Malkavian Madness Network
Other Systems => Digimon: Digital Adventures => Topic started by: MrParaduo on March 21, 2023, 10:51:58 PM
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7:30, bright and early. That's what Noa told Al after knocking on the teen's door and peeking inside. This time, Al was alone in bed, though he hadn't been the night before. It was always like this come study dates. The vulpine would leave early in case Malie's parents dropped her off at the clubhouse early -- it's happened before.
And what a clubhouse it was. The level of work that had gone into building a place for Renamon's cover identity? It was something only Eyesmon and Vivi truly knew. The place itself was an apartment refurbished and paid for by Eyes, little more than a theater set that no one lived in or cared about. With a couple of homey touches and some elbow grease, though, it became the group's clubhouse under the watchful auspices of Mrs. Lune and her daughter Renee. It was also where Renamon kept her collection of clothes -- couldn't have Al's parents finding womenswear in his closet. Too many questions.
And on that rainy Thursday, Al didn't even need to knock on the door. The moment he got within a foot of the threshold, it opened up onto a vision.
[Alright, describe Ms. Lune ;) ]
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Al would groan as he was woken up, and he would see that Renamon had indeed gotten up and out of the house to ensure the charade stood strong. Sleepily washing and getting dressed, he would catch a quick breakfast before taking the drive to their clubhouse. It wasn’t terribly far, only a 15 minute drive from the house. So once he climbed up the stairs and passed a few of the other sleepy tenants as they got up to go to work or school or what-have-them.. he would then be met face to face with his “Tutor”.
This disguise wasn’t too far off the mark from Renee if one was to be completely honest: just about twenty years older and with hair that was more brown than blond.. but the “family” resemblance was unmistakable. Where she differed the most as physique- she was softer and more matronly, but no less.. blessed than the Renee persona. Today she was dressed in a simple blouse and black pants: stern but not overwhelming. What really stood out though, was the pair of almost ostentatious rose lensed sun glasses.
“Well hello there ‘Ms. Lune’.” Al said with a respectful warmth in his voice. “I’m here for the study date?”
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"Sonson," said the shapeshifter, nodding to the teen. "Right on time. Ms. Kalama's already here, the others should be arriving shortly." Stepping aside, she gestured Al inside before closing the door behind him.
The clubhouse was small. A common room with open kitchen, two bedrooms and one bathroom. All the furniture was basic or taken from the Ike's family pawnshop, with Eyesmon masquerading better furnishings the rare times anyone outside the group came knocking. Even so, the acoustics were good. Al could barely hear the rain at all as it pattered against the window.
"Ready for another study session~?" Lune asked behind the teen. Looking over his shoulder, however, he found not Lune but Renamon standing behind him, sunglasses, lingerie and the motherly teats they copped all that remained of her disguise.
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“Thank you, Mrs. Lune.” Al said with a smile as he stepped inside and would let out a sigh as the door closed. He was just in the middle of taking off his jacket when he heard her question.. but when he turned to answer her he nearly choked when he saw her in that sexy lingerie.. and he noticed that she plumped her chest up.
“..Hell yes!”
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"Mhmmm, that's my Sonson~" she mused, making a show of licking a fang. Her voice then echoed in his mind as she guided him towards one of the bedrooms. ("Malie and Kukui are sleeping in the spare room. Let's see if you've been practicing those stealth tricks I taught you.")
A spartan bedroom with carpeted flooring greeted Al as he walked in. He could already hear his partner locking the door behind them as they tapped on his tush.
"You've been working so hard," she said aloud, nestling the tip of her sunglasses between her teeth as she watched the teen climb onto the bed. "Think you can handle a little extra credit~?"
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And his face would darken as he then followed her to the other bedroom. (“Oh she is? Well then I hope she isn’t faking-“) he said to her. And once in the room.. he gave a soft laugh as she pat his backside as he then climbed up onto the bed.. and he would chuckle “Oh if extra credit is on the table, I’d be stupid to say no~” he teased.. resting against the headboard of the bed as he waited for her to join him.
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Without a sound to her steps, the vulpine approached her tamer, silver-blue eyes half-lidded as they stared deep into his. "Well then," she whispered lowly. Al could feel her paw on his crotch. "If you're sure," He heard button come undone, Renamon's voice hiding the sound of the zipper coming undone. "Then I'd be remiss not to tell you," Her lips were almost upon him.
"To pace yourself."
Her baited breath was sweet and gentle as it caressed Al's face, leaving him open to the vulpine pressing into him with a kiss. Her murmuring sounded within his mouth as she pulled a coiled claw between her breasts. Smiling, she broke off from Al, slow and steady, pulling down on her bra just enough to draw his eye to what was being held back.
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Al didn’t dare interrupt her as she climbed up with him .. and his eyes were glued to her every move. And as her buttons and zippers came undone he felt his pulse quicken. “Pacing.. is this going to be on the test?” He asked.. eyes now following her paw. He didn’t say it.. but Renamon could smell and see his building arousal “I’m ready to learn..~”
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"That's what I like to hear," she mused. Letting her head fall back, she cooed as her free paw found its way around Al's groin. She gave him a slow wink as she fondled him easing her way onto him, even as her lingerie kept his manhood from getting inside her. For now. Teasing him, she wrapped a hand behind the tamer's head, cradling him as she lowered her bosom onto his face.
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Maybe it was due to what happened last night.. maybe it was the thrill that Malie of all people was just in the other room and could wake up any minute and catch them- but he was like putty in her hands- and he would kiss in between her breasts and pressed his crotch into her paw “So.. what else is gonna .. be on the.. on the test?” He asked between kisses… glancing up at her.
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Renamon crooned, squeezing Al's shaft as it began to extend. "R-r-r-resource--" she huffed. "M-management...!"
The vulpine pulled away her paw from Al's loins, using it to set her rose-tinted glasses on the nightstand before crushing the sides of her breasts against Al's head. She crooned from the neural feedback it gave, and from her, Al could feel how her whole upper-body became electrified.
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That feedback loop was something that never failed to cause his own body to catch fire, and he would gasp against her pale fur as he ground against her crotch even harder “What do you mean.. resources..~?” He asked.. struggling to kiss up her neck
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"Mmm, whatever's... on hand," she cooed, leaning into the teen's touch. Again she pumped his shaft, squeezing it between her digits as she pulled up, only to ease out as she pulled down. Squeeze up, push down. Repeat. "But if push comes to sh-sho-ho-hove," she whispered. "Don't be afraid to liquidate your... assets..."
Tugging on the back of Al's head, the vulpine dove in for another kiss, her tongue teasing as the tip of his. Her breathing was light, yet somehow made her bosom rise and fall like the tide. She crooned within him, Al feeling it reverberate within his lungs.
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Al would shiver as his fingers sunk into hee fur.. and he would laugh breathlessly as she pumped his member more and more enthusiastically.. and he would kiss up to her neck and kissing along her ear. “Then.. let’s.. lets.. start loading you up~”
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Al could feel the struggle within his partner. The desire to go all the way clashing against the want of restraint for a grander, more powerful climax.
The vulpine closed her eyes. Pulling her knees up either side of Al, she lowered her rear-cheeks -- had they gotten bigger? -- till they wrapped around the Hawaiian's cock. She followed the length through her sense of touch, till Al could feel the tip press against warm, soft, folded flesh of Renamon's backdoor.
("I may have come prepared,") she said in his mind, turning her head to one side as she edged herself downward. Ever inch came with a silent gasp; soft and lighter than a cloud. When it was deep enough that her paws were no longer needed, she threw them behind her head, letting the bounce of her descent make dance her breasts. More so, to finish unbinding her bra, letting Al take in her full glory.
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It was a struggle that he also felt.. but he would let her continue her theatrics, and when she started to angle his shaft to it’s target- feeling those large and well developed cheeks slide against his length.. he gave her nose a kiss “I didn’t say this last night but.. I.. am,” hr then gave a tensed breath as she eased his crown into her foxhole- and he kissed her lips.
“I’m a good boy,”
And he moaned along with her as she slid down to the base, and be relaxed.. arching his back as he focused on those hypnotic breasts bounced with each downward drop of her hips.
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A flush of heat radiated off Renamon as she heard those words. She bit her lip, groping one of her tits as she continued balancing atop Al's manhood. Giggling low, she began swaying her hips, bending the teen's shaft as her inner walls clenched and released. All the while the light of the room danced along the curvature of her toned form. The motions almost reminiscent of Kahunimon.
"Come along now," she said, coiling a claw at Al. "You're doing wonderful. Why don't we got for a more hands-on approach?"
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Those expert hip movements, the electric jolt of their shared sensations caused him to moan a bit louder than he intended.. and he would gently reach up and cup her tits- squeezing them excitedly as she practically danced in his lap.
“You remind me so much of Kahunimon right now, babe..”
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The vulpine chuckled. "Buttering up the teacher, are we?" she asked, only to huff as Al held her twins. She lay a paw on the back of his hand, knitting their fingers together, sucking a sharp breath of air as her tamer's thumb brushed up against a nipple. Closing her eyes, she let go of Al's hand, driving a claw into the folds between her legs. Her dance moved to a faster tempo, plucking as she did at the pearl of her clit. "Ohhh, Al...! Mmmmm~!"
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He gave a gasp as she continue to speed up.. and his thumbs pressed and flicked against her nipples a bit more fiercely as he rocked his hips along with her dance.. his face growing a darker and darker cinnamon shade. “I need to get that credit- ah!”
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No longer could Renamon maintain her composure. Chanting Alemana's name between moans as she breathed harder and harder. Her ears bent back as she rode her tamer, hammering him down to the root and back at a pace not even Ike could match. Her tail raced in every which way behind her. Her claws blurring between her folds as she screwed her eyes shut. Even in Al's mind, all he could hear was the vulpine calling his name, crying, pleading, begging for everything he had!
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Al nearly cried out at the top of his voice as the sheer intensity of this combine sensation crashed into him.. and he no longer was trying to play coy.. no longer really caring if he was quiet- Renamon had all of his attention. Quite literally- he could hardly think with how deafening Rena’s please and moans in his ears and in his head were.. all that existed was this moment of aggressive coupling. And his hips were practically slapping into hers with each movement of the pair! “Renamon.. Renamon!”
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Fur did nothing to quiet the wet plapping sounds of Al pumping into his lover's derrière. The wild twists and turns of both hips and tail, how it made the shadows flicker on the walls like fellow revelers beholding wild abandon. Another heatwave blasted Alemana, yet all he could feel was every needlepoint of nerve within the length of his fully engorged member as it threatened to burst under the pressure.
"AL!" cried Renamon, her voice rising as her folds swelled full to bursting. "AAAALL!!"
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“Rena!!” Al then nuzzled into her chest.. his hips plunging upwards as he felt his own release rapidly building “RENAMON!!” And after a few more pumps.. he felt a truly.. truly euphoric rush surge through his body as he released
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The shapeshifter's back went rigid, her voice caught in her throat as her womanhood ignited, splashing all across Alemana's abdomen. Renamon's shivered, shuddered in place, her thighs trembling as she felt every inch of her tamer's seed line her innards in warmth. At the last minute, she caught herself from falling off him, her paws on either side of his head as she leaned forward for support.
"Fff-ff-full marks," she whispered, a light chuckle escaping her lips as she panted.
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Panting as well.. he would look up at her glorious profile in the sun as it streamed through the blinds .. and he leaned up to kiss her “I have the greatest teacher ever..~”
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"I know I'm the best teacher~" said the fox, wrapping her arms around Al as she brought her lips to his. The gentle press of her body atop him. The soft touch of each other's breath as they kissed. As rain continued to patter against the window, the vulpine's fur, along with the afterglow of their lovemaking, kept at bay the cool breeze of the AC unit coming online. It took all the two still had to avoid falling asleep in each other's arms.
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And he would snuggle into her.. trying not to doze off. He just enjoyed being in her presence.. how serene it was. How quiet..
His eyes bolted open “holy shit.. we were screaming and moaning with Malie RIGHT in the next room..”
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"Want me to go check on her?" asked Renamon, the vulpine smiling back at the teen.
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“Uh.. yeah-“ he said sheepishly
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Renamon chuckled, nuzzling her cheek against Al's before kissing him behind the ear. As she eased herself off of the teen, exposing Alemana shaft to the cold air, she winked back at him before turning, sauntering, towards the door.
"Hm?" her ears perked up as she reached for the handle. Opening the door, both she and Al -- the latter still in bed -- saw who else but a crouched Malie Kalama holding a glass cup in her ear. She did so as if the door were still locked tight, and Alemana knew, in his heart of hearts, the girl was smiling. "Ms. Kalama," said Renamon, her voice assuming the matronly tones of Ms. Lune. "Is there something I can help you with, young lady?"
"Shh," said the longhaired tamer, finger to her lips. "This is the best part~"
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Al would sit up a bit to catch her with a kiss as she got off the bed, a chuckle leaving his lips.. which quickly turned to mortified horror as he caught sight of Malie crouched right there.. and they both made unmistakable eye contact with each other.
“Oh my god!”
He would then fumble to pull his pants back up and practically threw himself out of the bed- scrambling to his feet as he buckled his belt and practically hid in the corner of the room… but he also knew, deep down that it was too late- Malie saw everything she wanted to see-
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"Heheheheheh, yeh," said Malie.
Renamon leaned forward, looking down at the girl. "Ms. Kalama," she said. "As the designated adult here, I should be scolding you for eavesdropping, but right now? I'm just so proud of how well you managed to sneak up on us. Hmm, either I'm getting rusty or have nothing left to teach you."
Malie rose from the floor. "Where once I was the pupil, now I am the master."
Chuckling, Renamon embraced the girl, combing her paws through her hair. ("I've got her locked down,") she thought to Al. ("Hurry up and get changed, hon.")
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Al would give a quick sigh of relief as he changed his clothes.. his face still flushed and his heart nearly beating out of his chest and after a minute or two he would peek around Renamon at her.
“Uh.. hey Malie-“
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Al heard Malie voice a muffled response, the girl's face too buried in Renamon's cleavage to even see make eye-contact. Again, Renamon winked at her tamer. Illusory fire blossomed into view as the vulpine donned pants and shoes, as though they had been hiding in plain sight all along. Such was Renamon's mastery of the Kohenkyo that she could take an almost hybrid form, leaving all save her head, tail, and neck fur as they truly were. By the time Al had put on his pants again, Malie was faceplanting Ms. Lune's bosom through an unbuttoned shirt.
"Now Malie," said the vixen, releasing the girl so as to readjust her bra straps. "Why don't you play gatekeeper while me and Mr. Sonson finish up here? The others will be here any minute, so you won't have to wait very long."
"Kay. Kukui's napping in the other room."
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Al just watched dumbly, nodding absently as his partner and his friend basically cuddled right in front of him even though they were standing. Adjusting his belt slightly, he just gave an awkward smile.
(“You’re trying to kill me aren’t you, Rena?”)
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("Never,") thought the fox. Renamon then returned to the nightstand for her prized sunglasses. Setting set them atop her nose, she assumed the full guise of Ms. Lune, raising her chin as she reproportioned her body in full view of Al. But before further banter could be had, the apartment doorbell rang, and the loving duo could hear not two but four different voices in the main room. "Looks like class is in session," said Renamon, gliding over to Al. "Ready to get going, Mr. Sonson~?"
