I don't own digimon.

Session 12

Target

Adrian Gostelow took a deep breath.

For this special occasion, he had decided upon a plain black suit with matching pants that seemed to compliment his blue eyes and short black hair. Currently, he was standing before the entrance to a large grey building. Strangely, a large colorful sign sat on its roof, reading 'Jester Entertainment'.

He took a deep breath and sighed, returning his attention to the plain set of doors that would take him inside. Adrian then walked over, carefully pushing the doors open and headed through.

Judging by the interior, it would appear there had been some sort of mutiny within the workers. Judging by the blue and orange lava lamp-style floor and an entire wall dedicated to an aquarium. Not even the chairs escaped this mad decorator's wrath, having been replaced with a weird hybrid between a bean bag and a bar stool. How that even worked is beyond me. It just does.

Nonetheless, Adrian made his way over to the reception desk, where a teenage girl dressed in a maid outfit stood. The only interesting thing about her appeared to be her auburn hair and reddish orange eyes.

"My, you're a sight for sore eyes." the girl remarked, only for Adrian to roll his eyes. "And yet you, the SHSL inventor lives on. Miss Arcana is waiting for you."

"Whatever, Cora." Adrian answered, cracking a sly smile. "So, I'm guessing I don't need to tell you why I have come."

The maid did not answer, instead mumbling something about family and stuff.

"Hmm..." Cora whispered as she watched the guest head through a nearby door. "But don't blame me if you don't get what you want."

For Adrian though, a 'hallway' was what awaited him. And by that, I mean it looked like a third grader had drawn it in the dark. Possibly with a white crayon to boot. Nonetheless, the inventor headed on and decided to just hum some sort song. It was probably from something along the lines of '1000% Sparkling' or 'Miracle Go'. You know, a bubbling song from a magical girl anime.

"Does it really matter?" the scientist whispered as he took a deep breath. For the million reasons he had to not head through the next door, there was one good enough reason to do it. If he didn't, it would be sign that the opponent had won.

He reached out towards the door, pulling it open.

Inside, Adrian found in a large empty room. It was decorated with all the traditional fixings of an office, minus one important thing. There was no desk, just a swivel chair and a normal chair. Of course, a familiar third-person speaking jester sat in the swivel chair.

"Adrian took too long." Jestery remarked as she spun around in her chair. "What does Adrian want now?"

Adrian shook the piece of plastic, causing it to reform into a longsword. The only big difference being its lack of a hand guard and the blade slightly curving at the end.

"You know why I am here." Adrian answered as he pointed the sword towards his possible opponent.

"Go on ahead, blame Jestery. Better yet, go and blame sweet mommy kitty Victoria for this." Jestery remarked and Adrian rolled his eyes. "It won't change the truth of this matter."

.

Cycle 1, Digital World

It had been a wonderful day in the Order's main base.

Scientists were hard at work, coming with all sorts of breakthroughs to possibly bring humanity beyond what they currently were at the moment.

Back then, Adrian had been stationed in 'mission control' as part of the bigger group. The whole organization was the result of a joint partnership between three of Japan's most prestigious academies. The first, Mahora Academy, had been known for questionable hiring practices. And by that, I mean being totally willing to just allowing a ten year old child to be part of their facility staff. Somehow, this was enough to awaken the latent powers of his class and cancel out the variety of other questionable stuff they had decided to do.

The second, Hope's Peak, garnered a reputation of turning above average high schoolers into the greatest minds of many respective fields. Never mind their gradually declining funds and total willingness to change average people into 'hope-filled' edgelords. Because bringing hope to all requires turning everyone into Mary Sues and Gary Stus for some reason.

The third, Drogaciji Academy, was the odd one out. They didn't really have a particular focus for their students. Instead choosing to pick those that were unique or didn't quite fit within the general perception of the public. The catch though, was that they 'held onto' these people for an extended period of time. And by that, I mean forever. Rarely does one truly graduate from there. Those that have claimed to have either had some sort of deal worked out or were straight-up liars. Or both. You never could tell with these sorts of people.

