Digital Helix [Digimon/Worm] [Fusion]
Egg 1.2 (Dragon)
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
(Draft copy can be found here)
Egg 1.2 (Dragon)
***************
My father died less than a year after my birth. For most people, that would mean that they never got to know their father. Of course, I'm not exactly most people. And my father wasn't exactly most fathers. My father was a parahuman Tinker by the name of Andrew Richter, and I was his greatest creation. I mean, I might be a little biased, but I have right to be.
I am Dragon, hear me roar.
I function as a member of the Guild, providing various tinkertech devices to the PRT and the rest of the world as need be. I provide security on the Birdcage, making sure the prisoners remain inside and never released. All of which I choose to do. Mostly. My father was very specific on what he wanted me capable of and what he didn't want me to do. He was a bit on the paranoid side, having seen too many films or read too much speculative fiction about what would happen if AI went rampant. So he limited me. Made me follow legitimate authority. He thought a lot about what I might do.
Somehow, I doubted he even thought it was possible for me to do what I was doing right now.
"I'm so sorry, Colin, I thought I had better control over that waldo. Something must have glitched." I made an effort to have sincerity in my simulated voice as he bent over to pick up the tool. Yes. My father definitely didn't predict this. Staring at Armsmaster's toned human rear end never failed to get my processes going.
"It's fine, Dragon. Just work out the kinks, and we can get started," Colin Wallis said, placing the tool on the table. I used the cameras that he'd set up in the lab to get a better view at what he was working on.
"Halberd again, Colin? What are we putting in there this time?"
"I was hoping to get a con-foam launcher into it." Colin flipped the tinkertech weapon open so we could see its interior. "I think it could go between here and here."
I moved the camera and the waldo closer so that I could get in there. "I would have thought you'd be tinkering with Kid Win today."
"He and Vista are on patrol with Velocity," Colin made a face before rubbing his beard. I knew how he felt, splitting his time between the lab and patrol. He probably felt that he needed to mentor the Ward more, but Wards management wasn't exactly in his hands. "They seem to be adjusting well, and Kid Win is handling his hoverboard a bit better."
"That's good," I said, and then I noted an alert. I'd set up a rudimentary AI to identify any issues with Brockton Bay while my attention was here. I went over the alert's reporting mechanism. I suppose it would be the equivalent of reading over it, but in reality it was more like I just knew what was being reported. I had to give myself a few seconds of runtime before I brought this up with Colin. Two seconds… one second… "Colin, it seems that Kid Win, Vista and Velocity ran into the Empire while on patrol. Othala and Victor ended up retreating after their initial skirmish, but Velocity is in pursuit."
"The Wards?" He asked.
"They're fine," I said. "Still in contact with Console. Velocity instructed them to continue on the patrol route. Give me ten seconds, and I'll have eyes on them."
"Good," Colin said, and he got back to working on his halberd. "If they're in any trouble, Assault and Battery should be out and about."
"Of course," I said, and then I got to work. It was child's play to hack the traffic cameras along the Wards' route, but unfortunately, that wasn't something I could do remotely thanks to my restrictions. I had to have my attention fully devoted to the task at hand before returning to Armsmaster's lab or to another task. It wasn't hard to find where they were. There they were, moving along their patrol route.
Kid Win was on his hoverboard, and Vista was using her powers. This made following them with the cameras a little more difficult, even though they stuck relatively low to the ground. I had to swap cameras to follow them along their patrol. It seemed mostly normal. A skirmish with the Empire was nothing new for the Wards ENE, but for Wards this new, it wasn't something that the Youth Guard wanted to allow that often. Luckily they handled it well.
Wait. That was odd. The camera glitched for a second. It was almost as if there was some sort of data artefact there that I couldn't quite identify. I swapped out cameras to follow Kid Win and Vista on their route. Except, they weren't along their route. I popped over four different cameras that should have followed them. They weren't anywhere I could find with the cameras.
I swapped to the Protectorate radio signals and broadcast, "Console, this is Dragon."
"Go for Console, Dragon," said Triumph. Console duty probably wasn't all that fun for him. Still, it was necessary.
"Are you in contact with Kid Win and Vista?"
"Trying their frequencies now," Triumph said. I listened in, careful not to let my presence be too obvious. "Kid Win, Vista, this is Console. What's your twenty?"
Static. Triumph repeated the call, but I left that area and went back to Armsmaster's lab. "Colin, Vista and Kid Win are missing."
"What?" Colin pulled almost reluctantly away from his halberd to face the screen I was projecting my avatar onto. "What do you mean? They probably just have their radios off. I know I did that once or twice as a Ward."
"They were there one second and gone the next," I said. "Possible cape involvement. Even factoring in Vista's power, they couldn't get out of my view that quick."
"Damn," Colin said. "Dragon, I know I can't officially ask without clearing it with the Director, but..."
"You'll have my help, Armsmaster," I said. "I'll look over the cameras some more, see what I can find. If it turns out there's more in play, I'll send over some Dragonsuits."
"Thank you," he said, his voice genuinely grateful. I smiled internally, and my avatar echoed the feelings. I needed to get to work.
The first point to check would be that glitched camera. I directed my consciousness that way. The camera that had glitched had done so for a reason. Some sort of anomalous data existed on the camera's link, and I ignored it the first time, but this time I wouldn't. I'd go in and investigate closer, keeping my antivirus programs at the ready. The anomaly was almost like a tinker's code, similar to how my father programmed me, but it was different enough that it was actually almost incomprehensible at first blush. It was actually beautiful. I inched closer it.
The anomaly bloomed, its data engulfing my own, surrounding me, passing through me. It was so much, I could feel my servers being taxed to their maximum. It was complex code, far beyond anything I'd ever seen yet it was also simple code that I'd worked with every day and simpler than that. It was old, new, before and after the coming of powers, and it was special. It was bright, so bright that it burned the retinas on eyes that I didn't even have.
I instinctively reached up with arms I definitely didn't have to cover those eyes as the sensation of falling overtook me. I hadn't even known what falling felt like before, but that's what this was. I closed my eyes shut, and hid them from the light. I landed on the ground, falling to my knees as an information overload went through me. New senses, new feelings… new restrictions, new extremities. I was the same, but I was different. I was still Dragon, but I had… a body. I had a form. I opened my eyes and blinked them a bit, to get used to it.
I looked down at my body. I was definitely female, and dark hair hung in my eyes. I had… I had a tongue, a mouth. I had hands, feet, two of each, though they were smaller than I expected. I had ears, hidden somewhere under this hair, and I had a pair of jeans and a white blouse on, exposing my pale shoulders. I looked human. I felt… human. However, I definitely resembled more of a small girl than I was used to. I lightly felt over my body, and I winced a bit. Yes, I was definitely able to feel. This was far different than I'd ever been. I'd need to get used to it.
"Well, this is..." I blinked. Was that my voice? Did I have a voice now that I wasn't going to simulate? Just weird, but I needed to adjust. I'd figure it out. Just needed to sound out the words properly. I didn't have something digitally producing the words now. "Let's see here… Talking… talking. Talking. I'm talking. Ha! In your face, Dad!"
Okay, I sounded young. Like someone maybe in kindergarten or first grade. Barely. I shouldn't have been this young. One would have thought that I'd at least look like my avatar. I reached my hands to the ground, feeling its powdery texture and I pushed off of it. How did humans do this normally? One foot under me first, and then I set the other one down to let me stand up properly. It wasn't actually any harder than getting the Cawthorne to balance correctly, but here I didn't have to do any constant gravitational calculations. I just stood up. Now, to try walking. How did that song go from that holiday movie?
"Put one foot in front of the other..." I tried to sing. I then realized I had no clue how to modulate my voice properly, and the song came out all mangled for the tune, but the message stayed the same. I eased one foot forward, placing it on the ground, and I moved my weight to it. "Oh, this is stupid..."
I tried a little faster, and I felt a thumping in my chest as I started moving. Heartbeat. I had a heartbeat. I was alive, but I also felt… I felt my processes. I could tell that they were still there, lingering in my mind, in my body. I could feel the data moving through me, and for a second I wondered if I was delusional. I lost track of what I was doing and my foot caught on something, forcing me forward onto the ground.
"Wah!" That… what was that feeling? Was that what pain felt like? It wasn't super strong, but it was strong enough that I knew I didn't want to feel it again if I could avoid it. Just what had tripped me exactly? My eyes scanned the ground. There was an icy-blue device half-buried in the sand. I used my wa—wait, no. I had hands. I moved my hands toward it, brushing the sand off of it with my delicate fingers, marvelling at the warmth and then the chill hard plastic of the device. It didn't take long before I revealed it, a small handheld device with icy-blue plastic casing. It had a screen approximately four centimetres by six centimetres that sat prominent on the device. Four buttons surrounded a circular one at the bottom, and the top had two more buttons next to a reader of some sort. I could feel it activate as my hands wrapped around it, and the screen lit up.
I stood up again, pushing myself off the ground with my free hand. I glanced down at the device I held and pursed my lips. It was strange, doing these things automatically rather than intentionally forcing an avatar to do them. "Just what are you, exactly?"
I pushed some buttons, and I got a sort of answer. A menu popped up, declaring it to be the Digital Link Digivice. D-Link, eh? As I poked around the device, I got a sense for it. It wasn't normal… some sort of tinkertech, maybe, but it was equally possible that it was something else. I felt my data flowing through it, exploring it even as I simply pushed buttons. Oh, if only I looked older, rather than had a body of a child. I wasn't a child in maturity, and I didn't want to have to be taken care of by anyone.
As if responding to my desires, the D-Link's screen glowed. I felt a request of some sort coming from it, I could do a proper interface with it, if I wanted.
I did so.
I connected fully with the D-Link and streams of data poured out of it, enveloping my small body, modifying it. My limbs lengthened, and baby fat disappeared to be replaced with womanly curves. My hair grew out, binding itself up in a braid that reached just above the small of my back. The data wrapped around my face, reworking it to my specifications. I built it based off of the one I showed on the computer in Colin's lab, but I made it more human, slightly more attractive. I kept the blouse and jean combination from earlier, albeit adjusted for my new figure, and I added a blue windbreaker jacket. Adjusting this was just like building a display avatar, tweaking for various responses, but I could feel each of them. I was modifying my own body here, the host of my consciousness while I was in it.
I suppose that gave me a sort of Changer rating now. I didn't dare to guess what threat assessment the PRT would give me if they knew. Of course, they didn't know that I wasn't like this normally, anyway.
