I don't own Digimon.

Chapter 88

Shattered Reputation

Well, that was something. Nice as it was to have DM of all people (entities? Programs? I'm not completely sure) drop by, I kind of wish they could maybe attempt to be a bit more discreet. At least give a heads-up before yanking my connection from my tools. What do you mean you're mad. They did nothing to you. Oh. You wanted to talk to Salamon. Maybe you'll get a chance once they connect once more to confirm that Bubbles is heading back or something. Now, let's see. I think I got it back to a state where I can continue looking… hopefully. Yes, I'm very much aware of the irony here. Nor do I think that was their intention here. They were just trying to be helpful, even if the method was a touch intrusive in the process. That's all.

Orb connection restored.

Staring within, the Shaky Wall Cafe is now long gone. Their meal now eaten and plans most definitely made, I find our heroes on their way towards what looks to be the former fortress. Sorry about that, everyone. Had some technical difficulties there. But they should be all smoothed out now. Or at least, in a state where they won't do something that would prevent me from doing my job.

"That doesn't explain why you cut out for that period." Melody called out and pulled Lumosmon down. Afterwards, her gaze turned to the sky. That was DM contacting me with their partially fixed system in the hopes of being helpful. Except they gave me nothing in the way of a warning that they were going to do that before hijacking my system. Which is very much a thing they can do. I wonder if there is anything in the way of defenses that can be employed. Probably not. "Wait. Does that mean that DM can narrate stuff on their side?"

Coming to a stop, everyone's head shifted to looking up to the sky. Currently overcast and on the verge of a storm, it fits everything that's gone done today. Whether or not that's a good thing remains to be seen. Though, did anything of interest happen while I was unable to narrate?

"Not really?" Blaze answered, ignoring Balamon slithering from his left shoulder to the right. Once the flame snake digimon found a position that he liked, his gaze joined his partner up towards the sky. "We decided that we were going to move Bubbles's mother and all of Maddie's relatives out of the tunnels."

Would it be wrong of me to assume that you'll be taking them to the cemetery after making sure that there is nothing new that can be learned off of them in the hopes of burying them?

"Correct." Maddie answered and let out a deep breath. Pulling their head down, focus turning to the edge of the fortress. There, an orc was staring in their general direction. From this distance, it's quite hard to determine what their intent is. Though, you can just make out some kind of pink gown adorning their body. But as quickly as this mystery orc had appeared, they had already made their exit to some other part of the fortress. Odd. I'm not particularly sure how you got on their bad side, but you did. "I guess. Even with the information Mari Gold has given us, there's still a whole bunch of holes in my knowledge of my family history."

That, among a crudton of other things and factors that could play a part in this strange mystery. Or perhaps mysteries. I hope I don't sound like a broken phonograph when talking about this.

"Not at all." Kollmon answered and shifted her grip on Cassandra's journal. If you're going down into the tunnels, do you have a place to put it so you don't wreck it any further?

The gale mole digimon's gaze swiveled to Rantha. Getting a nod from the merchant, she came to a stop. Rantha made his way over and bent down to be on the gale mole digimon's level. The transaction that followed was short and sweet - the notebook finding its way into Rantha's coat. Just need to make sure that said coat doesn't get wet by accident.

"I'm very much aware." Rantha muttered and gazed down at his hand. While his justified tantrum had wrecked some healing Bubbles had done prior to that, they still look to be in relatively good shape. Turning his focus back to the fortress, a deep breath. Are you going to be alright? "Yeah. This is just one step on my way to fixing my mistakes."

Carinamon nodded and joined his partner in staring towards the fortress. Looking for a couple moments, he was cut off by Rantha standing up and making a beeline to join back up with the main group and their digimon partners.

Passing through what remained of the fortress's gate, there's no sign of our mystery orc. Ignoring the stop to hand over the journal, they couldn't have gotten particularly far… right?

"They would've need to have gone faster than someone like Munbimon." Cinemon remarked and got a look from the ghost monkey digimon. I'm actually not completely sure which of you is the fastest. On the ground, you're all relatively the same spe-

Before I even had a chance to get my sentence all out, Lumosmon began flashing a variety of colors to everyone in the general vicinity. But mostly Melody.

"I highly doubt that Mister forgot you." the mystic explained and shifted Lumosmon up slightly. For the number of times you've had to grab him, I'm surprised he hasn't wrecked your kimono. "Same. While I would like it to stay that way, sooner or later something will happen to wreck it."

Fair enough. I'm lucky that most of the stuff I can wear is readily available all throughout the academy - even with everything all destroyed and sentient food running around. A win-win in this shuttle situation I was given.

Unlike the previous place, rebuilding efforts were in full swing. While there isn't a good way to know whether or not some of this stuff was in the works before the trial got into full swing, a good number of foundations and walls look to have been set up in the last couple days. Heck, even a few structures look to be nearing completion. This particular building very much wasn't. No, the orcs here were just on the cusp of starting the building of the walls.

