Lilithmon: Novice... What is that armor?
Me: Power... OVERWHELMING!
Lilithmon: Tsch! I will crush you!
As Novice suggested, the Children and their digimon had been enjoying some activities again. Except, Koshiro, Jo and Iori were discussing about what it was that Novice left to deal with. And they weren't the only ones. Ophanimon, Lotosmon and Minervamon were also curious about what their employer in keeping Lilithmon in line, when the said employer was unavailable, was up to.
All the while Mimi and Miyako had come to check Novice's music library. There were some... interesting titles among his "Happy Memories" list that made Mimi raise an eyebrow. The chief among them "End of All Hope".
However, after the two hours were up. The gang was once again in the reading room, but instead of Novice, Wisemon was waiting for them.
"Greetings, Children and the digimon," Wisemon greeted politely.
"Where's Novice," Taichi asked, noticing the man's absence. As did everyone else.
"...Novice informed me that he won't be joining us for a while," Wisemon explained, "Which is why he told me to read the next chapter for all of you."
"Why isn't he joining us," Yamato asked in suspicion.
"He didn't say," Wisemon said simply.
"But I do." That declaration made everyone turn towards Impmon who was leaning against the wall smugly. "He's resting from kicking Lilithmon's shapely ass." the little imp joked, earning a shocked look from Gatomon and Patamon. Even Wisemon's eyes widened.
"Impossible!" the wise digimon shouted.
"Apparently not," Impmon said as he walked to the seat that Novice usually occupies before flopping himself on it, "Just ask BlackGatomon, if she dares to show her face here."
"You mean, she's on the loose again!?" Mimi shouted in disbelief.
"Yeah, looked depressed to me," Impmon shrugged, before having a surprisingly serious look, "Still, Lilithmon may be the weakest of Seven Great Demon Lords in terms of pure fighting power, but she's not a pushover." The imp digimon sounded impressed at the latter part.
"How do you know that," Biyomon asked in suspicion, "You have said a lot of things that sound like you talk from experience."
That earned a suspicious look from everyone else too.
"...He is the Child level of Beelzemon," Wisemon decided to answer them instead, "Beelzemon, the Duelist of Finality. And a member of the Seven Great Demon Lords."
That earned shocked looks out of the Children and their digimon. Mostly from Gatomon.
"You mean to tell me that he has two of the Seven Great Demon Lords under the same roof!?" the white feline screeched.
"Three," Impmon corrected, "Because if I understood what the lights on Novice's digivice meant, Leviamon is also here somewhere. Most likely in his Child form."
"...So wait, Novice has three Demon Lords under his roof?" Ken asked, having a horrible mental image of that.
"I guess," Impmon said before jumping off his seat. "You kids have fun reading, I'm gonna go bug Blackie." the imp rubbed his hands together in an evil mastermind manner as he walked out.
"...Why does Novice have three powerful evil digimon under his roof," Hikari asked Wisemon.
"I do not know," Wisemon responded, "However... among the Seven, I have heard that Beelzemon is the least evil."
"He is?" Agumon piped up, "How so?"
"He has no interest in ruling the world. Only fighting strong opponents," Wisemon explained, "So in that sense, Beelzemon may be considered less threatening than Lilithmon."
"So... he's not dangerous," Sora asked.
Wisemon frowned through his eyes, "Make no mistake, all Demon Lords are dangerous in their own right. Beelzemon simply finds no joy in destroying the weak, but he does not actively prevent the others from doing so either."
"...In other words he has some sense of honor," Hawkmon said.
"I suppose he does," Wisemon shrugged, before picking up the book, "So then, would you all like to get on with the next chapter?"
While the Children and their digimon were apprehensive about Novice possibly collecting what is essentially the Seven Ultimate Evils. They decided to interrogate him when he decides to show up.
"Let's get to it," Taichi said as he took a seat.
Set Sail! To A New Land!
The title card showed an image of Whamon, which made some of the Children wonder if the Remnantians would get traumatized.
The group was now gathered at the base of the mountain, the adrenaline of the fight finally wearing off, leaving them all dead tired. Despite that, Devimon's last words still bugged them. "We knew there was more to this world than just this island, and that other islands were more dangerous…" Gyro sighed, looking at where he knew there was a beach. "But now it suddenly feels a whole lot more daunting."
"I know what you mean…" Jaune sighed. "But hey, we managed to save File Island. That's a start, right?"
"I wasn't exactly thrilled about us not being done," Mimi admitted with a sigh.
No one felt like commenting on it since they all felt the same way to varying degrees at the time.
"It was, but...for now we should probably regroup then plan our next move," Pyrrha sighed, looking to where Leomon was slumped against a nearby tree, the group having gone looking for him after the fight, the lion-like Digimon having a few bandages wrapped around his torso courtesy of the twins' hammerspace pouches.
"That's probably for the best. We don't actually know how we can get across the ocean, or what to do next," Blake sighed. However, as if in response to her words, the ground near where they were cracked, before an odd device revealed itself from the ground, and from it a beam of light appeared, as what appeared to be a holographic image soon appeared.
"Is this...some kind of projector?" Weiss asked.
"I wonder how they react to Gennai," Taichi said with a small smile.
"Maybe they'll assume he's an enemy," Yamato added in.
"Indeed it is." came the voice of an adult male as a person appeared within the projector.
He appeared to be just over 6 feet tall, making him just a bit taller than most of them, wearing a beige colored robe with brown edges that made him look like some sort of sage, his skin was tanned, with short spiky brown hair that was tied into a low ponytail on the back, his blue eyes looking at the group in a mix of amusement and pride.
"What!?" the first generation shouted in unison.
"He's not an old man," Sora said in disbelief.
"Why is Gennai like that here, Wisemon," Koshiro asked the wise digimon.
"My apologies, but you would be better off asking Novice if he shows up," Wisemon replied dismissively, "But if I had to guess, the event that made him look like an old man never happened."
This made the eight wonder if that meant that the events they were shown never happened in this version.
"I have to admit, I'm impressed with how soundly you all kicked Devimon to the curb." he said with an easy smile.
"And who are you supposed to be?" Pierce asked guardedly.
"You can call me Gennai. I've been trying to contact you all for a while now, but Devimon was constantly running interference with his Black Gears. Now that he's gone, I'm free to speak, though the range is a bit of an issue." the now named Gennai explained.
"Are you human?" Ruby asked suspiciously.
"Yes and no. I've always been in the Digital World, but my appearance is quite obviously based on that of a human." he added.
"That's… weird." Yang said after a moment.
"She said it," Jo commented, remembering what they thought of him at the time.
"Everything's weird in this world." Ren said idly.
"Are you some kind of ghost person?" Nora asked as she moved her hand through the hologram before Ren pulled her away.
That earned chuckles out of the Children and their digimon.
"I am not a ghost person." Gennai said dryly "I'm simply on the Server Continent at the moment, which is where you need to go. You may have defeated Devimon, but there are more evil Digimon out there."
"Yeah, he kinda made that last detail clear, even if it was in the vein of 'if we go, we die'," Blake said dryly.
"And like it or not, he had a point. It took all of us to defeat him. If we go up against a Digimon who is far stronger than he is…" Weiss sighed as she trailed off. Never let it be said they were all pessimist, but the logic spoke for itself.
"We didn't let that stop us," Takeru commented.
"And that's where these little things called Tags and Crests come in." Gennai said, before right in his hand in the hologram appeared a small gold colored object similar to an army dog tag, and a tiny little glass piece that seemed to be made to slide into it. "If you can obtain them, they'll allow your partners to evolve to Perfect and beyond."
"So they too have tags and crests," Tentomon commented.
"We can really evolve higher?" Agumon asked in excitement.
"Indeed, each of you has a Tag with a corresponding Crest, tailor made for you specifically." Gennai explained further.
"Wait, I have to ask, were you the one who brought the humans here?" Tentomon asked with a raised arm.
