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Dark eyes flutter open as Alicia Fox stirs against the cool grass, confused and a little achy as she tries to reorient herself. "Where am I?" she mutters, running her hand over her face. The place doesn't look familiar at all, and the fogginess of her memory does nothing to comfort her. She groans, trying to sit up and prepare for a fight, or just to figure out how to get home- something, anything... when she spots a pretty magenta flower not that far away, her curiosity overwhelming her as something draws her towards it. She's never seen such a flower before and as she inches over to it, she wonders what it may smell like, leaning in to do just that.
Before she could even get too close, however, a highpitched voice cries out, "Excuse you!" As she falls back, eyes wide and lips parted in shock, the flower she'd almost touched moves, the greenery below it that she had assumed was roots or stalks shifts and moves into a standing position, black- almost alienistic eyes- peering up at her. She stares down at the plant... or creature... or whatever it is, her lips trembling slightly. "Um. Hello?"
Alicia blinks in shock as it approaches her, moving easily despite its plant-like appearance. "Aaaaaaaaaaaah!" she screams until it stops moving.
"Ok, ok." Holding its odd, clawed hands up, it sits down and stares up at Alicia. "It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm... I'm supposed to be your partner."
"Partner?" she chokes out after a few strained moments. "What- what are you talking about?"
"I'm Palmon," it explains. "We've been paired together to help save the Digital World." As Alicia drowns in more confusion, she smiles softly. "I was waiting for you to wake up after you appeared here, and I guess I dozed off myself. Sorry for startling you. If you can give me a few minutes, I'll try to explain?"
Alicia swallows, deciding to be brave- do what she'd done numerous times as a WWE Diva. Take a chance. "Alright. I- I think so, yes."
Palmon smiles up at her and Alicia thinks, despite the pure darkness of her eyes, there's a sort of relief in her steady gaze.
After a quiet, unimpressive week where Alicia's only competed once in a losing effort against new Divas champion Paige, she's relieved to find herself back in the Digiworld, Palmon walking contentedly by her side. They hadn't been forewarned what the problem was this time, of course, but Ophanimon had sent them on to the Data Zone, her presence remaining as stable as ever somehow soothing to them for some reason. The map pinpointing where they need to go isn't being very helpful, the terrain it's pointing to hilly and covered in rocks and stones, making it trecherous to climb. AJ and Alicia are side by side, Heath Slater and Ricardo Rodriguez helping them to proceed where they can- when they're not stumbling or cursing over it all themselves- until Renamon stops short, staring ahead with a displeased look in her piercing blue eyes.
Heath and Ricardo bump into them, their vastly different voices apologizing hastily, when Renamon hisses and leaps forward, Alicia gasping as she tracks the graceful fox-like Digimon soar despite not being able to fly, landing heavily feet away as the others all stop and gape at her as well. "Show yourself!" she demands, holding her arms over her chest as if preparing to attack, keeping the sharp diamond shards ready just in case.
AJ approaches her warily, trying to see what her partner is seeing, but Renamon throws an arm out and stops her forward motion- though it's too late, a flash of gold similar to what they'd just seen when Renamon had lunged down forming between her and her Digidestined partner when a startled scream reverberates through the area- Alicia blinks and AJ is gone, Renamon not even hesitating before she leaps again and again, her light and nimble steps following something that the others can't yet see, no matter how quickly they struggle up the rocky embankment to the top of the hill. Alicia gasps as she clears enough to see over the hill, taking in how AJ is standing close to the outcrop, her eyes wide while she struggles against the creamy arm pressed against her throat, tears filling her eyes as she chokes and stares helplessly at Renamon.
"Let her go," the Digimon tells her partner's captor, seeming undisturbed by it being another of her kind- another Renamon holding onto AJ with clearly dangerous intentions.
However, this command goes ignored, his grip around AJ's throat only tightening as he steps backwards, the girl crying for real now. "No," he finally says grimly. "She took you from us. You are next in line to be our leader, but instead here you are, wasting your time with these humans... You are as aware as any one of us that Sakuyamon's power is fading, she is destabilizing! What are we to do when she is gone, and you are stranded on earth because of these humans?" He shakes AJ, who cries out and clings to his arm, not liking how close to the edge of the hill they are- such a fall would probably be nothing to a Digimon, but to a human, potentially fatal.
