Beep... Beep... Beep....

That was all Eric could hear as he focused on
the slumbering girl before him. It had been a
week since the encounter with Ice Devimon.
The results of that battle though had tainted
him with the fact that he hated him so much,
that he wanted to kill him. Several times over
in fact.

Which brought up another disturbing concept.
He could hate that hard, so much in fact that
he was willing to kill. The thought of killing
hadn�t crossed his mind until Jullie lay there,
the mocking laughter of Ice Devimon ringing
in his ears.

The smell of fresh flowers, roses, Jullie�s
favorite wafted over him as he placed the
rose bunch in the vase next to her. He took
a seat and folded his hands, resting his chin
on them.

The doctors had moved Jullie to the children�s
wing of the U of A Hospital, and Eric came to
visit every day. Even though she seemed
perfectly healthy, she did not want to wake.

The doctors diagnosed her being in a coma,
but Bones and Carter had come the day she
was out of intensive care and scanned her.

�She�s fighting the viral infection,� Bones had
said as he finished his scans. �There�s no
designated time when she would come out of
her mind since all her power is going to fight
the viral data.�

Eric clasped his hand around hers as the
machines monitored her life support. �It�s my
fault. I should have acted faster.�

�It�s no one�s fault,� Carter said from the door.

Eric looked up. �Can�t you do anything?�

�Besides attempting a Vulcan Mind Meld,
which by the way, I�ve tried, I can�t do
anything.� Carter sat down beside him. �You
care about her, right?�

Eric jerked. �No... not really.�

Carter made a rude sound. �Yeah right, that�s
why you�re moping around the Hospital almost
24-7.�

Eric sighed. �Maybe....�

<><><>

Digital Diaries : Adventures 2003

written by Shaun Garin

authorized by Lord Archive, set in his Digimon Series,
Red Digivice Diaries/War Diaries

<><><>

File 07 : Unknown Hunter

�That Ice Devimon was certainly not in the plan,�
the first figure complained.

�Yes. He was always a thorn in our sides. The
fact that he crossed over was bad enough, but 
the chosen kids took care of him, saving us the 
time and power to do so.�

�What are you doing now?� the first asked.

�I hear there�s a nice mall that could use a digital
field.� With that, he left.

<><><>

�I don�t wanna be here,� Eric remarked. �I should
be watching Jullie, in case she wakes up.�

�Likewise, I have classes to study for,� Bones said 
as he paged through a Card Captor Sakura comic.
�But it can�t be helped. Hikaru and Renamon want
everyone to cheer up and a trip to West Ed is the
best thing to do.�

Eric shrugged as he moved a few shirts aside as
he, Bones and Lopmon browsed the Comic King.

Lopmon sat in a nook of the store as he read a
X-men comic. �Wow, this is really cool stuff.�

Bones sighed as he put down a Sonic Comic.
�C�mon, lets get our stuff. The guy at the counter
is waiting.�

<><><>

�Aaahhh...� Carter said, resting on the inner tube
as he drifted across the wave pool.

�Aaaaahhhh....� Penguinmon sighed deeper as he
floated without an inner tube.

�This is relaxing,� Carter remarked.

�Yeah... simply relaxing.�

�I�m enjoying this,� Sharmamon remarked as he
floated beside them.

Lee emerged from the waters depths. �Hey, did
you hear that?�

�Hear what?� the three chorused.

Suddenly, a wave rose up and crashed over the 
quartet as they stood up, hacking and coughing. 
�I should have remembered that,� Carter said, 
wiping water from his face.

�Glad you don�t forget easily,� Penguinmon said,
still floating on the surface of the water easily as
Sharmamon thrashed for his inner tube and
Lee shook his head.

�Sharmamon, stand up.�

The digimon paused in mid thrash as he stood
up. �Oh.�

<><><>

BLAM BLAM BLAM

Hikaru lowered the Glock as she reloaded it.
Beside her, Renamon took aim and pulled the
trigger, sending a staccato burst of bullets at
the target.

�How can those two play with guns like that?�
Labramon asked curiously as she was held
by Raine like she was a stuffed toy. A rather
big stuffed toy but a toy nonetheless.

Raine shook her head. �I don�t know. Renamon
is good though.�

�I�m rooting for Hikaru myself,� Labramon
said. The pair giggled as the muted sounds of
gunfire were heard.

Through the windows, Hikaru lowered her gun
and put it on the table before her. Walking out,
she entered the waiting room of the Shooting
Gallery and removed her ear muffs. �You should
try this, it�s really relaxing.�

�I dunno, I�m not supposed to play with guns,�
Raine said.

�It�s fun,� Hikaru replied. �It helps vent frustration.
And at least here, we can also go play in Playdium
after Renamon and I finish shooting.�

�I can�t believe that they don�t notice a five and a
half foot yellow fox in a trenchcoat,� Raine said,
shaking her head in amazement.

�It�s part of her charm. People tend to ignore the
weird stuff, and frankly, unless you�re a potential
chosen or digi-destined, you won�t remember
anything unless you have prolonged exposure
with a digimon like our parents do.� Hikaru 
shrugged. �In a way, the trenchcoats still work
rather well.�

Raine giggled. �I see.�

Hikaru nodded, putting on her ear muffs. �I�ve 
got quarter of a box left. I�ll be done soon.�

Labramon nodded from her place in Raine�s arms.
�Have a good time.�

<><><>

�Argh!� Renamon fought the urge to pound the
game console as she swiped her card once more.
�Okay, one more time!�

�She�s really into that Star Wars Racer, isn�t she?�
Lopmon commented from atop Eric�s head.