"It wasn't me no. However, I know who it is, but he requested that I keep his identity a secret for now as he will reveal himself to you in time." Gennai spoke, and from his tone it was clear he respected whoever this other being was "At the very least, I can tell you he's basically my boss."
That made everyone raise an eyebrow.
"Gennai never said he had a boss, did he," Hikari asked the others.
"No he didn't," Agumon commented.
"Who's the boss," Taichi then asked Wisemon.
"I do not know," Wisemon replied. A half-truth, because he could make a guess. But the Children don't need to know that.
"Okay," Gyro nodded slowly. "So...where do we find these Tags and Crests?" he asked, figuring Gennai not wanting to go against his boss was reasonable enough...even if that made him feel a bit suspicious, but hey...free power up.
"About that…" Gennai sighed, scratching the back of his head. "The Crests are scattered all over Server Continent, while the Tags...to my knowledge, they had ended up in the hands of Devimon, who in turn hid them somewhere. Where exactly...I'm not sure."
"Of course," Jaune sighed. "It's never simple, is it?"
"...I wonder," Jo commented with a frown, "Would the Tags and Crests be in the same places where we found them?"
"That would leave two Crests unaccounted," Koshiro added in.
"Judging by how you said how they were 'tailor made' for us...let me guess," Pierce sighed. "The bad guys broke into your base, and stole the stuff, before picking up the Villain Ball, and scattering them, thus giving us the chance to find them instead of doing the smart thing and destroying them. Sound about right?"
Gennai chuckled awkwardly "That's… pretty much accurate actually, thankfully we were able to get the Digivices and the 10 Digieggs away in time, it helps we had a few extra pair of hands."
The Children and the digimon caught onto the part about there being extra hands.
"Oh, guess I didn't miss much." But their train of thought was interrupted by Novice arriving through the door for a change.
"You!" Taichi shouted, startling the Overseer, "You have three of the Seven Great Demon Lords under your roof! Why!?"
"What!? Who told you this?" Novice looked panicked, before widening his eyes, "Impmon. Se pikku ryökäle!(That little scoundrel!)" And then he was angry for all three seconds before he realized he had some explaining to do... again, "Listen... the fact that I have three of the Demon Lords under control is my business alone. But know this, unlike those who have previously tried, I know what I'm dealing with. And therefore have made contingency plans to deal with them when they try to stab me in the back."
"When they stab you in the back?" Miyako said in disbelief.
"It would be stupid to think otherwise. Especially when I deal with Lucemon, eventually," Novice clarified.
"Do you really think you can control them just like that," Ken asked, remembering all too well how his attempts to control power of darkness as Digimon Emperor ended.
"Not as I am right now," Novice admitted, "And there is no, 'just like that' with Seven Great Demon Lords." That last one was added firmly. "So, did you guys have questions about this chapter before I arrived?" That last one was added with a friendly smile.
It was Hikari who raised her hand before speaking, "Why didn't Piedmon simply destroy the Tags and Crests?"
That was a question that the Children didn't realize to ask until now.
Which earned a smile from Novice, "I don't think it was that they didn't. I think it was that they couldn't destroy them."
"But our Crests were destroyed," Mimi argued.
"By whom?" Novice asked that like the answer was obvious,before continuing, "Apocalymon was in a league of his own. I believe he was powerful enough to destroy the Crests, unlike the Dark Masters."
The Children and the digimon nodded together, seeing as it made sense.
"So… that means you made us then?" Veemon asked after a moment, looking at Gennai curiously.
"More like we worked on your eggs to establish the links to the crests and Digivices and made sure you were as healthy as possible, though we may have worked on your data a bit to ensure what kind of Digimon you'd hatch as… though, Agumon was the curious case out of all of you." Gennai said in a bit of amusement as he looked at the lizard.
"How was I curious?" Agumon wondered.
"Because you'd already interacted with your chosen partner, it made setting the link easier in your case." Gennai explained with a smile.
"...Maybe that's why Agumon didn't remember me," Taichi commented, before turning towards Novice, "Is it?"
The Overseer shrugged, "Possibly."
"About that, so basically all this has been basically planned out. That we were always meant to come here and save the world, huh?" Gyro frowned. As much as he liked being reunited with Agumon, and meeting all their new friends...he still didn't like the idea that they were destiny's puppets the whole time.
"In a sense…" Gennai admitted with a sigh. "Look, its not THAT simple, but as it is, I can't explain everything right now. While Devimon's interference is gone, the connection can only last so long. For now, I'll send you all a map to lead you to Server. When you all arrive, and when we meet in person, I promise I'll explain the story."
"Did Gennai explain the whole story to you," Iori asked out of curiosity.
"Not everything, but he told us everything he could answer," Yamato replied.
Gyro looked at the man for a moment longer, before nodding, accepting that for now "I'll hold you to it."
"Personally, I'm curious about why you chose people from two different worlds." Weiss added with a confused frown.
That last part did interest most of the Children and their partners.
"I'll explain that part as well." Gennai promised, before his form on the projector started to waver a bit and fizzle "Looks like I'm out of time. I'll leave you all with this, good luck Chosen Children." he managed to say before the projector turned off.
"That happened to us a few times before we met him in person," Mimi commented.
"Well...he kept his first promise that's for sure," Weiss said, as on her scroll was a map detailing the distance between File Island and Server Continent.
"Looks like it'll be quite a distance. No way we can swim that far," Ruby frowned, looking at the map.
"Guess we'll need a boat then," Jaune sighed. "How are we gonna get one of those though?"
"First things first, I guess we should all calm down a bit. We DID just fight for our lives," Gyro sighed. "Anyone up for looking for something to eat?"
"We should make sure Leomon is okay too," Blake added.
"So, he's really back to normal?" Gomamon asked.
"Yeahp, he even helped us get to the mountain." Palmon answered happily.
"Just a small question before we keep going, everyone can feel the little tremors right?" Salamon asked.
"Yeah, it's just the island pieces coming back into place." Biyomon said from up high as she watched the last few pieces come back in.
"Glad to hear that," Yang nodded. "Now...how do we get the big guy here down? Anyone got the energy to Evolve again?"
"That...won't be necessary…" came Leomon's voice, as he started to slowly get to his feet.
Everyone smiled a little at Leomon being fine, all things considered.
"Easy there," Pyrrha said. "You took a bad fall earlier."
"I've had worse," Leomon reassured. "I was somewhat conscious while you were talking. If you want to get a ship...I recommend visiting File City."
"What!?" Seven Children and seven digimon shouted in unison.
"...there's a city on this island?" Ren blinked in surprise.
"Its called that mainly due to it being the largest settlement on the island, but yes," Leomon managed a weak chuckle. "It's not too far from Primary Village, so we can get there easily enough."
"There wasn't a File City on the File Island," Koshiro said in disbelief.
"Another difference to the digital world you guys know of," Novice said with a small smile.
"We'll let you lead the way then, but don't push yourself, we aren't in a rush." Jaune advised him.
Leomon simply nodded before starting to walk at a slow pace, the group following him.
The trip down the mountain was at a sedate pace, the group more focused on ensuring Leomon's well being than reaching their destination quickly. Eventually though, they could see it.
It looked like a decently sized town with a good number of houses, several different stores were also present, as well as a restaurant, a clinic, what looked like a boxing ring, a bank, and a blacksmith.
"...They get things easier again," Palmon groaned.
"That remains to be seen," Wisemon retorted.
That last one caught their attention "Um, Leomon? I think we need to make a stop before seeing whoever we need to for a boat."
Leomon stopped walking at that and turned to them, before noticing what they had stopped in front of and nodding "Understood." he said before sitting down on a bench not too far while the group went in.
Inside, they were met with a very hot room, and standing in the middle, seemingly checking on the quality of tools, was a completely red Monochromon.
"Oh, right. Their weapons were broken," Daisuke commented.
"Tentomon? Who is that?" Weiss whispered with a raised eyebrow.
