Novice wasted no time in picking up the next reader. That being Miyako.
Breaking News! Blazing DeathMeramon!
The title card showed a silhouette of DeathMeramon.
"So they're going to face DeathMeramon," Mimi commented with a frown.
"The question is where does it happen," Sora added in.
The night was quiet in the city of Vale, a light fog having settled on the town that night. Among the streets, a lone woman walked. Some might call her foolhardy for going alone, but she wasn't afraid. She was a huntress after all. She'd handled Grimm before. How bad could a few thugs be?
Most of the Children and their partners felt slight relief at this huntress being able to take care of herself. But few of them were worried about something worse than Grimm moving about that night.
Unfortunately for her, what was out that night wasn't thugs on the street. As she walked down the road, she heard the sound of wheels, before through the mist up ahead she saw a wooden carriage of all things...moving by itself. Blinking in surprise, she was understandably unsure what to do, especially when it came to a stop next to her, before the door opened. Peering inside, she saw only darkness for a moment, before a pair of piercing eyes appeared, and suddenly her head felt fuzzy. She only somewhat registered the tall figure that stepped out of the carriage, and the feeling of being pulled into an embrace, before she felt a sharp pain on the side of her neck, then darkness…
The second generation had disturbed looks about the poor huntress being attacked by what they assume to be a mental attack from Myotismon before she was bitten.
"Umm..." Miyako sounded out in worry, "Does Myotismon's bite-" "No," Novice replied instantly, "Myotismon doesn't turn people into vampires."
Miyako sighed in relief, while the first generation let out small chuckles.
It was another day for the hunters in training of Beacon Academy, but not just any day, as it was the end of the first week of classes, thus many were looking forward to the weekend to come. However, for a certain pair of teams, the weekends were anything but enjoyable.
"...and in other news, several women were found collapsed on the streets of Vale, all of them having been rushed to the hospital due to a sudden bout of anemia. Doctors are still trying to figure out the cause of…" the newscaster said, before Gyro switched off the feed.
"Looks like our vampire isn't keeping still," Gyro frowned.
"Kinda scary that he can do that so easily." Ruby said uncomfortably as she rubbed her neck nervously.
All of the first generation, especially the girls, counted themselves lucky that they mostly didn't go out at night.
"It's one more reason to stop him though, right?" Agumon said, looking up at his partner, receiving a nod.
"Unfortunately we can't do anything just yet," Weiss sighed. "We still have today's classes to worry about, and we can't exactly skip classes for no apparent reason."
"Right, these guys don't have the benefit of summer vacation," Yamato commented, "That's one thing that's harder for them."
Novice chose to keep his mouth shut. If what Swift has implied during a few meetings was true then things are gonna get worse.
"Haaah...how do superheroes make it look so easy?" Jaune sighed.
"Cause the plot is always on their side," Pierce shrugged.
That earned a series of laughs. It was so true.
"Let's just head to class for now, today's one of the more important ones." Ren advised.
"Right, combat class." Pyrrha said with a nod.
"Hopefully we can finally have that match." Gyro said with a grin as he looked at her.
"We'll see." Pyrrha shot back with an amused smile.
"Don't forget to show us," Veemon reminded with a grin. This was a class they'd been looking forward to.
"Maybe they get to beat up that Cardin," Veemon commented with a grin of his own.
"You know, that sounds like it would be fun," Daisuke commented with a grin.
Which of course made everyone else look forward to it. Some more obviously than others.
"We will," Nora gave a thumbs up.
"Good morning students, and welcome to Combat Class. I'm Professor Glynda Goodwitch," Glynda said as the students were gathered for her class. "Before we begin, one key lesson I want you all to take to heart, especially for my class is this. Know. Your. Limits," she said firmly, punctuating each word for emphasis with a slap of her riding crop.
The Children and their digimon flinched at the riding crop.
"Umm... Jo," Mimi sounded out with dread.
"Yes, Mimi," Jo replied with equal dread.
"Does she use that crop on students?"
At that question the Chosen of Reliability instantly checked the guidebook. "It doesn't say."
"I wouldn't be surprised if she did," Novice said with an evil smile, "Or do other... nevermind." The Overseer wasn't sure why that theory that floated around fandom came to mind. "Mitä minulle tapahtuu(What is happening to me)?"
No one wanted to know what he could have meant.
"Hope the Digimon will remember that line." Yang muttered, preferring if their friends didn't push themselves too hard.
"After what we've been through, those are words to live by," Blake said.
