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AJ Lee breathes heavily as she takes in the strangely out of place sounds of nature. She last remembers walking side by side with Tamina, her screams fading as her voice breaks, her vocal chords straining with the pain of her loss. The enforcer, quite accustomed to her bipolar attitude, had seemed more off-put by this, and as AJ opens her eyes to find herself in a place she can't remember seeing ever before, she figures Tamina will probably be relieved to have a break from her.
She sighs, not bothering to move. The loss of her title is like a physical presence, weighing her down. Leaving her scrabbling and wanting nothing more than to curl up in a ball and cry. She's not even interested in why she's here, now, instead of a locker room or the hotel she and Tamina had booked together. She's still laying there, breathing in the fresh air, when clawed, white fur-covered feet walk up and come to a stop just inches away from her bare arm. She looks down, from her flesh to the fur and back before allowing her eyes to travel northwards up at the creature standing before her, looking more like a fox than any possible human she'd ever seen in her 27 years.
She scrambles to her feet, growing even more shocked when she realizes that they're basically the same height, her eyes narrowing as she peers up at the creature. "What- what are you?"
Her displeasure is echoed in the icy blue eyes locked on her. "I am Renamon," the creature says. "I am your Digimon partner." If she had sounded disgusted before, she sounds truly desperate to tear into something right now at having to admit such things. AJ stares on cluelessly, wishing she still has her title belt to hug.
But alas she doesn't have it. And, considering she'd demanded time off from the Authority, who were distracted by this Daniel Bryan thing and had barely blinked twice before granting it, she's pretty sure it'll be a long while until she has a chance to get her hands on it once more. Which adds to her displeasure with everything, compounding the depression she's feeling until opening her eyes every morning is a struggle. And it's clear Renamon senses it, her disrespect towards her partner growing with every passing moment. It annoys AJ, knowing that the Digimon is judging her for the situation she's in instead of the person she usually is, but there's little she can do, trapped in this unending cycle.
She's not sure how this entire Digidestined thing works, still surprised every time she's alerted that she's needed, a digiport appearing on her laptop whether it's powered on at the time or not, but she knows that such things aren't just happening to her because Miz too is always present, despite being up in Canada filming Marine 4. So she swallows down her misgivings and does what need to be done- which, up to now, involves standing and watching and fretting as these powerful beasts war around them, the dance similar to what they all do in the WWE but much more feral.
This time, Luke directs them to the Data Zone, a grim look on his face as they disappear into the Digiport. AJ looks around suspiciously upon reforming in this new zone, Renamon by her side. Everything seems calm, innocent enough, but as the group of them trek through the clearing to the place indicated on the map lighting up Seth's Digivice, they see a flash of gold. "What was that?" AJ demands, it streaming past them once more before Renamon acts, sticking her leg out just before something impacts with her, crashing into the ground at their feet, leaving a deep crater in the ground. The ten humans and nine Digimon gape down at the strange, ostrich like creature with orange feathers poking out of its head and backside, large talons digging into the ground agitatedly as it finds it way upright once more, staring coolly over at Renamon.
"Peckmon," she greets it equally as stoicly. "Still causing trouble I see. I would've imagined you'd have grown out of such juvenile things ages ago."
He digs large ridges into the dirt, snarling over at her. "Best not to judge things you don't understand, Renamon."
She sneers back. "I'm a Digidestined Digimon now, it's part of my job to find out these things." They stare at each other for long, tense moments, before Renamon spots something and stops short. "Is that..." Some of the aggravation leaves her as she stares down at the item wrapped protectively in his golden scarf. "Peckmon."
He looks uncomfortable as she approaches for a closer look. "Kudamon," he confirms her suspicion. "He was overwhelmed and nearly destroyed by a data Digimon who'd trespassed on the Vaccine sector. I was able to help but the Digimon got away with his earring."
She stares down at the gold, remembering what little of the Digimon she'd learned. "But that contains all of the holy power he's gained."
"Exactly. He's not doing well, and I was in the process of looking for a way out of here when someone tripped me up," Peckmon says bitterly, rubbing at his upper leg with an aggravated sweep of his wing.
"The Digiport will be your easiest bet," Renamon offers after a moment of thought. "Perhaps the others can open it and go through with you, make sure you get all of that power back to Kudamon, help him to regain his strength." When Peckmon's eyes light up, she motions him on. "I'll remain here, make sure that no other Digimon disrupt your get-away, but you have to go now."
"Are you sure?" Betamon asks her in amazement, unable to do anything but accept it as she nods in a jerky kind of fashion, turning to face in the opposite direction to guard the Digiport from whatever may come to look for the reclaimed earring. The group of them leave to return the small item to its owner, but the glow has barely dissipated when Renamon realizes she isn't alone- AJ Lee still stands there, staring at her with her head tilted, arms crossed behind her back.
"What are you doing?" she demands in a low, hissing tone.
"What's it look like?" AJ wonders, skipping a little closer before glancing over her shoulder at the still glowing Digiport, absorbing each of the others to spit them out on the other side, whole and ready to return the item to this Kudamon. "We don't like each other, that's clear, but I don't like any of the others either. Even so, apparently we're supposed to be a unified front or whatever. So you're stuck with me." It's not all exactly like she's saying, there's something here that's encouraging her to stay, but she thinks this is the easiest path to take to keep Renamon's focus off of her lingering presence.
Sure enough, the tall Digimon turns her focus back on what's ahead of her, a dark sensation of anger and hunger to have the power contained in that earring back in its possession, and when something shifts, she moves into place, holding her arms out over her chest. "Diamond storm!" The sharp shards rain down upon the ground but nothing else happens, everything still and quiet. Renamon frowns, that sensation still creeping down her arms, but there's nothing she can do about it. The Digiport is now clear, empty. The others have safely gone through. "Come on," she mutters to AJ, now seeing no reason to remain.
The two of them walk side by side to the screen, which leaps to life as AJ holds her Digivice out to it, opening it so they can return to the other sector. Renamon doesn't notice as AJ glances over her shoulder at the fading diamond shards embedded in the ground. She hums before turning into data and getting sucked into the Digiport to return to the others.
Things are thankfully quickly resolved once they return to the Vaccine sector, Kudamon regaining his earring and a fair amount of his strength. This allows the Digidestined to return home, where AJ sinks into her bed and stares at her Digivice for long, quiet moments. Renamon is stored in there but AJ wonders if she can remember the moment- being locked inside a small machine, with very little in the way of entertainment, or to eat or drink. She makes a face before rolling away from the device, yawning.
Her dreams are far from comforting that night, full of strange whispers and faint warmth against her flesh, leaving her wondering if she's coming down with something. Happy vacation, AJ, she thinks glumly, staring up at her ceiling as the heat and the anticipation of the murmurs resuming keeps her awake for a little longer that night.