"Vermilimon, he's a Perfect Level Digimon, besides that he's pretty similar to Monochromon except he can survive in hotter climates." the bug explained simply.
Koshiro filed that information at the back of his head.
"Heh, you sure know your stuff," Vermilimon chuckled. "So, you're all definitely new in town. What'll it be?"
"Do you do repair jobs?" Pierce asked.
"That depends what you have in mind," Vermilimon nodded. In response, all 10 of their weapons were plopped on the counter. "...okay, I'll admit these aren't the stuff I usually do. Hm...are there specialized mechanisms I see in these things?"
"Lots and LOTS of specialized mechanisms." Gyro said with plenty of emphasis.
"Right… this could take me a few hours." Vermilimon muttered "It might also help if one of you lent me a hand, since I assume you made these yourselves."
"Why would he assume that," Gabumon asked, before hastily adding,"Even though he's right."
"Some professionals are able to tell such things," Wisemon replied simply.
"That doesn't make sense," Armadimon retorted.
"Just ignore it," Novice said, not wanting to play twenty questions right now.
"Everyone has blueprints in their scrolls right?" Pierce asked, receiving nods all around, for the most part.
"Um, I don't." Jaune said with an awkward laugh.
"Actually I wanted to talk to you about that Jaune. I can't find a way to integrate a gun, but we might be able to make the weapon better." Gyro said as he searched through his scroll and forwarded a file to Jaune, who looked at it, his eyebrows going up after a few moments.
"This is… actually pretty cool, and that would mean it would go to two handed style." Jaune said, before his voice dipped into muttering as he tried to picture it.
"What is it?" Veemon asked, seeing that the blueprints aren't shown on the screen.
"You'll find out eventually," Novice said with a small smile.
"I could help you practice if you want? I use a one handed style myself, but I practiced with different styles before settling on what I have." Pyrrha told him with a smile.
"I think I'd like that very much." Jaune told her, and Pyrrha's smile brightened.
"Melkein kaipaan Blackiä(I almost miss Black)," Novice muttered, knowing that she would've tried to comment something.
"What was that?" Wisemon asked, catching the muttering.
"Nothing."
Gyro did the smallest of fist bumps before focusing back on the situation at hand "Alright, I think we all know who the best person to work on the weapons is." he said, before everyone looked at Ruby.
She blushed a bit at the implication "Um… thanks guys. I'll do my best!" she said with a grin before having the various blueprints forwarded to her scroll.
"I'll stay and see if I can help with anything too," Palmon added.
"Right, we're counting on you," Yang grinned.
"Oh, before we forget, we have some Chrome Digizoid, think you could work it into our weapons?" Pierce asked as he pulled out a piece from his pouch.
"I'd be honored, but, at the moment it's not the best idea, trying to both repair and upgrade at the same time could actually be harmful to your weapons in the long run, so I'll have to decline the chance to work with it." Vermilimon explained.
"Okay, how is that harmful," Gomamon asked.
"Mostly none," Novice spoke with a small shrug,"Except before you do upgrades, you better make sure your weapon works properly after the repairs."
"Speaking from experience?" Wormmon asked.
"As a matter of fact, yes." Novice said with some pride.
"Why do you sound proud," Gatomon asked with a suspicious look, "Doesn't that mean you have tried and failed?" That earned some chuckles at the annoyed look on Novice's face.
"Yes, but I learned from them." the Overseer resisted hissing.
"Well, that's too bad." Weiss said with a sigh, but nonetheless, they all accepted it.
"Now that that's being worked on...we should look into where we can get a ship," Gyro said...before several growls came from their stomachs. "...and somewhere to get food, hopefully with some takeout too."
"Umm..." Biyomon tried to say before various snacks appeared in front of everyone.
"All you have to do is ask," Novice spoke up happily, trying his best at not letting Gatomon's roasting affect him too much.
"Think we should split up for that part?" Patamon asked, figuring they could cover more ground.
"Well we're in a city, and with Devimon gone, the island is peaceful again." Agumon said as the idea had merit.
"He's right, so let's do just that, and just send a group call when you find something, Agumon and I will go with Leomon in the meantime." Gyro said as everyone walked out of the blacksmith, while he paused to pat Ruby on the shoulder encouragingly, receiving a smile from her.
With that, the group split up, finally being able to just enjoy a day in town. So far things were going well, as even though they had a mission to do, they could still take the time to enjoy themselves. The town may have been small, but it was well stocked, such as Blake and Patamon visiting a local bookstore, Jaune and Gomamon managing to find the shipyard, Yang and Biyomon finding a boxing ring run by a BlackGaomon, which was a, obviously, black canine Digimon wearing boxing gloves and a headband. Then there was Pierce and Veemon who found a restaurant, though Pierce was smart enough to check currency before buying anything, and found that the Muchomon chef, a red bird Digimon, accepted all forms of currency and treated them at the same amount.
For some reason, Jo felt singled out at Pierce's part. Sure he should've checked the currency, but the thought of yen not being accepted never crossed his mind.
Overall, the day had been both productive and enjoyable. Along the way, they'd managed to get some info on how they'd get to Server Continent, such as the facilities/materials needed to make a ship, as well how far the distance would be, thus they could better predict how to prepare.
However, the crowning moment came when Gyro and Agumon followed Leomon to meet the elder of the city, who lived in a home that looked like an old hut… made out of cardboard for some reason.
"Yeah… this world has no logic at times." Gyro said dryly as he followed Leomon inside.
"You're telling us," Iori commented.
"Elder Jijimon, I brought one of the Chosen Children." Leomon announced into the house.
"What? Truly?" said a very old sounding voice from the back of the home, before both Gyro and Agumon looked on in confusion as what could only be described as a rather short old man with hair and a beard that covered his face, hobling into the room, holding onto a cane that had a cat glove at the tip, and wearing what looked like a simple rag.
"Well… this is new." Agumon said after a moment.
"What, never seen an Ultimate Level Digimon before?" Jijimon said, and they could hear the amusement in his tone.
"What!?" the Children cried out in unison.
"Jijimon isn't very strong, despite being Ultimate," Gatomon said with a sigh.
"Wait what?" Gyro blinked. "Ultimate? Judging by the name, I'm guessing THAT'S the level beyond Perfect, right?"
"Of course," Jijimon nodded.
Digimon Analyzer: Jijimon
Jijimon. Vaccine Type. An Ultimate Level Ancient Digimon. A Digimon said to have existed since the dawn of the Digital World. Jijimon is ever present to guide those in need of his words of wisdom. His special attacks are Cat Cane, where he clobbers the enemy with his cane, and Energy Grenade, which rather speaks for itself.
Gyro...could only manage a blank stare at the supposed 'Ultimate' . If that was true, then this old looking Digimon was supposed to be even stronger than Andromon...though...appearance really didn't paint him as such. Either way, he decide it best NOT to voice any of those thoughts.
"...Are you sure he's weak," Takeru asked, after all they have met digimon who were far stronger than they look.
"Unfortunately, yes," Wisemon confirmed.
"Now then, I assume you managed to beat Devimon, right?" Jijimon asked.
"Right, it took a lot of effort to get to him, but our Digimon were able to delete him." Gyro said with a nod after recovering.
"Good job then, congratulations are truly in order, I may be of the Ultimate Level, but I'm not the strongest Digimon, I only reached this level through age, and not through battle." Jijimon explained as he pulled out a few cushions and sat on one seiza style, the others in the room copying him when he passed them the cushions.
"Well... I guess it makes sense," Koshiro commented on Jijimon's explanation.
However, before they could talk more, one of the windows suddenly broke, as something broke into the room. "Prepare yourself old mon!" came three young sounding voices.
The reactions were instant, as Gyro and Agumon tensed, Leomon's hand reflexively went to his sword...while Jijimon just let out a tired, but amused sigh. When they all got a good look at the soon to be assailants...Gyro stopped short.
