One Stormy Night

Impmon was slighty confused by Renamon's want for him to stay. On most other days, she would have let him walk away without a second thought. But this wasn't the first strange thing he had noticed. After their return from the digital world, she hadn't looked him straight in the eye without turning away suddenly. Did she still hate him for what he had done to Leomon...? He slowly looked down at his hands in thought, remembering just what they had done.


A rain drop dripped on his nose gently and he sneezed. Light rain drops turned into a thunderstorm in a few minutes. It started to get cold as a gust of wind blew past Impmon.


-Just great...- he thought. -... Renamon pulls me aside for some reason... and now this.- He wanted to yell at the sky for it's timing, but had to think about other things. "Common, Foxface. There's that gatehouse that Pineapple head usually stays in. We can get outta this storm, at least..."


Renamon shook her body like a dog would while standing up. "Yes.... that would be a good idea... I need to get someplace dry... I'm going to stink with my fur soaked..."


The two hurried up the path to the gatehouse as lightning flashed across the sky, followed by the sound of thunder not far behind it. The storm was getting worse, and Impmon knew Mako and Ai were home in their room... Ai was terrified of thunderstorms. Mako didn't do so well with them either, but at least he knew that they wouldn't hurt him. The gate to Guilmon's hideaway swung in the wind as they approached it to enter.


Renamon ran inside as Impmon held open the gate so it wouldn't hit her while blowing in the wind. When she was inside, impmon walked in behind her and closed the gate, then locked it so it would fly open anymore. She sat against the wall away from the dirt left over from the hole guilmon dug from trying to find the portal to the digital world. She held her knees close to her chest and shivered. Her fur dripped rain water around her causing her to be even more cold.


Impmon was soaked as well, but he could handle it no problem. He had been outside in the rain countless times before. He looked at Renamon huddled to the side, and realized that even though they were out of the rain, Renamon's fur held most of the water tight to her body-- and the temperature was still dropping. He put two and two together... and realized that Renamon could be in serious trouble if he couldn't do anything about the cold.


Renamon turns to look at impmon looking down at the ground with a worried look. "Impmon.... what's wrong? are you ok?" When she spoke he lifted his head up to look deeply at her with kind emerald green eyes. She blushed and looked down. "Look... you don't have to worry about me.... I'll be fine... I just need to dry off and stay warm that's all...." Just then she sneezed.


Her words and her reactions said two different things. Impmon knew that something had to be done. -If I don't do something fast... she'll be a digisicle! I... I can't...- His thoughts raced with so many memories. Even the memory of Rika and Kyubimon coming for him when he was at his lowest in the Digital world. She had saved him, and it was his duty to repay her! His mind was now set-- and so he began to focus. His goal was the one thing he could do without a tamer that no other Digimon with a tamer could do: Digivolution.


Renamon closed her eyes for a moment to try and relax from being cold and wet. Soon she opened them to find herself in front of a glowing light. Her eyes widened as impmon grew and changed into the demon lord she came to know and love. When he was done, he cracked his neck and shoulder blades and smiled at down at her. More confused then ever, she started to stutter yet again. "I..... I ..... I don't understand.... why are you wasting your energy?"


"Who said I was wasting it, Foxface?" Beelzemon replied simply. As Impmon, he wouldn't have been able to offer much warmpth, as he was smaller than she was. But as Beelzemon-- that was a different story all together. This would also prove to him if Renamon was still upset about what he had done as Beelzemon. Would she accept his help in this form? The only way to find out was to attempt to help her regardless, but how to go about it would be the challenge. He took a step toward her, hoping that Renamon wouldn't have a bad reaction.



Renamon sat there gripping the ground underneath her. Her sapphire eyes glimmered with happiness. "This..... This is what i wanted ever since I met you..... for you to finally be honest with yourself, to not hold back your emotions.... You.... you really do care for me.... don't you....."


Beelzemon grumbled slightly, as his old tendency for disliking anything to do with this sort of conversation flared up slightly. He fought against it, not wanting to endanger Renamon with the cold which was settling into the area. "Yea, of course I care. You'd care too, if you were me." He glanced away with an awkward feeling weighing on his chest, but forced himself to get closer to Renamon despite it. "I don't want you to get too cold..."


