Ch. 3: The Shurimon Dilemma
The cell was full of nothing but dust. A series of red bars blocked the front side with several other cells next to it, all also vacant. The only signs of life were two children, Yuji and Rita. Both kids were stuck in the same room with no means of escape.
While Rita fiddled with her bag, Yuji leaned against the wall with his eyes closed. To anyone else, he seemed like he might be tired or frustrated, even, but Rita knew that the boy was perfectly calm. Yuji was planning something. While he is generally open toward other people, whenever Yuji is deep in thought, he becomes determined to unravel his problems on his own. But, at the end of the day, despite everything, Rita knew to trust the boy's judgment. As goofy as he could be, he was always reliable under pressure, and his intuition was unmatched among their trio.
However, it didn't take long before his thoughts were interrupted. "There you are!" A familiar rabbit-shaped creature shouted as it rushed into the prison area. "We have to get out of here now, humans! I understand this might be hard to understand, but we of the Kage manor transport ourselves to jobs using a specialized 'mail' system. If you can get to the mailing room, then you will be teleported to safety!"
"It's not enough..." The boy muttered, still lost in thought.
"E- excuse me...?" Lopmon said. "Whatever, it doesn't matter! I need to break you out or you are all going to die! You need to be transported away now!"
"I still don't have enough data," Yuji stated in a hushed tone. His eyes were firmly fixed forward, staring blankly at the wall as if he was in a trance as he spoke. "I can make assumptions, but it's not enough to work with. I need more intel... if I just knew a little more, then maybe..."
The rabbit-like creature slowly turned to face the kid as he began to understand what was happening. "Don't... tell me..." it slowly began. "You want to fight Shurimon, don't you...? But you're a human. You would die instantly! This is madness!" Suddenly, Lopmon's surprise turned to frustration. "Why, though?! What makes you think you could even win against him?! You just got here, you barely know how anything works!"
"You're right." Yuji casually admitted. "But if you're willing to help me, I do have a plan." The kid quickly turned to face Lopmon, seemingly snapping out of his fugue state to finally begin putting his thoughts together. "It's a long shot, but if you can confirm some suspicions I have then I think we might be able to do something."
A heavy sigh escaped the Digimon at the thought. "This is crazy." It admitted. "This is just so... so...!" The rabbit shook its head before focusing back on the imprisoned boy. "Sure, not to toot my own horn, but I am not a slouch in a fight. However, even if I could hit him, Shurimon is an Armor Digimon equivalent to a Champion level. Even IF I could take him by surprise, it would still be an uphill battle. And Shurimon's arms can attack at long range, as well! His bladed weapons are already considerable threats, but I've seen many Champion Digimon fail to account for Shurimon's long-range techniques."
"Oh, so it's like I thought it was then!" Yuji said in a cheerier tone as he casually brushed off the danger. "Well, in that case, that makes things easier. I wasn't sure if those arms worked as I thought or if there was some other gimmick to them. So what we're dealing with is a mostly melee-focused zoner, right? Should be easy enough if we can make up the power difference."
The Digimon simply blinked in confusion for a moment. "A mostly melee-focused... what now...?" The creature's eyes suddenly glared at the child. "You better not be making a fool out of me in some convoluted way! I fail to see how the Kage Manor 'zone' has anything to do with Shurimon's combat style. Are all human battle tactics so inconceivable?"
"It's not a battle tactic," Yuji stated directly. "I'm talking about fighting game archetypes and matchups." As Lopmon continued to stare, unsatisfied with the answer, the kid took a quick breath before continuing. "Generally, there are different types of characters in fighting games that work differently based on what they excel at. Their 'win condition', basically. Say you have someone small and fast, right? They have short range, but they excel in mobility. Characters like that tend to play very aggressively. You want to get close and keep attacking to make your short attack range less of a problem. This is what is known as more of a 'rushdown' character, or an 'in-fighter' in boxing terminology. If you're weaker at long range, then you'd want to move in to play to your strengths. That's basically a rushdown playstyle's 'win condition', if you can fight close effectively then you're more likely to win." Yuji suddenly snapped back to where Lopmon was. "You're following me so far, right?"