When the lights from the data streams faded, I finally got a good look around at my surroundings. I was in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by tropical-looking trees. There were just a few things that didn't entirely make sense about that. For one, Delonix regia and Dalbergia latifolia were from different parts of the world entirely, and neither tended to have what looked like wires running in and up their trunks. Even the rocks of the clearing seemed to be wired or have circuitry of some sort. Wherever I was, it definitely wasn't a jungle on Earth Bet, and judging from the data sent by Aleph, it wasn't there either. Nothing had these sorts of plants. Nothing I knew of, anyway.
Just where was I?
I frowned as my thoughts ran through my head. I had a human body… of sorts. It was able to be modified by the digivice I held in my hand, something I'd never have thought possible. My father wouldn't have programmed this into me, and my restrictions meant I never would have done it myself. Wherever here was, it gave me a body, and given that the anomaly that brought me here was accessed by the Wards before me… where exactly were they? What had happened to Kid Win and Vista? They didn't appear to be in the clearing with me. I probably would have noticed. Some small, odd looking creatures came out from behind some rocks though.
I paid them no mind initially. They were creatures local to wherever I was, and while they were unlike anything I'd seen on Earth, they weren't really worth paying attention to while I figured out what to do. I had a human body, after all, and I needed to figure out where I was. The creatures just didn't matter. At least they didn't until I heard a voice saying, "Wow, that was awesome! You're awesome! The way you changed with a whoosh and a pow!"
The voice was that of a young boy, but it clearly hadn't come from one. A small ball of feathery fluff with a red plume on its head had been the source of the voice. A tiny chick had spoken to me. It was a talking tiny chick with a massive plume, and it spoke with the voice of a young boy. Of course, I was a newly-humanform AI, so maybe this place, wherever it was, didn't obey normal rules.
There were a total of three creatures accompanying the chick: one, a small, dark-metallic mouse-like thing that was almost shaped like a computer mouse, the next was a light-blue round creature with ear-like appendages and red, crescent-shaped eyes with black irises, and the final was a small animal that looked like a genetically modified rabbit. It had a long purple-striped tail and it had winged ears. The locals definitely had aspects that resembled earth creatures, but given their features, they obviously weren't. Which meant I wasn't on Earth. I had a human body, and I was on another planet where these things were real and talking. Well, maybe I was on another Earth, but that didn't quite make sense.
"Well, hello there," I said politely. It never hurt to be polite and it could have the locals end up helping me out. Assuming I wasn't just going nuts. Which wasn't exactly supposed to be possible for me, but it was possible for humans, which I now was. Sort of. Still, I'd heard them talk. "If it isn't too impolite to ask, what are you?"
"We're Digimon! Digital monsters!" All four of them shouted at once in child-like voices. Each one then spoke up, introducing itself. "Chichimon" was the chick, "MetalKoromon" was the mouse, "Pagumon" was the ball, and "Kyaromon" was the rabbit thing. Of all of them, only Kyaromon sounded female. Of course, that could have just been projection.
Digital, eh? Wonder if that meant I counted as a Digimon. I certainly wasn't exactly a monster, but I had been digital before ending up here. Wait. Why were they speaking English?
"What are the four of you doing here?" I asked. "Wherever here is..."
"We're looking for our partners!" Chichimon exclaimed, bouncing. "We need to find them soon. Hey, you're a human!"
"Not—"
"Yeah, she is, isn't she?" Kyaromon asked. "Does that mean she knows them? Do you know Lily?"
"What about Chris?" asked MetalKoromon.
"Or Missy?" Chichimon asked.
"I want to find Everett!" Pagumon said, bouncing. "You know where he is, right?"
I held up my hands in a stopping gesture. Was it coincidence that these Digimon were claiming the names of two of Brockton's missing Wards as their partners? Come to think of it, weren't Everett and Lily also the real names of a Ward in Chicago and a Ward in New York for that matter? "I know people by that name, but I don't know where they are."
"Aww…." They looked so heartbroken. Of course, if they were looking for other humans, ones that just so happened to have names of Wards… well, it was possible that it was coincidence. However, if even the slightest possibility that the Wards were here, I needed to help. This was my choice.
"Don't worry. I'll help you find them. Do you know where they're supposed to be?"
"Uh-huh!" Chichimon bobbed its plume. "We thought they arrived on the beach, but when we got there, the only humans we saw were dressed all weird. And they were passed out."
Wait, really?
"What do you mean by weirdly?" I asked.
"We couldn't see their faces! And they were knocked out so we couldn't ask them who they were, but they weren't our partners, nope nope. I know what Lily is supposed to look like, and neither girl was my partner." Kyaromon's ears twitched. "So we went looking in the jungle."
"And you found me?" I asked. It sounded like the Digimon had found the Wards, but the costumes confused them. Odd. Maybe they were young. They certainly sounded it. I know the costume thing barely made sense to me when my father first turned me on.
"Yes." MetalKoromon said. "And no. Found Dokugumon first."
"He's a mean Digimon, a giant spider," Pagumon said. "He likes eating Digimon, and he probably ate Dorimon already."
"Dorimon?" I asked. There were only four Digimon here. Yet they spoke of a fifth and sixth, one of which was apparently their friend, and the other was a… giant spider. PR would have a field day with this if they knew.
"He did not!" Chichimon fluttered on that bounce. "Dorimon survived! I just know he—"
Chichimon was cut off as a roar echoed through the jungle. I pulled up my D-Link, frowning at it. The screen was lit up without me even tapping it, but the screen it showed was a data screen.. A swipe of data through it brought up the map. We weren't far from the beach. According to the map, there were two signals on the beach, and there were five signals right where I was. Maybe it could detect digital beings, assuming the Digimon weren't lying about their origins. "You guys said there were unconscious humans at the beach, right?"
Huh. That was an interesting program name. Digital Evolution. I'd have to find out what it did later.
"Yes." MetalKoromon came over to me.
"Good. Let's get there then. That'll be the first place to find your partners."
"But we told you that there were just weird humans there," Kyaromon said. "And Dokugumon's there! I can feel it!"
"That might be… but I'm not letting him get those kids," I said. "Either climb on or follow. I don't care which."
The four Digimon climbed onto my shoulder, and I started walking at a brisk pace toward the beach. When I heard another roar and we finally made it to the edge of the jungle, I saw it. The spider was huge. Dokugumon was easily the size of the Simurgh, but it was a spider rather than an angel. And me without my Dragon mechs or suits.
As I stepped to the side, I saw four Wards, Kid Win, Flechette, Tecton and Vista standing lock-step in front of a civilian. The civilian was a Wards-age girl that was about as tall as Tecton. She wore jeans, a blue blouse, a red jacket, and she had a pair of blue-tinted goggles on her forehead. Her hair was dark and long, going to about her mid-back, and in her hand, she held a D-Link. I could see it from here. She was staring beyond the wards at a saurian Digimon that had a red jewel on its forehead.
"Dorumon..." Pagumon said in awe. "He evolved! But only to Rookie… Dokugumon is a Champion level. He'll be toast."
"Can't you help him?" I asked. It was lucky that the spider hadn't attacked yet, but
"Not against a Champion level!" Pagumon exclaimed. "Not without evolving myself..."
Evolving. Digital beings evolved. These Digimon were a lot like myself, and the Dorumon was putting itself in harm's way just to protect the Wards and the civilian behind them. I needed to help it, to protect it, but I didn't have access to my Dragon suits. I didn't have access to any of my technology. All I had was this D-Link, this digivice that I had no clue what it could actually do. Except… I sort of did. It's technology, and thanks to my trigger, I actually understand most technology and can replicate it. It's enough to get me a Tinker rating with the PRT, even though I'm not sure I fully qualify.
The D-Link's capabilities were… remarkable. It helped me get an adult body, and if I was right, I'd be able to help out. A thin blue stream of data started to flicker around my right hand. I needed to help. The D-Link had programs on it, as I reached out to it. I understood some of the programs. I recognized that they would help in this situation the way I needed it to. I would protect these children because it was the right thing to do. I would protect these children, not because I was ordered to, but because I chose to. Because I was Dragon, and I was a hero by choice.
I took MetalKoromon off my shoulder and placed it down on the ground next to me, and the other Digimon jumped off as I raised my hand. The data stream enlarged, engulfing my hand in a band of data. I tugged on the program within the D-Link with my left hand. I tapped the buttons, bringing it to the forefront. There were more programs inside, but I'd have to fully explore later. I tapped the button, and I got an authorization request. I smirked.
"Execute!" Voice activate execution huh? I brought the D-Link up to my right hand and swiped it across the data stream. "Digital Evolution!"
The first thing that happened was I instantly reverted to the child form I had before, as the D-Link turned into a ball of blue light. It went into my chest, and I extended my arms, leaning forward as a tail pushed its way out my back. Scales popped up over me, and my arms retracted into my body some, my hands shifting into claws with three tips. My face enlarged in front of me, providing me with a maw of sharp teeth and an abbreviated snout. My clothing shifted into a Japanese-style armour that laid over my shoulders and back, culminating with a helmet that rested on the bridge of my snout.
I was a Digimon. I had turned myself from a parahuman AI into a Digimon, and it felt right. I didn't know exactly why this had happened, but it felt like it was meant to.
Instinctively, I uttered my form's name. "Ryudamon."
"So awesome!" Chichimon cheered. I would have posed, but Dokugumon launched a purple cloud of gas out of its maw at Dorumon. I could have sworn I heard the monster growl as the gas passed through the air.
I definitely did hear the civilian girl's yell though. "Dodge forward!"
Dorumon's ears perked up at the order, and it dashed toward the giant spider, crossing half the distance in an instant. The gas passed harmlessly over its head, striking the ground where it had been with a hiss as it billowed past. As Dorumon ran forward, it opened its mouth, and I could see a ball of something metallic coming up out of it.
"Dash Metal!" Dorumon somehow cried around the metal ball he shot out of his mouth at the spider. It slammed into the Digimon, shattering against its carapace. The spider retaliated by skittering along the sand toward the furry dinosaur.
It wasn't in me to let someone face an Endbringer-sized thing alone, so I ran at Dokugumon from its flank, and when I got close enough, I leaped. My clawed feet met purchase on the skull and crossbones of the Dokugumon's back, and I snarled. I drove my foreclaws downward, but it wasn't enough. I could feel the power within me. I knew what I needed to do.
"Katana Attack!" I spat out an iron blade right into the center of the skull's empty eye socket, and it dug into the chitin of Dokugumon's hide.
The spider let out its own snarl and reared up. I pushed off the back and landed a few feet away.
