Malkavian Madness Network
Other Systems => Digimon: Digital Adventures => Topic started by: MrParaduo on October 13, 2023, 02:19:51 PM
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Deep within the Network, in a place neither node nor unlike one, holographic shadows gathered around a cylindrical tank. It, and it alone, was visible within the gloom, as if reflecting the light of a noonday sun. And within the green waters contained therein, Gravimon hung, his body glitching even as black cables hooked into his torso and neck.
"++The reports are in++" said a distorted voice. "++Hotel-Alfa is irreparably damaged++"
"++Half all remaining assets relocated to Oscar-Zero++" said another voice. "++Given the ongoing anomalies on the Big Isle, it makes no sense to jeopardize Hotel-Bravo and Charlie++"
"++The loss of Lonomon's fractal code, even if just a portion of it, means we'll have to expedite operations within the region, especially now that rogue tamers are involved++"
"++It'll take time to gather further intel from the Commandramon unit and Gravimon. Exposure to the Dark Area means checking for malware corruption, made only slower by the level of injury sustained in the line of duty. In the meantime, we'll increase the monitoring of all digital traffic on the Big Isle++"
"++Agreed++"
...
The room was dark, warm. Despite the softness of his sheets, every inch of Alemana's body felt weighed down, unwilling to move for anything. In a daze, he cracked open his heavy-lidded eyes, peeking through to see Renamon face down in her pillow.
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Groaning and with far more resistance than he expected.. Al would gently pet Renamon’s ear as he tried to roll over.. but decided it was too much effort. Everything was still hurting even several days after their escapade into the Network to save Kukuimon. He then frowned as he turned his head to see his digivice on the night stand.. a soft chime indicating he got a text.. even this early in the morning. Part of him was tempted to pick it up so he could see how it was… but another part urges him to ignore it until later, he was too tired. Another.. quieter part softly dreaded that it was another message from Malie.. asking him if he wanted to come over. He had spent the last four days practically avoiding that side of town, barely doing more than lounging around the house and doing school work or spending the day with Ike. Even then his interactions had been wholly platonic, almost subdued in comparison to how they usually hung out. No kisses or intimate cuddling.. no fooling around when they thought they had privacy- just simple guy stuff. It was like the idea of intimacy was just too much for him at the moment, especially after what Kamapua’amon had said. So he had been letting Malie and Kama have a bit of space so they could work out that bombshell..
“God…. I’m still fucking feeling like everything is made of wet cement..”
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("Tell me about it,") thought Renamon, the only sign she gave that she wasn't still asleep.
Al could hear movement outside the room; the small pitter-patter of clawed feet shuffling close to the door.
("It's Gammamon. Saw him trying to sneak in when your mom was checking on us.")
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(“Oh I see..”) he almost cracked a smile, but it turned into a pained grimace.
(“Are you hungry baby girl..?”)
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The vulpine's tail twitched. ("...Maybe a little.")
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(“Ah.. what sounds good Kitmon?”)
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Through their link, Renamon sent the mental image of her thumping her pillow on top of Alemana's face. The silent war between them came to an end, however, when Al looked up towards the ceiling.
"What'cha thinking about?" asked Spinny, the spider mere inches from the athlete's face.
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Al would almost flail.. but when he opened his eyes and saw Spinny he gasped
“What the.. what are you doing in here?!”
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The sudden surprise jolted tamer and partner alike, with Renamon stopping halfway from clawing at the hanging KoDokugumon.
Unphazed, Spinny pointed a gloved hand at Al. "Looking at you, of course! You guy'sve done nothing but mope about the house and town since you came back from the zoo. What's up with that?"
Renamon groaned, reclining back into her imprint on the bed like nothing happened.
"Aw, come on!" said Three-of-Eight. "Tell me!"
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Al would sigh and sit up, grabbing Spinny and getting out of bed “Dint want to talk about it.” He said as he set her on the desk. He then blinked .. and then out a shirt over her eyes “I need to get dressed.”
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Spinny tried to speak, but all words became muffled under the blanket of Alemana's bed shirt.
("I can't believe I didn't notice her 'til now,") thought Renamon, the vulpine rubbing her eyes. ("That fact she doesn't know anything about what happened means either Theridia's just as oblivious or keeping her out of the loop. Either way, it's too damn early for this garbage.")
Alemana looked at his clock: 11:53.
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He sighed “Not early.. it’s nearly moon baby. Do you want to take a shower before we eat?” He asked as he looked over at her. He shared her frustration to an extent.
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Renamon glanced at the teen, almost squinting. "...Alright," she said, sliding her legs off the side of the bed. Foxfire burned away at her body as she assumed the naked shape of Renee. And as Alemana followed behind her towards the bathroom, Spinny would gawk alongside Gammamon as she past him in the hallway. "Nothing you haven't seen before, Gammy," said the shapeshifter. "We'll be out in a bit."
Gammamon said nothing, continuing to stare whilst holding in both hands a hamburger squeaky toy.
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Al kind of smiled at that.. and he would follow her into the bathroom, locking it behind them. “Sometimes I think you do that just to mess with him big girl.” He said as he started up the faucet, letting it run so it could get to a temperature he knew Renee liked.
“So.. what do you want to do today? I think I’m caught up with school work— now that we actually had time to work on it.” He said as he looked over his shoulder at his partner.
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Renee closed her eyes, letting her back support the wall. "I'm not sure," she said. "I mean, it's the fourth of October. Do we wanna try planning something for Halloween?"
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“Oh right, October.” Al would then smile.. but it then faded a few seconds later “This time last year Malie and I were ‘secretly’ going off to buy a bunch of stuff for our yearly Halloween bash….”
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The shapeshifter chuckled, "I know. It was the most adorable thing. What was it she wanted to do? Fireworks?"
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“Hah, yeah. ‘Nothing will scare the neighborhood more than a bunch of explosions on Halloween!’ Is what she said. I don’t think she has ever laughed so much.” Al said as he turned the shower head on, stepping in with a shiver.
“.. Do you think I’m being a coward, Renamon?”
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"Coward?" Renee stepped forward, laying her hand on Al's shoulder. "You're a lot of things, Al, a lover, a fighter--" climbing inside, she locked eyes with her tamer, caressing his cheek. "But never once would I call you a coward."
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Gently taking hold of her hand he would trace his thumb along the back of it, holding her gaze. “I’ve been avoiding Malie ever since we got Kukuimon back, that doesn’t seem very brave of me.” He said softly. “She’s probably wanted to clear things up and I’ve just been snubbing her.. hiding in the house or at Ike’s…”
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"You and I have been exhausted, Al. Even before the big rescue, we'd been pushing ourselves to solve the crisis, balance workloads and take in a dozen other major changes in our lives." She wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. "You needed this," she said. "Trying to confront matters when you're dead on your feet wouldn't help anyone..."
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He was quiet for a moment as he just held her, contemplating what she said. She was right, if he had tried to address what Kama had said at that moment.. it would’ve been sure to backfire and explode in everyone’s face and hurt the entire group- that was something they had to avoid at all costs, especially since they were likely on CODEs radar now. At the same time.. he still wasn’t sure what to even say. He loved Malie, but he wasn’t sure if he even understood how much he loved her. Ike may have always been someone that Al had unconsciously attracted to which blossomed into a genuine relationship.. Malie was.. different.
“Do you think I should call her, Rena?”
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"I think... you should call when you're ready."
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He would gently kiss her forehead, brushing the hair from her face “Always so diplomatic. You can let me know how you really feel sometimes too babe.”
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The shapeshifter said nothing, eyes downcast as she listened to her partner's heartbeat. "I know," she said. "I'm just... still a little tired. A few more days will clear my head."
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And he would gently rub his fingers through her hair as she did that.. softly rocking her as they stood in the shower “Okay.” He then would kiss the top of her head… before then whispering “You’re still the best of them all Renamon. No one is ever going to mean as much to me as you do..”
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A silent chuckle played across her face. Lifting her gaze back to him -- true eyes showing through -- she curled a finger under his chin, kissing his lips as they listened to the shower running.
"I love you, Alemana," she said.
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He would return that kiss gladly, gently squeezing her in the process. “I love you too, Renamon.” And he felt his ears grow warmer as he starred into those silver-blue moons.
“Now I know you’re trying to rile me up..” he said with a chuckle.
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"But it's just so easy to do~" she said, winking at him. "One of life's most simple joys is seeing how flustered I can make you. I have a chart and everything."
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“A chart, huh? Well what’s on it~?”
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"Mhmhm, a "length" by "color palette" ratio," she whispered in his ear. "Multiplied by the time it takes for you realize I've been sharing pics of you in lingerie~"
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Al paused as his dark cheeks grew even more cinnamon as his hand would immediately smack against her backside . “Who has them?”
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Renee feigned a gasp as the smack resounded through the bathroom. "Only one way to find out."
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“Uh huh?” And he gave her another firm smack the other cheek a smack “Who, if any babe.”
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"Mhmmm, your mother," she lied, leaning herself into the clap.
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And that was when he pulled her closer “Hoe did you like it? Pretending to be me?”
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Smiling, Renee let her hands grope at the athlete's derrière, "Why don't you find a pic, and find out~?"
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“Maybe I don’t want to have to discipline you.. and where would I anyway kitmon~?”
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"Well, kitmon, if you really need it, I'll give you a hint: who's the only other blond you know, but nowhere near as cute?"
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“… oh I see. Well then.. I think I know what your punishment will be~”
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"Oh~?" Chuckling, the shapeshifter once more was set ablaze by illusory foxfire. And from the ashes a new figure stood. Shorter, slimmer, save at the hips and chest, squished tight by a swimsuit that left little to the imagination, but did little to constrain cleavage larger than any Al had seen before.
"But Aly~!" whined the heavily endowed Ike, cheeks flushed as 'she' slipped a hand under her g-string. "You said you'd milk me before they got any bigger~!"
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Surprisingly, instead of getting flustered or indulging Renamon’s teasing.. he seemed disappointed- almost irritated. “That’s nice.. but I’m not interested in something like that at the moment.”
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The faux-Ike blinked, tilting her head. "Too much?" she asked in her real voice.
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“Yeah. I know that you like to be dominant and you sometimes get jealous of Ike- but I don’t appreciate you teasing him like that.”
His amused tone had disappeared, he didn’t sound angry.. but he didn’t sound happy either.
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The shapeshifter reverted back to Renee, her eyes downcast. "I didn't," she said. Hold her arm, she looked away to the side. "I lied about the photos. I'm sorry..."
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Al would sigh, gently petting her face. “If you’re sorry, change back into Ike. Not that big titty version.. just Ike.”
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Renee glanced at her partner. Nodding, she made the change, assuming Ike's form down to the last strand of hair.
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“That’s a good boy.”
And suddenly she could feel a familiar mischief creep into his demeanor— not mean spirited but rather that playful teasing that she often employed “You know.. I think my girlfriend is threatened by you babe.. she said you were less pretty than her.”
-
It was too easy to imagine Renamon's vulpine ears perking as she stared back at Al.
"That bitch," she said, the shapeshifter putting a hand on 'his' hip. "Well, maybe she should be. Gaz says I fill out a speedo better than anyone."
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Al nearly broke character and laughed, but he would compose himself as he then gently ran his fingers through “his” hair.
“I mean you do got the ass to give her a run for her money bro. Hmm.. wanna show her how pretty you really are..~?”
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"Not even a question!" scoffed faux-Ike. "Honestly, it's about damn time I showed that fur ball up! What's the plan?"
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“Here’s the plan: we will look her straight in the eyes and let her know how you feel.. while I fuck you so hard you’d think that you’re my real girlfriend.”
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Renamon's attempts to resist laughing proved futile thanks to her link with Al, yet all the same, she tried. "H-hell yeah! My bussy's been aching to get pounded anyway! Lead the way, dude! We'll track her down easy!"
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And Al couldn’t help but laugh as well, but he would then pull his “boy” in for a kiss, smacking that plush ass for a moment. “F-follow me then, man!” And he pulled his partner out of the shower.. leading “him” to the sink .. both of them grinning like goofballs as Al had his arms slung around “Ike.”
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Walking with an exaggerated gait, Faux-Ike grunted through a chuckle as 'he' cradled his crotch, wincing at what was no doubt a new experience for the shapeshifter. Only after reaching the sink did he let go, replacing his hands on either side of the sink as he stared himself down in the mirror. "Mmph!" he grunted. "Hell yeah, testosterone, meat-sabers, coco-my-nuts!"
("How do you walk with these?")
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(“You can change it if you want baby… but.. no changing this ass,”) and he would give “Ike” a smack on that boy booty. “Having fun, bro?” He asked as he gently ground against that backside
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"You know it!" said the faux-Samoan, yet despite the offer, Al didn't see any change as 'Ike' pushed out his heart-shaped ass and arched his back inward. Indeed, Ike's package was squeezed between his thighs, nestled as far back till they teased at the base of his cheeks. "Feel's like I'm staring her right in the face, but, I dunno, gonna try getting a closer look."
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“Mm..” and he would softly kiss and nibble on ‘his’ shoulder as his hands took hold of those hips.. fingers digging into that paler skin as his dick poked at that.. bussy
“Will this help..~?”
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Ren-Ike's breath hitched, a soft moan deflating all tension in his shoulders. "M-m-maybe...?" The shapeshifter wrapped a leg around Alemana's, face blushing as he bit his lip.
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And Alemana would hold onto that propped up leg.. pushing his head into the shifter slowly.. he didn’t want to hurt Renamon.. and Ike was always notoriously snug
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The shifter cooed, shuddering as Al's cool shaft was enclosed by warmth on all sides. Not as tight as the real thing, but the feeling of it as the two shared senses - how faux-Ike shuffled in place at just the angle Al wanted, needed, to get in deep - was something else. "Mmph! Mmph! D-dayum, dude, when d'you learn to top like that?"
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Gritting his teeth.. Al was impressed his lover was able to capture Ike’s personality as well as she did.. and he would groan as he began to properly thrust against that heart shaped ass as he felt his member get swallowed to the root.
“You’re one to talk.. have you been practicing?”
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Ren-Ike screwed her eyes shut. Al could feel it, his lover's attention suddenly split between the pounding of his rear and hardening of a newfound cock. The shifter furrowed his brow, ducking his head down, staring at the throbbing stick. He reached a hand for it, grasping it; a sense of dejavu filling Renamon's mind, having only ever experienced one through Al's senses.
"Ha... ha... so that's how it feels," she huffed, her voice slipping into her impression of Ike. "D'ah--! I mean--yeah! Yeahhh! F-fuck me, Al! Just like that...!"
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It was cute to see her react like that.. way cuter than he expected it to be. Slamming up into the frazzled imposter he would then take hold of Ren-Ike’s chin and tilt his head up, forcing him to stare into his reflection as the darker teen continued to rail into him. “G-go on..! Tell her how you feel Ike!”
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The shifter panted, mewling with every thrust Al made. The mirror was fogged up by the steam of the shower. Ren-Ike let go of his shaft to wipe the glass clear, but all it showed were Renamon's eyes staring back.
"Ffff-uck. Y-y-you...!"
Grunting, mewling, Ren-Ike hurried back to his cock, pumping it as his knees buckled together.
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And Al pressed his teeth into that pale shoulder, giving a smirk as his thrusts grew faster.. bucking like a horny fox as he growled into his shoulder “What else..!”
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"I...w-wear it... better...!" The shifter gasped, mouth frozen in a silent scream before remembering his lungs.
("Keep going!") thought Renamon, her mind whirling with heat. ("P-please! Don't stop!")
Unable to keep his head up, the faux-Samoan hung his head over the sink, hand clinging to the side for support.
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“W-what else ~?!” And he wouldn’t disappoint Ren-Ike… in fact hid pert we could feel Al’s pre cum begin to leak inside him..
(“Who’s a pretty bitch..~?”)
He then took hold of that wet hair like a handle.. lifting his head up again
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"Ah-!" he cried, voice dipping into Rena's. "I-I am!" he said, heart racing. His shaft was full mast, throbbing, aching. It was too much, he wasn't going to make it. "I'm a pretty bi-ihi-iiiiiiTCH!!"
A rush of heat, legs trembling as they near gave out underneath the shifter. He held onto the sink, forcing himself to stay connected to Al, pushing against the tamer's meat.