�Yeah. Hey, check out Raine and Labramon!�

There was a substantial group gathered around
Raine and Labramon who had taken up a game 
of Dance Dance Revolution. The pair were doing
rather well, moving in intricate moves, their feet
seeming like they were hovering over the pads.
Well, Labramon had a slightly easier time since
she had all fours on the arrows.

But Raine was C-walking, a fact that didn�t go
unnoticed by Lee who watched carefully.

�I didn�t know Raine knew how to C-walk,� Lee
commented to Eric who watched with him.
Sharmamon was off at the fighting games area as
the trio wandered around, playing games.

�Oh yeah, she�s got a natural sense of rhythm,�
Eric said.

�That looks like fun,� Lopmon said, jumping 
down from Eric�s head. �I wanna try.�

�Well, there�s an empty game over there,� Eric
said. �We can try it together.�

After a few minutes of fumbling around, Eric
swiped his card once more. �Okay, one more
time! We�ve got this song down for sure!�

Lee smiled as Raine joined him, her brow
glistening with sweat. Labramon panted at her
side as she said, �Eric is trying DDR?�

�Yep. And failing at it miserably.� Lee took a
look at his watch. �The others should be done
with their games since it�s four. We need to
meet them at the front entrance of Playdium.�

�Okay. Once Eric fumbles this, we�ll get
going.�

A second later, the fire alarm went off as Eric
and Lopmon stumbled to a halt. �What�s going
on?� he asked.

Sean came running in a moment later, gasping
for air. �Digital field,� he gasped. �Ice rink.�

The three nodded as they rushed out, their
digimon following them.

A substantial crowd had grown around the
unnatural fog instead of evacuating the area like
they were supposed to. The security officers
were moving from person to person, assuring
them that there was no fire, but they should
evacuate quickly and quietly.

�It�s a field all right,� Lee said, switching his
glasses for sunglasses. �Lets get moving.�

Eric lowered his goggles as Raine switched 
her own glasses and Sean put on his sunglasses
as well.

No sooner than they had wandered into the
fog that Eric lifted a foot, his shoe squelching
water. �Man, something�s melting the ice!�

�Do you see it?� Raine asked as she sloshed
through the water.

�Not yet....� Eric�s pupils dilated. �Get down!�

No sooner than they had ducked then a
blue fireball arced overhead, melting ice as it 
went. �Damn, is fire a common theme these 
days?� Lee cried, ducking.

�Blazing Ice!� Lopmon�s attack tore through
the fog. No sooner than it happened then a
chain lashed out.

�Heat Chain!� Lopmon dodged it, returning
fire.

�Everyone, evolve!� Sean called out.

�Lopmon evolve!� The small dog digimon
flared into a grid as he was reshaped into a 
red ape like creature. �Wendigomon!�

�Sharmamon evolve!� He shortened in size
as the grid reformed him into a squat ninja.
�Ninjamon!�

�Labramon evolve!� Labramon became larger
and more robust as she exploded into a white
and gold digimon. �Shiisamon!�

�Destroyed Voice!� Wendigomon cried, his
weapon pods revealing themselves as they
blasted into the mists.

�Tiidiya!� The torrent of spirits sped through
the fog as Ninjamon added his own attack.

�Iga Style Shurinken Throw!�

A long silence passed. And then, a flash of
light and a sound like a thunderclap was
heard.

�What was that?� Eric asked. �Did we get
him?�

�Look, the fog is lifting. We must have.�
Lee said.

As the fog totally lifted, Sean shook his head.
�Nope, you missed.� He pointed to the blue
spirit fire scorch marks, the ninja stars 
imbedded in the wall and a portion of partially
bullet riddled wall. �Something else got it.�

�Maybe Hikaru or Carter?� Raine ventured.

�It wasn�t us,� Renamon said, appearing out of
nowhere as Hikaru ran up, Carter holding onto
Penguinmon. �We were caught up in the rush
to exit the mall.�

�Did you get a look at the attacker?� Hikaru
asked.

�Nope. Just a metal chain and a blue fireball,�
Labramon said, shaking her head.

Carter pulled out a small PDA and scrolled
through it. �That narrows down the search..
ah ha.�

�What was it?� Eric asked as Carter pulled
out his Tricorder and scanned the area.

�Yep, signs of extreme heat and there are
chain marks that have burn marks in the same
area.� He put both away. �That was a Skull
Meramon. A perfection digimon. You were
lucky to take him out.�

�We didn�t,� Sharmamon said, pointing at the
remains of their attacks. �Something else
took it out.�

Carter frowned as he scanned the area again.
�Yep, definite signs of another energy. But
without any other data, I can�t lock down the
digimon or whoever did it.�

Across the way, one of the two digimon
scowled. �Man, they beat our forces again!�

The second shrugged. �You win some, you
loose some. Our mission is to weaken the
barrier by constantly opening digital fields
in the real world. By the time we�re done,
no one can stop our master.�

The first scowled. �I hope so.�

�Patience,� the second said. �All will come 
in time.�

�I hate waiting, you do know that.�

<><><>

Authors notes : gets weirder and weirder,
doesn�t it? Seems to follow a specific pattern
when I write fanfics, doesn�t it?