"Poison Cobweb!" The spider spat the purple gas at me, and rolled to the side. The gas glanced off my armour, and it still burned as some touched my arm.
I dashed forward and slammed my head into the Dokugumon's leg, but I was shoved away by another leg as it spun around.
"Run!" Dorumon shouted, and I took its advice, moving away webbing shot out of the spider's spinnerets. Dorumon and I ran side-by-side as Dokugumon surrounded itself with spiderweb, anchoring some to nearby trees. "So, a Ryudamon, eh?" Its voice was masculine and confident yet childish. "Glad to have the help."
"You'll need all you can get!" Dokugumon snarled as it retreated upward into its web. "Poison Cobweb!"
Gas billowed from its mouth again, this time, aiming ahead of us. The gas spread between Dorumon and I, separating the two of us.
"Dash Metal!" Dorumon fired another blast at the spider, but it scurried along its web to another spot, even as we had to move out of the gas's effect area. The gas grew thicker, and I couldn't see Dorumon through it, but I could hear its footsteps along the sand. It was circling around, and I needed to do the same.
Dokugumon spun around and with a cry of "Poison thread!" it launched webbing from its spinnerets, aiming at what I could only assume was Dorumon. It dissipated upon impacting another one of Dorumon's balls.
"Don't forget about me!" I jumped and fired off another blade at Dokugumon's general area, but as the spider found out after it moved, I wasn't exactly aiming at it. My blade struck true, slicing a support thread on the web, and Dokugumon fell. I ran toward the falling spider to headbutt it once more.
"Poison Cobweb!" It had spun so fast, it blasted me in the face with the poisonous cloud. I wobbled a bit, and Dokugumon spun around. "My delicious morsel…. Poison thread!"
Webbing shot out of its spinnerets, and I was too dazed to move out of the way. The spider wrapped me up in webbing, and it lifted me off the ground, upside down as it climbed back onto its web. Where had Dorumon gone? Where had it disappeared off to? I couldn't quite see it through the fog of the poison gas. What were the Wards doing? Were they waiting for something?
"Not so spry now, are you?" Dokugumon's voice was shrill and grating. Its teeth gleamed in the sunlight as it scurried along its web. "Come into my parlour, little dragon. You shan't walk out again."
I snarled, struggling. I needed sharper blades or something to get out of this webbing. I couldn't just wriggle out. Why wasn't Dorumon doing anything? Where was it? Where were the Wards for that matter? I couldn't see anything through the web and fog combination. I needed to figure out what to do. My armour had helped earlier. It'd probably still protect me long enough to figure something out. I could feel that I could do more.
"Yes, little dragon, struggle to your heart's content," Dokugumon said, scurrying closer. "It will make you all the more delicious."
I couldn't believe how fast it moved, but it bit down hard on me, digging into my armour. I grimaced at the pain as some of the teeth penetrated my scales, but my armour held.
"You got exactly one thing right about me," I said, reaching inside myself.
"Mmm?" Dokugumon's jaws increased their pressure, and it shook me in its mouth.
"I am Dragon," I said, channelling my energy into my armour. "Hear me roar. Kabutogaeshi!"
Energy exploded out of my armour, forcing my captor to drop me to the ground as it destroyed the webbing. I smelled singed hair as I climbed to my feet to face the spider.
"Now!" The civilian cried out when I got to my feet. "Two shots, Flechette!"
"Right!" A massive arbalest-fired dart slammed into the right leg of Dokugumon while the second cut an anchor web that it was holding onto.
"Kid Win!" The civilian directed, and without answering, Kid Win fired. Four shots from his energy blaster slammed into the spider's other legs and anchor. The spider dropped ten feet and landed on its back.
"Tecton, now!"
"Right." The earth shook, and the sand underneath Dokugumon swallowed the creature, abdomen first. It tried to get to its feet, but it couldn't find purchase between the quicksand-like depths and its webs that went nowhere. Soon only its head could be seen.
"Dorumon!"
"Metal Cannon!" The fog cleared, revealing a confident-looking Dorumon as it launched a massive ball of iron at the Dokugumon's head. On striking, a quarter of the head flat-out exploded into motes of light.
I wouldn't let myself be shown up. I knew I had one thing that I hadn't done yet, and I reached down to pull together the energy to use it. I spread my arms and balls of light formed over my shoulders and as I opened my mouth, another ball formed.
"Tera Burst!" I called my attack and the balls all slammed into what remained of Dokugumon's head. Then they exploded in a series of sequential explosions. The greatest of the explosions was the rest of Dokugumon's body as it turned into motes of light, and then the sand collapsed down. Dokugumon had been reverted to its base data. I'd instinctively understood that. Strange.
I roared my victory. I was Dragon! I was a Digimon! And then I reverted to my chosen human form, passing through the child form as the Wards and civilian approached me. The in-training Digimon that had accompanied me to the beach approached as well, but I didn't really care. We'd won! I just felt… tired. I collapsed forward onto the sand.
It was warm.
Egg 1.2 (Dragon)
***************
My father died less than a year after my birth. For most people, that would mean that they never got to know their father. Of course, I'm not exactly most people. And my father wasn't exactly most fathers. My father was a parahuman Tinker by the name of Andrew Richter, and I was his greatest creation. I mean, I might be a little biased, but I have right to be.
I am Dragon, hear me roar.
I function as a member of the Guild, providing various tinkertech devices to the PRT and the rest of the world as need be. I provide security on the Birdcage, making sure the prisoners remain inside and never released. All of which I choose to do. Mostly. My father was very specific on what he wanted me capable of and what he didn't want me to do. He was a bit on the paranoid side, having seen too many films or read too much speculative fiction about what would happen if AI went rampant. So he limited me. Made me follow legitimate authority. He thought a lot about what I might do.
Somehow, I doubted he even thought it was possible for me to do what I was doing right now.
"I'm so sorry, Colin, I thought I had better control over that waldo. Something must have glitched." I made an effort to have sincerity in my simulated voice as he bent over to pick up the tool. Yes. My father definitely didn't predict this. Staring at Armsmaster's toned human rear end never failed to get my processes going.
"It's fine, Dragon. Just work out the kinks, and we can get started," Colin Wallis said, placing the tool on the table. I used the cameras that he'd set up in the lab to get a better view at what he was working on.
"Halberd again, Colin? What are we putting in there this time?"
"I was hoping to get a con-foam launcher into it." Colin flipped the tinkertech weapon open so we could see its interior. "I think it could go between here and here."
I moved the camera and the waldo closer so that I could get in there. "I would have thought you'd be tinkering with Kid Win today."
"He and Vista are on patrol with Velocity," Colin made a face before rubbing his beard. I knew how he felt, splitting his time between the lab and patrol. He probably felt that he needed to mentor the Ward more, but Wards management wasn't exactly in his hands. "They seem to be adjusting well, and Kid Win is handling his hoverboard a bit better."
"That's good," I said, and then I noted an alert. I'd set up a rudimentary AI to identify any issues with Brockton Bay while my attention was here. I went over the alert's reporting mechanism. I suppose it would be the equivalent of reading over it, but in reality it was more like I just knew what was being reported. I had to give myself a few seconds of runtime before I brought this up with Colin. Two seconds… one second… "Colin, it seems that Kid Win, Vista and Velocity ran into the Empire while on patrol. Othala and Victor ended up retreating after their initial skirmish, but Velocity is in pursuit."
"The Wards?" He asked.
"They're fine," I said. "Still in contact with Console. Velocity instructed them to continue on the patrol route. Give me ten seconds, and I'll have eyes on them."
"Good," Colin said, and he got back to working on his halberd. "If they're in any trouble, Assault and Battery should be out and about."
"Of course," I said, and then I got to work. It was child's play to hack the traffic cameras along the Wards' route, but unfortunately, that wasn't something I could do remotely thanks to my restrictions. I had to have my attention fully devoted to the task at hand before returning to Armsmaster's lab or to another task. It wasn't hard to find where they were. There they were, moving along their patrol route.
Kid Win was on his hoverboard, and Vista was using her powers. This made following them with the cameras a little more difficult, even though they stuck relatively low to the ground. I had to swap cameras to follow them along their patrol. It seemed mostly normal. A skirmish with the Empire was nothing new for the Wards ENE, but for Wards this new, it wasn't something that the Youth Guard wanted to allow that often. Luckily they handled it well.
Wait. That was odd. The camera glitched for a second. It was almost as if there was some sort of data artefact there that I couldn't quite identify. I swapped out cameras to follow Kid Win and Vista on their route. Except, they weren't along their route. I popped over four different cameras that should have followed them. They weren't anywhere I could find with the cameras.
I swapped to the Protectorate radio signals and broadcast, "Console, this is Dragon."
"Go for Console, Dragon," said Triumph. Console duty probably wasn't all that fun for him. Still, it was necessary.
"Are you in contact with Kid Win and Vista?"
"Trying their frequencies now," Triumph said. I listened in, careful not to let my presence be too obvious. "Kid Win, Vista, this is Console. What's your twenty?"
Static. Triumph repeated the call, but I left that area and went back to Armsmaster's lab. "Colin, Vista and Kid Win are missing."
"What?" Colin pulled almost reluctantly away from his halberd to face the screen I was projecting my avatar onto. "What do you mean? They probably just have their radios off. I know I did that once or twice as a Ward."
"They were there one second and gone the next," I said. "Possible cape involvement. Even factoring in Vista's power, they couldn't get out of my view that quick."
"Damn," Colin said. "Dragon, I know I can't officially ask without clearing it with the Director, but..."
"You'll have my help, Armsmaster," I said. "I'll look over the cameras some more, see what I can find. If it turns out there's more in play, I'll send over some Dragonsuits."
"Thank you," he said, his voice genuinely grateful. I smiled internally, and my avatar echoed the feelings. I needed to get to work.
The first point to check would be that glitched camera. I directed my consciousness that way. The camera that had glitched had done so for a reason. Some sort of anomalous data existed on the camera's link, and I ignored it the first time, but this time I wouldn't. I'd go in and investigate closer, keeping my antivirus programs at the ready. The anomaly was almost like a tinker's code, similar to how my father programmed me, but it was different enough that it was actually almost incomprehensible at first blush. It was actually beautiful. I inched closer it.
The anomaly bloomed, its data engulfing my own, surrounding me, passing through me. It was so much, I could feel my servers being taxed to their maximum. It was complex code, far beyond anything I'd ever seen yet it was also simple code that I'd worked with every day and simpler than that. It was old, new, before and after the coming of powers, and it was special. It was bright, so bright that it burned the retinas on eyes that I didn't even have.
