The Fallen: The Dying Earth

By Evolution

Disclaimer: Digimon isn’t mine.

The dying Earth…  It is rotting away, and soon even its bones will be dust blowing in the breeze…

The girl’s hair blazed like fire in thick blackness of the night.  She closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall of the gravel-coated alley, breathing in the bittersweet smoke of a light cigarette.  Opening her eyes and squinting at the pale glow of a streetlight on the main drag, she turned and began walking deeper into the alley. 

Her ears tingled as she felt the sound of shifting gravel other than that caused by her own footsteps enter her brain.  She stopped and turned around, frowning.  Behind her stood two scraggly looking men.  One was fat and stunk as if he hadn’t taken a shower in weeks, the other was short and thin, with an ugly face that hinted at him having been abused as a child. 

“Fancy thing, a pretty girl such as yourself out here so late at night,” chuckled the ugly one.

“It is a rare site these days, isn’t it,” the girl said calmly, tossing her cigarette to the ground.

“And for good reason,” the ugly man’s eyes shined with malice, or lust.

“Heh, we’re gonna have some fun!” the fat one added, a string of drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.  The ugly man produced a knife from his side and began approaching the girl.

The girl began to slowly take steps backward, “Please, don’t hurt me…”

“You should’ve known better than to come out here so late at night all by yourself,” the ugly man panted with excitement. 

“Alone?” the girl smirked.  “Who said I was alone?”

“Hunh?” the ugly man mumbled.  Then he heard something land behind him.  He turned to see a large, yellow, fox-like creature standing behind himself and his friend.  He let out a quick gasp as he saw the fox raise its clawed hand, and swipe at the fat man’s head.  There was a loud crunch and the fat man fell to the ground, his head crushed and its contents spilling over the ground.  The ugly man dropped the knife and backed away, muttering some gibberish as he crawled against the rotting wall of a building, staring at the girl.  “Y-you’re one of those freaks!”

“What kind of freak would that be?” the girl said, approaching him.

The man glared and spat, “One of those freaks who has a Digimon!”

“Well, if having a Digimon partner makes me a freak, then I guess you’re right.  You, on the other hand, were planning to rape and then kill me, and I’m sure the government views you as a model citizen.”

“Please don’t kill me, I have a wife and family,” the man choked, tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Whatever,” the girl said mockingly.  “Sorry about your friend.  Renamon.”  The girl turned and walked away from the frightened man, the fox following her.  She glanced back to see the man running the opposite way down the alley, ignoring the corpse of his friend.  It didn’t matter; the rats would strip it of its flesh before dawn.

A small bell chimed as the girl and her Digimon entered the dark, smoky bar that was one of the few places Tamers who hadn’t renounced their Digimon could gather with a mild amount of safety.  There were many Tamers in the bar, most in their adolescence or early adulthood.  Digimon were also present, most clung closely to their respective Tamers. 

The girl and Renamon sat down on stools in front of the bar.  The girl tapped on the wood surface of the bar.  The bartender turned around, he was about twenty-five with black hair and a calm, pleasant face.  He was the oldest Tamer the girl had ever met, and about the only person, aside from Renamon, that she trusted.  “Good evening Rika, do you want the usual?”

“Yeah, Ben,” she sighed.  “Give me a Pepsi.”

“Right.”  The bartender turned and yelled to the wiry creature that was scuttling about behind the bar, “Geckomon, I need a Pepsi for Rika here.”

“Right partner!” the creature called back as it hopped to get a glass.

Ben turned back to the girl and smiled, “He’s excited because I taught him how to make margaritas today.” 

Rika took off her black trench coat and laid it on the bar.  She wore a black T-shirt with a deep blue, broken heart on the chest.  She swiveled around in her chair and looked over the crowd gathered in the bar.  Towards one of the back corners of the bar was a shady man with a hat covering most of his face.  She turned back to Ben, “Who’s that guy?”

Ben shrugged, “I don’t know, he just came in, ordered a Pepsi, and has been sitting back there for a couple hours.  I don’t mind him as long as he keeps buying drinks and doesn’t cause trouble.”

