I've got you under my skin.
-Frank Sinatra
“Good evening, Commissioner.” The room was black, except for the light above the reinforced, steel door, and the large lamp bolted to the table. Commissioner Dargo Gordon shut the heavy door behind him, inhaling as he saw the smiling clown across the room. What was he hiding under all that cheap makeup? His wings folded behind him, he made sure to keep himself composed; calm, cool, and collect. These damned situations called for serenity, especially with this type of psychopath.
He sat at the rectangular table, almost certain that the clown watched his every move. Dargo saw the man’s half-shadowed faced and almost grimaced as a touch of light revealed a curved scar running from the edge of his mouth to just below his ear; and it was all underneath a heavy coat of white face paint. Who did that to him? Did he do that to himself? He pushed those thoughts aside and brought the real issue to the front of his mind.
“Mayer Dent never made it home.” The commissioner folded his hands on the table knowing he would get some type of riddle or something so cracked, Dargo would need a drink afterward; not that he didn’t already.
“Of course not.” And there it was.
“What have you done with him?” Dargo said, but remained calm. The shadows behind the clown bid some comfort to the commissioner as he kept his gaze on the prisoner. But a scoff came from the other side of the table.
“Me? I’m insulted, Commissioner.” The darkened figure leaned back and lifted his arms to show his handcuffs, “I’m good, but not incredible. I thought you left him with your guys- unless they belong to Z. Steele.”
Dargo hadn’t thought that this joker would pull a fast one like this, but he hadn’t expected a lot of things before tonight. Sighing, his time was up, and if they didn’t find Mayer soon, he’d be dead. And Digital City’s faith would die with him. The commissioner reached into his trench coat pocket and scored a ring of keys. Leaning across the table, he gripped the cuffs, unlocking them and fully expecting the clown to grab him once he was free. Unfortunately, nothing happened, but it was all okay, “I’ll be back when you’re ready to talk.”
“Ah! I know just where you’re going with this one.” The figured rubbed his wrists and cracked a yellow smile as he sat, “Two of your boys are going to come in and play ‘good cop, bad cop’ with me, right?”
The AlforeVeedramon quickly stood and made his way to the door. Turning, he smirked as the buzzer went off and lock disengaged, “Something like that.”
As he let the door slam behind him, Dargo exhaled. Normally, this would be where he’d have his men go in and do their tired routine, but this needed a different approach.
-------
Back in the cell, the darkness was silenced as the lights erupted into the room. The figure was no longer a figure, but a human; a scarred individual with a brown, plaid dress shirt and ruby red slacks. He’d squinted from the sudden burst of light, but that’s not all he squinted from as his face met a fist. His head snapped back, and tears fell from his eyes as blood trickled from his nose.
Of course, the fist belonged to Aguni-Man; Digital City’s own vigilante. The Dreamweaver was fully extended and his cards hung from his belt in their holster. He’d moved around to the side opposite of the clown, sitting in the seat the commissioner once occupied. He watched as the clown laughed hysterically and checked his nose, wiping the tears away, “You really know how to make an entrance! Kudos on the theatrics!”
“Where’s Dent?” The armor-clad warrior more or less demanded then asked.
“The world wants you gone so it can go back to business as usual. You’re a nuisance.” He was clearly evading the question, Aguni-Man saw this, but let him speak, “You’ve changed things; started to get on Zander’s nerves with your ‘goodie-goodie’ routine.”
Zander? It rang in the warrior’s mind as a name he should respect. And he couldn’t fathom what he’d done to have this happen, but he couldn’t imagine why Zander would stoop so low. No. It had to be a mistake.
“Yeah, I’ve been sending my goons after you. It’s been fun watching you fight for your life. You’d make a good side-kick in my little project.”
“Then why do you want to kill me?”
The clown immediately burst out into laughter. He rolled in his seat until he began sliding out of the chair, but he caught himself, “Zander wants to kill you. I’ve been testing you.”
“For?”
“Like I said, my ‘little project’. Let’s just hope you live long enough to see it.” With a smirk, the clown let out a chuckle, but Aguni-Man was across the table in no time with his hands wrapped around the clown’s neck. They both toppled over in the chair and hit the floor hard.
“Where’s Dent?” With a grunt, he held the prisoner down.
“What are you going to do? Bash my face in… kill me?”