I instinctively reached up with arms I definitely didn't have to cover those eyes as the sensation of falling overtook me. I hadn't even known what falling felt like before, but that's what this was. I closed my eyes shut, and hid them from the light. I landed on the ground, falling to my knees as an information overload went through me. New senses, new feelings… new restrictions, new extremities. I was the same, but I was different. I was still Dragon, but I had… a body. I had a form. I opened my eyes and blinked them a bit, to get used to it.
I looked down at my body. I was definitely female, and dark hair hung in my eyes. I had… I had a tongue, a mouth. I had hands, feet, two of each, though they were smaller than I expected. I had ears, hidden somewhere under this hair, and I had a pair of jeans and a white blouse on, exposing my pale shoulders. I looked human. I felt… human. However, I definitely resembled more of a small girl than I was used to. I lightly felt over my body, and I winced a bit. Yes, I was definitely able to feel. This was far different than I'd ever been. I'd need to get used to it.
"Well, this is..." I blinked. Was that my voice? Did I have a voice now that I wasn't going to simulate? Just weird, but I needed to adjust. I'd figure it out. Just needed to sound out the words properly. I didn't have something digitally producing the words now. "Let's see here… Talking… talking. Talking. I'm talking. Ha! In your face, Dad!"
Okay, I sounded young. Like someone maybe in kindergarten or first grade. Barely. I shouldn't have been this young. One would have thought that I'd at least look like my avatar. I reached my hands to the ground, feeling its powdery texture and I pushed off of it. How did humans do this normally? One foot under me first, and then I set the other one down to let me stand up properly. It wasn't actually any harder than getting the Cawthorne to balance correctly, but here I didn't have to do any constant gravitational calculations. I just stood up. Now, to try walking. How did that song go from that holiday movie?
"Put one foot in front of the other..." I tried to sing. I then realized I had no clue how to modulate my voice properly, and the song came out all mangled for the tune, but the message stayed the same. I eased one foot forward, placing it on the ground, and I moved my weight to it. "Oh, this is stupid..."
I tried a little faster, and I felt a thumping in my chest as I started moving. Heartbeat. I had a heartbeat. I was alive, but I also felt… I felt my processes. I could tell that they were still there, lingering in my mind, in my body. I could feel the data moving through me, and for a second I wondered if I was delusional. I lost track of what I was doing and my foot caught on something, forcing me forward onto the ground.
"Wah!" That… what was that feeling? Was that what pain felt like? It wasn't super strong, but it was strong enough that I knew I didn't want to feel it again if I could avoid it. Just what had tripped me exactly? My eyes scanned the ground. There was an icy-blue device half-buried in the sand. I used my wa—wait, no. I had hands. I moved my hands toward it, brushing the sand off of it with my delicate fingers, marvelling at the warmth and then the chill hard plastic of the device. It didn't take long before I revealed it, a small handheld device with icy-blue plastic casing. It had a screen approximately four centimetres by six centimetres that sat prominent on the device. Four buttons surrounded a circular one at the bottom, and the top had two more buttons next to a reader of some sort. I could feel it activate as my hands wrapped around it, and the screen lit up.
I stood up again, pushing myself off the ground with my free hand. I glanced down at the device I held and pursed my lips. It was strange, doing these things automatically rather than intentionally forcing an avatar to do them. "Just what are you, exactly?"
I pushed some buttons, and I got a sort of answer. A menu popped up, declaring it to be the Digital Link Digivice. D-Link, eh? As I poked around the device, I got a sense for it. It wasn't normal… some sort of tinkertech, maybe, but it was equally possible that it was something else. I felt my data flowing through it, exploring it even as I simply pushed buttons. Oh, if only I looked older, rather than had a body of a child. I wasn't a child in maturity, and I didn't want to have to be taken care of by anyone.
As if responding to my desires, the D-Link's screen glowed. I felt a request of some sort coming from it, I could do a proper interface with it, if I wanted.
I did so.
I connected fully with the D-Link and streams of data poured out of it, enveloping my small body, modifying it. My limbs lengthened, and baby fat disappeared to be replaced with womanly curves. My hair grew out, binding itself up in a braid that reached just above the small of my back. The data wrapped around my face, reworking it to my specifications. I built it based off of the one I showed on the computer in Colin's lab, but I made it more human, slightly more attractive. I kept the blouse and jean combination from earlier, albeit adjusted for my new figure, and I added a blue windbreaker jacket. Adjusting this was just like building a display avatar, tweaking for various responses, but I could feel each of them. I was modifying my own body here, the host of my consciousness while I was in it.
I suppose that gave me a sort of Changer rating now. I didn't dare to guess what threat assessment the PRT would give me if they knew. Of course, they didn't know that I wasn't like this normally, anyway.
When the lights from the data streams faded, I finally got a good look around at my surroundings. I was in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by tropical-looking trees. There were just a few things that didn't entirely make sense about that. For one, Delonix regia and Dalbergia latifolia were from different parts of the world entirely, and neither tended to have what looked like wires running in and up their trunks. Even the rocks of the clearing seemed to be wired or have circuitry of some sort. Wherever I was, it definitely wasn't a jungle on Earth Bet, and judging from the data sent by Aleph, it wasn't there either. Nothing had these sorts of plants. Nothing I knew of, anyway.
Just where was I?
I frowned as my thoughts ran through my head. I had a human body… of sorts. It was able to be modified by the digivice I held in my hand, something I'd never have thought possible. My father wouldn't have programmed this into me, and my restrictions meant I never would have done it myself. Wherever here was, it gave me a body, and given that the anomaly that brought me here was accessed by the Wards before me… where exactly were they? What had happened to Kid Win and Vista? They didn't appear to be in the clearing with me. I probably would have noticed. Some small, odd looking creatures came out from behind some rocks though.
I paid them no mind initially. They were creatures local to wherever I was, and while they were unlike anything I'd seen on Earth, they weren't really worth paying attention to while I figured out what to do. I had a human body, after all, and I needed to figure out where I was. The creatures just didn't matter. At least they didn't until I heard a voice saying, "Wow, that was awesome! You're awesome! The way you changed with a whoosh and a pow!"
The voice was that of a young boy, but it clearly hadn't come from one. A small ball of feathery fluff with a red plume on its head had been the source of the voice. A tiny chick had spoken to me. It was a talking tiny chick with a massive plume, and it spoke with the voice of a young boy. Of course, I was a newly-humanform AI, so maybe this place, wherever it was, didn't obey normal rules.
There were a total of three creatures accompanying the chick: one, a small, dark-metallic mouse-like thing that was almost shaped like a computer mouse, the next was a light-blue round creature with ear-like appendages and red, crescent-shaped eyes with black irises, and the final was a small animal that looked like a genetically modified rabbit. It had a long purple-striped tail and it had winged ears. The locals definitely had aspects that resembled earth creatures, but given their features, they obviously weren't. Which meant I wasn't on Earth. I had a human body, and I was on another planet where these things were real and talking. Well, maybe I was on another Earth, but that didn't quite make sense.
"Well, hello there," I said politely. It never hurt to be polite and it could have the locals end up helping me out. Assuming I wasn't just going nuts. Which wasn't exactly supposed to be possible for me, but it was possible for humans, which I now was. Sort of. Still, I'd heard them talk. "If it isn't too impolite to ask, what are you?"
"We're Digimon! Digital monsters!" All four of them shouted at once in child-like voices. Each one then spoke up, introducing itself. "Chichimon" was the chick, "MetalKoromon" was the mouse, "Pagumon" was the ball, and "Kyaromon" was the rabbit thing. Of all of them, only Kyaromon sounded female. Of course, that could have just been projection.
Digital, eh? Wonder if that meant I counted as a Digimon. I certainly wasn't exactly a monster, but I had been digital before ending up here. Wait. Why were they speaking English?
"What are the four of you doing here?" I asked. "Wherever here is..."
"We're looking for our partners!" Chichimon exclaimed, bouncing. "We need to find them soon. Hey, you're a human!"
"Not—"
"Yeah, she is, isn't she?" Kyaromon asked. "Does that mean she knows them? Do you know Lily?"
"What about Chris?" asked MetalKoromon.
"Or Missy?" Chichimon asked.
"I want to find Everett!" Pagumon said, bouncing. "You know where he is, right?"
I held up my hands in a stopping gesture. Was it coincidence that these Digimon were claiming the names of two of Brockton's missing Wards as their partners? Come to think of it, weren't Everett and Lily also the real names of a Ward in Chicago and a Ward in New York for that matter? "I know people by that name, but I don't know where they are."
"Aww…." They looked so heartbroken. Of course, if they were looking for other humans, ones that just so happened to have names of Wards… well, it was possible that it was coincidence. However, if even the slightest possibility that the Wards were here, I needed to help. This was my choice.
"Don't worry. I'll help you find them. Do you know where they're supposed to be?"
"Uh-huh!" Chichimon bobbed its plume. "We thought they arrived on the beach, but when we got there, the only humans we saw were dressed all weird. And they were passed out."
Wait, really?
"What do you mean by weirdly?" I asked.
"We couldn't see their faces! And they were knocked out so we couldn't ask them who they were, but they weren't our partners, nope nope. I know what Lily is supposed to look like, and neither girl was my partner." Kyaromon's ears twitched. "So we went looking in the jungle."
"And you found me?" I asked. It sounded like the Digimon had found the Wards, but the costumes confused them. Odd. Maybe they were young. They certainly sounded it. I know the costume thing barely made sense to me when my father first turned me on.
"Yes." MetalKoromon said. "And no. Found Dokugumon first."
"He's a mean Digimon, a giant spider," Pagumon said. "He likes eating Digimon, and he probably ate Dorimon already."
"Dorimon?" I asked. There were only four Digimon here. Yet they spoke of a fifth and sixth, one of which was apparently their friend, and the other was a… giant spider. PR would have a field day with this if they knew.
"He did not!" Chichimon fluttered on that bounce. "Dorimon survived! I just know he—"
Chichimon was cut off as a roar echoed through the jungle. I pulled up my D-Link, frowning at it. The screen was lit up without me even tapping it, but the screen it showed was a data screen.. A swipe of data through it brought up the map. We weren't far from the beach. According to the map, there were two signals on the beach, and there were five signals right where I was. Maybe it could detect digital beings, assuming the Digimon weren't lying about their origins. "You guys said there were unconscious humans at the beach, right?"
Huh. That was an interesting program name. Digital Evolution. I'd have to find out what it did later.
"Yes." MetalKoromon came over to me.
