I don't own digimon.

Chapter 5

Sparking up an interest

A part of Blaze and Yvonne couldn't believe what they were seeing in front of them at the moment. There was no way that this little dragon could actually be a member of their team. But in the face of everything that had gone down in the last twelve hours alone, this seemed almost normal to an extent. Was kind of hoping for something to happen right out of left field. You know, the rain being a different color (even having a color) or certain fruits tasting 'different' to an extent. Oh well. Those sorts of differences do little in varying up a world. It's in the big changes where that can be found. Most of the time at least. There does exist a small handful of supposed 'copycat' worlds. But those are nothing of note and rarely worth your time.

"Friends?" Bubbles chimed and took a small step towards the group. These people looked nice enough at first glance, but how would they feel about letting him join?

"Uh… sure." Blaze whispered, taking the time to kneel down and be on the dragon's level. Yvonne on the other hand, kept her distance. Not because she didn't trust her teammate's decision. Far from it. She just wanted to let the fighter have his turn leading. Or something along those lines. A handshake followed. "I'm Blaze."

Bubbles stared towards the fighter, confused by the snake that was currently hanging around their leg. So they focused on that rather than the fighter at the moment. Didn't really make this any less weird.

"Bubbles." the dragon answered back, reaching out for Balamon. Thankfully, Phusitmon saw where this was going and pushed his partner's hand down. Did get the dragon a look of sorts. Not that the plush rabbit digimon really minded as Yvonne finally decided now was her time to approach.

"Yvonne." she whispered, taking the time to look around the area. Compared to the cramped alleyways that housed a majority of her clan, this was a strange change of pace. Not a bad one, mind you.

Currently, the trio were standing in the middle of Aldia's main streets. Up ahead, was a cluster of inns, taverns and restaurants that made up the main bulk of food and lodging for the area. Of note, was the Black Cat Inn. Just from the large stained glass installation proudly displaying the titular cat alone, these people meant business.

"So how are you, Phusitmon?" Munbimon remarked and received a sigh in return. "Hey. I could think of a ton of worse options than this little cutie here."

Bubbles stood himself up a little taller upon hearing that. Noticing the difference though, was actually quite hard. Guesstimate-wise, I would say around millimetre at most. Possibly less from just eyeballing it. Such a change didn't last long, the result of our little dragon priest losing his balance. He managed to catch himself. Always a plus.

"I'm alright." Phusitmon muttered, a sigh following his remark. With the way that this whole mission had gone so far, it was quite a miracle that they had managed to find each other. Or perhaps it's a matter of logistics and a 'small' area with just a handful of locations to really look over. But don't quote me on that. "How about you two?"

Between the two other digimon, a mix between indifference and frustration was all he got. Exaggerated to an extent, I like to believe there's more going on here. Oh. Now it's turned into something a bit more mellow. Phew.

"We're doing quite well." Balamon explained, taking the time to give Phusitmon one more look. Munbimon did something similar. She did add in a fake throw. Makes me wish she would stop that. At least pick something up.

"Should we at least check out the inn?" Yvonne continued, her gaze already focused on the establishment. Outside of the stained glass window, the exterior of the Inn had some care put into it. Painted pale white with gray accents, almost as if they were trying to balance out the amount of color held within the stained glass. Not quite successful, someone had started at least to change for a more cream color. Of course, a sign modeled off of the titular stained glass window hung in front of double doors.

"Yeah." Blaze remarked, taking the time to scoop Balamon back up. This time, the snake decided the shoulder was as good of a place as any for observing a possibly crowded establishment. Munbimon on the other hand was just going to float. Fair enough. Which just left Phusitmon and where he was going to go at the moment. Sure, there was the option of the much larger Yvonne or even Blaze. But right now, something told the plush rabbit that it would probably be best to stay by Bubbles at the moment.

The actual walk towards the inn past quite briskly for the group. There was no real plan or strategy here. Just a slow cautious approach towards the inn.