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Al could only sigh, but then he laughed as he then stopped her for one moment, giving her human guise a kiss “Yes, Mrs. Lune,” he said with a chuckle as he followed her into the living room, curious to see who it was.
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Upon returning her lover's kiss, Renamon led the way out to find the rest of the group making their way inside the apartment.
"--And then she shoved me inside her boobs," said Malie.
"Wow," said Vivi, the spectacled tamer busy hanging up her coat on the nearby wrack. That was when Ike and Gazimon stepped into the room. It wasn't the first time Al had seen the chimera wearing a poncho and matching hat, but the deadpan look on Gazimon's face never ceased to speak louder than the bright neon yellow of said-clothes.
"Huh? Rena did what now?" asked Ike, closing the door.
"Good morning everyone," called Renamon aloud. "Glad you could make it despite the rain."
Vivi chuckled, "It's okay, Renamon," she said. "My mom dropped me off at the car."
The vulpine smiled, pushing her glasses up. "I'm afraid I don't know whom you're referring to, Ms. Kamaka. For the last time, please address me as Ms. Lune. Now then, where's Eyesmon?"
Alemana knew where the dragon was. He could feel her breathing down his neck.
"No," said Ms. Lune. And immediately, the shadows began whining.
"WHAT is your DEAL?!!" asked Eyesmon. "Lighten up already!"
("Already did,)" thought the fox to Alemana, her chuckle echoing in his mind.
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Al froze as Malie talked about Renamon pushing her into her breasts.. and he gave a nervous cough as he opened his mouth to talk.. but only felt the breath of Eyesmon on his neck.. but silently thanked Renamon.
“Well now that we are all here.. we should put our heads together. Right Vivi?” He asked, before seeing how she looked half there. “You okay?”
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"Yeah," she said, rubbing her eyes. "Was just a long night. Getting harder to cut classes without it impacting my grades."
"That's what I'm here for," mused Renamon. "After we've taken care of the emergency meeting, I'd be more than happy to sit down with you."
Glancing at Eyesmon, he could see the champion digimon staring daggers into Renamon's back.
"That's alright," said Vivi. "Al's got you, and I've got Eyes."
And so it was that Eyesmon went from red-eyed murder to wide-eyed baby snake.
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Al would absently gently rub Eyesmon’s snoot as he gave a smile, impressed that Vivi would stand up for Eyes. “Speaking of the meeting.. maybe we should put our heads together and try to figure out what we’re gonna do about these holes that are all over Hilo.”
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"Don't have to tell me twice," said Vivi. "Eyes, time to set up the rig!"
"Thought you'd never ask!" said Eyes, the dragon saluting as she switched to streaming word after word of Japanese like a Vtuber on coffee. Pixelated cubes of tropical blue bubbled up from nowhere as she created her Deception Illusions. Where once there was only the basic necessities, the main room now had a plasma-TV, laptop computers, and everything else needed for a home-office presentation.
"TIME!!" said Vivi. Turning, Al saw the tamer looking down at her digivice. "Wow, 3.1 seconds, Eyes! New record!"
The shadow dragon's chest swelled as her snout rose towards the ceiling, a many-fanged smirk plastered across her face.
After Ike had finished freeing Gazimon of his poncho, everyone gathered on the sofa and nearby armchair. Vivi pulled out a purple thumb-drive, sticking it inside one of the laptops before hooking her digivice to the computer.
"So I've been looking over the data," said Vivi. "And from what we all managed to gather, there's definitely a correlation between us, yesterday's victims, and the distortions popping up around town." Pressing a button, Vivi brought up on the TV screen a number of windows and images, including profile pics of Palani and the other coma patients. There was also a picture of a distortion, as well as a Ki'i hologram similar to the one Alemana had found, only green and fragmented. "Each of the distortions found so far has been somewhere close to home for one of the victims. The INAS, though--"
Malie snickered.
"Happen to be exactly where Al and Malie entered and exited the Digital World from, implying that whatever's happening has to do with access points between our two worlds."
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“Wow,. That was impressive,” Al admitted as he sat down on the couch, one arm absently draped over Ike’s shoulder as thr pair put on their presentation. At the mention of inter dimensional antivirus shit though.. he made a little fist pump and whispers “yus”.
But as he observed the two holograms, his eyes lingered on the green one. “Pause. Was the green one always fragmented?”
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Ike blushed, smiling even as he looked away. Out of the corner of his eye, Al could see Gaz and Renamon exchange looks. The chimera was rolling his eyes, taking a seat on the nearby foam-bag chair. The vulpine, however, shrugged with a warm smile on her face, sitting beside her partner atop an armrest.
Hearing the question, Vivi answered. "'fraid this is the only instance we got of it. Not sure if it's a reflection on Lonomon being MIA, or if something else's going on."
"Not having access to the other entry points complicates things," said Renamon. "The beach shack Vivi went through - being torn down - means even if the, er, INAS is still there, we can't scan it without drawing attention."
"Rena's right," said Vivi. "Even going at night, people are gonna notice if a big, glowing hologram starts materializing."
"Why not just put a tarp over it?" asked Ike, though his words died halfway. "No that's stupid, people'd still notice something was going on."
"I'm actually more curious about yours, Ike. You disappeared through an alleyway, but you came out somewhere completely different. You sure you can't remember where either of them are?"
"I know which alleyway I went through," said Ike, almost too fast. "Sort of... I just... I'd have to retrace my steps is all."
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Al would listen.. but truthfully he wasn’t paying full attention. Something was niggling at the back of his head.. and he would gently give Renamon’s thigh a squeeze as he started thinking it through.
“I think something bad has happened. The hologram of Kumon’s Ki’i is still intact even five years later.. and Kumon isn’t present in this world. Lonomon is here.. even if he’s being held somewhere. Malie’s Ki‘i should have a stronger connection to him here and..our Ki’is should be weaker by that same logic. When we kind Ike’s.. we’re gonna see if I’m right- and I hope I’m wrong. But if I’m right- something broke through - and probably because it was trying to get to this side… and made it.” He then looked at Malie- an idea coming to him.
“Has anything weird happened lately ? Like a bad feeling? Or has something gone on with your Digivice? That’s a really fast way to find out if something had happened.”
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Sitting in the armchair, Malie's eyes fluttered as she snapped to attention. "Whu-? Nope!" she said, giving the group a salute.
"What about Kukui?" asked Renamon.
"Goooood question! Lemme check."
As the longhaired girl headed for the spare bedroom, Renamon looked over at Alemana. "What if the strength of the INAS requires the 'Akuas' power be on both sides of the Network?"
"Ehh, don't see any reason to speculate," said Gazi, paws behind his head. "Not like we can do anythin' if that's the case. We ain't throwin' Lono's Ki'i through a hole jus' because it might fix whatever's happenin'. Am I right?"
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“Alright.. have you checked at least?” He asked, before sighing a bit when she went to go check on Kukui. He then would just shrugged “Honestly who knows what’s what.. five goddamn years of literally nothing happening.. maybe nothing is going to happen for another five. Maybe we’re overreacting to nothing.. but I know in my gut that something is going down.. or maybe this is just a freakish coincidence and even though these people obviously have had some contact with the DW before.”
That came out of literally nowhere- this sudden bitter second guessing.
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[Torment triggered. Roll 3d6 + Willpower - 7. Target Number = 12]
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Rolling: 2 3 3+ 5-7 = 6, failure]
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The room fell quiet. Even Renamon, who could had an empathic bond with Alemana, stared at him with eyes wide. Her surprise faded a heartbeat later, the shapeshifter wrapping a hand around one of his.
No one else was able to look him in the eye. Their collective gaze staring past the floor. The sound of Malie's footsteps was all that broke the silence as she came back into the room.
"Hey~" she said, almost under her breath. "Everything okay in here? I brought pua~" The girl looked down at Kukuimon, the piglet wrapped in her arms. The mask on his face, however, did nothing to hide the circles under his eyes as he squinted at the group.
"Why is everyone so quiet?" asked Kukuimon. "Was I snoring too loud?"
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Al wouldn’t return the squeeze, instead getting up just as Malie came back into the room “No, you’re okay Kukui. Everything’s fine. Everything’s been so fine for so long that the moment something not fine happens.. all we can do is just shuffle our feet and grasp at straws while people are possibly getting hurt out there.” He said as he walked to the coat rack, put on his jacket, and then opened the door.
“Let me know if you guys can brainstorm anything.. I’m going to check where the shack used to be. Text me what street you think that alley is on Ike, I’ll find that one too.” And then he closed the door behind him without looking at any of them. (“Keep ‘em on task, Rena.”) he silently said to his partner as he walked to his car. (“I can’t handle this sitting around shit right now.”)
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[Gain +1 Inspiration]
The hot, tropical rain shifted between heavy drops and light pips. Though it was far from the worst Al had seen or even been in, it made it difficult for him to hear if anyone was coming after him. A passing car on the street drove through a massive puddle, almost catching the teen as he reached his own vehicle. Climbing in, shutting the door, the noise fell to a soft tapping. Sanctuary...
Suddenly, a *ping* broke the quietude. It was a text from Vivi. Directions. Nothing more.
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The rain did little more than make his mood darken a bit more, and once he was in the car he would lock the doors and rest his forehead on the steering wheel for a couple moments. The ping of a text message drew his attention, and as he read it he quietly nodded to himself and started the vehicle up, and pulled away - his only response was a quick text of “thx” before he drove.
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Traffic proved minimal, despite rush-hour. Not many people wanting to visit Lehia Beach Park with all the rain. The instructions from Vivi guided Alemana towards an area just off the road. Yet from inside his car, all he could see was a collection of food trucks set up in the smallest parking lot imaginable. Everything else was blurred by the downpour...
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He would sigh.. and simply got his umbrella from the center compartment and would step out of the vehicle— opening the umbrella as he walked towards the spot Vivi told him.
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As Alemana motioned to grab the umbrella, a noticed a shadow move from the corner of his eye. When he turned to face it, all he saw was more rain on the window.
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This would make him pause.. and he looked around for a few moments before he suspiciously continued to walk. That couldn’t have been coincidence. But he had a job to do.. and some ominous shadow in the gloom wasn’t going to dissuade him. A few moments later he would then take out his digivice, turning on its scan function.
“Okay.. where the hell are you..”
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[Hmm... roll me Perception with a -1 penalty.]
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[Rolling: 4 3 6 + 9 -1= 21]
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Front and center, Alemana located what was awry. As text began appearing across his digivice's screen, he could make out the thin outline of something hunched over and five feet tall as rain betrayed its position!
//Vilemon
++//Level: Champion
++//Type: Demon
++//Attribute: Virus
++//Family: Nightmare Soldier
++//Attacks: Nightmare Shocker; Scratch Beat; Touch of Evil
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Al froze. He had spent years searching for signs of other digimon, and for years he found nothing- save for their partners. And right now, of all times, a digimon would just land right in front of him. Part of him was ecstatic- finally after all this time, they found another digimon! They could ask it questions, figure out just what the hell was going on over on the other side.. maybe help the creature if it was in trouble! But another part of him was also extremely dubious that this digimon might have nothing but good intentions: it’s name was Vilemon for fuck sake. But- if his time in the digital world taught him anything, judging a digimon by the look of its cover wasn’t always the right answer. Gauntmon and Pumpkinmon were two examples!
Still.. he would quickly shoot s group text
At food trucks. Digimon here. Champ lvl.
He then took a breath.. and glanced back towards his car- and then back at the Digimon. Hopefully Renamon or Eyesmon or someone who was fast might be able to get to him… but in the meantime- he had to do something to keep the creature from suddenly flying away - possibly causing a panic and getting other people.. or itself hurt. So while it might’ve been INCREDIBLY stupid.. he would give a nervous smile
“Uh.. hey there Vilemon! Are you okay? I’m not gonna hurt you.. I’m actually here to help,” he said in a calm voice, but loud enough to be heard. “You must be confused and scared!”
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[Roll mee... Persuade.]
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[Rolling: 1 4 2 + 7 = 14]
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"...Taaaaaaamerrrrrr," spoke a hoarse and guttural voice. Glancing down, Al could see more of the creature's dimensions as it took a step forward in the rain. Whatever Vilemon was, it had gangly arms and legs, its stooped posture causing it drag its knuckles along the ground.
-
Seeing it in motion caused him to take a step or two back, but he would nod “Yes, yes I’m a Tamer. My name is Alemana Sonson.. nice to meet you!”
-
The digimon took another step forward; this time, Alemana could see it reaching out to him with a hand. "Taaaaaaamerrrrrr... give us our prize... give us what you took...!"
-
Prize..?
Alemana would glance down at his digivice, and would look up at the Vilemon in surprised confusion. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Vilemon. First reason why.. the prize you want isn’t something you can hold casually, believe me I have first hand experience. Secondly.. we didn’t take them, they were Entrusted to us.. I doubt their owners would appreciate it if we just gave them away.”
He would then take another step back. “Look..if you’re needing help, me and my friends are more than happy to oblige you. There’s a lot we need to catch up on, clearly..But I’m not giving you the Ki’i.”
-
The demon stopped in its tracks, shoulders trembling. It wheezed its way into a snicker. "Help?" it echoed. "Don't mind if we HELP OURSELVES!!"
Just as Vilemon lunged for Alemana, the teen felt something wrap around his arms and pull him off the ground. The world spun in a blur of shapes and shadows, only for Al to see Renamon holding him close as she landed them on their feet.
-
Al felt regret at hearing that, he had hoped he could’ve avoided a fight. But another part of him was also glad: it had been so long since a proper battle.. his blood felt warmer in response to a challenge after all these years!
“I guess we’re doing this after all!”
And to his credit, the boy held his ground.. in fact, he brought a fist back in order to meet Vilemon head on—
Only to feel the world lurch and spin around him suddenly. It had been forever since something like this happened too, and he felt his stomach almost leap into his throat as he got his bearings.
“Okay.. wasn’t expecting that.. thanks Renamon.” He said with a strained smile.
-
The vulpine smiled. "You know I'd never let you run off on your own," she said. Turning to face the silhouette of Vilemon, she took to a battle stance, eyes narrowing on her prey. "So, you call that being stealthy? I've seen muscle-headed Mo'omon who didn't stand out as much."
The virus digimon cackled. Like a mirage, the outline of its form wavered and shifted, melting away to reveal the creature as it truly was. Drenched, grey fur covered the demon but for the white of its chest. Of said-chest, Al could barely see much, however, thanks to the long, hanging jaw that obstructed it. Sharp teeth pushed outward from its gaping maw, and above it, a set of eyes -- solid red with yellow irids -- peered from behind scarred eyelids. A crimson mane of matted hair flowed down its back, flanked by two sets of leathery wings that grew from where Vilemon's ears should be.
"Data!" it said, pointing a hairless claw at Renamon. "Data digicores are so, so sweeeeeeeet...!"
-
Al looked at Renamon, and back at Vilemon before cracking his knuckles, a smirk on his face. “There’s been a misunderstanding: only thing you’re gonna be tasting is a buffet of knuckle sandwiches.. and they’re all for you!”