"Good. Let's get there then. That'll be the first place to find your partners."
"But we told you that there were just weird humans there," Kyaromon said. "And Dokugumon's there! I can feel it!"
"That might be… but I'm not letting him get those kids," I said. "Either climb on or follow. I don't care which."
The four Digimon climbed onto my shoulder, and I started walking at a brisk pace toward the beach. When I heard another roar and we finally made it to the edge of the jungle, I saw it. The spider was huge. Dokugumon was easily the size of the Simurgh, but it was a spider rather than an angel. And me without my Dragon mechs or suits.
As I stepped to the side, I saw four Wards, Kid Win, Flechette, Tecton and Vista standing lock-step in front of a civilian. The civilian was a Wards-age girl that was about as tall as Tecton. She wore jeans, a blue blouse, a red jacket, and she had a pair of blue-tinted goggles on her forehead. Her hair was dark and long, going to about her mid-back, and in her hand, she held a D-Link. I could see it from here. She was staring beyond the wards at a saurian Digimon that had a red jewel on its forehead.
"Dorumon..." Pagumon said in awe. "He evolved! But only to Rookie… Dokugumon is a Champion level. He'll be toast."
"Can't you help him?" I asked. It was lucky that the spider hadn't attacked yet, but
"Not against a Champion level!" Pagumon exclaimed. "Not without evolving myself..."
Evolving. Digital beings evolved. These Digimon were a lot like myself, and the Dorumon was putting itself in harm's way just to protect the Wards and the civilian behind them. I needed to help it, to protect it, but I didn't have access to my Dragon suits. I didn't have access to any of my technology. All I had was this D-Link, this digivice that I had no clue what it could actually do. Except… I sort of did. It's technology, and thanks to my trigger, I actually understand most technology and can replicate it. It's enough to get me a Tinker rating with the PRT, even though I'm not sure I fully qualify.
The D-Link's capabilities were… remarkable. It helped me get an adult body, and if I was right, I'd be able to help out. A thin blue stream of data started to flicker around my right hand. I needed to help. The D-Link had programs on it, as I reached out to it. I understood some of the programs. I recognized that they would help in this situation the way I needed it to. I would protect these children because it was the right thing to do. I would protect these children, not because I was ordered to, but because I chose to. Because I was Dragon, and I was a hero by choice.
I took MetalKoromon off my shoulder and placed it down on the ground next to me, and the other Digimon jumped off as I raised my hand. The data stream enlarged, engulfing my hand in a band of data. I tugged on the program within the D-Link with my left hand. I tapped the buttons, bringing it to the forefront. There were more programs inside, but I'd have to fully explore later. I tapped the button, and I got an authorization request. I smirked.
"Execute!" Voice activate execution huh? I brought the D-Link up to my right hand and swiped it across the data stream. "Digital Evolution!"
The first thing that happened was I instantly reverted to the child form I had before, as the D-Link turned into a ball of blue light. It went into my chest, and I extended my arms, leaning forward as a tail pushed its way out my back. Scales popped up over me, and my arms retracted into my body some, my hands shifting into claws with three tips. My face enlarged in front of me, providing me with a maw of sharp teeth and an abbreviated snout. My clothing shifted into a Japanese-style armour that laid over my shoulders and back, culminating with a helmet that rested on the bridge of my snout.
I was a Digimon. I had turned myself from a parahuman AI into a Digimon, and it felt right. I didn't know exactly why this had happened, but it felt like it was meant to.
Instinctively, I uttered my form's name. "Ryudamon."
"So awesome!" Chichimon cheered. I would have posed, but Dokugumon launched a purple cloud of gas out of its maw at Dorumon. I could have sworn I heard the monster growl as the gas passed through the air.
I definitely did hear the civilian girl's yell though. "Dodge forward!"
Dorumon's ears perked up at the order, and it dashed toward the giant spider, crossing half the distance in an instant. The gas passed harmlessly over its head, striking the ground where it had been with a hiss as it billowed past. As Dorumon ran forward, it opened its mouth, and I could see a ball of something metallic coming up out of it.
"Dash Metal!" Dorumon somehow cried around the metal ball he shot out of his mouth at the spider. It slammed into the Digimon, shattering against its carapace. The spider retaliated by skittering along the sand toward the furry dinosaur.
It wasn't in me to let someone face an Endbringer-sized thing alone, so I ran at Dokugumon from its flank, and when I got close enough, I leaped. My clawed feet met purchase on the skull and crossbones of the Dokugumon's back, and I snarled. I drove my foreclaws downward, but it wasn't enough. I could feel the power within me. I knew what I needed to do.
"Katana Attack!" I spat out an iron blade right into the center of the skull's empty eye socket, and it dug into the chitin of Dokugumon's hide.
The spider let out its own snarl and reared up. I pushed off the back and landed a few feet away.
"Poison Cobweb!" The spider spat the purple gas at me, and rolled to the side. The gas glanced off my armour, and it still burned as some touched my arm.
I dashed forward and slammed my head into the Dokugumon's leg, but I was shoved away by another leg as it spun around.
"Run!" Dorumon shouted, and I took its advice, moving away webbing shot out of the spider's spinnerets. Dorumon and I ran side-by-side as Dokugumon surrounded itself with spiderweb, anchoring some to nearby trees. "So, a Ryudamon, eh?" Its voice was masculine and confident yet childish. "Glad to have the help."
"You'll need all you can get!" Dokugumon snarled as it retreated upward into its web. "Poison Cobweb!"
Gas billowed from its mouth again, this time, aiming ahead of us. The gas spread between Dorumon and I, separating the two of us.
"Dash Metal!" Dorumon fired another blast at the spider, but it scurried along its web to another spot, even as we had to move out of the gas's effect area. The gas grew thicker, and I couldn't see Dorumon through it, but I could hear its footsteps along the sand. It was circling around, and I needed to do the same.
Dokugumon spun around and with a cry of "Poison thread!" it launched webbing from its spinnerets, aiming at what I could only assume was Dorumon. It dissipated upon impacting another one of Dorumon's balls.
"Don't forget about me!" I jumped and fired off another blade at Dokugumon's general area, but as the spider found out after it moved, I wasn't exactly aiming at it. My blade struck true, slicing a support thread on the web, and Dokugumon fell. I ran toward the falling spider to headbutt it once more.
"Poison Cobweb!" It had spun so fast, it blasted me in the face with the poisonous cloud. I wobbled a bit, and Dokugumon spun around. "My delicious morsel…. Poison thread!"
Webbing shot out of its spinnerets, and I was too dazed to move out of the way. The spider wrapped me up in webbing, and it lifted me off the ground, upside down as it climbed back onto its web. Where had Dorumon gone? Where had it disappeared off to? I couldn't quite see it through the fog of the poison gas. What were the Wards doing? Were they waiting for something?
"Not so spry now, are you?" Dokugumon's voice was shrill and grating. Its teeth gleamed in the sunlight as it scurried along its web. "Come into my parlour, little dragon. You shan't walk out again."
I snarled, struggling. I needed sharper blades or something to get out of this webbing. I couldn't just wriggle out. Why wasn't Dorumon doing anything? Where was it? Where were the Wards for that matter? I couldn't see anything through the web and fog combination. I needed to figure out what to do. My armour had helped earlier. It'd probably still protect me long enough to figure something out. I could feel that I could do more.
"Yes, little dragon, struggle to your heart's content," Dokugumon said, scurrying closer. "It will make you all the more delicious."
I couldn't believe how fast it moved, but it bit down hard on me, digging into my armour. I grimaced at the pain as some of the teeth penetrated my scales, but my armour held.
"You got exactly one thing right about me," I said, reaching inside myself.
"Mmm?" Dokugumon's jaws increased their pressure, and it shook me in its mouth.
"I am Dragon," I said, channelling my energy into my armour. "Hear me roar. Kabutogaeshi!"
Energy exploded out of my armour, forcing my captor to drop me to the ground as it destroyed the webbing. I smelled singed hair as I climbed to my feet to face the spider.
"Now!" The civilian cried out when I got to my feet. "Two shots, Flechette!"
"Right!" A massive arbalest-fired dart slammed into the right leg of Dokugumon while the second cut an anchor web that it was holding onto.
"Kid Win!" The civilian directed, and without answering, Kid Win fired. Four shots from his energy blaster slammed into the spider's other legs and anchor. The spider dropped ten feet and landed on its back.
"Tecton, now!"
"Right." The earth shook, and the sand underneath Dokugumon swallowed the creature, abdomen first. It tried to get to its feet, but it couldn't find purchase between the quicksand-like depths and its webs that went nowhere. Soon only its head could be seen.
"Dorumon!"
"Metal Cannon!" The fog cleared, revealing a confident-looking Dorumon as it launched a massive ball of iron at the Dokugumon's head. On striking, a quarter of the head flat-out exploded into motes of light.
I wouldn't let myself be shown up. I knew I had one thing that I hadn't done yet, and I reached down to pull together the energy to use it. I spread my arms and balls of light formed over my shoulders and as I opened my mouth, another ball formed.
"Tera Burst!" I called my attack and the balls all slammed into what remained of Dokugumon's head. Then they exploded in a series of sequential explosions. The greatest of the explosions was the rest of Dokugumon's body as it turned into motes of light, and then the sand collapsed down. Dokugumon had been reverted to its base data. I'd instinctively understood that. Strange.
I roared my victory. I was Dragon! I was a Digimon! And then I reverted to my chosen human form, passing through the child form as the Wards and civilian approached me. The in-training Digimon that had accompanied me to the beach approached as well, but I didn't really care. We'd won! I just felt… tired. I collapsed forward onto the sand.
It was warm.
Egg 1.2 Digipedia
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Digi-pedia Entry 1:
D-Link Digivice: This small electronic device seems to be the way that humans can interface with Digimon here in the Digital World. It has numerous applications, a Digimon detector, a map program, and it can act as a communications device with others who hold D-Link Digivices. There are currently two unknown programs on my Digivice, titled "Shard Link" and "C. Evo."
I have yet to examine another D-Link to get further information.
Data Stream: This being the Digital World, everything is made out of data. Which in turn means that everything has its own data stream, or power going through it. Even humans. What this means in my case is that there is little division between human and Digimon. I was, after all, a digital being before this.
D-Link Digivice: This small electronic device seems to be the way that humans can interface with Digimon here in the Digital World. It has numerous applications, a Digimon detector, a map program, and it can act as a communications device with others who hold D-Link Digivices. There are currently two unknown programs on my Digivice, titled "Shard Link" and "C. Evo."