"...you're kidding, right?" he deadpanned as he beheld what appeared to be three Child Level Digimon judging by the size and voices.
"What's going on," Hawkmon questioned aloud.
The first looked like a short dinosaur like Digimon with purple fur covering most of his body, though the tip of his tail and his snout where white, with a red gem on his forehead and small black bat wings on his back.
The second looked similar in body structure, and with his body covered in fur, though his was a pale yellow, and he wore a samurai inspired armor… although it could be his natural body armor.
The third was the only one that was standing completely upright, his whole body covered in a golden armor with sharp claws on his hands and feet, a white cape attached to his back, while on top of his armored head was a rather large sword like horn with a silver 20 stamped onto it. Of the three, this one was the only one who seemed dangerous in any way.
"Dorumon, Ryudamon, Zubamon, haven't we done this same song and dance enough times already?" Jijimon sighed.
"So this isn't the first time," Sora commented.
"No way! We're not gonna stop till we beat you, old mon!" Dorumon said. "Let's get him guys!"
"Right!" Ryudamon and Zubamon said before the three moved to pounce on Jijimon.
Gyro and Agumon were about to intervene...when they noticed Leomon had let go of his sword and honestly looked...annoyed...like this was a common occurrence. It soon became clear that that was the case, as Jijimon sighed and lifted his staff. "Cat Cane!" Jijimon called out, and in a quick motion, all three of the attacking mon were on the ground, goose eggs present on their heads, their eyes swirly.
"I thought Jijimon was weak," Veemon said in an accusatory tone.
"For an Ultimate level, yes," Wisemon replied. No one needed further clarification.
"...okay, that had to be the worst attack attempt I've ever seen...and that's saying something," Agumon deadpanned, which was true seeing as he was only a bit over a month old right now.
The Children and their digimon couldn't help laughing as they realized the humor of Agumon's statement.
"How often does this happen?" Gyro asked dryly.
"Give or take once a day." Leomon sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"... wow… I don't know if I should admire their dedication, or pity they have nothing better to do." Gyro said as he shook his head with a sigh.
"They're harmless for the most part really," Jijimon shook his head in amusement. "They're not bad kids honestly."
"They seem rather foolish," Wisemon couldn't help commenting.
"Though I still believe you should take a more firm stance to discipline them," Leomon sighed. "These three may have potential, but they're wasting it like this."
"Ever think of maybe giving them a better outlet?" Gyro suggested.
"We have." Jijimon started.
"But they keep breaking everything." Leomon finished.
"...I'm starting to wonder how terrible these kids will be," Biyomon couldn't help saying.
"You and me both," Novice said, knowing these three's evolution line. Or the "worst case scenarios" anyway.
"Ah…" Gyro and Agumon sweat dropped, honestly not sure what to say to that.
"Yes, that's a common reaction from a lot of mon who asked," Leomon sighed.
"So uh...where were we again?" Gyro asked awkwardly, deciding to try and change the topic.
"Thank you," Armadimon felt the need to say.
"I do believe I was about to have someone send word that the Chosen Children were in the city. I was originally going to ask Tsukaimon to do it… but these three seem to have volunteered." Jijimon finished, and everyone was sure he was grinning at the end.
"I'll go get a kettle," Leomon smirked as he got up and went to a different room.
"A kettle?" Palmon sounded out.
"This is going to be funny." Agumon said with a small laugh.
"Yeah." Gyro shook his head in amusement, before turning back to Jijimon "So, I was wondering, is there anything you could tell us about Server? It's our next destination and we'll need a boat to get there."
"Well, you're welcome to use our shipyard to construct it, as for Server itself, it's been a long time since I was there, but I've heard talk of a few powerful and evil Digimon who live there, I don't know their names, but I do know they are at the Perfect Level, nothing else though." Jijimon explained as he stroked his beard.
"...I guess they don't get everything on a silver platter," Gomamon commented dryly.
"That helps yeah," Gyro nodded. "At least we have SOME idea about what's there. So...how long would a trip to Server take on average?"
"Depends on the weather and everything, but if you can maintain a decent pace, a week tops," Jijimon said.
"Huh… spent a whole week on land and then spending another on sea… well, as long as there aren't any Black Gear Digimon, I'm pretty sure nobody will mind." Gyro said after a moment.
"If the events play the same, there should be two more," Agumon commented.
"You lead your group well," Jijimon nodded in approval.
"Wha-Leader? Me? No! No, no! I'm not the leader… am I?" that last part was directed to Agumon.
"I always thought you were." his partner answered, and Gyro actually blushed a bit as he covered his face.
Jijimon laughed at that. "Then that just means you're all the better for the role," he said in a jolly tone. "Trust me when I say that many times the best leaders are the ones who neither want, nor think themselves fit, for the role, yet play it well anyway."
"Kind of like how we realized that Taichi was our leader," Sora commented.
"You guys kind of sprang that up on me," Taichi said, but he was smiling.
"I… I guess that makes sense. Personally I always thought that Ruby and Jaune would be better suited for the role than I was." Gyro said, honestly not sure what to think about this, he DID know though that he'd be talking to the others about the 'leader situation'. Quickly shaking his head to focus on what was important right now, he turned back to Jijimon. "At any rate, we're really grateful for any help you can give us."
"Think nothing of it. Compared to the service you've rendered us, helping preparations for a single voyage is cheap," Jijimon waved off. "Speaking of which…" right as he said that, Leomon was back with a kettle of water, which he promptly poured on the three troublemakers.
"We're up!" the three of them shouted as they got up, as the water had been cold.
"We'll deal with these three for now. You two should regroup with the others," Leomon said to Gyro and Agumon, who nodded and left the room, though not before hearing the start of Leomon chewing the three young mon out.
"I feel like Ophanimon would either scold them, or give them spankings," Novice commented, seeing the motherly angel actually doing the latter, if sufficiently pissed.
For some reason, the digimon felt a little threatened by that remark.
(Play Seven by Kouji Wada)
The Children and the digimon were very much surprised at the song beginning.
"This is the song that played when you guys were building your raft," Novice explained, earning weirded out looks. "In the anime."
And that clarified it... though it still felt weird to them.
It didn't take long for everyone to regroup in the shipyard. "Okay, so looks like we can use the shipyard, but we'll need to get the materials together ourselves," Yang said as the 18 of them were gathered together, Ruby still working in the forge to fix their weapons while Palmon accompanied her.
"Good thing we got Jijimon's permission to use the nearby woods for materials," Agumon said.
"Whelp, no point in wasting time. Time to get chopping," Nora said with a grin, hefting one of the axes they'd been allowed to borrow.
"Still though...this could take a while…" Blake frowned.
"Unless of course you don't mind a helping hand," came Leomon's voice, drawing their attention. Turning, they saw the lion-like Digimon walking towards them, though they also noticed his bandages were still present.
"Well, you won't be doing anything too big, not with those injuries." Pierce said with crossed arms.
"Maybe not, but that's what the others are here for." Leomon said with an amused smile.
Everyone gave him a questioning look at that, before they quickly got their answer when several familiar faces strolled into the shipyard.
Thundermon, the Kunemon, Meramon, the Yokomon, Andromon, the Numemon, Monzaemon, the FanBeemon, Waspmon, Frigimon, Mojyamon, Centarumon, Elecmon, and the Drimogemon brothers.
"We also got help," Jo commented with a smile.
"Wow, who ordered the party?" Yang couldn't help but ask with a grin.
"Let's just say a little bird told us you were gonna build a boat to Server," Thundermon said.
"We decided to see if we could help," Andromon nodded.
"It's the least we could do after all the help you guys gave us," the oldest Drimogemon finished with a grin.
"Well then, glad to have you all helping," Pyrrha smiled.
"Timber!" Gomamon shouted as he and several of the smaller Digimon ran out of the way as one of the trees came down.
"How many does that make so far?" Gabumon asked.
"We're already at half the amount we need," Waspmon reported, having felled the tree with his Turbo Stinger.