"Is there anything that I can help you with? Rantha called out and was treated to a couple looks from the orcs working on this particular place. Heck, one even looked ready to throw their hammer right at the merchant.

"Why should we? You'll just destroy it all once more!" one of the builders announced, scooping up a discarded piece of wood. Hurling it in Rantha's direction, it was easily met by Carinamon's claws. Snapped in a single strike, the feathered scorpion digimon jumped off of his partner's shoulder. Or would've, if not for the fact that Rantha lifted him back up and set Carinamon back on his shoulder.

"If they don't want my help, so be it." the merchant muttered and focused on his companions. A deep breath followed. While a bust, there was bound to be tons of opportunities where he could show these people his true colors. Just needed to give it time.

"That doesn't mean you should let them walk right over you." Carinamon countered and got an eye roll from his partner. I wouldn't quite consider something simple like declining help to be our merchant 'getting walked over' by others.

"I get that you're trying to be supportive, but can you drop it? You are kind of sounding like a broken phonograph here." Rantha continued and shot the sky a glance. I'll do my best, but no guarantees.

Heading away from this building project, the rest of the walk to the tunnel entrance passed with ease. Kind of surprised we haven't run into Marulyn in some capacity considering where we are.

"You were saying?" a voice called out and our elven mage made her approach. How have you been holding up these last couple days? "Pretty good. I've got to spend a bunch of time repairing the sucell and working on other things."

Yvonne's gaze shot over to her girlfriend, what looked to be a cautious look followed. I guess it depends on what you mean by other things. Is it stuff that would speed up the building process here or are we talking about something more personal?

"The former." Marulyn continued and took a moment to look our group over. Eventually, her gaze stopped where I can only assume where Bubbles would be. "Where's Bubbles and his plush rabbit thing?"

Rantha let out a sigh. Taking a moment to compose himself, things would be alright. Or at least, something closely resembling that.

"He got grabbed because I was an idiot." the merchant explained and waited a moment for Marulyn's gaze to swivel over to meet him. Muttering something to just the ground, a nod followed. Huh. Not quite the reaction one would expect here. "Really? You're just going to accept that story and not really ask any further questions?"

Marulyn's gaze shifted over to Yvonne.

"Considering everything leading up to Rantha being an idiot, he's telling the truth." Yvonne explained and got a look from her girlfriend. To be fair, everything leading up to this sounds like something you make up for a story to tell friends when you're bored and want them to believe that you're more adventurous than you actually are. That kind, if you get what I'm say- No, Salamon. I very much do not have any of those. But that's beyond the point. "There was a guy in the tunnels that hated dragons. After rescuing him, he claimed that dragons were after him and then robbed Rantha of his digivice along with Bubbles."

Marulyn nodded and looked over to Maddie. Currently looking for our mystery orc, their gaze eventually found its way over to the elven mage.

"How are you holding up?" she inquired and Maddie let out a deep breath. Taking a moment to clear their throat, a sigh followed. Between the trial and now Bubbles being situated on Distant Harmony's ship in the Digital World, I can't imagine you being that happy.

"You're right. I'm not." Maddie answered and stared up to the sky. Looking back to Marulyn, their 'gun' shifted slightly in its holster. But that doesn't really bother the thief currently. If it were to fall out, I don't think it'll go off… hopefully. Which is on top of most people knowing not to grab it. "I'll live. Just not the kind of thing I want to be happening now of all times."

Ella's gaze shot over, hand already reaching out to her girlfriend. Grabbing hold, a squeeze followed as their eyes met. Getting a nod, their attention returned to Marulyn.

"By any chance could we have the sucell's help?" Yvonne inquired and watched her girlfriend look in the direction of her workshop. Giving a whistle, one could just make out her creation making a beeline right for our heroes. Any moment it should be here. I hope.

A couple minutes pass. Uh… shouldn't it be here by now? I would assume that whatever was supposed to be powering the sucell is not quite working the way that it doesn't? Or is there some kind of threat here that we weren't aware of?

"Of course it decides to not work here." Marulyn muttered and whistled a second time. This did the trick and the sucell was moving at the proper speeds. Not sure what had happened the previous time. Maybe they were a touch rusty? "No, I had it fly out earlier for a short period of time in the morning."

I was joking, for the record. I would more than assume that you were regularly testing it, especially after the Yvette mess. But that explanation works too as the sucell lands on the floor. Turning to face Marulyn, they pump their hand into the air and bring it down. That's… a unique entrance to make. Kind of leaves the Sucell open to be attacked.

"I like it." Blaze announced and watched the sucell focus on him. Giving them a wave, the dancer got treated to a wave in return. Then it's back to focusing on Marulyn. Not even getting a response from the elven mage, their focus shifted to Yvonne. One more wave for good measure, regardless of the first two waves.