The Digimon simply kept staring at the boy with frustrated confusion. While their anger had subsided a bit, it was clear they still didn't quite understand all the terms being used. "I sort of understand your human gibberish, but I fail to see how this applies to Shurimon...?"
"It's simple." Yuji continued. "Shurimon is the opposite of what I just described. He's what we'd consider a 'zoner', like Dhalsim. He excels at long range, but with long-range comes long recovery times. Every time someone stretches an arm out, they need to wait for it to come back to use it again, and Shurimon should work similarly. He's not an 'in-fighter', he's an 'out-fighter'. So... how do you defeat an 'out-fighter'? It's simple. You go in. And if the Nexus Skill thing works like I think it does, I should be able to give you a way to get in and hit harder than normal."
Finally, Rita finished checking her bag and stood up. "He's right, you know. I'm sure it sounds weird from someone who doesn't play fighting games, but Yuji knows what he's talking about."
The pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together. Lopmon stubbornly turned away and crossed his arms as he thought the plan over. "That's all well and good, but it'll never work. Even if I can get close, Shurimon can hover in the air by spinning his leg-shuriken. If he keeps flying then my attacks would never reach him."
A sly smirk crossed Yuji's face as he kneeled down, crouching at Lopmon's level. "Oh, that? That's easy." He began. "In some games, Dhalsim can do something similar. I think I can make you into a rushdown character, but more importantly, if this works, I can make you double as a Shoto."
"A... a what now...?" The rabbit huffed, slowly looking back with one eye.
The boy's smile widened. "It's the oldest and most basic archetype in fighting games, tried and tested over and over across countless games. It's a fighting style known by players across the world for being both versatile and fair... some would even say honorable, maybe...?" The kid's smile only brightened as one of Lopmon's ears perked up at the term. "There are three things that generally define a Shoto. Some form of a projectile for mid-range combat, a move that allows the fighter to get close while attacking, and a jumping uppercut... also known as a 'Dragon Punch'. With these three tools, I think we can read Shurimon's moves, aggravate him into jumping, and then literally knock him out of the sky. These are the most basic fundamentals of fighting games, you read your opponent, push them into making a mistake, and then take advantage of it for big damage. If we can do that, then we can win."
Cautiously, Lopmon walked up to the gate of the cell. "I have to admit, that does sound legitimate... and you do seem to have this figured out... but... why...? You could just leave. You don't have to do all of this, there's an easy way out."
"That's easy," Yuji said. "It's because my friend is in danger right now, and what kind of hero would I be if I didn't even try to save them?" The boy finally reached his hand through the bars. "So what do you say then? Partners?"
The Digimon let out a heavy sigh before extending its own arm. "I suppose I might as well. The least I can do is make a proper Tamer out of you, yet. Just remember, this isn't the only plan we have. If things get bad, we run. There's no use in both of you dying."
As the two shook hands, a bright light shone from the Digivice, exploding out in a fantastic glow of colors that illuminated the entire room! Yuji covered his eyes from the glare for a moment only for the glow to suddenly fade. As he looked down, the boy finally realized that the white device was gone. Instead, now resting in his hand, was a pair of goggles with the button layout imprinted on the eyewear's left lens. Yuji gazed at the sight with wonder, somehow simply knowing exactly what this meant.
"Your digivice finally took its true form," Lopmon explained. "The appearance is different for everybody, but it's a sign that you've finally found your one partner." While he seemed to be a bit irritated, a slight smile crossed the rabbit's face. Maybe he wasn't always as annoyed with the kid's antics as he seemed after all? "I suppose that settles it. I hope it will be a pleasure working with you, although I still have some doubts, of course."