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“Yes you are! You’re the cutest, most beautiful bitch!” Al couldn’t hold back anymore then Renamon could.. and after only a couple more thrusts the shifter felt him throb once, twice before a spurt of cum burst inside him..!
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Foxfire enveloped the imposter Ike, replacing him with not Renee, but Renamon, the vulpine's tail standing on end as she bared her fangs at her reflection, then slumped forward.
("Why... was that different...?") she thought in a daze. ("Why did that take me so off guard...?")
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Al would slump over her once the illusion was dispelled.. spurting inside her again as he took note of her reaction .. surprised that it seemed to hit her as hard as it did.
(“I-I don’t know… did.. did you like it?”)
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The vulpine panted, wrapping her paw behind Al's head as she tried to make eye-contact. ("It was... different,") she thought. ("And not just because of, well... the third leg.") Sucking air through her teeth, Renamon forced herself back into the shape of Renee, pressing her cheek against Al's. ("How did I do? Did I capture my role?")
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(“It was a lot more intense than I thought.. not as wild as last time with Kyubimon— but it felt really.. it’s hard to describe it.”) and he would kiss her now human cheek as he rest against her.. still quite aware of how tightly she was clenched around him still
(“And you did great.. if I hadn’t seen you transform I’d probably get fooled…”)
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The shifter chuckled, stealing a kiss on the lips. ("Maybe there's more to roleplaying than I thought.") Letting go of the sink, Renee traced her fingers against her folds, crooning as they lit up her sensitive nerves.
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(“Tell me about it..”) and he would nearly whine as he felt her pleasure seep into him as well
“Do you .. want to keep going?”
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"Mhmm, I could be... persuaded~"
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“Well… how about you pretend to be someone else? Anyone you think would be fun for both of us!”
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"Oh~? Well in that case--"
Foxfire flowed, burning away the façade. In its place, Renee's blonde hair became ashen white. Her hips widened, her build growing slender but for thighs and fulsome bosom. "Perhaps you should show the pedigree of your work, Mr. Sonson. As a persnickety information broker with a stick up my rump, I'm entitled, and therefore deserve the best a man has to offer."
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Al’s face would grow wide as he saw Renee change her form from that beautiful teenager to something he was completely not expecting: Theridia. With a bit of a smirk he would nod as he softly cupped her face “Well I should be angry that your information nearly got all of us killed, miss Arukenimon,” he said.. just loud enough that Spinny might hear. “But we were able to get our friend back thanks to it. So I guess I should pay you. If you want the best.. what do you want first~?”
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"Oh don't make me eat you," the shifter scoffed. "Instead, eat me. I didn't come all this way not to have my vagina get snorkeled."
The ethereal fraud exaggerated a moan as she slid off of Alemana's shaft, sashaying back over to the shower; beckoning the athlete over as she smacked her cream-colored ass, winking.
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“And risk your newest and best client?”
Her choice of dialogue made it very difficult to not snicker, but he would follow her back to the shower.. though not without shivering from the sudden cold hitting his member. Once she was bent over and teased him so, he knelt behind her with an exaggerated sigh before his tongue met with her mound.. softly greeting it with a series of gentle licks- he didn’t want to torture her yet.
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Ren-Theridia pursed her lips the second she felt Al's tongue, the taste of her nectar still fresh from before. Yet just as the tamer was getting started, she climbed inside the tub, laying down on her back as she spread herself out. Water ran down her figure, perspirations mingling with steam to make glossy the shifter's fair skinned complexion. "Well?" she asked, copping her breasts, a finger rolling atop a teat as she stared back at the teen. "What are you waiting for, big boy~?"
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Al would swab her mothers a few more times before she pulled away and lay herself in the tub. “Mm.. you definitely are bossy,” he taunted as he climbed in with the faux-Theridia.. chest pressed against her bust as he rubbed his manhood against her. “Is this why you have so many little spiderlings? Spreading your legs for any man who catches your attention miss~?”
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"Mmmmh, how do you think Three-of-Eight got her name?" she asked, hooking a finger nail between her lips. "And who told you to stop lapping up my clit? I wanna feel some tongue before you breed me like a heifer." The shifter arched her back forward, lifting her legs over Al's shoulders as her folds stared back at the teen. From this angle, Al could see just how propped Ren-Theri's twins was atop her chest as his eyes followed the length of her abdomen down to her face.
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He smirked.. but when she lifted her hips so her cubby was just inches from his face his response was instead met with a warm tongue pressing against her womanhood.. the muscle digging into the pretender.
(“Mmm.. going to give Spinny a new few brood mates..~”) he teasingly said.. still in character since he couldn’t physically answer her.
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The imposter's thighs twitched, her face blushing as she giggled. ("Only a few~?") she thought. Loins lighting up like a wildfire beneath the skin, faux-Theridia squeezed her breasts together, hazing them with bated breath as Al teased at her innards. "Not bad for a human," she said aloud. "Keep that up, and I might just keep you."
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(“Well I don’t know how many eggs you can lay at one time.. I have to at least wait until you’re done spurting out eggs~”) came his retort as he held her gaze.. even as he suckled and nibbled on her clit..breath especially warm compared to normal..!
When she mentioned keeping him, the boy smirked as he pulled away for a moment. “I don’t think my girlfriend would appreciate that..~” he teased as he went back to softly exploring this new-yet-familiar hole of hers with his mouth.
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"Nnn-mmh-tha-that would be a problem," she said between huffs. "Sh-she'd probably get all uppity if she barged in here." Her legs strained like magnets to resist squirming, faux-Theri compromising by crushing Al's head between them.
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“Mmgh… she can be scar-urk,” Al was cut off as his face was pressed into her mound, fingers digging into the meat of her thighs as his mouth began moving more purposely. (“H-having fun baby girl?”) he mentally asked.. pushing his tongue as deeply into the imitation broker’s motherhood (“This tal- talk of kids isn’t too much is it..?”)
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("N-not at all!") thought Renamon, her words quick as lightning as her breathing grew heavier. ("You're doing great!")
"Alright!" she said, getting back into character. Al could feel the shapeshifter edging, her folds swelling. She pulled her legs off of the teen, setting them back under his arms and beside his waist. "P-pound away!"
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(“If you are sure!”) and he gave a gasp as he was released from her legs grip.. and he leaned in to kiss Ren-Theridia. “Alright.. I just hope you won’t try to dump your babies on this house though!” He said with a bit of a wicked smile on his face as he reached down, adjusted himself, and pushed into her. His grin dissolved almost immediately as he felt just how warm her own nethers seemed to become.. and his escape blocked by a sudden locking of her legs.
“H-haha.. afraid I might try to run away, Arukenimon?”
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"Not anymore," she chuckled, leaning her head back. To the rhythmic pounding of her groin, she lapped at her teats, making a show of it as she groped one while suckling the other, murmuring and cooing into supple flesh.
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He watched as she did that.. and his own hips would punch down into her as he softly leaned down to capture her second breast.. joining her as he suckled at her teat with an almost aggressive need. She truly new how to rile him up …
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And the faux did croon, her thumbs kneading into her breasts even harder. She clenched her jaw, letting the teat she'd been suckling drop to one side as she panted and moaned. Through their link, Al could hear her chanting his name, a whisper that only grew louder the longer they went at it. A phantom pressure was building up in his groin. His partner was nearing the final push.
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Al wasn’t too far behind her.. he continued to suckle as his hips pushed harder.. harder.. and he could only moan a half warning before he spurt again.. deep inside her motherhood this time..!
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True eyes shining through, Ren-Theri cried out as her mounds burst forth, slathering across her lover's loins. Like a ragdoll, she went limp, the only movement to be had her quivering thighs and her chest as she gasped for breath.
"I think I'm done now," she said with her head lolling to one side. Hand shaking, she gestured towards the nearby bottle of shampoo. "Mind... mind passing that over?"
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And her tamer would cry out.. giving a breathless laugh “M-me too babe…. And sure..” and with just as much difficulty he would hand her the bottle.. head buried in her chest
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The shifter chuckled, letting her twins bounce to either side of Alemana's implanted face. Bottle in hand, she wrapped her arms around him, kissing the crown of his head as their shower became a bath.
Meanwhile, still standing in the threshold of the lovers' bedroom, a KoDokugumon buried her head in Al's shirt with her thorax to the bathroom door. Beside, Gammamon sat, burger still in paws as he glanced at her, head cocked to one side.
"What's a bussy...?"
...
Al's ears were still ringing as he sat inside his car, having been kicked out of the house by Keilani for some reason. Renamon, now Renee, could only give the teen a side-long glance and a smile from the passenger side.
("Think we over did it this time~?") she mused in his head.
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And The bath would be quite relaxed, languid even, although it would eventually get ruined by the sound of someone with four legs tripping over the two smols as they crowded the bathroom door, barking and sniffing curiously at the new arrival.. forcing the two to end their bath a bit earlier than they may have wanted.
______
Al’s ears burned at the thought and he would softly punch Renee on the shoulder. (“I’m surprised she hasn’t brought things up with mom and dad— though I don’t know how you could even bright up the composure to talk to your parents about your own little brothers sex life—“)
He then would glance at his digivice as it rested in its phone holder on the dashboard.. and he glanced at his partner. “I think I’m gonna call Malie.” He said… and then before he lost his nerve he would do just that- hitting call and bringing the device to his ear. He had been avoiding her long enough- too long to be honest..
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Booop... booop... booop...
"++Hey++" said Malie, her voice coming in quiet.
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“Hey!”
Al then paused.. that quietness was unlike her “I uh.. I was wanting to see how you were doing.”
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"++It, ah... it goes++"
Renee sat there, leaning across her seat to Al's. The two could hear Cashew's muffled barking from somewhere inside the house.
There came a cough from the digivice. "++How're you?++" asked Malie.
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“Oh I’m.. I’m okay. Hey Mal… are you busy?”
His voice was just quiet.. almost timid it sounded.
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"++As in, like, schoolwork? Or the other thing?++"
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“I meant in general.. I was gonna ask if you wanted to go get lunch or something.” He winced when she mentioned the ‘other thing.’
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"++Um...++" The girl's voice wavered, the kind that brought to mind awkward smiles and pressure from all sides. "++About that. You mind talking to Vivi or Ike first? There's some stuff going on that I can't really talk about over the phone right now++"
Renee exchanged looks with Al.
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“Oh… I’m I - guess I can do that. Do you want me to call you back ?” He asked, glancing at Renee in return
-
Noises scratched and clanged in the background. "++Nono! Don't call us, we'll call you! And for the love of god, don't come over-! BYEEEE!!++"
*Click*
Renee's brow furrowed. "Should we look into it?" she asked.
-
Al would stare at his Digivice dumbly for a few seconds before looking at Renee again.
“…Well now I’m curious—“
-
"Let's check it out," she said, putting on her seatbelt. "Considering what happened with CODE, it's only safe to keep an ear to the ground. If we can contact the others en route, we should be there and ready for a fight."
-
“At the same time, this is Malie.. we could be walking in on something really goofy or—“ his cheeks reddened “Well let’s not burst in if we can help it—“
And he decided to call Ike as they drove
-
...
"Kamapua'amon still hasn't devolved?!"
"++Pretty much++" said Ike over the 'vice. "++Dunno what he got into during the past week, but according to Malie, he's been sleeping on the roof of their house++"
"++Ya tell 'em about Mal's old man yet?++" asked Gazimon.
"++I was getting there! So yeah, Mr. Kalama's been getting wise, adding extra security ever since Kam raided the fridge in the middle of the night++"
"++Scarfed the WHOLE thing out! I'm actually kinda jealous++"
-
Al was just as flabbergasted as Renee was as he listened .. that didn’t even sound possible.
“That doesn’t make any sense- that didn’t happen when Rena, Gaz, and Eyes Super Digivolved… what’s different about Kamapua’amon?”
-
The honk of a horn forced Al to correct himself as a car sped past them.
"++How should I know?++" said Ike. "++Don't get me wrong, guy's got a hot-ass bod, but he won't shut up about anything that isn't about Mal or how he 'saved the day'. Even Gaz doesn't kiss that much ass++"
"++Hey!++"
-
“Damn, you were checking him out?” Al teasingly asked
-
"++Sh-shut up! Not my fault he's huge! Look, the point is: the mon's got problems. He's not like Renamon, Gaz, or Eyesmon, he sticks out like a sore thumb!++"
"++Heh, maybe Renamon should teach him kohenkyerself or whatever++" said Gazimon. "++Like it were that easy or somethin'++"
Renee frowned, leaning her head back. ("Not that I'm entertaining the idea,") she thought. ("I don't even know if it's possible, let alone wise.")
-
“I don’t think it’s possible— at least not in a way that I’d accept.”
-
"What Al's trying to say is: the only way Kama'd be able to learn my technique is if he absorbed my data, and that's only in theory."
"++Oh hey!++" said Ike. "++You just reminded me! Remember how Gaz ate Pe'amon? Well he's starting to remember stuff! Gaz, I mean++
"++I think they got it, boss++" The came the sound of something heavy landing, followed by a high-pitched grunt.
"++Make with the expo, smartass++
"++Aight++" said Gazimon. "++So, uh, that technique bat boy did, the Hoopa'i Ino? It's uh... it's bad news++" Memories of the battle surfaced in Alemana's mind, the purple glyph of digicode that hung suspended before an index claw, the sudden vertigo shared between digimon and tamer. "++Still a little hazy on all the deets, but it's like he said, a curse, and not some amateur malware neither. Y'got somethin' growin' in yous, tuts, feedin' off all that negativity you got bottled up inside++"
-
“…what?”
Al looked at Renee in shock. “No that can’t be right..”
-
As he looked at the shapeshifter, he saw Renee staring at the digivice, her eyes narrow beneath a furrowed brow. "Growing?" she asked. "Growing? What do you mean growing?! I have a parasite?!"
"++That's exactly what I'm sayin'++" said Gaz. "++But there's more to it than that--++"
Static filled Alemana's thoughts. "NO!!" said Renee. "Listen here, you dirty, little fleabag! We waited how many days for to tell me I'm infected with a digital tape worm?! For all we know it's responsible for all of my--!!"
-
“More to it? What do you mean—-“ Al then gave a hiss in pain as he held onto his the side of his head as that static filled his mind again.. making it hard to concentrate on the conversation.
“Renee- Renamon! It’s not his fault, he didn’t know!”
-
"Of course he knows!" snarled Renee, flashing vulpine teeth at Al as her eyes bore into him, flickered red and green.
Suddenly, the blare of another car horn snapped both their attentions away as they saw a car driving straight towards them.
[Roll Dodge with a -3 from difficulty.]
-
“Renee calm dow- oh Shit!!” He said as his eyes widened as he saw the car suddenly bearing down on them
[Rolling: 1,4,3+ 3 = 11]
-
Alemana raced to correct himself at the wheel, swerving to avoid head-on collision. The other car's driver mirrored him, managing the dodge everything but the tail-light. Neither Al or Renee noticed, they were too busy driving straight into a ditch. Their seatbelts clenched and strained on them as Al hit the breaks. Nature did the rest, stopping the car as they reached the bottom.
-
Cursing and fighting with the car as they swerved, he then gasped as they ran into the ditch- thankful that his seatbelt kept him from smashing head first into the windshield “Fuck.. FUCK!” He said as adrenaline flooded through him, quickly looking at his partner “Are you okay baby?!”
-
Renee didn't respond. She just stared ahead, her eyes trembling. The static was gone from their link. Al could feel how the color waned from the shapeshifter's face, her thoughts silent. Only the lilt of pressure in his mind told him she was still there. Still aware...
-
Al would tentatively reach out to touch her shoulder “Hey.. hey Renee. Renamon can you hear me?”
-
From Al's digivice, the noise of Ike and Gazimon's voices were muffled, even muted, compared to Renee's silence. At her tamer's touch, she flinched, turning her head to stare back at Al. Gone were the flickering hues of her eyes. Images flooded their link, memories of failure, guilt, regret, all bleeding through into the present.
Her hands started to shake.
-
Al felt all of this, and ignoring Ike and Gazimon he would unbuckle his seatbelt and climb into her seat with her, wrapping his arms around her and resting his forehead against her own.
“Oh my little alopeke.. it’s okay. It’s not your fault.. none of it is your fault. I’m okay.. you’re okay. And you’re going to BE okay. I promise. I love you Renamon.. we’re gonna fix this. You hear me, hon?”