The Children and their digimon did agree to that, but sometimes they had to take huge risks to get a win.
"You can say that again," Ruby nodded.
"Now, as most of you have no doubt already guessed, this class will pit you against other students. Hunters fight not only Grimm, but other living people as well, mostly criminals. Not only will my class help prepare you for that, but it will also help you deal with any flaws in your fighting style now rather than later." Glynda explained. "With that in mind, let us begin immediately. Any volunteers?'
"Well, now or never," Gyro smirked, before raising his arm.
"Alright, Mr. Vermillion, please come up to the ring," Glynda nodded, to which Gyro did so. "Now then, who do you wish to spar with?"
Gyro didn't even hesitate to point at Pyrrha. "I'll spar with Pyrrha if that's okay," he said.
"Any objections, Ms. Nikos?" Glynda checked.
"None," Pyrrha said as she got up to the ring as well.
"This is gonna be great," Gomamon commented with a grin.
"I hope Pyrrha wins," Gabumon added in, hoping his other's partner would win.
"I want Gyro to win," Agumon did the same for Gyro. This caused a slight pang of jealousy in the two's partners, but they decided not to voice it.
Comments ranging from "Is he crazy?" to "He's gonna get his ass kicked." could be heard from the… less important people in the class.
"Isn't that a little rude," Biyomon asked, Sora nodding in agreement.
"It kind of is," Koshiro also agreed while giving their host a questioning look. There's no need to be rude about people's relevance to the story.
"Swift is the one who wrote this, not me," Novice reminded everyone.
Gyro naturally didn't pay them any mind as he drew Ascalon. "Looks like we finally get to have that match afterall," he chuckled.
"Well then, let's make it one to remember," Pyrrha nodded, readying Milo and Akuou.
"Very well then, if the both of you are ready…" Glynda began as the screen overhead came on, displaying both their aura levels. "Begin!"
Gyro wasted no time and used his semblance to cover the distance between the two of them, lashing out with his weapons before she had a chance to react. Pyrrha however was faster than he expected and managed to lean back to dodge the attack, before quickly regaining her balance and counter attacked. What soon followed was an intense clash of steel as the two of them fought to see who could strike the other first. Gyro had the advantage in terms of offense thanks to his dual swords allowing him to make rapid and continuous attacks, while Pyrrha had more defensive options thanks to her shield...not to mention her ability to dodge his strikes which he was positive was due to her semblance.
"That's cheating!" Daisuke called out on what Pyrrha was doing.
"No, it's smart," Gatomon commented earning a chuckle from Novice. "What?"
"There's are several realities where Blake says that about back attacks," Novice replied.
"...I don't get it," Gatomon said with slight confusion.
But most of the Children did. Blake is a cat faunus, while Gatomon is a cat digimon. Some of them let out chuckles, while others smiled in amusement.
Forced to get a bit of range, Gyro knew he wasn't going to score a hit with her constantly using her semblance to subtly change movements in a way even he wouldn't really notice. "Okay...if that's how its gonna be…" he smirked as the wind started to wrap around him. If she was gonna use her semblance to mess up his moves, then he'd use his own to amp them up a little. Charging forward, he aimed to strike her again, this time using the wind to boost his attacks, making them move faster and with more force. As he anticipated, this boost caught Pyrrha off guard, forcing her to block his attack, the force and speed too much for her to safely divert discreetly. The force caused her to stumble a little, before Gyro spun around...and landed a kick to her gut, pushing her back.
"Go, Gyro!" Agumon cheered.
"Don't give up, Pyrrha!" Gabumon also cheered.
"Guys," Yamato sounded out, "You do know they can't hear you?"
"Actually they can," Novice butted in.
"What?!" Came out of everyone.
Novice looked so serious for a moment before bursting into laughter. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist," Novice said through his laughter which was cut by an empty soda bottle in the face.
"Shut up and let us read in peace," Mimi said in annoyance, wiping her hands after successfully hitting their host in the face.
"That's right," Miyako added in, "We don't need your stupid jokes. And you're supposed to be an adult, so act like it!"
"Okay, I get it," Novice said while rubbing his forehead, "Shutting up now."
With the annoyance out of the way, Miyako continued.
Pyrrha blinked...before realizing that for the first time since she'd become champion...someone had managed to damage her aura in a tournament style fight.
"Jo?" Iori questioned.
"...The guidebook only says that Pyrrha won Mistral tournament four years in a row," The Chosen of Reliability said with a frown, "It doesn't say how easily she did it."
