Chapter 24
Angel opened the door to her suite and took a look around. It was quite spacious, or it would have been if not for the countless, flowers, gifts, fruit baskets, fan art, and letters that took up most of the floor in the main room and was likely also covering a good deal of every other room as well. "I thought the room was supposed to be bigger," she told Rich walking around.
"It's the biggest room they had," Rich explained as he tried to find some space to put down her bags and rest his arms. "At least the gifts aren't as big as they were the last time you did a show. We got buried just by opening the door."
"All the same," she added. "It would be nice to have some time to relax before the show. I have to accept my fans' appreciation of me and read all their cards and go through every gift. It is amazing I find time to sleep after sending out all those thank you notes."
"But I do that," commented Rich, though Angel was already going through her letters from the first stack nearest a big soft chair. While she was doing that, Rich decided to put on a pot of coffee and grab a snack before he went to check out how preparations were going for the show. As he headed into the kitchen he spotted a single letter on the table that was in a plain white envelope and separate from the countless others stacked on the ground. Upon closer inspection, he saw it was addressed to him. Curiously he tore off the top and unfolded the paper inside. When he was done he placed it down and had a surprised look on his face. "Well this could be a problem."
"Are we finally here?" asked Rex eagerly looking at the sight before them.
"Don't ask us," replied Jack. "Look at the big lake with all the surrounding houses not to mention the sign reading 'Server Oasis.' If this isn't the place then I don't know what is."
"The let's get ourselves a new place to live," said Flint as he led his team into the nearest building that acted as the management office for the whole place. It was surrounded by a moat of water connected to the lake and had a bridge that allowed them to get across without getting their feet wet. Even so, Flint and Rex were in such an excitable rush to get in they rushed across the water without thinking.
"Better wipe your feet before you leave footprints in the carpet," commented Dan as they reached the door and kept it closed so they didn't rush inside. "We don't want to make a bad impression or they won't let us have a place to stay.
"Just let me do the talking then," explained Fonz. "We'll need a place with enough yard space for my trailer and the better places are going to cost a pretty penny more."
"No need," stated Jack. "I'll just convince the manager it is in his best interest to give up a good place on the cheap."
"Why would he do that?" asked Rex. Flint also looked confused, thought Dan and Fonz have extremely doubtful looks.
"I'll just convince him that it will help prevent a lot of accidents from happening in the near future. Now stand aside Dan and let me work my magic."
Dan knew Jack wasn't going to get anywhere with idle threats he didn't have the means to back up, but stepped aside for him figuring he couldn't cause a lot of harm either. As he walked to the door and reached out to open it, the door swung open and he found himself squashed between the door and the wall.
"You were right about the accidents," commented Flint. "We'll definitely get a really good place for sure."
"Maybe we should figure a contingency plan," suggested Fonz to Dan.
"Thanks so much," stated one of a trio of Gotsumon as they left from the office. "We can't wait to move into our new place."
"Well you should be very happy with it," said the Kiwimon behind them. "And consider yourselves extremely lucky since it was the last place available." As he waved goodbye to them he placed a sign on the door reading "No Vacancy" and that spread a look of disappointment across all of Team Matrix.
"Looks like we just missed it by a little bit," stated Dan.
"Nothing left to do but find somewhere else to stay," added Fonz.
"You don't have anywhere else to stay?" cried Flint, his heart set on staying here after only getting one look at the place.
"There is nothing I can do," the Kiwimon looking down as Flint clamped onto his legs beggingly. Normally he found groveling appalling, but this was just awkward. "Please let go of my legs."
"But you won't even give us a chance," wailed Rex as he sobbed while on Kiwimon's back getting his feathers soggy.
"When did you get there?" he asked barely able to move with the two of them on him.
"While you were busy crushing our spirits," answered Flint. "Now we'll have to find a trashcan to stay at because you turned us down."
"Now see here," he shouted. "I did no such thing. I'm quite certain I could find a perfect place for all of you to stay at." He shook himself free and headed back into his office. "Now come with me."
Dan and Fonz looked on in surprise as did Jack as he got out from behind the door. When Kiwimon was too far away to see them, Flint and Rex wiped their faces dry then hi-fived. Any sign they were sad was gone completely.
"Works every time," said Flint as they headed in.
"You guys coming?" asked Rex as he followed behind Flint. After the initial shock was gone they also followed wondering if they had this planned out ahead of time.
"First, let me introduce myself," he said as all of Team Matrix arrived in his office. "My name is Nook."
"Hi, I'm Flint and this is Rex, Dan, Fonz, and Jack," replied Flint.
"Pleased to meet you," Nook told them. "Now as I mentioned before we don't really have any available rooms." As he started to bring that up he saw the tears welling up in Flint and Rex's eyes again. "But I'll figure something out." He pulled out a map of the area with all the buildings. There were labels on all the buildings that listed the occupants. "Now let me take a look see at where I might be able to put you."
