MPC 44B: The Quest for Spook

October. The month of 'spook'. Or that was what he was told the humans called it. And now he was wandering around Shibuya District, at dusk. That's when they said the culprit would be about. To be honest, a shy rookie digimon probably wasn't the best choice for this job, but the Gotsumon had been very insistent that he, in particular, be the one to go.

Right now, he was just concentrating on not being spotted by the humans still wandering about. Sticking to rat-runs and climbing walls whenever he could was currently his best option. Wandering down one such rat-run, Rinji saw a wastebin rustle. "Oh!" Could this be it? The creepy digimon scaring the humans? He entered a battle stance, ready to strike whenever the digimon showed itself.

"Yowl!" Hissed a particularly frightened cat, its mouth wet and matted with left-over sardines, before it ran off into the night. It was a rather sad sight to see.

"Oh..." His antennae drooped in disappointment. It was just a cat. He sat down with a huff, his underside hitting the cold concrete floor. Not that it bothered him, being covered in hard exoskeleton. Rinji hadn't been doing this for very long, granted, but just coming to the human world was exhausting. Not to mention he didn't even know what he was looking for.

All he knew was that 'a digimon was terrorising Shibuya', and that he had to stop them. Honestly, at this point, he was just hoping that the digimon wasn't something like a SkullSatamon or a Myotismon. Now that would be scary. Hopefully it would just be a Pumpkinmon or something. He could handle that.

Rinji looked up at the skyline to admire the pretty city lights. Then, a look of contemplation pasted itself on his face. "Maybe if I could just get a good vantage point..." Yes, that would work! Then he could watch the streets without any humans seeing him!

Actually climbing the building had been quite the task. Huffing and panting, Rinji hoisted his long body on top of the neon sign. He was about three stories or so high, and the squeeze was awkward at best. But the view was astounding. Any suspicious digimon wandering the streets would surely show up soon!

Eventually...

Maybe any moment now?

Oh, come on!

Zzzz...

Eh?

Had he fallen asleep? Oh no, he'd never make any progress like this! With such huge crowds of people below, he was sure he'd find his target. Looking down - actually, were those humans pointing at him? Oh no. It was probably time to make a hasty exit. Scrambling down the side of the building, Rinji made a run for it.

He was sure he could hear a faint cry of 'there it is! Get it!' Running even faster now, he turned a corner on the street. And came onto the main road.

Without missing a beat, the humans walking down the road stopped, and screamed. The crowds panicked, dispersing away from him. Rinji almost felt like screaming himself, part in frustration and part in panic. He could hear the footsteps of the pursuers behind him.

Racing even faster, he shot through the crowds, and back through another alley way. Quick! A rubbish skip! Hoping it wasn't actually full of rubbish, he leapt in and flattened himself down to hide.

The footsteps came. And they left.

"Phew," he honestly thought he was doomed. Being discovered by humans was apparently not a very pleasant experience. Something to do with being 'autopsied'? He shook his head, that wasn't important right now.

With the inky darkness spread above, Rinji hoisted himself back out of the skip. He had a few bits of rubble and some red paint stuck to his claws, but other than that, he was mostly fine. It could've been a lot worse. There could've been something nasty like thrown-away coffee in the skip. He shuddered at the thought.

Maybe he should just call it a day and -

FWOOSH!

A sheet of paper landed on his face, smacking him square in the head. Somebody up there must really hate him. Peeling it off of his head, he held the sheet in front of his face. It was a poster? Squinting, he just about read the words 'Spooky Play! Tonight, in Shibuya District Theatre!'.

A 'Spooky Play'? Well, he didn't know what that was, but if it was 'spooky', then it must be what he was looking for! That was exactly what the perpetrator had been described as. His vigour renewed, he carefully followed the directions on the poster, making extra sure to stay away from any human crowds.

The theatre itself was quite imposing, placed in the middle of a large street, with a flashing orange sign. Now, how to sneak in? That window looked quite promising. But, how could he get to it? He'd at least have to cross the street. There was no way he could do it without being seen, though.

But what if he went up instead? Maybe if he could jump far enough, he could bridge the gap between those two buildings. "Yeah, that should work."

Confident in his plans, he once again scaled the nearest building, lodging his legs in as many cracks and crevices as he could. The guttering in particular was helpful, allowing him to grasp around the pipes and crawl up them. Hoisting himself up onto an empty balcony (the building had to be a store, or something), he looked over the gap. It was awfully far.

