This time, the Children and their partners didn't need a break but wanted to go straight for the next chapter.
Novice smiled at this and made the book float from Gomamon to Hawkmon.
The hawk digimon shrugged and opened the book from the appropriate page. But then Hawkmon looked up to Novice, "Just out of curiosity, why does the book shut itself every time we finish a chapter?"
Novice stared at Hawkmon like the red and white bird asked a stupid question, "Uhhh...Because I expected you guys to take a break every chapter."
"Well, now that we're not are you going to remove it?" Miyako then asked.
"Of course not. Besides, I want to ensure that none of you read further than the chapter, just so that no one needs a break mid-chapter." Novice explained, "But if you all feel up to taking more than one chapter in a single sitting, then I won't stop you."
Everyone seemed to accept the explanation as Hawkmon began reading.
Best Day Ever!
For some reason, the thumbnail showed JNPPR and RWGBY facing against each other with their respective partners in their Adult forms.
That didn't sit well with anyone.
"Even if they're playing some kind of game, that looks a little... fierce." Hikari said in slight worry.
"Come now, Hikari. Remember that these humans can take a hit from an Adult level digimon easily." Gatomon pointed out.
"Still..." Hikari muttered.
The streets of Vale were rather quiet that morning. As such, few really took notice of an odd pair walking through the streets. One was a boy that had silvery hair that was swept back slightly, wearing a blue, short sleeved jacket with black pants, and next to him was a girl with dark skin, with mint colored hair and red eyes, wearing an intricate white and green top that left her stomach exposed, along with brown chaps over a pair of white pants.
The two were walking down the streets, headed towards a certain shop: 'Tukson's Book Trade'. Once they were at the shop, both of them looked at each other with a smirk, and walked into the store. However…
"...did we come early?" the green haired girl, Emerald, asked, noticing how...empty the place was.
"No...the stock's all here, the door wasn't locked, and the sign says open," the silver haired guy, Mercury, noted.
"Jo?" Gomamon was the first to say, but his partner was already rifling through the guidebook.
"Ahha! Emerald and Mercury are Cinder's lackeys, and in canon they killed Tukson." Jo looked a little worried at the last part.
"I'm sure Gyro and Pierce have thought of something." Palmon said confidently.
"Then...where is he?" Emerald frowned...before Mercury was suddenly blown back, and seemed to hit an invisible wall. "What the?!"
"Barrier set and ready," came a new amused voice, as a pair of almost invisible walls were now present, keeping them from touching the shop's stock and making a somewhat small area to move in. Then three figures faded into view, all three clearly Digimon. It was Wizardmon, Renamon, and Guilmon, with the reptile growling at the intruders, eyes narrowed into slits.
Judging by the digimon involved, it looked to the Chosen that Azure, Summer and Takato were involved in this.
"I wonder how they got Guilmon involved?" Veemon wondered aloud.
"They probably just told him that bad people were coming after Takato's dad." Gabumon guessed. "I mean, that's what I would do if Yamato's dad was threatened like that."
"Thanks, Gabumon." Yamato said while rubbing his partner's head.
"What are a bunch of Digimon doing here?" Mercury frowned.
"Well, we should ask you the same," Renamon said. "It's not nice to plan to kill nice people."
"What?! How did you…?" Emerald blinked.
"Know? Let's just say a little bird told us some bad people were planning to off Mr. Tukson. That's not nice, especially when he's been so nice to us and the other kids," Wizardmon said.
Now Emerald and Mercury's eyes widened in alarm. They knew. Somehow, they knew ahead of time that they were coming. That...shouldn't be possible. However, they weren't easily deterred. "Oh yeah? Well, what are you going to do about it?" Mercury growled...before suddenly darting forward, as a blade suddenly extended from his foot, to which he aimed it at Guilmon. However, the blade promptly broke when it made contact with the dinosaur's hide.
The Chosen or their partners didn't expect Mercury's blade to snap against Guilmon's hide.
"That's some tough hide." Agumon commented.
"Umm... I think my pelt could do the same." Gabumon said while rubbing the Garurumon pelt he wears. After all, Garurumon fur is said to be as hard as mithril.
Guilmon growled angrily, before turning to him and opening his mouth, firing a ball of flames, which hit Mercury dead on, sending him flying out the door, as the barrier didn't cover it.
Emerald acted quickly, and tried to use her Semblance on one of them...but suddenly Wizardmon made a hand seal and suddenly she felt like something hit her right back, causing her to stumble back.
Gatomon shook her head,"You don't do low level illusions in front of Wizardmon."
"Emerald's semblance is more akind to hijacking your opponents senses, so I wouldn't call it low level." Novice corrected, "Not that it matters, since they were prepared."
"And stay out," Renamon said, appearing before her, and kicking her in the face, sending her flying out as well.
"Yes!" Mimi cheered, earning weirded out looks from others. "...Sorry." Mimi then apologized in embarrassment.
"It's alright, I think we all feel the same." Sora said with a smile.
"Who...the heck...told you about this?!" Mercury growled...noting part of his legs had been melted off.
"Didn't say, though they mentioned something about 'Dust Shipment' to make us trust them. Glad we did. If you ever feel like trying again, we'll be ready and with friends," Wizardmon said, before they slammed the door, leaving two VERY confused assassins.
"Okay, so they're playing it off as someone tipping them off." Jo commented on Wizardmon's words.
"That would make the bad guys look for them without realizing they're running around in circles," Taichi worked out, "That's very smart."
"And meanwhile, team RWGBY and JNPPR can still have fun, while preparing for their next move." Koshiro added in.
Meanwhile…
"Man...time sure flies," Gyro mused as teams RWGBY and JNPPR along with their Digimon partners were gathered in the cafeteria for breakfast...which frankly had QUITE a spread for 'breakfast'.
"We're already in Volume 2, which means…" Pierce noted, as right as he said that, a thud was heard as Ruby had placed a...okay, if that was Weiss's binder, than he didn't know binders came in that size…or why she even needed that in the first place.
"Why is it that big?" Daisuke asked, not comprehending why someone would need a binder of that size.
"Well... maybe... Weiss is very keen on taking notes?" Ken answered weakly.
"Sisters! Friends! Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream." Ruby said.
"Someone's in an extra good mood today," Gomamon commented from where he was munching on a sandwich.
"A dream that one day, all of us would come together, and as a team has the most fun anyone has ever had, ever!" Ruby continued, not remotely deterred by the comment.
"Hey, isn't that the binder that went missing," Tentomon commented, looking at the binder...which had the words 'Best Day Ever Activities!' written under a very obviously scratched out previous name...which still very clearly read 'Vytal Festival Activities' with 'Property of Weiss Schnee' under it.
"I am not a crook," Ruby said.
"Seriously?" Mimi said, looking embarrassed.
"Doesn't Ruby know that stealing is wrong?" Palmon asked.
"Ruby probably didn't see it as stealing." Novice commented, "She probably just thought she was improving Weiss' designs by making them 'less boring'." The Overseer did air quotations for emphasis.