-
The shapeshifter said nothing, her arms climbing up Al's back as she held back the tears.
-
“It’s okay.. let it out.. let it all out baby girl..” Al said as he clung to her, softly kissing her cheek.
-
The two would hold onto each other, ignoring Ike and Gaz for a while longer. Then, they heard a knocking noise on glass from Al's door.
"Hey!" said a middle-aged local. "You guys okay in there?"
Renee forced a smile across her face, letting Al go as she rubbed her eyes with the base of her wrist.
"W-we're fine!" she said, clearing her throat. "Did we hit you?"
"Nah! The other guy kept driving. You guys need help?"
-
And he would give her one last kiss to the temple before giving an uneasy smile to the stranger
“That’s good to hear! Was anyone Able to get his plates?”
-
"Nah, sorry. Terrible with 'membering that stuff."
"++AL YOU FUCKER--ANSWER ME!!++"
The stranger jumped at hearing Ike's voice, giving a flat chuckle as he noticed the digivice.
"++Aw geez++" came Gazimon. "++How was I supposed to know they was drivin'!++"
-
Al also jumped a moment layer with him as he brought the Digivice to his ear, turning off speaker “Hey, hey babe I’m here! We’re okay!” He said, nodding apologetically to the stranger
-
"++Ah, thank Christ++" said the blond tamer. "++Scared the crap outta me. Anyway, what happened? Are you guys still driving?++"
-
“Ran into a ditch, nearly got hit head on by another car.. looks like I lost a mirror. I have no idea if anything else is broken at the moment.”
-
"++Shit++"
As the two tamers talked, Renee took that moment to slip out of the car. Al watched her as she began distracting the stranger, chatting with him, pointing back towards the road.
Ike continued. "++Listen, if you guys need a tow truck, I know a guy who runs an auto-shop, otherwise maybe Eyesmon can work her magic and save you a couple bucks++"
-
“I’d appreciate it babe..” he then would watch as Renee continued to distract the guy “What was Gazi going to say before Renamon freaked out?”
-
A moment of quiet. Al could hear Ike and Gaz talking. "++He says the curse is trying to tear its way out of her, or rewrite her? He thinks it has something to do with dark digivolution, like it feeds off all the toxic stuff inside the host to help pull it to the surface. Gaz can't make up his mind on what the end game is, only that Renamon's gonna get ripped apart from the inside unless we do something++"
-
Al’s dark face paled now, his grip on his Digivice tightening. “What are you saying..? Renamon is going to die if we can’t get this thing out of her?” He asked, his breath becoming shaken. “What do we even do?!”
-
"++I dunno, dude! I dunno! Maybe we can starve it out? Like, find someplace calm and relaxing. I know that hasn't been anywhere for the past month--but things've been all quiet around here since you guys sprung Kamapua'amon! M-maybe we can take advantage of that!++"
[You may take Renamon's fate as a new Torment, if you so wish. ;) ]
-
“Relaxing? How relaxing can things really be Ike? We blew up something important to code- accidentally- and Spinny was in my house today.. Theridia probably wants something from us. We don’t have time to relax!!”
-
"++Yes, you do!++" said Ike. "++Out of any of us, you and Rena NEED to! Especially after hearing all this!++
Out of the corner of his eye, Al noticed Renee glancing back at the car, even as she walked the stranger back up the ditch to his car.
-
“I-“ he then would meet her gaze, and he felt a flush of shame come over him “I don’t know if we can..”
-
"++I-!++" Ike paused, breathing a sigh into the receiver. "++I know, man. I know...++"
The car door opened as Renee slipped back into her seat. "Al," she said. "I took care of our friend. Is everything okay with Ike and Gaz?"
-
“I just..” and he stopped as he then looked at Renamon. “H-hey.. Renamon? Can you come sit down for a sec? I-I got something to tell you..”
-
...
True to his word, Ike called in a tow truck, the driver letting Al and Renee ride with him back to the auto shop. There was a park nearby, right across the street. Knowing it would take a few hours to fix the car, the lovers wandered over. Quiet, both in mind and word, yet, despite it all, Alemana felt only calmness from his partner, even... relief? Renee held his hand, her face a cipher.
"Thank you for telling me," she said, letting a small smile on her face. "Not that you would have had any luck keeping it a secret from me."
-
Al would quietly held her hand “Are you.. okay?”
-
She stopped in her steps. "I'd be lying if I said I was fine. We almost got into a car crash, after all." The shapeshifter took both of Al's hands, holding them as she stared back at the athlete. "But now I know why it happened. It wasn't because of something I chose to do, or because of how we feel about each other. The blackouts, the violence, its all because of a parasite. And now that I know my enemy, I'll do whatever it takes to fight it."
-
He would smile softly as he gave her hands a squeeze in return “And I promise to fight alongside you every step of the way.. we won’t let this thing beat you baby girl.”
-
And beneath the trees, hair rustled by the warm ocean breeze, Renee pressed her lips to Al's, kissing him, holding him. "It's a promise we'll both keep," she said, caressing his cheek.
-
He smiled and kissed her in return as he then would softly whisper in her ear “I guess this is karma for all that baby teasing..” he said, trying to lighten things up.
-
"Mhmhm, you're forgiven," she whispered back, winking to him as she released her hold. "Now let's say you treat me to lunch."
Not even waiting for an answer, the shapeshifter turned away, sauntering towards the strip mall in the distance.
-
“Okay I guess I can, you’re eating for two now anyway,” Al said as a final joke as he gave her backside a soft pat, following her to the mall. “What do you think you’re in the mood for?”
-
Suddenly, Al's digivice began thrumming. Caller ID: Mom.
"Uhoh~" said Renee. "Looks like someone found out about the car~"
-
He winced… looking at Renee nervously as he then said “Wish me luck.”
And he answered “H-heeeey mom—“
-
Deja vu came in loud and clear as Jen's voice sent Alemana's ears ringing. Renee stifled a laugh as she watched the teen, the conversation promising to be one-sided at best.
...
"And you guys still went to lunch after that?"
"Of course, Jen knows we've been through worse."
Vivi slurped through the straw of her soda, the group eating burgers and fries as they sat around clubhouse.
"Sorry about your parasite," said Vivi. "My mom got one way back, after eating overseas. Not fun."
"You don't say," said Keilani, the scientist eyeing Al and Renee with a flat face.
Gaz looked up from his spot on the foambag chair. "Hey boss?" he said. "Did Malie ever get back to us?"
"She's not coming," said the blond. "Seriously, it's like she's under house arrest, and just after we bailed out Kama."
-
“I’m sure we’ll hear more about it when we get home anyway. And Malie has a lot to deal with.. I’m not gonna hold it against her.” Al would softly shoulder nudge Renamon as he then sighed, catching how Kei was looking at them (“…Okay, I’m gonna talk to sis for a bit. Keep everyone entertained.”)
“Hey Kei, I gotta talk to you about something.. wanna go in the other room?”
-
"Why? Is there a bussy in there?" she asked, deadpan, causing Ike, Gaz and Eyesmon to spit out their drinks in stereo.
-
Al had just taken a sip of his own drink right at that moment as his eyes then bugged out of his head as he nearly drowned- coughing up a storm as his face grew a deep cinnamon from both embarrassment and a desire to not die to soda. After he was able to speak words without sputtering he took hold of her arm “Just co-come on!” He said as he tried to drag her out of the room
-
The elder sibling let herself be pulled away from the others, passing a Gammamon too happy with his burger to notice the caffeinated spray all around him. As Al turned to close the door, he glanced at Renamon only to find her smiling on the sofa.
"Alright," said Keilani. "Let's hear it, Al. What did you wanna talk about?"
-
(“Zip it, fur ball.”) Al jokingly thought as he locked the door behind them. And to Keilani’s question he then sighed “Okay.. what’s been going on with you lately Kei? You’ve been acting weird the past few days. I don’t like how you’ve been looking at Renamon.. so what’s the problem?”
-
The scientist raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" she asked. "Al, you and Rena are literally down the hall from me. Me and Gammy can hear you guys pounding each other in the shower. Gammy's been learning more than a few words that I'm having a hard time explaining to him--and reaaaally don't need mom and dad asking about."
[Roll Discern Intent]
-
“Well I-“ his face would again become a shade of cinnamon… but as he listened ..
[Rolling: 5,2,5 + 8= 20]
-
Years of living together betrayed subtle tells in Keilani's body language. The way she held herself, the inflection in her voice, even the fact that her face remained neutral all throughout her dialogue, it told Alemana that more was going on than his sister cared to admit.
-
And once he picked up on that, his expression also changed “Okay look, I’m sorry about Gammy learning words you don’t want him to know- that’s on us 100%. But there’s something else going on too isn’t there? You’re my big sis Kei.. I know you well enough to know that you aren’t telling me the whole truth. What’s really the matter?”
-
Keilani's eye twitched, her face growing a cinnamon hue. "I don't wanna get into it," she said. "Especially with my brother, who's active sex-life is killing me."
-
“What—“ his face grew even darker as he put the pieces together now “Oh my god— oh my god! You’re jealous of me and Renamon-?!”
-
A wave of heat surged out from Keilani as she glared down at her brother, a smiling contorted across her face. "Jealous? Don't be ridiculous! Jealous! What's there to be jealous about?! I've got plenty to be proud of without getting bogged down by relationships! I'm the fucking adult here! I can have sex whenever I want!"
-
Al felt his face grow even hotter now as she exploded at him “Yeah well if that’s true, why aren’t you? It’s not my fault if you’re always horny at home!” He shot back as he then felt his eyes widen. This was denial if he’d ever heard it..but then another thought crosses his mind that filled him with horror “.. You don’t get horny when you listen to us do you—?”
-
The sooner had the words left his mouth than did Al imagine his sister's hair rising towards the ceiling on a phantom updraft. "The FUCK kind've thing is that to ask!" she scoffed. "Like hell if I care about you roleplaying in the shower! Going round after round when mom and dad're at work while I'm stuck doing paperwork! If anything I'm glad! Glad I've got a career and bright future ahead of me when it's not be stalled over by saving the world!"
-
Her mouth was saying one thing, but the emphasis on him role playing and fucking in the shower while she was stuck doing boring- though probably important- work told him another story entirely.. and his face was practically black by how mortified and embarrassed he now was.. but something made him blurt out
“You’re that bad..?”
-
There came a sound like glass shattering.
"Gammamon! Don't climb on the kitchen counter!"
"Sorry, Vivi!"
As people moved around in the other room, Keilani stared at Al in silence, her head jerking as her eyes twitched.]
-
Al would meet her gaze .. though it was clear he was not backing down “Renamon is like that too, if she is really, really pent up and frustrated and I’m not in the mood. You need a fuck sis—“
-
Faster than the eye could see, Keilani clamped a hand over Al's mouth. "Don't say it," she said, her voice quietening down to a whisper. "I don't need to hear it. I don't need to hear my little bro's voice in my head, telling me what I know he did NOT just say out loud...!" Releasing her grip, the scientist nursed the side of her forehead, walking over to the bed to sit down.
-
He paused, but once she let him go he would quietly stand there as she sat down on the bed “How long have you been feeling like this though..?”
-
"I dunno," she said, shaking her head. "A while? Back in college, all I did was study and take care of Gammamon. It's not that I didn't have or make friends, I did, especially back in the Digital World. But once we got back to Earth, I had to keep people at arm's length. I didn't have other tamers I could meet up with like you guys. Thanks to CODE, it was too dangerous."
-
Al would frown in sympathy as he walked towards the bed, sitting down beside her “I get it.. I really do. That said.. you don’t have to keep holding yourself back like that. If you want.. I-“ he had to take a breath as he steadied himself, not even sure he believed what he was going to say. Still.. he saw so much of Renamon in Kei’s behavior, and his own over the past five years as he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders as often as he did.
“I think we could help you, Keilani.”
-
"Al, if you tell me to join you in a three way, I'm gonna pass."
-
“No- god no! But If you want.. I could see if Ike.. would want to help you. He’s always been a huge help to me and I think that - well you’d like him too—“
He had another idea.. but that one scared him almost as much as the thought of Keilani.. joining him and Renamon.
But then he smacked himself in the head
“Wait— no that won’t work. He doesn’t swing that way..”
-
Keilani sighed. "I appreciate the offer, Al, but this isn't something you can fix. I'm just glad I could get it off my chest."
-
“I know but.. I don’t want to make you feel this way every time me and Rena — well you know..”
-
"You won't. I'm not gonna stay at the house forever. Hell, I'm gonna be sleeping over at the observatory on weekdays once everything's squared away."
-
“But.. hold on.”
(“Have you been listening?”)
-
("Mhmhm, that would be telling,") thought Renamon.
-
(“What do you think we should do?”)
-
("I think... she could really use a good distraction. Something to take her mind off things. What did you say her hobbies were? We could springboard something off that.")
Keilani waved her hand in front of her brother. "Al?" she said. "You in there?"
-
(“Well..”)
He then snapped his attention back to his sister. “I am—“ he then would give a smile “I think I have an idea.. we should do something to take your mind off all the stress of saving the world and your job- we should go do something you really enjoy doing!”
-
"Well... I guess it's been a while since I tried hang-gliding..."
("...Hang-gliding?") echoed Renamon.
-
“Yeah? Well we should do that!” Al said, though he was also a bit surprised
(“I think you’d like it too baby.”)
-
"Okay," said Keilani, pulling out her digivice. "I'll get back to you if I find anything."
("Well, I mean, yes,") thought Renamon. ("It's just I never knew Keilani did it enough for her to count it as a hobby.")
-
“Alright, sounds good. By the way.. why did you have to say that word back there sis?”
(“People are full of surprises..”)
-
And just like that, the deadpan look in Keilani's eyes returned. "To simulate what it's like to hear Gammy come out of nowhere and ask something his innocent noggin can never know about." Standing up, she left the room, not even batting an eye as everyone watched her head to the kitchen space. When Al reentered the main room, he found his sister filling a plastic bag with ice from the freezer.
Renamon cleared her throat. "Has there really been no sign of INAS activity?" she asked.
"Not a pip," said Vivi. "They're still there, but no sudden activity spikes, digimon sightings or suspicious stories in the news."
"Besides the usual," added Eyesmon between mouthfuls. "BREAKING: Wild chickens rampaging through southern Hilo! A clucking mess! More at eleven!"
-
Al just sighed as he followed her out, catching that conversation
“What about the people who all collapsed? Any change on that front?”
-
Vivi shook her head. "Still no change. It's got a lot of people nervous."
"When terrible happens without explanation or remedy," said Renamon. "It's only natural for people to try filling in the blanks on their own."
"Have you tried contacting Menehunemon?" asked Keilani, the scientist walking over to the sofa, icepack on her head. "Maybe he's got an update."
"We thought about it," said Vivi. "But, I was hoping Kuk--I mean, Kamapua'amon and Malie'd be here when we did it."
-
Al would nod, his expression dour.
“Theridia said that the night marchers are involved.. whatever hat still means. Dad and mom never really explained what they really were.”
-
Ike stepped forward. "If it's like anything to do with the legend, wouldn't all our problems happen after dark?"
"Huaka'i pō don't generally put people in comas," said Keilani. "If we're going by the old stories, victims end up sick, maimed, dead, or my favorite, incinerated."
"Even if you take 'sick' to mean 'coma'," said Vivi. "It wouldn't explain why every victim we know about got the same effect instead of the other options. I don't know any kids that've died in the past few months."
"There's a number of nightmarcher trails on the Big Island," said Renamon. "We could look into them, see if any INAS have cropped up."
-
“It is the best lead we’ve got. If you can get ahold of Kuku ask what he knows Vivi.. I think me, Ike, and our mons should try to take a look at the Night Marcher Trails. Unless you also wanna tag along sis?”
-
"Yeah, Keilani!" said Gammamon, the ceratops throwing his arms wide. "Please? Let's go, let's go!"
"Heh, alright," she said. "You could do with some exercise after all the snacks you've been eating."
"YEAH!!"
"So, uh, we doin' this today or after dark?" asked Gaz. "Fine by me if the latter, but you guys ain't so good at the night vision, last I checked."
"The whole points to find INAS," said Ike. "Easier to do when it's bright out."
