Winning Options:
[] Fu
[] Yes
===
Upon waking up, you're met with a sudden bout of confusion as the surroundings reveal themselves. The familiar stone surroundings have somehow been replaced with some sort of shoddy looking woodwork, complete with gaps large enough for sunlight to steam in.
Wha-what? Where am I? This isn't my room! Where's Mo-argh!
A bout of pain rips through your skull, cutting off thoughts as memories come pouring in. The fragment of identity you'd been briefly living through is mercilessly washed away under a torrent of recent events. Gramps leading you to attack those Goblimon, your fear, the attack.....how you'd deleted another digimon. The next few moments see you curling up into shaking ball as your mind struggles to comprehend everything that's happened.
Then
Wrath. A snarling flash of anger tears the typhoon of distress asunder leaving you finally able to think again, before once again vanishing just as quickly as it had came.
I-that. What was that? I remembered.....I remembered....it's gone. Darnit!
You shake your head in frustration and grit your teeth in anger. The dreams... your memories from what may have been a past life... it was almost like they were taunting you! Coming into your head only to slip away the moment you actually try to grasp them. With a low growl you get back to your feet and stomp off towards the hut's exit. A painful hole had settled itself in your stomach, one that was crying out to be filled. The white champion proves to just be getting up himself and it takes the groggy digimon a few moments to see you coming, which is quite different from his usual sharpness.
By the time you buy food from Sorcerymon and summarily scoff it down, the embers of anger driving you forward have all but guttered out. Guilt comes slamming down in its place, leaving you sagging down as the fact that you'd deleted another digimon comes back to the forefront of your mind. At least this solitary brooding doesn't end up lasting long, as Gramps hops over next to you and quietly begins to speak.
"Verge… are you feeling better?"
I made him Gone
"I-I'm okay" You lie, turning you head as to avoid looking him in the face. "What...Well ah, yesterday, the others... Ar-are they okay?"
"Mhm, they are. May the Legendary Warriors be praised." The scarred Elecmon replies.
"And the rest of the Go-goblimon?" You question with a wince.
"Hrm, They're gon-er, left this area, and not coming back.
Not if the dumb bastards know what's good for them."
"Th-that's good?"
"It is." Gramps nods, "But that stuff's on hold for now. Can't trust Flamemon to try training anyone else, so I'll be going over some things with the three of you"
Th-three? But....Me, Flamemon, Gnaw, Auger, Fu....that's five.
"You, Fu and Auger." Gramps explains, as if he'd just read your mind. "Flamemon doesn't need it and Gnaw....he's busy" You almost go to question what he means by that bit, but think better of it. "Hrm. Fu or Auger?"
"Uh..."
"Which of them do you want to pair with first?"
"Oh ah…" You stop and stammer for a moment, before quickly deciding.F-Fu."
"Wait here then." Gramps orders before turning towards Sorcerymon and leaping away. You sit down and watch as the old digimon has a conversation with the animated champion, buys what looks like breakfast then makes his way over to the shelter where Fu normally sleeps. She comes shooting out of the hut a few moments later with Gramps following hot on her tail. Another couple of seconds sees them standing in front of you.
"Verge." The scarred Elecmon starts with a slightly regretful voice. "This morning we'll be working on your defense, and another problem." Gramps continues before raising a paw towards the nearby Lalamon. "Fu will attack you. You will try to block. If you close your eyes I will shock you"
Wha-what?
"Hrm. Now stand up!"
"Tehehe. This'll be great! Fufufu!"
You look between the two rookies, mouth agape in horror. This is not something you want to take part in, but as Gramps barks the order again you find yourself on your feet without thinking. On cue Fu, begins to leap around the area taking deep breaths as she readies an attack. Instinctively your eyes close as she spits-
*Zap*
-then a small strand of electricity forces them back open just in time to see the incoming seed close in towards your skull. It's then as you're struggling to stay balanced that you realize that this is going to be a painful morning.
===
"Seed Blast!"
Trail of brown projectiles soar towards you from the side, desperately you pivot left, arm sweeping forth to catch the high speed impact of several small seeds. Your many bruises scream in protest at the abuse, but you grit your teeth and try to move through the barrage. Sadly, you're not able to move quite fast enough to catch the tail end of Fu's attack which hits the white fur of your belly.
"Oof!"
With that your body finally collapses, too tired and too damaged to continue on with the exercise. Despite her small size, Fu hits surprisingly hard and even with your thick fur, her attacks had been more than capable of hurting you. She takes another breath, ready to continue the bombardment… only for Gramps to intervene.