This is clearly on Renamon's mind as well as she gingerly walks forward, staring her fellow Digimon in the eye. "Killing her won't change any of this," she tells him. "I understand the fear behind Sakuyamon losing her power, we all feel as you do about it, but I could not pass up the opportunity to save this world. Yes, I am aware that our clan needs a leader, but what is the point of doing that if the entire world is in danger of destruction? To help one, I must first save the other, and that is precisely what I'm going to do. You have to let her go."
The frenzied Renamon stares back at her, his features twisted and feral. "Don't you get it? Don't you understand, these humans- they are ruining the natural order of things! We were doing fine without them!"
"You are delusional if you honestly believe that," she says calmly, trying to inch close enough to get AJ away from him while he's lost in the middle of his rant. "We were- still are- killing each other, slowly. Data and Vaccine Digimon, overwhelmed by the Virus Digimon. The Digidestined were brought here to promote peace, rescue those who needed it. Yes, I agreed to step up and be apart of it, because I realized ours isn't the only clan who needs help." These words go right over his head as, angered even further from her unbending stance, he tosses AJ aside and lunges forward to stand nose to nose with Renamon, glowering at her. Neither notice as the former Divas champion staggers on the edge of the precipice, trying and failing to regain her balance.
"AJ!" Alicia cries out as her feet slip, a sharp scream bursting from her as she disappears from sight- but then there's a flash of green, thick vines whipping past the tall diva and curving over the rocks, Alicia looking down in subdued amazement to find Palmon standing by her side, eyes scrunched shut as she focuses on something. A few moments later, the vines protuding from her claws grow taut, Palmon opening her eyes. "Pa- Palmon?"
"Go pull her up, I can't- can't do it myself without risking dislodging her," she grunts. "Hurry, it's windy, I don't think I can hold her for long- they'll snap if they hit the sharp rocks just so..."
"Right, yeah, of course," Alicia gasps, scrambling forward to grab Palmon's vines- something she'd never touched before, surprised by how cool they are, how they pulse with life. Hoping that she's not hurting the Digimon, she tugs back with all of her strength, surprised when Seth joins in, helping her to pull AJ up. The others are scattered around, some peering down at AJ, calling out instructions randomly, and some standing with the Renamon, keeping things from once more growing antagonistic. Though, judging by the look on both Renamons' faces, that would be impossible to easily keep at bay should it.
Finally Mike reaches down and pulls, dragging AJ up to the steady ground. Alicia stumbles over, leaving Palmon to retract her vines in peace, before kneeling down by AJ and brushing hair out of her eyes, shuddering softly as she reflects on how close she had come to not surviving this. If not for Palmon's quick thinking and actions... "AJ..."
"Alicia," she cries out, lunging forward and hugging her fellow Diva as tightly as she can. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
"It was all Palmon," Alicia mutters awkwardly, dragging her Digimon into the hug as AJ cries, her tears dripping onto Palmon's flower, it absorbing the liquid. "I'm just glad you're ok." She looks up, watching the two Renamon square off as AJ shakes and sobs into her shoulder, still overwhelmed by how close she'd come to dying.
"This was not the way to go about it," AJ's partner tells the other Digimon, her gaze so cold that Alicia wouldn't have been surprised to see ice crystalizing in the other Renamon's fur. "If I see you anywhere near any of the Digidestined again, I'll delete you myself. No matter what I may think of them, they are our best option in keeping our world safe. They have already helped a fair deal. It is not always about just our clan, there are hundreds of thousands of Digimon depending on these ten, and I can't let you disrupt our missions, no matter what you may think of my decision. Now go, or I will change my mind on sparing you."
He snarls at her but follows her commands, turning and leaping out of sight. Alicia breathes a little easier as soon as he's gone, stroking AJ's hair as she slowly calms down, looking up at the still and watchful Renamon, shuddering anew before burying her face in Alicia's side. The diva sighs and closes her eyes, lightly rocking AJ back and forth. "You're ok, it's going to be ok." But she can't be sure of that, looking from Renamon to AJ. Their relationship has been far from easy up to this point and she doubts that this will ease things along. Unfortunately, they're stuck with each other... "Come on, let's go home," she breathes, relieved when AJ nods and stands, eager to do just that. Renamon looks far from thrilled, remaining quiet as she follows them back to the portal.