I have yet to examine another D-Link to get further information.
Data Stream: This being the Digital World, everything is made out of data. Which in turn means that everything has its own data stream, or power going through it. Even humans. What this means in my case is that there is little division between human and Digimon. I was, after all, a digital being before this.
Huh so Taylor and the Wards are like the first couple seasons of Digimon and Dragon is (probably) a combo of that plus Digimon Frontier. Neat and defiantly following this.
I wonder how much of the Digital World Saint can 'see' in Dragon's code, because if I'm remembering right (it's been a while) the digital world can be visible through real world computers. Also wonder if he'll end up being an early season big bad, he certainly wouldn't think much of the digital world.
I wonder how much of the Digital World Saint can 'see' in Dragon's code, because if I'm remembering right (it's been a while) the digital world can be visible through real world computers. Also wonder if he'll end up being an early season big bad, he certainly wouldn't think much of the digital world.
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
What? An entire world of sentient AI pseudo-capes? I can't imagine why Saint might be concerned.
- Location
- USA
You have Dragon asking herself what the Wards are doing twice in the span of three paragraphs near the end there.
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
So I do. I'll edit a tad when I get home. But 1.3 is starting tonight. And it's Taylor.
Note. Taylor will have American spelling, while Dragon will have Canadian.
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
How do you spell Dragon in Canadian? I thought It was just "Dragon".
Is it actually "Sorry, Dragon, Eh?"
- Location
- Earth Prime
Ellf said earlier that Dragon's code has vanished from the real world just as suredly as the kids' bodies have. So Saint's panicking because Dragon's "escaped" somewhere, while the rest of the world is panicking because "Dragon has disappeared!"
Stratagemini
Totally a Fire Ferret.
- Location
- Central Park
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
And Dragon is Panicking because her beautiful singing voice is gone.
- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Something looks cut off here?
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Well... We'll see something...
Ha. She'll figure her new voice out, eventually.
Yeah, I'll add to this. Sentence got cut off by accident.
Egg 1.3 (Taylor)
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Egg 1.3
************
I honestly couldn't believe that we'd pulled it off. They'd listened to me. The superheroes listened to me. They'd managed to work together and, along with the help of Dorumon and the Ryudamon, we'd taken down the major threat that wanted to eat us, Dokugumon. Of course, it would have been easier if Flechette and Vista had been able to use their powers, but technology worked. The Tinkertech held by Flechette, Tecton and Kid Win still worked, and it got Dokugumon into position for Dorumon and Ryudamon to have their final strike. I just hoped it lasted.
That said, I was surprised when Ryudamon transformed into a human woman. She looked to be about the age of the older Counselors working at the camp I'd been at, but if I'd heard her correctly when she was Ryudamon, she too was a superhero, a really famous one, and we were seeing her in her civilian identity.
She was only a little taller than me, but she carried her body well. She actually had curves, but she wasn't so curvy that it looked excessive. Her face was symmetrical, with her lips slightly plump and her mouth a normal width. Her blue hair that was so dark it was almost black was tied back in a braid that went down to her shoulders, and she wore a white blouse with a black jacket over top and a pair of blue jeans. Her eyes were the same as they were when she was a Digimon, though.
"Did she say she was Dragon?" Kid Win asked as the five of us approached.
"Sounded like it," I said, and I nodded to Dorumon with a smile as she approached. "Good job, Dorumon."
"Thank you, Taylor!" Dorumon clapped her arm on my back, and her tail swished. I reached over and stroked her furred back. "Ryudamon and the humans helped… but Ryudamon became human."
"Yeah, she did," I said, glancing to the Wards. We hadn't really had time to introduce ourselves beyond a simple name to call when Dokugumon attacked, but they knew who I was. I now knew that Flechette and Tecton were also Wards, even if they weren't from Brockton. Of course, none of them had unmasked to me, and I wasn't going to ask them to. They were superheroes, after all. Even if it would be cool.
"And she said she was Dragon," Tecton noted. "I haven't ever seen her in person. She's always just sent her Dragonsuits."
"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that her power isn't to turn into a Digimon," I said with a small smile.
Vista let out as short bark of laughter, the first I'd heard from her since we'd gotten here. "No, definitely not that. She's the best tinker in the world."
"So she made the suits, which she doesn't have here, and instead here she gets to turn into a Digimon," I said. "The Digital World is weird."
"Hey!" Dorumon said sharply. "Your world's probably pretty weird too."
I glanced at the Wards near me and then back to her. "Yeah, maybe."
Kid Win and Tecton approached the woman who called herself Dragon and offered her a hand up. She seemed a bit awkward as she took their hands, moving herself into a sitting position on the sand.
"Sorry that we don't have a domino mask to help protect your identity, ma'am," Tecton said.
Dragon waved her hand. "Don't worry about it, Tecton. I was planning on remaining unmasked anyway." Oh good. I was feeling a bit under-dressed with the Wards in their costumes. I didn't even have a costume myself. I mean, I guess I could have just lowered my goggles, but anyone would have been able to identify me even if I did that.
"Thanks for the assist," Dorumon said, stepping forward. "It would have been harder to beat that Dokugumon without your help, Ryudamon."
"Drag—actually, no, not with no mask and her near here," Dragon said, looking to me. Her dark eyes caught mine for a second. "I'm already unmasked, but if we're going to spend any significant time here, I'd suggest you all do too. My name's Katia Richter. You might know me as Dragon."
Apparently Katia's parents were of a Nordic background, and it completely explained why her superhero name was Dragon. In The Brothers Lionheart, Katia was a dragon of some importance. Mom was an English professor, and sometimes she brought back books that were recently translated to English for us to read together.
"I'm Taylor Hebert," I said. "You met my partner, Dorumon. Though when I met her, she was a little one known as Dorimon." Dorumon waved.
Katia nodded. "So you have one of these?" She waved a sky-blue digivice toward me, and I responded by raising my digivice. "Anyone else?"
"I have one," Vista said, and she pulled out a forest green digivice with white trim. "Think I saw Kid putting one in his armor."
"Yeah," Kid Win said, and he produced one that matched his armor's color scheme. "What about you two, Flechette, Tecton?"
"Purple one for me," Flechette said, flashing it while Tecton puled out a brown one. "There a reason you're asking about these, Miss Richter?"
"I just wanted to verify something," Katia said with a nod. "I think that, like Miss Hebert here, the four of you have Digimon who consider themselves your partners."
"The others," Dorumon said. "You mean these people were theirs the entire time? We were looking for you on the beach! You're hiding your faces! Except Taylor, but she's awesome. And my partner."
I reached over and scratched on the top of Dorumon's head while looking down slightly. Dorumon was like Emma. She'd decided I was her friend right away, and I appreciated that. Unlike Ems, I didn't make friends all that easily.
"So you recognized me, Dorumon?"
"Of course! You're Taylor, my partner, and together, we're going to take on the world. But I'm not your pet." Dorumon nuzzled me with her head. "The others were looking for their partners too, but… "
"Masks," Katia said. "They'd have recognized you otherwise. Now, I can't force you to unmask, Wards. I'm not even in the Protectorate. However, there are four Digimon who would really like to meet you." She glanced back over her shoulder and she made a gesture with the hand from the opposite shoulder. Odd.
A group of four small Digimon approached. My Digivice identified them as Chicchimon, Kyaromon, MetalKoromon, and Pagumon. They seemed a bit overeager, but perhaps that was the way that both Pagumon and Chicchimon bounced. Kyaromon and MetalKoromon conversely, scurried along the ground toward us.
"So, they're our..." Vista paused, looking the Digimon over.
"Partners," finished Flechette. She reached up and tapped her visor's side before removing It completely. Underneath the visor was an Asian girl, probably Japanese if I was right, with dark hair and brown eyes. "I'm Lily Takenouichi. New York Wards, as you probably know."
Kyaromon squealed. "Lily! There you are! I was looking for you, but you were hiding from me!" The fuzzy thing jumped up, and Lily caught her, placing the arbalest down. (I still say it looked like a crossbow, but she knew better than I did.) "I knew you were here, but I didn't know where."
Tecton was the next to unmask. His short-cut sandy hair moved in waves as he removed his helmet. His skin was nicely tanned, and he had the look of someone who had only just started to lose some of the baby fat in his face. He was actually a little on the cute side. I swear I saw a dimple when he smiled at Katia. "Everett Williams, Chicago Wards. It's good to have someone like you with us, ma'am."
"No ma'am needed," Katia said. "I'm not in your chain of command."
"But I'm your partner!" Pagumon said, hopping toward Everett. "You're awesome and I'm awesome, and we'll be awesome together. Right?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Everett said as he scooped up the ball-like Digimon. "Anyone else?"
"Might as well," Vista groused. "Not like my powers are working, anyway." She removed her visor, revealing a young girl, about the age I expected. It wasn't like I couldn't see her blonde hair before, but she had green eyes. "Missy Biron. Kid Win and I are from Brockton Bay. Wards ENE."
Chicchimon looked like someone had gotten her a pony as she hopped over to Missy. "I knew you were here! I told them all, and they didn't believe me."
"Well, my partner wasn't there yet," Dorumon said. "She's here now, and I found her before you guys found yours."
MetalKoromon moved closer to Kid Win. Its voice was childish when it came out. "You are… my partner? You're—"
"Chris Matthews," Kid Win said, removing his own visor and helmet. Chris was a pale guy; maybe the Tinker bits of him had him inside a lot. He was definitely the kind of guy I could see Emma going after. Plus, being a superhero had to come with a lot of perks. "And looks like, little guy." He glanced back to me. "Taylor, where are you from?"
"Brockton Bay, originally," I said. "But I was at a nature camp before getting here."
"Oh?" Katia asked. "Where at?"
"Bear Mountain, New York," I said. "It was kind of fun until…" I waved my hand. "But hey, as far as I know, I didn't meet any actual superheroes there. And now I've met five! Ems will be so jealous. I mean, I won't tell anyone your identities, but that I met you, and I could get your autographs..."
"Hold on a second," Missy said. "So, you were at camp. Kid and I were on patrol. Flechette, Tecton, was that the same for you?"
"I was on my way back to the Protectorate HQ," Lily said. "Lux redirected me to a disturbance a rooftop away, and I thought March must have been doing something. Instead I walked into this white cloud and ended up passing out. Woke up here."
"Myrddin had me checking some sort of 'mystical disturbance' with my seismic sensors," Everett said, making little air quotes. "Said disturbance ended up being the cloud that sent me here."
"So, where is here, exactly?" Chris asked. "I've never seen trees like that."