“I’m considering it.” Aguni-Man squeezed his victim’s throat, raising his voice as his heart pounded from the rush, “Where is he?”
“That’s a choice you’ll have to make then. Killing is a choice, whether it’s for self-defense or the sheer pleasure. And I can tell you’re getting a boner just watching me squirm.” Aguni-Man stared deep into the clown’s eyes, but didn’t release his grip yet. The moment he said ‘kill’, the room they were in began to shift. Well, not so much shift, but ripple. The second time ‘kill’ was mentioned, the room rippled again, but this time it was more evident that the ripples were coming from the clown.
Confusion ran through Aguni-Man as he released his victim and stood to look at the room, which began to dissolve. Looking back to the ground, the clown was gone, and the room was no longer a room.
------
He stood, no longer Aguni-Man, but the vulnerable and scared Riko. Barren, jagged, rocky landscape stretched as far as the eye could see. A boiling canopy of dark clouds rolled across the sky, thunder brewing within them. Lighting constantly crackled across the sky, illuminating the ground for one or two seconds at a time. The boy looked at the expanse of rocks; he was alone.
“Time.” Then the voice echoed into his ears. Riko turned to see who it was, but no one was there. He spun around, but he was still alone.
“Time that you have wasted roaming the Digital World looking for answers. So much time spent searching for why you exist, when it has been right in front of you the entire time.”
The voice was calm, but somehow next to him. Riko kept turning, hoping to get a glimpse of whomever it was, but still there was no one, “Who are you? Where are you?”
“Right here.” Turning, the boy was greeted with nothing but thunder that echoed into the distance. Even then, the voice continued, “Over here.”
He developed goosebumps as he now felt another presence ‘swimming’ around him. He stopped moving when he felt the presence stop, though. He was sure that there was something behind him; something he could see, “What about here?”
The voice beckoned him, and he obliged, turning to meet the clown with the white face paint and red pants, “Who are you?”
The figure was silent for a moment as images flashed in Riko’s mind. A Gabumon, Agumon, and Terriermon faced him, but quickly turned their backs on him.
“I’m who you wish you could be.” The clown spoke, bringing Riko’s attention back, “I’m what you want, and you can have what you want.”
“How do you know what I want?” Riko clenched his fists.
“Oh, I know what you want, and your partners won’t cut it. They’re only as good as you allow them to be. They’ll run away at the first real sign of trouble, but I won’t run. I want to help you. I want to be your partner.”
Partner? Riko frowned at this. Was he talking to a Digimon? And the partners he had have been with him from the beginning. Dargo wouldn’t run away from trouble if he needed him, right?
“I want to help you get the power you are looking for; the power that will turn you into a God.” The figure continued, and approached Riko as lightning flashed in the skies. As the light revealed the character, his appearance wasn’t as it once was. The clown was gone, replaced by a cloaked figure. Golden-yellow eyes peered out from beneath a brown hood, but they weren’t housed in a vessel such as a face. The eyes were heavy and piercing, but hung alone in the shadow of the cloak.
The cloaked being circled Riko, “I’ve been testing you. I sent my… associates to see how powerful you are. And you are powerful. Zander is right to fear you.”
“Again with Zander. Why do you keep mentioning him?” Could it be? No.
A small chuckle came from the cloaked being, but Riko couldn’t hear it a thunder boiled in the clouds, “As I said before, he wants you gone. When he insisted on a meeting with me, I thought the puny human had a death wish he wanted fulfilled quickly. As it turns out, he was tired of you being in his way.”
“No.” Staring at the ground, the boy didn’t know what to think. He and Zander had been at odds, but Zander chose to attack him. Riko watched as his rival decimated the tournament dome when he called their match a draw. The only reason Riko stood against him was because he was trying to hurt innocent Digimon and humans. However, he believed they could be friends.
“Can’t you see, Riko? I only sent my men after you because I knew that whatever that human wanted, he couldn’t imagine the power you possessed. One day, you will have your revenge, but I’m offering you the chance at a new life; a life filled with whatever you want. Power beyond your wildest dreams.”
What was all this talk of power and revenge? Riko couldn’t figure out where they were, or even why he was there. He didn’t understand any of it, but there was one thing the Wisemon couldn’t have anticipated, “There are five things you need to know. Number one is that they’re not just partners.”
“Hmm?” The Perfect level turned to face the tamer again, “What was that?”