The light of the stained glass faded in from the outside, making the place look like a kaleidoscope in some parts. The rest was sadly not as colorful to take in. Whitish yellow walls surrounded the trio in a large 'L' shape, with a staircase leading up to a couple rooms to their right. A kitchen and dining room of some kind had been placed on the left side, with the receptionist desk off to the side. Currently unmanned, of course. Hopefully no one shows up wanting a room. Or even worse, wants to check out and head on. Makes one wonder what the places beyond Aldia look like.

A crowd had gathered towards the northern end of this large room. Majority of them is orcs, followed by a succubi and the other typical fantasy races. Hmm… Something to look into at a future point.

Their attention appeared to be on one woman at the moment. A dwarf, she was fiddling with a large rock. Doesn't explain the choice of a trench coat of all garments for her getup. Auburn hair and topaz eyes, typical dwarven features. Doesn't look too be on the hammered side though. Can't think of a dwarf I know who wasn't. Their alcohol rules are really strange. Supposedly. Yet, she's probably holding back for the show. Fair enough. No one really likes a drunk performer. Well, maybe bards do.

A suitcase of some kind is just jutting out from the side of the stage. I think I can see some scrap jutting out. Metal, maybe? Yeah. Something like that. Not sure that explains the familiar-looking rock on the ground or...

"That can't be…" Balamon muttered, tightening his grip on Blaze's arm. The fighter got the message, making his way towards the crowd. Bubbles and Yvonne followed right behind. Except one of them wasn't quite keeping their eye on things at the moment.

"Princess…" the little dragon chimed, gaze now locked onto a woman sitting in the back corner. Decked out in a fancy dress with many petticoats, her short stature came across as refined - almost as if she was a living doll carved with a massive amount of love. But that didn't explain at all why they were so uncomfortable. Their hair was colored as bright shade of white available, with the hairstyle chosen a tower of locks with jewels and ribbon. Didn't explain why her skin look so smooth but at the same time - leathery. Or even the set of faded green eyes that looked graceful but somehow out

Temptation right in front of him, Bubbles gave the woman one last look and focused his attention on the crowd. Even if everyone was a couple feet taller than the dragon and made it hard to really see anything.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I welcome you to Ella's Show of Wonders!" the dwarf announced and smoothed out her trenchcoat. Which was more of an excuse to grab the meteorite and stash it away for the moment."For my return back to this wonderful town, I present… this!"

Ella clapped her hands, causing a turret of sorts to appear. Makeshift in appearance, I don't quite trust such a device. Thing looks like it'll explode if you even glare at it wrong. Might want to get that fixed that later. Oh right. None of them can hear me. My bad.

The turret twists about, shooting out what looks to be little spheres of energy. Currently set to 'stun', they dance about the area in a circular motion. The uses are obvious, even if it does make me wish for a different firing mode. Maybe something that arcs across an area? Yeah, that would be handy in some situations. Or perhaps a full-auto mode. Just throwing it out there.

The demonstration ended with the projectiles exploding and leaving behind a cloud of smoke. Crowd was dead silent though. Not a good start to something like this. Especially when your briefcase looks ready to burst open and eat a person.

She then knelt down, bringing up the rock. Much like the ones that our heroes found, it too looked like a meteorite. How she managed to pick it up without disturbing the creature was a secret to everyone. "Now, can I have a volunteer from the audience, please?"

Nearly the entire crowd's hands went up. Which meant Ella having to get up onto her tippy toes while standing on a box of something. Probably soap, maybe produce. "The miss in the far back, how about you?"

Bubbles gaze swiveled over, intently watching as the woman from earlier got up and squeezed her way through the crowd. Occasional glances towards the back follow, just in case someone was keeping watch of them for some unknown reason.

"Such a pretty rock." the lady cooed, stepping up onto the stage. The tapping of heels against wood followed with each step. "I don't think you would mind me touching it, right?"