Renamon smiled with great joy. She patted the ground next to her telling him to sit next to her. When he sat down she giggled, even sitting down he was very tall. She ruffled her fur one last time so she wouldn't get his leather clothes wet as well. She got up and lied in his lap, her head nuzzled his broad chest.


The strange feeling only seemed to grow with the position he was in. Something about this felt right-- like he had been waiting too long for it. It made his thoughts awkward as well. Renamon was so close to him... the Demon Lord in him didn't mind it at all, and this bothered Beelzemon slightly. If the Demon Lord wanted it, there must be something about it that wasn't right. The rain eventually stopped, but the clouds above only grew darker as the temperature continued to drop like a stone. Outside, blades of grass that were out of sight to those inside the gate house became covered in frost. The wind that blew next carried with it a familiar feeling that would cause any self-respecting Digimon to become alert. The presence of a wild Digimon.


Renamon raised her head and sighed. "Why does something have to appear now.... I'm too comfortable to move....."


Beelzemon simply looked out toward the gate. "You don't have to move. I don't think anything would want to tangle with a Mega straight out of the gate..." With this, he put his arms around Renamon, as if to show whatever came their way that she was his.


She smiled and leaned against him once more. "That's right, I forgot I had a big, handsome, strong mega to protect me. She said in a sexy tone of voice.


Beelzemon couldn't stop a Smirk from spreading across his face. "Damn right you do." He said quietly, but he knew Renamon could still hear. "... and only a Mega can beat a Mega. This one doesn't feel anywhere near that."


Renamon's ears lifted up. "That's strange.... this one feels..... familiar.... like I've fought this one before.... but that's impossible.... That makes me worried...."


"... Fought it before..?" Beelzemon didn't understand how a digimon that had been 'fought before' could even exist. Most that were defeated had their data absorbed... and even if the data wasn't taken, the Digimon would be completely reset from the start in the Digital world. They wouldn't remember what had happened to them, unless someone altered their code... The wind suddenly stopped, and many of the trees outside were coated in a sheet of glaring ice in a flash. The unsettling familiarity of the patterns in the frost elsewhere seemed to upset Renamon even more. Then a chilling voice broke the silence from outside. "... Where is your tamer...?"


Renamon jumped out of Beelzemon's lap and on the ground terrified. "Oh no..... not him..... anything but him...."


Beelzemon seemed to growl, hating whoever the voice belonged to because they had caused Renamon to leave his lap. "... if he's not stupid, he'll just leave. A Mega like me is too much for him, anyway." He grumbled. "... If Rika is not here, then that makes this pare simple for me." The cold voice seemed to continue on without getting it's desired response. "And if you insist on playing a game of hide and seek with me, then that will be the final game you play."


Renamon stared at Beelzemon while he was growling, he looked similar to an intimidating wolf growling, ready to charge at it's prey. "I can't help but feel impressed Beelzemon..... then again..... you always impress me."


Beelzemon didn't know how to respond to Renamon's words, and the strange feelings from before were now very strong. He got up with a determined look in his eye. "If this one's bothering you that much, whatd'ya say I chase him off?" He couldn't help but grin slightly. "He's no Mega, so he should book it pretty quick."


"I agree, nothing would make me happier then teaching this fool lesson or two, maybe pinning him down in the dirt while choking him seems to sound suitable." She giggled slightly.


Beelzemon chuckled. For a Nature Spirit Digimon, Renamon's though sounded pretty dark. It was amusing that she wanted this Digimon to suffer so badly. "... Just starting with a good 'back off' isn't good enough for ya?" Beelzemon grinned back at her. "I'll be back in a jiff, Tootse." With that, he stepped out of the Gatehouse.


Renamon leaned against the outside wall of the gate and sighed with happiness. "It seems I tend to have such strange feelings whenever I'm around you, tell me.... do you ever feel the same around me?"


"To tell the honest truth, I'm not sure what I feel. I just know that it's a hell of a lot different when you're involved." Beelzemon keeps his voice as level as possible, speaking with one final glance back at Renamon before turning to search for his target. "Now... What were you trying to say about a 'Final Game'? I want to see if you really have it in you to play." Beelzemon called out across the frozen landscape.