"That's a little rude." Miyako commented.
"The crudely scratched out label says otherwise," Salamon said flatly from where she was next to Nora, watching her partner spoon-catapult another pea...which Yang caught in her mouth and ate without issue.
"So...what is this about anyway?" Agumon asked.
"It's about kicking off the semester with a bang!" Ruby said.
"I always like to kick my semesters off with a Yang," Yang joked.
*Badum Tss* sound effect was played suddenly, which earned a tiny round of laughs.
"Boo." Gyro said as Nora threw a banana at Yang.
Now some of the boys laughed harder, while Agumon looked a little miffed for some reason.
"I liked it." Pierce said.
"Because she's your girlfriend." Jaune pointed out.
"Actually he liked those BEFORE they dated, remember?" Veemon pointed out.
"We're getting off track!" Palmon said suddenly.
"Yeah!" Ruby agreed. "Look, it's been a good two weeks, and between the tournament and exchange students, this semester is gonna be great," Ruby said. "But classes start up again tomorrow, so I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us to do today!" Ruby grinned.
"...can we even DO that much stuff in one day?" Biyomon blinked at the binder owlishly. Even if every page was for ONE event, that was still...a very long list.
"...I don't think there are enough hours in a day for that." Hawkmon agreed with Biyomon's other despite being the reader.
"And I don't know if I should be proud or scared of what you might have in store," Weiss said, before promptly turning to the brothers for answers.
"Don't look at us, we never saw what was in that thing," Gyro waved his hands defensively.
"That's comforting…" Patamon said dryly, as with how thick the binder was, assuming he folded his wings, the binder was taller than him when he stood on all fours.
Patamon perked up at that comment, mentally measuring the size of the binder compared to himself. Now that it was mentioned the binder did seem to be taller than him on all fours.
"Aww, come on guys, it'll be fun," Palmon urged.
"Palmon's right. Whatever we do today, we should do it as a team," Weiss said.
"I got it!" Nora shouted.
"Oh boy…" the brothers gulped, as Nora, completely ignoring the silent protests from Yang and the not so subtle tackling from Salamon, promptly threw a pie which hit Weiss in the face...then tried pin the blame on Ren who had his face held in his hand, while everyone else on their team had looks of varying surprise (and exasperation for Salamon).
Novice quirked an eyebrow as most of the Chosen looked like they were desperately trying not to laugh, while Iori looked like he was ashamed of the Remnant Chosen. None of the Digimon held such reservations as they openly laughed at the pie hitting Weiss in the face.
When Weiss wiped off the pie filling, she looked at Nora with daggers. "Okay...this means war," she said coldly.
"Eh screw it," Pierce sighed, before getting up "Food War!"
And all hell broke loose.
At that moment, Wormmon perked up, "Wait! Is this what the title card referred to?"
The Chosen looked between the worm digimon and the book and then the screen.
"...Now this sounds like fun." Agumon said eagerly, earning weirded out looks, "What? In Food War food is going to fly, right?"
And suddenly most of the partner digimon started to look more forward to this.
"So, those guys found you when you arrived in town then?" Neptune asked Sun as they walked towards the cafeteria, Betamon following closely.
"Oh come on!" Veemon complained about not seeing the action yet.
"Yeah, helped us out a bit, though I DID have to get chewed out by the deputy headmistress since, you know, snuck my way over." Sun said with a shrug.
"I still find it hard to believe that YOU of all people agreed to this." Betamon said to Coronamon.
"What? I'm allowed SOME fun, right?" the red Digimon shot back, lowering his voice a bit.
"Anyway, they know a lot of other people with partners then?" Neptune said, looking away from Betamon and Coronamon.
"Yeah, like, a good few, even that news lady, Lisa Lavender, has a partner." Sun said.
"Huh, that so? Neat." Neptune mused.
"Yeah, hanging out with them is pretty fun. Hey, speaking of hanging out, where are the others?" Sun asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Koemon made a mess… again." Neptune said with a sigh.
"He gives us monkeys bad names." Sun said with a sigh.
Most of the girls quirked an eyebrow at Koemon making a mess. Hopefully it wasn't anything too horrible... Or disgusting.
"Anyway, they should be right around…" Coronamon started...right as the door to the cafeteria burst open and a throng of students ran out like the hounds were on their tail. The last to come out was Ilia and Kotemon, who took one look at them and said, "Go in at your own risk," both gulped, while Ilia added, "I'm waiting for Blake and the others in the room." And they promptly joined the fleeing crowd.
Now filled with morbid curiosity, the two boys and two Digimon looked into the cafeteria and well… "What. The. Fuck?" Betamon asked, jaw dropped.
For some reason, the last word of Betamon's exclamation was censored. Not that any of the Children minded.
"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" Nora laughed as she was standing atop a bunch of tables piled up, her teammates at the bottom, and flanking them were their partners...all in Adult form.
On the other end of the hall, a foot slammed on a table, rattling several dishes off of it, the owner revealing to be Ruby...holding a carton of milk for some reason. "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It will be delicious!" she declared, squeezing the carton till its contents squirted out from several new holes, before she lifted it up in a war cry pose.
"Yeah!" came several roars of agreement from her teammates and all their Digimon partners...also in adult form.
"Okay, so this really is what the title card referred to." Armadimon commented.
"Off with their heads!" Nora declared, jumping down, before team JNPPR launched a salvo of watermelons.
"Yang, turkey!" Ruby said, Yang grabbing a pair of turkeys...and using them as makeshift boxing gloves, to which she defended against a few watermelons, while the remainder went past her...and were promptly caught in several large mouths as the Digimon seemed to be both joining in with the war...and taking the chance to pig out while they were at it.
Gatomon covered her face with her paws in embarrassment. While the "large mouths" in question looked at the scene with dreamy looks. Patamon almost felt jealous of not having a bigger mouth as Angemon.
Armadimon let out tiny amounts of drool as he looked at the heaven of a fight.
"Well...at least the food isn't going to waste…" Gyro sweat dropped at the sight, before he and Blake darted forward, and grabbed several baguettes which they were both using as makeshift dual swords.
"I saw it the first time and I'm honestly still not believing it…" Pierce said dryly at seeing food being quite literally, weaponized. He didn't have long to ponder as his girlfriend soon fired off her dual turkey gloves...only for Veedramon to get in the way and snatched up the turkeys in his mouth.
Veemon's stomach grumbled at the sight of his other getting this kind of food service.
"How can bread even be used as weapons? Are they that stale?" Jo also asked in disbelief.
"Actually," Novice piped up, "It's a known fact that weapons and equipment act as conduits for Aura. They're probably doing the same thing for the bread to make it more durable."
"Oh?" Came out of the humans.
"Do they do that with other foods too?" Takeru couldn't help asking.
"Probably," Novice shrugged, "At least with ones that they hold in their hands."
