Harmony shivered as she wrapped her arms around her body. "Incredible," she whispered. "Absorbing all this data... that was so... so overwhelming."
Jeri nodded. "Yeah, I agree. It's not the first time I digivolved, but certainly the first time I absorbed a Digimon's data."
"Not for me..." Rika mumbled, still confused about the events. "I already... killed a Minotarumon once."
Renamon saw how her new sister was in distress and comforted her: "Rika, look: Defeating other Digimon lies within our nature. Still, we normally don't just delete any Digimon that we encounter... but if someone attacks us, it is normal for us to fight back. And especially if the enemy won't give up - like it had been with those guys - we'll be forced to delete them. Digimon don't think about it much when in battle... we just do it! It's just you or the enemy... always keep that in mind."
Still, Rika had a hard time grasping the fact that so many people - also people that she knew - had been turned into Digimon. What if one of those people would attack her one day? Would her new battle instincts tell her to... kill them too?
And then there was the fact that not only her father was a Digimon in this new world... the father of Jeri and mother of Harmony also have somehow turned into Digimon.
Or did they?
Perhaps she and Renamon just stumbled into some sort of alternate reality... and back home, her real family and friends were waiting for them?
"Hello? Earth to Rika? Did you hear what I just said?"
"Uh, I'm sorry... Harmony." Rika mumbled. "What did you say?"
The black-haired girl smirked. "I only wanted to tell you that we're back at your house."
Looking up, Rika realized that Harmony was right. "Oh... okay! Sorry, but... I've been thinking about many things recently."
"I can imagine," Jeri nodded. "It's not your daily event, turning into a Digimon, huh? I still wonder just how that happened? I mean, it could be because of our parents, but... I think it's kinda strange that all of us three have more or less discovered this ability at the same time."
"Yeah, that's what I wondered as well," Harmony nodded.
They went back inside. Rika's mother and grandmother had already been waiting for them. "Rika! Are you all right?"
"I'm fine... just ran into a few Digimon that wanted to bash me up..."
"My goodness!" her mother gasped. "Did they hurt you?"
"She's fine," Renamon assured her. "I protected her."
The woman looked back at her 'daughter' and shook her head. "Really, Renamon... I know it's kinda unusual for two sisters to be Tamer and Digimon partner, but... do you have to put yourself in danger all the time? I mean, it's dangerous enough for Rika... but you're the one who's doing all the fighting. And I really don't want to be worried all the time that my older daughter might... might... Oh, you know what I mean."
Renamon was surprised. Even though she already heard that she was supposed to be Rika's sister, the fact that her mother... her 'own' mother in this reality, was worried about her health really had an impact on her.
"Actually, Renamon is not the only one who fought," Jeri spoke up.
Rika gasped and tugged on her friend's sleeve. Jeri looked at her in confusion, but when she saw Rika's firm gaze and her shaking head, she understood: They shouldn't worry the parents with those kind of news yet.
"Um, I mean... Gargomon was there, you know? So it wasn't that dangerous for Renamon."
"Still... I would be much less concerned if you would behave like any other girl your age, young lady!" Rika's mother scolded her older 'daughter'. "You know, go into discos, visit some friends, have a boyfriend... those things!"
Renamon sweat-dropped. She REALLY didn't want to put more thoughts into those subjects... as long as she didn't know if this was still her own 'reality' or not.
"Listen... I'll be extra careful from now on, okay? I can't dodge every single fight, you know? If there's a Digimon that just wants to fight, I can't simply run away..."
Her mother sighed. "I know that... I know. Well, as long as Rika is there to help you out... I'm really glad that you can use those cards, Rika."
Then she realized something. "Honey... your memory holes... are they still there?"
Rika gulped. Now, what to answer...? "I'm sorry, Mom. I don't know what caused this. I hope you're not too shocked, but... perhaps my memory will return after several days. And I'm sorry I overreacted like this. I guess it was just a bit too much..."
"I understand! And maybe a good night's sleep is just the thing you need." Her face grew stern. "No nightly tours for a week! And this goes for you too, Renamon! Are we clear?"
They both sighed. "Yes, Mom..." came the stereo answer.
'Weird,' Renamon thought. 'Calling her that...'
"I guess it's the best if you two go home as well," their grandmother said to Harmony and Jeri. "Harmony, I know Terriermon can protect you, but... should I call your and Jeri's parents?"
"Thanks for the offer, Mrs. Nonaka," Harmony replied. "But we'll be fine. Terriermon can protect us, and we'll bring Jeri back home before going home ourselves."
----
Takato's mother stuck her head inside her son's room. "Takato? Kai? It's getting late! Time for bed, you two!"
"Aww, Mom," the goggle-wearing boy whined. "It's just getting exciting... can't we stay up for another hour?"
"Sorry, young man," she objected. "But I already gave you an additional hour. You've got school tomorrow. And while this doesn't apply for Kai, his mother asked me to make sure that he doesn't stay up for too long in the evening. So: Out with the computer, gentlemen!"
"Ooooh, too bad," Kai sighed. "Oh well, we can always continue tomorrow, huh?"
"Yeah, you're right," Takato nodded. "Oh fine, Mom, we'll go to bed... just let me..."
"Now!" his mother commanded.
Takato groaned. "Yes, Mom..." He saved the changes, ended the game and shut down the PC.
"Good boy," his mother smiled. Then she looked around. "Where's Guilmon? Is he still out?"
Takato looked around. "Uh, I guess! I believe he said something about going out..."
"Oh well, I believe he can take care of himself," Mrs. Matsuki said. "Good thing we installed that cat door for him." She smirked. "Well... it's pretty big for a cat door, but I suppose we can call it that. Although we can be glad that no Chuumon came in at night up to now, huh? Good night, boys!"
She closed the door.
Kai chuckled. "Your Mom can be funny sometimes, right? Chuumon... Heh, imagine that! But I'm surprised that she knows so much about Digimon."
"Well, perhaps she overheard it when I talked about Digimon once," Takato took a guess while they got ready for bed.
Kai grinned at his cousin. "Yeah, with such a Digimon freak like yourself, it's no wonder she picked something up."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
Just then, the door opened and Guilmon came in. "Takato, I'm back... oh, you're finished with your game?"
"Yeah, it's a bummer, but what can we do? And Mom's right, we have school tomorrow." He smiled. "Well, right after school I'll come back, and then we can continue."
"Nice!" Kai said while he prepared to roll out his sleeping bag.
Guilmon's ears drooped. He had hoped that tomorrow, they would go and meet the others. After all, they had planned to do it today.
"I was in the park today," he told the two boys as he lay down on the ground. "I met Impmon and Calumon."
"Oh?" Takato asked, his mind already wandering back to the game. "Had fun?"
Guilmon nodded. "Yes, they had some new Digimon friends with them I didn't know... Their names were TinyDevimon and Cupimon, but Impmon called them Mako and Ai, just like his human friends. Strange, huh?"
"That's nice, Guilmon..." Takato yawned while covering himself with his blanket. "Night, pal..."
Guilmon was really disappointed now. Takato didn't even listen to him... What should he do to make him play with him again?
"Stupid game..." the red dinosaur muttered while curling up to sleep. At the beginning, it had been interesting and fun. But now, Takato and Kai didn't seem to think about anything else anymore...
Back in it's drive, the game CD glowed briefly in a dim, eerie light...
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(Posted Fri, 29 Dec 2006 13:52)
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