Ella nodded, only to begin fiddling with her trench coat some more. Maybe she needs to get a smaller one for future shows. Yeah. That's probably it. Nonetheless, the meteorite changes hands.

"You're such a dear." she cooed, blowing a kiss towards Ella. She didn't really accept all that gracefully. No, she tried to shoot it down with the turret. No such luck.

With that out of the way, this strange lady makes her exit. Or well, tries too at least. Mostly because Bubbles had managed to make his way up onto the stage. Without even being asked. How rude. Kind of expected for a dragon though. They grow as big as they want, taking whatever they want. Though, some have gone full-on princess for whatever reason. Had one do an assembly at the school a while back. They were more of an oriental princess, which is a nice change from the more medieval-themed ones. That didn't explain the woman carved from what looked to be ice itself draped in a kimono of snow. Quite a nice couple. Hopefully, life is going well for them.

"Princess!"

The lady looked down towards her dress, finding Bubbles giving the garment a slight tug. Nothing malicious, just curious in regards to inquires related to princesses. He's only like five, maybe six at best. Yeah. Sounds about right. All of which raised by a parent who might've been there. Might have not. Fuck. That sounds tragic. Crap. I want to give him a hug. Maybe some other day when they can actually hear me.

A kick followed, with what I can only assume is a halfling now makes a break for it. How rude.

"Hey! It's Madame Von Strauss!" one of the crowd members announced, the group breaking away and leaving our heroes high and dry. While Bubbles did book it that way, he tripped and landed on his face. Looked alright, though.

"You little…" Yvonne muttered and brought up her warhammer. Ms Strauss ignored her idle threat for the moment. How rude. Though, her dress had already given way to a more comfortable jumpsuit. The aging of their skin has returned to normal, leaving us with someone who appears to be from the timeframe as everyone else. Even her hairstyle looks a lot more simple, just hanging down to her shoulders. Still that stupid shade of white with a whip to boot. Oh. I can see where this is all going.

"So long suckers!"

The 'thief' finally made her exit. No one really stopped her. Actually, there's something bothering me. Where's the police? This town has to have a security force of some kind. Unless the various succubi and their beloveds are somehow a deterrent (maybe?). Or perhaps this is a weird town where people have alternative methods for dealing with this stuff.

After, Ella let out a chuckle. Not an evil one, thankfully. That's not something our heroes could really deal with at the moment.

"Idiot." the artificer muttered, giving her suitcase a slight kick. The large box springs open, revealing what looks to be a second meteorite. It didn't look too happy being stuffed inside such a box. Not that one would really blame them for feeling that way. Though, no one was expecting them to hatch immediately. No bright light, sadly. Taking the form of a labrador with feline-like features, their next action is to knock Ella over.

"You… idiot!" the dog cat thing announced and began to shake the artificer about. It looked like she was enjoying it. For some reason. "You told me your dream, then told me to wait in your briefcase. At least let me hatch beforehand!"

Ella let out a sigh. Today was definitely not going her way. In between Madame's appearance and this whole meteorite thing, her level of excitement was drained 100%. No, 200%. Something like that.

"Uh… hi?" she finally greeted, attention fully now on what remains on the crowd. Which was just our heroes at the moment. "Like I said, I'm Ella."

Blaze gave a nod, he and Yvonne making their way over. They did make sure to keep their weapons at their side when approaching. Just in case things did go south and a fight were to some reason break out in that moment.

"Blaze." the fighter explained and knelt down, just at the artificer's level. Which got him kicked in the groin. It wasn't that painful. Or maybe it was a reflection on something in relation to that in regards to size. Nah. Probably just wanted to screw with him.

"You don't have to be such a gentleman." Ella countered and got on her tippy toes. Yvonne set her warhammer down and held her hand out. She was reluctantly accepted, a low uttering of her name following. 'Thank you. Can I have a minute?"

Her 'companions' nod, watching the artificer head behind the curtain. The strange dog feline thing followed right behind.