-
“It’s better if we do it when other people aren’t likely to be there. ButI think we should do something to make it easier to hide Renamon and Gazimon. Gammamon is small enough he can pass as like a plushie. The others.. not so much. So I think—“ he then looked at both Digimon “We need help from Chibitopia.”
-
"Chibitopia?" echoed the entire room. All save Renamon, chuckling as she put a paw over her eyes.
-
“What? You guys haven’t read Malie’s fan fic?”
-
"I know me and Eyes have," said Vivi.
"Basically what Al is saying is for Gazimon to digivolve to ultimate," said Renamon. "So he can then devolve back to Pagumon."
"Uh, pretty sure he mentioned the two of us," said Gaz, gesturing a claw back and forth between him and the vulpine.
-
“There shouldn’t be a need to go to that extreme: I actually was thinking about that. What’s stopping us from Digivolving you guys backwards to in-training like how you were de-digivolving voluntarily back when we were rescuing Kukuimon?”
-
"Oh that one's easy," said Eyesmon. "It's cuz we've grown out of them."
"Think about it," said Renamon. "While we technically have indefinite lifespans, once a digimon matures on their own into the next level of digivolution, they don't devolve save in extreme circumstances, and seldom on command."
"In short," said Vivi. "You can't turn a teenager into a baby, heh, at least on the outside. Right, Eyes?"
"Vi, don't do me dirty like that."
-
“That’s true enough. But you guys aren’t like normal digimon- you can digivolve into your adult and higher stages as you please- well if we are here with you. What if that rule is less strict with a tamers partner?” He then sighed “But.. I do admit this is just a theory of mine anyway. We wouldn’t know if it was possible or not unless we tried.”
-
Rena, Gaz and Eyes looked at each other.
"I guess that's true," said Gaz, shrugging.
"The question is how," said Vivi.
Closing her eyes, Renamon rubbed her chin. Just as fast, she crossed her legs, resting the back of her paws atop her knees. Al could feel her heartbeat slowing, her breathing rhythmic. Through their link, Al saw images of her, then Viximon, then back to Renamon shift in and out of focus.
"Rena--" said Gammamon, only for Keilani to shush him as she watched the vulpine.
And then they saw it, incandescence. Renamon's form shifted in place, shrinking, warping.
"I win!" cheered Viximon, the kit's tail flailing as she scampered up the sofa in a blur of yellow.
"Oh come on!" blurted Gaz. "That barely took a sec!"
"Duh, cuz I'm awesome."
-
Al watched as she say down, his attention laser focused. As he saw her visualizing changing form back and forth, a faint smile crossed his face - he understood what she was doing “Yeah, that might wor-“ and before he even finished speaking she shrunk with a flash of light and pixelation.. turning into Viximon!
“I knew you could do it!” Al cheered as he tried to scoop the tiny kit up into his arms “That’s my adorable little genius!”
-
The vixen held her chin high as Alemana scooped her up, basking in the attention, even as Eyesmon materialized behind Al and threatened to become a living hell maw.
"This is stupid," said Gaz, the chimera folding his arms. "I could'a done that real easy."
"Well now's your chance, dude," said Ike. "Quick, try devolving!"
Taken aback, Gazimon screwed his eyes shut. "Alright, watch how it's done."
Again, the room held its breath, Keilani playing with Viximon's ears as Gammamon hopped onto the sofa.
"Tryin'a meditate over here," warned Gaz. "Can hear you guys movin'."
"Thought meditatin' meant chillaxing," said Viximon.
"Keilani, I wanna meditate, too!" chimed Gammamon.
"Ooh, lemme teach you!" said Vixi. "I'm a pro!"
And all the while Gazimon's teeth itched, the chimera growling as his ears twitched and his claws clenched-- "I need a room!" he barked, storming off his bag chair to hit the nearest bedroom.
-
Al laughed as he watched the hijinx unfold, but then he stood a bit straighter “Thus might be what Kama needs to change back! Lonomon is the Akua of Peace right?”
-
"That's right," said Vivi, watching as Viximon hopped out of Al's arms to play with Gammamon. "He's supposed to be like the safety valve for Kumon's war aspect."
-
“We should bring this up with Mal, try to see if Kama can calm down and Digivolve backwards into our lil piggo.” Al said as he watched Viximon goof off with Gammamon
-
"We can try," said Keilani. "Do we wanna meet up with them now or after we hit the trail?"
"Leave it to me and Eyes," said Vivi. "We'll keep you posted from here."
Ike knocked on the bedroom door. "Gaz? You okay in there?"
-
“Sounds like a plan, right Vix?” He asked as he glanced at Ike “what’s taking Gazi so long, babe?””
-
"Yeah!" cheered Viximon.
"Give him a minute," said Ike. "Geez, man."
...
"Stupid fox. Always showin' everyone up. Now I gotta do this n' that on a dime, tch!" Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Gazimon grumbled with his back to the door. "Chillax, she says. Like anyone'd relax with her yackin' off." The chimera's ear perked as he noticed the glint of metal. It was the handle to the nightstand's drawer. Eyes narrowing, he ceased his grumbling, sliding off the bed as he went in for a closer look. "Oh hey," he said, opening the drawer. "Tut's shades..."
The sunset-colored lenses brought back memories. Thoughts of Shades Gazimon back on Waihona, of the last time they saw each other. The chimera's mind faltered elsewhere, however, as he heard knocking from outside.
"Can't get any peace 'round here," he growled. Ducking behind the bed, he pulled on his feathery ears. "Dammit--relax, relax! Gotta just chill for a minute 'ere. Think Gaz! THINK!!" Concentrating, the chimera's mind fought for ideas against the image of Renamon and her sunglasses, the way she paraded around with them when she and Al were together. The noise they'd make, the noise! It was just as bad when Ike did it. When Ike did it...
Gazimon's mind drifted to the average day at Ike's place. The quiet days. Just lounging around the room, playing video games, the smell of fried food slipping in through the vents. It was almost as fun as when he'd been Pagumon, Ike slipping him in a bag under everyone's noses, safe from crazy ladies and their brooms. Or that one time at the beach the other day, when Ike put him in a--
Suddenly, Gazimon's body flashed incandescent. Over the sound of devolution, he couldn't hear Ike knocking at the door.
"Gaz," said the teen, both him and Al stepping inside. "You doing okay in here?" Ike blinked. "Gaz...?" The Samoan near jumped out of his skin when Pagumon flung himself out from cover just to splat across Ike's face.
"NOTHIN' TO SEE HERE!!" said the blue ball. "I DID IT, SEE?!! LET'S GET MOTORIN', BOSS!!"
-
Al jumped, opening his arms for Viximon
“Let’s go~!”
-
...
For reasons both recent and obvious, Keilani took to the wheel of Alemana's car, leaving her baby brother to wrangle three digi-kids alongside Ike. Only with the aid of big sis' cooler full of snacks did things calm down enough to manage such a feat, for none dared to invoke the dread power that was digi-spanking.
South-west of Hilo, the Waiakea Forest Reserve swallowed up all mention of civilization. Mountain bike paths were as big as it got outside the lone highway, and even on a Friday, few people could be seen as the group arrived at a gravel-road parking space.
"Woah!" said Viximon, forepaws tapping on the window. "Look at all the bushes!"
"Yep," said Keilani. "This area's got a heavy underbrush, so it's easy to get lost if you walk off the path." Killing the engine, the scientist handed Al the keys before everyone disembarked. The parking space was overshadowed by white-barked albizia trees. A trod led into the dark of the woods, but not before guiding everyone's attention to a map board set up at the mouth of it.
"No people but us!" cheered Vixi. "Al! I'm gonna zoomies! Can I do zoomies?!"
"Gawd, you're such a spaz," said Pagumon.
"I wanna spaz too!" said Gammamon. "Viximon! Let's zoomies to the MOOOOON!!"
-
Al would laugh as he took his keys, watching as Biximon drummed her little paws on the glass with spastic enthusiasm. Looking at Kei, he shrugged his shoulders “What do you think, should we let them run around?”
-
"Should be fine," said Kei. "We can track and contact them on the digivices."
"I was gonna say something about letting toddlers run off," said Ike. "But then, most toddlers ain't digimon."
Laughing, Gammy and Vix ran off into the woods, making motor noises with their mouths as they dived into a nearby bush.
"So how long's the trail, anyway?" asked Ike.
"Dunno," said Kei. "Couldn't find specifics online, but my guesstimate is a mile and a half."
"Glad I don't got no legs," said Pagu from atop Ike's head. "Show 'em how it's done, boss!"
"Dude, we used to walk everywhere on Waihona. A mile and a half is like two hours, coming back."
-
“Don’t go too far, guys!” Al called out as he then looked at the others “That’s nothing we haven’t done before, and we have way longer legs than when we were kids. Besides.. it gives you time to get to know my big sister a bit better.” Al said as he took out his Digivice.. looking at the map.
-
Scanning the map, Al's digivice brought up the trail onscreen. It showed a winding trail bisecting the reserve, with Kei's estimate on length matching up. It would take two hours to finish and get back to the car by, and in that time, they would need to comb through the area for any and all INAS. That meant they'd be finishing up close to sundown at best.
-
Looking over the map, he would raise an eyebrow as he took the time into consideration. “I think sundown is the key, we can’t leave.” He said suddenly.
“Night Marchers come out when the sun sets and match until the sun rises, so legends say. If we do this trail and leave .. we might miss them.”
-
Keilani turned from Ike. "In that case," she said. "I'll go grab the flashlight in your trunk. Digivices don't give off enough light."
"So wait," said Ike. "Are we looking for INAS or not? It'll be next to impossible after dark."
-
“Right, good idea sis.” Al said as he gave Ike a small nudge “If there even is one. I have a feeling something different is going on.. but we gotta see if I’m right.”
-
Ike winced. "Different? Wh-what do you mean by different? You gonna share with the class, Al?"
"Hey, where did we leave off on school today, boss?"
"Sh-shut up, Pag! This is serious!"
-
“I’ve got two theories. One: it’s some digimon who have been around here a long time. Two: It’s not a digimon.”
-
Both Ike and Pagumon's eyes shrank to the size of pin points. "You... you mean human, right?"
"Not ghosts?" asked Pagu.
Keilani sighed, slamming the trunk closed as she came back with the flashlight. "It's possible," she said. "Ghost digimon are a thing, after all, and ever since the Digital World, I can't say the supernatural's a joke."
"Gawd, I'm getting Oboromon flashbacks now," said Ike. "W-we should bring the cooler! Fill the 'mons up so they can digivolve on the go!"
"You've seen how much Gammy eats," said Kei. "That cooler's not even half empty, and you wanna lug it for two hours through the woods?"
-
Al would softly wrap an arm around Ike as he noticed the other boy get a little paler “If it is human’s well.. we’d kick their asses. But I agree with Kei.. if digimon exist, who’s to say there aren’t other things?”
-
"Yeah, but--"
"Come on," said Kei, the scientist walking towards the trod. "Gammy's still technically a rookie, so if anything jumps us, we'll tank the party for you guys."
Groaning, Ike followed Kei and Al into the forest, slinging Pagumon into the safety of his bag as Gammy and Vixi sped underfoot.
[Alright, roll me Athletics, Endurance, aaaaand Perception.]
-
[Rolling Athletics: 3,5,3 + 9 = 20
Endurance: 4,3,4+ 8 =19
Perception: 2,6,4+ 8 = 20]
-
The forest teemed with life. Birds sang and chased after one another whilst bevies of deer grazed and watched from afar. Said-wildlife would scatter as Vixi and Gammamon chased after them, though this stopped the moment they came across a mongoose in the middle of devouring a rat. How strange it was, then, that the deeper into the woods everyone went, the quieter it became. Less and less became the sightings of wild animals. Even the insects shied away from view, their presence only hinted at by their chirps in the distance.
"Keilani!" cheered Gammamon, the ceratops tugging at his tamer's shirt. "Look, look! That bush over there's red!"
Glancing as one, the group glanced in the direction he pointed. In stark contrast with the greenery of the forest, there grew a bush whose leaves were outlined in a stark red hue.
"Yeah, you like that?" asked Keilani. "Those are ti plants."
"Ti plants?" echoed Gammy. "Does that mean we can drink them?"
"No, silly goof. Ti as in T. I. not T.E.A. If it helps, some people call them palm lilies. They say that nightmarchers will go out of their way to walk around them, so it's not uncommon for people to grow them around their homes."
-
Al would gently pick up Viximon once she found that mongoose. He didn’t want her to risk getting hurt by a scared animal “Hey it’s okay Vix. It’s what animals do.” He said as he softly pet her. She may have understood the kill-or-be-killed nature of the world.. but her mentality was much younger in this form. The scarcity of wildlife was curious..so he held his partner a bit closer.
“Ti? Do you think that will really keep them away?”
-
Keilani shrugged. "Can't say for sure. We'd need to test it on a nightmarcher."
"Oooh--let's catch one!" said Vixi.
"Pass," said Ike, keeping an eye on the way they came. "Not gonna mess around with ghosts until we know they're digimon."
"You said it, boss!" said Pagu, poking his head out of the bag. "No sense in messin' with dead things more than we gotta!"
"Relax," said Kei. "Not like we've got anything to capture ghosts with anyway." Her brow furrowed. Raising a digit, she pointed to Ike, Pagumon, Viximon, Al, Ga--she pulled out her digivice. "Ugh, Gammy's run off again," she said. "You guys mind waiting here? I'll be right back with him."
-
Al would lean over to kiss Ike on the temple, viximon comically being smushed into pagumon before pulling away “Don’t worry, things will be fine babe.” He said as he glanced at his sister “You sure you don’t want us to come with- watch your back? Not to be that guy.. but doesn’t splitting up always end in something bad happening ?”
-
The In-trainings fidgeted as they made impact with each other.
"Earflaps off the goods!" muffled Vixi.
Pagu scoffed. "As if, stinker!"
As Keilani motioned down the nearby hill, she glanced back at the group. "If you wanna come, that's fine by me. Just keep an eye out for hikers."
...
"Aloha, chonky friend! What're you up to?"
Laying flat on his stomach, Gammamon stared back at the tortoise before him. Compared to the ceratop's yellow, beaming eyes, the shelled creature's gave the impression of a professional poker player. Brown orbs surrounded by red scales that became small, dark and pebble-like as they climbed down its wrinkly neck. Its only response? A slow, asymmetric blink.
"Do you know Tortemon?" asked Gammy. "You're not as spiky, but your shell's lumpier than Kamemon's."
"Gammy~! Time to come back!"
If the ceratops heard Keilani's voice, it didn't show, the ceratops too busy balancing his feet in the air as he stared at his fellow reptile. Only after the tortoise slunk its way back into its shell did Gammy break from his musings. "Huh? Where'd you go, friend?" he asked, knocking on the shell. "Don't be shy! My name's Gammamon!"
"Gammy--don't move!!"
The ceratops turned his head around. Keilani, Al, Ike and the others were standing there, motionless. He followed their line of sight. There, hanging from a fleshy, red vine that spiraled from the bushes, a fruit, no... an eyeball, one whose irid was the color of rust.
-
“Oh crap, sorry viximon..” he said as he pulled her away, and began to follow Keilani. “Well yeah, what if you trip and slice your knees up on a sharp rock or something— or the ghosts get ya?” He teased as he carefully stepped down the hill, setting Viximon on a rock for a moment before scooping her back up once his footing was a little more stable.
“Gammamon!” He called out with her.
____
Luckily it wasn’t hard to find him, he was a start white little dinosaur in a forest- it was hard to miss him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he was about to say something when he too caught sight of the strange eyeball “What the hell is that?”
-
At the first syllable to come of Al's mouth, the eyeball shot its attention to the teen.
[Roll Bravery]
-
[rolling: 3,4,1 + 7 = 15]
-
Unnerved but not undaunted, Al stared back at the eye without giving ground.
The same could not be said of Ike. Screaming obscenities at a choir boy's pitch, the blond lunged for the nearest rock, hoisting it over his head as he prepared to launch it. "GAMMYGETOUTOFTHEWAYI'LLSAVEYOU!!"
Gammamon darted his attention between the eyeball and the group, only to dive over the tortoise, shielding it with his body.