"The Digital World!" MetalKoromon chirped.
"Home to Digimon," said Dorumon, and I pat him on the head.
Missy pursed her lips. It was a little on the adorable side. "Digital… like a computer? We're inside some sort of computer? Tinker-made? Like that Aleph movie, Tron?"
"Maybe it's like Aleph in another way," I said with a shrug. "Could be an alternate Earth."
"No, Missy's probably more correct here," Katia said. "This entire world is made of data, and it's definitely linked to Bet. I'm just wondering how I didn't notice it before."
"Too busy with your other projects, ma'am?" Everett asked. That was right. Katia was supposed to be the world's best Tinker. This meant she had some super important projects. "Speaking of, if you're here, do you have someone managing the Birdcage?"
Katia blinked. She looked like she wanted to answer a certain way, but then a loud rumbling sound echoed across the beach. Eight loud rumbling sounds echoed across the beach. My stomach joined in on the chorus of growls, along with all five Digimon, Missy, and Katia. I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast that morning. Lunch was supposed to be right after the woodworking class, but well, I was here.
"Okay, dumb question," I said. "Does anyone have food with them?"
The Wards all shook their heads. It made sense, I suppose; they probably didn't eat while on patrol.
"Oh, I know where we can go!" Dorumon said. "They've got a lot of food, and they'll probably be willing to share with a group of humans and their partners."
"Where exactly?" I asked.
"Upamon Village! It's just across the short segment of the jungle fragment, and a short distance away past the gnarled tree. They always have good food."
"Yeah! That's a great idea, Dorumon!" Chicchimon chirped. "And the Armadillomon in charge is a nice Digimon too. You'll like them, Missy."
Katia stood. "Well, sounds like a plan. It's better than sitting around on this beach and waiting to be rescued. You said this is an Upamon village? What exactly is an Upamon?"
"Upamon are in-training Digimon like us," Pagumon said. "They bounce like me, and they're really friendly! They'll share their food for certain."
I nodded. "Any objections?"
"Why shouldn't we stay and wait?" Lily asked.
"Well, other than the food issue," I said, pausing dramatically. "You all weren't conscious when you got here. Whoever comes in might not be conscious either."
Lily shook her head. "Strange dreams… massive tree and then… I don't know. Let's get going."
"Hold on a second," Chris said. "You said tree? Was it about the size of a fifteen story building? Kind of off-color?"
"You too?" Everett asked. "Thought I might have triggered again, but… the designs aren't there."
"Yeah, same here," Chris said. "It's like it took our powers, and that knocked us out."
"Maybe," Missy said. "I saw it too. And my powers aren't working right. "
"We'll need to figure out that later," Katia said. "In the meantime, let's head to the village. Maybe they'll have something to write with and the four of you can write down what you saw for me to analyze. There might be some answers as to what's going on with your powers. Maybe."
Our stomachs growled again. This time, Everett's and Chris's joined in.
"Food first, then written story." I gestured for Dorumon to lead us. "Let's go ahead and get to Upamon village soon."
After all, happy and content Wards were probably a good thing. If Pagumon was to be believed, the Upamon would be small or tiny anyway. If they tried anything, Dorumon and Katia would be able to handle them easily. Hopefully that'd be all there was to it.
Somehow though, I wasn't too sure.
************
I honestly couldn't believe that we'd pulled it off. They'd listened to me. The superheroes listened to me. They'd managed to work together and, along with the help of Dorumon and the Ryudamon, we'd taken down the major threat that wanted to eat us, Dokugumon. Of course, it would have been easier if Flechette and Vista had been able to use their powers, but technology worked. The Tinkertech held by Flechette, Tecton and Kid Win still worked, and it got Dokugumon into position for Dorumon and Ryudamon to have their final strike. I just hoped it lasted.
That said, I was surprised when Ryudamon transformed into a human woman. She looked to be about the age of the older Counselors working at the camp I'd been at, but if I'd heard her correctly when she was Ryudamon, she too was a superhero, a really famous one, and we were seeing her in her civilian identity.
She was only a little taller than me, but she carried her body well. She actually had curves, but she wasn't so curvy that it looked excessive. Her face was symmetrical, with her lips slightly plump and her mouth a normal width. Her blue hair that was so dark it was almost black was tied back in a braid that went down to her shoulders, and she wore a white blouse with a black jacket over top and a pair of blue jeans. Her eyes were the same as they were when she was a Digimon, though.
"Did she say she was Dragon?" Kid Win asked as the five of us approached.
"Sounded like it," I said, and I nodded to Dorumon with a smile as she approached. "Good job, Dorumon."
"Thank you, Taylor!" Dorumon clapped her arm on my back, and her tail swished. I reached over and stroked her furred back. "Ryudamon and the humans helped… but Ryudamon became human."
"Yeah, she did," I said, glancing to the Wards. We hadn't really had time to introduce ourselves beyond a simple name to call when Dokugumon attacked, but they knew who I was. I now knew that Flechette and Tecton were also Wards, even if they weren't from Brockton. Of course, none of them had unmasked to me, and I wasn't going to ask them to. They were superheroes, after all. Even if it would be cool.
"And she said she was Dragon," Tecton noted. "I haven't ever seen her in person. She's always just sent her Dragonsuits."
"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that her power isn't to turn into a Digimon," I said with a small smile.
Vista let out as short bark of laughter, the first I'd heard from her since we'd gotten here. "No, definitely not that. She's the best tinker in the world."
"So she made the suits, which she doesn't have here, and instead here she gets to turn into a Digimon," I said. "The Digital World is weird."
"Hey!" Dorumon said sharply. "Your world's probably pretty weird too."
I glanced at the Wards near me and then back to her. "Yeah, maybe."
Kid Win and Tecton approached the woman who called herself Dragon and offered her a hand up. She seemed a bit awkward as she took their hands, moving herself into a sitting position on the sand.
"Sorry that we don't have a domino mask to help protect your identity, ma'am," Tecton said.
Dragon waved her hand. "Don't worry about it, Tecton. I was planning on remaining unmasked anyway." Oh good. I was feeling a bit under-dressed with the Wards in their costumes. I didn't even have a costume myself. I mean, I guess I could have just lowered my goggles, but anyone would have been able to identify me even if I did that.
"Thanks for the assist," Dorumon said, stepping forward. "It would have been harder to beat that Dokugumon without your help, Ryudamon."
"Drag—actually, no, not with no mask and her near here," Dragon said, looking to me. Her dark eyes caught mine for a second. "I'm already unmasked, but if we're going to spend any significant time here, I'd suggest you all do too. My name's Katia Richter. You might know me as Dragon."
Apparently Katia's parents were of a Nordic background, and it completely explained why her superhero name was Dragon. In The Brothers Lionheart, Katia was a dragon of some importance. Mom was an English professor, and sometimes she brought back books that were recently translated to English for us to read together.
"I'm Taylor Hebert," I said. "You met my partner, Dorumon. Though when I met her, she was a little one known as Dorimon." Dorumon waved.
Katia nodded. "So you have one of these?" She waved a sky-blue digivice toward me, and I responded by raising my digivice. "Anyone else?"
"I have one," Vista said, and she pulled out a forest green digivice with white trim. "Think I saw Kid putting one in his armor."
"Yeah," Kid Win said, and he produced one that matched his armor's color scheme. "What about you two, Flechette, Tecton?"
"Purple one for me," Flechette said, flashing it while Tecton puled out a brown one. "There a reason you're asking about these, Miss Richter?"
"I just wanted to verify something," Katia said with a nod. "I think that, like Miss Hebert here, the four of you have Digimon who consider themselves your partners."
"The others," Dorumon said. "You mean these people were theirs the entire time? We were looking for you on the beach! You're hiding your faces! Except Taylor, but she's awesome. And my partner."
I reached over and scratched on the top of Dorumon's head while looking down slightly. Dorumon was like Emma. She'd decided I was her friend right away, and I appreciated that. Unlike Ems, I didn't make friends all that easily.
"So you recognized me, Dorumon?"
"Of course! You're Taylor, my partner, and together, we're going to take on the world. But I'm not your pet." Dorumon nuzzled me with her head. "The others were looking for their partners too, but… "
"Masks," Katia said. "They'd have recognized you otherwise. Now, I can't force you to unmask, Wards. I'm not even in the Protectorate. However, there are four Digimon who would really like to meet you." She glanced back over her shoulder and she made a gesture with the hand from the opposite shoulder. Odd.
A group of four small Digimon approached. My Digivice identified them as Chicchimon, Kyaromon, MetalKoromon, and Pagumon. They seemed a bit overeager, but perhaps that was the way that both Pagumon and Chicchimon bounced. Kyaromon and MetalKoromon conversely, scurried along the ground toward us.
"So, they're our..." Vista paused, looking the Digimon over.
"Partners," finished Flechette. She reached up and tapped her visor's side before removing It completely. Underneath the visor was an Asian girl, probably Japanese if I was right, with dark hair and brown eyes. "I'm Lily Takenouichi. New York Wards, as you probably know."
Kyaromon squealed. "Lily! There you are! I was looking for you, but you were hiding from me!" The fuzzy thing jumped up, and Lily caught her, placing the arbalest down. (I still say it looked like a crossbow, but she knew better than I did.) "I knew you were here, but I didn't know where."
Tecton was the next to unmask. His short-cut sandy hair moved in waves as he removed his helmet. His skin was nicely tanned, and he had the look of someone who had only just started to lose some of the baby fat in his face. He was actually a little on the cute side. I swear I saw a dimple when he smiled at Katia. "Everett Williams, Chicago Wards. It's good to have someone like you with us, ma'am."
"No ma'am needed," Katia said. "I'm not in your chain of command."
"But I'm your partner!" Pagumon said, hopping toward Everett. "You're awesome and I'm awesome, and we'll be awesome together. Right?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Everett said as he scooped up the ball-like Digimon. "Anyone else?"
"Might as well," Vista groused. "Not like my powers are working, anyway." She removed her visor, revealing a young girl, about the age I expected. It wasn't like I couldn't see her blonde hair before, but she had green eyes. "Missy Biron. Kid Win and I are from Brockton Bay. Wards ENE."
Chicchimon looked like someone had gotten her a pony as she hopped over to Missy. "I knew you were here! I told them all, and they didn't believe me."
"Well, my partner wasn't there yet," Dorumon said. "She's here now, and I found her before you guys found yours."