Still on the edge of the balcony, he deliberated between jumping or not. Urf, he just didn't have the courage. But before he could give up again, he heard a door creak open.

"What on Earth is that!" A human gasped, shocked at the strange creature's presence. She backed up against the door, holding her bag in front of her as if it were a weapon.

"Sorry!" Yelled Rinji, before making the almost impossible leap. He was soaring, he was flying, he was... falling! "AHHHHH!!" His own screaming was the only thing he could hear. "Oof!" The wind was knocked out of him, and he looked up. He was instinctively grasping onto a railing, and realised... he'd made it. This was the building.

Panting, he almost felt like crying tears of relief. He hoisted himself up once again, and splayed out onto the floor. He just needed a second. The panic over, he stood up once again, and made his way from the theatre's balcony into the building.

So it seemed like he was now inside of a very dark building. He squinted, unable to see all too well thanks to the sudden adjustment in light. There was a stage in a very large room, and he was currently stood on one of the upper balconies behind a crowd of people. The whole place was quite fancy, with red regal carpets and matching drapes, to boot.

Deciding to continue his search, Rinji found an empty balcony and looked down at the stage. It was some sort of humanoid with a pumpkin on his head, dancing on the stage. His clothing was completely black, and Rinji honestly couldn't tell if it was a human or a digimon.

"That's him! That has to be him! The spooky-mon!" It couldn't be anyone else. And now, he had the element of surprise. He had to attack the spooky-mon before he could scare any more humans!

"Scarlet Rain!" A pelting of laser pellets smashed into the stage, burning holes straight through the wood, but missing the pumpkin man. The pumpkin man pulled one final strange gesture, before running off-stage somewhere that Rinji couldn't see.

"Aw, I missed him," Rinji said, disappointed, and not realising that he'd almost committed the sinful act of killing the spooky pumpkin human.

Suddenly, shouts and screams of realisation echoed through the theatre, and a squad of humans accompanied by their own partner digimon entered Rinji's balcony. "That's it, the scary digimon that's been terrorising the city!" 

W-where? Where's the scary digimon? Didn't he just run away?

"Get that centipede!" Yelled the leader, as they charged after him.

No! Rinji immediately booked it, leaping off the balcony and onto the ruined theatre floor. He left a bit of a dent with his weight, but took no notice as he continued running, straight out of the theatre and back into the street. The human squad was hot on his tail, their digimon randomly firing attacks at him.

He kept running, not even thinking to look back. It had started to rain since he'd been in the theatre, a fierce drizzle turning the streets slick. With a fireball hitting Rinji up the rear, he tripped and slid down the concrete road. A quick, hard bump to the head, and he fell unconscious.

When Rinji woke up again, he was in the dark. It was damp, and wet, and he could hear the trickling of water. He couldn't have been out for long. Looking around, he deduced that he must've been in a sewer. Strange. And then he remembered. He was in the human world, being chased by a bunch of crazy tamers!

Rinji searched around frantically, looking about himself. Well, it seemed that they were at least gone for now. That was good. But how to leave the sewer?

Well, there was a small, square opening up close to the top of the wall. He could see that the water was falling down it like a waterfall. That must've been a drain entrance. Likely not the one he'd came through, but maybe if he tried, he could squeeze back out of it and just... go home.

Honestly, he'd probably just been lead on this whole time. There wasn't a spooky digimon that needed catching, and if there was, he was in no way equipped to deal with them.

Scrambling up the slippery wall, he poked his head out of the drain. It was one of those drains that sat between the road and the pavement, just large enough for him to see through, and for anyone looking in to see him.

Suddenly, a paper boat hit him in the head. He was getting face-slapped by a lot of papery items today, wasn't he? Picking it up with his foreclaws, he inspected it. Before he had a chance to properly look at it, he heard the splashing footsteps of a human running down the flooded road, yelling "No!".

The human stopped, and bent down in front of Rinji's drain. It was a small human. They watched each other for an awkward moment, and Rinji smiled as best he could, showing rows of needle sharp teeth. "What a nice boat! Do you want it back? Here you go-"

The kid screamed and ran as soon as they saw his insectile, yellow foreleg. Rinji looked down at it, seeing it still covered in the red paint and realised something.

He was the spooky monster all along.