"Enough!" He barks, jumping towards your fallen form. "It's over." A paw lands on your head. "You okay Verge?"
"Huuuurts..." you whimper. Various small scorch marks line your fur, a testament to the scarred digimon's lighting. Gramps had kept his word about shocking you every time you'd closed your eyes and over the last couple hours you'd done that a great deal. "I-I'm alright."
"Hrm. Good job." Gramps grunts with a faint smile. "You did it."
"I did?" You blink, looking up at the Elecmon.
"Yes. Spirits be praised," he huffs. "You've finally stopped closing your eyes when fighting. Thought it might take the afternoon too."
"Tha-that's great!" You cry, trying to muster up a grin, though the pain and exhaustion make this hard to accomplish. Gramps smiles back, then turns his head towards the onlooking Sorcerymon and nods. Over the next few seconds, every pained spot on your body is quickly healed by the champion's ability. "Thanks Sorcerymon!" You yell, to which the champion tilts his head for some reason.
"Ah'm much obliged"
With that Gramps takes his leave, hopping away towards Auger's hut and leaving you alone with Fu.
"Tehehe!" The Lalamon cackles, coming to a stop near your fallen form. "You're lucky to have my help Fufu"! The small rookie says with a twirl, "Go ahead and thank me!"
You remember the pain Fu had just finished inflicting on your body, which makes you want to refuse at first. But then you remember that she was part of what fixed your problem, one which had led you to delete another mon, and you acquiesce. However. it's a close thing.
"...thanks, Fu"
"No problem! I'm always happy to help! Fu-" The small rookie pauses mid-gimmick, her mouth moves down to a frown upon seeing you slink down. She pauses for a few moment, raising an arm to the face as if trying to adopt some sort of thinking pose. Finally the Lalamon nods to herself and then looks back down towards you. "Stop worrying about yesterday dummy!"
What?
"I-"
"I'm being nice, no talking!" Lalamon interrupts with a warning glare. "Fufufu, don't feel bad Verge! That dummy Goblimon would have deleted any of us without a second thought! Just like the one that..." Fu pauses again seemingly unsure of what else she can say. "Hey listen! As my friend you shouldn't be so sad!" Fu declares. "In fact I think you should be happy!"
"H-happy?" you question, nearly missing the fact that she called you her friend.
"Yepyep! I think you've come a long way in a week!" Fu nods. "Keep this up and I am sure that one day you'll be just like Flamemon!" Her statement snaps your mind away from the sad subject, causing a newfound sense of happiness to enter your system. Not that it completely fixes everything, but you do feel somewhat better.
Ju-just like Flamemon?
"R-really?"
"I think so yepyep!.. you can thank me again now!"
"Oh- ah, thank you Fu!" you quickly reply with a nod, awkwardly caught up in her unrelenting momentum.
"Tehee! No problem!" The Lalamon shouts with another twirl. "Don't be sad about that Goblimon okay? I think you shouldn't think on it! Oooh, or do as Gramps told Gnaw and use it as a lesson!" She pauses and tilts her head. "...I think that was what he said." Fu mumbles before concluding with a shrug. "Well, I gotta go! Bye~!" With that your friend (???) jumps away, leaving you alone at last. Her words… they made a bit of sense and you can't help but start thinking over what they actually mean.
=== Do you consider Fu a friend as well? (Choose One)
[] Yes
[] No
=== On The Deleted Goblimon: (Choose One)
[] Going forward just try not to think about what happened yesterday. Attempt to put that Trauma out of your head and move on with your life.
[] What she said Gramps suggested… using it as a lesson? Maybe you could try to do that somehow? Like to stop yourself from accidentally deleting another digimon ever again?
[]
You feel Angry about what happened. He only died because you were so cowardly and pathetic. The very memory fills you with wrath but… that's not a bad thing. Gain Wrath Trigger
===
Stat Gains:
- Strength: 49.75
- Fortitude: 43.5->45->48
- Endurance: 45.50->47.25
- Agility: 28.25->29.50
Skill Gain:
General fighting: 7/100->8/100
===
Authors note: This won't end Verge's thoughts over the subject, more direct them towards a certain point.
Update is done at just below 1600 words. I hope everyone enjoys it! I'd like to thank everyone who voted this time as well. It seems like there's been a bit of an upswell so I hope I don't disappoint every new who's voting
Betad by @no.