-
"NIGHTMARE SHOCKER!!" shrieked the virus, and from its mouth it belched forth a stream of blue, glowing rings towards the pair. In unison, both tamer and digimon hopped out of the way, watching as the attack sent chunks of rock flying off the ground behind them.
-
Al gave a whistle as he jumped out of the way, and he frowned “Hey, don’t know how expensive this shit is to fix?!”
-
[Heh, roll initiative ;) ]
-
[Rolling: 5 2 6 + 7= 20]
-
*Rollz*
[18. Team Rena goes first]
-
“Okay Renamon, we don’t want to delete him!”
She nodded and would jump into the air, performing a fire infused kick ”Red Paw!!”
[Rolling: 6 6 1 4 3 6 5 6= 5 suxx!]
-
[Dodge: 5 5 2, 1 2 2, 6 4 1 = 3 suxx = Hits = ((DMG + 2) - Armor) = 2 Damage. Lifesteal activates]
Vilemon screeched as the vulpine's strike pulled ribbons of crimson binary in its wake. The impact was enough to send the virus spinning, but before Renamon could get another hit in, Vilemon stamped its foot and leapt into the air. On its dual set of wings, the demon flew circles around the fox, only to zigzag and about face whenever a pattern started to form.
"SCRATCH BEAT!!" it cried, becoming a blur as it made to speed past Renamon, looking to graze her with its claws!
[Attack: 6 3 3, 4 4 3, 5 2 3, 6 6 2 = 4 suxx]
-
“Atta girl! Show this gremlin fairy who he’s dealing with!” Al said as Renamon would jump backwards to avoid the attack!
[Rolling: 1 6 4 6 6 5 2 5= miss!]
And once she landed, she would flare her arms out wide - dozens of autumn-gold arrowheads swirling around her. ”Withering Storm!” she called out- sending them flying towards Vilemon!
[Rolling: 5 4 4 6 3 5 6 2= 4 suxx]
-
[Dodge: 1 2 4, 1 6 6, 4 4 6 = 3 suxx = Hits = ((DMG + 1) - Armor) = 1 Damage.]
While fast, the demon slowed split seconds after failing to strike Renamon. In that moment's hesitation, when it was turning around to see where she had gone, the vulpine's attack lit Vilemon up as the arrowheads embedded themselves in its hide. Retaliation was immediate, the demon swooping towards Renamon as she fell back to earth. The vixen needed only a claw to touch down - and she dodged the fiend yet again. Vilemon cackled, vanishing from view.
Al could feel a rogue wind rush against the direction of the rainfall. Once more, a blurred silhouette appeared as water revealed Vilemon's location. The moment Al got a lock on it, however, the demon appeared somewhere else. Suddenly it was as if Renamon was surrounded by speeding jet streams, Vilemon's cackling echoing out in all directions. Then, just as fast, it all ceased as Vilemon cried out: "NIGHTMARE SHOCKER!!" and released a beam of sonic force!
[All-out Attack: 5 2 2, 5 1 2, 5 5 3, 4 1 3, 6 5 1, 6 6 5 = 9 suxx]
[Vilemon's defense is decreased.]
-
[Roll: 2 4 2 1 1 3 1 3= 0 suxx]
“Good job, now-“
Both Al, and Renamon would look in shock as the attack came from nowhere— and everything went utterly silent as his eyes grew wide as saucers as she was hit with a tremendous amount of energy from the diminutive champion- sending her flying off towards the food trucks. “Renamon?! Renamon!!”
And he was racing towards her in a panic, his heart like a machine gun in his ears. “No, no no no no no!”
-
[House rule applies: Renamon falls to 1 HP if an attack would 1-shot her. She suffers the Exploit condition.]
The vulpine made impact with one of the truck's broadside, leaving a huge indent in the metal. An alarm went off in the vehicle as Renamon landed on her knees, yet Al could hear her cry out in pain in his mind. Between that and the rain, he could barely hear Vilemon cackling.
"Lucky shot," snarled Renamon as Al came to her side. She struggled to keep herself from falling forward; her body threatening to derezz.
-
Al would practically slide through the rain water as he came beside her.. arms wrapped around her “Renamon.. thank fuck you aren’t dead!” He said as his digivice glowed and her body stabilized.. and he would give her ear a kiss as the Vilemon cackled like an absolute asshole. “I think .. it’s okay if you beat him within an inch of his stupid life.” He whispered.. looking at him with a frown.
[Energy Burst- five wound boxes recovered.]
“Teach him what a loser he is.”
He then stood up.. and held out his digivice.
”Digi Armor Energize!”
-
Reseda-green light bloomed from Al's digivice, bathing Renamon in its power as her body stabilized as she rose to her feet. Surging forward, the vulpine leapt into the air as digivolution took hold, her body surrounded by rings the color of cherry blossoms.
"Renamon, armor-digivolve to--Karamon: The Wheel of Balance!"
The cocoon of energy dispersed, and from it Karamon flew, brilliant pink embers chasing after her as her jet engines fired!
-
Al would grin as he saw her transform.. and he would then give Vilemon a baleful glance
"Kick his ass."
And she would then rocket towards him, arm reared back. "Kitsune Kumite!"
[Rolling: 2,1,5,6,3,6,2,6,1,2,1,3,5= 5 suxx]
-
[Dodge x 0.5 = 6 4 3, 6 6 1 = 3 suxx = Hits = ((DMG + 2) - Armor) = 5 Damage.]
Vilemon ceased laughing, its wings flapping as Karamon rocketed towards it! Indeed, leaving behind vapor trails as rain kissed the heat of her strikes, Karamon's fist struck square at the back of the demon gaping maw. Vile clasped its claws over its throat as the armored digimon retracted her fist, but when the demon lurched forward to cough, Karamon round-house kicked the side of its face. Several yards away, the vulpine was waiting for Vilemon, her speed hammering a blow between the eyes that MachGaogamon would have been proud of. A flurry of blows soon followed, pummeling the demon's tongue and elongated face in flashes of pink light before she slammed both sides of its head with her forearms!
"S-scratch Beat!!" rasped Vilemon, making to claw at the exposed parts in Karamon's armor.
[Attack: 6 6 4, 3 3 5, 1 1 3, 5 3 1 = 4 suxx]
-
[Rolling dodge: 2,5,2,5,6,6,6= five suxx, miss!]
Karamon would almost contemptuously dodge his counter attack, and would boost around Vilemon as she attempted to attack from behind now. "Kitsune Kumite!" she cried, launching another flurry.
[Rolling: 4,6,1,6,3,5,4,3,1,6,3,6= 5 suxx!]
-
[Dodge: 3 2 1, 6 5 4, 1 6 1 = 3 suxx = Hits = ((DMG + 2) - Armor) = another 5 Damage x'D ]
Rapid-fire strikes from behind led to bone-cracking agony writ large across the Vilemon's face. Said-face was stamped with Karamon's knee as the armored digimon grabbed it by the back of the head and planted it down. Vile's eyes rolled into the back of its skull as the fiend's head bounced back from the force, only to see Karamon's leg coming in for a drop kick. Seconds later, the ground below them would explode, a Vilemon-sized crater crushed into the pavement.
-
Al watched with a grim satisfaction that was only mildly soured by the car alarm. he would then look at Vilemon, kneeling before the crater. "Do you fucking surrender?" he whispered.
-
The tamer would find Vilemon laying flat on its stomach, its limbs twitching as rain began pooling under its broken body.
("Just say the word, Al,") thought Renamon. ("I won't miss.")
-
He was sorely tempted to let her go through with it, to pay it back for what it did to Renamon. But.. his better nature won out. "No.. lets get him in the trunk. We still have questions that need answering." He said with a sigh, before looking at the dented truck and the crater in the pavement. "Plus.. we really need to get outta here before anyone sees us."
-
Al would hear then feel Karamon land as the exhaust from her jets sent hot wind blowing past him. At the digimon's insistence, Al let her drag Vilemon to the car, tossing the fiend into the trunk just as the sound of police sirens began ringing in the distance. Without missing a beat, Karamon devolved back into Renamon, only to shapeshift into Renee as the pair drove off with their unconscious passenger in tow.
"We'll have to come back another time for Vivi's photographs," said Renee, the shapeshifter looking through the side-view mirror. "Not sure what the police will make of it, all the damage."
-
He would run to the car as fast as he could in response, and would start the engine the moment Renamon buckled herself in and peeled off.. being sure to avoid driving in the direction of the sirens. "We'll deal with that when we have to... but I doubt they'll be able to really figure out what happened. Maybe they'lll officially call it a hit and run. the crater is harder to explain though.. but i doubt they'll come to the conclusion that two digital monsters started having a brawl over some taco trucks." he said with a chuckle.
-
Renee chuckled back at the teen, though her smile faded moments later. "Looks like I've gotten rusty over the years," she said. "Wasn't expecting that curveball back there."
-
"Its not your fault babe, you did nothing wrong," Al said as he gently reached out and cupped her cheek for a moment. "We just got caught off guard.. it wont happen again. We at least know one thing.. someone is after the Ki'is."
-
"Maybe," she said, putting a hand over Al's. "Still, what are we supposed to do about our 'friend?' I doubt we can just tie him up once we reach the clubhouse. Not that pummeling him wouldn't be fun."
-
“Yeah..” he then sighed “We learn what he knows.. try to get him to see reason. If we can’t..” he gave another sigh “…we get rid of him.”
-
The shapeshifter sighed. "And here I was, looking forward to that movie tonight."
Ike frowned, a nervous twitch in his brow as he folded his arms. He, like the others in the group, stared long and hard at the creature they had tied to the bed with a pillow sheet over its head.
"...I said it once, and I'll say it again," said the blond. "What the hell are we doing?"
It had been a half-hour since Alemana and Renamon taken Vilemon 'into custody'. Despite concerns from Ike and Vivi, they had brought the demon back to the clubhouse. Between the vulpine and Eyesmon, they were able to get him up to the third floor without anyone the wiser.
"I don't like it either," said Vivi. "But, unless anyone's got ideas, we're kinda stuck with him."
"At least YOU guys get to leave the room," said Eyesmon, the bed's shadow growing eyes and a snarling mouth. "I'm gonna be late for my stream because of this! You know how many of my viewers get cranky if I'm a minute late? OOH--it's gonna flood my comment section for days!"
"Re-lax, ya drama queen," said Gazimon. "One missed stream ain't gonna mess with your bottom line. Besides, your prolific as all hell. At least tryin' to act like a human with a life couldn't hurt you sell the bit."
"RAAAAAAGE--!!" The undulating shadow suddenly went silent when Vivi shushed her, thereby sparing the group from being enveloped in total darkness.
-
And Al would gently give her nose a boop “Same here..”
______
“Look, we can’t have him flying around and hurting people.. and if he was wandering around out in town.. there is likely others too. Make matters worse, as if hostile digimon running around in Hilo wasn’t bad enough, this guy and supposedly others like him are looking for the Ki’is.” Al said as he looked at the bound Vilemon, his expression becoming angry for a moment before he was able to calm himself down.
“So I say we question him, figure out what the hell is going on, and then figure out what we’re gonna do with him after.”
-
"Leave it to me," said Malie, a shadow crossing her face as she smiled. "First I'll break the bat, then I'll break the 'mon."
Ike looked over his shoulder, scanning the room. "Weird," he said. "What happened to Kukuimon?"
"Huh? Oh, he's in the other room," said Malie, her smile laxing. "Said he wasn't feeling well."
-
He recognized that look.. but rather than dwell on it he gave a look of surprise. “Kukuimon isn’t feeling good? How long has that been going on?” He asked. Renamon had never gotten sick as far as he could tell.. and he felt a bit of concern.
“Is he super sick?”
-
The longhaired girl shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe it's stress? Last night's thunderstorm probably didn't help, either."
A sudden groan emanated from the bed, drawing everyone's attention. Renamon put an arm between Al and the bound Vilemon as the demon stirred.
"Where... where am I?" it said. Shaking its pillow-cased head, the fiend sniffed the air. "Fabric softener?"
-
“Oh dear.. poor piglet.”
But he would stop as it began stirring “Well, Lord Bucketmon?” Al asked, gently nudging her shoulders
-
Vilemon cocked its head to one side. "Bucket...mon?" it echoed. The demon motioned to sit up, only for its limbs to lockup and move back into place on the bed. "What is this? Release us at once!"
"We'll be the ones making demands," mused Malie, approaching the bed. "Heard you got yourself a big mouth. Try and scream, and we'll see how tough that champion-level trachea of yours is."
The demon wheezed into a snicker. "Torture, is it? Do your worst, fool! If you want our secrets, you'll just have to deleted us and absorbed our data!"
Malie grinned. "Ooh! Now that's a fun idea! Maybe we should try that instead~"
"Gck-! W-wait! L-let's not be too hasty, now, yes? After all, you don't want our data! W-w-worthless junk! It'd just corrupt your systems, really!"
-
And Al would sit back, gently scratching Renamon behind her right ear as he met the master work her magic.. this ought to be entertaining!
-
Renamon smiled, wrapping an arm around Alemana's waist as everyone watched Malie in action.
"Why are you here in the human world?" asked the tamer, her voice sharp and firm.
"Th-the human world?" said Vilemon. "O-oh yes! Yes! THE human world! Of course, there're just so many humans here, where else could it be--"
Malie twitched her two fingers as she glanced at one of Eyesmon's eyeballs. Suddenly, Vilemon was gagging.
"Alright!" coughed the demon, "Alright! It was an accident! A portal opened up, and we stepped through! It's as simple as that!"
"Oh really~? And what about the Ki'i? You seemed really eager to get your hands on it."
Vilemon struggled under his invisible bindings. "Ki'i?" he echoed. "Is THAT what it was? W-we sensed the presence of something powerful, though what it was we had no way of knowing! Data is data! We could feel its pull! Taste it, even! How it lingered on the tamer! ESPECIALLY his servant digimon!" The demon paused. "Wait," it said. "I sense it now... there are two of them... who else is in here?"
Malie gestured, and again Eyesmon silenced the demon.
"No answers for you," said the tamer. "WE ask the questions, here. Now what's happening in the Digital World? Why are there portals popping up across Hilo?"
The demon snarled, its claws balling into fists. "How should we know?" it asked. "If you have access to the Ki'i of a great and mighty 'Akua, shouldn't you know already?"
-
Alemana would listen as he continued to pet Renamon.. but as the creature gave its answers she could feel him grow more and more frustrated before he spoke up, his voice sharp and angry.
“Just answer the question. What has happened in the digital world since Varamon was destroyed by Kahunimon? Tell us!”
-
Malie looked over her shoulder at Al, her eyes wide.
"That voice!" said Vilemon. Snickering, the fiend shuffled in place. "Varamon, did you say? So, you're the ones that escaped from Waihona all those years ago. Kehehehe, that you command a Renamon, too. That must make you Alemana Sonson."
-
Al would glance at Renamon, and then at Malie before speaking up, his tone not as angry as before, but still having an edge to it. “..Yes, I am. So I would be careful with what I said next, Vilemon. That ass beating you got earlier will seem like a pleasant tickle fight if you piss me off too much.”
