Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ My Heart is a Battleground ❯ Chapter 14

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

By: Puffs

Chapter 15

Vinni's bags were piled up near the door. He and Pagumon sat and watched TV in the living room. Cassidy sat at the table with Nyaromon in her lap. She looked over at Vinni, scratching her partner's head thoughtfully. There was no noise other than the Basketball commentary on the television.

Nyaromon's ears perked up. “Now,” she said suddenly. Vinni casually grabbed Pagumon and stuffed him under a throw pillow, and Cass took Nyaromon and crammed her into a bag on the counter.

The door flung open. “I'm hooome!” Rachel cried, “Good, you're all packed. Come on, you got a flight to catch.”

“Great!” Cass whirled Rachel around and gave her a big hug, “Thank you for letting me stay here!”

“Um… Sure,” Rachel was surprised by the sudden gratitude, but lightly patted Cass on the back in return. Meanwhile, Cass peered past Rachel's shoulder, making sure Vinni had finished wrestling with Pagumon to get him concealed inside his backpack. She finally let go. “Okay, go wait out by the car.” Rachel commanded.

“Alright,” Cass grabbed a suitcase, smiled at them and walked down the hallway.

Vinni hopped from the couch, hitching the pack over his shoulder. Passing by his silent cousin, he grabbed another suitcase and began following after Cass.

“She reminds me of Troy.”

Vinni stopped in the doorway. He turned his head to the side, “…You mean Tricia.”

“Hm…” Rachel crossed the room and put a had on Vinni's shoulder, “It's been two years. I want to say I'm sor—“

“It's fine,” Vinni interrupted.

“Sigh, if you say so,” she lightly pushed him out the door, “Now let's go.”

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They arrived at the airport. Vinni and Cass dropped their baggage off and boarded the plane. Their flight was quiet. Cass stared out the window, lost in thought while Vinni chuckled every few moments at the movie.

Down in the cargo hold, one of the duffle bags rustled, and the zipper came loose. Pagumon sprung forth, “Haha!”

“What are you doing!? Stay in the bag until we land,” Nyaromon scolded, remaining in the bag.

Pagumon bounced around the room. It was dark and littered with many suitcases and large objects. Pagumon hopped on top of a piano and turned back towards Vinni's duffel bag. “I ain't gonna stay in there, I gotta stretch the lump of flesh I hop around on.”

Nyaromon jumped out of the bag, “Pagumon, don't make me…”

Tink!

Nyaromon's ears sprang up. Pagumon stopped bouncing and lifted an ear. “…What was that?”

Silence. They both sat motionless, sensing everything around them. Nyaromon turned towards a rack of hung clothing nearby. “There!”

“Acid Bubbles!” Pagumon launched his attack at the clothing. A shadow leapt from behind the rack.

“Atomic Tail!” Nyaromon jumped at the foe and swung her tail, but it drew a bamboo sword and blocked the attack. Nyaromon jumped back to a safe distance and examined her foe. It was a short creature that wore a horned helmet. It had robes and chain-mail armor. Its bare feet and tail suggested the creature was reptilian. “Who are you?” Nyaromon demanded.

The digimon was silent for many moments, it finally dropped its battle stance and spoke, “I am Kotemon.” Its voice was that of a young boy.

“What are you doing here?” Nyaromon pressed.

“I can not tell you.” Kotemon stood his ground.

“Ya know, it's still a long flight to Minneapolis, and it's gonna be REALLY awkward if you're all cryptic like that the whole time.” Pagumon mused from across the room.

Kotemon was silent for a few more moments. “Fine…” He said, “I am a bounty hunter.”

Nyaromon and Pagumon looked at each other, then back to Kotemon. “…Bounty hunter?”

“…In training,” he admitted, “I was hired to track some humans and retrieve artifacts that they hold.”

Nyaromon turned back to Pagumon, “Digivices?” She whispered. They exchanged a look and Nyaromon turned back around. “Look, kid. You seem to be a bit out of your league with this one. Just go back to the digital world.”

“You're allied with the humans?” Kotemon assumed his battle stance again.

“Yeah, so what?“ Pagumon shouted.

“I don't want to fight you…”

“Then get lost!”