-
Al was startled when he first saw it, but he wasn’t too perturbed- he had seen a lot of strange things - but when one hung out with Eyesmon all day.. a single eye ball on a.. vine? It wasn’t too crazy. No, he was far more startled by Ike’s sudden outburst, almost jumping at it. “Ike wait! You might hit Gammy— or the turtle!”
-
The eyeball shot a glance at Ike, and in an instant the teen froze like a deer in the headlights of a car. The rock dropped from his hands, falling behind him as both he and Pagumon quivered and quailed. Then, like a thread being spooled, the eyeball spiraled after the fleshy stalk it was attached to, disappearing into the forest underbrush.
"It's making a break for it!" said Keilani. "Gammy, let's go!"
"No time to waste!" said Viximon. "Al, let's book 'em!"
-
“You got it, Viximon!” And he held out his Digivice “Digivolve!”
And he would turn to look at Ike “Come on, let’s go get it man!”
-
Leaping out of Alemana's arms, Viximon turned incandescent as rings of data enveloped her in a cocoon of energy. "Viximon digivolve to--Renamon!!"
"What, are you guys nuts?!" asked Ike as he chased after the others.
"What if it's a trap?!" asked Pagumon.
Of the team, Renamon led the charge, racing through the forest as if it were an extension of herself, every tree a springboard from which to gain on her quarry. Yet she kept her distance, sharing what she saw with Al through their link.
[Alright, describe RustGauntmon on the run.]
-
“It’s nothing we haven’t handled before! C’mon babe!” He called back, running after Renamon. When she shared her vision with him though, he let an inadvertent “God-“
The creature was undoubtedly a digimon, he was sure of that much. But besides MadGoblimon he hadn’t really seen one that had been this gruesome- even Oboromon was less physically unnerving. It was humanoid, tall- maybe seven- eight feet with pale blue skin.. but that’s when the more disturbing aspects of its anatomy became apparent. For one- the creature had no head. Rather.. it looked like it had a rusty stage light jutting from its neck. Likewise its hands were replaced with equally rusted shears that were longer than Renamon’s forearms. And coming out of the back of that spotlight was the red cable capped by the eye they saw.
“Jesus—“
-
Suddenly, the eyestalk whipped up in front of Renamon, its lidless eye glowing baleful red. "Evil Eye," came a voice in Al's mind, for he felt nothing from Renamon's ears even as she, too, felt it. It was the sound of something wet and hoarse, filtered through motorized machinery.
[Rolling: 3 4 4 1, 2 3 6 4, 4 5 4 1, 6 2 = 3 suxx]
-
[Dodge: 6,3,4,6,5,3,4,6,1,6= 5 suxx= miss]
Fortunately Renamon wasn’t easy prey and she was able to leap into the air- flinging her arms as golden leaves billowed around her. With a vulpine smile she would then utter ”Withering Storm!” as she then sent them soaring at the mysterious creature like a cloud of arrows!
[Rolling: 6,5,5,6,6,4,5,3,6,4 = 7 suxx,]
-
[Dodge: 3 1 2 3 3, 6 4 5 3 4, 5 3 3 = 3 suxx = Hits = [(10+5) - 13] = 2 DMG. Target is Weakened]
The creature threw up its shear-arms, deflecting and cutting at what projectiles came in range. But even with its nightmare-physiology, it could not evade them all, Renamon's gilded volley embedding in its discolored flesh, or else marking their passage with wounds no thinner than papercuts. The muck-stained light on the monster's head came to life, bathing Renamon in a jaundice hue before she leaped away and out of view. Were it so easy, for where she went, the eyestalk followed--only for both it and her to turn their attention to the rustling of foliage.
"Gammy, put the tortoise down!"
"Nu-uh! He says he wants to help!"
Renamon's attention shifted back to the eyestalk, refusing to be distracted as it retreated after the main body.
("We've got a runaway,") she thought to Al. ("Maintaining pursuit!")
-
Al world run after her, calling over his shoulder “Renamon is chasing it down, let’s go!”
-
[Roll Athletics with a -2 from difficulty]
-
[Rolling: 6,3,1 +7 = 17]
-
Years spent with Renamon had taught Alemana how to sprint through a forest without tripping over rock and upturned root. Light grew dim but for the glow of the monster's literal headlight and Renamon's attacks. Up high in the forest canopy, hints of the late noon sun dotted the greenery, but so thick was the undergrowth that it layered the path with shadowed mist.
The scraping of metal, the whine of rust against rust, Al arrived at the scene of Renamon's battle to see dodging the monster in close quarters. She side-stepped a downward strike, just to bend the upper half of her body as a scissor claws snapped for her neck--then flow across the arm now embedded in the earth to deliver a roundhouse kick to the head! Her attack was foiled, however, when the monster's eyestalk wrapped around her leg and threw her across the battlefield--the vulpine saved at the last moment by a wayward branch, grabbing it with her claw to spinning upright onto it.
("Al,") she thought. ("Where're the others?")
-
Al would stop, only partially out of breath as he then ducked behind a tree for a moment, before sprinting to get closer. As he did he would hit the digi-analyzer app to scan the creature. What the hell were they dealing with?
(“They should be coming up behind me, are you okay Renamon?”)
-
//RustGauntmon
++//Level: Champion
++//Type: Undead
++//Attribute: Virus
++//Family: Nightmare Soldiers
++//Attacks: Demon Scissors, Evil Eye, Rust Saber
("For now,") thought Renamon, crouched behind a tree. ("Most of its attacks are close range, with its headlight and eyeball making it harder to move. Thankfully the foliage's obstructing enough that it can't get a bead on me.")
*SHINK!* The vulpine went stiff as a board against the tree, her neck flanked by rusted blades as they dug into the wood. It was enough. Renamon ducked and tumbled as the tree gave way and sliced in half; RustGauntmon's light tailing after the yellow shadow.
-
RustGauntmon? Wait..Gauntmon..
Gauntmon!?
Al winced as Renamon barely avoided that attack, and Al would open his Digivice’s inventory. He had no idea if this digimon was even related to the one he knew.. but he notes that even though digimon were individuals..they were more prone to having some similarities to others of their kind so.. maybe..!
Pulling free the Troopmon Deluxe he would hold it up like a banner, and taking a breath and stifling his upcoming embarrassment shouted:
“E kali, e ka hoahanau! Kāohi! ʻAʻole pono mākou e hakakā!!”
-
The scissor-bladed digimon hacked at empty air as Renamon continued to evade, yet on hearing Alemana both eyestalk and headlight flashed at the teen.
*Rollz*
A stillness hung over the creature, all but for the eye as it stared not at Al, no, but the makeshift banner he wielded. Turning, RustGauntmon labored a heavy step in the teen's direction, lumbering towards him. Al could see Renamon take to the trees above and behind the walking corpse, but the closer the creature got, the more apparent its size. The stench of iron and decay stung at his eyes and nostrils, shears dragging through the dirt. Somewhere in the distance, Al could hear the others approaching, but if he was wrong about this, if the digimon before him attacked, Renamon was all that stood between him and a terrible fate.
RustGauntmon lifted a blade towards the teen, ruined tips inches from his stomach. Al could feel Renamon's body tensing, her eyes narrow and claws extending... but the blade never reached the tamer. Instead, it lifted up the Troopmon Deluxe from below, the fabric gleaming as it bathed in the yellow light.
"Memories..."
-
Al would stand still.. his eyes fixed on RustGauntmon as it approached.. hands holding up the suit in front of himself.
(“It’s okay Rena.. just be ready if something happens.”)
He then would give an uneasy smile “Remember this? LordBucketmon and all her vassals came to a little laundromat/ costume shop in the middle of nowhere, looking for proper outfits to denote her majesty.. remember that? Remember Pumpkinmon, Gotsumon and all his brothers?”
-
"Our very... first... customer..."
"Al! Renamon!"
Suddenly, through the bushes, Keilani and the others burst forth.
"Don't move!" said Renamon from her perch, the vulpine raising a paw towards the group.
As everyone looked on at the scene between Al and RustGauntmon, they saw the latter remain in place, not moving a inch, its lone eye fixed on Alemana's suit.
"Alemana Sonson," said the rusted digimon. "You digivolved twice the size of our old stitching."
-
Al would hold up his hand along with Renamon’s as if their connection allowed for parallax “I’m okay! Things are alright.” He called back to the others..a broad smile crossing his face.
“You’re one to talk, mister. You weren’t this tall last time either.” He said, laughter in his voice. “I didn’t think we’d get to see you again.”
-
"Uh, mind telling us what's going on?" asked Ike.
RustGauntmon's eye snapped in the blond's direction.
"Puckmon...!" said the corpse, raising a set of shears to snip at the air.
As Al turned to look, he saw Ike and Pagumon's eyes as wide as saucers, their jaws near slamming the ground.
"Woah!" said Gammamon, tortoise atop his head. "Ike and Pagumon can change color!"
-
“I know,right?!” Al said as he then glanced back at RustShearmon
“How did you end up here in Hilo? How long have you been here?”
-
"Four days," he said. "And away from Waihona for far longer."
Renamon landed beside Alemana without making a sound. "Did you get caught in the Network?" she asked.
The cadaver nodded. "A lot's happened since you defeated Varamon. The Snailmon village has grown into a respectable town called Kahuli, with our old Emporium & Laundromat expanding into the lucrative hat and wig industries."
"That's wonderful news," said Renamon.
"But everything changed when portals to the Network were discovered. To cut a long story short, Pumpkinmon learned of a means to digivolve to the fabled Mega-level, and left in search of it."
-
Al listened with a soft smile on his face, but he would look at RustGauntmon in confusion “A way to Digivolve to mega level—? Okay wait, we’re getting distracted. We came out here because there are a bunch of people at our school and our friend Vivi’s school that fell into comas without warning and we were told Night Marchers are involved.. do you know anything about this stuff RustGauntmon?”
-
"Night Marchers?" he echoed. "Of course. Me, Gotsumon and Pumpkinmon used to talk about it when we were first starting up."
"Really?!" asked Keilani. "What can you tell us? Is it a recent thing or has it happened before?"
"Oh, I wasn't around for the first time. Pumpkinmon had that honor. Said it was tied directly to tamers and their partners, and that all Ghostmon born on the Kumulipo Server share an active duty to it."
-
“What is it though? What’s it’s purpose?”
-
"Besides bridging the two worlds long after death, he liked to put it as being 'an active warning, a promise, and an epitaph'. Heh, he always like hyping it up that way."
"That tells us next to jack," said Ike. "What do you mean, 'long after death'? None of the coma patients've died."
Keilani nodded. "And if it's referring to their partners, they'd have all fallen into a coma the minute they came back to Earth."
-
Al frowned “I hate to say it but it does seem kinda vague. Do the Night Marchers actually go after people?”
-
"Ohohoh, that they do," chuckled RustGauntmon. "They are the memories of war, of innocence lost. If you believe the old stories, they serve an Akua, even, one whose name is long since buried."
-
“But that’s causing a problem, it’s hurting people who are our classmates and friends. We have to do something about it..”
-
The cadaver shrugged. "I wish I knew how I could help, but I've got troubles of my own."
"Oh yeah? Like what?" asked Pagumon, only for RustGauntmon's eyestalk to stretch and loom over him.
"I was not the only digimon that came through here," said the cadaver. "A digimon by the name of Gorgemon has been devouring anything that moves, no longer satisfied with the junk data pouring into the node. I've been able to keep it and humans away from each other, but if it digivolves, I doubt I'll be able to stop it."
-
Al would look up at RustGauntmon in surprise, but he would quickly give a confident smile. “Well you’re in luck, solving problems is kinda our thing: especially if it’s to make sure innocent mons or humans don’t get hurt. We’ll help you out, if you want!” And he held out a hand.
“Because that’s what friends do, right?”
-
The champion's eyestalk turned away from the petrified Pagumon, regarding Al's hand.
"Have you gotten your tetanus shot?" he asked the teen, accenting it with a wet, rasping chortle.
"Mhmhm, how do you know what that is?" asked Renamon.
"Human horror films, remember? Me and the others still watch them whenever we get together."
"Remind me to show you LordBucketmon's collection. You'll be happily surprised."
"Yeah! Movie night!" cheered Gammamon.
Keilani smiled. "One step at a time, Gammy. Let's first help Rusty fight Gorgemon."
"Gorgemon is no Dragon of Waihona," said the cadaver. "But you might say it's a glutton for punishment? The sheer volume of data it's consumed has made it easy for it to shrug off even being sliced in half," Rusty gave a snip of his shears before turning to Al and Rena. "Fire might work, but I can't say for certain. It has two mouths, making attacks from behind preferable. It also wields chains from its wrists, and is far more nimble than its size would suggest."
"Pfft, no problem," said Ike. "Between two ultimates and whatever Gammy's got, it'll be overkill."
-
“Don’t worry, this lady right here is almost insufferable when it comes to vaccine season.” Al said as he nudged Renamon “No missed shots here.” He teased as he listened to Rusty describe Gorgemon, brow furrowed in thought before a dark chuckle left him.
“Sounds like it’s a real piece of work regardless. But Ikes right, between all of us this thing shouldn’t be too much trouble!” And he looked at Gammy and his sister. “And we can finally see what you guys got, miss ‘We blew up a meteor.’” Al said with a teasing grin
-
Arms folded, Renamon winked at the teen, pinching his rear the second everyone's attention shifted to Keilani.
"You blew up a meteor?" asked Rusty.
The scientist nodded. "What can I say, it was getting all up in my personal space."
"Big kaboom!"
"What Gammy said."
"Very well then," said RustGauntmon. "I shall take you to meet the beast. Better to do so now while there's still daylight."
...
Venturing far from the trodden path, the group followed their guide macabre into the depths of the forest. Not a bird to be heard, nor insect to be seen, the footfalls muted by the gathering mist. Long before they reached their quarry, both Pagumon - now Gazimon once more - and Renamon caught the sour stench of decay in the air.
"Hey boss," said Gaz. "You knows if there's supposed to a garbage dump 'round here?"
"It's a forest reserve, Gaz. Of course there--"
In unison, everyone but Rusty grabbed at their nose, a shade of green on Gazimon's face as fell forward and covered his snout.
"Oh that's fierce!" coughed Keilani.
"We have arrived," said Rusty.
Staring ahead, the group saw the source of their plight for what it was. Down within a sinkhole the size of a football field, bags upon bags of trash, junk, and scrap lay strewn across the ground; not so much a pit as it were a junkyard secreted beneath the roots and canopy of the forest.
-
“Yeah yeah, you’re badasses.” Al teased, gently taking hold of Renamon paw as they followed RustGauntmon.
______
The stench caused Al to scrunch his face up along the others.. and he scowled . “Was gorgemon bringing garbage out here?”
-
"Unknown," said Rusty. "All of this was here when we exited the Network access point."
"Fun fact," said Renamon. "Illegally dumping this amount of trash can warrant an easy $10,000 fine per offense."
"Ugh, why do you even know that?" asked Gazimon.
The vulpine smirked. "I take my job as personal tutor very seriously."
Ike knelt down beside his downed partner, taking off his bandana to wrap it around Gazimon's snout. "Here, Gaz. You need this more than I do."
"Thanks boss..."
RustGauntmon's headlight flooded the sinkhole. "Avoid walking anywhere that isn't solid ground. It's very easy to get trapped inside if you trip."
On instinct, Keilani picked up Gammamon, who continued to hold up the tortoise, thus creating a living totem pole.
-
"Remind me that we will have to find out who has been dumping this shit here then, Hilo is a damn hotspot of national parks." Al said as he then softly tightened his grip on Renamon's paw, looking down at the ground warily. "Good thing you have good night vision Rena," he said in an attempt to bring some levity to the situation.
-
The vulpine sighed. "It's going to be a pain sifting through all of this, not to mention the smell out of my sleeves."
("I'm not sure it's safe for you or the other tamers to walk down there,") she thought. ("Will you be alright waiting with RustGauntmon while Gaz and I look around?")
-
“You can always change em,” he said with a smile.. but it faded at her mental suggestion.
[“Well… okay. You better be careful alright? We don’t know where Gorgemon is hiding.”)
-
Smiling, Renamon kissed the teen. ("I only promise to try,") she thought. Turning, she then asked aloud, "Gazimon, want me to carry you down?"
"Eh, pass," said the chimera. "Got my own ticket down." Walking towards the lip of the sinkhole, Gazimon flashed his claws, driving them down into the ground at record speed. "See ya at the bottom!"