-
"Hmph, we're not from Waihona," said the demon. "But from what we've heard, things are getting dicey on that little island. A lotta strife and chaos, keheheheh. If you're looking to visit, you should do it now before it sinks to the bottom of the Net Ocean."
-
Alemana was by the bed within a heartbeat- pulling that bedsheet over from the digimons head, his expression tense.. though there was animosity in his eyes. “You better fucking be more specific, bud. What is happening there?”
-
[Hmm... roll Manipulate or Persuade for me.]
-
[Rolling: 3 5 3 + 7 = 18]
-
The red and puss-yellow eyes of the demon went wide as saucers.
"It-it-it's just what we've heard!" said the fiend. This up close, without rain or pillowcase to mitigate it, Vilemon's breath reeked of curdled milk in Al's nostrils. "The Kumulipo Server is in flux, after all! New islands rise and fall all the time! How can any one 'mon keep track-? All we know is portals opening up and swallowing digimon whole! Once they go through, the portal seals up behind them! No exceptions!"
Alemana felt a hand on his shoulder. Glancing back, he saw it was Ike.
-
Al’s lips curled in disgust from the smell, and his brow furrowed as his hands curled into fists.
“That’s not good enough.. if you’re hiding something you better tell me right now, or else I’ll-!” He then paused, looking over his shoulder and into Ike’s face. “What?” He asked, his tone terse, combative.
-
The blond's eyes narrowed as they met Al's gaze. "We need to talk," said Ike. "Now."
-
He opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again before he nodded and glanced at Renamon and Malie
“See what else you two can get out of him.” He said as he followed Ike out of the room.
“What is it, Ike?”
-
Renamon nodded, watching as the two boys left the room before closing the door behind them. Outside, the temperature was a stark contrast.
"You know what it is!" said Ike. "You are letting Vilemon get WAY too under your skin, Al. And since when do we choke people for intel? I mean, yeah, the guy's a creep n' all, but if I hadn't pulled you away like I just did, were you seriously gonna just pummel that guy till he talked?"
[Roll Torment]
-
[Rolling: 1 1 1 + 7= 10.. fail]
Al would grit his teeth as he glared at Ike “Yes, I was. Because I don’t know if you have noticed but.. we haven’t done shit this whole time we’ve been back. If he’s telling the truth, and who’s to say he isn’t… what have we been doing this whole time? Nothing. We made a promise to everyone that we’d find Lonomon and fix everything.. and the whole island could be falling apart even as we sit here talking!” Al retorted… his voice gradually getting louder.
“Do you want what happened to Gazimon’s Home happen to Waihona?! Because I don’t! But it doesn’t seem to matter because we probably made everything worse by taking all the Ki’i!” He was now in Ike’s face, hands on his shoulders and clutching them tightly.. and he could see the growing distress in his eyes.
“I’ve been dreading that something like this for literal fucking years Ike.. and now that it looks like it’s happening? I’m scared.. I’m fucking scared babe..”
-
The steel in Ike's eyes wavered, the Samoan putting his hands on both of Al's wrists. "I know, man," he said. "I know... I just don't want us doing something we're gonna regret down the line," The blond took a deep breath, letting his hands fall to the sides. "A lot've shit's coming at us right now. Stuff that we've been trying to find for five years is now coming in hard and fast. But that's why we gotta keep our heads on straight. If we try and force our way through, we'll just end up breaking down before we even reach the finish line."
-
Al would sigh.. and close his eyes as he then pressed his forehead against Ike’s.. and softly kissed him “I’m sorry..”
-
The Samoan returned the kiss. "I got you, babe," he said, embracing the taller teen. "We'll figure this out. One step at a time."
The two boys sat alone in the main room, keeping an ear out for trouble as they gave Malie space to work her magic. Ike snapped to attention from his place on the couch when Vivi came outside, the girl taking her glasses off to rub her eyes.
"You guys okay out here?" she asked, walking towards the pair.
"Yeah," said Ike. "Doing better. How's it going in there? Anything new?"
"Afraid not," she said, putting her glasses back on. "Not unless you wanna know what Vilemon does and eats for fun."
-
Al would pause, surprised “You called me babe,” he said, a smile crossing his face.
_____
Al would sigh at the news “Not a big surprise.. he seems like not a smart creature. I wonder how Kukui is doing.” He said as he got one of the mineral waters from the fridge and a bowl of plant food before quietly going into the other bedroom. “Hey little guy, how are you feeling?”
-
The room was dark when Alemana crept inside. Fretful mutterings rose and fell out of earshot from the masked piglet on the bed. Kukuimon had his back to the door as he rested his head atop a pillow. His leafy green ears wilted, his body shaking; the calming aroma of candlenut spoiled by something cloying and stale.
"'A-'a'ole," whispered the piglet. "D-don't do it! Kāohi! STOP!!"
-
Al would give a shocked gasp as he then hurried to the bed, putting everything down on the bedside table. “Kukuimon! What’s wrong buddy…?!” He hissed out, gently wrapping the piglet up in the blanket
“What’s happening?”
-
Kukuimon's eyes shot open with a start; the plant digimon gasping like someone on the brink of drowning. "C-cousin!" he said. "We're in danger! We--!" The piglet stopped, his attention darting around the room. "It... it... was just a dream," he sighed.
-
Al would gently pet and pat the piglet, softly shushing him “Hey, hey it’s okay.” He said as he then sat him on the bed “Are you okay?”
-
"No. Last night was just as bad. Every time I fall asleep, I see things that haunt me long after I wake back up. Malie thinks I may have eaten something, but I don't remember eating anything different..."
-
Al would frown as he heard that, and he would sit on the bed beside the piglet, offering him the bottle of water
“What have you been dreaming of, Kukui?”
-
"It's never just one thing," said Kukuimon. "One minute I'm in a pool of water, the next I'm running for my life down a dark hallway full of flashing red lights. I see digicode I can't read spiraling all around while someone's screaming. So... so much screaming... I can see shadows on the wall, or maybe digimon? Then I'm stuck on my back, watching a knife tipped in lighting above my head." The piglet pulled on the blanket, curling into a ball as he stared down at his navel. "I'm scared, cousin. I don't know what's going on..."
-
“Hey.. hey it’ll be alright.” Al said as he hugged the small digimon “I don’t blame you for being scared. I’m scared about some things too.” He said .. but then something clicked. “You’ve had dreams like this before though.. you dreamed about Malie before you met her. Do you think-“ he then lifted the little piglet up “What if you are getting visions, not dreams?”
-
The piglet withered in place, "Th-that doesn't make me feel better, Cous. I'm afraid to make any sense of out it."
-
He would sit him on the floor now, and out the bowl down “you should get some food.. sorry for making you feel worse.”
-
Kukui shook his head. "No, don't be," he said, sighing. "I'm just... tired. Thank you for the food and water, cousin." Resting a foot in the bowl of plant food, the weariness in the piglet's eyes eased; his breathing relaxed. "Are you going to tell Malie?" he asked, looking up at the tamer. "About my nightmares...?"
-
“I think that depends on whether or not you think she should know, little man.” Al said as he gave a soft smile “It’s up to you.”
-
The piglet paused, looking down at his bowl. "I wish I was like Renamon," he said. "She can go wherever she wants without getting into trouble. I want to be there for Malie, even when she's not sick or hurt. Instead I make her worry, being small as I am."
-
“I think you’re underestimating yourself, Kukuimon. Malie trusts you and thinks the world of you. Don’t beat yourself up.” And he would give a smile “Between you and me.. every time Malie and I are hanging out, she’s always gushing about you.”
-
Kukuimon looked up at the tamer, craning his neck to one side. "Gushing?" he echoed.
-
“Oh. She always is saying how much she likes having you around.”
-
"Oh," said Kukui, his attention laxing once more.
Just then, the apartment's doorbell rang. Alemana could hear movement from the others as the interrogation bedroom opened and Renamon shooed them.
"Visitors?" asked Kukuimon.
-
"Stay in here.. if you gotta hide in the closet do that."
He would then peek into the living room.. seeing what was going on "Mrs. Lune?"
-
Alemana would catch the tip of Renamon's tail as she turned the corner on her way to the front door. There was an orange glow on the far wall as she passed by, then, the click of the door as it opened.
"Aloha," said Mrs. Lune, her voice taking on a more matronly tone. "How can I-"
"Do mind keeping it down already?!" said a man's voice.
"I'm sorry?"
"I just moved in next door, and it's my day off! What the hell are you doing over here that's making such a racket?!"
"My apologies," said Renamon. "We'll keep the noise to a minimum from here on out."
-
And Al would take the time to then peek around the corner as Renamon worked placate the irate neighbor. He then would speak up “Is something wrong, mom?”
-
The shapeshifter turned to look over her shoulder.
"Uh, no dear," she said, clearing her throat. "Would you mind telling the others to keep it down? They're causing a disturbance."
Glancing back at the living room, Al could see Ike and Vivi standing shoulder to shoulder in front of the foambag chair. Al then noticed a familiar, leather-belted tail poking out from under the furniture.
-
“Right, I’ll let them know!” And he went back, sitting with the girls “So.. what do you think we should do with our guest?” He whispered
-
"He can't stay here, that's for sure," whispered Ike. "Even if we got Eyesmon holding him 24/7, there's no way we can keep him here without the neighbors getting wise."
"Boss' right," whispered Gazimon, the chimera's snout poking out of hiding. "We'd have to feed 'em, wash 'em, and get him to use the bathroom."
"Yeah," sighed Vivi. "And tough as Eyesmon is, she can't keep Vilemon down forever. Something's gonna eventually distract her enough for him to make a break for it. What happens if he attacks a wall with a gas main behind it?"
-
That was what he was afraid of hearing. Vilemon may have been easy to contain for now, but the two of them were right. Long term captivity wasn’t an option.. but they couldn’t just let him go free and expect him to honor any agreement to leave the people of Hilo be. And if portals were shunting digimon to this side at random, he had a sinking feeling that Vilemon would try to use the confusion to his advantage: maybe he would play nice for a time, then slip off to cause havoc once Al and his friends hands started getting full dealing with the other digimon. Disoriented, panicked, possibly berserk digimon. But that lead to another problem: what would they do with this creature then?
“If we can’t keep him here, and if we can’t let cut him loose.. what the hell should we do? I’m only seeing a couple of options here..” Al said, his face becoming from and uncomfortable.
-
Al heard the front door close, followed soon after by Renamon's return. "Would it be possible to send him back?" she asked, as everything but the clothes of her disguise burned away. "We've only just begun to touch on how our digivices respond to these portals. If we found the one Vilemon crawled out of, it might shed some light on what to do next."
-
Al would think on that “I don’t know.. but it’s worth a try I guess..”
-
Gazimon took this moment to crawl free of his hiding place. "Only one problem with that plan," he said, "Assumin' mean n' ugly even knows where he popped up, how're we gonna get 'em there without spookin' the locals?"
"One step at a time," said Renamon. She then turned towards the interrogation room. "I'll go and inform Malie about our plan."
("We should probably plan for transportation,") Al heard her say in his mind. ("Should I set up any gear for the car?")
-
“It’s better then just killing him, and even if he doesn’t know where he popped up.. we have other portals that we can try to use.”
(“Yes, please.”)
-
Paw on the doorhandle, Renamon glanced back at Al, nodding, before disappearing into the next room.
...
It was about noontime. The rain had stopped but the sky remained overcast. Alemana was sitting behind the wheel with Renamon -- now dressed as Renee -- beside him.
"A bat monster that came out of a cave?" asked Ike in the backseat. "Why am I not surprised."
The Kaumana Caves weren't anything new to either tamer. Back in middle school, it was a fieldtrip almost everyone took, and likely a place Highschool Geology students went to. Outside the car, a sign that read: "WARNING: No walkway/ No Lights/ Sharp, Loose Rocks" hung from a neon-yellow fence. It drew far more attention than the much larger sign with the location's name on it, despite the warm browns, and gold lettering.
"So this place's an old lavatube?" asked Gazimon. "Heh, just like ol' times, eh boss?"
"I don't see anyone guarding the entrance," said Renee. "Want me to scout ahead?"
-
“Just because it’s fitting doesn’t mean it doesn’t make sense.” Al said as he got the tied up Vilemon out of the trunk, giving Renee a quick glance. “Just don’t go too far ahead, hon,” he said as he gave her a kiss.
-
Renee smiled, kissing the teen back. "Call me the minute Vile starts to get ornery," she said. Then, she faded into nothing as the sound of a distant flute could be heard.
The remaining trio turned their attention to the improvised sack they'd made from the clubhouse bedsheets, within which a tied up Vilemon struggled to free himself.
"Remind me again why we didn't bring Eyesmon for this," asked Ike, grabbing one end of the sack while Alemana grabbed the other.
-
Al would smile and watch her leave, before shrugging at Ike’s question “That’s easy. It’s because we… yeah I got nothing.” He said as he bapped the bedsheet sack “Hey, settle down in there!”
-
"Mmph!" said the sack, the ball-gag they'd strapped to him was doing its job.
"I think it's cuz Vivi had a mission for her," said Gazimon, the chimera shrugging as he slung his paws behind his head.
"What mission -- doof! -- could be more important than this?" asked Ike.
Again the chimera shrugged, watching the tamers lift Vilemon out of the trunk. Despite the creature's almost anorexic body, Vilemon was still about as heavy as a human the same size.
[Roll me Feats of Strength.]
-
“Whatever it is, it’s bound to be important. Let’s just get this dumb lug back home so he’s not bothering anyone.” Al said as he struggled with the creature “Hey, quit it!”
[Rolling: 4 2 3 + 9 = 18]
-
In spite of muffled protests, both teens were able to keep a grip on their cargo. From then on, Gazimon acted as their guide, clearing the path of any debris while keeping an ear out for trouble. Al and Ike dropped Vile atop a stone bench resting against the yellow guardrail, taking a minute to glance over the side at the steep incline of foliage below. Trees, moss covered boulders and hanging vines obscured the entrance of the cave, the path at the bottom of a nearby stairway overtaken by shrubs and tall grass. Not a single person to been seen.
Al then heard Renamon's voice inside his head. ("The coast is clear,") she thought. ("Remember to the grab the flashlights from the car. Even near the entrance, it's dark.")
"This is gonna suck," grumbled Ike. "The rain's probably made the stairs slippery as hell."
-
He sighed in relief, looking over the Railing. “We’ll just be sure to use Vilemon as a cushion if we slip is all.” He said in a half-joking manner.
(“Way ahead of ya babe. Isn’t the first time we’ve been here, remember?”) he teased
-
Alemana heard the begin of a response from his partner, only for a sudden silence to fall.
-
The silence too him by surprise. “Renamon?” He asked out loud, Before glancing at Ike and Gazimon. “Something weird happened.” He said as he then looked at the bedsheet sack “Can you watch him for a few minutes while I check to see if Rena is okay?”
-
Ike began doing arm stretches, "Yeah, sure thing," he said. "Me n' Gaz'll keep an eye on chuckles here. Just remember to watch your head. We didn't bring any hardhats."
-
“Yeah yeah I got it. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.” And quite (un)surprisingly he would give Ike a quick kiss as well, before carefully walking down the stairs and into the cave, flicking his flashlight on.
(“Renamon? You just went silent.. are you okay?”)