Not being distracted for long, Pierce and Pyrrha darted forward, both also grabbing baguettes to act as makeshift swords/spears, and before long Pierce was dueling Gyro while Pyrrha was dueling Blake, the sound of crust cracking as the breads clashed filling the air, before Pyrrha and Pierce managed to bypass their opponents' defenses and knocked them back, their 'weapons' breaking in half...and flying right into the the open mouths of Garurumon and Ikkakumon, before the two kicked tables, sending more food flying...which was soon caught by Greymon and Birdramon who were all too happy to catch the flying treats.
"Hey! We gotta do this on the next break!" Gomamon bounced eagerly.
"No!" All the humans, especially the girls said in unison.
"Novice doesn't have a place for that." Iori said.
"What about the arena?" Armadimon asked innocently.
"Sorry, I don't feel like cleaning the place." Novice shot the idea down.
"Please!" Agumon, Gabumon, Gomamon, Veemon and Armadimon got on the floor in front of Novice with their best puppy-dog eyes.
"Urgh!" Novice groaned, "Fine. But it's going to take some preparations."
"Yes!" The 5 digimon cheered. Novice already regretted this, but he was a man of his word.
The said 5 digimons' partners gave their host an apologetic look.
Pierce and Pyrrha soon threw their 'spears'...which were broken by Yang, and the halves caught by Angemon, Togemon, and Kabuterimon who joined the assault...while munching on the bread they caught along the way.
In the midst of that, Greymon used his tail to give Ruby a boost, allowing her to grab a tray and start surfing on the tables, throwing food where she could grab it, forcing Pyrrha to dodge...and allowing Stingmon and Gatomon to grab more flying food and enjoy it mid-fight.
Gatomon looked highly embarrassed of her other joining this non-sense, while Wormmon secretly wondered if he could try something like that.
Ruby soon reached the end of her surfing, and the tray hit Pyrrha, forcing her back, while Ren and Nora continued the assault, Ruby quickly getting out of the way as Weiss brandished a ketchup bottle, and launched a wave of the red sauce, creating a makeshift oil slick which Ren slipped and slid on, causing him to ram into a pile of tables like a bowling ball, while Nora jumped up, grabbed a pole, and broke it off to combine with a surviving watermelon to create a makeshift hammer. At the same time, Jaune ran forward, grabbing a pot lid and another baguette, charged forward with his 'sword and shield', prompting Gyro to do the same...but with a link of sausages he was trying to use as a makeshift whip. "Castlevania don't fail me now," Gyro chuckled as he began to fight against Jaune, the two being a bit of a stalemate due to one being stuck with an unfamiliar weapon despite being more skilled.
Takeru burst into laughter, surprising everyone else. The Chosen of Hope calmed himself with a sheepish look, "...Castlevania is a video game."
"Oh yeah!" Daisuke remembered, "The one where you hunt a vampire in his own castle. And the main weapon is the whip."
"That's the one." Takeru confirmed.
At the same time, Nora went for Weiss who threw the ketchup bottle aside and grabbed hold of a whole swordfish...which was lying around...for some reason...and used it as a makeshift rapier, dueling with Nora for a while before Nora gained the upper hand and knocked her back into Kabuterimon who let out an 'oof' at the impact.
Everyone winced a little at Weiss hitting Kabuterimon hard enough to get a reaction out of him.
Ruby saw that and caught Weiss as the momentum caused her to rebound from Kabuterimon. "Weiss, no! Don't leave me!" she shouted dramatically, while Weiss just gave her a deadpan stare, completely fine, if somewhat dazed.
Everyone laughed at Ruby's and Weiss' moment.
"That's so melodramatic," Sora commented.
"Uh...I'm PRETTY sure that didn't even leave a mark…" Jaune blinked.
"Dude, I'm fighting you with a sausage whip. Roll with the insanity," Gyro said flatly.
"Fair point…" Jaune admitted.
"He's unfortunately not wrong." Jo said while chuckling.
Everyone else agreed.
While that banter was going on, Yang 'saw red' and charged forward with a new pair of turkeys, to which Ren met her head on with a pair of leeks. The two clashed before Yang managed to knock him into the air, to which he threw his leeks at her which she dodged and soon slammed him back into the ground, followed by Nora now setting her sights on Yang and attacking her with her makeshift hammer. Another clash occured, before Nora found an opening and smashed Yang hard enough to send her flying through the roof, with Birdramon flying up after her… which made a bigger hole in the roof, while the melon hammer broke from the impact. At the same time, Jaune was sent flying back, and Blake avoided the debris from the roof to which Gyro tossed her the sausage whip which she used to send Nora flying back into a vending machine which released a few cans.
Nora grabbed a few fallen cans and threw them at Blake who avoided the makeshift 'grenades'. However, Pyrrha saw the freshly spilled piles of metal and used her semblance to send a barrage of them at Blake, causing her to be unable to evade (the Digimon on both sides grabbed a few cans and started drinking). Pyrrha then sent a larger wave of cans, catching all remaining members of team RWGBY (minus Ruby) who were still standing, and thus Blake and Gyro felt themselves being barraged with a few 'soda grenades', Gyro using his semblance to cushion the blows.
"Wait a second! Aluminum isn't magnetic." Koshiro commented on Pyrrha's little maneuver.
"Those cans probably aren't made of aluminum." Novice said back, "Maybe Remnant uses something else for their cans that is similar to aluminum, but magnetic."
"But that doesn't make any sense." Koshiro was unable to process this.
"Koshiro," Yamato said, "After everything we have gone through in Digital World, is this really where you draw the line?"
"But... It's just..." Koshiro stammered.
"Koshiro, like Gyro said, just roll with the insanity." Tentomon said supportively.
"...I...I don't know if I can." Koshiro said.
Mimi let out a sigh before getting up from her seat and moving to give a small pat on Koshiro's shoulder, "Koshiro, weird things just happen. And the only way to make sense of it is to just roll with it sometimes."
Koshiro still didn't look convinced, but he did let out a sigh of defeat. Mimi took this as her job being done before returning to her seat.
"I think you can continue, Hawkmon," Miyako prompted her partner.
"Oh, right." the hawk said before returning to the book.
Seeing her teammates down (and the Digimon too busy grabbing at whatever bits of food were still in the air), Ruby glared at the opposing side, and got ready into a sprint start position. Then with a surge of speed, she darted forward, moving so fast she was pulling various bits of food and plates along with her, before pulling into a spin and flying right past the standing and/or recovering members of team JNPPR. The team looked at what the red reaper had brought with her and well…
"...this is gonna hurt…" Stingmon said flatly, as the humans were promptly caught in the pull of the spin and speed, while the Digimon could only watch blankly as they were pelted with so much food (and their partners) that they were all pushed into the walls, with so much food and stuff hitting them that by the time it was done, there was wall art...and 10 figures peeling themselves off of the wall.
"That's just not possible." Iori said, though it looked like he was trying not to laugh.
Ken was hiding his face with his hand while laughing at the ridiculous situation, as did everyone else.
Except for Gabumon, Veemon, Wormmon Gatomon and Gomamon who looked a little miffed at what their others had to go through. Although their partners had to admit that the silhouettes the 5 Digimon left behind did look cool or funny. Not that the humans dared to say it out loud.