Compared to the room we've just left, this is a lot smaller. Almost homely, to an extent. A queen-sized bed sits comfortably in the far right corner, while a desk covered in scrap and makeshift machinery took over the opposite corner. A stool of some kind sat under it. As for the other furniture, that was a mix between stuff that had gotten into a bad accident and/or riddled with holes. Not quite the best showcase of someone's room so far.

"Sorry about this." Ella explained, sitting herself down on the bed. Her partner does much the same. Hopefully no dirty pawprints were transferred over in the process. Absolutely dreadful to get out of fabric. "If you hadn't hatched just a bit before me going up on stage, I would've gotten the chance to study you…"

She got a head shake. A deep breath from the dog feline creature is what comes next.

"Could've just delayed your show." they remarked and watch Ella look away.

"I know. But in between chiseling the fake egg and whatnot, I wanted to rebound…"

A slight tap.

"Cinemon, your digimon partner." they announce, the words seeming to catch their partner by surprise. Expected at this point, even if it is a little bit annoying when you think about it. "You've been chosen much like the people out there."

Ella gazed out towards the stage. Bubbles waved back, having pulled himself up in the process. Though now, he was just playing with his princess dolls. Sure, losing Madame kind of sucked, but that could be amended.

"Nice doggie."

The artificer swiveled around, finding a grunt trying to climb their way through the window. While successful, one of them decided that this was above their paygrade. Instead, they decide to skulk about. Which isn't any more helpful than attempting to climb through a window. But I digress.

"This is your time to shine. Buck up." Cinemon explained. "You should find a collar in your hand now."

Ella looked down to her hand, finding a circular device attached to a metal collar. She slipped it on and the whispering of the magical word followed. All while the grunts continued their climb inside.

"Infuse!" Ella announced, a yellow aura appearing around her small body. "Spark!"

The grunts now inside took a cautious step back. At this point, they had learned the same lesson no less than three times with three different people. Or so I thought.

"Turret, go!"

Oh. so I guess she isn't a fan of the whole 'pickaxe' thing. Fine by me. Even if having a secondary is always a good policy. No matter the situation. Which is why I always have a knife of some kind on me. Right, back to the story.

"Your turret doesn't sc-"

Ella just rolled her eyes, focusing fire on the grunt. They didn't have time to finish their sentence, a current of electricity doing the work here. That's what I was talking about. Whoo.

Of course, the shock traveled into the other grunt of the duo. How nice of the weapon to do that for her. Well, up until the part where the thing disappeared and left Ella defenseless. Outside of her briefcase.

"Infuse!" Cinemon shouted, a yellow outline appearing around their body. "Arcane!"

Arcane Mewl!

What's a mewl? Now you're just making stuff up on the fly. Unless that's the sound Cinemon makes when they're not in the mood to speak english or whatever this variant of this language is even called. Best answer I have right now. Good enough.

As for the strange sound, that resulted in some of those little orbs from earlier. Lot more powerful too. Especially with the soundwave knocking the two grunts back. Ow. That's a mark if I've ever seen one. All the more reason for our unlucky grunts to take a jump back out.

"Uh… Thank you?" Ella whispered, making her way back into the other room. She did a bow and watched the trio approach. "This is Cinemon. I guess I'm one of you guys now?"

Yvonne nodded. The barbarian was a little cautious after the junk punch to Blaze. Didn't stop her approach, though.

"Welcome to the team, I guess?" she whispered and held a gauntlet-cladded hand out. Ella did shake it, her focus now on the door. "Madame?"

Ella nodded.

"She's still going pass the fake off as a real one." the artificer explained and petted Cinemon. "If nothing else, we need to track her down."

Three nods were her present. Accepting them, the group made their exit.

Notes:

Compared to Bubbles, this was a lot easier of a chapter to write (chapters are written two at a time). Just getting it to a state that I liked was the challenge.

Yes, I'm aware this the third female leader in a row. Oops?

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Next Time: Like a thief in the night, caught within themselves.