Are You The One For Me, Kouji Minamoto? (Chapter 4)Ladies and Gentlemen, The Beetlemon

We all stared off up at the laughing Trailmon on an overhanging track. As it passes, a wave of sand passed over us. We blocked over faces with our arms, Takeru pulled me into his chest. How we all wished that we could ride on it. I really wished. I am physically fit-beyond human nature-but I hate walking. It's either running, or flying and since nii-chan wouldn't let me do either, so yeah, you see my point. We continued walking-ugh-and following the train tracks.
"Hey, cool, I've got sand in my ears!" Neemon shouted gleefully.
Bokomon, obviously annoyed, said, "Yes, and you're head is full of rocks."
Tommy, who was clutching his hat with one hand and my hand with the other, spoke in awe, "Wow, I haven't been in a wind this strong, since, uh…ever."
"Can't say I can say the same kid," Takeru-nii stated simply.
We heard a train whistle blowing and looked up, "Ok! Coming through, coming through." We all dived out off the way of the Trailmon, shouts and shrieks leaving our mouths. It laughed as it sped passed us.
J.P groaned, "That was close!" And then he became whiny, "Oh, why do things in the digital world always come out of no where?"
Innocently, Rio-chan looked up at him, "What do you mean no where? We're walking along train tracks."
I couldn't help but laugh behind my hand. It was funny, how idiotic J.P could be.
Dumbly, Takuya asked, "So?"
Keiyou, who was resting on nii-chan's head answered, "So where there are tracks, there's a train. It's kinda like the whole smoke, fire thing."
We came to the wind factory. Not one of my favorite places, but it was alright. Tommy was in awe though, like he just found toy land.
"Welcome to Wind Factory Incorporated," Bokomon gestured proudly. He sounded like our father, "Welcome to our home! Please, meet my son Takeru and my lovely young daughter, Anaki." Mom would jump in, just so she could embarrass us, "Would you like to see some baby pictures?" I swear, the amounts of people who have seen those picture…I was ready to burn them!
"Wind Factory Incorporated?" Zoe asked as if to make sense of what she just heard.
Neemon chimed, "A division of mother nature enterprises!"
We heard chanting, "Buzz, buzz, buzz. Hup, two, three, four…" Over and over…and OVER again. Got annoying ya know? I was ready to shout.
"Hey, some digimon," Takuya said simply.
"Kokuwamon, machine digimon. Why they feel threatened, they let out a million bolts of electrical charge. They're special attack is 'Power Surge'," Bokomon droned. Can't expect me to do it every time. Clumsily, the Kokuwamon fell like dominoes. Tommy giggled happily. He seemed so innocent. "Well, if there are that many digimon around, there should be some food around here somewhere."
Food…the trigger to Takuya's happy-go-lucky motion box. "Yeah! Ha ha! Alright! Then let's have us a feast!"
"But Takuya…" J.P said, "Hold on."
"Why, what's up?"
"Listen Taky, as long as you're heading out to get some food, would you mind bringing me an order to go with extra everything?"
"What?! I'm not the Pizzamon. It's every tummy for its self." Takuya growled and then took off running…again.
"Well, hey!"
"Last one to fill their plate is a rotten egg!" Takuya called as we all ran after him. "Woohoo!"
A siren went off as Minomon, a cute little digimon swung down. "Warning, warning, warning! A warning from Minomon!" I began to fidget as I looked at the cute digimon.
"Hello there," Neemon greeted as Bokomon flipped through his book.
"Aren't you listening to me? I said 'warning, warning'!"
"They're larva digimon," Bokomon stated.
I couldn't take it. I squealed, "Kawaii!" And then glomped the small digimon.
Everyone stared blankly at me, "Wow…"
Takeru-nii chuckled and then pull me off, "She loves cute things. You can never take her to a pet store without her going crazy."
"Nii-san, let me go! Let me go, let me go! I wanna hug it!"
"Anaki-chan…" He said warningly.
I hung my head and pouted, "Hai."
Nii-chan smiled and thought something, "You would have never known she was once in a-"
Minomon cleared it's throat and resumed, "There are no trespassers aloud in the Wind Factory! No entrée! Leave now! Go home! Stop! If you don't obey our warning, we will commence our fierce attack." Two more Minomon fell from the sky, "You have now been warned, stop! What we're trying to say is…GET OUT!"