Kotemon ran at Nyaromon, who was closest. “But you leave me no choice!” He attacked with a swift horizontal slash. Nyaromon jumped, and Pagumon's Acid Bubbles hit Kotemon in the face after he missed. He groaned and lifted his mask to rub his eyes.

“Atomic Tail!” Nyaromon did an aerial front flip and smacked Kotemon's head into the ground.

“I can not win this way,” Kotemon whispered to himself. He put his mask back down and raised his fist. “Thunder Kote!” He punched the floor, sending a small shockwave throughout the cargo hold. It was enough to stun Nyaromon and knock Pagumon off the piano he was sitting on. He jumped to his feet. “Two against one is an uneven fight. I will settle this with my ultimate attack.” He lined up his sword with both opponents. He concentrated, and the bamboo sword burst into flames. “Hothead!” He made a large, vertical slash in their direction, sending a fire projectile careening down their path.

“Quick!” Nyaromon leapt out of the way of the attack. Pagumon didn't jump quickly enough and was caught in the blast when the projectile collided with the piano. Burning chunks flew into the air as the piano was sliced in two. The sprinklers in the cargo hold went off and water poured down from the ceiling.

The digimon all looked up in confusion. Pagumon picked himself up, “What the hell?”

Kotemon stared up at the sprinklers curiously. He suddenly noticed a crackling sound coming from his robes. “Huh?” He pulled out a round device that was reacting to the water. “What!? No!” The device imploded, pulling Kotemon into a vortex that vanished in a flash.

Nyaromon called over to Pagumon. “Quick! In the bag!” Pagumon hopped over and they both climbed into Vinni's duffel bag. Not long after, a steward had come down with a flashlight to see what was going on, but the piano pieces had already been extinguished.

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Two hours later, they arrived at Minneapolis. Vinni grabbed the duffel bag from the luggage pickup (luckily Pagumon had redone the zipper on the bag in that time). Vinni's father was waiting in the car when they arrived. Vinni ran over to the passenger side window.

“Uh, dad, listen. This is Cassidy, she—“

“I know,” his father interrupted, “Rachel called and told me the whole story. Now come on, you've got some school shopping to do tomorrow.” They climbed in and drove back to Timberdale.

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Sinful Caverns, Digital World

“You said he'd be able to get rid of those pesky digivices!” Scolded a dark woman with many wings and a purple gown. She was face to face with a tall, leather-clad demon man with three eyes.

“Easy, Lilithmon. Thundermon seemed like a tough guy. We weren't counting on their dirty tricks,” explained Beelzemon, backing away from her.

“Like you, Beelzemon, Thundermon acted tougher than he was,” an old man carrying a staff and sporting a black cloak appeared from nowhere.

“Oh yeah, Barbamon? If you've got somethin' to say, say it to my face!”

“Master Barbamon!” A SkullSatamon flew in, accompanied by Kotemon. SkullSatamon bowed before his lord and spoke, “Master Barbamon, the hunter has returned.” Kotemon stepped forward.

“That was quicker than expected. So you have the digivices?”

Kotemon was quivering with fear “M-My apologies, I had just defeated their partners when my PortalPack malfunctioned. If I can use another one, sir, I am sure I will succeed.” Kotemon reported.

Barbamon scowled. “You're sure, are you? Because I am not,” Lilithmon giggled at the spectacle. Barbamon turned to Beelzemon with a crooked grin, “How sure are you, Beelzemon?”

Beelzemon smirked and pulled a double-barrel pistol from the holster on his back, “I'm sure about one thing.”

Kotemon backed away. “Wait! No, please! I-“

BANG!

Beelzemon chuckled as the particles of data flowed into his core. “Oh yeah, it's times like this I almost wish Lucemon were still around. He would've loved that.”

Lilithmon sighed, “Ah yes, Lucemon…” Suddenly she gasped. She picked up her gown and walked quickly to her quarters. Beelzemon, curious, followed after her. Barbamon remained, staring at them.

“Yo, what's up, babe?” Beelzemon saw Lilithmon gazing into the crystal ball in the center of her room.

“He's still alive,” Lilithmon exclaimed.

“Who? Lucemon?”

“It's barely there, but I can sense him. It's coming from the human world.” Lilithmon opened her closet, kicked aside some remnants of past victims and dug through some clothing.

“Seriously? What, are you doing something about it?”

Lilithmon walked over to him. “I've got a plan,” then she slammed the door in his face.