"Really? Feels like we've gotten a lot already," Patamon frowned.
"Well, if you wanted to build a raft or a small boat, sure," Fanbeemon, the one with a red scarf, said. "But we're aiming to build something that can handle any normal rough weather that might happen."
14 of the gang felt a pang of jealousy at the Remnantians getting a better boat, but decided not to dwell on it too much.
"He's correct. It would be best to properly build this boat," Centarumon nodded as he and Meramon were moving some logs around.
"Well, if you say so, then its fine then," Biyomon accepted the explanation.
"Speaking of which though…" Ren said, coming out from behind a nearby tree.
"We found a bunch of trees already felled not far away," Wormmon said. "Think we could use them?"
"Huh, that's pretty weird, nobody's been beyond this point yet." Thundermon mused.
"Huh?" Hikari sounded out.
"Nonetheless, it seems someone prepared assistance for us, and it would be rude to decline." Andromon said as he followed Ren back to where the felled trees were along with a few of the others.
"Think Ogremon had a change of heart?" Gyro said in a joking tone as he saw the large amount of trees.
"Well, he didn't make these ones fall, these were cleanly cut… although those ones over there are definitely his handiwork." Leomon said, pointing to a pile of tree trunks that had the base smashed.
Mimi couldn't help smiling at the thought.
"Now that I think about it, he never DID make good on any of his threats when we were fighting," Blake mused.
"Guess he's not that big of a jerk after all." Patamon said with a smile.
"No. He isn't," Mimi commented with a smile.
Not too far from them, Ogremon was hiding, his face red as he groaned a bit. "I must be getting soft," he grumbled to himself. "Then again, never did like that bastard anyway, so good riddance that they got rid of him."
"You really should be more honest with yourself." Falcomon snickered from a branch higher up.
"Hey! You two are in no position to talk, you're hiding too!" Ogremon hissed at the owl like Digimon and Keenan, who were both hiding in the shadows of the tree. The two of them had the decency to blush a little at being called out, but ultimately didn't say anything to defend themselves.
The Children and the digimon couldn't help laughing at Ogremon and Keenan calling each other out.
Not far from them, Frigimon who happened to be nearby noticed the conversation, and let out a knowing chuckle before resuming helping with the construction.
The process took a good few hours, but with everyone chipping in, it wasn't long before the boat was ready. "Man...it's hard to believe we managed to make build THIS in just a few hours," Gyro whistled as he looked at the sizeable Caravel style ship. It was honestly very big all things considered, easily able to hold more than 20 people, complete with a lookout on top the mast, a storage area for supplies, a dining room (small kitchen included), a living area, a covered steering section, and even, from the looks of it, an optional paddle system in the event they were hit with a lack of wind or had to navigate through rough weather.
"...I take back what I said, these guys have it too easy," Gomamon complained at the sight of the ship the Remnantians got, while they had to settle for a raft.
"Oh this is nothing. You should see what we can do when we got better materials," Fanbeemon buzzed with pride, something shared by the rest of the hive, as they'd been the ones mainly to work on building the ship. And boy did they do a good job.
"Yeah, we can tell," Nora grinned. "Though...who's the figurehead?" she asked, referring to the wooden carving of a mermaid, albeit one with a pirate hat, complete with braided hair and an anchor at the end.
"Oh that? That's Mermaimon. We figured it'd be good for luck," Mojyamon said.
"Is Mermaimon real," Veemon felt the need to ask.
"As far as I know, yes," Novice replied easily. Wisemon also nodded in confirmation.
"Well, it's really well made. Thanks," Jaune chuckled.
"A ship like this would need a name if you ask me." Tentomon said.
"Totally! What should it be though?" Biyomon wondered.
"How about the Black Pearl?" Pierce said in a joking tone.
"No, we are not doing a Disney reference." Gyro cut off the idea quickly.
The Children gave the Overseer a questioning look.
"I'd rather not say," Novice said with a grin.
"Do you have an idea then?" Yang asked him.
"Well… how about Ocean Destiny?" Gyro said after a few moments of thought.
Everyone took a moment to consider the name, before slowly, they all voiced their approval of it.
And with that, the Ocean Destiny, ship of the Chosen Children, was born.
(End Song)
"Their ship sounds cool," Daisuke commented.
"Yeah... I guess it does," Taichi said, still looking mildly jealous. As did the rest of the original seven.
The group agreed to set sail the following morning, not only because it was finally dark now, but also because their weapons weren't finished yet.
"Do you think Ruby is finished with the repairs?" Weiss mused.
"Guys!" they all heard her voice shout as she ran into the shipyard, pulling a small wagon behind her.
"Speak of the devil." Gyro said in amusement as they turned to her and Palmon as they slowed down and looked at the ship in awe.
"So cool~" She whispered as she looked at the ship with stars in her eyes.
No one could blame Ruby. The ship does look cool, even if some awes were laced with just a hint of envy.
"Meet the Ocean Destiny!" Nora said with a grin.
"It honestly turned out better than we would have expected." Ren said with a smile.
"Only because we had a LOT of help," Pyrrha reminded with a smile.
"So, about the weapons…?" Jaune trailed off with a curious look.
"Here they are!" Ruby grinned, showing them the weapons that were all in the wagon.
"Wow, they look good as new," Jaune whistled.
"Feels good to have them back to normal." Gyro said with a relieved sigh as he flipped Ascalon between it's different modes before sheathing them at his hips.
"So does this mean that we get to see the Remnantians fighting digimon," Palmon asked with worry.
"...Most likely," Novice said with a mysterious grin.
"Man, you did a great job," Pierce grinned, seeing as Pandora was fully functional again.
"Now we only have the issue of limited ammo," Ren frowned slightly.
"Took care of that too actually." Ruby said as she lifted up several ammo cartridges, or rolls of shotgun shells for Yang.
"Wow," Koshiro commented.
"Ok, so how does mine work?" Jaune asked as he put the sword in the sheath and looked for how to activate the bastard sword mode.
"Twist the pommel." Ruby said simply, Jaune doing just that as he felt the blade lock itself inside of the sheath as sharp edges extended out, doing it a few more times to see it was working perfectly.
"Huh...neat," Gomamon commented.
"Agreed," Gomamon commented.
But Novice let out a small scoff of annoyance. That little thing is a toy compared to what he had on a drawing board. If he could get it out of there.
"Yeah, it is," Jaune nodded, moving away and doing a few practice swings. "It works great! Thanks."
Ruby just smiled and gave a quick salute.
"So, how much is it gonna cost us?" Gyro asked, just about ready to use up all his money.
"Vermilimon said that normally it'd cost 700 Lien, but when he heard about what we did, he said he was willing to give us a discount, so its only 350 Lien," Ruby said. "He also gave us the option of starting a Tab if we couldn't pay for it right now."
"...Is that a lot of money on Remnant," Iori asked out of curiosity.
"Don't know," Novice shrugged.
"No need, we got the money," Pierce said as he and Gyro pulled out their wallets.
"Hey, don't act like we're not here either," Jaune chuckled as he pulled out his wallet too, something they all soon did.
"Its for all our weapons. It's only fair we all pay for it," Blake said with a light smile.
"Very true," Jo said with a small smile.
"Pretty sure I would have called you all out on it if you didn't try to pay honestly." Gyro told everyone dryly, earning a few laughs.
As well as from the Children and their digimon.
After a quick trip to the forge to pay their bill, the group had their dinner in the local restaurant run by Muchomon, before settling down in the Inn for the night.
The following morning, apparently everyone had learned that they were the Chosen Children, because they kept receiving thanks and praise for saving the island, while also being gifted with a few extra supplies.
"Is Swift trying to make us feel jealous with the way he's writing this," Patamon felt the need to ask with an annoyed look.
"I don't think so," Novice replied before adopting a thoughtful look, "Although... Never mind, it's a personal matter."
The Children felt a little suspicious, but decided not to question it.