-
The blonde smirked, waiting for Alemana to turn around before tapping the taller teen's ass with a hand. As Al climbed down the concrete stairway, he could hear Ike and Gaz talking, followed by another loud "MMPH!" from Vilemon.
Making his way down, Al still heard nothing from Renamon. The air was thick with the smell of petrichor, mud, and vegetation. The plants that buried the ground as Alemana reached the bottom drenched his legs with water as he trudged through them. It was only a short jaunt from there to the mouth of the cave. Bare, brown vines hung from above like needle-thin teeth against the blackness of a gaping maw. Yet the closer Al approached, the more he saw of the moss-and-lichen choked walls. The flashlight revealed the uneven shape of the ceiling and floor, the latter of which was split between gravel and the smooth, flowing bend of long-cooled lava. In the distance, the teen could hear the dripping of rain water, yet somehow it felt... off. Like there was something else in the background. A waterfall?
-
He would give Ike a playful smirk before mouthing “fuck you” to the shorter teen before he disappeared down the stairs. As he walked, he tried to remember everything he could about that middle school field trip and what to expect.. but to his annoyance he could only recall bits and pieces of the trip. “Great.. Judy gotta be sure I don’t get lost.” He muttered to himself. Renamon’s continued silence left him uneasy, but he would continue into the cave, shining the beam along the walls and gradually getting deeper inside.
(“Renamon, if you’re playing a prank on us I’m gonna smack your ass.”)
-
Still no response. No quiet presence in the back of Al's mind telling him which direction his partner was from him. The noise from before was getting louder. The further into the cave he went, the less it sounded like running water and more like the white noise of a PC modem.
And that's when the teen's digivice began to glow.
*Rollz*
In the light of its screen, Al could see a change over the cavern walls. Gridlines that flickered in and out of view. Wireframes outlining the shape of individual rocks. The coloration of the walls shifted as if segments of texture were glitching out of sync.
("--Al?") the teen heard in his head. It was Renamon's voice, but clipping, obfuscated by static. ("Al, -an y-- -ead me?")
-
This hadn’t happened in such a long time, and he felt a mild throb of anxiety as he continued to look about. When the noise began to sound like a modem he paused.. and looked about with the light of his digivice.. almost stupified by what he saw. “This wasn’t anything like what we saw at the other places,” Al said out loud.. jumping when he heard Renamon’s voice in his head- hard to understand as it was.
(“Renamon are you there? I’m in the cave looking for you, you just suddenly stopped responding so I got worried. Can you hear me? You’re barely coming in on my end!”)
-
A moment's concentration, and suddenly the noise began to quieten.
("Loud and clear,") thought Renamon. Al could feel the tension wash from her as if it were his own. ("Al, listen carefully, this cave, it's like the Digital World is bleeding through. Can you feel it?")
-
He would wince.. but then he would frown “Kinda.. but if that’s the case.. why? It’s not like that with the other portals!” He said as his pace slowed significantly (“Where are you?”)
-
("Just a little further up ahead. Do you want me to fall back?")
-
(“I think so, we should probably be a group before we go any deeper. C’mon back to me babe.”) Al said.. looking at the shifting and pixelating walls
“Why is this happening now.. is Waihona really falling apart..?”
-
Renamon wasted no time in returning to Al's side, the vulpine appearing out of thin air as she lay a paw on his shoulder.
"The lavatube's geometry's been subverted," she said aloud. "Nothing matches the maps. I haven't found any signs of digimon, though. Just a strange build up of pressure the deeper one goes inside."
-
“Yeah we definitely will need Gazimon then. He knows his way around tunnels.” Al said as he turned back to leave the cave. “I wouldn’t be so sure that there won’t be any Digimon deeper in the cave though, so we should be prepared just in case.”
-
Nodding, Renamon motioned towards the way out of the cave, but both she and Al stopped in their tracks as they saw a familiar bag bounce and roll into view. Seconds later, both Ike and Gaz was racing towards them, with the former struggling to keep balance as he near slipped on the wet surface of the cavern floor.
"Shitshitshit--SHIT!!" cried Ike as he almost barreled into Gazimon. "Al! We're coming in!!"
-
Al almost had taken Renamon by the paw when this happened.. and he was watching what was happening unfold with an expression that could only be described as a mix of utter exasperation and disbelief, uttering a flat “What.”
He then glanced at Renamon and sighed “I guess we should try to help stop him from escaping.”
-
"Try," echoed Renamon, using just as much enthusiasm. As the runaway Vilemon rolled up to her and Al, the vulpine stamped her foot down on the bagged fiend, stopping him in its tracks.
"Oh good!" said Gazimon, the chimera panting alongside Ike. "You got 'em...!"
"I know what you're thinking," said Ike between breaths. "No, we didn't just let him go. There were some joggers looking at us, so we tried sitting on bagboy like nothing's wrong--"
-
“Hey it’s all good. At least we have him in the cave. Something really damn weird is going on though.. Renamon thinks the Digital World is spilling into ours through this cave. Just look at the walls..” he said, shining his digivice light on the cave walls.
-
Following the light, Ike and Gazimon awed as they saw Digicode glow then fade as they wandered through the air. Their awe turned to shock as visible glitches appeared in the walls. Not just the texture displacements, but floating tiles rimmed with neon light. Renamon's eyes narrowed, the vulpine taking a combat stance as the tiles began stacking themselves like a digital mosaic. Suddenly, like a computer closing a series of command windows, the pixels blinked out of existence, only to reappear at the mouth of the cave.
"The exit!" shouted Renamon.
It was at that moment that Vilemon made his move. Sharp claws tore through the sack underneath Renamon's foot, just as the dimensions of the cavern began to shift all around. The vulpine's reflexes shifted her foot aside as she made to hammer down on Vilemon. "Red Paw!" she cried, flashing her claws as they were wreathed in red flames. She made to palm the demon's back, only for Vilemon to swat her arm aside at the last minute. The fiend rolled to the side and onto its feet, tearing off what remained of the bedsheet bag.
"Oh no you don't," hissed Gazimon. "ELECTRIC STUN BLAST!!"
Bestial growls escaped Vilemon as he was enveloped in the EMP charged cloud. But it wasn't enough, the demon still stood. He clawed at the straps of the ball-gag in his mouth, spitting it out. "FOOLS!!" he cackled. "You've fallen right into our trap! The Network will swallow you up before you take us down again!"
-
These strange phenomena confused him, and he likewise was on guard “Okay.. what’s happening now-“ only to turn jump back as Vilemon sprung his trap. Al felt a great surge of anger as He glanced at Renamon.. Kumon’s Ki’i sprite appearing on the screen of his digivice. “That’s where you’re wrong, Vilemon! Renamon! Warp Digivolve!”
-
Once more, the rings of digivolution encased Renamon in a cocoon of energy. Her voice rang out and reverberated as she cried: "Renamon-! Warp digivolve to--KAHUNIMON!!"
Vilemon didn't wait to see the fullness of the vulpine's transformation, the radiant energies pouring out from the ultimate-level digimon. Instead, the fiend flinched and took flight, charging into the depths of the cavern.
"Don't let 'em get away!" hollered Gazimon.
-
“Where do you think you’re going? I thought you said we couldn’t bring you down before your trap got us? Kahunimon, grab him!” Al said, an almost feral smirk on his face as the Ultimate digimon finished transforming.
“Show him why he fucked up!”
-
Tail radiant as the dawn to show the way forward, Kahunimon surged forward. Already she was closing the distance on the fiend, her gauntleted fists tucked beside her hips as she readied to slam into him.
"Sunfire Lei!" she cried, spinning midair as a stream of golden light flowed from her tail. The light arched towards Vilemon as though it were alive, and if the flames it promised didn't reap the demon, Al knew its pull would spell Vilemon's doom.
"NIGHTMARE SHOCKER!!" came Vilemon's voice, yet not from the fiend being chased. Kahunimon had only a split second to bend out of the way as a beam of sonic energy struck from somewhere above her.
-
Al would give a quick pivot to the other voice “Another one?! Of course. Heads up Ike.. we’ve got some pet control to do..” he said darkly.
-
"Way ahead of you," said Ike, the Samoan's digivice glowing in his hand. "Hit it, Gaz!"
Flashing a smirk, Gazimon pushed off the ground as he ran ahead, already becoming enveloped in rings of indigo light. "Gazimon-! Digivolve to--GARGOYLEMON!!"
Streaking through the darkness, the living statue digimon balled a massive fist as he flew above Kahunimon. At first it seemed as though he were striking at thin air, yet before everyone's eyes they saw the shockwave of his fist impacting on something. The nearby cavern wall exploded with pixelated dust, and from it arose the second Vilemon.
"Hell yeah!" said Gargoylemon. "It feels good to be back!"
"Pele Punch!" cried Kahunimon, her gauntleted fist erupting with fire as she leapt to strike at her target. Again, the first Vilemon retreated, taking advantage of the shifting walls and ceiling so the dancer struck solid stone. But Al could feel Kahunimon's confidence. Vilemon's luck would run out eventually. She only had to be lucky once.
*Rollz*
A rank odor caught Al's attention, like the stench of curdled milk. Turning around, he saw Ike cheering his partner... then he saw a silhouette closing in behind the blond tamer.
-
Al could feel her confidence.. and once he was about to cheer.. the smell filled his nose. Turning towards the source, his expression paling as he saw what was happening. “Ike, hit the floor NOW!” He shouted.. running toward.. fist reared back to attack the other Vilemon.
[Should we Roll initiative?]
-
[Not yet. First, roll me dice pool of Agility + Fight. Then roll Body + Fight. And THEN roll me Initiative. xD ]
-
[accuracy: 4 5 6 1 5 4 6= 4 suxx]
[Initiative: 5 4 2 + 13 = 24]
-
*Rollz*
[Dodge: 5 5 1, 1 5 6 = 4 suxx = Miss]
Though Al's strike was quicker than a hiccup, the silhouette hopped back the moment the teen warned Ike. This close to it, however, there was no mistaking it, there was a third Vilemon.
[Gar: 1 3 6 + 8 = 18
Vile Trio: 1 5 6 + 9 = 21]
[Hokay, Kahunimon's first, then Vilemonz, then Gargoylemon.]
-
Kahunimon Would lunge towards one of the other Vilemon, her lava sheathed fist flying forward ”Pele Punch!!”
[Rolling: 1,2,6,1,5,6,3,5,2,2,5,3,1,1= 5 suxx]
-
[Dodge: 5 4 3, 2 3 5, 1 5 3 = 3 suxx = Hits = ((DMG + 2) - Armor) = 7 damage. Vilemon Alpha catches fire.]
The sheer heat of the ultimate's strike evaporated and broiled everything in its wake. The Vilemon flapped out of the way, sneering as it no doubt thought it had dodged Kahunimon. Such was not the case, as the demon's fur dried then combusted under such intense heat. Like getting sunburnt before getting hit by a bus, Vilemon shielded its eyes just to feel the priestess hammer into his shoulder! The shock of the attack did little to abate the demon's screams. As the fire began to eat at his wings, the first Vilemon had no choice but to grab onto a nearby stalactite, lest he fall to the cavern floor. Between this monstrous candle and Kahunimon's radiant tail, the scene became ever sharper a contrast between light and shadow.
Ignoring the plight of his brother, the second Vilemon turned his attention to Gargoylemon as the demon leapt back into the air, only to be denied vengeance as the living statue raced back towards the tamers. Ike, having been pushed out of harm's way by Al, was still prone on the ground.
"FREEZING WING!!" roared Gar, sending a frozen replica of himself at the third Vilemon. The intercession was just in time to catch the fiend as it lunged for Alemana. A sudden wave of chilled air blasted the two tamers as Gar's attack struck home. Where once there had been only a vague outline in the dark, now stood a gleaming icescape, with Vilemon as its centerpiece.
"Nice one!" shouted Ike, the blond struggling to his feet.
-
Al would grin, and then look at Kahunimon with a nod. “Take him down. Take them all down!” He said with a pump of his fist.
And she would rear back.. and launch another Pele Punch at her enemy!
[Rolling: 2,3,2,4,6,5,5,6,2,4,5,1,1,6= 6 suxx!]
-
[Dodge Defensive Stance -2 from circumstance: 6 5 4, 5 1 4, 5 4 4, 2 1 6 = 5 suxx = Hits (DMG + 1) - Armor = 6 damage. Vilemon Alpha continues burning. Burn damage, combined with "fall" damage, ends him.]
The burning Vilemon scuttled his way behind the stalactite as he saw Kahunimon leap towards him. Yet such was the impact of the ultimate's fist against the rock that it exploded, sending the demon flying backwards. A ball of fire in the dark, Vilemon screamed as superheated shrapnel from his ruined hiding place chased after him. His screams were cut short as he hit his back against another stalactite. Impalement, fire, fragmentation, deletion.
"Heads up!" cried Gar, still flying towards the teens. The gargoyle then swooped down towards the frozen Vilemon, knuckles-first. "STATUE BOMBER!!"
Both tamers shielded their eyes as shards of ice flew in every direction. The sound of Vilemon's muffled screams cut through the cloud of dust. Gar was beating his massive fists down on the demon like he were a war drum.
-
Al couldn’t afford to feel regret at the destruction of that Vilemon, not yet. He then turned his attention to the one that Gargoylemon was pummeling.
“Hey, number 3! Unless you wanna end up like your friends, you better let us out of this trap right now!”
-
Past Gar's grunting and pummeling, Alemana could hear Vilemon's signature cackling. Not just from the fiend that hovered high in the air.
"What're you laughin' at?" snarled Gar, the living statue pausing mid-punch. The pinned Vilemon coughed and snickered. His hands were wrapped around Gar's trunk of a forearm.
"You," the demons said in unison. "We... are laughing... at... you!"
*Rollz*
As if a switch had been flipped, Al realized what was wrong, and by the look on Ike's face, so did he.
"Gar! Look out!" cried Ike.
The champion was already looking over his shoulder, his winged ear twitching. Al couldn't tell where Gar was looking. The living statue had white leather straps over where his eyes should be. Yet somehow the teen knew the danger wasn't behind Gargoylemon. In the flicker of light from Kahunimon's tail, Alemana caught the silhouette of another Vilemon!
Gar didn't wait. Quick as he could, the gargoyle spun on his heel and pulled his captured Vilemon along for the ride. The fiend was still laughing as Gar threw him towards the silhouette. "NIGHTMARE SHOCKER!!" rang out from the fourth Vilemon. A beam of sonic force fired off, dissipating the incoming Vilemon. Still the attack came, heading straight for Ike and Al.
"GUYS!!" cried Gar, charging at the tamers. Wrapping his arms around them, his body turned to stone - shielding the humans with only second from impact!
("AL!!") came Kahunimon, her voice ringing in Al's head.
-
Alemana was only a moment too late to realize what has happening until it happened .. and he almost felt his head crack against Gar’s forearm when he protected them.. not even able to appreciate being so close to Ike while he tried to clear the fog from his mind
(“Kill them, Kahunimon.. they don’t get any more chances..!”)
-
("With pleasure,") thought the vulpine, words smoldering in Al's mind. The teen's attention was pulled back, however, when he heard a low growl from Gar. The texture of the champion's hide reverted back from stone to flesh, his fists balling up as he looked down at the tamers.
