A/N: Written for
DIigimon bingo, the non-flash version, #568 – numb core B
The DFC Festival, bean bag toss (restrictions: the narrator can't be referred to by name, first person perspective, fic starts and ends with the same sentence)
Diversity Writing Challenge, b14 - write a first person POV fic
They Cut the Ring and his Tail
In the end, they'd had to cut it off.
It had seemed like a good idea, originally. Fighting around those towers that dotted the mountain and attracted the lightning like lightning rods exposed them far too much. Too often, they'd be dragged away, twitching and barely conscious, and spend the next few days underground and in bed until they could walk in a straight line again.
And that's harder than it sounds, because they couldn't walk at all for at least a day. And when I'm put into the mountain rotation, I know I'm going to wind up exactly the same way.
Except the day before I'm sent off on the Yanmamon, the Autumn Leaf Fair wanders around.
You know the Autumn Leaf Fair. One of the biggest fairs in the Digital World, moving from continent to continent and it's not like they have Eldradimon to carry them and their things around, either. Not too sure how they do it. They don't have much brawn, either. Don't want it too. I tried. They took one look at the buffed up body and the sword on my waist and sent me off.
Someone else suggested the mountain, since they need digimon who can tolerate the cold. Also mentioned the lightning problem, and suggested I equip myself before going.
So I found myself at the equipment shop, looking over their merchandise. And they've got a lot of it, let me tell you. Robes and swords and shields and rings – and those rings shield against status effects, and are far easier to carry around than a giant circle on your back.
They're also expensive, of course. I just went with the best I could afford, because it'd be money well worth it, in the end. Or so I assumed. It made sense, anyway. Numb Cores ward of paralysis but the A grade's pretty shitty. Need a B or higher to work against pure lightning and C's a bit out of my price range, current or old. And I was out of a job at the time. I pretty much used all the money left over and my sharp sword to pay for it. I could make do with the dull one until I saved up enough for an upgrade. Our species are good enough swordsmen, after all. And I've got my fists too.
Didn't count on the numb core to be such a damn lightning rod. Should've known though. Made of metal. May stop the paralysis but it sure as hell didn't stop every goddamn lightning bolt being attracted to yours truly. So I saunter up there, thinking I'll last a good deal longer than everyone else and get paid a good deal more – but instead I attract all the lightning like those lightning rods made for exactly that purpose and wind up seizing until I pixelate.
At which point someone's managed to get the numb core B off my tail. And not without a lot of effort, I'm told. They tried pulling the ring, then cutting it. But it's metal and chrome digizoid is tough but it's metal too. Then one of the Meramon tried melting it. Didn't work. So they set their sights a little lower and now I've got a butterfly bandage on my stump where the tail used to be.
In the end, they'd had to cut it off.
A/N: The MC/narrator is an IceLeomon - a swordsman with a tail and an affinity to the cold. :D There might be other digimon that fit the bill, but this was what sprung to mind when I was writing.