Team Matrix also gathered close to take a look and everywhere they look was already full. It started to seem hopeless, but then Dan spoke up. "What about that place over there under the red 'X'?"
"That's a place," Nook explained. "But it is in no shape for anyone to live in."
"Well what's wrong with it?" asked Fonz.
"Where to begin?" he started. "The most noticeable one from the start is the big hole in the wall facing the lake. The last residents liked to rough house and I had to convict them after that."
"A hole isn't so bad," commented Flint.
"Then it is like the outside is a part of our home," added Rex. "Just like at the lake we camped by."
"I don't know," argued Jack. "That would make it very easy for other Digimon to come in and rob us in the dead of the night."
"That's why we have you," countered Fonz. "A thief would never steal from another thief. Honor among thieves and all that."
"Like there's ever been an honorable thief," stated Jack.
"Then we can let you be in charge of security then," said Dan.
"Why do I have to?" complained Jack.
"Does anyone second that?" asked Fonz.
"We do!" exclaimed Flint and Rex raising their hands.
"Then it's been decided," stated Dan giving Jack a pat on the shoulder. "You are now, chief of security." Jack grumbled some stuff under his breath.
"You guys are quite peculiar you know that," began Nook as he returned to the subject at hand. "Besides that the roof was also demolished in the fight."
"Even better," declared Rex. "Now we can see the stars when we sleep too."
"Uh, I suppose so," he replied unable to believe how earnest they sounded about all this.
"Anything else?" asked Flint.
"There is also a hole in the center of the floor," he explained. "A Digmon got lost while tunneling and came up right under that house. Now I'm certain you don't want to live in a house like that."
"Secret passage!" chimed Rex and Flint locking hands and dancing around in circles. "We're going to have a secret passage! We're going to have a secret passage."
"Maybe you could turn them off by saying something positive about the place," joked Jack.
"Very funny," groaned Nook. "I can see you're all twisting my arm. Alright, I'll let you guys have the place. Now I'll just need you to fill out a few forms." As those words escaped his lips, Flint, Rex, and Jack screamed and dashed out of the office. None of them had ever seen a group of Digimon bolt away so quickly before they couldn't help but feel impressed. "Are they on some medication or something or off it?"
"No," answered Fonz. "They are just suffering from an acute penmanship phobia. Can we do it all without them?"
"That'll be perfectly fine," Nook told them as he took out a single sheet of paper. "Just a signature here and you're all set."
With the paperwork done Dan, Fonz, and Nook went in search of Flint and the others. They found then roosting in a tree just outside and when they were assured they didn't have to lift a finger to sign anything they climbed down and proceeded to their new home. It wasn't really far, but it was even worse than Nook had told them. The windows were broken and glass was on the floor. The front door was missing, but Jack found it was floating idly on the lake. The hole in the floor looked more like a pit as it was a lot steeper than they thought and figured it was going to be a doozy of a fall if any of them jumped in.
"So much for our secret passage," sobbed Flint. "Guess we'll have to plug it up with something."
"How about that boulder over there?" suggested Rex pointing to one not too far from the house. "That should be no problem for you, Dan."
"Well I guess that'll be alright for now," replied Dan. "We can use it until we can seal it up properly." He lifted it up with extreme ease, even though it was at least twice as big as him. He hobbled back over and dropped it in the hole so it wedged in the space snugly.
"I'll try and schedule a construction crew to come over to do the repairs," said Nook. "I had this on low priority since nobody was living here, but now I have reason to get it done. Will you guys need anything else?"
"I think we're good," replied Flint. "Now we just need to make some important decisions."
"Like who gets which room," added Rex.
"I call the upstairs loft," declared Jack as he started rushing up the stairs. He didn't make it far before they heard his scream mixed with a crash. They went to investigate and found there was a big hole in the stairs leading into a pantry under the stairs. When they opened the door they say that Jack was in a daze after his unexpected fall.
"Are you alright?" asked Fonz.
"I still call it," mumbled Jack, though the others took that as him claiming the pantry as his own and went to concentrate on choosing their own rooms. Nook made a mental note that he had to fix up the stairs as well.
"I caution you about staying here while the place is in this condition," Nook told them, but knew it was pointless at this point. "I'll try and get repairs done as soon possible, but it's probably going to take a while to get this hole filled."
"We can manage just fine," replied Flint. "This isn't the first time Rex and I hung around a condemned building. We know how to be careful. Rex, why don't you take the upstairs since you're pretty light on your feet?"
"The top floor is all mine!" cheered Rex and he ran upstairs to check it out. His footsteps were hard on the wooden steps; much harder than Jack's had been moments before, however he made it upstairs without a hitch.