"Well if she did it four years in a row then she must be something," Taichi commented, now worrying a little for Gyro... Although the fact that wind user landed a solid hit on Pyrrha did get his hopes up.
She couldn't help but grin a bit, honestly, she was starting to have fun now.
"I feel like if I had seen this before the Digital World, I would be calling Gyro out or something." Weiss said, remembering how originally she had been hoping to be on the same team as Pyrrha.
"Weiss must have idolized Pyrrha if that's how she feels," Hikari commented with a smile
Miyako felt a little like how she considers Mimi her rolemodel. Maybe Weiss felt something similar.
"Is it like that," Ken asked Novice.
"That, or she might have seen a potential stepping-stone to success," Novice said, before looking thoughtful, "Or both."
"Well, even if you did, I don't think either of them would have noticed," Pierce mused. True enough, the two of them had resumed clashing, and what a clash it was. Pyrrha used a mix of offense and defense to defend against Gyro's fast blurry of blades, until she found a chance to strike back. As it was, it was a see saw battle as both used a mix of semblance and skill to keep their opponent from fully regaining balance and at the same time trying to boost their attacks.
The rest of the digimon also started cheering on the fight. Some for Gyro, others for Pyrrha.
Everyone in the room watched with rapt fascination as little by little both began whittling away at each other's aura. Eventually after one last clash, this one strong enough to kick up a small dust cloud. Once it was over, they were ready to resume clashing again until…
"That's quite enough," Gynda said, stopping the battle. "In a tournament style battle, this would have ended in a draw, as both Ms. Nikos and Mr. Vermillion's auras are in the red. As per tournament rules, they'd both be out of the fight."
"A tie," Veemon complained, "That's not fun!"
"I guess that means Gyro and Pyrrha are evenly matched," Koshiro theorized.
"In this situation anyway," Gatomon added in, "If they weren't in a tournament, I wonder who would win."
Yamato and Taichi looked a little worried, because unless the two spar sometimes, the only way they would fight is if they had some kind of fight. Hopefully not.
Gyro and Pyrrha both blinked in confusion at that, before looking up at the screen, showing that both of their auras were indeed in the red, before looking back at each other.
"Guess we went all out huh?" Gyro said with a laugh.
"It looks like we did." Pyrrha agreed with her own laugh.
Meanwhile, most of the class was stunned at that. Pretty much everyone knew who Pyrrha was and her reputation, and here was some guy who came out of nowhere suddenly able to fight toe to toe and even bring her fight to a draw. Their shock was cut short of course when cheering was heard.
"Great work both of you!" Ruby cheered encouragingly, something their various teammates soon joined in on albeit in their own ways.
Back in the dorm the Digimon had also enjoyed the fight, most of all Agumon and Gabumon… who started wrestling a bit in the middle of it in a playful argument of who was gonna win.
"...I'm surprised you two didn't do that," Palmon commented on their duo who looked a little embarrassed.
"We wouldn't do that," Agumon said defensively.
Deciding to not pursue this, Miyako kept reading.
"They're really good," Falcomon commented, as he and Keenan had decided to visit the dorms today. It had become something of a common occurrence for one of the group to visit that the brothers went and got a rope ladder for both of the dorms that could be unrolled and pulled back anytime.
That was convenient, assuming no one outside saw a strange kid with an oversized bird climbing it.
"They knew how to use their weapons and abilities to the near fullest. That was why neither of them could really gain the upper hand," Keenan nodded as well.
"Should we stop THOSE two though?" Biyomon asked as she glanced at the other two Digimon who were still rolling around and trying to get the other in a headlock or something of the like.
"You were saying, Agumon," Patamon teased lightly.
"Shut it," Agumon grumbled.
"Let them get it out of their system, they'll sleep easier tonight." Tentomon said with a shrug.
With that in mind they all turned their attention to the rest of the class, as various students fought against each other, some better than others, and each time Glynda gave pointers on what they did wrong and how to improve. However, it wasn't long before they saw a very interesting match up.
"Oh this is gonna be good," Gomamon grinned as it turns out the next match was Jaune against...Cardin. He was very much looking forward to seeing his partner trounce that jock.
Jo was already checking the guidebook. "In canon, Cardin made a show out of beating Jaune," The Chosen had a disapproving look on his face.
"I doubt he can do that now," Gomamon said with a grin.
Now they were looking forward to a bully being put in his place.