"Wow Gaz," said Keilani. "That's some serious digging power!"
"Five feet per second," said Ike, hands akimbo. "Just wait till you see him dig a booby pit."
So distracted where the others by the chimera's handywork that only Al noticed Renamon had vanished, the vulpine fading from view to the sound of a distant flute.
-
Kissing back he would give one of her ears a gentle rub before watching Gazimon get to work “Yeah, he definitely knows how to dig holes.” Al quipped as he looked at RustGauntmon
“So.. what else has changed on the island since we left? We haven’t been back in a really long time.” He said, making some small talk as the dynamic duo began their search.
“I’m really curious.”
-
"A lot's changed," said the cadaver, eyestalk watching the pit. "Besides the Snailmon and the Emporium, an ongoing civil war between the Mo'omon tribes has made further settling Waihona's interior a nonstarter. On the other hand, Cypher Bay's only gotten bigger, though freak weather storms are becoming more and more frequent. Not that I get out much. Too busy watching movies between commissions." He paused. "Actually, one of the best selling movies've been renditions of your adventures."
"Woah, really?" asked Ike. "Who'd they get to star as me?"
Rusty gurgled out a laugh. "My favorite's gotta be the Danumon Troupe. They're shapeshifters, so they play any roles that they can't get 'mons to fill. The one playing Alemana gets a little too into character during the fight scenes, but the mainstream's eating out of his paws, especially when he and 'Renamon' have a scene alone together."
-
“The Mo’omon are fighting even now?” Al asked.. though to a degree he understood. Varamon had been the chief for such a long time.. he wouldn’t be surprised if they simply assumed he would be chief forever. Now that he was gone.. their entire culture was thrown into chaos. Before he could dwell on the ramifications of his actions on that front.. his eyes would widen in shock when RustGauntmon mentioned movies about their group.
“They actually made movies about us?” He said, looking at Ike before back at Rust. “That’s.. wow. And you say there are digimon who impersonate us? That’s pretty cool— wait” he then squinted “When you say ‘scenes alone’ what are we talking about?”
-
Rusty's eyestalk coiled in on itself as he chortled.
"(They wouldn't dare,)" thought Renamon.
"Wait," said Ike, glancing between the corpse and Al. "You mean they--and even back then--what's the PG rating on it?!!"
"Nothing naked," snickered Rusty. "But my, there are always more roses on Waihona whenever Alemana and Renamon get a moment together."
"Wow," said Keilani, her eyes staring a thousand yards. "And here I was, about to be jealous."
"I wanna be a star!" cheered Gammamon. "Are we famous?"
"I only just learned your names," said RustGauntmon. "Who exactly are you two?"
"A monkey's uncle," said Kei.
-
(“Easy baby.. I can feel your hackles like they’re mine,”) he said soothingly.
But at RustGauntmon’s question he would perk up “Oh, this is my sister Keilani and her partner Gammamon! Kei, this is RustGauntmon- tho we knew him as just Gauntmon back then. He runs a pretty lucrative business, if his story didn’t make it clear. He and his business partners are probably the biggest reason we survived long enough to get to Cypher Bay.”
-
"Oh yeah," she said. "The Troopmon Deluxe suits..."
"We've been trying to make believable human costumes ever since," said Rusty. "But even with data, it's never as good as genuine experience, and Waihona's heroes were only at our shop for a few hours."
As the cadaver went into detail, Renamon spoke inside Al's head. "(Found something. Looks like an INAS. Gazimon's already making his way towards it, so I'll keep my distance.)"
Ike's digivice began ringing moments later. "Gaz's got eyes on an INAS," he said. "Think Gorgemon went through?"
-
“Human disguises huh? Well I’m glad we could help you guys like we did, as little as we could spend time with you guys.”
He then tilted his head as he listened to Renamon (“Keep an eye on it.”)
He then glanced at the others “It’s possible… we should be very careful with it.”
-
...
"Tch, look at me, diggin' through trash. Been to a freakin' junkyard an' it didn't stink harder than this." Bandana mask wrapped on tight, Gazimon pawed at the ground beneath bags upon bags of trash. He had managed to create a tunnel to one side of the sinkhole, digging 'uphill' so that junk fell down the slope and out of his way, with an alcove or two to slip into when an avalanche of trash came rolling. "Could be worse," he muttered to himself. "Sinkhole might've got busy-like n' collapsed right ontop've me. But I ain't no amateur, ya hear? I knows my dirt like the back've my--" The chimera stopped mid-swipe. Though he had reached the surface and could see the distorted space of an INAS just above the bag mounds, those very same bags began moving of their own accord. He gave a start as he took a step back, watching as a mountainous shadow breached from the piles, eclipsing the INAS. "B-boss!" he said. "Boss--I think I found 'em! Boss?!"
In the yellow glare of Rusty's headlamp, Gazimon saw the figure was well over ten feet tall, a hulking mass of muscle and girth. He couldn't make out its face, he was too busy staring at the rows of glistening teeth along its abdomen as lips curled to reveal a gaping maw.
-
Al could hear that, and he would snap his head down the hill
(“Help him, Renamon!”)
-
Not even halfway through his thought, Alemana felt, then saw Renamon speed through the squalor, betrayed only by her shadow as it flickered behind her.
In the blink of an eye, Gazimon was nowhere to be seen, his assailant biting down on thin air. But even as Renamon sped away with him in her arms, there came a crash as trash spilled out from torn bags.
"Lookout!" cried Ike, rushing towards the sinkhole's edge. For in that instant, the two-mouthed horror below yanked from the refuse arms half as thick as its gut, each ending in massive hands whose wrists were wrapped in manacles of blackest iron. Rusty's lamplight caught the glint of metal, a chain, snaking its way from the manacle as the monster spun it overhead like a lasso!
*Rollz*
[Aight, 3 suxx. Roll Dodge.]
-
[rolling: 5,1,4,3,2,5,5,3,3,5= 4 suxx]
-
There was a single twitch of Renamon's ear as she glanced over her shoulder. She leaped and spun in the air, dodging the chain as it slammed into a refrigerator, crushing like an empty can.
Gazimon pulled down his bandana mask. "Electric Stun Blast!" he cried, sparks flying as an EMP cloud flew towards the abomination. Renamon then saw how the cloud suddenly shifted at an angle. It was the only warning she got before seeing the chain from before arch towards her and Gaz, as if it had a mind of its own. Like a snake, it lunged and recoiled, stabbing at the pair--only for Renamon to side step or leap away.
"Watch out," warned Rusty. "Gorgemon has two of them!"
A wave of trash reached for the canopy behind Renamon as another chain was pulled from below, spiraling into the air as its brother continued its onslaught.
*Rollz*
[4 suxx. Roll Dodge with -1 penalty. Then it's your turn.]
-
[dodge:5,6,1,6,5,3,4,4,5,2= 5= miss]
For a brief moment it looked like the second chain would've caught her.. but she then disappeared with a blur of shadow and the sound of a flute, appearing right behind Gorgemon that same instant. And once she landed she gave a feral smirk. "Red Paw." she said calmly as she lunged with a flame wreathed paw!
[Rolling= 5,5,6,3,4,2,6,5,4,3= 5 suxx]
-
[Dodge: 5 1 4 4, 5 6 2 3, 6 1 2 = 4 suxx = Hits = [(10+1) - 11] = 0 DMG]
Keeping a firm hold on Gazimon as she lunged, Renamon swiped Gorgemon across the cranial face as it turned towards her. Through her, Al felt how her claws rolled over the creature's flesh instead of gouging, the attack failing to break the skin.
("Tough hide,") thought the vulpine. ("Next time I'll go for the mouths!")
-
Alemana hissed under his breath as he flexed his fingers from the sensation- it felt like getting his nails yanked upwards, threatening to separate from the beds of his fingers. ('Really tough skin. Lets see if the thing likes the taste of burning leaves! put Gaz down first though...")
Juking to the side around the bulk of the creature, Renamon dropped Gazimon from her hold as she leaped into the air.
"Withering Storm!" she cried.. a flurry of burning arrowheads soaring towards the beast.
[Rolling= (6,2,5,4,5,1,5,4,1,6= 5 suxx]
-
[Dodge: 4 3 2 6, 1 3 6 4, 6 2 = 3 suxx = Hits = [(10+2) - 11] = 1 DMG]
"Oh yeah," said Gazimon in a monotone. "Don't mind me're nothin'."
Catching the acrid glow of Rusty's light, Renamon's attack glimmered and soared at Gorgemon's bulk. Few of the arrowheads embedded themselves in the rotting flesh, either shattering or falling limp onto the garbage below. Those that found their way into its dual mouths remained lodged, however, causing the slightest rivulets of crimson binary to leak out. But as the vulpine smirked, her attention snapped to the oncoming chains of the beast, which sent torn scrap metal flying in their wake towards her!
[Rolling: 4 1 4 6 5, 4 4 3 4, 1 6 4 4 = 3, 1 2 = 3 total
1 2 5 3 1, 6 1 1 2 6, 5 3 4 = 4 suxx, 1 6 1 2 = 5 suxx total]
-
Al could see what was coming, and would glance at Ike "Babe, I think we're gonna need more than the Rookies. Renamon's barely making a scratch on this thing." he said as he absently shook his hand, fingers still tingling uncomfortably. His attention then jerked back towards the action. "Renamon!"
And she attempted to twist away from both chains
[Rolling: 2,1,6,6,5,2,3,6,5,1= 5 suxx
rolling: 2,1,6,6,5,2,3,6,5,1= 4]
-
[DMG = [(13+1) - 9] = 5 DMG. Renamon is Stunned for 1 round and is grappled.]
As the chains drew near, Renamon stretched out her leg before spinning into a leap, the momentum causing her body to turn horizontal as the first chain swung past her from below. Her arms folded across her chest, she dodged the second chain as it swung from above - yet rather than let it fly, she hooked her foot around it just before it was out of reach, allowing her to spin up on top of it. She readied to jump, bending her knees as she locked eyes with Gorgemon--
Her ears twitched. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the head of the first chain rocketing towards her. Her trained reflexes drew her arm up, blocking the hit as it pummeled the back of her paw. She winced, hissing through her teeth as pain swelled and spread across the point of impact. The chain she stood upon shifted, yet she couldn't move, and in tandem, both of Gorgemon's implements wrapped and coiled over the vulpine, crushing her.
"Now or never Gaz!" Ike cried aloud, his digivice glowing indigo-blue.
"Gazimon, digivolve to--GARGOYLEMON!!"
-
Al suddenly have a cry of pain, his limbs growing rigid and locked in place momentarily as their sympathetic link shared her sensations with him- it was hard to breathe!
“Renamon..!”
He suddenly sucked in a breath as the pressure subsided.. bending over. “Fucking hell..!” He said as he looked up at Ike “Renamon is stuck, Babe!”
-
With Ike's bandana around his neck, Gargoylemon took flight, rising high above the battlefield as he took aim.
"FREEZING WING!!" he bellowed, his under lit body shimmering like gold as he fired a frozen effigy of himself towards Gorgemon. So busy was the cadaver in drawing Renamon closer towards its gaping maw, it had no chance to dodge. In a flash-freezing cloud, ice shivered and cracked as it climbed across the monster's visage. "STATUE BOMBER!!" roared Gar, the living statue turning to solid stone as he dive bombed the frosted enemy, near capsizing it backwards! In that moment, the chains that were crushing Renamon went loose, and in the blink of an eye, she vanished from sight, only to reappear near the ledge of the sinkhole.
"Cutting it close, Gar," she said out of breath, even as she hid a smile and flexed her wrist.
-
Al would give a grin as he gave Ike a soft nudge with his shoulder as he caught his own breath. “Good job bro.” He then looked at Renamon, holding up his Digivice “Your turn Rena!”
-
"Al, wait," said Ike. "Remember what we said about stressing you and Renamon? What if digivolving to higher levels puts the curse into overdrive?"
"Curse?" echoed Rusty.
"It's a long story," said Keilani. "Gammy, are you ready to fight?"
"Yeah!" said the ceratops. "Ready to send Gorgemon to the moon!"
Nodding, the scientist turned to her brother. "Al," she said. "Think you and Rena can get Gorgemon to turn its back to us?"
-
Al felt himself deflate slightly as they used that logic, and he looked at Reanmon "Do you think there's a possibility?"
-
("I can try,") thought the vulpine. ("But whatever we're going to do, let's do it fast.")
Meanwhile, down in the hole. Gargoylemon slammed his clawed hands into Gorgemon's, the two champions pushing against one another.
"Gahh, some real fun down 'ere!" snarled Gar, moving his hips to avoid the corpse's lower maw from biting him. "Buddy your breath could peel the paint off a car. Tuts! You still in this're what?!"
"He shouldn't have tried wrestling it," said Rusty. "Gorgemon can easily break his wings if he tries to fly off now."
-
"We're going in, hold on Gar!" Al would then look at his partner. "Try to get it to turn!"
Renamon blurred out of sight, again appearing directly behind Gorgemon "Redpaw!" She then unleashed a flurry of kicks before flipping backwards "Withering Storm!" she cried as she unleashed hail of smoldering arrows.
[Red paw: 6,4,1,5,1,2,6,6,5,4= 5 suxx
Withering Storm: 5,6,5,5,4,6,4,6,1,2= 6 suxx]
-
[Gorgemon is in a Clash with Gar. He cannot dodge. DMG from the attacks is dropped by the two's CPU stats combined. Renamon Lifesteal activates, she heals # wounds equal to her CPU, so 1.]
Realizing what was about to happen, Gargoylemon turned to solid stone just before Renamon's arrowheads reached him and Gorgemon. The sudden shift in Gar's weight rooted him in place, causing the enemy corpse to pull and twist from where it stood. While the attack deflected off Gargoylemon's stony visage, more arrows impaled themselves in Gorgemon's bulk.
"It's working!" said Renamon, red binary flowing into her wounds. "I can make out its legs!"
"Gar!" said Ike. "You're gonna have to change out of rock mode! The freak's gonna break your hands off!"
-
Al would follow the action. his face set in a serious frown as he shouted “Don’t let up Rena! Hit him again!”
And his partner would then not go for the legs with a sliding tackle, paws wreathed in fox fire! ”Red Paw!”
[rolling: 4,6,2,4,5,1,6,5,6,4 = 5 suxx]
-
[As before. Gain +1 from Lifesteal.]
*Rollz*
Renamon clawed at the back of Gorgemon's knee, finding the digital flesh easier to carve into than before. If the living corpse knew pain, it showed no signs, it wounded leg bending forward as it continued to wrestle with Gargoylemon. For his part, Gar bared his teeth, veins swelling into view as his muscles bunched against his foe.
"I ain't your fuckin' hors d'oeuvre!" he hissed, pulling his head back as Gorgemon's chains wrapped around his neck. Seeing the shift in the cadaver's stance, he let his wings unfurl, flapping them as he stomped on the side of the zombie's knee. "FREEZING WING!!" He cried, flash freezing Gorgemon's front. Again the chains went loose, and Gar pushed off the corpse back into the air.
"Now Gammy!" cried Keilani.
"For Mister Tortoise!" he said, still holding the reptile aloft. Suddenly, the ceratops became incandescent with green light. The rest of the group had to back away, such was the sheer size of what Gammamon was becoming. A quadruped? "Gammon, digivolve to--WezenGammamon!!" A tremor shook the ground. As the light of the digivolution faded, Alemana saw what amounted to a green triceratops whose horns had been replaced by anti-aircraft rail guns - metallic grey with yellow lights along the length of the inside. White patterns along its legs led to toeless feet and a white underbelly, while Gammy's bandana lay wrapped around the base of a tail that was capped by a small cannon.
Renamon turned around, even as she saw what Al beheld with his own eyes. "Wha-" she began.
"HOLY SHI--" began Ike, only for the ceratops to mutter a single word in a deep rumble.
"Sedna." With twin horns moving to the whirring of machinery -- aiming square upon Gorgemon's back -- the ceratops fired cannonshot that thundered in everyone's ears! And in that very instance, the cadaver's back exploded into a cloud of smoke and ash, sending it barreling forward into the INAS! All save WezenGammamon and Keilani watched in shock as the gateway opened, pulling Gorgemon inside. Like the pit of an antlion, garbage began rolling and sinking towards the center of the phenomenon. Segments of the land shifted and glitched around it, pixelating the texture of metal, plastic and rubber alike.