"We give…" Pierce groaned, holding up a white flag.
"Where did he get-" Don't start." Gomamon interrupted Koshiro.
"Jeez, I'm away for less than 5 minutes…" Yang trailed off as she and Birdramon came back in from the hole in the roof, staring at the… unique piece of art that Ruby had made.
"Well… at least we have nice view to go with the food." Angemon said as he bit into a turkey leg, before looking down at Greymon who was stuffing his face, sighing after a moment "Biggest black hole out of all of us." he muttered.
No one disagreed with Angemon's statement as they glanced at their Agumon.
"What?" Agumon asked. No one commented.
The mood didn't last for much longer though, the doors suddenly slammed open, and in came a...pissed off...Glynda Goodwitch. With a wave of her riding crop, she used her semblance to clean up the entire cafeteria, putting everything back in place and fixing the damaged walls, tables, dishes, and roof till it looked like the food war never happened. Once she was done, she looked at them with an expression that just screamed 'fighting to NOT blow my top'. "Children, please," she started with a strained voice. "Do not play with your food," she said, before turning to the Digimon. "And please refrain from evolution unless in Combat Class."
None of the Children wanted to admit, but Glynda's expression on the screen did send ice water down their backs in varying levels.
The response she got in a way was a burp from Nora and the Digimon who all reverted to Child Form...looking rather stuffed, earning a few laughs from the little group.
Glynda looked ready to ground them for a month, before Ozpin came and put a hand on her shoulder. "Let it go," he said calmly.
Glynda sighed at that. "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world," she sighed, completely oblivious to how ironically fitting her statement was.
"And they will be. But right now they're still children. So why not let them play the part? It's not something they'll have forever," Ozpin said, earning a sigh and nod from Glynda.
Everyone was relieved that Ozpin stopped Glynda from grounding the Remnant Chosen for a month, or possible give them a whipping.
"...I'm not sure they really count as children anymore." Hikari then piped up.
"What do you mean, Hikari?" Daisuke asked.
"I mean... Aside from Ruby, they're all nearly adults." The Chosen of Light said, "And the legal age for an adult is 18."
"True, but that doesn't equal maturity." Novice pointed out, "Still you're not entirely wrong in that statement, but as some people might say, age is a number."
The Children stared at him.
"I don't think that applies here." Iori commented, earning small laughs out of everyone. "I think you're just trying to sound cool."
The flush that creeped on Novice's face seemed to support the youngest Chosen's accusation.
"...Just keep reading." Novice finally said.
Her moment of relief was broken however once the 10 Child Levels that had eaten their fill ran out of the room, all of them shouting the same thing "Bathroom!"
"Hey hold on you'll get lost!" Gyro said as he ran after them, followed closely by his brother.
Novice decided to occupy himself with a holographic screen as the Children and their partners let out laughs. Except Gatomon who looked a little embarrassed.
Later, at an old, supposedly abandoned warehouse in Vale, the supposedly 'empty' warehouse was very much bustling with activity as the White Fang was busy moving various crates of Dust, the warehouse stocked with a sizeable amount of Dust...albeit not as full as it would have been had the recent large shipment been successfully stolen. It was to this scene that Emerald and Mercury came in, Mercury with a notable limp thanks to his slightly melted leg. They walked past the various White Fang members...all of which didn't seem to pay them any mind, save for the occasional odd glance.
Roman was busy looking at a map when he noticed them coming in. "Oh look, she sent the kids again," he said sarcastically, before walking over to them and put his arms around them from behind. "This is turning out just like the divorce," he said dryly.
"...Please tell me he's joking." Daisuke said to Jo.
"I'm pretty sure he's just joking around." Jo said, not bothering to consult the guidebook.
"Ugh. Spare us the thought of you procreating," Emerald said dryly, both of them getting out of his grasp.
"That was a joke," Roman said flatly. "Though I do wonder why you two look like you got into a fight and lost, and THIS…" he said, holding up a piece of paper. "Just might tell me where you've been all day."
"What?" Emerald gasped, wondering when he'd had the time to steal that.
"I'm a professional sweetheart. Pay attention and maybe you'll learn something," Roman said sarcastically before looking at the paper and stopping short. "...why do you have this address?" he asked, the usual sarcastic levility gone from his voice.
Despite Roman being a bad guy, the Chosen had to admit that the bowler hat wearing thief was pretty good to have snatched the paper from Emerald without her notice.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Emerald glared.
"Yeah, I would," Roman said. "Now where have you been all day, and why do you look like you both lost a fight, and don't try to hide it. I noticed the limp."
Mercury grumbled a bit at that. "Cleaning up your problems...or at least trying to."
"I had that handled," Roman growled, and just as he said that, Neo popped in, looking rather annoyed at the two assassins. "But since we're on the topic, might I ask why exactly he hasn't been dealt with?"
"Because three digimon stood in their way." Daisuke quipped, earning small laughs.
"Does 'He had Digimon bodyguards' count as a valid answer?" Emerald shot back in annoyance.
Roman paused for a moment, looking at Neo, who shrugged "Yes… yes it does. Got any IDs on them?"
"Literally or you mean what they are?" Mercury asked.
Everyone laughed at Mercury's question, because that was a very loaded one.
"What do you think genius?" Roman shot back in deadpan.
"A fox, a dino, and a wizard." Emerald answered with a sigh.
"I HATE how that doesn't narrow it down enough." Roman grumbled under his breath.
"And even if they narrowed it down, they can't exactly be sure if the three in question have partners." Yamato said with a smile.
"And even if they found those three, they think someone else told on them. So they should be fine." Taichi added in.
"Which would make the bad guys run in circles while Gyro and the others plan their downfall in peace." Takeru then summarized.
Everyone laughed at the phrasing. Some at the notion of 'peace' with the Remnant crew, others at the mental image of the Remnant crew planning Cinder's no doubt painful demise happily.
"Yeah well you're gonna hate THIS more," Emerald frowned. "They KNEW we were coming. Somehow they already knew."
"And we were taking initiative. The only way someone could do that is if they were warned that he had a hit on his head," Mercury added.
THAT stopped Roman short. "Excuse me?" he asked dangerously.
"You heard me. They knew we were coming cause someone tipped them off somehow. Heck, when we asked them about it, they didn't know who it was, but they DID mention something about a 'Dust Shipment tip'," Mercury continued.
Roman frowned at that "So… someone who knew about the shipment we were trying to steal… which is why those damn kids were there then… question now is who squealed?" he said, looking around the warehouse at the various grunts and goons he had working about.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Emerald shrugged.
"But that IS rather important information," came a new voice, as from a higher section of the warehouse, a woman stepped on the shipping elevator and used it to descend to their level.
She was beautiful, that would be the first thing anyone would realise when they looked at her, but there was also something deadly about her, with the way her amber eyes almost glowed, her long black hair falling across one side of her chest as glass heels clacked on the floor, the yellow seem lines of her red dress looking almost like there shifting with flames.