Takuya and J.P backed away as I folded my arms and glared at the small digimon, "Not so cute anymore. I'm not scared of several in-training level digimon. Let me through! I'll-Takeru, let me go!" Yes, he grabbed me again.
"No, we're just here for a tour of the factory," Takeru charmed with a polite smile. Heheh…I was irritable and he was making up for it. Zoe made a noise of agreement. The Minomon went into a group discussion.
"Let's make the next stop the exit, ok?" J.P pleaded.
"Well come on in!" the Minomon squealed and J.P fell over in shock. We all laughed at him and went in.
We saw the Kakuwamon working and creating fans and a large, green digimon were watching over them. It was Goblimon.
"Goblimon. This ogre digimon loves being bad. It's special attack is Goblin Strike," nii-chan explained.
Minomon dropped from the sky, again, and asked, "Enjoying your tour?"
Zoe turned and said, "Yeah!"
"Have any questions?"
"Can we slide on this floor and take off our socks?" Neemon asked.
"Sure, if you feel as if you need to. Go ahead!"
J.P began to hop around and whine. "What's wrong?" Tommy asked innocently.
"I have to find a bathroom, like now!" And he ran off.
We continued through the factory and J.P made it back. The Kokuwamon were making and we found nothing exciting about it.
"Hey! Beats a folded piece of paper!" a Minomon shouted. "Now before we get you some lovely parting gifts, are there any questions?"
They all-other than me, onii-chan, Rio-chan, and Keiyou-raised their hands and shouted, "Yeah! Where's the cafeteria?!"
Hello! We're in a factory full of robots! You'll only meet, duh, robots in this place! And what do robots eat? Well…they eat power, ok? Power and electricity. The guys found that out the hard way. They got batteries to eat. Heheh…maybe I should've said something.
We all walked out, hungry.
"I hope we didn't offend the Minomon," Zoe said aloud.
I looked over my shoulder to the factory, "They're perky digimon. They'll be fine"
Takuya and J.P whined about being hungry and Takuya kicked a battery. It landed on a track and caught the attention of some Goblimon. We saw some run-down looking buildings and decided to check them out. I was getting a sad aura. It was really bringing down my mood. The buildings were where the Kokuwamon lived and-poor things-they looked miserable. They lived in the sun, where they could sweat and rust freely. Didn't that sound like fun? Yeah, you know I'm being sarcastic don't you? Smart you. Have a cookie. Don't get your hopes up, I don't have a cookie.
They all looked up at us. "You're kinda funny looking?" a kid Kokuwamon stated and then giggled along with it's friends.
"Where once there was there, but there is now here, which is neither here nor there," the elder Kokuwamon said.
"Raise your hand if you understand," I muttered aloud. Rio-chan giggled and I stroked her head lovingly.
The Kokuwamon told us there story of how they used to live peacefully in a lush forest and how they would play games among the trees. That's when the Goblimon attacked and captured them. Their factory was getting weaker and needed the Kokuwamon to make more energy. Their leader sent them out to catch the Kokuwamon. They were taken from their home and put to work in the factory. It was such a sad story.
"Man, that just blows," Tommy commented. From my lap, he looked like a three-year old. Oh, he's so cute!
"When we toured the factory everything seemed so normal," Zoe stated.
J.P turned to Takuya, "I knew something was wrong. My gut told me."
Takuya rolled his eyes, "Great, even your stomach's a know-it-all." He turned to the Kokuwamon, "So how come they needed your labor in such a modern factory."
"Our labor is a bonus for the Goblimon. It is not the main reason they keep us. You must understand, they would never let you outsiders know what really goes on in there. We Kokuwamon are a timid and cowardly breed by nature, but when we are frightened we emit electrical currents up to a million volts. So they scare us constantly. Sometimes they even pour water on us to short us out. Then they use the electricity we give off to the factory or even worse! They threaten to hang us upside-down so the charge rushed to out heads. And if all that doesn't work, they show us pictures of peoples feet. I've gotten so jumpy these days, that I feel like there's a kangaroo in my pants."
We all felt so bad for the Kokuwamon, having to go through that everyday. It was mean! Slavery! They were all so miserable and if they couldn’t go home, a vacation would be nice! Tommy then brought up the number one question.
"Well, why don't you leave?"