Alemana, however, could only hear the piercing ringing of post-shellfire.
-
“Atta girl! Good job Gar! Now sis, it’s either-“ and he turned to watch as Gammamon Digivolved… and his eyes grew as wide as saucers “What the hell—?”
He gawked at the green, gun covered triceratops. (“They’re like us babe -!”) he thought.. but then covered his ears as WezenGammamon fired at Gorgemon.. nearly jumping out of his skin from the noise.
-
The fluttering echoes of a thought from Renamon were all Alemana could parse through the tinnitus now ravaging his ear canals. The adrenaline kept the teen from standing still, however, as he and the others saw the distortion's effects spread further and further outwards. Rather than vanish, trash piles grew out of nowhere. Antiques warped at exaggerated angles, merging analog with elements of the digital. A rocking horse became one part wood and the other mechanized with a holographic mane; a grandfather clock with neon hands had walls of encryption scrolling across the glass of its pendulum window; but above all, everything in and around the group grew twisted with deepening shadows and rotting vegetation, as a pixelating blanket of mist began to rise from the sinkhole.
"The node is upon us!" warned RustGauntmon. "Friends! Put yourselves back-to-back with each other!"
Ike followed suit, pushing his back against Al's as Keilani put hers to WezenGammamon and Rusty's.
("Al,") thought Renamon. ("I'm hitching a ride with Gargoylemon. What's the situation?")
-
Al would press his back to Ike’s, fists up as things began to distort and change.. eyes darting back and forth. “Does this happen often?” He called out as he caught sight of Renamon and Gargoylemon returned
(“I don’t know, the node is doing something!”)
-
"Anyone got eyes on Gorgemon?" asked Ike into his Digivice.
"++No good, boss++" said Gar through the receiver. "++Pit's turned into soup with all this fog rollin' in++"
"I will attempt to access admin privileges," said Rusty, holographic windows popping up in front of him. A moment later, they all flashed red. "Access denied. Gorgemon remains in control."
"Terrific," said Keilani. "Guess undead resilience means he could be just a head and still come back from it."
Rusty nodded. "Gorgemon will attempt to feed off the node's ambient data to regenerate its wounds. If we fail to corner it, we'll end in a protracted battle where it can pick off those too exhausted to fight."
-
“Great.. if it’s not one thing it’s another!” Al said with a growl to his voice. (“We gotta risk Digivolving baby, we’re the weak link right now.”)
-
("Understood,") thought the vulpine. ("Which should we go for? With Kyubimon, I could try to burn away some of the fog and trash. If we go Karamon, I can help Gar with air-support and tracking Gorgemon.")
-
(“Let’s go Kyubimon, we’ll need the firepower. This thing seems to be incredibly tough here.”)
He then gave everyone an apologetic look as he brought up his Digivice “Sorry guys but.. Do it Renamon!” He said as he held it towards her, screen glowing a reseda green.
-
Alemana made out the glow of Renamon's transformation high above the group as she leapt from Gargoylemon's arms and proclaimed her digivolution. "Renamon digivolve to--Kyubimon!!" The newly returned nine-tails dove towards the receding canopy, managing to land and push off a tree before it vanished from existence, replaced by a street sign whose bar was bent out of shape.
Before Kyubimon reached the group, another tremor shifted beneath the everyone's feet, though WezenGammamon was not the source. The ground glitched and warped as stone spikes ruptured towards the digital sky. That none were pulled or ripped from was of little comfort, for from the pit echoed a terrible, quivering howl, unhindered by the rolling fog.
"Guys," said Keilani. "Me and Wez here've got raw firepower, but shit maneuverability. What do you wanna do?"
-
Alemana would glare as he saw this cascade of junk continued to appear, and he would look at the others “Well that’s simple, make sure Wezen doesn’t get flipped over like a turtle and smashed like he’s a Koopa! We’ll keep this things attention on us!”
-
"Gar!" said Ike. "Stay airborne! If you spot Gorgemon, freeze him!"
"Will do, boss!" said the living statue, already circling the expanding junkyard.
On reach the group, Kyubimon past Al only to grab the scruff of his shirt with her jaws, pulling him off the ground just to land him on her back. "Let's move!" she said. A moment later, green-pink flames erupted around the others, hovering in the air. Shifting, tossing and turning, they took shape as the foxwives posed for audience both present and imagined. "Even if it's digital in nature," said Kyubi. "The heat'll burn up the moisture in the fog! There'll be nowhere left to hide but inside flammable trash piles!"
-
Al’s connection with her kept him from being surprised as she scooped him up and tossed him onto her back. Once he sat up he took hold of her sacred ropes.
“Let’s go babe! Let’s cook his rotting ass!”
-
[Alright, roll Perception with a -5 penalty.]
-
[Rolling: 5,5,4 +4= 18]
-
Becoming as a silver-yellow blur that trailed by a green-pink aura, Kyubimon wasted no time in racing through the fog. While she and Alemana led the hunt, the foxwives began their elaborate dance, arching over and around the group as they burned and cleared away the air.
Keilani smirked. Dipping her hand into her pockets, she tossed Ike a pill-box. "We're not gonna let Al and Kyub have all the fun, are we Wez?"
"Nope," said the triceratops, horn cannons already taking aim.
Ike looked inside the plastic container. Earplugs? His eyes shot wide, hands rushing to open it up. By the time he had set them inside his ears, Keilani had already procured her own and done likewise. She then pointed her finger at a distant trash mound, narrowing her eyes. "Then let 'em have it!"
"Sedna!" growled WezenGammamon, and like thunder, his armaments fired, blasting the scrapheap skyward as the tips of his horns flashed with light.
Meanwhile, team Kyubimon rerouted towards the center of the node. ("Call it a hunch,") thought the ninetails, ("But if I were Gorgemon, I'd try hiding somewhere too deep for an easy shot to reach him. Assuming he's got any survival instincts.")
Between her and her partner's shared senses, surveying given piles of garbage went by fast, but it was only at the sight of movement that either of them could tell where their prey was lurking. Alemana, not having to worry about turning corners or stepping on broken glass, spotted a familiar black chain slithering and shuffling beneath a waterlogged box and broken gears.
-
(“It sounds good to me Babe, let’s see just where this fat bag of Roy’s hiding..”) he said as he let Kyubi and the foxwives be his eyes.. and he would snap his head and point.
(“There! I see a chain!”)
Kyubimon would then unfurl her tails, little grinning fireballs alighting on the tips
(“Maybe.. maybe.. there!”) and he pointed again, a little further off: (“Fire around there.. might be where it’s hiding!”)
”Wailing Inferno!”
And nine fireballs were launched like little fox-faced missiles.. their shape suspiciously like exploding viximon!
[Rolling: 4,5,4,5,3,4,5,1,3,6,3,5,5= 6 suxx]
-
*Rollz*
As if on instinct, the chain stretched out, whipping two of the fireballs hard enough to snuff them out before they could burst. But the deed was done. A staccato of seven explosions burst on impact with the trash pile, scattering everything and anything in range. Not even the flames, however, could drown out the sonorous wailing that rose up from the conflagration.
("Direct hit,") thought Kyubimon. ("Even if it's undead, it can't withstand our attacks forever.") The nine-tail's ear twitched. Out the corner of her eye, she saw movement. Pushing her weight onto her front paw, she spun around with Al in tow, ready to pounce. ("Huh?") Blinking, Kyubimon and Al saw only more piles of trash, the vulpine's flames of reflecting off metal and plastic. ("Strange,") she thought, lifting her nose up as she sniffed the air. ("For a second, I thought Gorgemon was behind us...")
-
That howl made Alemana pause.. shivering for a moment. While some digimon could be more feral than others, very few of them were that bestial. Even Ebidramon had been able to reason with in the water works.. hell Seadramon too. and they never said anything at all. But this..it felt off- wrong.
(“Good job, huh?”) he then looked behind him as well…feeling her uncertainty (“Odd… alright, let’s hit that pile of slime again!”) he said, scanning around. For Gorgemon (“Let’s sweep around behind us— just in case!”)
Kyubimon’s head dipped in a nod as she did so, loosing another volley of smiling fireballs as she pivoted. ”Wailing Inferno!”
[Rolling: 4,6,4,3,6,3,2,2,1,1,5,6,5= 5 suxx]
-
Foxfire swept across the junkyard, blasting anything that moved as Kyubimon fanned her tails. Both she and Al saw as another mound of garbage kissed the sky after WezenGammamon's Sedna sounded off. Alemana felt the adrenaline racing through Kyubimon, the rush; the way time dilated as both his and her reaction speed went into overdrive.
It was all that stopped them, midway, from clawing a teen no older than Al.
"W-what?!" stammered Kyubimon aloud, but there he was, a male Hawaiian teenager dressed in overalls. He didn't bat an eye at the great fox, nor move an inch.
-
Al's eyes would grow wide as saucers.. what the hell was this kid doing?! So without thinking he would point at him "Get him out of there Kyubimon, now!!"
-
The great fox reached out to grab the teen by the clothes with her teeth. Mere inches from him, though, her nose twitched as she caught the scent of a foul bouquet - the sweetness of fruit overlaying that of rotten meat and musk. Scowling, Kyubimon hopped backwards, glaring at the teen. It was only then that she and Alemana noticed the boy hadn't blinked or moved a muscle. Indeed, not even his gaze had shifted, staring in the distance with eyes dull and unmoving.
("That's no human,") thought Kyubi. ("Even surrounded by this much garbage, I can smell the wrongness coming from him.")
Another mournful wail resounded in the distance, drowning even the din of WezenGammamon blasting another trash mound from existence. Out of the corner of Al's eye, he saw movement. Turning, he found a girl with a ponytail and a striped shirt standing just as still as the boy with the overalls, staring in the same direction as him. Then he saw another, a woman in a poncho around Keilani's age.
-
Al would look at the blank faced people with a look of preturbed realization on his face. ("Baby.. this remind you of anything?") he asked.. grip on her sacred ropes tightening. She didn't need to ask anything, the memory came without prompting: An image of Kei standing in the forest, floating inches off the ground like a hologram, or an illusion.
("You don't think this is like with the Ghostmon do you?")
-
Kyubimon's eyes narrowed. ("It's too suspicious to be a coincidence,") she thought. Sure enough, when Al glanced at the newcomers' feet, he found they neither touched the ground nor cast a shadow.
"HEY, WATCH OUT!!" cried Gargoylemon's voice. Kyubimon reacted by fanning her nine tails, swatting aside a manacle and chain. The subsequent force shattered the ground where the metal landed, sending rocks flying, passing straight through the nearest of the phantom children. The image glitched, flickering between static and inverted coloration. Its shape warped, till in its place floated the creature Al recognized from long ago. Ghostmon, from the stitched lips on its face to the wide-brimmed hat on its head, burning with silent blue flame.
A voice came over Alemana's digivice. "++Al++" said Keilani. "++We've got bogies cropping up in all directions. Rusty says they're being lured here by Gorgemon, I think the bastard's planning to siphon their data!++"
-
Al gasped as she acted.. and his eyes grew wide. “Nope, we aren’t gonna let that happened. We are going to scoop these little guys up so it can’t get em! C’mon Kyubimon!”
-
"On it!"
[Alright, roll Kyubimon's Athletics with a -2 from difficulty. Then do the same for Al.]
-
[Rolling, Kyubi: 3,6,6 +2 = 17
Al: 5,4,6+ 7 = 23]
-
Charging forward, Kyubimon arced her tails to one side as she past the Ghostmon by. Stomping her frontpaw down, she spun a one-eighty, her tails becoming a wall as they snatched two of the phantoms out of the air. Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Alemana reached out to another Ghostmon. His hand felt cold as he touched the surface of the digimon, yet there was weight to the creature's body, a solid presence rather than mere open air. Like a ragdoll, the ghost went limp as the teen pulled it onto Kyubimon, flatting itself, face down, between Al and the great fox's reins.
("That's three down!") thought Kyubimon, dashing between junkpiles. ("At least they're not fighting back!")
-
He shivered as he touched it, but he gave it a pat “We won’t let it get you, don’t worry!” He reassured the ghostmon. (“Good.. we gotta get the others!”)
-
As the great fox dashed and grabbed another ghost, she continued her telepathy. ("Check your radar. If they're being drawn to Gorgemon, their movements should reveal his position. From there, we can prioritize which Ghostmon need rescuing first.")
Looking down at his digivice, Alemana saw how each Ghostmon spotted pinged over the map. In tandem with data from Keilani and Ike's own digivices, the map was becoming outlined by dotted rings like a malformed dart board.
"++Al++" said Keilani. "++You seeing the map? I've got an idea on how to finish off our problem, but there's a risk factor. Wez's got a special attack that can do the job, but the blast might delete any Ghostmon too close to the impact zone. Gargoylemon's giving us enough of a bird's eye view where we won't lose sight of the zone if we remove the Ghostmon--but going near it'll put you and Kyub in reach of Gorgemon++"
-
(“Right, good Idea,”) Al admitted as he did so.. looking at the various points as Keilani explained her plan.. his jaw set as his brow furrowed in concentration. Gorgemon, they could handle- that wasn’t much of an issue. More concerning was the possibility of the Ghostmon getting deleted as collateral damage.. that was something he wanted to avoid. Especially after the figurative blood bath that happened several days ago..
“Don’t do it yet, not until we get the little ghosts out of the hot zone!” He said as he looked down at his partner “Have the wives focus on getting the ghostmon, Kyubimon!”
-
"Moving them out!" she said. As one, the foxwives took flight, streaking through the sky as they sought out their targets. Whether on their own or together, they took metal in hand, scooping and snatching what Ghostmon they found before retreating with them back towards the others.
Speaking of which...
"Evil Eye!" said RustGauntmon, his eyestalk drawing the attention of every Ghostmon the foxwives returned with. In silence they stared back, unable to look away nor move an inch.
"Hell yeah!" said Ike. "We're a well-oiled machine here! Gar, how're you holding up, over?"
High above the scene, the living statue coughed into his forearm. "Smokes gettin' heavy up here," he said. "Can barely hear a thing over the fire, boss! Smell ain't too good neither!"
"We've got this!" said Keilani into her own digivice. "Al, there's just one last Ghostmon in the way. Think you can pick them up or are you overloaded?"
("Gonna be tough to fight if my tails are busy holding onto our new friends,") thought Kyubimon, leaping over a mound of broken pipes. ("That said, there's no telling what'll happen to the Ghostmon if we turn back now.")
-
"We got it!" Al said as he looked at the collection of Ghostmon in her tails... and he would try to talk to them "Guys.. we wanna help keep you all safe.. but you've gotta work with us! Please.. we are gonna pass you off to RustGauntmon.. please stay with him. okay?"
-
The ever-smiling apparitions said nothing, their hollow eye sockets devoid of all but a faint blue light.
[Hmm...]
[Attack: 2 1 5 6 6, 1 4 3 4 4, 2 4 5 = 4 suxx, ...3...4 = 4 total]
Suddenly, just as Kyubimon prepared to jump, the sound of shifting refuse drew her attention. Like a snake hidden beneath sand, a length of chain sprung up from the ground--its movements at odds with gravity as it spun and coiled around the fox and her charges!
[Roll Dodge.]
-
“..can you guys even understand me?” He asked with a bit of dismay in his voice. This was short lived as he felt Kyubimon tense.. and then leap aside
[Rolling: 6,5,3,3,2,1,6,6,3,5,5,2 = 6 suxx]
Just in time to avoid the chains with a comfortable amount of ease! Al would then scan for the last Ghostmon “I’ll get that one!” And without waiting for her to answer he jumped off her back as he tried to then flew towards the ghostly rookie!
-
[Hmm... alright, roll Athletics with a -3 penalty]
-
6,3,1 + 6 = 16]
-
The sudden rush of adrenaline as Alemana sprung to action distracted him enough from the stench of his surroundings. Even the smoke from Kyubimon's fire had little impact on him, as if unwilling to get in his way as he raced through the labyrinth -- following the blip on his radar. Not that he had time to think on it; dodging serrated metal and broken wood was the least of his concerns. Almost everywhere he looked, the teen could see links of chain either laying about or hanging from ruined antiques. He didn't have to look back to sense his partner still dodging the animated weapon of the enemy.