"While it is worrying, the fact remains now we know they exist," the woman, Cinder, said. "We simply need to weed them out," she said simply. "At any rate, while the runaway is annoying, he's ultimately not the biggest of our concerns anymore. Besides, if he DOES have Digimon guarding him, then trying to deal with him discreetly will be more trouble than he's worth. After all, dealing with him was just a precaution. He's quite keen on staying out of anything related to the White Fang, if I recall."
None of the boys could deny that Cinder was beautiful, but having heard what kind of person she is, they all felt she was not someone you would want to meet.
"Ken?" Miyako said in worry. The boy was shivering a little.
"I'm sorry. She... she feels as dangerous as Lilithmon." Ken admitted, looking a little ashamed.
Novice let out a small laugh, "Don't let Black hear that. She'll take it as an insult."
"What? How would she take offense to that?" Ken asked, now confused. Novice gave the boy a stare in response. And then the Chosen of Kindness figured it out, "Cinder is beneath Lilithmon."
"In more ways than one." Novice joked before covering his mouth
"What?" Came out of everyone.
"Nothing!" Novice said quickly.
Everyone gave the Overseer a suspicious look, but Hawkmon decided to keep reading.
"Awww, and here I had a plan all ready and prepared," Roman snorted. "But yes, there's no point in going after him with this new bit of information."
"Though, while we ARE on the topic, didn't I tell you two to keep your hands clean while we were in Vale?" Cinder said to her two subordinates.
"Well uh...we thought…" Emerald started, but was cut off.
"Don't think. Obey," Cinder said, completely ignoring the expressions Roman was making at the two behind her back.
Gatomon scowled at Cinder. Although Myotismon did appreciate initiative when it benefitted him, the vampire had mostly the same mindset about his subordinates.
Daisuke let out a slightly infectious laugh at Roman making faces behind Cinder's back.
"Yes, Ma'am. It won't happen again," Emerald said quickly.
"And you," Cinder continued, looking at Roman. "Why wasn't this job done sooner?"
Roman responded by gesturing all over the warehouse with the still sizeable stockpile of dust. "Sorry if I've been a little busy stealing just about every speck of Dust I could get my hands on in the Kingdom!"
"You're an inspiration to every punk with a gun and a ski-mask," Mercury said dryly, while Emerald was trying not to laugh.
"Look around kid, even with the new additions, I've still got this town on alert," Roman said. "Even with the new pet monster fad, I've got the police camping out in so many corners, Dust prices are among the highest they've ever been, and we're still sitting pretty with more Dust than we know what to do with," he asserted. "...even if some of it isn't being used in the way I'd like," he added with a grumble, looking at a few Digimon that were also in the warehouse...eating some of the Dust they'd gathered. It seemed the ones who looked like they were MADE out of a certain element, found Dust of that element to be quite the delicacy. "Speaking of which, if you guys wouldn't mind filling me in on the grand-master plan, it might actually make my next string of robberies go a little smoother," Roman added with a touch of annoyance at being kept partially in the dark.
"Hey, Jo. Did the guidebook say what they were planning to do with the Dust?" Gomamon then asked.
Jo quickly consulted the book, "It doesn't actually say."
"That's because the reason wasn't properly explained in the show." Novice explained,"I didn't realize it either at the time. There just weren't enough context clues. But the most likely reason is that with all the Dust robberies, since the prices have increased the Huntsmen and Huntresses will have harder time to resupply. Then there are the constant robberies, which make people anxious and the Grimm are attracted to negativity."
"Ah!" Sora let out, "So they were building up negativity to attract a horde of Grimm to Vale by the time of volume 3?"
"That's right." Novice affirmed, "And once the final phase of their plan was in full swing... Well imagine a dam that is filled beyond its capacity."
Everyone got a mental image of a breaking dam that releases all the stored water as a destructive flood. Though they did take comfort in the fact that with Gyro and Pierce on Remnant it may never go that bad.
"It's on a… need to know basis." Cinder said, looking at him, about to step towards him till Neo got in front of her, opening her parasol with narrowed eyes, causing Cinder to smirk "Just do as you're told, and everything will go along perfectly, despite the few minor hiccups."
"I do NOT call needing a new leg minor." Mercury muttered, causing Emerald to elbow him.
The building tension was fortunately broken by this brief comedy.
"Besides, we're done with Dust. Even with the new information, we're already set to move to phase 2 of the plan," Cinder said. "Have the White Fang clear out the warehouse. I'll send you details and coordinates tonight."
"Huh? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Roman asked. If they really did have a traitor then wouldn't it be better to weed them out first.
"We've already gotten this far. We can't afford to let something like this slow us down," Cinder said simply. "As long as everyone keeps an eye and ear open, we'll find them eventually," she smirked.
"Yeah, by the time everything blows up in your face." Daisuke said defiantly. With that, everyone started to look forward to how Cinder's plans will fall apart.
No one noticed Novice's eyes turning yellow for an instant with an evil smile before returning to his normal expression.
A few days later…
"Well...doesn't this bring back memories," Summer said in mild amusement. Currently she was with Ozpin and Glynda in the former's office, Renamon at her side as always. Outside the office window they could see an entire fleet of Atlesian ships parked in mid-air. "I see James hasn't changed a bit."
"This happens often with him?" Renamon quirked an eyebrow.
"Yes," Summer and Glynda deadpanned...at the same time.
"Qrow is out there somewhere and rambling on about how James is being excessive, of that I'm sure." Ozpin said with a sigh.
"That's not all of Atlas' army, is it?" Taichi then asked with a slightly worried look.
"No, but it is a large chunk." Novice said.
"And a portion of it was turned against them." Koshiro added in.
"Hey, Novice. According to the guidebook, Ironwood wanted to remove human casualties from battlefield. Is it really true?" Jo asked, having checked something on the guidebook.
"It is." Novice said, before letting out a sigh, "But I always believed that Ironwood's plans had some...dark undertones."
"Like what?" Tentomon asked.
"That Ironwood wanted machines to replace human personnel because machines are obedient and don't ask questions. Because he doesn't trust anyone that isn't himself, or blindly loyal to him." Novice explained, "But that's just my opinion. Although I did feel sorry for him in his final-" At the last part, Novice quickly covered his mouth.
"Final what?" Iori was the first to ask.
Jo checked the guidebook, but it didn't say anything.
But unfortunately for Novice, the cogs were turning in the Childrens' heads.
"...Did Ironwood die in the canon timeline?" Hikari was the first to ask.
Novice let out a weary sigh, feeling like there was no use hiding it, "Yes. Ironwood died alone, abandoned and completely defeated."
"Wait! Abandoned?" Ken said in worry.
"For a good reason, but I'd rather not get into it here." Novice then said, "So please continue."
"We want to know now." Takeru said, "What kind of reason would make everyone abandon him?"
"Takeru, please, I don't want to talk about it. Not now." Novice pleaded, "This chapter is not the right one for this."
Takeru looked like he wanted to argue, but Yamato intervened, "Takeru, I want to know too, but if this isn't the chapter for this, then we can wait a little." The Chosen of Friendship then turned to Novice with a steely look, "When the right chapter to talk comes, you better give us an explanation."