"Why the hell do I have to fight a weakling?" Cardin growled irritably as he stepped into the arena.
Jaune felt his eyebrow twitch, before deciding to piss off his would be bully "Funny, I was gonna say the same thing." he said with a wide grin.
The Children and their partners chuckled at Jaune's comeback.
"Oh you're gonna get it now, noodle," Cardin growled.
"Oh boy...he's toast…" Pyrrha sighed.
"Huh?" Veemon and Wormmon sounded out.
"Yeah...what are the odds Cardin called him THAT of all names," Pierce nodded in mild amusement. Ever since the incident with Digitamamon, the word 'noodle', especially if used to refer to someone, had become something of a mild 'berserk button' for Jaune. And Cardin just tap danced on it…
"Oh... right," Veemon muttered, almost feeling sorry for Cardin... Almost.
"Oh now it is on…" Jaune growled under his breath, drawing Crocea Mors and settling into a ready stance.
"Now then. Begin!" Glynda said, before the two charged forward.
Cardin roared as he swung his mace down, but Jaune was faster and moved to the side, avoiding the mace, before putting his shield in front of him, and dashing forward, causing the shield to smash right into Cardin, pushing the larger boy back. Cardin quickly regained his balance, and retaliated, but Jaune blocked with his shield, grunting a little under the pressure, but quickly redirected the force, throwing Cardin off balance, and allowing Jaune to hit him with his sword, the Chrome Digizoid enhanced blade cutting into the larger boy's aura, which was made visible by the sudden shaving of a decent chunk of his aura.
"Cardin is so screwed," Armadimon commented with a grin.
Then Iori had a thoughtful look, "Wait, isn't it dangerous to use Chrome Digizoid weapon?"
"Come on, Iori," Takeru said with a small smile, "What's the worst that could..." And then the smile dropped as he realized what that was in this case.
Bully or not, Cardin dying will cause problems.
Cardin growled at that, before activating the Dust in his mace and throwing a few fireballs, forcing Jaune to jump back. Smirking a little, Cardin ran forward, intending to cave Jaune's head in, but Jaune had other ideas. Sheathing Crocea Mors, he triggered its Bastard Sword mode, and ran forward, before jumping up and bringing it down in an overhead slice. Cardin quickly moved to block the attack, but when the two weapons made contact...his mace was promptly cleaved in half, as the bastard sword made contact with his armor, cutting through what was left of his aura.
Cardin went tumbling back, his aura not just red, but utterly gone as it couldn't take the blow from a Chrome Digizoid blade, and would have fallen out of the ring had he not suddenly stopped thanks to Glynda's Semblance catching him. "That's quite enough," she said with a frown.
Most of the girls sighed in relief at Jaune only destroying Cardin's weapon.
"Serves him right," Gomamon commented on Cardin losing his weapon.
"Agreed," Tentomon said, having a grin if he had a mouth capable of that.
Iori too smiled a little.
"Whoops, sorry about that mace of yours, guess my upgrade worked too well." Jaune said, and everybody could tell he wasn't sorry at all.
"I'm just glad Jaune didn't kill Cardin," Sora commented with a small smile.
"Yeah, that could have been a problem," Mimi added in.
Glyda frowned at the response. "While I commend you for taking advantage of your opponent's fighting style to gain the advantage, I must ask you to refrain from destroying your opponent's weapons in the future, even if it is due to an unexpectedly strong upgrade," she said.
"Right, I won't do it again," Jaune nodded with a small sigh. He sort of knew this would happen...but it was sooo worth it.
"Hear, hear," Veemon agreed with Jaune.
"That's what a bully gets," Takeru also commented. It was a shame Goodwitch didn't give extra credit or something, but as a teacher she must be fair about her judgement.
"Yeah! Go Jaune!" Gomamon cheered as his partner had utterly dominated that fight.
"He's been getting really good these days." Wormmon said.
"Well, Pyrrha's been training him a bit on the side." Gabumon said as he and Agumon were collapsed on the floor, finally having tired out.
"It helps too his opponent...was ridiculously weak," Keenan said. "Not saying that that downplays his victory of course. But that Cardin person...he has a large ego for someone so weak."
"That's every bully," Patamon commented, earning small laughs.
"Either he was born this way, or he was poorly raised," Novice commented, "I'm not sure which."
"Yes, he's got all the skills of a feral Digimon," Falcomon agreed. "All he's got is power, but no real focus or direction. For his sake I hope he learns, or when a superior opponent appears before him, he will meet a premature end."