"One trick, digi-fuckin' cheap shots," he muttered.
"BASTARDS!!" snapped Ike. The Samoan was nursing the side of his head, only to stare up as streams of purple 1s and 0s flowed through the air.
"Pele Punch!" cried Kahunimon, and the third Vilemon shattered into ash and flame. But the mad cackling of the demons didn't cease when they dissipated. The fourth one -- the last one -- was rising up towards the now distant ceiling of the cavern. The only thing keeping him visible were the three rivers of binary that spiraled upwards, each terminating somewhere on the fiend's body.
"Vilemon-! Digivolve to--" The demon's form became incandescent; growing, expanding, changing. As the light of digivolution faded, Al began to make out the creature that hovered above them. Massive wings formed from a crude latticework of leather stretched from an emaciated frame, the body coated in fur of faded black and ashen greys. Yet its head was what drew the most attention. Beyond the monster's jaw, the head had eight holes in it that revealed itself as hollow. The flesh more akin to bone and carved wood than anything natural. And within its confines glowed a wisp of blood red light, as if a firefly trapped within a bell-shaped cage.
"--Pe'amon!!"
-
Al would gently check Ike’s head once they were out gar’s arms “Hey, hey are you okay babe?” He asked before catching sight of the purple colored data. “Wait.. wait wait wait.” He said as he now spun to see what was happening with the Vilemon - eyes growing wide. “You’ve got to be fucking shitting me…” he said as he watched the creature changed and evolved into a new form. Recoiling for a bit, he then steeled himself.
“Okay Kahunimon, it’s time to show this asshat what we did to Varamon.” He said as he gave Ike an apologetic look
“We’ll buy you time.. you gotta find a way outta here. It’s my fault you got caught in the trap!”
-
"Don't give me that crap!" said Ike. "We're here cuz we wanna be! Right Gar?"
The champion digimon nodded, clenching and unclenching the claws on one hand before giving a thumbsup. "Couldn't've said it better, boss."
But as the trio spoke, the newcomer was far from idle.
"At last," he said, his voice echoing as though spoken by many. "To be whole again, and without threat of true deletion!"
"Well aren't we optimistic," said Kahunimon, fists at the ready. "If those Vilemon were all part of you, then I'll make you pay for trying to kill my partner!"
Pe'amon let out a cackle that was near-deafening as it bounced off the cavern walls. "Yes," he said, stroking a claw along his chin. "It's all so clear to me now. You, and that Gargoylemon, you've both tasted of the Dark Area, haven't you? Oh, don't look so surprised. It's written all over your source code. Like a litany of raw emotion, of wanton longing and rage! No wonder I felt drawn to you and yours. You remind me of home."
-
Al would stare at Ike for a long moment, his expression one of conflicting emotions for a moment before it settled into a smile. “Well then, I guess it can’t be helped. Let’s beat this guy’s ass and show him who he’s fucking with.”
And when he heard mention of the Dark Area.. his smile became harder, more angry.
“If you wanna go home, we’ll send you there. Right Kahunimon?”
-
"Without a doubt in my mind," said the priestess.
Meanwhile, Gargoylemon stood up to his full height. He began cracking his knuckles as Ike pulled out his digivice. "Let's see what we're dealing with," muttered the blond.
//Pe'amon
++//Level: Ultimate
++//Type: Demon Beast
++//Attribute: Virus
++//Family: Nightmare Soldiers
++//Attacks: Blood Moon Requiem, Echo Disruptor, Hoopa'i Ino, Terror Strafe
[Roll initiative!]
-
“He’s no Varamon.. this won’t even take ten minutes. Especially with you backing us up.” Al said as he punched one fist into his palm.
[Rolling: 6 1 6 +13= 26]
-
The Samoan smiled. "Hell yeah," he said. "Let's knock some heads!"
*Rollz*
[Pe'amon: 4 4 6 + 11 = 25
Gargoylemon: 1 1 5 + 8 = 15]
[Hokay, first Kahuni, then Pe'a, then Gar.]
-
“Hit him hard!”
And Kahunimon then leaped forward her lava encased fist flying forwards like along stream of molten flame!
”Pele Punch!”
[rolling: 2,2,6,2,3,5,3,3,5,5,2,2,5,5 = 6 suxx!]
-
[Dodge: 2 6 5, 6 1 3, 6 4 3, 1 1 6, 5 = 6 suxx = Miss]
As the priestess came flying towards him, Pe'amon smirked. He wrapped himself in his wings, diving out of the way of Kahunimon's strike, laughing.
"Eager for pain?" asked the fiend. "Then let me provide! ECHO DISRUPTOR!!"
Spreading wide his wings again, Pe'amon shrieked a foul noise that rose in pitch beyond Al or Ike's ability to hear, sending tremors throughout the cavern walls, floor and ceiling!
[Rolling: 6 6 2, 6 6 1, 1 2 6, 4 3 5, 4 6 = 7 suxx]
-
Alemana would growl along with Kahunimon as she then leaped in the air.
[ Rolling: 1,5,3,6,4,3,2,1,5,6,6,4,3,5,2= six suxx]
-
[Hits = (DMG + 1) - 11 = 3 damage total. Kahunimon is Confused.]
So close to the demon beast was Kahunimon, she could do little to block out the noise. Her reflexes were all that saved her as she motioned the water of her skirt to rise like the tide, buffering the noise just as it slammed into her like a wall of air made solid. It was a miracle in itself that Al and Ike's ears didn't bleed as he covered their ears. Suddenly, Alemana felt the room start to spin. Just for a second. He then looked at Kahunimon as she landed on her feet, the priestess nursing her head.
"Shut your trap!" snarled Gargoylemon. The living statue shot into the air, roaring "FREEZING WING!!" Catching Pe'amon in the ankle despite the fiend's attempt at yet another feint.
-
Al held his ears, and he looked to Kahunimon as she seemed to sway a bit, not sure where she was. "Hey, hey! You got this Kahunimon! A little noise isn't gonna keep you down is it? No! Show this son of a bitch how screwed he is!" Al shouted, holding his digivice up as it began glowing a bright green, as did Kahunimon.. her head suddenly cleared from the disorientation.
[Using Special Order: Tough it Out, Confused is removed]
She then leaped in the air.. vaulting over Gargoylemon and playfully bapping him atop the head with her tail before twisting midair, skirt flaring around her. "Wave Crash Dance!" she cried as a torrent of boiling water erupted around them, the water parting around Gargoylemon as if intentionally aiming to not cascade over him... but fulling meant to crash over Pe'amon
[Rolling: 4,1,4,4,5,5,3,1,6,6,6,6,5,2= 7 suxx]
-
[Dodge: 6 1 4, 2 2 3, 6 2 3, 6 1 2, 4 6 = 4 suxx = Hits = (DMG + 3) - 12 = 4 damage]
The demonic bat shrieked as flesh broiled and plumes of vapor trailed away from him. A stench like wet dog filled the cavern soon after, with Pe'amon swooping low to the ground and passing over Ike and Al. Yet as he did so, the shadows stretched as if to follow him, till a curtain of impenetrable darkness rose up in pursuit. The fiend blanketed the cavern in this second shadow, and as it crashed over Al, the teen found neither echo nor sight of the demon beast.
"Uh, guys?" asked Ike, the blonde pushing his back against Al's as he talked into his digivice. "Where's Pe'amon?"
"++I see 'em++" said Gar. "++He's still in the air++"
("Al,") thought Kahunimon. ("It's pitch black. My tail's not putting out enough light to see with, I'm having trouble hearing anything not directly in front of me. What's our status?")
-
Al cheered as the water smashed into the demon, though when it flew over the two humans and cast them into darkness he would look about in a flurry of motion. he couldn't see his hand from his face... even the light from his digivice's screen was barely more than a candle. stepping back, he flinched for a moment when he felt something press against his back.. but then relaxed when he realized it was Ike "I can't see a goddamn thing, can you Ike?" he asked.. turning on his flashlight function as waving it in front of him like a lantern.
(We're blind here too, Kahunimon!")
"Wait, you said you can see him, Gar? Whats he doing?"
-
"Besides you giving us away with your digivice?" said Ike. "Jack n' shit, babe."
As for Gar. "++Dunno++" he said. "++Keeps zigzaggin' between the stalactites, might be windin' up for an attack++"
"Think you can freeze him?" asked Ike.
"++Sure boss, but I'm gonna need to time it right, doubt the bastard's deaf so he likely knows we're comin'++"
-
"Good to know, ass," Al shot back, but he would gently give one of his wrists a soft, reassuring squeeze.
"I think I have an idea. Give us as close as an estimation you can to where he is when you freeze him!"
("Get ready to punch, Kahunimon!")
-
"++Wait++" said Gar. "++Something's up--shit! Kahunimon!++"
[Roll Perception Skill check for Kahunimon. Add +2 to the final result thanks to Al and Gar.]
-
[ 6 1 3 + 7= 16]
-
The cry of alarm from Gar -- and through Al by proxy -- was enough. Kahunimon took to a defensive stance as she closed her eyes and focused on her sense of touch and hearing. The sound was weak, quiet enough to be mistaken for an after-thought. Centering herself, the priestess compelled the living water of her skirt to stretched out and expanding, forming a barrier around her. It wasn't enough to shield her, instead, she thinned it out till it was little more than a veil of mist. Into it she poured her mind... and when something brushed against the veil, she knew her enemy's arrival.
[Kahunimon is put into Defensive stance. Dodge multiplied by x1.5.]
[Sneak attack, Offensive Stance: 3 2 2, 6 5 4, 1 2 4, 5 2 2, 5 4 2, 5 6 1 = 6 suxx]
-
[Rolling:2,2,1,6,6,1,2,3,6,6,3,2,5,1,4,1,3,1,1,3,6,4= 6 suxx, Miss]
Thanks to those warnings, Kahunimon sidestepped just as the creature broke through the veil of water.. and then while spinning on her heel, her fist lanced for the demonic digimon. "Pele Punch!"
[Rolling: 3,1,3,2,5,6,3,5,1,5,3,4,1,6= 5 suxx]
“Good call, Gar!” Al called up, hoping her heard it.
-
[Dodge x0.5: 1 2 4, 5 3 2, 2 = 1 sux = Hits = (DMG +5) - 12 = 6 damage. Pe'amon is Burnt.]
Kahunimon only caught the briefest scream from Pe'amon as the fiend was set ablaze. Sent spinning off course, he was swallowed up by the oppressive darkness, muting his cries.
"++WHAM-OH!! She got 'em good!++" said Gar.
"It's not over till he drops," said Ike, the Samoan fist-bumping Al. "Where's Pe'amon now?"
"++Ah geez. Think he's gettin' wise to me. I'm gonna try and shake 'em! Maybe the flames'll finish 'em off!++"
("Al,") thought Kahunimon. ("Even if Gar can outfly him, he's still an Ultimate-level digimon with long-ranged attacks.")
-
(“Oh god, you’re right!”)
“Gargoylemon! Keep your guard up!”
-
Gar didn't respond. The only signs of his condition were when Ike opened up the status app on his digivice. On the 3D model of Gar, the area around his neck was flashing red.
Ike's eyes went wide. "H-he's choking?!"
"Such a shame," they heard Pe'amon whisper in their ears. Turning, neither Ike, Al, nor Kahunimon saw any sign of the fiend. "We could be such fast hoa, if you let me. We, who've each been chosen by the Dark Area, have such potential waiting to be unlocked. I could teach you so many things. The ability to disperse into many lesser digimon is but one trick, a drop in the proverbial ocean, as it were!"
"Bastard!" said Ike. "Gimme back my partner!"
"Are you not in the least bit curious~? Through the Dark Area, you could wield the power to face your greatest foes. Your comrade, Gargoylemon, was it? Could snap me in half were he to break the shackles he's so placed upon himself!"
-
Al felt a little in his stomach as he looked at the display, and he put a hand on Ike’s shoulder and squeezed it. This all felt hauntingly familiar- to both what happened to Gazimon and Kyubimon. And as the demonic douche bag monologues and taunted them.. his other hand was clinched into a fist as he looked around, angrily.
“Shut up,” Al said firmly to the demon… his hand squeezing Ike’s shoulder more softly now in reassurance. “Gar doesn’t need any help from you, he’s way stronger than you think. He touched the darkness, we did too.. but you know what? He came back from it. Not only did he come back from it, he came back way stronger than ever! You wanna know why?” Al then smiled at Ike.. letting go of his shoulder and slowly running his hand down the boys arm before stopping above his wrist, thr hand that held his digivice.
“Because Gargoylemon has something way stronger than the Dark Area. He has Ike.. he has his Ohana! And there is nothing you can offer or ever will offer that’s more powerful than that!” He then lifted Ike’s arm - and digivice up towards the cave ceiling where Gargoylemon presumably was being held. “So don’t you dare think Gar is weak! He has Kahunimon backing him up.. he’s got Ike- his brother!” And he began grinning . “And there ain’t a damn thing you can do that can trump that!!”
-
[Gain +1 Inspiration]
Ike looked away as he rubbed an eye with his other wrist.
"Hmph, lapuwale," said Pe'amon. "Only those with the strength to break free can know what true freedom is. Down here, all you see is the dark, where as I can see clear as day--"
"Not even!" said Ike. "You're just a lonely-ass coward drunk on his own supply! And you know what? I'm sick of being lectured! Al knows what he's talking about, and so do I! I won't let you hurt my Ohana! Not when we've got the right kind of power to do something about it!"
And like a second sun, Ike's digivice burst forth through the dark. All around, the immense cavern was bathed in white-gold, revealing Pe'amon hanging from the ceiling with Gar in hand. Shrieking, the demon bat released the gargoyle to hide behind leathery wings. But Gar didn't fall. Nor did he fly. Wrapped in a prismatic aura, the champion hung in the air as the metal bands across his body shined in the same light as Ike's digivice. Indigo rings of energy began to form around him, shifting to yellow then back again as they grew larger and larger. Al could make out just enough of Gargoylemon's form to see the digimon curling into a ball, his back swelling just as the rings fully encased his being.
"Gargoylemon-! Digivolve to--MANTICOREMON!!"
A shockwave blasted the cavern as the cocoon of light dispersed. In its wake a new digimon dropped down to earth, sending shockwaves underfoot. It was big. Bigger than Pua'amon. It stood on four legs, its blue claws almost as wide Al or Ike. Gray flesh sported feathers at its front ankles beneath black leather bands. It had Gargoylemon's tail, if said-tail had split down the middle to form three scorpion-like stingers. But its face was the most distinct, for a metal, eyeless mask covered all but its mouth, and a pair of wings that flanked the sides of its head from beneath a forehead plate. Said-plate was marked in gold, depiciting three stylized eyes in a row. A mane of silver hair ran down the back of its head, whilst a yellow-red blanket was worn like a bib around its neck, depicting digicode!
-
Al couldn’t help but swell with pride as he heard Ike snap back, and that turned to shock.. and then intense excitement as the light filled the cave, casting all the shadows away like they were nothing.
(“Kahunimon, is this what I think it is?!”) he mentally asked her.. though his question was answered a split second later.