He turned the corner, ducking under a makeshift archway, only for his blood to turn cold. There, staring into the distance, a figure floated above the ground. He knew their face. It was the same face he saw on the bathroom floor at school, devoid of the horror of convulsing. Palani.
-
Panting abs barely avoiding the spikes and rusted garbage as he tumbled.. and popped back to his feet he followed the map- every now and then watching as Kyubimon avoided the chain while keeping her clutch of Ghostmon firmly in her tails grip. (“You got this baby.. I believe in you!”). He assured her.. before skidding to a stop just before the final Ghostmon.
Palani..
That put everything in perspective for him, and his eyes widened. Palani had been unconscious for over two weeks now.. and they had left him and everyone else who also been affected in that state. They should’ve followed this up from the beginning.. if they knew what to look for back then maybe this wouldn’t have gone on as long as it had.. they wouldn’t be…!
[Rolling torment:1,2,6- 5 = 4, critical failure]
Al almost collapsed as the sick gravity of how much time he’d been wasting fell on him.. he had been fooled by the progress they had made. Everything they had learned and done? It didn’t actually help the people they set out to save.. it wasn’t even helping them stop the ever looming collision of the two worlds- it wasn’t saving Waihona!
-
The teen's digivice trembled in place, its screen blackening as Alemana's mind became filled with static noise.
Meanwhile, Kyubimon's eyes went wide. A throbbing pain burned in her chest as her legs buckled. Hesitation led to the animated chain striking her across the face. A glancing blow, one that pierced through the malaise invading her thoughts. "N-not yet," she growled, blocking another hit from the chain as it threatened the ghostmon. "Al, I--nnf!" Her pupils glitched, a green emblem flickering over them just as she screwed her eyes shut. With all her strength, she tossed the ghostmon away with her tails, just as a dark aura began manifesting over her. A scream pierced through the air. Was it her own? Crimson cracks fractured beneath her fur coat, glowing ever deeper in hue as the color faded from the rest of her form. The scream grew louder, and in the darkness Gorgemon's howl followed suit. When suddenly, an eruption drowned them out. Louder than scream or howl or Sedna blast.
Alemana looked up. Past the sight of Palani's doppelganger, a mound of garbage burst in every direction. And from the ashes, a figure rose like something out of nightmare.
[Alright, time for Exhumon's debut. Give us a description. >B3 ]
-
At first it seemed like the trash heap around them was now standing up to its feet, pipes and other metal detritus dotting it like a pincushion. As it rose higher it began to take a texture like dry, cracked dirt as the myriad metal pieces became more sword or cross shelled.. and a mass of scrap became a rusted metallic “hood”. Finally a massive, jagged spear shot out of the ground like a tree, getting roughly pulled from the ground as a cloud of pixelated specters swirled above it; coming from the fissures on its body. All the while Al could only look up in pain as that static roared in his mind.
“What.. the.. hell..?”
-
"ScrEAmIng TwIstEr!" the creature hacked, its voice like rusted metal grating against itself. No sooner had it spoken than the wind pick up, twisting around it till the phantasms leaking from its wounds were pulled. A blanket of noxious fumes coelesced, becoming as a twister before Al's very eyes. The longer he stared, the more he could make out the faces contorted, screaming, wailing as they were stretched and warped by the ferocity of the rising tempest!
Suddenly, a blast of green crashed against the storm, putting it off center like a tree caught in a hurricane.
"STATUE BOMBER!!" boomed a voice, the ground shaking as the Gargoylemon landed between Al and the twister. "I gotcha, buddy!" he said, grabbing the teen and Palani's ghostmon. "Just hold 'onna me!"
[Roll Bravery with a -4 penalty.]
-
Al’s face was one of belated horror as the twister approached, and he flinched as Gargoylemon landed. Getting pulled up he looked around frantically for Kyubimon “Where is she? Where is she?! Kyubi!!”
[Rolling: 3,2,2 + 3 = 10]
-
Gargoylemon snarled. He could feel the wind as it threatened to pull him off the ground. Turning to face the twister, the living statue dug in his feet, falling forward as he folded his wings with Al and Ghostmon under him, before turning to solid stone.
Panic hammered at Alemana's chest, his body seizing up as everything spiraled out of control. Trapped under Gar, unable to run or even move, all he could do was watch as more and more of the junkyard was consumed in the vortex of living death. Then, as if the gods themselves had deigned to speak, all the world fell silent, a voice whispering clear in Al's ears.
"Blood-fire Baptism."
A staccato of explosions wracked the screaming twister, flames stretched across its ever moving form like the claws of a savage beast, tearing, devouring the phantom visages they came to caress.
"Ohhh hell no," muttered Gar, unable to hide the tremor in his voice. Both he and Al could hear the soft patter of footsteps nearby. Neither needed to see to whom they belonged. Yet in the light of the wailing conflagration, Al could not look away as she came into view. Nine tails, stained with ink, two legs, and a body that twitched and convulsed as it held itself with wicked claws.
Magatsurimon.
"So warm," she said, stroking her fur as she basked in the fire's glow. Snickering, she teased her tongue around a claw, crooning. "Can you feel it? The energy, the rush?"
-
Al’s eyes were wide as saucers as he saw the familiar flames erupted around them.. and his head snapped in the direction of the pattering as he then saw the face of a figure that had haunted his deepest nightmares and the darkest of his more intimate dreams. She was just as eerie and nightmarish as he remembered as a child: a horror-movie parody of everything noble and radiant that Renamon was.. a lanky, feral mirror of Kahunimon in many ways as well. But a part of him- that most shameful part- could appreciate the haunting allure of the beast.. and they filled his chest with sickly and conflicting emotions.
“Why… why are you here again?! Why?!”
-
A sidelong glance brought the vixen's attention on the teen, her iris glowing crimson against black. Behind a quiet giggle, she raised a claw to her lips as she pursed them. "Shhhh..."
In that moment, the fire whirl collapsed outward, forcing a literal heat wave with its dying breath. Embers fell like flower petals across the node, yet as the smoke gave way, the nameless monstrosity from before stood with spear in hand. Yet something else was there, hovering motionless above and around it. Broken pipes, wire, and splintered wood formed both cage and canvas for what could only be described as headstones, their epitaphs written in digicode and ghostfire.
"MArkEr LObbEr!" rasped the creature, grasping a headstone with its free hand before tossing it straight at the group.
"Incoming!" cried Gar, the living statue shielding his, Al's and Ghostmon's face with a wing.
Magatsurimon grinned. Just as the projectile came in range, one of her nine tails reached out to it. A wet snap and gargle fell out as a toothy maw tore open at the tip, catching the headstone with its teeth.
Through the gap between Gargoylemon's arm and wing, Al saw crimson liquid dapple at the ground.
"Mhmhm, quite a heavy curse you got there," said Magatsuri. Still hugging at her form, she turned her back on her foe, only to swing her tails around and launch the stone back from whence it came. "CHILD'S PLAY!!" she laughed, watching as the headstone shattered on impact with its creator's frame. As it broke apart, more of the blood-like substance appeared, gushing over everything in range. Had Al not been watching her, he wouldn't have seen her blink out of existence, just to reappear behind the monstrosity. "Your other self had an 'affinity' for chains," she said, letting her body sprawl out over the creature's shoulder. "Are you the same?" Tracing a glowing red claw along the surface, she licked her lips. "WIDOW SLASH~!!" Claws as radiant as her irids, the vulpine tore through the makeshift armor like paper, the shadows of her face twisted as she reveled in the deed.
-
Al watched this unfold with a look of awe and terror in equal measure, and he would tear his gaze away from the battle to look at Gar “You’ve gotta take the ghostmon and get back, we can’t .. can’t risk them getting deleted man.” He then reluctantly would look back at the two monsters fighting each other.
“I’ll try to get Magatsurimon under control.. somehow. Go get Kei too.. in case I can’t beat some semblance of sense back into her.” He said as he took hold of one wrist to stop the other from trembling.
“We can’t let her run amok.. she might burn the whole jungle down..!”
-
The gargoyle shook his head. "You'll be a sittin' duck out here, Al! Don't matter how good a talker you is if ya get hit!" Gar tensed up as a metallic *CLANG* sounded off. Magatsurimon was now dancing around the spear monster, dodging said-weapon's thrust as the wails of the damned followed its wake. "The hell am I to tell the boss?!"
-
Al flinched as he instinctively ducked at the sound, but he then looked back up at Gar “So what, I’m supposed to let her bat you around like a cat toy? Nuh-uh! I’ll be okay.. somehow! I’ll figure out something,” and he would hop off Gargoylemon without any warning.
“Tell Ike that I have an idea— or something!”
-
"You're a fuckin' maniac," said Gar standing up, his wings sagging as he growled out a sigh. "Better not die on me, ya hear?"
As the gargoyle took flight with Ghostmon on tow, the battle intensified.
"Not much of a talker, are you~?" said Magatsurimon, her tails bashing aside headstone munitions as she dodged her foe's spearplay. "Ohohh, that's what happens when you fill up on junk food. You're a fully grown ultimate, but you don't have the strength to keep up!" Quivering in place, she beckoned her foe to strike with a curl of her finger, her arms folded as she propped up her bosom, biting her lip till faux-blood poured down her chin.
The undead ultimate tightened its hold on its haunted spear, specters rushing from it like a river of souls.
"GrAvEYArd LAncE!!" it boomed, aiming to strike at Mag's very core. And strike it did... Magatsuri's feet left streaks in the ground as she was pushed back, yet the look on her face betrayed her humor. Eyes rolling up, her grin stretching past what was natural for a face. The spear had impaled her, just above the navel... yet though she lurched forward, Al saw no sign of the spear puncturing through his partner's back.
Magatsurimon shuddered, snickering through her teeth. "Malicious Brushes." The air came alive with visceral noise, each of the nine tails splitting open to reveal a maw that bit deep into the joints of the enemy's limbs. The hooded monster's grip shook in place, jagged spear tip being pushed out. "Funny," she whispered. "I know humans that go deeper than you. You got me all worked up for nothing..." Raising her arm, the mad beast struck down at the spear, snapping it in twain.
-
Alemana watched as he flew away, and he would try to take cover as he watched the battle rage on. When she got impaled he let out a shout of alarm.. but he noticed how Magatsurimon seemed to be largely okay… and his face grew a deep scarlet as she taunted the Digimon.. by referencing their sex life. “H-hey..!” He cried it in outrage
-
If Magatsurimon heard the teen, she didn't show it. Tossing aside her piece of the broken armament, she walked two of her fingers atop the length that remained, walking alongside it as her tailmaws held her foe in place. And again, her voice came in a whisper, yet so clear were her words in Alemana's ear.
"Ghost digimon are so... tedious," she said, standing before the hulking figure. "They wail and they howl, or else linger where they shouldn't, almost as if begging for deletion, despite their whole nature being to cling to life."
A rumbling noise emanated from the hooded digimon, the material comprising its chest warping, twisting into a depression.
Her eyes narrowing, Magatsurimon continued. "At least Oboromon had the manners to thank us after we cut him down. But you? I'll make sure you die screaming."
"AvErnIAn GAtE!!" bellowed the horror. Silence deafened the world around the trio, only to come crashing down. Flashbacks to their battle with Gravimon flooded Al's mind as a wind tunnel roared in his ears; a vortex centered on the cavity in the enemy digimon's chest!
[Roll Athletics.]
-
If this was Kahunimon al would’ve found her quips amusing, but that sickly-sweet.. evocative and malicious voice caused him to shudder. But that was quickly ignored as he felt the change in the air.. and found himself sprinting towards Magatsurimon’s leg in order to cling to it for dear life!
[Rolling= 6,3,6 +9 = 24]
-
Sprinting towards his partner, Al managed to angle himself behind Magatsurimon. What distance remained between them shrank the moment he hopped off the ground, letting the vortex do the rest. Mag cocked her brow as Alemana made contact, glancing down at the teen as he clung to her. More and more, the wind buffeted the pair, smoke and ash funneling in alongside loose pieces of scrap from all over. No matter their size, the moment they entered the Avernian gate was the moment they disappeared inside it. Thoughts of larger appliances crashing into them raced inside Al's head. Even if Mag tried to shield them, her tailmaws were locked in place, still sinking their teeth deeper into the enemy. It was getting harder to breathe...
Then, as fast as it had come, the wind died down to tepid breeze. A pulse echoed out over the sound of crunching, slobbering. Alemana opened his eyes. There, looming over him and Magatsurimon, the hooded horror was webbed in a latticework of blood-ink, pulsing, pumping like the varicose veins of living flesh, despite the metal it was affixed to. But the source of the pulse wasn't coming from the hulking brute, no, it was coming from the tailmaws, each swelling and contracting as Mag pumped something through them, and into her victim.
"Blotting Stroke!" snickered Mag, her eyes wide as she flashed her teeth. "Thought my blood ink was just for show? You were so busy trying to fill your stomach, I thought I'd lend you a hand!"
Paralyzed on its feet, the aberrant creature trembled in place, its newfound veins twisting, squeezing into the outlines of a rampant, nine-tailed fox.
"Can you feel it now?" asked the vulpine. "My attack rewriting your sensory input? Even a corpse can feel raw pain when exposed to my brushwork!"
-
Clutching tightly to that leg, his cheek all but buried in the fur of her thigh as he held on for dear life, feeling the air grow thinner as the vortex roared around them. A moment later his eyes met with Magatsurimon's, and he almost shank back as he tentatively tried to touch her mind with his ("What are you looking at me like that, for..?") he asked, his tone wary, but still defensive. Just when it felt like all the air around them would be sucked away it suddenly stopped.. and he would dare to look at the hulking golem of trash and grave-dirt. "My god.." he whispered: both in awe and in slight fear at the grotesque display.. it was like her brush strokes were painting veins of poison onto the beast.
-
Al's inner quandary only found answers of static noise, yet as he stared back at his partner, the vulpine licked her lips. At first, she held back a giggle, shoulders bouncing in tandem, then she started to laugh; covering his eyes with a hand, she threw back her head as she cackled to the heavens, her body writhing as her tails fed more and more of her ink into the foe. Through a gap in her claws, her glowing irids bulged as she fell into a fit whose chill no fire could assuage. It was all that saved Al -- distracted as he became by the sight -- that he did not see it when the hooded horror's back burst, the color of its new veins racing into the darkness behind it as the painting of the nine-tails took to the sky; just as it had during the battle with Varamon so long ago. A shriek like that of metal being serrated and torn apart in a landslide followed in its wake, and, as the enemy digimon glitched and fragmented, it shattered into shards of digital light.
But the cloud of binary did not disperse. Instead, all of it flooded towards the center of Magatsurimon's chest, her arms spread wide as she basked in it all.
"Magnificent...!"
-
He didn’t see it, but he didn’t have to put two and two together to know that she had destroyed the Digivolved Gorgemon. “Okay you won! You had your fun so why don’t you go back to sleep.. what are you doing?” He asked, seeing those pixels of light then get drawn towards Magatsurimon like a magnet, drawn inside herself.
“What are you doing?! Stop!” Al said, his eyes now somehow even wider than they were before as he smacked her leg with his hand. “No, no Magatsurimon!”
-
The mad fox made no motion to either stop herself or Alemana. The only change that came took the form of crimson holo-screens -- blinking into existence in rapid succession till they formed a ring around Magatsurimon. On every one of them, digicode and binary scrolled at incredible speeds. Arcs of electricity surged between them, and in the foreground faded in and out a symbol Al recognized: it was the same one he'd seen in Renamon's eyes when she threatened to go berserk on Keilani, no longer green, but neon red.
"++Admin privileges transferred++" came a voice. "++Access node uplink successful. Standby for full system rewrite++"
Beyond the confines of the circle, rocks tore themselves free of the earth, rising even as their textures glitched into wireframes and back. The dimensions of the junkyard shifted, the sky turning scarlet as clouds parted to reveal a hunter's moon.
CHAPTER COMPLETED
Marching Towards Nightfall! +3 EXP +2 DP
Auto Despair! +1 EXP +2 Inspiration
Haunted by Friends! +1 EXP +1 Inspiration
Chaining the Beast! +2 EXP +1 DP
The Price of Self-Sacrifice! +1 EXP +1 DP
Total: 8 EXP, +4 DP, +3 Inspiration!