"Wait… what did you say these seed packets are for?" Gyro asked the Digimon in front of him, one of the purple flowered Palmon from a few days ago, apparently called Alraumon.
"These ones are for meat apple trees, and these ones are for meat plants." Alraumon said as she pointed at the different packets in question.
"Seriously," Agumon groaned.
"No fair," Gomamon added in.
"Why do they get all the good stuff," Gabumon also griped.
Gyro was silent for several moments "Are you telling me that meat grows in the same way a strawberry does?"
All he received was a nod, but it was enough to make him sigh as he put the packets away. He was far beyond even bothering to question how things worked in this bizarre world. Once everything was ready, the 20 of them had boarded the ship, and were now raising the anchor, while unfurling the sails.
"Bye! Thanks for everything!" Wormmon and Salamon said while waving.
"Don't be strangers now, feel free to come again sometime if you can!" Jijimon called back to them.
"We will!" Veemon, Gabumon, and Agumon all said.
"You guys take care too okay?!" Ruby called as she waved, and it wasn't long before File Island was fading in the distance.
Once the ship was out of sight, the residents of the city soon returned to their daily business...though Leomon seemed to be looking around. "Something wrong?" Jijimon asked.
"I feel like we're forgetting something," Leomon frowned. "Hm...has anyone seen those three trouble makers? They're usually hard to miss."
"Oh, I'm sure they've just run off again. They'll be back soon enough," Jijimon chuckled.
"...They snuck on the ship didn't they," Miyako said dryly.
Novice didn't react outwardly.
"Gotta admit, I think I'm gonna miss File," Jaune admitted with a chuckle as by now File was just a little dot. For better or worse, File was the start of their journey, and it was a nice one overall too.
"Look alive everyone, we got a lot ahead of us," Gyro said with a grin as he was using his Semblance to push some extra wind into the sails.
"And so far we're on to a good start," Pierce added as he was at the wheel.
"A whole week of just sailing on the ocean… kind of makes me wish I could work on my tan honestly." Yang said… within earshot of Pierce, and could see his ears turn red from a blush, making her grin.
"...Why is Pierce blushing from Yang wanting a tan," Daisuke asked, being a little oblivious.
However, most of the older guys got the idea, but thankfully not enough to blush.
"What's with the sudden idea?" Ruby asked cluelessly.
"Oh right, you guys weren't there. Her and Pierce are dating now after they had an incident while we were all split up the other day." Gyro said as he sat on top of the cover for the wheel.
There was a pause in activity from the hunters as they took the information in "Huh… didn't see that coming, pretty neat though." Nora eventually said.
"Well...we're still testing the waters really, but yeah," Pierce said, fighting down his blush.
None of the others noticed, but Miyako gave Ken a brief glance. Everyone except Novice, that is. "Ei kestäne kauan(Probably won't be long)," the Overseer couldn't help thinking.
"We wish you both all the best, right everyone?" Pyrrha said.
"I don't really get it, but yeah, congrats." Gabumon said with a smile, the others joining in, which actually made both Yang and Pierce blush a bit at all the attention.
After that, the day continued to move on, rather uneventfully, but after the previous week, the group welcomed the calm of the waves.
This actually continued on into their second day at sea, after they'd layed anchor and slept the night away in actual beds.
And another pang of jealousy hit everyone.
"Would you kids have known how to steer a proper ship," Novice said, feeling like he should address it already.
That made the Children look down as they realized, no they couldn't have.
Finally, it was during their third day that things changed. At first it seemed that things were going to be smooth again, and for a while they were. Suddenly the waves started rocking the boat a bit more violently. "Hm...rough waters we're having today," Blake mused as everyone grabbed hold of something.
"But so far nothing the boat can't handle," Pierce nodded as he was once again steering. However, that soon changed when Jaune by chance glanced over the edge...and gulped.
"...It's Whamon isn't it," Gomamon said with slight fear in his voice at the memory.
"Uhhh….guys?" he asked, sounding VERY nervous.
"What did you see, Jaune?" Weiss deadpanned, already used to the life and death situations this world tossed at them.
"There's a big shadow under the ship," Jaune said flatly.
Everyone peered over the railing at that, before paling as they just HOW big said shadow was.
"...You guys had to face him in a raft?" Wormmon said, shivering in fear a little.
"Yup." Was the universal response.
"Well… this is going to be a problem." Ren said after swallowing nervously.
"Maybe their just passing by and won't do anything?" Veemon said hopefully.
"Somehow, I doubt it'll be that simple." Biyomon added.
As if to prove the point, the huge shadow moved ahead of them, before the water started to rise, revealing…
"Holy shit it's Moby Dick." Pierce whispered with his eyes wide.
"Moby-what?" Came out of most people.
"A giant white, bloodthirsty, whale," Novice said simply.
"You and I both know Moby Dick is a white whale, this one's blue… but still just as much of a problem though." Gyro said in a bit of annoyance.
"That's Whamon! But why is he attacking us? He's a good Digimon!" Agumon shouted as the waves caused by Whamon rising rocked the boat.
Digimon Analyzer: Whamon
Whamon. Vaccine Type. A Perfect Level Aquatic Digimon. Living in the deepest depths of the Net Ocean, Whamon carries enormous amounts of data in its body that would overload a normal computer. There are rumours of a rare, White Whamon that carries an island on its as it swims through the skies. Its special attacks are Jet Arrow, which launches a high pressure jet of water from its blowhole, and Tidal Wave, where it uses its tail to create, well, a tidal wave.
The part about a White Whamon earned some worried looks.
"Most likely King Whamon," Wisemon explained this time.
"Hang on!" Pierce shouted as he spun the wheel in an attempt to get away, but Whamon wasn't about to let them go.
"Damn! If he's supposed to be a good Digimon, do you think something's causing him to go berserk like all the others?!" Yang shouted over the sound of the water.
"Its possible! But we defeated Devimon already!" Weiss said.
"Maybe a few of the gears survived!" Ruby suggested.
"That's what we realized," Agumon commented.
"Whether that's the case or not, it isn't helping our current situation!" Tentomon said, as the boat was rocked all over thanks to the waves Whamon was kicking up. That's when he seemed to decide to stop playing and opened his mouth.
"Uh….guys?" Gomamon said, and somehow his fur was turning paler than normal.
"...well, guess we're gonna say hi to Pinocchio…" Gyro could only say flatly before they were promptly eaten.
Mimi couldn't help giggling, despite the situation. Which earned her a series of weird looks. "Sorry, that Pinocchio reference was just funny."
"Who?" Daisuke asked.
"A puppet who wanted to be a real boy," Iori commented.
It was dark for a moment, before a small crack was heard and Pierce was holding up a glowstick.
"Seriously, Azure even put THOSE into your pouches?" Jaune asked in deadpan, and before he could receive an answer, the ship started to move again, travelling down Whamon's throat.
"I don't wanna come out the back!" Ruby shouted as she easily guessed they were travelling down into his stomach.
"Neither did I," Mimi agreed with Ruby.
"What are THOSE things?!" Yang said as she pointed to the weird, slimy, stuff falling from the top.
"I think it's his immune system." Blake answered.
"It must think we're a bacteria of some kind!" Weiss added.
"Well I dunno about you guys but I did NOT come this far to die by white blood cells!" Pierce growled, manning the wheel again, and actually managing to avoid the various blobs, till finally they reached a single large area...and they noticed the bottom of the boat was starting to sizzle.
"We're in the stomach," Jaune gulped.
"Ah! Look over there!" Salamon and Patamon shouted, causing them to look at where they were pointing to see a Black Gear.
"Same place where we saw it," Sora commented.
"So I guess some DID survive Devimon's destruction," Pyrrha mused.
"Well, we'd better get rid of it," Palmon said. "Poison Ivy!" Using her vines, she latched onto the gear. "Now, someone climb up and get rid of it!"