"I'm... not sure I want to see that last one," Miyako commented, having a few scary thoughts on how Cardin might end.
"I've seen realities where Cardin cleaned up his act," Novice said giving some hope to the Chosen of Love and Purity. "I admit, my personal favorite was the one where he helped by being a jerk, one last time," Novice said, laughing a little at the memory.
"Okay, how does that work," Takeru asked wondering how that was possible.
"Long story," Novice said, not feeling like going into that.
"It says a lot about us we've gotten used to people dying already." Palmon commented dryly as none of them had even flinched at the implication of someone dying.
"It is the unfortunate path of becoming a warrior," Keenan said as Falcomon nodded in agreement.
While none of the Children can claim to be used to people dying, none of them would get anxieties at the thought of it anymore. Except maybe Iori.
"You sound like that was something someone taught you. Was it Summer?" Patamon frowned.
"No, it was someone else. Someone who was and still is, like a father to us," Keenan said firmly, and somehow that tone told the Digimon to not pursue that topic.
"Who would that be," Wormmon asked Novice.
The Overseer pondered if he should answer for a moment before making his decision, "Based on the series I've seen Keenan in, I can make a guess."
"...And," Wormmon prodded.
"Not answering."
The caterpillar digimon looked miffed, but accepted it. Perhaps the story will tell in time.
"And that's all for today," Glynda said. "Be sure to practice regularly, and I'll see you all next week. Enjoy your weekends," she said as she dismissed the class.
With that everyone left the class, the Digidestined ignoring Cardin as he growled at their backs while they headed up to their dorms, all gathering in the team RWGBY dorm.
"I'll call Azure, think you can go get Summer and the others?" Pierce asked Keenan after they had gotten over their momentary surprise at seeing him there.
Keenan simply nodded before stepping into the shadows of the closet, coming back out a minute later with Summer, Renamon and Wizardmon.
"So, class is over huh?" Summer asked with a small smirk. "So...is Glynda still as much of a drill sergeant as ever?" she jokingly asked.
"Isn't she roughly your age though?" Ruby asked her mom with a raised eyebrow.
That surprised everyone.
"How old is Glynda, exactly," Taichi asked, seeing as the screen doesn't help them in guessing.
"Taichi, that's rude," Sora scolded.
"Besides, I don't know," Novice added in, "It was never mentioned in the show and frankly, I'm not too interested in it."
Jo consulted the guidebook before raising an eyebrow, "How dare you?" It sounded like a question.
"What?" Came out of Koshiro.
"That's what the guidebook says on Glynda's age," Jo clarified. It took a few seconds, but the Children did laugh a little.
"A bit younger than me actually, but she was really harsh in helping her teammates train back when she was a student." Summer said with a laugh. "Not to mention the few extra years I got from being in the Digital World."
"About that...why is it when we came back, only a couple of hours passed? With how long you'd said you were in there, we thought time was possibly slightly faster in the Digital World," Gyro asked.
Everyone's eyes widened at that. They had forgotten how long ago Summer had disappeared from Remnant.
"How is that possible," Ken asked in confusion that everyone had.
Miyako kept reading, hoping that the story had the answer.
"That...I have no idea…" Summer sighed. "I may have been there for over a decade, but even now there are a LOT of things I don't fully understand about that world."
"It's doubtful anyone knows all the secrets and ways of the Digital World," Renamon mused. "Other than perhaps the Great Server himself…"
No such luck.
"Do you have an idea," Koshiro asked Novice who had a thoughtful look.
"...If I had to guess, assuming Apocalymon is the reason, that his presence brought chaos to Digital World. Perhaps when Summer was taken there, Apocalymon's existence had messed with the time," Novice explained, "But that's just a guess, I could be wrong." The Overseer shrugged at the end of that.
"Right...Yggdrasil…" Weiss frowned, all of them wondering about the supposed 'god' of the Digital World. "...at any rate, we should make preparations for the weekend. We only have so much time to freely search for Myotismon…"
"Here to help!" Azure said as he stepped into the room "Don't start without me!"
Everyone chuckled at Azure's enthusiasm.
"You got here JUST as we were about to." Gyro said with a laugh.
"Right then, so what shall we do?" Azure asked.
"First of all? We need to gather information. As with the news, it's clear that he's not sitting still. Heck, he's pretty brazenly leaving evidence behind, since nobody would believe a vampire is responsible," Pierce frowned.
