Suzie was sitting in the living room of the Wong household, together with her father and Lopmon. While Mr. Wong was reading the newspaper, Lopmon was eyeing her Tamer curiously. The usually cheerful girl was in a deep state of brooding. Lopmon wondered whatever could be on Suzie's mind.
Finally, the youngest member of the Wong family broke the silence: "Daddy, what would you say if I had a brother?"
Janyu was certainly surprised. He put down his newspaper and smiled at his youngest daughter. "But Suzie... you've got a brother... Rinchei!"
"No, I mean, another brother... one who's as old as Harmony!"
Janyu scratched his head. He really wished he would understand his children better sometimes. "What are you trying to say, Suzie?"
"Um... it's nuthin'..." Suzie murmured. She wondered if she should tell her Daddy how she had listened to her sister talking to herself. Either it was an incredible game of 'make believe' (on which her sister had never been too good), or she had actually been talking to another sibling of hers... a sibling Suzie knew nothing about. That was very exciting for the little girl. Sure, her family was already big enough... but she liked the idea of having another big brother.
Janyu sighed. Maybe her mother could tell what was going on in the little girl's head...
As if on cue, his wife came out of the kitchen. "Lopmon, I've finished the preparations for our evening meal. Don't you wanna come and watch?"
"Um, I am grateful for the offering, but I am really not very interested in learning how to cook..." the rabbit-girl excused herself.
Sheperdmon frowned. "Really, Lopmon! How do you plan on being a good wife for Terriermon if you refuse to act like a proper wife would?"
Lopmon blushed through her fur. "T-t-terriermon?" she squeaked. "I d-don't know what you are talking about..."
"You can't fool me, darling!" Mrs. Wong smiled through her canine muzzle. "I know that the true reason why Terriermon hangs around our house so often isn't the fact that Harmony is his Tamer... it's because you are in love with each other. Why else would he sent us flowers? He was very careful not to be seen, but I could smell him through the door when he brought the last bouquet. I can understand you, though. He is quite handsome for his age."
Lopmon winced. How was she supposed to make her Tamer's mother clear that Terriermon wasn't dating her, but in fact Harmony?
The door bell rang at that moment and spared her from answering another awkward question. Janyu wanted to stand up, but Suzie jumped from the sofa and shouted: "I'll get it!"
Janyu sighed. "Well, then I'll take another look at today's news... I really wonder when the coast guard will take care of that pirate problem."
"You really are something, Janyu Wong!" Sheperdmon mock-growled. "Too lazy to get up from your chair to greet whoever might be visiting us at this hour."
A frightened squeak from the front door activated what her children always called her 'guard dog instincts'. She flattened her ears and ran to her daughter, while Janyu jumped up in surprise and Lopmon hurried after her.
In the doorway, Lopmon was confronted with a familiar scene: Doumon was standing right in front of them, dressed in a trench coat and a large hat, while his right hand was firmly gripping the shoulder of the young girl she had sworn to protect.
"You!" Sheperdmon angrily snarled.
Doumon grinned. "So we meet again, Sheperdmon, Lopmon! Say, isn't little Suzie's big sister here today? What a shame, I was hoping we could have a little rematch..."
"You will have to settle with me!" the family mother barked as she bared her fangs. She wished she had her daggers with her, though... but they were still lying in the kitchen, hidden underneath the knives and other kitchen tools.
"Please..." Doumon sighed. "I thought you wouldn't be as stupid as my imbecile son. You know what I am capable of when I digivolve, do you? Still, I don't think you'd be able to beat me even as an Ultimate... but I'm really not here to fight."
"Then let go of Suzie!" Lopmon commanded. She tried to sound brave, but failed miserably. Even if she managed to digivolve to Antylamon, the Lord of Greed was definitely out of her league. He'd wipe the floor with her, literally.
But that didn't mean that she would abandon her Tamer like this.
Suzie whimpered. "Mommy..." she sniffled. "It hurts..."
"Suzie!" Sheperdmon shouted. "You bastard! What do you want from us?"
"Not very much," Doumon smirked. "It's just that I heard about a very intriguing piece of technology that your husband acquired recently..."
"You don't mean..."
Doumon looked at them darkly. "Hand over the MCT, or you'll daughter will have to pay the price!"
'My god, we can't do this!' Janyu thought to himself while sweat was pouring down his forehead. 'If we give that machine into the hands of a criminal like Doumon... Mayumi told me what happened the last time they confronted Hiroshi's father in the Digital World... but... but if he hurts Suzie...'
"Janyu, give him the machine!" Sheperdmon said.
"Wh-what?" Janyu stuttered. "B-but honey... are you sure?"
"Am I sure? This is our baby, Janyu! I won't risk her life just because of some trivial thing like national security! Now get over there and get that thing!" she barked.
"R-right away, dear!" Janyu stuttered. He gulped. If Doumon wasn't enough, he didn't want to be afraid of his own wife's teeth... and damn it, those things could be sharp...
He hurried over to the corner where he had hidden the MCT underneath an old laundry basket and several bed sheets. It was heavy, but he managed to carry it to the door.
"Here... here it is," he said in a shaky voice. "Now, please... give our daughter back to us!"
"In a minute," Doumon replied. "Hand over the MCT, and I might just let her go."
"Janyu, do it already!" Mayumi snarled.
"Daddy... I'm afraid..." Suzie whimpered.
Janyu winced. He had no choice. "All right..."
"Slowly!" Doumon commanded as Janyu reached out to give him the MCT. When both of them touched the device at the same time, Doumon forcefully yanked it out of the other man's grasp. With a wide smile, he looked down at it. "Thank you very much for your cooperation!" he said.
"Now, our daughter!" Sheperdmon commanded.
"But with pleasure!" Doumon grinned. "Here, catch!" And he reached around Suzie's waist, raised her up in the air and threw the terrified girl at her parents. Janyu and Sheperdmon dove for her at once, so she wouldn't hit the hard floor.
"BLAZING ICE!" Lopmon shouted and fired a few crystalline bolts of ice out of her muzzle. Doumon reflected them by simply raising his trench coat. With an evil laugh, he turned around and ran.
Lopmon tried to fly after him, but when she went outside, he was already gone.
She sighed. "He got away!" She turned around. "Suzie, are you okay?"
The little girl shivered in her parents' arms. "Mommy..." she sobbed. "Daddy..."
"Ssshhh, it's alright, Mommy's here..." Sheperdmon whispered. She stroked her little daughter's head comfortingly. "It's over, he can't hurt you anymore..."
"I've had enough!"
Sheperdmon looked at her husband in surprise as he stood up from the ground. There was a fury in his eyes and voice that wasn't really like him at all. She had never seen her husband like this. "H-honey...?"
"I'm going to call Hiroshi!" Janyu said while his fists were shaking. "His so-called Digimon Force has to do something! It can't be right that our children risk their lives while they sit around in their offices and do nothing! After that, I will contact my friends... we have to find a way to neutralize the MCT's mind control, even without taking it off. We can't always rely on our kids to do the job... now it's our turn to take responsibility!"
He gritted his teeth. "And I'll be damned, but that incompetent Taomon friend of yours is gonna take responsibility for what his father did!"
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(Posted Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:44)
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