Are You Scared of Me? [Plot Case]

Now this was an interesting report, one that Agent Tiger was quick to pick up on. A digimon was being a pest in Miyashita park. Initially she thought this might be a sufficient scrap from the table to throw AEGIS's way, but, the fact that there was a positive identification of one of the tamers she had seen in Scramble Crossing made her interested.

Furthermore it was one of the tamers that she didn't have a problem with. The blonde boy with the Veemon had been courteous and respectful, yet seemed to be very close to his partner. Her own partner, Jiro, said he liked how close they seemed. And this agent somewhat agreed.

And lastly, they had been cautious and methodical enough to not get anyone or anything hurt in the battle, other than the control spire. Agent Tiger wouldn't mind encountering them again. That apparently they were doing nothing other than apparently ignoring the pesky Dracmon seemed like a reasonable thing to do from her perspective.

So, before long, the tall dark-haired woman, dressed in a business suit and sunglasses entered Miyashita park. It didn't take long to find the digimon. Dracmon was reclined against a tree, while the tamer and his partner (evidently in a holosuit) was sitting opposite. Agent Tiger thus reached into her pocket, removed her digivice, then activated it. "Jiro, Realize"



In a quick flash of light, a new digimon joined them. This one was a small jade dragon digimon, with a cream-white belly and red horns, with red on his wings and the tip of his tail.

"Alright, Dracmon, the gig's up" she said to the digimon. "Come quietly and we won't have to start with the unpleasantries".

She'd have to deal with the rogue digimon first, then once that was settled, then she'd speak to the others.

Agent Tiger's lips curled to a smile at that response. "On the contrary. Many humans came to this park today for a time of leisure and relaxation, and you deprived that from them with your shenanigans. As little as that did to them in physical damage, well, there's a psychological damage that you did to them, that in such a peaceful setting as this, creatures like you are present and willing to bring woe to their day."

Then, the woman gasped as the Dracmon suddenly lunged at the standerby human. That action only enraged her. Even though Alan protected himself with a shield program from his digivice, the fact that this digimon had done what he did made her fume.

"He had nothing to do with our conversation and you attack him anyway..." Tiger growled with almost the intensity of her alias. She listened to what Levi had to say, then decided she could trust his conduct in this. "Levi, is it? You have my permission as a DATS agent to stand to as a protector of your partner. You may act however you see fit to protect him, but do not interfere in the battle between Jiro and this fiend."

Agent Tiger didn't take well to Dracmon's reaction to her lecture. She narrowed her eyes with dislike, then gave a nasty kind of grin.

"You're unapologetic for your chaos here? Very well then, we will show no mercy unless you surrender."

While in the process of attacking, Jiro cursed silently as it seemed he had missed his target. But he obtained an expression of awkwardness as it seemed the Dracmon injured himself in his efforts to evade, in two particularly sensitive areas.

It was this that made Jiro feel somewhat merciful, looming over the little demon digimon. "You're defeated, Dracmon. Now. As an act of mercy, I will grant you free passage back to the digital world. But if you refuse, I will destroy you and send you back there anyway."

It felt like the right thing to do after all. And furthermore, his partner raised no objection to that. So the offer was there for Dracmon to return unscathed, or be reverted to a digiegg and be forced there.

Meanwhile, Agent Tiger noted that Alan and Levi kept their end of the bargain to not interfere, for which she and Jiro were both grateful.

Jiro was serious about his act of mercy, and looked up at his partner. Agent Tiger meanwhile was a little less inclined, but, at the very least, relented to her partner's wishes. The Dracmon had surrendered, and just wanted to go home.

"Very well" the woman said, holding up her digivice, then turned to the side. "Digiport Open!" she commanded, and at once, a small portal lined with a matrix of green lights appeared, with light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.

"If you wish to return home, enter there" she said. "The portal is open to the Network Plains. Go back to the digital world now, Dracmon, and stay there. You will not be spared again if you return."

Glad that the threat ended for now, and the Dracmon returned to the digital world, Agent Tiger would speak into her communicator. "Agent Tiger to HQ. The Miyashita Park incident is concluded. The digimon in question has returned to the digital world."

"Good job, Agent. No casualties?"

"None, other than inconveniences due to his mischief. No deaths or injuries to report".

"Very well, continue your patrol."

With the communications ended, Tiger would approach Alan and Levi. Supposing she had little other choice, she raised her digivice and withdrew Jiro into its V-Pet system, supposing that keeping the Dracomon-X exposed would be against protocol. Still, he would be able to hear and make himself heard in the conversation ahead.

