced over at the others. "We better go find V-mon. See if he found anything on the realized digimon."
The others nodded, but the numb emotion was evident among the group. Brad had effectively disarmed the entire group with nothing more than his words. David thought it was no wonder why Brad was picked on. The bastard deserved it.
As the group of teens left the restaurant, David took out his D-Arc and switched it to the compass. He looked around as it led him around. He looked up at the various buildings and back down it, noticing the compass kept pointing at one apartment in particular.
David nodded towards the alleyway so that the others knew where he planned to meet his partner. When they got into the abandoned alley, David finally called for his digimon, looking up at the building. He waited a couple of moments with no response. He looked down at the D-Arc for confirmation that he was still there.
Without warning, David bolted back the way they came from, pushing past his friends. Worry showed in his eyes that the digimon hadn't responded. Obviously V-mon was still alive, but he couldn't figure out why he wouldn't respond. He rounded the corner onto the sidewalks and around to the apartment's entrance. Not even thinking about why the complex was unlocked, the boy rushed into the building and up the stairs. He skipped one or two at a time each step, rounding several flights as he climbed to each floor. Each flight of stairs felt longer than the last.
Eventually, David busted a door wide open that led out onto the apartment's roof. He looked around and saw V-mon lying face first on the roof, not moving. "V-mon!" David called out as he rushed to his partner's side. The boy placed a hand on the lizard's shoulder, trying to shake him awake.
"Is he okay?" Jessa asked, the next to reach the roof.
"I hope so," David told her, continuing to shake his partner awake.
The lizard finally moaned and stirred, his eyes opening up. "What hit me?" he asked.
"That's what I was hoping you'd tell us," David answered.
Stan eventually joining Jessa and David as V-mon got up on his feet. Jared looked around and saw the man standing, staring into space, his mouth gaping. "Hey, are you okay, sir?" Jared asked, slowly approaching him as not to startle him.
"Get away from me!" the man yelled, surprising Jared in the process.
David, Jessa, Stan and V-mon suddenly looked at the man, who started walking slowly back. "Sir, it's okay. Nothing's gonna happen," Jessa told him slowly starting to approach him.
"I said get back!" he reiterated, continuing his slow walk backwards. Stan and David had slowly spread away, the four kids surrounding him and trying to calm him down.
"Come on, sir," Stan finally said. "You're fine. Nothing here will harm you."
David started to worry. At this point, he was wondering if he was seriously afraid of V-mon. Maybe seeing them rush to the Digimon's aid added more to his phobia. Then, he noticed just how close to the edge of the roof the maintenance worker was. Part of the boy thought to let him go, but mentally slapped himself for even considering it. "Sir, if you don't stop now, you're gonna fall off the building!"
At that, the man's foot finally hit the brick marking the edge of the building. He began to lose his balance, waving his arms to try and keep it. The boys charged forward, looking to grab the man before he fell. David reached for his arm, but the man kept it away from him, opting to fall off than let himself be saved.
The man finally fell backwards over the edge. A crowd of people screamed in horror when the man's body hit the sidewalk below, lying prone and motionless on the ground.
David, Stan and Jared had watched the man fall, helpless to do anything to stop him. "Damn it," David muttered as he got up, looking back at Jessa.
"David…" Jessa said, trying to get him out of his mood.
"Some fucking hero I am," David said, before storming towards the door leading to the stairwell. David didn't stop for any of his friends calling for him, slamming the door behind him. David just rushed down as fast as he could downstairs without killing himself.
Brad smiled as he watched the scene unfold from his own apartment window, next to the building David's friends were now standing. Next to the high schooler stood a creature that looked like a scrawny imp, his head and wings looked disproportionately large compared to the rest of the body. His demented smile dwarfed everything else about him. You could almost mistake the creature for one of the witch's minions from the Wizard of Oz.
"Nice touch, Evilmon," Brad congratulated.
"I hoped you approved. I'm impressed with you. You know how to manipulate the heart and mind of people in ways my power cannot," Evilmon told him.
"All it takes is a little information," Brad explained. "Nothing more." Brad held up his black D-Arc to show Evilmon. "So, I take it you approve of our partnership?"
"Yes, as long as you don't intend to take that Tamer's job," Evilmon agreed.
"Fuck that. The world can burn for all I care," Brad told him.
"Then we'll make a very good team." The demon digimon laughed maniacally. As cheesy as it was, the goth boy couldn't help but smile. This was true power, and he had intended to exercise it for a very long time.
David plopped down on his bed with the sun still setting. He took his pillows and buried his head underneath them. His frustrations apparent, but he wanted nothing to do with the world around him anymore. Too many people were dying because of him. Brad may have been an asshole, but he was right.
David didn't even flinch when he felt something jump on top of him. He lazily lifted his head to look out from underneath them. "V-mon, not now," David growled.
At that V-mon ripped the pillows out of David's grip and threw them off to the side. Then, he flipped the boy around and pinned him down on the bed face up. It was a reminder to the Tamer that despite how small the digimon was, he was strong beyond belief.
V-mon glared down at his partner. "When are you going to get over yourself?" the digimon demanded. "You know that was not your fault."
"If I acted faster," David started.
"Damn it, David. The man was hallucinating. He would've reacted the same way no matter how fast you acted," the digimon spat back.
"Hallucinating?" David asked in confusion. "How?"
"Whoever knocked me out did it I guess. I was told by your friends to let you know that man is still alive. Unable to walk even if they let him out of the straightjacket, but alive," V-mon explained.
The lizard finally stood up and got off of his Tamer, allowing him to sit up. "I'm guessing our mystery emergence and the guy that did all this is one and the same."
"That's what I guess. We have to be careful. These types of digimon can be deadlier than the ones that rampage," the digimon answered.
"Sorry, V-mon. This is just starting to be too much," David told him.
"Well, that's what we're here for," V-mon said. "Sure, we couldn't find this other Tamer, but you can do this. Just keep pushing." The lizard walked out the door. "Now, open the door. The others are waiting on you."
"Others?" David asked.
"Yeah. They brought pizza, too. And it's getting cold," V-mon prodded.
David got up and went for the apartment's front door. He only stopped for a minute to look at V-mon. "Thanks for dealing with me. I'm sure there are far better Tamers than me out there."
V-mon looked up with a smile. "I wouldn't have had it any other way."