"I will, because when the time comes, I have no choice." Novice said reassuringly.
Takeru still looked like he wanted to argue, but he decided to trust Yamato.
With that out of the way, Hawkmon continued.
"He said he was gonna go see if any grimm were slipping through the walls of Vale while they were repairing them." Summer informed him, receiving a nod from the headmaster.
"Well, at least he can take his job seriously when it's important." Glynda said with a sigh. As she said that, a beeping came from Ozpin's desk, to which he checked it and saw that it was an entrance request.
"Come in," Ozpin said, to which the door soon opened and in stepped one James Ironwood. The metal plate on his brow glinting in the light, a fully white militaristic coat covering his body, with a splotch of red in the form of his necktie.
"Ozpin," James said with a smile.
Seeing Ironwood now, made everyone wonder again what could make people abandon him.
"Hello, General," Ozpin nodded.
"Please, drop the formalities," James said as he walked closer. "It's been too long," he said as the two of them shook hands, while Glynda and Summer walked up after Ozpin, Renamon following behind her partner. "And Glynda," he added, seeing her. "It's definitely been too long since we last met," he said.
"Oh James…" Glynda said, before turning to Ozpin. "I'll be outside," she said as she walked away.
"Well she hasn't changed a bit," James commented.
Mimi and Miyako quirked an eyebrow at this exchange, "Novice, do Ironwood and Glynda have some kind of history?"
Novice shrugged, "James probably tried to win Glynda's affection at one point, but the disciplinarian didn't share those feelings, but Ironwood still hasn't given up which annoys Glynda. But that's just my guess."
To everyone else that translated as, "I don't know."
"I could say the same to you, and it's been a decade," Summer said in amusement. "It's nice to see you again, James."
"Nice to see you again too Summer." he said, shaking her hand "Honestly, I think it still hadn't settled in for me that you were actually alive till just now."
"Seeing my TV special not enough proof?" she asked in amusement.
None of the Children could imagine what it would be like for someone they know to disappear and be assumed dead, only for them to come back after after so long. Hopefully nothing like that happens to them, seeing Ruby's and Yang's reactions was enough.
"To be fair, it WAS a rather hard to believe special," Renamon added in amusement, before turning to James. "So you are James Ironwood. I've heard much about you as well," she said, holding out a hand.
"And you must be Summer's Digimon Partner," James said, shaking the hand.
"Renamon, yes," Renamon nodded. "I hope things have been calming down in Atlas as well."
"Oh it's been a little rough, but like all the other Kingdoms, we've adapted well enough to the new arrivals," James said with a light chuckle as they broke the handshake. With that bit of banter done…
"So…" Ozpin started, before going to his table and pouring them all a few mugs of coffee. "What in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas?" Ozpin said. "Headmasters don't typically travel with their students for the Vytal Festival," he said, before giving a mug to James, while Summer and Renamon took their own.
"Well, you know how much I love Vale this time of year," James said, idly taking out a flask from his coat and pouring a bit of it into his coffee. "Besides, with you hosting, I thought this might be a good opportunity for us to catch up, especially when I heard about Summer returning. Speaking of which, thanks for the Digimon Studies lessons. They've definitely helped in allowing us to understand them better."
"That was the entire point," Summer said with a light chuckle.
Everyone smiled at Summer's lessons having an impact on human-digimon relationship.
"...Do you guys think that if we did something like that on our Earth, we might see friendly relations with digimon and humans?" Mimi suddenly asked aloud.
This made everyone pause for a moment, but it did make them think.
"...It's not going to be that simple," Jo said with a small sigh, "The damage that was caused by Digimon 3 years ago and now would still be fresh in everyone's minds."
"Yeah, but some Digimon helped in solving those, so that should count for something." Hikari said.
"Well, understanding Digimon should, make it easier for humans to accept Digimon." Koshiro said with a thoughtful look.
"Besides, Digimon having part in human society could be a good thing." Taichi said, "And there are already lots of Children with Digimon partners around the world. And at this rate every child around the world may have a partner by the time we become adults."
Novice looked surprised at Taichi's words before smiling proudly.
"You're right, Taichi." Koshiro conceded with a smile, "Maybe we should look into helping humanity and Digimon growing closer."
"I think we all should do what we can towards that." Takeru said, feeling a little hopeful for the future now himself.
"Let's think about that after we get back home." Sora said with a smile before motioning Hawkmon to continue.
"I can certainly appreciate some quality time between friends," Ozpin said as he sat down. "However, the small fleet outside my window has me somewhat concerned."
"Well...concern is what brought them here," Ironwood sighed.
"Come on you two, get to the point already. We all know why the fleet is here," Summer sighed. Some things really DON'T change.
Ozpin sighed at that. "We are in a time of peace," Ozpin said.
"About as peaceful as getting off of what recently happened anyway," Summer added, thinking about the recent incidents with Myotismon and the Dark Masters destabilizing the Digital World. Speaking of which, aside from the random gates, the entryways to the Digital World were STILL closed according to Gennai as Yggdrasil was still busy undoing all the damages.
"...shows of power like this, are just going to give off the wrong impression," Ozpin said, slightly miffed at the small interruption.
"But if what Qrow said is true, then…" James started.
"If what he said is true, then we will handle it tactfully," Ozpin said.
"On top of that, it's not like Vale's been completely complacent. If there's one thing the random Digimon emergences has done, it's made everyone a bit more cautious than normal," Summer added to which Renamon nodded.
"And if I understand correctly, this Vytal Festival is supposed to be a time to celebrate unity and peace," the fox added.
"They are correct," Ozpin nodded. "Which is why I suggest you do not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."
"I'm just being cautious," James said.
"As am I," Ozpin nodded. "Which is why we will continue to train the best huntsmen and huntresses we can."
"Believe me, I am," James said, turning to walk away a bit. "But ask yourself this…" he added. "Do you honestly believe your children can win a war?"
'They already did,' Summer and Renamon couldn't help but think, working hard to suppress the smirks that threatened to appear on their features while James bid them goodbye and left the room.
All the Chosen and their partners had varying levels of smirks at Summer's and Renamon's remark.
"I hope they never have to," Ozpin sighed.
Meanwhile, the Chosen were all in the library, and while you'd think they should be studying...they weren't really doing such. On one side, team RWBY were playing a game of 'Remnant: The Game', and on the other side, team JNPPR along with Gyro and some of the Digimon were playing on the Nintendo Switch, specifically a game of Smash Bros. Ultimate.
"Ultimate?" Takeru pointed out. "How many are there?"
"That's the fifth one." Novice said, "And the theme of that one was 'Everyone is here!'."
"Huh?" Daisuke asked.
"Okay, in each version of Smash Bros, new fighters were introduced. Though in the third one, some were cut. In the fourth the same thing happened again. But finally, in Ultimate, every single fighter that has appeared in other games made an appearance. And added some new ones."
"Ok, that is a lot of characters." Jaune said as he looked at the the massive character select screen of 80 characters, before deciding to choose Link, mostly because of the sword and shield.