"In that case, how about we check the CCT? Information goes through there all the time, perhaps some strange sightings are in the records," Weiss suggested.
Everyone agreed that there might be blogs, tweets or whatever was the Remnant equivalent of those on strange sightings.
"Well, if we need info, I know somewhere we might get that," Yang said.
"You're gonna barge into Junior's bar, aren't you?" Ren deadpanned, remembering the info regarding that particular character Yang was...acquainted...with.
"How was Yang acquinted with that guy again," Hikari asked in slight worry.
"She busted his bar and kicked his butt into next week," Novice said with a fond look at the memory.
"Hey, he must have heard SOME rumors in the last few days." she said with a shrug.
"Makes sense, there's probably been a weird thing or two that's happened since we got back, we just haven't heard about it since were stuck in Beacon all week." Nora said with a nod.
"We did focus on trying to find Hikari," Jo commented, although he remembered how he was stuck with doing calls.
"It's possible we didn't hear everything," Takeru added in before turning to Gatomon, "Sorry for asking but did any of Myotismon's troops do anything?"
"I wasn't exactly babysitting them, so who knows what some of them were doing," Gatomon admitted with a frown.
That did not inspire confidence.
"Moving on." Novice said the magic words that allowed everyone to halt the speculation.
"Anything else...I guess we'll just have to hope we get lucky," Blake frowned.
"Right...guess that's the best we got so far," Jaune sighed.
"We'll have to split up into small teams tomorrow though to cover more ground." Weiss suggested.
"Right, we'll decide on that when we wake up, we'll also have to think of ways to hide the Digimon in plain sight." Gyro said, looking at all the Digimon as he tried to think of a few ideas.
"...to quote Einstein...there are only two things that are infinite. The universe...and the human stupidity…" Gyro said flatly as he looked down at Agumon...who was dressed in only a raincoat...and nobody was batting an eye.
"Well... it worked," Taichi said almost defensively.
"I didn't bat an eye at that disguise when I was a kid," Novice said with a chuckle, "But I would think adults would question more."
"It makes you worry." Blake added as Patamon was keeping his ears pressed against his body thanks to a tiny sweater and was wearing a fake muzzle, pretending to be a dog. "Still...I can't believe this is seriously working," she deadpanned as every now and then a kid or two would come over to pet Patamon then run off.
"...Patamon, did you-" "No!" the batwinged guinea pig interrupted Veemon with highly embarrassed look at the disguise that was put on his other. "I just... pretended to be a stuffed animal."
"Why didn't we think of that plan," Taichi said, referring to Blake's plan.
"Hey!" And Patamon realized it.
"Let's...just start asking around…" Gyro sighed. "Wonder how the others are doing…"
"Pretend you guys are plushies, they said. Nobody will notice, they said...I can't believe they were actually right," Jaune sighed as currently he and Pyrrha were carrying their partners as if they were large plushies...and somehow everyone who was walking by didn't bat an eye even once.
"You could make an argument that they look so weird that them being living creatures didn't even cross their minds," Novice commented with a small smile.
"That... actually makes some sense," Ken said, though he still looked unsure.
"It...certainly is jarring…" Pyrrha nodded in agreement. "But if nothing else, it also means nobody is bothering us," she sighed.
"Let's...start asking around…" Jaune said with a tired sigh.
"...Yeah, better that we don't ask too much, or else our brains will melt," Daisuke commented.
"I actually agree," Miyako added in before continuing.
Meanwhile, Ruby and Weiss were outside of the CCT Tower at the base of Beacon Castle. "Wow...its...big…" Palmon couldn't help but say. Currently she and Tentomon were dressed in hoodies which were carefully put on in a way that it properly obscured their faces and bodies while still allowing them to see out of the hoodie.
"Weiss told me about this. The Cross Continental Transmit System, or CCT for short, was first developed by Atlas following the Great War. It was the Kingdom's gift to the world, and one they use a LOT," Tentomon said, remembering the times he was talking to Weiss about things in Remnant, as well as the time it was covered in history class.
"Wow you're really getting into all that trivia stuff," Palmon joked. "Careful or you might turn into an encyclopedia," she chuckled.
"I'm surprised our Tentomon hasn't turned into one already," Palmon snickered.
"Hey!" Tentomon complained.
"Hey," Tentomon shot back in amusement.
Tentomon blushed in embarrassment... somehow, while everyone else laughed a bit at the near perfect timing.
"Considering Koshiro, that's actually surprising," Mimi added in with a laugh.