This stirred curiosity in the Kokuwamon's…uh…motors…I guess.
"Yeah, when the going gets too tough, the really smart ones take off," J.P said. How inconsiderate.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Takuya shouted. "If they take off, then the Goblimon would track them down and smash them all into little pieces!" He was really worked up.
J.P huffed and shouted back, "Oh, let me guess, Taky! You got some bright idea that they should band together and fight back!"
Both boys growled and glared.
"We're not really fighters and as for running away, we can't, because the Goblimon's security is too tight."
Takuya stood up and fought back, "Well, it seems like those are your only two options!"
After that, they all seemed interested. Takuya preached to them about if they ran now, they'd always be running, but if they fought now they'd be free. He said they didn't have to do it alone and that we'd be happy to help and we all were, other than J.P.
"Hey, who died and made you decision guy anyway? What if we don't want a part in this fight, huh?"
"I'm in!" Zoe said.
Tommy followed suit, "Yeah, when do we start?"
Nii-chan and I stood and smirked at each other, "When were we ever to turn down a chance to fight for justice?"
"Excellent!" Takuya shouted and after that, the Kokuwamon stood one-by-one, ready to fight for their freedom.
We were all so enthusiastic, other than J.P. I thought I heard something. My ears twitched. The voice. The voice of a small squeaky digimon, but I let it pass, just this once.
Takuya drew up a plan and everything. He was a good leader, stubborn, but good. "Alright, we're going to do this tonight. First Zoe will cause a distraction right here and blah blah blah….." The details are boring. All I do is take down any unexpected Goblimon. Kinda easy, having powers and all. Other than that, nii-chan and I are to stay out of sight at all times.
So yeah, Tommy comes in all innocent and Takuya talks to him all big brotherly-like when J.P says, "I'm not going."
"What?"
"You guys take care of this one and just holler if you need me."
Takuya got really serious and asked, "What are you saying J.P?"
"I'm saying you guys are on your own. You don't need me. You probably don't even want me! I can't become a digimon like you guys! I'm just tall, and sweet, and cuddly."
Pfft, who lied to him? Blame it on the parents.
J.P is just feeling left out, but he's taking it too far. I looked over at Takuya who goes, "Man, I will never understand what your problem is. Takeru and Anaki can't turn into a digimon, and they're helping out!"
"Yeah, but they will turn into digimon one day, they have digimon, and they have powers! You wanna know my problem? My problem is you…Trying to make me do something I don't want to."
"Does he have some sort of issue?"
"You two running your mouth are going to make the Kokuwamon cry," Bokomon stated matter-of-factly.
Takuya and J.P huffed and turned away from each other. Just a bit of pressure on a pressure point would knock them straight out. The Kokuwamon understood how J.P felt and didn't push him to fight, but meeting all of us, gave them hope. They believed in their selves now. That's all everyone needs. Just a little faith and for J.P, maybe a chill pill.
J.P walked to a window. "Believe in yourself…If it's just that simple. Give me a break."
I decided to leave then. I walked off into a secluded place, Rio-chan by my side. It was a bit deep into the forest, but I could still see the factory. I sat on a fallen tree and looked to the sky. I saw the face of a boy. Two of them actually. One was Kouji. I miss him. The other was an old friend. He had brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. He had the world. The whole world to him, and he was killed. He was murdered and it was all my fault!
"I know how he feels…J.P, I mean."
"I know you do, Anaki," Rio-chan whispered as she crawled into my lap.
"Akira-kun…he died saving me. He died because I didn't want to do something and stood up for myself. So he was killed on my behalf. He was killed protecting me!"
"Anaki, no! It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault," Rio-chan shouted. Trying her best to calm me down. If I got out of hand now, I'd do many things that I'd regret.
I felt warm arms around me. Kouji? Please let it be Kouji. No…it was Takeru. I wasn't upset, but Kouji understood best. He knew the most.
"Anaki calm down or you'll go out of control."
"But it was my fault! Mine. No one else's."
"It wasn't your fault. He stood up for you. He loved you and he died knowing you loved him too."
"That makes it worse! I…I…"
I could feel my eyes blinking. Twitching. Surging. Ready to turn red. The color of blood. Blood. Like Akira's blood that covered my body after he was killed.
"No, Anaki, no! Not here! You were doing so well. You're doing fine. Please, God, no. Calm down! It wasn't your fault…Do you understand me? It wasn't your fault!"