"That's a lot of characters," Daisuke commented.
"You think that's bad? You should see some of the older Dragon Ball games, Tenkaichi 3 had over 100 characters." Pierce said as he picked Ryu.
The Children had heard about Dragon Ball anime, but they hadn't heard about the Tenkaichi 3.
"What kind of game is Tenkaichi 3?" Takeru asked.
Novice checked some things on holographic screens before answering, "Ah! That series started in 2005. So no wonder you guys haven't heard of it. Anyway, personally I've only played Xenoverse 2, which come to think of it had a massive roster." The Overseer tapped a few things again, "Whoa! 120."
"What?!" Was the universal reaction of all the boys who play videogames.
"A slew of new characters appeared in over the years." Novice explained, "Although some of them are different versions of same characters from different points in Dragon Ball timeline."
"Timeline?" Taichi asked.
"...The story of Xenoverse is that you make a custom character that is part of an organization called Time Patrol. Their job is to correct anomalies that appear in the timeline." Novice explained. "As you progress the story, you unlock more characters."
"That sounds cool." Daisuke said, "Hey, is there a game where someone has to correct the timeline of our adventures?"
That question earned interested looks, which were soone directed at Novice.
"None that I know of," The Overseer shrugged, earning a disappointed look from some of the boys.
Now some of them looked disappointed.
"Except if you count each Mii as a separate character, same for the Koopalings and the gender flips, you can hit over 100 here as well." Gyro shot back after choosing Pit, and he was the last to choose, so the fight started, showing all the fighters.
Pyrrha had picked Bayonetta, Ren had picked Lucario, Nora had picked Dedede, and the two Digimon playing, Agumon and Palmon, had picked Pikachu and Piranha Plant respectively.
Mimi giggled at her partner's other's choice in characters.
Taichi was wondering about his partner's choice in characters... Maybe because it was yellow?
While Gatomon wasn't interested in the game itself, it didn't take a genious to figure out why Nora picked this Dedede character.
While their fight started, the rest of team RWGBY was still playing their game… though only half the team really knew what they were doing.
"Right so… I'm not asking Yang how to play, she'll just pull me into a trap." "Hey!" "It's true and you know it you oaf." Weiss said after a moment, earning an indignant shout from Yang.
"Well...the rules say the goal is to conquer Remnant using the pieces you have, and each Kingdom has its own abilities and advantages. Says here you can also use Grimm pieces, but those run the risk of turning on you, so it's a gamble," Blake said, going through the rule book.
"Don't forget you can set traps and the like too," Ruby supplied.
"So it's like a war," Weiss nodded in understanding. "Well then, let's see who takes over the world."
"Right, well, while we're talking about taking over the world, think Renamon and Wizardmon did the job of tricking our enemies who want worse than that?" Yang wondered.
"Well…" Ruby trailed off, before her scroll buzzed, making her pull it out and look at it "Oh, text from mom, yeah, says here they did."
"Good, that should give us more time to deal with Cinder if she's too focused on possible internal struggle." Weiss said as she looked at her cards before setting one down.
"Speaking of her, if we got our time right, she and her 'team', should be arriving later tonight as 'exchange students'," Gyro mused.
"And you all know what that means. We all put on fake smiles and nod and wave while we plan to introduce her to the business end of Ultimate level attacks," Pierce said with a light chuckle. "Wow...we're really messed up to be enjoying this…"
"...Isn't that a little overkill?" Patamon asked, feeling a small shiver at Pierce chuckling at something like that.
"A little." Biyomon agreed.
"We REALLY should look into getting therapy…" Jaune sighed.
"We would, but how can we without revealing everything that happened to us in the Digital World?" Ren pointed out.
"...That can't be good." Ken said in worry. He and the others had a hard time talking to others about what they went through, and then their loved ones found out one way or another. There was also Ken's period when he was depressed after he returned to normal, but thanks to Wormmon's return he was able to recover.
"...when the Digital World is open again, I say we ask if Gennai knows any good therapists," Jaune said flatly.
"...probably for the best…" Pyrrha sighed, mentally preparing herself to meet her would be murderer in another time.
Novice looked a little thoughtful for a moment, "I wouldn't call her a therapist, but Ophanimon is a good digimon to talk to. Or at least, that's the reputation she has."
Everyone considered the words. While they all had gone through things, none of them had real traumas. Or at least, not anymore. Although, Iori and Miyako looked thoughtful.
"But until then, we'll just have to place a trap of our own. Speaking of which, you just activated my trap card, sis. Giant Nevermore!" Yang said, before flipping over the card she'd laid as a trap.
Something about that phrase made Daisuke frown in thought. "...Where have I heard that?"
"Heard what?" Veemon asked his partner with a tilted head.
"Activated my trap card." Daisuke muttered.
Novice then had a conspiratory smile, "Does Yu-Gi-Oh! exist on your Earth?"
"Ah! That's it! That anime about a card game!" Daisuke slammed his fist into his palm in realization.
"Yeah, the canon scene of this reminded me of that a little." Novice said with a smile.
"How far has that Anime gone?" Daisuke asked out of curiosity, "I mean, I've only watched a few episodes myself before losing interest."
"Well that's a shame," Novice said with a shake of his head, "Then again, the show has had... 8 different anime series' as far as I know."
"8?! Daisuke was amazed, "How long have you lived on your Earth?"
"...Long enough." Novice said with a heavy sigh.
Sensing that the Overseer didn't want to talk about it, Hawkmon continued reading.
The time went on relatively enjoyable, till the time came when Sun and Coronamon soon showed up, but this time they weren't JUST with Neptune. He'd brought his entire team with him...AND their Digimon.
"Sup, losers," Sun said, coming up behind them.
"Did ya miss us?" Coronamon added with a cheeky grin.
"Oh, hey Sun," Ruby said in reply.
"I never got a chance to formally introduce you guys to my old friend, and the rest of my team," he said with a grin, as the rest of team SSSN came up.
"I'm Neptune, and this is Betamon," Neptune introduced himself while Betamon waved with a big grin.
"Scarlet. And this is Tinkermon," Scarlet said with a light wave, while Tinkermon fluttered around. "And don't you forget it," she smirked.
"I am Sage, and this is Koemon," Sage introduced himself with a polite bow, while Koemon jumped on the table, narrowly missing the game board much to the girls' annoyance. "Nice to meet ya!" he said cheerfully.
"Nice to meet you all," Gyro waved from where he and the others had paused the game, with the others giving various greetings as well.
"Isn't a library normally for reading?" Neptune couldn't help but ask as he looked at the board game… and then at the TV and game console on the other table.
Neptune's comment earned small laughs.
"Come to think of it, isn't it strange that the librarian hasn't come to complain." Sora then said.
"Now that you mention it, don't they cause enough noise for them to be banned?" Koshiro agreed.
Novice shrugged in response to show everyone that he had no answer. "Maybe that kind of noise is normal for them in a library?"
Since it was sounded out like a question no one felt like taking it seriously.