“He’s doing it.. he’s Super Digivolving—!” Al cried out, shielding his eyes with his other arm.. though a huge grin as on his face. When Gargoylemon- or rather Manticoremon- hit the ground.. Al couldn’t help but gasp in awe. “Holy hell.. he’s fucking huge now!” Al said as he looked at those claws.. and he would bring up his digivice to see what Gar turned into.
-
//Manticoremon
++//Level: Ultimate
++//Type: Demon Beast
++//Attribute: Virus
++//Family: Virus Busters
++//Attacks: Acid Injection, King's Barb, Maw and Claw, Trinity Gospel
"What is this?!" snarled Pe'amon. "You-! Abomination! What manner of demon wields holy light?!"
"The kind they send when deletion's too good for you," rumbled the manticore. Flicking his three-fold tail, he then roared "KING'S BARB!!" Suddenly, a wave of needles flew through the air towards Pe'amon, each made of solid light. The demon bat made to dodge behind a stalactite, but was too slow. A number of barbs sank into the leather of his wings, and even bolted his feet to the rock of the ceiling.
"P-poison," said the bat.
-
“Ike.. he’s fucking badass! You got this Manticoremon!” Al yelled, hugging Ike with one arm and pumping his other fist. “Kick his ass!!”
-
"Hell yeah!" cheered Ike. "Show him who's boss!"
"I won't be upstaged by a wretched mongrel," snarled Pe'amon. The demon bat then spread wide its wings. Sensing the immenant attack, Kahunimon raced to the tamers' side, throwing up a barrier of water as Pe'amon cried aloud "ECHO DISRUPTOR!!"
[Rolling: 4 4 2, 1 2 4, 5 4 5, 6 6 = 4 suxx]
-
[Rolling: 2,3,3,2,4,5,5,3,6,3,3,6,5,3,4= 4 suxx, miss]
Al would move to shield Ike with his own body as well, looking up at Kahunimon worriedly as the sphere of water dampened and distorted the sound. “Are you okay?”
-
The priestess smirked. "Compared to earlier? This is nothing."
But Pe'amon wasn't finished. "BLOOD MOON REQUIEM!!" cried the demon bat. The red light that floated within his hollow head became as a baleful dying sun. Shadows darkened till solid black, and a dull, sonorous note resonated across the battlefield.
[Rolling Signature: 3 5 6, 5 5 6, 5 3 4, 3 1 3, 2 4 = 6 sux]
-
[Rolling:4,5,1,1,5,2,1,1,5,5,1,4,6,6,1= 6 suxx, miss]
-
The oppressive aura could be felt as mounting pressure building up on all sides of the Kahunimon's barrier. Al could see it twist the water into cavitation bubbles, and - through his link to Kahunimon - the dancer's will pushing back. From the outside, the surface of the water sizzled and boiled, sounding like the countless, muffled pattering of rain.
"Whatever you do," said Kahunimon. "Stay away from the walls. I can keep the attack at bay, but not if it touches you."
"Gar-! I mean Manticoremon!" said Ike into his digivice. "What's happening out there?!" Looking at the demon beast's status via the screen, both Ike and Al saw yellow flashes around the demon beast's silhouette. "Manny?! Come on, say something!"
"++...Hunger++" said the newly born ultimate. "++I'm feeling... raw hunger...!++"
Ike looked up from the screen, his eyes fixed on the blur in the liquid barrier that was Manticoremon. "He's standing on two legs...?"
A noise broke through the droning of Pe'amon's attack, rising in pitch as three motes of light came into existence in front of Ike's partner.
"Trinity... GOSPEL!!"
A muffled *THOOM* sounded off as a coruscating beam of blue light fired towards. Even Kahunimon buckled from the blast, prompting her to grab the tamers as she heard the crashing of rock from on high. What debris fell on the barrier was washed away, yet distorted the already rippling surface beyond recognition for what was going on outside.
-
“Oh my god—“ and he would hug Ike close to him “You’re not getting hurt are you, Kahunimon?” He shouted.. eyes wide as he saw the attack erupt around them.
“Holy shit, he’s strong!”
-
"I'm fine," she said, forcing a smile. "A bit overkill, but we'll manage!"
Gesturing as though brushing aside a curtain, Kahunimon parted the front of the barrier without dispelling it entirely. The cavern dimmed as Manticoremon's attack died away, but not before Al spotted tooth-lined mouths on the ultimate's palms. "Manny" as Ike had nicknamed, wasn't idle, the demon beast already charging towards the broken, heap of what must have been Pe'amon. The bat had no doubt fallen, for the stalactite he had been bolted to was little more than a stump.
"Manny, stop!" said Ike. "Don't go near him!"
If Manticoremon heard him, he showed no signs of it. The beast was bounding towards the enemy with reckless abandon.
Ike turned to Al and Kahunimon, his eyes darting between the two of them.
-
“Okay good..” he then gasped as he saw what was happening , and quickly nodded “Stop him!”
-
Kahunimon used what remained of the barrier to form a cushion of water beneath her feet, launching herself forward.
"Manticoremon, stop!" she said, already halfway to intercept.
The three-tailed digimon pounced on Pe'amon, causing the demon bat to cry out in pain.
"Virus cores," rumbled the manticore, his tongue licking at dagger-like teeth. "So sweeeeet...!"
"Gazimon!" The priestess stood mere meters away, staring back at the painted eyes of Manny's head-plate. The demon beast growled, lips twitching. "You don't know what's inside his data," said Kahunimon. "If you absorb it, there's no telling how it'll affect you."
"I know," said Manny. "I can contain it. It is what I am for...!"
"What do you mean by that?"
The manticore said nothing, his saliva burning Pe'amon's fur as it dripped from his maw.
"Gazimon!" barked the dancer. She only then noticed Pe'amon's clawed hand gesturing in her direction.
"Hoopa'i Ino!" rasped the bat. A purple glyph of digicode appeared just out of reach of his index claw. Kahunimon motioned to dodge, yet no attack came, only vertigo. And through her, Al felt it too, his stomach reeling as his mind threatened to split open.
[Roll me Endurance!]
-
“Gazimon listen to her! We don’t want what happened with - with Varamon and Stingmon to happen again! Do you understand—“ he then gasped, feeling that sensation
[rolling: 5 2 6 + 9= 23]
-
Fighting the urge to dry heave and blackout, Alemana kept his balance, tasting bile welling up in his mouth as he shook his vision clear. He did so just in time to see Manticoremon's three tail stab into the cackling Pe'amon.
"Acid Injection!" snarled Manny, the attack causing his prey to glitch and pixelate.
"M-my curse upon you all," said the demon bat. "As without, so... with... in..."
The light in the fiend's eye went dark. Pe'amon then shattered into a thousand pieces, streams of binary rushing forth into Manticoremon's three mouths.
"Containment protocol established," he said. "Purging all system contaminants..."
-
“Wait.. Manticoremon absorbed that thing?!” Al asked, stunned as he held up a hand for Kahunimon
(“Keep your guard up.. in case that asshole has a surprise.”) he warned
-
Nursing her forehead, Kahunimon took Al's hand. ("That was no ordinary attack,") she said in the teen's mind. ("You felt it, too, didn't you? What was that glyph he made? My head hurts just thinking about it.")
Their conversation was cut short when Manticoremon's body turned incandescent white. In the blink of an eye, the demon beast's form shrank to that of a small spheroid. As the light faded, it revealed the blue ball that was Pagumon.
"Woah, what a rush," he said, eyes lolling in their sockets. Not waiting, Ike scooped the In-training digimon into his arms, laughing as his knees shook.
"You and me," said the blond tamer. "We're gonna talk once we're out of here."
-
Al would nod.. gently petting her thigh (“I’m just glad it didn’t do anything terrible at least.”) and he would see Pagumon appear “Is the lil guy alright?”
-
The dizzy digimon let out a belch.
"Gross!" chuckled Ike.
Smirking, Kahunimon shook her head. "We should probably get moving," she said. "It wouldn't be safe to linger in a place like this."
-
“Heh.. but yeah, Kahunimon is right, we need to get out of here guys!”
-
The others nodded, but in that moment, everyone began to look outward into the dark beyond Kahunimon's literal tail-light. They could still make out the strange glitching effect on the walls and ceiling of the cavern, the off-set texture panels, the strange void behind the curtain.
"Shit," said Ike. "Lemme check the map." Yet as the teen opened up his digivice, digicode began to pour onto the screen. He gestured for Al and Kahunimon to look, and then watched as bit by bit the text became legible English.
++Anomaly Detected++
++//New software available++
++///Setting up Access Node now++
Suddenly, Al and Ike's digivices were surrounded by holographic rings. Red for Al and yellow for Ike. A distant, shrill note then filled the cavern with no visible source. Kahunimon moved to shield the group, her eyes narrowing as the terrain shrank and left them behind, as if a mere background filter. Holographic grid lines surrounded the image as it became no larger than a tennis ball, glowing with light, till rings like the ones around the digivices centered themselves around it.
"Network Access Node established?" said Ike, reading off his screen. "Security level 2?"
-
“What the hell does that even mean?” Al asked, fiddling with his digivice as well.. eyes scanning the screen.
“What are we supposed to do,” he muttered to himself.
-
Kahunimon glanced over her shoulder. "Wait," she said. "Do you hear that?"
Ike and Pagumon exchanged looks. The blond tamer put a hand to his ear, prompting his partner to lift an ear-wing up.
"Rain?" said Ike. Everyone looked outward from the holographic display. In the light of Kahunimon's tail, they all saw that no longer were they standing within a black void. No... they were in a cave untouched by glitching textures or gridlines. Al even recognized the space. They were back in the Kaumana Caves.
-
Alemana was almost as shocked by that, before he then smiled in relief as he then would reach up and hug Kahunimon’s glowing tail for a few moments “Home free!” He said as he let go.. and then hugged Ike. “Let’s go home.. we gotta let the girls know what happened.” He said as he looked at his partner.
“You should change back, babe.”
-
Kahunimon's tail was warm to the touch, just enough to be comfortable and inviting. On command, the smiling ultimate devolved, her tail cooling as she shrank into the kit-sized Viximon.
"I'm little again," she said, snuggling into her partner's arms.
-
And Al would smile, kissing the top of her head “You sure are. Malie will have a field day.. I see a new Chibitopia chapter coming.” He joked as they walked “How is Paguboss holding up, Ike?”
-
"Heh, ask him yourself," said the blonde. "Though honestly, it's gonna be way easier sneaking him around like this. Even if he is a chonker."
"Hey!" said Pagumon. "I ain't chonky! I just got a big infodump is all!"
The group laughed as they made their way back out of the caverns, finding the sky a brighter grey and the rain a light drizzle.
...
No matter where one went in the apartment, there was no escaping the exclamations of excitement that came out of Malie as she chased the In-training digimon to-and-fro. But few could deny such energy as Al and Ike regaled the girls with the story of their recent victory. Even Kukuimon seemed invigorated by it all, enough to leave his room and cheer.
"There's just so much to take in!" said Vivi, the tamer sitting across from the boys in the main room. "Ike and Gaz really made it to Ultimate-level? And then the stuff with the access node! It's crazy!"
-
“Yeah it really is.. on all accounts!” Al agreed as he watched the tiny mons get chased around the clubhouse, and he turned his attention back toVivi. “I wonder if Vilemon was responsible for what happened to those people who collapsed..or if any change has happened with them now gone..” he said, mind now returning to the comatose victims.. his brow furrowing in thought.
-
"Hey yeah," said Ike. "We should totally get Eyesmon to check out the hospital." The Samoan then scanned the room. "Uh, where is she?"
Vivi blinked before jumping in her seat. "Ack, that's right!" she said. "I was so busy taking everything in that I completely forgot! Remember that thing I sent her to do work on while you were out?"
"I remember that it was a thing, yes."
"It was to look into one of the INAS you guys'd found. See, given how we now know them to connect our world with the Digital World, I wanted to test if communicating through one would work."
-
“Well.. that’s something that would be handy. Has she called back?”
-
"She's in the other room, 'cuz guess what? We got a message!"
"Woah-really?!" said Ike. "Who's it from?!"
"You wouldn't believe it if I told you," said the spectacled tamer. "That's why I'm gonna show you instead." Vivi then unlocked her digivice, showing the screen to the boy tamers. There was an encrypted text message with an audio file attached, the sender's name the only thing legible: Menehunemon.
-
Al would look at her in shock.. and for a moment he held up his hand “Don’t play it yet, just one second.” And he would go into the other room; calmly at first.. but he then ran and practically tackled Eyesmon “You beautiful little snake, you’re amazing!” He said with a laugh to his voice, hugging the champion.
-
Entering what had served as a love-nest, jail, and interrogation room in the span of a single day, Al found Eyesmon at work. Half of her body was plugged into a computer that Alemana recognized as the latest in high-graphic gaming. The rest of the dark dragon sat coiled atop the bed, staring over three different monitors.
"Wha-? Aly-poo?!" said Eyes, the serpent's violet-colored eyes blinking in a wave pattern across her form. She near squeaked upon the tamer's embrace, a torrent of stammering, wordless exclamations pouring out of her all the while. It was in that moment that Al got a good look at the dragon's triple screens. One was a continuous stream of encryption and binary side-by-side, one was a VR chatroom, and another was... game footage? The tamer then saw the 3D model of what looked to be a female anime character, with violet snake eyes, green hair, and suggestive black-and-purple attire. Her expression was a perfect mirror of Eyesmon's, down to the dilation of the eyes.
-
Al would stop, realizing what was happening “Wait.. you’re streaming right now?” He asked.. unable to stop himself from reading her comments out it a strange curiosity. “That’s your model? It’s.. wow!”
-
The more Al stared at it, the more he felt a strange familiarity with the model's physique. Even the angle of her face and bosom gave him a sense of deja vu.
"N-n-NO!!" Eyesmon blurted out. "That's--I mean yes! But no, I mean-!"
Scanning the chatroom comments, Al saw that most of them were in Japanese, but one or two were in English.
++Hebi-chan! Who are you talking to?++
++Big Sis, wtf? You were doing so good! Why'd you stop?++
++What's an Aly-poo?++
That was all the tamer got before the screen went dark; Eyesmon looking in the opposite direction as she struggled to avert her gaze.
-
“Your model is really hot too- but it kinda looks familiar-“ he then would blink as the stream suddenly ended and she was doing her best to avoid eye contact- which was quite the feat seeing as she was all eyes.
“Oh, you’re done? Well then.. let’s go look at Kuku’s message together with everyone else, okay?” He asked.. playfully booping her snoot. “Baby snake.” And then he did the unimaginable— he gave that snoot a kiss!
-
Yet again, a torrent of half-words hiccups raced out from the dark dragon, even faster than before! It was all Eyes could do to loop her body around the kiss-booped snoot, mewling under her breath.
A knock came at the bedroom door.
"You guys good in there?" asked Ike. When he and the others came walking in, Eyesmon had already sunk into a bubbling puddle of shadow on the bed.
"Eyesmon?" said Vivi, stepping into the room. "You okay?"
"Mhm," went the puddle, even as a tendril rose and wrapped itself around a nearby pillow. Her tamer smiled and sighed as the digimon adjusted said-pillow over her puddle-form.