I shook, breathing hard. Trying to control the monster inside me. I bit my lip until I drew blood. Blood. The substance that I hate. I hate that it runs through my veins. Hate that blood is your life line. Hate that blood caused so much pain. My nails tore through Takeru's shirt and into his chest. He didn't wince, knowing what would happen if I didn't calm down. More blood. It was on my fingers now. These fingers. These hands that touched his dead body. All the blood that rested on my hands. I could feel my senses going blank. The demon inside me arising. Growing closer and closer to freedom until I heard singing, Takeru, singing to me. It calmed me. Made me feel happy. Made me feel…not destructive and then things went black.
I awoke in the middle of a battle with Snimon. A nasty digimon. Takeru had brought me inside the factory, hidden away from sight. Everyone was fighting, until J.P came in and started controlling the crane. He swung it into Snimon, who crashed into the wall. Snimon then threw an attack at the crane, which fell apart. J.P was unharmed, and watched at a whole was created in the floor. The whole revealed a spirit and guess who it belonged to. If you said J.P…you're very smart.
"Hah…SPIRIT!"
The spirit floated into his D-Tector.
"It is time…"
I could hear him laughing greedily.
Digivolution Sequence
J.P's hands crossed automatically and then pulled apart. One forced in front of him and then pulled back, a ring of data circling his hand. He spun once, then twice and said, "Execute…" he swiped his data ring, "Spirit Evolution!" His clothed dispersed (Isn't that a sight you want to see? *Note the sarcasm) into thin air. Blue and yellow digitized armor surrounded his body, electricity protruding from it. It covered his body, making him a large, humanoid beetle. He landed down on the platform.
"Huahhhh, unh!" He punched his fist together, electricity flying everywhere. "Beetlemon."
End Data Sequence
"Look, J.P spirit evolved!" Takuya exclaimed in shock. No, he turned into a marshmallow. Yes, he spirit evolved! Sorry, when I calm down from my little 'high', I'm either sarcastic or acting like I'm on weed.
"Yes, into Beetlemon. The warrior of thunder," Bokomon recited fro his book.
"I can't believe it! I'm Beetlemon! I did it! Let's get this party started!" Beetlemon cheered, doing the potty dance.
"Dance while you can, buggy boy, because soon you'll taste the power of Snimon!" Snimon shouted angrily.
"The only thing I wanna taste is a double cheese burger with fries!"
"Leave it to J.P to think about food at a time like this…" I muttered to myself.
With a battle cry, Snimon attacked Beetlemon, who evaded him easily. Simon attacked with his pincers, but Beetlemon was unaffected and slammed Snimon to the wall.
"Beetlemon one, Green Guy nothin'! Woohoo!" Beetlemon cheered while doing the potty dance again.
Snimon attacked him with 'Twin Sickles', but the thing is, they didn't affect Beetlemon at all. Bit by bit, Snimon flew closer to Beetlemon.
"Oh yeah?" With his chest pushed out, Beetlemon created lighting from his hands, "I call forth…the power of…Thunder Fist!"
Beetlemon slammed his fist into Snimon's head, forcing Snimon back to the ground painfully. Beetlemon pulled out his digivice, "Where once your power was used for evil…" Snimon's fractal code appeared, "Let it now be used for good! Ah! Fractal code, digitize!" He swiped Snimon's code for good. The Goblimon ran away in fear. The base of the factory, where the spirit had been, began to go haywire. Everyone began running.
"Let's go Anaki!" nii-chan said as he pulled me up from my hiding spot and carried me to the exit, Keiyou and Rio-chan following behind.
We all watched the factory burn and the Kokuwamon cheer.
"You can all go back to your homes now," J.P cooed kindly.
A little baby Kokuwamon said, "I was right to believe in you."
Just then, the Minomon were carried away by the sand and the wind.
We all just began to laugh, and J.P, to whine. "Now can we get some food? Please? Guys?"
I stopped laughing, hearing a different voice laughing with us. From the corner of my eyes, I thought I saw Akira, but then looked to sky.
"I will fight. Akira-kun…I love you and I always will, but I'll move on and this demon inside me will die. I found another who I love. Just you wait. I'm gonna make you proud Akira."
Takeru rested a hand on my shoulder and whispered, "I know you will." And then he looked to the sky too.