"Well, best it's me since I can fly." Gyro said as he actually started running up her vines, before aiming his Digivice at the gear when he got close, the light shining on it and making it break down in pieces while he floated back down to the ship.
"I really hope that was the last one." Nora said in a bit of annoyance.
"Probably not," Yamato commented.
"Okay, what's the last one?" Hawkmon felt the need to ask.
"...Just let Wisemon read," Biyomon said.
Before anyone could answer her, the whole area around them started shaking a bit, before suddenly a jet of water started to make the ship move upwards.
"I swear, if this ship breaks, the luxury gods will feel my wrath!" Gyro said through grit teeth as he hanged onto the railing. The ship was soon in the air, before crashing back down into the water. The ship creaked and groaned, but it held together despite the damage it had taken.
"Is everyone okay?" Gabumon groaned.
A chorus of 'yeah's was heard. "Good."
"Stop...the...violent shaking…" came a new voice.
"Huh?" Biyomon blinked as she walked over to a crate that happened to get launched out of the storage room in the chaos. "Did everyone else hear that?"
"Why do I feel like I've heard that voice before?" Gyro and Agumon mused. They got their answer when Tentomon opened the crate, and out came three figures who ran to the side...and started throwing up.
"I. Freaking. Knew it," Miyako groaned.
"We have stowaways?" Ren blinked in surprise.
"Yeah, and I recognise these ones. The troublemakers of File City apparently, the purple one is Dorumon, the samurai looking one is Ryudamon, and the golden armored one is Zubamon." Gyro said with a sigh.
"Okay...why are they here though?" Gomamon asked.
"That's what we want to know," Sora said with disapproval.
"Why don't we ask them...when they're done throwing up anyway…" Jaune sighed.
"In the meantime, we should deal with Whamon," Pyrrha said, just as Whamon soon resurfaced.
"Thank you, young ones, thanks to you I'm finally free from that dark influence." Whamon told them.
"We were happy to help." Agumon said.
"Besides, this means that we're just pissing off Devimon from his grave by getting rid of more Black Gears." Pierce added with a laugh.
That remark earned some chuckles.
"Devimon you say? I actually remember seeing him in these parts a few years ago, he came around here and hid something deep beneath the waters." Whamon remembered after recovering from his surprise.
"Maybe it's the Tags." Weiss realised.
"Do you think you could take us there Whamon?" Gyro asked hopefully.
"Of course. However, as it is underwater, please take refuge in my body," Whamon said. "Fear not, I can control what goes on in my body. You'll be safe now that the Black Gear is gone."
"Yeah, we remember that," Daisuke commented, remembering the time Whamon busted them out.
With that, their ship once more entered Whamon's mouth, though this time they stayed there instead of travelling down his throat as everyone was given a glow stick so they could actually see.
"Now then, while we travel there… what to do about you three?" Gyro said with a sigh as he looked down at the three troublemakers.
"Why not start with why these three are here," Weiss suggested.
"That works, yeah. Care to explain?" Gyro said.
"Going to Server sounded fun! So we hopped in a crate and snuck on board!" Dorumon exclaimed.
"Yeah! And I bet we can learn stuff to help us beat the old mon!" Ryudamon added.
"We'll show him who's boss!" Zubamon finished.
"...Those kids," Mimi grumbled a little.
"Will those three even become anything strong," Veemon asked with an almost smug look.
Novice couldn't help chuckling, earning curious glances. "Nothing important." Novice said, though he didn't sound very convincing.
Everyone looked at the trio for several moments, before sighing "Why do we get stuck as babysitters?" Jaune groaned.
"Because apparently stupidly impulsive kids is a universal concept…" Blake sighed dryly.
"Like all of you guys to an extent," Novice said with a grin.
"Hey!" was the universal reaction.
"Taichi being stupidly brave. Jo climbing Mount Infinity on his own. Yamato jumping into the water with Seadramon in it. Do I need to continue?" That last one Novice directed towards the rest of the Children.
They wisely shut up.
"Well, no choice I guess," Yang sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"What do we do with them?" Biyomon asked.
"Take care of them until we can send them back to File, and make sure they don't get themselves killed," Pierce sighed.
"We won't get killed!" Dorumon protested "We're strong!"
"Can you evolve?" Agumon asked dryly, earning silence from the trio "That's what I thought."
"Okay, how strong can those three become," Gatomon felt the need to ask.
"To put it bluntly-" Wisemon!" Novice interrupted the wise digimon, "They don't need to know that. Just keep reading."
"Let's just… focus on getting the Tags for now." Gyro said with a sigh.
True enough… "We have arrived," Whamon reported as he came to a stop, before opening his mouth, revealing that they were in a cave of some kind, which was actually very spacious. "The objects Devimon hid should be here. I will wait here till you all return.
"Thanks a bunch, Whamon," several of the Digimon grinned as they all got out.
"Not you!" Yang suddenly pointed at the trio who was about to get off the boat "You three are staying there, and if we see you actually get off, you're in trouble, is that clear?" she said with narrowed eyes.
The three looked at her a bit nervously before they all nodded in unison.
"She's pretty good," Hikari commented on Yang putting those three in their place.
"She's had practice, believe it or not," Novice said with a smile.
With that problem avoided, the group of 20 walked on into the cave, curious about what they would find, until…
"Really? A Convenience store?" Ruby said with a bemused look on her face as she looked at the store.
"It's literally a 7/11." Pierce added as he looked at the glowing neon sign above the door.
"Was it like that," Ken decided to ask.
"Yes it was," Takeru replied.
"Well...could be worse. It could have been a garbage disposal," Gyro shrugged.
"Good point," several of the others nodded as they walked in.
"Now...looking at this place I think we should split up and search. With all of us covering ground we should find the tags fast enough...assuming they're here anyway," Weiss suggested.
"Good idea," Jaune nodded.
Before they could even move into the store however, the ground shook, before it burst open in front of them, revealing… Drimogemon?
"And there's the last infected digimon," Agumon commented.
"Is… is that another Drimogemon?" Ren asked, blinking in surprise.
"No, that's NiseDrimogemon, the only difference between the two is that his mustache is scribbled on." Wormmon said, and everyone looked at the mustache which was, indeed, drawn on in marker.
"That's the dumbest difference so far." Blake said dryly.
The sad thing was, none of the Children, first or second generation, bothered to even react to that.
"You think that's bad? Since evolving I've gained some new information, there's a variation of Angemon that just wears pink instead of blue and has less wings." Patamon shot back.
"That's Piddomon," Novice commented with a small smile.
"Okay...what?" Ruby asked, though it seemed she was trying to hide her laughter at the mental image THAT gave her.
"Okay guys, weird recolors aside, I think we should focus on the Digimon in front of us," Ren reminded. Just in time too, as they had to dodge a swipe of the claw from NiseDrimogemon.
"He's definitely not friendly," Nora chuckled, before hefting up Magnhild.
"Hey guys, mind if we ask you all to stay out of this one first?" Gyro said.
"What?" the Digimon gasped.
"Are they going to fight that on their own?" Iori wondered aloud.
"Well, we just got our weapons back," Pierce chuckled.
"And we wouldn't want to get rusty," Yang finished.
"Looks that way," Taichi commented.
"Well...okay, I guess…" Veemon said, looking a bit unsure.
"But we're gonna jump in the moment things look dangerous," Wormmon said.
"Fair enough," the Hunters nodded, before they set their sights on Drimogemon, and with the wide cavern, mobility wouldn't be an issue.
(Play This Will Be The Day)
NiseDrimogemon (for ease of writing NDrimogemon) growled as he moved forward, drill nose spinning, aiming at Blake who simply stood there, before at the last minute, she seemingly jumped out of herself, causing NDrimogemon to plow into a wall, while she took the chance to slash him in the back. He roared in pain as he got out, and turned to face them...only to get peppered by bullets as Ren ran past and around him. He tried to fight back, but Ren was far too fast for him. Even then it turned out it was just a distraction as Yang came from his blindspot, and uppercutted him in the chin, followed by a blast from her gauntlets knocking him back further….right into Nora's waiting hammer, sending him flying forward...and crashing into the convenience store.
