Digimon Story: Rainbow Traverse -- Chp 24

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(“Who the hell knows baby.”)

As they raced off, Al would pointedly ignore the pleas for safety from the little gear digimon as he instead kept his grip on her sacred ropes. When she landed on the engine and no one fell off.. he pat her neck.  “Atta girl.. no explosions can knock you off those toes!” Al cheered as they zoomed off under those directions

(“Do what you’ve gotta Kyubi.. let’s just get those guys where they need to go safely.”)

At the mention of the pipes, he frowned “Is there anyway to release the pressure safely?”

"The emergency exhaust ports! One of them broke down halfway through the third collision, but the other three should still work!"

"I can reroute the foxwives," said Kyubi, now back to running across the engine.

"B-but the fewer engineers we've got, the harder it's gonna be to fix the core in time!" said the other Hagurumon.

“Well. What would you rather happen? Us blowing up now? Or later?”

The engineer bit what constituted their lip.

"Rerouting now," said Kyubi, smirking. "We'll just have to make do with four."

Like fireflies in the dark, the foxwives scattered save for Amy, who lit the way for Kyubimon as Team Fox reached the base of the engine. Sure enough, a dome was built into the rock, connecting the massive machine to the rest of the node. Stripes demarked areas of import, including a reinforced metal door leading inside the engine. That's what Kyubimon saw through her elemental, and from her, Al did too. So close. Almost there... then suddenly, a rush of heat threatened to burn the hair off Alemana's face.

("No good,") thought Kyubimon. ("Have to digivolve now before it gets too hot!")

“I thought so. Don’t worry, we’ll make it work. After all, sometimes quality trumps quantity!” Al said helpfully. As they continued on and hit the sudden walk of heat he recoiled “Wow that’s hot!” He said, squinting in the face of it. (“Have the others gotten to their positions?”)

("Afraid not. Got a couple hundred yards to go, but if we wait, you're in serious risk of catching fire!")

Biting his lip, he would softly squeeze her neck. (“I know.. but we have to give the others as much time as we possibly can to get where they’re needed! We gotta push forward as far as we can.”)

Kyubimon clenched her jaw. ("Was afraid you'd think that,") she thought. ("Cover your face in my mane, we're going in hot!")

[Roll me Body with a -5 from difficulty]

(“I love you..”) and he would bury his face into her mane.. and she could feel him give her neck a kiss

[Rolling: 6,6,5 +9 - 5 = 21]

An image of Renamon kissing the back of Al's head appeared in the teen's mind soon after.

The heat intensified, yet even these many years after touching Kumon's Ki'i, Al still found the 'Akua's flame more terrible than what he felt now. Indeed, he felt the old scar on his hand itch, as if a beast snarling at something lesser encroaching on its territory. Somehow, both his marked hand and covered face were spared the blistering pain of the engine room. The teen remembered a lesson Renamon had once taught him when hiking in the woods.

"When dealing with pain," she'd said. "There are a number of ways to manage it -- within reason. One is through grounding exercises. Focus on specific parts of your body, or on an action that distracts you. It won't stop the pain, but it will 'prioritize' it in your mind as less important as the thing you're focusing on."

Taking this to heart - as well as having a body honed towards endurance - Alemana could bite back what amounted to a full-body sunburn he was suffering under.

("Hold on, Al!") thought Kyubimon. ("Just a little longer!")

[Roll me Willpower with a -5 difficulty, but +2 from previous success.]

Al would grasp Kyubimon’s fur in a death grip as the heat washed over him in earnest now, thinking on something to prioritize his thoughts away from the pain. What he thought of ? Viximon during her first few days of exploring the house, learning the house pets social hierarchy and establishing herself as Her Own Boss Kit of the place- namely through being the only one who could turn into paper and get into the snack cupboard. The memories made things bearable- even as the heat beat on him with merciless intensity.

(“I’m.. fine!”)