“Here’s your Pepsi, Rika,” the Geckomon chuckled as he set the drink in front of her.  He turned to the fox and blushed, “Hi Renamon.”  The fox responded with silence. 

“Hey, another beer down here!” called one of the customers. 

“Right!” cried the Geckomon, “Talk to you later, Renamon!”  The creature jumped down the bar to the needy customer.

Rika squinted at Ben, “I’m the only one here who orders Pepsis.”

“Well,” Ben frowned, “he is a newcomer.”

“Did he bring a Digimon?”

“No, but there are a lot of people who come here without their Digimon.”

“I don’t know,” Rika growled, “he looks pretty suscpicious to me.  He might be a government agent.”  She looked over to Renamon, “Let’s go find out about this guy.”

“Please don’t do that Rika,” Ben pleaded, “I’m sure that if he was an agent something would have happened by now.”

Rika frowned, “Maybe, but I’m gonna watch that guy.”

“If he tries anything, I’ll be on him in an instant,” said Renamon.

“Just try not to make too big a mess in my bar, Renamon.”  Renamon nodded.

Ben turned back to Rika, “Anything new happen today?”

“Nope, pretty ordinary.  I staked out some potential hits in the southern area, killed one of two assholes who thought they could rape me on the way over here.”

“Yeah, I can’t say my day’s been much more exciting.  So, thinking of robbing some people in the rich district huh?  Gotta watch out, they have pretty tight security over there.”

Rika took a sip of her Pepsi, “Nothing Renamon and I can’t handle.”

The door to the bar quietly creaked open, and the dull thud of heavy boots mingled with the voices of the bar.  The eyes of the girl and the bartender turned to meet the black-garbed man wearing sunglasses.  A sun-cracked cowboy hat topped his head and his dry lips were emotionless.  Rika looked over to Renamon, whose eyes were glowing with mistrust.

The man stood in front of the door, not moving or speaking, just looking over the crowded room.  Then… he smiled.

“A free-agent!” Rika yelled, pulling a gun from the holster at her side.  Renamon shot immediately from the bar stool, her claws aimed at the man’s throat. 

The man pulled a small circular device from his pocket, and tossed it in the air.  A blue electrical current shot from it, flowing across the room.  As it did so, all the Digimon in the bar, including Renamon, fell to the ground and didn’t move.  With his other hand, the man pulled out a gun and fired a laser blast at Rika, hitting the gun out of her hand. 

Rika clasped her hand in pain and glared at the man as he approached her, pointing the gun at her head.  She glared at him.

“You freaks are always letting your guard down,” the man smirked.  “Now all of you are going to rot in the death camps.”  Ben slowly reached under the bar to grab the weapon he had stored there.  The man looked at him, “Don’t even try it.” 

Through the corner of her eye, Rika saw the shady man who had been sitting in the back of the bar approaching the agent.  The shady man, whose face was still covered by his hat, called out, “This is my catch.”

The agent looked at him and frowned, “I think not, buddy.”

“Yes, I was here first, now get out and let me handle this before I report you to the agency.”

“I don’t care if you were here first pal, I did all the work, so I’m getting paid for turning these freaks over to the government.”

The shady man was now just a few feet away from the agent.  “No.”  The man pulled a gun from his side and pointed it at the agent.

The agent in turn aimed the gun at the shady man.  “What, are you going to shoot me?  That’ll get you thrown in the death camps along with all these other freaks.”

“Yes,” the shady man said and he pulled the trigger.  A bright red dart hit the agent in the neck, and he fell to the ground before he had time to react.  Then the shady man turned and looked at Rika. 

Rika slowly moved her hand toward another gun hidden at her side, keeping her eyes fixed on the shady man, who continued to stare at her. 

“Wait,” the shady man said to Rika, “let me show you something.”  He pulled off his hat with his free hand, exposing his dark hair and a vibrant face of Chinese ancestry.

“Henry…” Rika gasped.

Author’s Note: Thoughts?  Please be gentle, this is my first fic.