"Careful guys, we don't want him accidentally destroying the tags!" Ruby warned as she took aim and fired her sniper rifle at NDrimogemon, catching his attention and leading him out of the store.
"Smart move," Tentomon commented on Ruby luring NiseDrimogemon away.
"This is starting to feel like a slaughter," Gyro chuckled as he zipped around NDrimogemon with his semblance, while doing a few strikes with his sword when he found an opening.
"Not that we're complaining!" Pierce grinned as he launched the bottom of his weapon like a grappling hook as it grasped onto NDrimogemon, before electrocuting him, effectively being like a taser.
The Children and their digimon winced a little at the damage the mole digimon was taking.
"Isn't this a little cruel," Ken couldn't help asking
"Maybe a little, but he can take it... I hope," Yamato said, slightly unsure.
"Let's not prolong this more than necessary," Pyrrha chided as she and Jaune ran forward, both of them ramming into NDrimogemon causing him to teeter back, and they kept pushing, making him lose more balance...and revealing a Black Gear in his chest.
"The Black Gear was on Drimogemon's back," Tentomon commented.
"Of course…" everyone sighed, before Weiss created a black Glyph, which promptly launched NDrimogemon back, causing him to tumble and roll onto his back.
"Well, that's that. Ruby, care to do the honors?" Gyro offered.
"Sure!" Ruby grinned, before turning Crescent Rose into its scythe mode, and cutting the Black Gear, causing it to dislodge from the damage and shatter.
(End Song)
NDrimogemon quickly shook his head clear as he rolled back onto his stomach, noticing exactly how many people were looking at him, and eeped as he tunneled back underground.
"Ok… I think that was the last one this time." Gyro said with a relieved sigh as they all put away their weapons.
"Yes it was." Seven pairs of Children and digimon said in unison.
"At least he didn't break the store too much." Weiss said, indicating the entrance which was the only broken part.
"That was pretty awesome though!" Agumon said, walking up to Gyro.
"Totally! I didn't think humans could be so strong!" Salamon added in agreement.
"Neither did I," Gatomon commented, while glancing at Novice.
"...What?" The Overseer didn't feel comfortable at the look he was getting.
"Yeah! That's cause we're Hunters!" Nora said with a cheer.
"In training." Ren tacked on to her sentence with an amused smile.
"Now we just need to get the doors open." Jaune said.
"Give me a moment." Pyrrha said, stepping up and using her semblance to remove the now broken glass doors which only had a metal frame left.
When they stepped inside, they were well surprised to see just how stocked the place was.
"Grab everything!" Ruby said as everyone did just that, grabbing everything they could and stuffing it into the hammerspace pouches.
One of the finds was a bit funny to Gyro, but also made him realise something "Hey, girls! I found pads if any of you are starting soon!" Gyro said as he shook a pack of, well, period pads.
"What pads," Iori asked innocently, earning worried looks from the older girls.
"Girl stuff," Novice said before anyone could say anything they might regret.
"...Okay," Iori said with a slightly suspicious look.
"Gimme! I need one!" Yang said as she walked up him and grabbed an offered one before going into the bathroom. The other girls looked at each other, before taking some themselves, though they thankfully didn't need them quite just yet.
The group continued searching till… "Hm?" Patamon mused as he saw something, before squeezing under a fallen shelf.
"Did you find something, Patamon?" Blake asked. She got her answer when out came a small chest/box, followed by Patamon.
Takeru smiled at the memory of Poyomon finding the box for them.
"Think this might be it?" he asked.
"Well, only one way to find out," Nora grinned as she came and picked up the box, and promptly opened it.
"Nora…" Salamon groaned at her partner's antics.
Gatomon let out a small sigh.
"Here they are!" Nora grinned, turning the box around and showing it to everyone. True enough, inside were 10 tags, exactly like how Gennai had showed them.
"Perfect," Jaune nodded, before they all each took one (including Yang who'd gotten back from the bathroom by now)
"All we need are the Crests and we're good to go," Yang said as she put her Tag around her neck, something they all soon followed suit.
"...Which Crests do they get," Mimi felt the need to ask.
"Take a wild guess," Novice said with a slight snicker.
"Alright, everyone go to the bathroom before we leave, we still have some shelves to clear out right now… and thankfully for you girls, still plenty of pads." Gyro said, adding the last part with a laugh while Yang gave him a light shove.
While they were finishing up with clearing the store out, Pierce turned as he felt someone tapping his shoulder, before Gyro handed him a box "Be responsible." was all he said with a grin, prompting Pierce to look down… and see a box of condoms, making him blush as he looked back at Gyro dryly.
"Good thing we never need those." said a very evil voice right next to Novice.
"Black! When did you get here!?" Novice shouted out in surprise.
"Just now," the black feline said with a cheshire grin, "Anyway, it's funny how you always complained about me not being able to get-YOWL!" Black's words were interrupted by a very red and panicking Novice pulling her cheeks.
"What did I say back in the arena," Novice growled at the feline.
"That you didn't want to have that conversation again," Black was able to say despite what was being done to her cute puffy cheeks.
"What is she talking about," Taichi dared to ask.
"NOTHING! She's talking non-sense again!?" Novice said in panic.
"...I meant about your conversation," Taichi corrected dryly.
"Oh... In that case, it was more about me telling her who's the boss here," Novice said, sounding relieved.
"Uh-huh," Taichi said in suspicion, which was shared by the other older Children.
"Real funny bro." he muttered, yet still put the box away in his pouch.
He wasn't planning on doing anything, but having them on hand could be… needed, one day.
It wasn't long before they were back over the water, standing on Whamon's head while their ship was safely in his mouth. Their journey was far from over, but now they knew they had the first half of the means to get a fighting chance.
With that, the book shut itself in Wisemon's hands.
"...What are you up to this time," Novice asked Black who had a smug look for some reason.
"Just wondering how long it would take until Gyro becomes an uncle, like Taichi in that fic where Hikari became a teen mom," Black said casually.
"WHAT!?" Taichi and Hikari cried out in unison.
"DARN IT BLACK!" Novice roared at the snickering black feline, before the man realized something, "Wait a second! How do you know about that?"
"Remember that the archives are mostly based off of your memory," Black said with a smug smile.
"H-how... Why?" Hikari stammered, earning a worried look from everyone else.
"...In that fic you and... a boy confessed your feelings, but using protection didn't cross your minds at the time... So... yeah," Novice muttered, fearing that there was no easy way out of this, "Remember when I said that there are worse things people have written, this isn't even one of them."
"...What kind of creeps inhabit your world!" Mimi shouted in outrage.
"...Same kind that inhabit yours, to my understanding," Novice shot back, earning disturbed looks from all except Iori. The plugs were blocking parts of this conversation.
"How about the one where meow-," Black was interrupted as she frantically checked her tail to notice a familiar green trinket on it, "Oh, come on!" When did Novice even put that back on?
"No more chances," Novice said with a tone of finality. "Anyway, where's Impmon?" The only reason Novice asked was because last he checked, the imp was annoying Black.
"...Probably getting ice on his swollen face," Black replied easily.
"Right," Novice muttered, having a good guess on why Impmon's face was swollen. Before turning to glance at Hikari who was being comforted by Taichi, and Gatomon. Everyone else joining in to make sure this wasn't too traumatizing information. "Olisi pitänyt tietää että Black yrittäisi jotain tällaista(Should've known Black would try something like this)," Novice thought with a grumble.
Impmon: Owwowow! *presses the ice-pack on his face* Note to self, limit the amount of roasting.
Ophanimon: I'm sure there is a higher lesson to be learned, but I enjoy this too much to figure it out.
Minervamon: He should've known Black would do this to him. I mean, Black outclasses him right now.