´The boy in question turned his laughing into chuckles. "Was that a compliment?" He just couldn't tell.
Mimi laughed again, "Yeah, that's a compliment." And she smiled at the Chosen of Knowledge.
"That's quite enough you two," Weiss said, breaking up the little argument, though she had an amused look on her face, seeing as these kinds of little things were fairly common for them.
"Weiss is right guys, we'd better hurry," Ruby said as the four of them quickly went in.
"So...why are we here again? I thought it was possible to access this from somewhere like the library," Tentomon asked.
"Partly cause I wanted to see the Tower," Ruby admitted sheepishly.
"Hasn't Ruby seen it before," Hawkmon asked, "I mean, aren't they on the school grounds?"
"Yes, but Ruby probably thinks the tower itself is so cool to see," Novice theorized,"Kind of like how you want to see something cool more than once."
Everyone nodded in acceptance.
"And partly because we're going to be going through a LOT of data. We'd want the strongest signal for this, and there's no place better than the Tower itself," Weiss finished.
Okay that was more legit reason.
A motorbike pulled up, as Yang got off and took her helmet off. "Hope he's around. First time I've come here in the daytime," Yang mused.
"So we move to Yang now," Sora commented.
"If he's not, then we'll come again later," Pierce shrugged, before turning to the Digimon. "You two okay?" he asked.
"Wooo! That was fun!" the two of them cheered. Biyomon wasn't wearing anything additional, as they planned to pass her off as some kind of large exotic bird, while Veemon...was dressed up in a dog costume with a fake muzzle of his own just like Patamon.
"What?!" Veemon cried out in embarrassment.
"That's how it feel!" Patamon laughed at having some sweet justice.
"Maybe I should try that sometime," Daisuke muttered with a thoughtful look.
"Over my deleted body!"
"Shh! You guys need to keep quiet," Yang said, albeit gently. "We can't pass you off as a bird and a dog if you guys talk."
"Right, sorry," the two of them nodded quickly, before quickly getting into 'position', Veemon following Pierce via a leash, while Biyomon landed on Yang's shoulder.
Veemon looked like he wanted to crawl under couch cushions and just hide there. Then a large bowl of sweets appeared in front of him.
"I hope that makes you feel better," Novice said with a small smile, "Anyone else want some?"
Several hands were raised and Novice snapped his fingers to make more bowls appear in front of each couch.
With everything ready, Yang went over to the door, and promptly pushed it open...rather roughly. What they saw on the other side was...well...it wasn't exactly a wild party, but it seemed Junior still used it as a base of operation even in the day. As such, they were soon met with a number of guns to their faces.
"Nice welcome wagon," Pierce chuckled. "So...can anyone tell us where we can find one Hei Jiong?"
"Who?" Armadimon asked.
"Probably Junior's real name," Yamato commented.
"Shouldn't we worry about them being at gunpoint," Iori asked in slight concern.
"They'll be fine," Novice said dismissively.
All of the others believed it.
"The first one to actually shoot me loses the ability to makes kids by the way." Yang commented idly, and every gun was immediately removed from their faces.
Iori tilted his head a little, "How does that happen?"
"You don't need to know," Miyako said quickly.
"Why do you guys keep saying that," Iori asked with a small pout.
"Some things are better off not known, trust me," Jo explained... Novice's relationship with Black being on the list of things he could have lived without knowing.
"Alright, what's going o-?" came a rather gruff voice as a rather large man in a shirt, vest, and tie came through the crowd. The moment he saw Yang though, he stopped short. "Blondie...you're here…why?" he gulped slightly, clearly not expecting her to be here...and due to the LAST time she'd been here. Of course, another thing that caused him to stop short was the large pink bird that was standing on her shoulder. "Uh...we have a no pets policy by the way," he added.
"Oh don't mind her, she won't leave any messes," Yang chuckled as she and Pierce walked in, completely disregarding Junior's words much to the man's chagrin. "Anyway, you still owe me a drink, but I've got something more important to ask," she added, before grabbing his hand and dragging him to the bar.
"Isn't she too young to drink," Ken asked with a weirded out look.
"Probably," Novice shrugged.
No one wanted to question further.
"Tch. Alright, so let me get this straight, you two barge into my bar, bring in your pets too I might add, just to ask me if I've heard any strange rumors around town?" Junior asked incredulously by the time they were done explaining.
"A timeskip on the explanation?" Armadimon questioned.