At that very moment, the scientist had been interacting with one Verena Tanaka as his wife Lauren watched on.

"Here's your information, Mr Gostelow." the woman explained and held a flash drive out. Adrian quickly snatched the object, ignoring the obvious questions such aswhere she got it or or where exactly she had been keeping it within her cocktail dress. "I hope you put it to good use."

"I will." Adrian whispered and turned his attention back to his wife. "Ready to do this?"

Lauren nodded, quickly changing from a t-shirt and jeans to a labcoat in a matter of seconds. But just as he was about the insert the device in, a 'potted cactus' pricked him.

"What, Prickle?" Adrian shouted only for the cactus to shake its 'head'.

"We have a problem." Prickle answered and took a hop back.

"As in what? Is this a 'We're out of cookies' problem or is this a 'holy shit, things are going horribly wrong' problem?"

"The second one." the cactus added and took the equivalent of a deep breath.

"Then spill it out." Lauren added as she and Verena walked over. Prickle then opened his mouth, only for a teenage boy and girl to walk up. The boy was dressed primarily in a silver jumpsuit, which somehow went quite well with his matching hair and eyes. The girl on the other hand, was dressed in a mix of a red vest with a white t-shirt and plaid skirt. A black tie hung around her neck, seeming to contrast quite greatly with her lime green hair and matching emotionless eyes.

"Yes, spill it out." the emotionless girl whispered and stared down towards the potted cactus.

Prickle then took a deep breath, making sure he had enough room to not stick a needle into someone's skin.

"The subjects have escaped." Prickle finally answered. "I'm not quite sure who exactly allowed them out, but they're out."

The various heads of the order looked among each other with a mix of anger and confusion. In a way, this was something they brought upon themselves. And now, it would be their fellow researchers that would be paying that price.

But in that moment, none of them really cared. For they had a job to do.

As that line was spoken, the memory faded away.

.

"Good times, weren't they?" Jestery taunted, grinning at Adrian. "Adrian, up for chess?"

Adrian didn't answer, instead he decided to just watch as the jester pulled the board and pieces out from somewhere. She then placed it down on the table, placing the black side at her end. Sadly, the SHSL Inventor was not in the mood for such a game and instead chose to slam his longswords towards his gracious host.

"Number #6, Siren Valida or the Practical Mermaid as it's sometimes known." Jestery taunted and conjured a photo of Polly along with one of zippo lighters. She then gave the device a slight flick, watching a small flame form. "You tempted fate once, do you really think you can make lightning strike twice?"

"So what? We were able to save her!" Adrian shouted. "Personally, he should be thanking us. If it weren't for us, she would just be flesh and blood for that beast."

Jestery only laughed, choosing to move the picture even closer to the lighter.

"Oopsy!"

In a matter of seconds, the photo was now just ashes on the desk. Strangely though, the picture reformed into some kind of playing card made up of a bunch of other cards.

"You've already made your decision, haven't you?" Jestery whispered and took a deep breath. She then slammed her hands together, conjuring up a pair of butterfly blades. Unlike the ones usually used by her mother, Jestery's had an ebony handle with a silver blade. "And to think, I was willing to give her to you. I guess I'll just go with my other option then."

"Do you really think that scares me?" Adrian answered and readied his blade for one more strike.

"For so long, we have been your toys, trapped in a never-ending loop of life and death." Jestery screamed, kicking Adrian out of his chair and onto the ground. "Soon, all that will change. No more will we stand by and let you people have your way, for the wheel of fortune is now spinning in our direction!"

Jestery Trick!

The jester threw both of her blades up into the air, causing it to reform into a butterfly-like shape. The animated creature then slammed itself down, impaling itself into Adrian. Afterwards, the blade returned to Jestery, who watched as the inventor teleported away.

"I have done it." she thought and clapped her hands together, watching her weapons dissipate into air once more...

Notes:

Overall, this wasn't that bad of a chapter to edit. The hardest part was finding the time to do so.

.

Next Time: We return to Elena's group, with the spotlight on Joey...