"Uh… hi?" Yvonne called out and the sucell grabbed hold of her hand. Dancing about the knight, I feel like I'm missing something significant here. "I get that you were created by my girlfriend… so uh nice to meet you?"

The sucell nodded and watched Yvonne grab hold for now. Turning in the direction of the tunnels, off we go once more through the streets of the fortress. Though, how the hell would we go about draining the tunnels? Contrary to some of the things that have happened, you can really 'destroy' water. You can change the state that it's in, but any further than that and all one gets is an explosion.

"What if we heat it up?" Balamon announced, carefully looking up to the sky. While that would work, you would need a lot of heat in an area that we have no real way of knowing the full extent of the tunnels and how much water is there.

"We also have the possible problem of this like being Aldia's primary source of water." Kollmon added, her gaze shifting to Ella and Maddie. That would be kind of odd. And before you ask, my home is currently using a mix of magical pots and piping. Not a drop wasted. Unless you're a certain someone and are insistent on having a 'bubble bath'. I'm not completely sure where the heck I'm going to get the stuff for the 'bubbles', but I'll figure something out.

"You would use soap." Cinemon called out and shot the sky a glance for the briefest of moments. I'll keep that in mind. Bringing his gaze back down, the feline dog digimon sniffed the air. Find anything?

Cinemon shook his head and looked over to the rest of the group. Making his way back over, he comfortably rejoined right by Ella. Did get him a pet in the process. Turning ahead, the rest of our walk is relatively peaceful. Passing by buildings, construction sites and other structures, the tunnels come into view. Compared to the previous visit, the circumstances involved are somehow both better and worse. If you can believe it.

"Yeah." Munbimon announced and jumped off of Yvonne's shoulder. Gliding over to Melody for the moment, Lumosmon attempted to swat her away. Still trapped in Melody's arms, that attempt was not quite successful. "You won't mind?"

Melody nodded. Afterwards, her gaze turned to Yvonne. Whispering something under her breath, she got a response back from the knight. Pretty obvious what was asked here. So I will not repeat it.

"Are you ready to help us out at least, Lumosmon?" Melody continued and carefully opened her arms. The lantern moth digimon fluttered out, only to slam the top of their lantern right into the mystic. Guess that's a no th-

Just to make sure that his disdain for this whole thing was absolutely crystal clear, he made sure to shine all red for good measure. I think everyone gets that you're not particularly happy being unable to fly around for the near entirety of the walk from the cafe.

Eventually, Lumosmon gave up on his tirade and chose to float by Yvonne. While not the knight's first choice of partner, she was more than willing to deal with it for now. Or at least until the lantern moth digimon calmed down as she approached the tunnel entrance. The rest of the party followed right behind, care being taken as they crossed the divide between the warm outside of the fortress and the much darker interior of this labyrinth of flooded tunnels.

"Do you really think there are other dragons down here?" Ella called out and Maddie turned to face her. Giving the artificer a shrug, what sounded like a sigh followed. While possible, we still don't have a complete idea on what Bubbles actual diet was before coming into your care. It's entirely possible that there's something down here to serve as food. That isn't corpses or something related to humanoids.

"It's possible, but not very likely." Maddie answered and looked ahead. Bubbles' former home was up ahead and in turn - the deceased body of his mother. Even from this distance, one can make out one of her wings. Can we even move her out in one piece? Or would it be better to cut her up and move them in pieces. "Depends on how much stuff we would need to move out of the way."

Her words roll out, echoing across the walls of the tunnels. Somewhere beyond our first destination does it eventually drop off and fade into silence. Letting out a sigh, the thief took a moment to compose themself. Bubbles's mother was the least of their worries here. No, the bodies of their mother and her descendants were of a huge concern. What secrets could they possibly still be holding after all these years? Regardless of the state of Mari Gold's memory, having something concrete would go a long way in making sure that the mistakes were never repeated for future generations. Better yet, perhaps they could nip this completely in the bud for good. Wishful thinking, but understandable. You're probably not the only one who would want that, I imagine.

"Yeah." Kollmon answered and reached out to her partner's hand. Maddie grabbed hold, feeling the gale mole digimon gave her best squeeze. Nowhere close to the ones that Ella usually gave, the thief still appreciated the gesture. Then it's back to looking ahead. No sign of anyone else as we reach the body of Bubbles's mother. The mountain of trash holding the water back remains strong, even in the face of the possible things our heroes might need to do in order to get her out. One can only imagine the amount of time it must have taken to assemble all that trash.

"Or even collect all of it." Marulyn remarked and did a small lap around Bubbles's deceased mother. Coming to a stop off to the side, she raised her hand up. "Uh… you guys were the last ones down here, right?"

Making their way over to the elven mage, it's tough to make out at first. But once everyone's heads stopped moving, what Marulyn had found became crystal clear- a pile of ashes with part of a dress sticking out.

Notes:

I don't really have anything for here.

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Next Time: Checking in on Bubbles and stuff.