"Normally yes… but trust me, we've earned this one." Ren said in deadpan.
"Rough week?" Scarlet guessed.
"Something like that," Nora said, all of them not planning on revealing 'details' just yet.
"Must have been some week," Koemon said. "So...what ya doing?"
"Playing games obviously," Tinkermon said as she zipped around him.
"They were supposed to answer and I was gonna ask if we could play too," Koemon said in annoyance.
"Are they like this often?" Gabumon blinked.
"Pretty much, yeah," Betamon sighed, hopping off of Neptune's shoulder.
"Guess there's always something like that on every team, huh?" Biyomon chuckled.
At that, several of them looked over at Weiss and Yang.
"What?" they both asked.
Most of the chosen turned to look at Yamato and Taichi. Them being their closest example.
"What?" The two asked, not comfortable with the stares.
The girls of the original eight giggled at them not getting it.
That did it as a small round of laughter ensued, much to the two girls' annoyance and a bit of confusion.
At that point even the guys let out small chuckles. "Hey, we are nothing like that!" Yamato protested.
"You used to be." Gabumon pointed out.
"Gabumon." Yamato said in a warning tone. The pelt wearing lizard shrank in fear.
"Well, that was a fun day," Ruby said as they returned to their dorm room (Gyro making sure the board game wasn't left behind this time).
"Yeah, it was," Blake chuckled. "So...what's next?"
"Next is looking into Torchwick again, and leading to us having to smash a Paladin," Gyro said. "We'll be going into town to get some info, and a few things will happen, including meeting Penny again, Ruby 'finding out' about her being an android, and then Yang causing Junior grief. Again. Also Sun and Neptune helped you guys out, even if they didn't help much in the Paladin fight, on account of losing the trail while you four fought it," he listed off.
"Think we could get in on that this time? I know we didn't in canon, but it would suck to be left out?" Jaune asked.
"Yeah! Let us help too!" Gomamon added.
"And me too, I want in." Ilia said with a raised hand.
"Sounds like another overkill if all of them go." Agumon commented, "I think I can smash that Paladin alone." The yellow lizard puffed his chest.
"You're not wrong, but it's not like it couldn't give you a bruise or two. It's a mech about Greymon's size after all." Novice commented.
"...Is there really no Grimm on Remnant that could give Digimon a challenge?" Jo then asked.
"From Child to Adult, I'd say large enough numbers of normal Grimm can overwhelm them eventually. Child levels more easily. For Perfect, I think giant Grimm might be able to give them at least some challenge. As for Ultimate, I don't think a Grimm that powerful exists. At least, not on this Remnant." Novice explained.
"This Remnant?" Armadimon tilted his head.
"Multiverse, Armadimon," Iori supplied helpfully.
"Oh, right." Armadimon looked a little embarrassed.
"Sure, we'll probably try to look into more leads." Gyro said with a nod.
"Hey guys?" Veemon said, looking out the door.
"What?" Pierce asked, before looking outside and into the hallway "Oh…" he said, before coming back in and closing it "Their here."
The room stilled at that, not needing any further words to know who he was talking about.
Cinder, Emerald and Mercury were right outside their dorm room, walking in the hallway.
"This feeling certainly drives it home." Pyrrha whispered, barely hearing the rhythmic clack of Cinder's heels.
Gyro put a finger to his mouth, telling everyone to be quiet, till the clacking couldn't be heard. "Well, it's official, we're now on a one way trip to shit hits the fan…" he sighed.
Given that the Chosen and their partners had seen what happens in canon, they were really hoping that they can completely stop that from happening.
"Uhh...Novice." Palmon suddenly said.
"Yeah?"
"Your eyes are yellow."
"What?" Novice said in surprise as his eyes turned blue again. He really needed to watch his thoughts.
"...Your dark power surged." Said Syakomon who had been quiet this whole time.
"Shut it." Novice said in a warning tone.
"Surged? What does that mean?" Ken asked apprehensively.
"It means his dark powers surged in response to very evil thoughts." Syakomon said, "Most likely things he wants to do to Cinder."
"Syakomon!" Novice cried out.
"...You really hate her." Mimi stated,"We know she's evil, but it sounds like you have a personal grudge against her?"
"...I told you before that in the canon I wanted someone to wipe that smirk off her face. A smirk that says, 'I have already won and there is nothing anyone or anything can do about it'. It's so... infuriating." Novice said after searching for the right word on the last part.
"...Do you want to talk about it?" Ken asked carefully.
At that moment, Novice's irritation was replaced by amusement. "Didn't think I would hear that from one of you. Anyway, thanks for the concern, but I'm fine."
"Mission is a go then." Ruby said seriously.
"Think the mission is gonna need big booms?" Nora asked.
"For the paladins? Yes." Weiss said with a nod.
"Try not to go TOO big Nora." Salamon said.
"Oh come on, even I have limits." Nora waved her off.
"I certainly hope so." Gatomon commented, despite having that Nora can be...relatively serious when the situation calls for it.
"That aside, we should start getting ready." Ren said.
"It's gonna be a pretty important mission, that much is sure." Ilia said with a sigh.
"We'll make it though, we have to." Blake said seriously, as they all nodded in agreement.
The book then shut itself.
"Now, if you'll excuse me." Novice then said before taking Syakomon off his lap and then teleporting out somewhere.
"...Where was he going in such a hurry?" Tentomon was the first to ask.
"Who knows," Gomamon shrugged, "Are we going to read the next chapter?"
"Actually, I think we should have a break for now." Sora said.
Daisuke looked to his partner with a grin," Hey, Veemon. Wanna get some training done? When that black knight shows up in our future, I want to be ready."
"Yeah!" Veemon cheered.
And that reminded everyone that Daisuke and the other second generation would be facing this "black knight". Whatever it is, it was able to defeat them before. But with Veemon and Wormmon having Ultimate forms, they should be able to defeat whatever that thing is.
Still, Ken also had a determined look, "Wormmon, do you want to join them?"
"Yes, Ken." Wormmon said eagerly. He too wanted to be strong enough to defeat this, "black knight". Maybe then they won't have to listen to Novice's warning of running away.
Although, Agumon seemed to remember something, "Hey, wait a second! What about our food fight?!"
The digimon had already forgotten all about it. But now that it was revealed, they all wanted to do that instead. Except that without Novice, they can't set the thing up.
"What if we asked, Minervamon for help?" Tentomon piped up, "I mean maybe she has access to the arena settings, like Wisemon has access to the library?"
"That's a great idea!" Agumon cheered.
"Let's go!" Armadimon cheered before running off, followed by Agumon, Gomamon and Gabumon.
Veemon looked at his partner unsurely. "...We can do the training after the food fight." Daisuke promised.
"Yes!" With that, Veemon joined the others in finding Minervamon.
"...This can't end well." Miyako said with an apprehensive look.
Me: *swings the paddle*
Cinder:Ow! Thank you, Master.
Me:*Swings again*
Cinder: Ahh! Thank you, Master. *smiles stupidly*
Me:...Wow, Lilithmon really did a number on her.