"May I sit down?" Tiger would ask the duo. If permitted, she would sit by them. If not, she would remain standing. But still, she would begin to talk.

"Thank you for not interfering in that. You showed some very good restraint there" Tiger said. "That proves to me that you guys seem to have the right idea of being Tamers. I remember in the Scramble Crossing incident, your partner only attacked the control spire. As a tamer-digimon pair, you two appear to be very cautious and aware that actions can have consequences, would I be right?"

It was clear here that Tiger seemed to have recognized something within Alan and Levi that she approved of, and, for the moment, possibly due to how much she approved of their conduct in difficult situations, she wanted to know a little more about them.

Agent Tiger would sit down as invited, listening to what Alan had to say. She made an approving noise in acknowledgement of his words. "It's good of you to say, but, unfortunately it's the very nature of how tamers are "chosen" in the first place that cause them to go down paths such as that." she replied. She knew it all too well.

"Out of nowhere, an ordinary human finds themselves "chosen" by a seemingly supernatural force, to become the bonded partner of a being of another world with incredible abilities that only grow stronger the closer your relationship is. Do you think it would be common or rare for a person to not explore all their options and use this miraculous power to shape the world for the greater good? I think we both know the answer, and, it seems you're one of the rarer types of tamer. Would I be right?"

She remained silent as she took in the rest of Alan's answer. That was correct, the Flamedramon had fought as a mere Armor Champion while the enemy were Ultimate levels, so of course he would take a less strong target.

"That's alright, it was merely part of our job that night." Tiger answered. She hesitated for a few moments, then turned to the young man.

"Let me ask you a hypothetical question..." she prompted. "If you were given the choice, would you choose to remain on Earth but have your digimon partner be returned to the digital world? Or would you choose to remain on the digital world, united with your partner, but cut off from Earth for the rest of your life? I promise I won't judge you or make consequences for either option you choose, but, I'm interested to know what you would choose and why."

She spoke this with open sincerity. It was important for her to hear what a tamer she respected would choose from those options.

Agent Tiger pondered the question for the moment. What was the greater good for her? "I like to think it's simple enough. Peace, order, a chance for anyone to be born into this world and have a good chance at reaching happiness and fulfilment, then allowed to die peacefully at the end after a long life. With digimon in the equation... that order gets shaken up a little I suppose."

She and Jiro listened to Alan in silence as he stated his philosophy. He wanted coexistence, yes, they all wanted that... but this was really the first time they had listened personally from another Tamer what it meant to them.

The first thing that she took notice was that Alan said that one in opposition to DATS weren't worse than she was. And to this, she agreed. "Of course. I hold nothing against the kids that end up with digimon." she would answer.

She would give a sigh as Alan continued with his talk. "We both know that I can't do that." she said. "I get what you want though, a scenario where digimon are accepted as part of society. Believe me, I've thought about it myself. I even like the idea, but... realistically, I just don't think it can happen. We've evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to support a human society, we can't just suddenly bring digimon into it all. We don't have the structures in place. If a digimon gets sick, how do we heal them? If a digimon commits crimes, how do we police them? Both would require a huge amount of resources, and such a big change would cause resentment and instability in society."

She pondered another point that bothered her. "And... what about the sheer randomness of it? Say Haruto gets a digimon partner but his brother Shiro doesn't? Haruto gets a huge advantage in life in that he's got a powerful best friend bonded to him, while Shiro just misses out? I mean... Alan, look at this city, do you think after all these thousands of years of build up to this point, do you honestly think it could continue with digimon?"

His answer was expected. If forced to choose between Earth and his partner, he would choose life with his partner. "I see." she answered. If she didn't already have some acceptance of Alan, she would have asked him about how his family would feel, but, would not state that. She simply understood the stakes here.

In a way, it made her understand her own son's decision a little more. Tamers and digimon loved each other, yes. Digimon were easy to love. They were protectors, familiars, partners and friends all in one. Yet how could they exist in a world as cruel as this and not be corrupted in the end?

Thinking about all this, Agent Tiger stood up, taking a lighter and a cigarette from her pocket. In respect to Alan, she lit up and smoked it downwind so he wouldn't be inconvenienced. She mulled over her thoughts for a moment, before turning to him again.

"Fact of the matter is, I'm just an agent of the government. Whether or not I agree with you is irrelevant. If I can't do their bidding, they'll fire me and get someone else to, someone more ruthless presumably. So... all I can advise is, be careful what you do out there, Alan. Whatever you do, don't prove the higher-ups right about digimon being bad."

For now, Tiger was close to concluding this conversation, but, still, she had one lingering thing to ask. "One last thing... have you ever met a kid called Kazuo on your adventures?"