"You've got to be kidding me," groaned Jack as he got out of the pantry and followed Rex upstairs. "I am not giving up the upstairs so easily." As he walked up the stairs, he tried his best to make it to the top, but the next thing he realized was that he was falling through the floor and back into the pantry again. "Then again, I think I'm growing fond of this place."
"How about you two?" asked Flint. "Where do you two want to sleep?"
"Well, once I get my trailer," explained Fonz. "I can simply sleep in there."
"To be honest," stated Dan. "Even with the lack of a roof and a perfect view of the lake from here I think I'd prefer to sleep on the ground outside."
"If that's what you want," replied Flint. "Then I'm alright with it. Guess that just leaves me."
He put a claw to his nose and scratched it. After he looked around a bit inspiration stuck him as he took some stuff and got to work in the living room. At first, Dan and Fonz thought he was just going to sleep on the old couch that was left behind in the house, but just took some of the cushions and taped them together. He then took some rope and tied the ends together and tossed it around some of the blades on a ceiling fan. He did it was a couple more ropes and then put the combined cushions on the rope. When he was done he had made a strange, makeshift hammock. All that he needed to do was test it out, which Flint did excitedly hopping inside.
"Always wanted to try something like this," chuckled Flint laying back and swaying around gently. He didn't show any indication he was afraid he'd fall off. Fonz and Dan looked quite impressed at his resourcefulness and Rex looked down from his loft imagining what he could set up for himself in his loft. Jack looked on rather mischievously and snuck his way to the fan switch and flipped it on.
"This ought to be worth a laugh," he snickered as he watched the blade begin to move and start to move slowly, though Flint wasn't affected in the least. If anything, it just impressed the others even more.
"This is working out even better than I thought," he commented enjoying the slight breeze he was receiving.
"For now," murmured Jack as he started turning the fan all the way up to high causing it to spin faster and lift Flint up to be almost parallel with the fan. Jack laughed imagining how surprised Flint had to be, but it didn't last long.
"This is awesome!" shouted Flint excitedly. "You've got to try this Rex."
"You don't have to tell me twice," exclaimed Rex as he jumped from the loft and hopped aboard the ride.
Dan smiled and clapped enjoying the performance. "You two are real performers," he commented. "You should both join the circus."
"It isn't so great," grumbled Jack.
"Look at the bright side," said Fonz with a grin on his face, knowing full well for Jack's part in this. "At least when it backfired it didn't blow up in your face." As soon as he said this, one of the cushions came undone and flew straight at Jack. It didn't hurt, but it hit him with enough for the knock him back into his pantry. "Guess I spoke too soon."
"Looks like I'm going to have to be prepared for a lot more repairs," Nook stated as he lowered the fan's speed to let Flint and Rex get down. Just the thought of it was giving him a headache. "But before I forget, we're going to be holding a fireworks festive tomorrow night so if you're into that make sure to be by the lake to get a front row seat."
"I see you really go all out for your residents," said Fonz looking rather impressed.
"We pride ourselves with excellent service and upkeep at Server Oasis," Nook explained. "Sometimes it is easier than others. Well I've got to get back so just make yourselves at home for now." He made his way out leaving them to their own devices.
"I bet you two are excited for the fireworks," commented Dan to Flint and Rex.
"I don't know," replied Rex rather plainly. "What are they?"
"You've got to be kidding," said Rex. "I'd expect you two to going nuts with excitement over this. How can you never have heard of fireworks before?"
"We grew up in the slums of Zip City," stated Flint. "Not exactly the nicest of places."
"And we vowed to never have anything to do with the word 'work' ever!" added Rex.
"Fireworks are explosives that fly into the air when ignited and blow up in the air creating an awesome lightshow at night. They are also extremely loud and are very dangerous if you aren't careful."
"Awesome!" they cried loudly jumping around unable to contain their excitement. "Fire, explosions, noises, and danger! We're going to go and have a blast." They then turned to one another and crossed their arms in the air. "Team Matrix is going to the fireworks festival tomorrow!"
"Better mark it on the DigiPad," suggested Fonz. "If today is any indication, tomorrow is going to be just as busy and we don't want to forget."
"You can say that again," agreed Rex. "But it is going to be so fun. A fireworks festival on top of a battle."
"Yeah," said Dan before realizing he had no idea what Rex was talking about. "What battle?"
"At the weapon shop we met this Renamon, Ember, who wanted to have a battle with us as sort of a teaching fight," explained Jack. "We set up the battle with the Digipad and everything."
"Let me have a look at it," Fonz said, a bit of concern in his words. As he received the device from Flint he tapped a few buttons to check it out then the look on his face was one of fear and he nearly dropped the DigiPad. "So you just agreed to this without telling us or checking out who this girl was?"
"She was very nice," stated Rex.