"Oh you," mused Vivi, patting the pillow. The dragon's tendril only pushed the thing harder against the mattress in response. "It's okay, I'll take it from here."
With everyone gathered -- Malie holding both Vixi and Pagu in her arms -- Vivi plugged in her digivice to the computer and began setting up the audio log. Static scratched at the speakers, peppering the airwaves with distorted clicks and blips. Yet the voice Alemana heard was unmistakable, even after all these years.
"++Keiki++" came Menehunemon. "++If you -- any of you -- are hearing this, then it's a mixed blessing for sure. The good news is: we're still here. Waihona's been going through a rough time of it, but we're making do. The bad news is: well, you might've noticed the puka popping around your world. It's the same on our end. They appear almost at random. I say almost because they're often connected to places where the Network touches closest with the Kumulipo Server. It's taken me years to come up with answers, and all I got is theories. Except for one. Using the most recent message Vivi was able to send my way -- I know now for certain our worlds are catching up with each other. Time in the Digital World moves faster than that of yours. Roughly one hundred years for everyone singular one of yours. Now, it's different. Vivi's message was about a month ago, meaning, our timelines are syncing up++" Al heard the dwarf breathe a heavy sigh. "++Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. What all this means is: the distortions are like buffers, the Server's way of balancing out the new, direct connection we now have with your world. Why? I still can't say for sure. But I do know it puts us in danger. Once, we had centuries to prepare for incursions by hostile forces from the human world. Now, that gap is closing, and with the chaos it's putting out, we're at a disadvantage to counter anything, be it human or digimon from other Servers. I'm looking to send you something that might help, but it's not yet ready to ship. I hope all of you play it smart out there. But watch your backs. There's no telling how these distortions'll change going forward. Just know your kuku, tutu, and blue kahuna're on the case++"
The static grew louder, then was silenced as Vivi cut the audio.
"The rest is too broken up to make sense of," she said, turning to face the others. "But from the sound of things, that's all he could send anyway."
"Kuku," said Viximon, crestfallen.
-
Al would gently pat the pillow too, chuckling before sitting down. Once the message started playing his expression went through several changes as it went on: Joy at hearing Kuku's voice after all these years, then confusion at the news that their timelines were becoming increasingly synchronized, and then worry at the news of the danger the island was facing.. which gradually became a feeling of helplessness as it then ended. "That sounds bad... really bad." he said softly as he reached out to softly rub the top of Viximon's head "Do you think that thing will make it to us soon? Or do you think.." he then sighed "No, can't assume the worst case scenario.." he mumbled.
-
Vivi nodded. "I'm inclined to agree," she said. "We'll only burn ourselves out if we focus on what ifs."
"Yeah," said Malie. "We gotta stay positive! At least we know we can still contact kuku. And maybe whatever you guys did in the caves helped the digimon on their side of the Network."
At this, Ike gave a lopsided smile. "Ehh, still a bit fuzzy on how we plugged the hole," he said. "What the hell did the digivices mean when they called it an 'access point'?"
"We can always check back later," said Pagumon. "Right boss?"
"Only after you digivolve back to Gazimon -- and only AFTER I'm sure you didn't pick something up after eating Pe'amon."
"Aww, but boss! I couldn't help it! I got the noms n' stuff!"
"That doesn't make it better!"
-
Al smiled at his friends optimism, and he nodded "Yeah, you're all right. But regarding Paguboss, his Ultimate is definitely peculiar... its like a demon.. but not. its like how Gargoylemon looks kinda like Devidramon, but isn't a demon dragon."
-
"Heh, what can I say?" said Pagumon, raising his chin. "I'mma complex 'mon that don't need no labelin'."
Viximon smirked as she gave the blue ball the side-eye. "So since you ate deemo-bat," she said. "Does that make you can-nibble?"
"Canna-what?" asked Pagu.
"Cannibal!" said Malie, shadow falling across her smile. "Means you eat the flesh of your kind."
"Wh-?! Ew! No! The heck's the matter with you people?"
"That does make me wonder, though," said Vivi, the girl taking off her glasses to clean them. "If Pagumon absorbed Pe'amon's data, does that mean he has his memories?"
-
“Viximon, Malie, be nice.” Al said, though he was chuckling a bit as well.
“But.. that is a good point. Do you remember anything that you didn’t know before you deleted that digimon, Paguboss?”
-
Pagumon's ears perked up. "Huh? Oh... I dunno. I mean, maybe?" Closing his eyes, the blueball hummed a note. The note grew harder as he knitted his brow, then turned into a snarl as he clenched his teeth.
"Are you thinking or poopin?" asked Viximon.
"Gahhh! You broke my train of thought! I was THIS close!"
"Pfft, sure you were."
"No worries," said Ike. "We'll keep you guys posted if Pagu remembers anything. Should help pass the time between now and when he's back to Rookie-level again, yeah?"
-
“Viximon!” Al said with a laugh. A moment later though, his Digivice began beeping. Looking at the device, he saw that it was a calendar reminder… and he then gasped
“Ah crap, the movie starts in two hours! Hey, Malie.. are you still wanting to go to it?”
-
"Goresong: Blood Vengeance!" said Malie, the girl playing sting-music off her digivice as she dropped Pagu and Viximon. "Kukui! Are you ready to go?"
The green piglet gave a start as he woke up, looking in every which way. "What did I miss?" he asked, blinking the sleep from his eyes.
No longer tethered to Malie's grasp, Viximon hopped on the bed. "Hey wait!" she said. "We got three tickets, right Al? Since I can't go as Renee, we've still got a spare ticket!"
-
“Aw crap, you’re right Kitmon!” Al exclaimed as he then looked at his friends “Well.. do either of you want to go in her place?” He offered.
-
Vivi raised her hands up to her chest. "I'm good. Like I said, I'm not super into action horror stuff--"
But the spectacled tamer was interrupted as Ike grabbed Al by the collar and near headbutted him, shouting: "Me-! MEEE!! I'LL TAKE IT!!" The blond then froze, backing off as he realized everyone was now staring at him. "D'I mean, y'know, if that's okay with you guys."
"Wow boss," said Pagumon. "You're a spaz~!"
"Sh-shut up."
-
“Hey that’s okay Viv-“ and he then flinched as Ike nearly smashed his skull into Al’s during his outburst
“Okay wow.. but yeah if you wanna go, sure I’m down Ike!” And he would look at Vivi apologetically “Would you mind watching Viximon? It wouldn’t be a good idea leaving her at home alone with my parents at the house. She likes to wander.”
-
"No problem," said Vivi. "Since we got back from Waihona, I've made it a habit of keeping a fully stocked minifridge."
"HEY!!" said Eyesmon. "Half those snacks are mine!"
"It'll be fiiiine. We can always get more."
"Nuh-uh! Some of them came straight in the mail from my adoring fans!"
Vivi exchanged looks with Alemana. "We'll figure something out. You guys have fun, okay?"
-
“Well.. i don’t want to jeopardize Eyes snack reserves. Hmm.. “ he then looked down at Viximon “… Do you wanna sneak into the theater, Vix?”
-
"Yeah!" she said, jumping onto the pillow Eyesmon was still hiding under. "I can still go! Look!" Replicating Pagumon's grunting, the kit disappeared in a tiny puff of smoke. As it dissipated, gone was Viximon, and in her place a large soda with a foxtail wagging to one side. "Tadaaaa~!"
"That looks dumb," said Pagumon.
"Nyo! YOU'RE dumb!" said the soda, the lid opening and closing like a mouth as it bounced in place.
Malie balled her fists as she beamed at the kit-cup. "Eeeee-! So cute!" she said.
-
Al also beamed, and picked up the cup “That’s amazing !”
-
The giggling, kit-sized beverage was still about as heavy as Viximon, but the waxy texture of the cup was convincing. As long as nobody noticed the lack of liquid sloshing around (or the fox tail) it'd be the perfect crime.
Ike glanced over at Pagumon. "Buck up, buddy," said the blond. "I can still get you past security as a plushie, no problem."
"But boss," said the blueball, "Weren't you listenin'? I'd get to hangout at Vivi' place while Eyes' streamin'! Front row seats!"
"YEAH!!" shot Eyesmon, the dragon bursting out from hiding like a rocket. "Sucks to be YOU, furball! We're gonna have more fun than you -- and it's gonna be awesome!!"
"What about your snacks?" mused Viximon. "Last time I checked, Pagu's all about dem eats. Even more than me n' Kukui!"
"Yeah, well," The thousand-eyed shadow looked away, muttering out the corner of her mouth. "Needs've the many, etc. etc."
-
Al would hug the cup, and would hush her before looking at all his friends.
"Well.. do you want me to take you home so you can get ready for the movie, Malie? We can leave Ike here and pick him back up on our way to the theater."
-
"Sure!" said Malie. "Kukui, 'mon the fort till we get back."
The piglet blinked. He stared at Malie, then at Alemana, then Malie again. "'A'ole mahalo," he said, crestfallen. "It's okay, I'll... I'll spend the night with the others."
Malie paused. "Kukui?"
The masked digimon smiled at his tamer. "I'm tired. The movie... the movie'll just give me nightmares. Just promise you'll have fun, and I'll be happy."
-
Al would look at the piglet in equal surprise, not expecting him to say such a thing. "Are you sure, Kukui? I thought you wanted to go see it with us?" He asked.
-
"Maybe next time. I just don't want to bring down the mood..."
-
“Oh. Well… okay I suppose.” Al said as he looked at the kit-cup “Hey viximon, you mind waiting here for us too?”
(“I want you to see what’s wrong with Kukui.. try to cheer him up okay?”)
He looked at Malie. “Well.. you ready LordBucketmon?”
-
"You can count on me!" said Viximon, the kit reverting back to her true form.
As Al addressed Malie, the girl pulled her attention from Kukuimon to look his way. "Uh yeah," she said. "Sure thing."
Kissing the piglet on the forefront of his mask, Malie followed Al out the door.
...
Traffic was slow once the two tamers got on the road. The sky remained overcast, and plenty of puddles left the sides of Al's car awash whenever someone drove past.
"I'm worried about Kukui," said Malie. "He looked so sad back at the clubhouse."
-
Al smiled and gave the cup-turned- kit a pat as he helped Malie with her coat “We will be back soon, don’t worry!” He said cheerfully as they then left.
_____
“I definitely gotta take this thing to the wash when it clears up,” Al said as they waited at a red light,. And he glanced over at Malie. “I noticed.. it’s weird. Has he been acting strange lately? He was sleeping a lot today..”
-
The girl looked down at her lap. "I dunno," she said. "I feel like he's not being honest with me. I don't wanna have to call him out on it, either, 'cuz then it might make things worse. Y'know, like, wanting to hide in his shell instead of open up..."
-
“Hmm.. maybe you two should take a day together and really do everything.. getting talking to see what’s up. I don’t mean trying to force him to talk- just talk.”
-
Malie nodded, glancing up at Al.
"What about you?" she asked. "Past few days've been crazy, right? No digimon stuff outside the gang, and now bam, it's all back, front-and-center."
-
“It’s been.. I don’t know how to feel.” Al admitted “On one hand.. my anxiety is going crazy, especially seeing how both worlds seem to be bleeding into each other.” He then sighed “But on the other? I feel like things are finally moving forward.. like we are going to actually make progress in finding Lonomon. Though I’ve been getting a lot of help from Renamon to curb that anxiety bit.” He said with a smile.
-
"I'll bet she does," mused Malie, the girl smirking as she elbowed Al. "You two make a cute couple."
-
Al’s cheeks would turn a cinnamon shade at that, and he was reminded of the events of that morning.
“That reminds me— you were at the door.. why? You saw my— everything-“
-
"Nah, I didn't peek. I just put a glass to the door and listened in. Heheheh." Malie then pointed forward. "Green light, by the way."
A shrill *HONK* then sounded from the car behind them.
-
He would glance back through the rearview mirror before hitting the accelerator… though his cheeks still burned “.. Did you like what you heard at least?” He half joked
-
Malie laughed. "Dude, if that's Renamon's idea of extra curricular activity, it's no wonder you've got good grades! You guys've got the best pillow-talk, too! I should take notes when I get a boytoy!"
-
Al would laugh with her as they drove.. but he would shift a bit uncomfortably at her "I mean.. you wouldn't have to look all that far to be honest!"
-
"Oh yeah?" asked Malie, giving Al the side-eye. "You and Renee looking to 'liquidate my assets?' Deflower my down-under? Ohana my hahas?" With every question, the girl inched towards the boy, smirking with a glint in her eye. "Think yous tough enough to dance with me, little man?" she whispered.
-
“Welll I-“ he would try to speak up before she pressed on.. and as she got closer and closer.. he would turn to look at her when they got to another red light.. and he noticed how close she was. After a moment to gather his thoughts he would give a smile.
“If the mighty Lord Bucketmon wishes it.. I believe that I Would.”
-
"Aww," the longhaired tamer then kissed Al on the cheek. "You're always welcome to try," she said, sitting back in her seat. "But fair warning: if you're not careful, my mom and dad'll put you through the ringer~"
-
Al would smile at the kiss, and would gently reach out to stroke her face. “So what you’re saying is- you are going to give Renee a run for for her money when it comes to doing risky things,” Al said with a chuckle as they continued on.
-
Malie burst out laughing as she put a hand over her eyes.
"But seriously," she said, calming down. "If my dad finds out, he'll turn you into a pretzel, and that's only if my mom doesn't get to you first. That being said--" she turned and winked at Alemana. "This is gonna be fun!"
-
“We will just have to do things where they can’t see, won’t we?” He asked as he laughed along with her as they turned onto her street, pulling into her drive way.
“Alrighty .. let’s go get ready!”
-
With no sign of Malie's parents to be had, the two tamers prepped themselves quick and easy. Malie made sure to grab plant-food packets for Kukuimon, the kind that melted in water and he loved so much. On the return to the clubhouse, the group hopped into Al's car, dropping the others off at Vivi's apartment complex. Kukuimon had remained quiet all the way over, even as he sat on Malie's lap. Still, the masked piglet chose to spend time with Vivi, Eyes, and Pagumon, leaving Al, Malie, Ike, and Viximon to venture forth towards the theater.
It was a full house, with every seat occupied, and some even with familiar faces from school and across town. Vixi-cup's charade went off with none-the-wiser, and as the movie played out, it was Ike that drew the most attention as we jumped near out of his skin with every jump scare. Malie, by contrast, was mesmerized by the titular gore, grinning with cheeks full of popcorn even as those around her covered their mouths or screwed shut their eyes. Little did they know of the danger in their midst. Between the noise of so many chainsaws and the howls of the damned, not even Al noticed the baleful glow of his digivice as a crimson symbol flashed across its screen. Flickering in place, a perfect replica of the glyph Pe'amon had conjured, and what know lingered in Viximon's shadow...
CHAPTER COMPLETED
The Manticore's Rise! +2 EXP +2 DP
Hawaiian Paramours! +1 EXP +2 Inspiration
Sinister and Vile! +2 EXP +1 DP +1 Inspiration
Bat Outta Hell! +2 EXP +2 DP +1 Inspiration
Access Denied! +1 EXP +2 Inspiration
Total: 8 EXP, +5 DP, + 6 Inspiration!