[Rolling: 2,5,6 + 9 - 5 + 2 = 19]

[Take 1 Wound, you remain conscious]

Al could feel his flesh bubbling under the skin. Even the Hagurumon were beginning to grow scalding hot. Yet still he held on, concentrating on what made the pain worthwhile. If not for their link, Al wouldn't have realized Kyubimon was digivolving. It was the first time he'd witness her transform so up-close. He could make out gridline beneath her fur; the rings of digicode that engulfed her unable to obscure how her surface texture split apart and reformed before light melted all depths from the teen's sight.

"Kyubimon, digivolve to--KAHUNIMON!!"

Like getting splashed with cold water, Al felt an immediate shift in temperature. The aura of Kumon's Ki'i had enveloped him, while his arms were now wrapped around Kahunimon's neck as water surged to shield him and the Hagurumon.

"I've got ice!" said the dancer, flash-freezing platforms beneath the others. No sooner had she than the metal walls of the engine burst in a staccato.

*Rollz*

"We're gonna crash!" cried a gearhead, covering their eyes. The engineer peaked out from behind their cogs, however, when the flames bent away from Kahunimon, shrank, or outright snuffed out as she approached. The air popped as she condensed the heat into pockets far from the machinery, cooling the air faster than her ice alone.

"We're here!" she said, vaulting the last dozen yards. Wasting no time, she tossed the Hagurumon towards the visible junction boxes to either-side of the blast door -- each gear crying "mahalo!" as they took flight. ("Alright, what happens now?") thought the dancer.

In his addled frame of mind from the searing heat washing over him, he idly mused about how in the past five years how many excruciating situations he had been in.. and he wondered how many more lay in store for him in the future. In the back of his mind BlackRenamon’s words of warning echoed in his ears.. was this truly his fate? To throw himself into agonizing positions over and over again until either he either died, became a mangled wreck with no future, or snapped…turning into some sort of jaded monster willing to do anything; damn the costs? Was this the life he was doomed to live? But even as he thought about that he was reminded of other things: His friends coming to his first basketball game after they returned from the digital world and the trip to the ice cream shop.. the look of wonder in Rena’s eyes when they passed a clothing store for the first time and the stunned, unrestrained joy in her smile when he bought those same clothes for her on their first date. They’re first time together.. the very first birthday the team celebrated together and all the ones after, his first time with Ike when they both realized how they felt about each other.. saving Kama and finally confessing his feelings to Malie..

There was a lot of anguish and uncertainty in his life.. but there was so much joy too. Perhaps this was why Kumon chose him. His life would always be one filled with adversity, everyone had to battle life’s challenges and rise above them. Kumon saw that he had the ability to not only survive , but thrive- no matter what life threw his way. It was this realization, more than the cold shock of water that brought him back to the situation. He would gently squeeze Kahunimon’s neck. (“Aloha wau iā ʻoe, alopeke.”)
____

Once they arrived at the reactor, the Hagurumon in their places he would give a hum of thought. (“maybe we should cool down the reactor so that the gearheads have time to fix it?”)

[Take an Inspiration]

The dancer nuzzled her cheek against Al's arm. ("Aloha wau iā ʻoe kekahi,") she thought. ("...kitmon.") On hearing the plan, Kahuni nodded. ("We'll need to push in slow to counteract the heat, otherwise my shield's going to vaporize too fast.") Water flowing alongside her motioning arms and legs, the dancer put her entire focus into gathering and maintaining as she approached the chamber. As predicted, the heat intensified - though to Al and Kahunimon the only indicator was how the liquid barrier bubbled and broiled. Al had to rely on Kahuni's vision to make anything out, even as the dancer wove layer upon layer of ice. Through her, the tamer saw the core forming the middle-section of a bisected pillar. Dynamos roared as they spun from the walls, arcing electricity as they each burned an ever-brightening red.

[Hokay, roll me Kahunimon's... I wanna say Wave Crash Dance. She is currently in Defensive Stance.]

(“.. Ye’re a kitmon!”)

[Rolling: 5,3,5,5,3,2,5 = 4 suxx]