"And I could tell she was a strong opponent," continued Flint excitedly as he showed how pumped he was for the battle.
"And hot," drooled Jack recalling her curvy figure.
"What's wrong?" asked Dan. "Do you know her?"
"Not her, but the team name is pretty well known to guild members who have been around the block a few times," he explained. "You see, The Killer Threes is an inherited team. Members join for one reason or another and pass it on to new members. There are others, but this one is really well known for how they accomplish their goals."
"Well, what do they do?" asked Flint.
"Just as their name applies," continued Fonz. "They destroy Rank Three teams. Why do you think they are called 'The Killer Threes?'"
"Looking at it this way," commented Rex. "The name is much more intimidating than we thought. But they aren't going to kill us are they?"
"In a sense," Dan said taking a look at the DigiPad. "You didn't look at the spoils for winning did you?"
"Ember did mention something about a prize for winning," answered Flint.
"Well the team with more wins gets everything," Dan told them.
"Everything?" asked Jack. "What does that mean?"
"Just as it implies," Dan said. "Everything in our possession becomes theirs. We'd lose every bit of gear we got since we started even the weapons we just purchased. We'd even lose our Rank Three status."
Calmly, Fonz grabbed Jack's arm and led him into his pantry and closed the door. "I could lose all my afros because of this," growled Fonz gripping Jack at his shoulders. He was easily the angriest any of them had ever seen him, though it seemed he found it easier to lose his cool in front of Jack than the others. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"She was very hot," he answered. The others could hear the roughhousing in the pantry as they continued to worry about the fight at hand.
"Well, why are we getting so worked up?" asked Rex trying to calm everyone down. "We are new to Rank Three, but so are they not to mention we've survived things that should have annihilated us."
"Sound theory," Dan replied. "But who said that they were Rank Three? They're Rank Five and I've also heard a bit about them too. They're an all female team, but they only allow the toughest of members to join. They have a deep belief in female superiority and idolize one of the most powerful ones Digimon females in existence. Her name is Bertha." Hearing that name made Rex and Flint turn pale.
"We're dead," whimpered Flint.
"Deader than dead," sobbed Rex. "We won't make it through tomorrow."
"We'll miss the fireworks festival," stated Flint.
"No!" cried Rex. "We can't miss it."
"We won't miss it!" shouted Flint.
"We can't lose!" exploded Rex.
"We won't lose," declared Flint.
"We are Team Matrix are we will find the Infinity Zone!" they exploded bouncing back like they weren't momentarily depressed. Dan just smiled. It never got old seeing them so electrifying."
"Never a dull minute with these two," chuckled Dan.
"Are you serious?" said one of the hooded figures as he hopped into an oversized gift box that was big enough for all of them to fit in. "You really think this is a good idea?"
"I took a peek into Angel's room and saw it is full of all sorts of gifts, said another. "We'll hide in this one and when we are brought inside we can jump out and grab her without being seen. It is full proof."
"We'll see," said the third keeping watch. "They're coming."
"Nobody make a peep," said the mastermind behind this present plan as he signed a fake name on the card and joined the others.
"I can't believe they aren't going to be on security. Lucas, Ninten, and Ness are my most loyal followers," Angel said referring to Gaomon, Gomamon, and Gabumon respectively. "I thought nothing could ever be more important to them than me."
"They want to do that fighting tournament in a few days and Lucas can't help himself when a lot of strong opponents father together," Rich stated. "And of course, Ninten and Ness have to go and give him their support. We'll just have to find some temporary replacements until then."
"Well if we can find my beloved and his team before the show they can be my bodyguards," she said.
"We'll have to keep an eye out then," Rich replied. "We've got today and tomorrow to look and right now I've got to see the stage." As he opened the door he spotted the gift. "Looks like you got another one."
"Who is this from?" she asked as she went to look at the card. Her expression went from curious to annoyed, when she read the name of the sender, "Lily." "I know just where I want this." She whispers the instructions to Rich and then went back into her room before he went off to handle it and the preparations for the stage.
"They just left us out here," said one of the hooded figures. "This was a bust after all."
"No. She wants us to be brought somewhere. She'll probably be there when we arrive so just be patient."
"I'd rather not be stuffed in this box with you guys any longer. It is really cramped and awkward."
They waited for a bit then found themselves on the move. They were silent as possible so as not to give themselves away. This was quite difficult as they weren't handled very delicately and kept bumping into one another. Finally, they were thrown and landed in a very disgusting-smelling place.
"What is going on out there?" asked one of them.
"I don't know, but it smells horrid. I can't stand it any longer." As he forced the top of the box open he saw that they were in the back of a garbage truck. The others saw this as well and struggled to get out, but they weren't quick enough as the door shut behind them and the truck pulled away with them screaming and complaining inside.