IceDevimon made it colder around were Beelzemon was stalking the grassy field. The ice demon came out fast form under the ground in a ghost like form. He held his claws up high and slashed Beelzemon's back causing his shoulder blades to freeze in solid ice.


"Gaah!!" The sudden strike from the odd angle sent Beelzemon starring, turning as fast as he could to try and locate his enemy. With his Shoulders frozen, drawing one of his Eggplant guns would be a nightmare.


"Oh no!" Renamon jumped in the air and used her diamond storm attack. The attack hit IceDevimon and didn't do a lot of damage, but distracted him enough to have her get past him without getting frozen herself. She ran to Beelzemon and quickly. "Are you ok?!"


"I... rrg. I'm fine. He took a cheap shot, is all..." Beelzemon growled, reaching carefully up his back to sink a claw into the ice. The resulting cracks allowed him to break free without much pain. "... Let's see him do that again." There it was-- that battle hungry smirk. Soon he had both Eggplant guns out and was scanning their surroundings.


IceDevimon growled in anger flying directly to him full speed. He stopped when a couple of inches away and used his avalanche attack heading towards his guns hoping to freeze them and his body once again.


Beelzemon noticed the blurr of motion in time to prevent his body from being frozen, but his Eggplant Guns were removed from his grip by Ice Devimon's assault. The tingling pain of the cold nearly caused his fingers to go numb as he jumped away from his adversary. How could a Champion-level Digimon like Ice Devimon be this fast? And how was it that he could do so much damage with just a glancing blow like this? Beelzemon felt that there was a darker power at work here than just the frozen Devil-Digimon himself. Something that would most likely call out to the Demon Lord within. "Nice claws... for a frostbitten bat." Beelzemon chuckled. "But I have to say-- mine are sharper! Darkness Claw!!" He rushed the Ice Devil at full speed, slashing toward him with dark power cloaking his hands.


IceDevimon took a couple of slashes to his chest and face. He could feel the stinging pain of his wounds, it would be a matter of time before his data would start to disappear. He fell to the ground with gaps within multiple parts of his body. The data started to blow away in the wind. "No matter, I've done my part here." He laughed devilishly as he started to fade away. "I hope you enjoy your pathetic excuse for a demon being completely frozen you foolish little fox!" Just then Beelzemon's hands start to freeze in solid ice, the ice traveled down and up his body to his neck. IceDevimon finally was completely gone.


Beelzemon felt the chill right down through his bones. "... What... The hell?!" He tried to fight off the progression of the ice, but found the more he tried to break it the faster it spread. Renamon had stepped forward away from the gatehouse, the panic clearly was written on her face.


"Renamon-- keep back!" The Demon Lord ordered quickly. "You could get caught in this too--" He felt his chest begin to seize up as the Ice began to coat it heavily. "I don't want that!"


"Beelzemon if you don't get out of that you can get frost bite! Your data will freeze and start to faded away!" Ignoring his orders, she ran over to him and began using her power paw attack against the thick ice. It seemed to make no difference at all. "No... please no...."


Beelzemon couldn't help his feelings. Renamon fought so hard, despite not making a single mark on the ice. He wondered if he would see her again, or if his data would reformat into the dark Devil Digimon back in the digital world. His thoughts then drifted to Ai and Mako-- his tamers. As the ice spread further, he wondered if their digivice was trying to tell them he was in danger. Would he ever see either of them again? The more he thought of each of the Tamers and Digimon that he had befriended, the more Beelzemon felt he had to fight this harder. He strained against the ice, hoping to crack it even the slightest bit. "... I... I won't let this... I won't let something like this stop me--" He growled, his power building quickly. "-- I CAN'T!!" Forcing his strength against the spreading ice, Beelzemon changed to his Burst Mode. His black wings spread wide, feathers catching in the cold wind.


Renamon's eyes widened as the ice shattered into pieces. She ran to him with tears in her eyes. She hugged his waist nuzzling against his abs. "Thank god.... you did it.... your alright.....I don't know what I would do without you!"


Beelzemon heaved a sigh-- partly from being free from the ice, and partly in response to Renamon's display of affection. His response was to hug her closer to his body, his wings naturally taking a more closed stance around both himself and her-- like a dark hued guardian angel. "... You would have probably gone to the Digital world to try and find me when I got reset. Any reason for you to have another adventure with the others, right?" He did his best to try and hide the strange feelings that were building up again.