“You mentioned my partners; they’re not just my partners.” Standing back from the Digimon, the boy reached to tap his D-Ban. An analysis came up about him; the Wisemon is an ancient Digimon with the ability to slip between dimension as a form of travel between different places in the Digital World or time, “They’re my friends.”
“Number Two; I should have known this was a dream when I woke up in a Batman scenario. And you could have done a better job as a Joker-wannabe.” Letting his hands fall to his sides, he took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, reassuring himself, “Three; this is just a dream.”
The thunder subsided, and the lightning dimmed until it was nonexistent. Cloud rolled away to reveal the sun upon the foggy, jagged landscape, “Four; I am powerful, and I’m not alone.”
”It took you long enough.” The familiar voice emerged, but it wasn’t in Riko’s head as usual. The warrior of flame stood to his left, and the beast of flame stood to his right, ”We’ve been trying to get through for what feels like forever, and now I know what was blocking us.”
The Wisemon seemingly floated backward a bit, “What is happening? What are you doing here?”
”We are apart of Riko, and he is apart of us.” Agunimon spoke again ”You entered his mind and attempted to use his emotions against him, and you blocked us out for a time.”
Burning Greymon roared at the stranger, ready to leapt at him with his razor maw. Silence came from the Wisemon for a moment, “Anticipation. I admit that I was completely unaware of the bond this human made with ancient spirits. My anticipation of this event was lax and I must compensate for the future.”
“Compensate for this, too.” Riko walked toward the Demon Man, his fear continued to melt away as the sun seemed to shine a little brighter, “Five; you violated my trust when you kidnapped me and entered my mind uninvited.”
“But- I can assure you that I had the best intentions. Zander wants you dead, and I only wanted to help you.” Wisemon seemed to be projecting some type of friendly image to compensate for the fact that his powers were fading against Riko’s.
The boy shook his head and smirked, “He’s not the problem right now. You are.”
“Now, get out of my head.” He stood and stared at the Wisemon, concentrating on the entity that shouldn’t be there. Riko felt something began to move, but not physically. The movement was from him as he pushed against the Perfect level, “Get out!”
It wasn’t just him fighting the intrusion. Agunimon and Burning Greymon pushed as hard if not harder than he did, “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”
Wisemon began to scream and the realm shattered around them like glass from a mirror. The sky cracked and crumbled down toward them, and the soil crumbled beneath them, but no one fell. Riko stepped forward with one final push as his concentration hardened, “GET OUT!
------
“AAAaahhhhh!” Riko leaned forward as his eyes shot open; light burned his corneas. His head throbbed. Thumped. How long was he out? He found himself laying on a cold slate, and the room too big to just be for him. It wasn’t even a room, but more of a hangar bay for a few dozen jumbo jets.
The slate he lay upon, which rocked as he slowly sat up, was in between a stack of silver canisters and a cylindrical tube almost as tall as he was. The tube was made of glass and filled with liquid, and it was connected to a lot of cords and wires that led to the other end of the hangar.
The boy’s headache pounded even worse now that he was upright and stumbling off the slate to look at the tube. In fact, the tube wasn’t the only thing that caught his attention; that entire side of the hangar was lined with tubes, each with a body inside. Down the way, each wire ran from a tube to an even larger, rectangular, glowing case that nearly touched the ceiling. Inside, was the shape or shadow of a beast that Riko had never seen before, “Oh my God.”
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Riko’s head snapped around to see the hooded figure again. His body was still trying to wake up, and as he jumped, he fell to the concrete floor. The many fluorescent lights in the ceiling still hurt his eyes a bit, but he could still make out the brown cloak, “But it isn’t ready yet.”
“I should do away with you as I promised Zander I would, but I need you.” Just then, Riko felt a sinking in his gut; he was falling away from Wisemon, “I will see you again, but you must go away for the moment.”
Colors surrounded the tamer, and he couldn’t see straight anymore. Dizziness crept up on him and he wasn’t sure which way was up or down. Riko tumbled, but couldn’t bare it as he lost consciousness.
((I hope it’s not too confusing for you guys. Thanks for reading!
Disclaimer: The above scenario is merely a fan-interpretation/adjustment to a scene from the feature film, The Dark Knight. The scene was used for roleplaying purposes and not in anyway a claim as my own. Batman, the character and the name, is owned by DC Comics and Warner Brothers.))