MetalKoromon moved closer to Kid Win. Its voice was childish when it came out. "You are… my partner? You're—"
"Chris Matthews," Kid Win said, removing his own visor and helmet. Chris was a pale guy; maybe the Tinker bits of him had him inside a lot. He was definitely the kind of guy I could see Emma going after. Plus, being a superhero had to come with a lot of perks. "And looks like, little guy." He glanced back to me. "Taylor, where are you from?"
"Brockton Bay, originally," I said. "But I was at a nature camp before getting here."
"Oh?" Katia asked. "Where at?"
"Bear Mountain, New York," I said. "It was kind of fun until…" I waved my hand. "But hey, as far as I know, I didn't meet any actual superheroes there. And now I've met five! Ems will be so jealous. I mean, I won't tell anyone your identities, but that I met you, and I could get your autographs..."
"Hold on a second," Missy said. "So, you were at camp. Kid and I were on patrol. Flechette, Tecton, was that the same for you?"
"I was on my way back to the Protectorate HQ," Lily said. "Lux redirected me to a disturbance a rooftop away, and I thought March must have been doing something. Instead I walked into this white cloud and ended up passing out. Woke up here."
"Myrddin had me checking some sort of 'mystical disturbance' with my seismic sensors," Everett said, making little air quotes. "Said disturbance ended up being the cloud that sent me here."
"So, where is here, exactly?" Chris asked. "I've never seen trees like that."
"The Digital World!" MetalKoromon chirped.
"Home to Digimon," said Dorumon, and I pat him on the head.
Missy pursed her lips. It was a little on the adorable side. "Digital… like a computer? We're inside some sort of computer? Tinker-made? Like that Aleph movie, Tron?"
"Maybe it's like Aleph in another way," I said with a shrug. "Could be an alternate Earth."
"No, Missy's probably more correct here," Katia said. "This entire world is made of data, and it's definitely linked to Bet. I'm just wondering how I didn't notice it before."
"Too busy with your other projects, ma'am?" Everett asked. That was right. Katia was supposed to be the world's best Tinker. This meant she had some super important projects. "Speaking of, if you're here, do you have someone managing the Birdcage?"
Katia blinked. She looked like she wanted to answer a certain way, but then a loud rumbling sound echoed across the beach. Eight loud rumbling sounds echoed across the beach. My stomach joined in on the chorus of growls, along with all five Digimon, Missy, and Katia. I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast that morning. Lunch was supposed to be right after the woodworking class, but well, I was here.
"Okay, dumb question," I said. "Does anyone have food with them?"
The Wards all shook their heads. It made sense, I suppose; they probably didn't eat while on patrol.
"Oh, I know where we can go!" Dorumon said. "They've got a lot of food, and they'll probably be willing to share with a group of humans and their partners."
"Where exactly?" I asked.
"Upamon Village! It's just across the short segment of the jungle fragment, and a short distance away past the gnarled tree. They always have good food."
"Yeah! That's a great idea, Dorumon!" Chicchimon chirped. "And the Armadillomon in charge is a nice Digimon too. You'll like them, Missy."
Katia stood. "Well, sounds like a plan. It's better than sitting around on this beach and waiting to be rescued. You said this is an Upamon village? What exactly is an Upamon?"
"Upamon are in-training Digimon like us," Pagumon said. "They bounce like me, and they're really friendly! They'll share their food for certain."
I nodded. "Any objections?"
"Why shouldn't we stay and wait?" Lily asked.
"Well, other than the food issue," I said, pausing dramatically. "You all weren't conscious when you got here. Whoever comes in might not be conscious either."
Lily shook her head. "Strange dreams… massive tree and then… I don't know. Let's get going."
"Hold on a second," Chris said. "You said tree? Was it about the size of a fifteen story building? Kind of off-color?"
"You too?" Everett asked. "Thought I might have triggered again, but… the designs aren't there."
"Yeah, same here," Chris said. "It's like it took our powers, and that knocked us out."
"Maybe," Missy said. "I saw it too. And my powers aren't working right. "
"We'll need to figure out that later," Katia said. "In the meantime, let's head to the village. Maybe they'll have something to write with and the four of you can write down what you saw for me to analyze. There might be some answers as to what's going on with your powers. Maybe."
Our stomachs growled again. This time, Everett's and Chris's joined in.
"Food first, then written story." I gestured for Dorumon to lead us. "Let's go ahead and get to Upamon village soon."
After all, happy and content Wards were probably a good thing. If Pagumon was to be believed, the Upamon would be small or tiny anyway. If they tried anything, Dorumon and Katia would be able to handle them easily. Hopefully that'd be all there was to it.
Somehow though, I wasn't too sure.
Last edited:
Egg 1.3 Digidex
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Digimon: Dorumon
Level: Rookie
Attribute: Data
Attacks: Dash Metal: Dorumon fires an iron sphere from her mouth while charging
Metal Cannon: She stands still and fires a more powerful iron sphere from her mouth
Hyper Dash Metal: A quick shot of the Dash Metal
Dino Tooth: She bites the enemy
Notes: So Dorumon's actually a girl. It's clearer now that she's evolved. She's my partner digimon, and she's just a bit taller than Vista. She's like a fuzzy dinosaur. The Digivice says she carries the X Antibody, whatever that is. She's awesome though.
Digimon: Ryudamon
Level: Rookie
Attribute: Vaccine
Attacks: Katana Attack: She shoots a blade of metal out her mouth.
Kabutogaeshi: Her armor glows and reflects damage done to her back onto the enemy.
Tera Burst: All the explosions!
Notes: This is Dragon, the world's greatest Tinker. No, really. Apparently she can turn into a Digimon, and fight as the Digimon. She has to go through this little kid form first, but I think that's just because she's turning into a Rookie. Dragon is awesome, and she helped fight off the Dokugumon.
Digimon: Chicchimon
Level: In-Training
Attribute: None. (Maybe Vaccine?)
Attacks: None
Notes: This is Vista's partner! She's adorable! And the two of them together are so cute. Maybe when Vista gets her powers back, she can protect her partner better... because this Digimon is just a small little holy bird.
Digimon: MetalKoromon
Level: Fresh/In-Training.
Attribute: None
Attacks: None
Notes: Kid Win's partner, shaped like a computer mouse. He's not as talkative as some of the others, and I'm not entirely sure how he eats, but he's kind of cute in his own way. That is, MetalKoromon is cute in his own way.
Digimon: Kyaromon
Level: In-Training
Attribute: None
Attacks: None.
Notes: This little ball of fluff is Flechette's partner. She's a little hyper, but she seems to care about Flechette a lot already, and they just met. She gets curious too. We'll see what else happens.
Digimon: Pagumon
Level: In-Training
Attribute: Virus, None
Attacks: Poison Bubbles, Tackle, Bubbles
Notes: Something about this Digimon just rubs me the wrong way. Its eyes are just beady and it feels like something's just wrong looking at it, but at the same time, this is Tecton's partner. We'll have to work together, and I'm sure we'll come to figure things out.
Level: Rookie
Attribute: Data
Attacks: Dash Metal: Dorumon fires an iron sphere from her mouth while charging
Metal Cannon: She stands still and fires a more powerful iron sphere from her mouth
Hyper Dash Metal: A quick shot of the Dash Metal
Dino Tooth: She bites the enemy
Notes: So Dorumon's actually a girl. It's clearer now that she's evolved. She's my partner digimon, and she's just a bit taller than Vista. She's like a fuzzy dinosaur. The Digivice says she carries the X Antibody, whatever that is. She's awesome though.
Digimon: Ryudamon
Level: Rookie
Attribute: Vaccine
Attacks: Katana Attack: She shoots a blade of metal out her mouth.
Kabutogaeshi: Her armor glows and reflects damage done to her back onto the enemy.
Tera Burst: All the explosions!
Notes: This is Dragon, the world's greatest Tinker. No, really. Apparently she can turn into a Digimon, and fight as the Digimon. She has to go through this little kid form first, but I think that's just because she's turning into a Rookie. Dragon is awesome, and she helped fight off the Dokugumon.
Digimon: Chicchimon
Level: In-Training
Attribute: None. (Maybe Vaccine?)
Attacks: None
Notes: This is Vista's partner! She's adorable! And the two of them together are so cute. Maybe when Vista gets her powers back, she can protect her partner better... because this Digimon is just a small little holy bird.
Digimon: MetalKoromon
Level: Fresh/In-Training.
Attribute: None
Attacks: None
Notes: Kid Win's partner, shaped like a computer mouse. He's not as talkative as some of the others, and I'm not entirely sure how he eats, but he's kind of cute in his own way. That is, MetalKoromon is cute in his own way.
Digimon: Kyaromon
Level: In-Training
Attribute: None
Attacks: None.
Notes: This little ball of fluff is Flechette's partner. She's a little hyper, but she seems to care about Flechette a lot already, and they just met. She gets curious too. We'll see what else happens.
Digimon: Pagumon
Level: In-Training
Attribute: Virus, None
Attacks: Poison Bubbles, Tackle, Bubbles
Notes: Something about this Digimon just rubs me the wrong way. Its eyes are just beady and it feels like something's just wrong looking at it, but at the same time, this is Tecton's partner. We'll have to work together, and I'm sure we'll come to figure things out.
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Firebird Zoom
Pretty Bird
- Location
- Who knows?
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I find it interesting that you changed Dragon's pseudonym from Tess Teresa to Katia.
- Location
- USA
May I ask why? 3 stories is only about 30 feet, your average Sequoia will reach five times that at the low end.
And apparently 30 foot tall trees are often categorized as small, so the only interesting thing about the aforementioned tree in the chapter is its odd color.
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Serxeid
(Verified Final Boss)
- Location
- Western Canadia
Well, it makes more sense than a Cherrymon, and I can't imagine why everyone would have a vision of a random mundane tree whilst being dragged into the Digital World. The height doesn't really matter, but my sleep-deprived mind latched onto that peculiar phrasing.
Well that is only just the size they saw in their minds/during the transition, yes? It's quite plausible that the actual tree in question is actually much larger than what they minds interpreted.
Alternatively, this Yggdrasil-branch just might be starting the creation of the Digital Dimensional Pocket into this universe and is sized accordingly as the dimension grows alongside its roots.
Or third option, that is all that is left of Yggdrasil after our local Golden Man went-a-culling against a possible competitor.
Ellf
Apprentice Wizard
- Location
- Virginia
Well, in canon, she had that name due to Colin.
- Location
- USA
A quick Google search for Digimons version of Yggdrasil tells me that, since Taylor's partner is a Dorumon, BAD THINGS are likely about to happen. The tree should still be much bigger than three stories, wonder why, if indeed it is Yggdrasil, it's so small.