"I saved you once from the digital world.... I'll do it again anytime." She looked up at him with a kind smile, her sapphire eyes gleamed in the sunlight. She sighed to herself, "I don't know why I always worry about you.... no matter what you seem to be able to take care of yourself... I'm sorry for causing a fuss a moment ago.... I... I guess that strong connection took over telling me to make sure not to part from you."


Beelzemon was only now just realizing that neither one of them had let go. It wasn't a bad thing, but it made these strange feelings even stronger. He wasn't sure what to make of it... and just then another strange thing began to happen-- Renamon's paw had found it's way to his abs while she had been looking up at him, and was now tracing over them slightly.


Beelzemon was only now just realizing that neither one of them had let go. It wasn't a bad thing, but it made these strange feelings even stronger. He wasn't sure what to make of it... and just then another strange thing began to happen-- Renamon's paw had found it's way to his abs while she had been looking up at him, and was now tracing over them slightly.


As she continued to trace she looked up at him slightly while smirking. His face was crimson red while having a confused look on his face. She giggled while saying, "Something wrong Beelzemon?"


Beelzemon caught the smirk on Renamon's face as she made a point of tracing up to his chest, where she simply let her paw rest. "... I'm not sure if anything's 'wrong', but..." He returned a devilish smirk of his own. "... you have to remember: I'm one of the Demon Lords. With you smiling like that... you might just be asking for more than you can handle."


"I don't think you understand the fact of that's what i've been trying to do from the moment we walked into that gate out of the rain." She couldn't help but smile at his one of a kind smirks she came to know and love. She hoped that he wouldn't notice her act of flirting with him just so she could play with his mind a little longer.


Beelzemon was still a bit confused about the feelings that he had, but he knew what he had said was right. The response Renamon gave him made him think. What exactly was she after-- he didn't really know, but a saying kept rattling around in his mind that Ai's mother used often. 'curiosity killed the cat'. He still felt he had to speak with Ai about what he was going through, but felt he was close enough to find out about it on his own. "You've been *trying* to get into trouble?" He asked in a teasing tone. "I'm used to you playing it safe..."


She took a step back away from him sensing calumon was near by. "Sometimes I need to in order to get what I want in life." With that she looked into his green eyes once more and walked away towards Rika's home.


Beelzemon watched her tail sway as she walked away from him while feeling slightly let down. He had no idea why he felt this way about her walking away as she usually did. He really needed to talk to Ai about this... but before he could finish his thoughts, a familiar, yet light, weight was put on his shoulder.


"Hi Beelzemon!" The young little digimon Calumon greeted him happily. It was raining really hard a few minutes ago.... I hope that doesn't happen again.... Anyway what's up? Where's Renamon going? What were you two talking about?"


The young digimon was always full of questions... "We weren't talking about much of anything... just that the rain had been so sudden." Beelzemon resorted to this for conversation, because if Calumon found out, he would tell anyone who would listen.


Calumon looked down at Beelzemon's body and noticed something strange. "Um Beelzemon.... why are you covered in Renamon's fur?" Bits of Renamon's golden fur was on his leather jacket and undershirt.


"When it rained, she got soaked, then it got cold. I didn't want her to get sick, so I had to keep her warm." Beelzemon didn't see the harm in telling a small sliver of the truth, as long as he didn't say too much. Looking down at himself to see each strand of yellow fur standing out against the stark black of his leather-clad chest... the slight disappointing feeling surged up again. Would he ever get that close to Renamon again?


"Oh, that was really nice of you! By the way, Ai told asked me to go find you and tell you to come home, she wanted to make sure you were alright in the rain."


"... yea... I guess I better head back..." Beelzemon slowly looked up from the fur scattered across his chest. "... what about you? Where you heading?"


"I was just flying around the neighborhood and I ran into Ai, now I'm going to fly around some more!" With that he jumped off of his shoulder and flew away to god knows where.


"... flying around and met Ai? She must be out and about for now..." Beelzemon wondered slightly about why Ai would be away from home... then he remembered that she and Mako had school that day, and were currently on their way home. He couldn't fly, for risk of being seen, so he decided to return to being Impmon before heading toward home.