"Looks that way," Hawkmon commented with a shrug of his wings.
"Yeah, we knew it wasn't exactly something normal, but trust us. It's important," Pierce said. "And don't mind Vee and Biyo. They're well house trained."
"Mine isn't," Daisuke mock complained.
"Hey!" Veemon cried out in indignation.
"You keep making a mess in my room," Daisuke shot back in amusement.
"Like you could even tell," Veemon argued with a mild glare.
"Okay, okay, sorry," Daisuke relented, not wanting to actually anger his partner.
Junior sighed in aggravation at that. "Well...fine. If it'll get you both to leave, I'm sure you've seen the news. About those anemia cases? One of my boys said he saw some kind of wooden carriage moving by itself. Of course, it was foggy and he'd been drinking, so we're all pretty sure it was just him being drunk, but I guess that counts as 'weird," he sighed. "Then there's been talks of some weird characters around town lately. Weird guy who wears an overcoat, and probably like 8 feet tall or something. Doesn't talk much, but people have seen him from time to time in the last week. And then there's the 'giant monsters'..."
"Wait, what was that last one?" Yang quickly homed in on that one.
Exactly what the Children and their partners thought.
"Giant monsters? Oh yeah, that one's a laugh. Some of my boys said they were out on a joyride when they saw this small parade of monsters through the street. Said they saw this vampire looking guy leading them. Heh, I dunno what they've been smoking, but I told them to stop or they're fired. I can't work with men who get THAT high," Junior chuckled in amusement.
"...where did they see that?" Pierce asked.
"You don't ACTUALLY believe they saw a parade of monsters, right?" Junior laughed, but Pierce maintained a straight face. "...you're serious aren't you?" he deadpanned. "Fine fine. Kids and their weird hobbies…" he sighed. "They saw the 'parade' near the pier. Heck, they even said they saw the Kraken or something," Junior shrugged.
"Kraken?" Tentomon said with a headtilt.
"Maybe an octopus-like digimon," Koshiro theorized.
"Or Grimm," Jo added in.
"A Grimm would already be wrecking the city," Novice pointed out, "Besides, Vales water's are too shallow for larger aquatic Grimm to even get there."
"So it's a digimon," Yamato concluded.
"Maybe a Gesomon," Taichi theorized.
"Could be," Gomamon shrugged.
"That works. Thanks for the info," Pierce nodded as they got up, before Pierce left some Lien too. "For your time and trouble," he said. No point unnecessarily antagonizing a potential source of info afterall.
"Heh, thanks," Junior said, taking the Lien, before adding, "You and her, eh? Well, good luck kid. You're gonna need it," he chuckled as they soon left the building.
Once they were outside, Yang pulled out her scroll and texted a message to everyone else. 'Got some info. Seems they were seen around the pier. We'll check it out.'
After a few moments they got a reply. 'We're not far from there. Meet you there.' That was from Ren and Nora.
Gatomon smiled a little, "If we're lucky we get to see my other crucifying Myotismon early." The white feline had an uncharacteristically sadistic grin.
"Gatomon, what are you grinning about," Hikari asked in concern.
"Nothing." Gatomon quickly said, drooping her ears in embarrassment, "Sorry."
'We'll keep investigating.' That was from Gyro, Blake, Jaune, and Pyrrha.
'We're still looking into the CCT Tower.' That one was from Ruby and Weiss.
"Okay, looks like we'll be meeting up with Nora and Ren then," Pierce nodded before they made their way to the pier.
Back at the CCT, Ruby, Weiss, Palmon, and Tentomon were...sifting through data. A LOT of data. "Anything?" Weiss asked, groaning in annoyance as an article she pulled up proved to be painfully fake.
"Of course, it's not easy," Gomamon complained.
"Guess they really have to work," Jo added in.
"Nothing so far…" Ruby yawned.
"What about this one?" Palmon asked, clicking on an article about a 'bizarre incident'...only to give it a flat stare when it turned out it was some guy in a suit who clearly had too much time on his hands.
"This...is harder than we thought it would be…" Tentomon sweatdropped.
"Well... you would be surprised how much garbage goes to internet," Mimi commented.
"A trillion gigabytes of data, none of it useful!" Novice shouted out before laughing, "Sorry, just a quote from someone on internet."
However, as they worked, neither of them noticed a large figure enter the CCT Tower, walking past them seemingly without noticing.
"...did it just get warmer in here…?" Ruby idly asked, tugging at her collar a little.
"Okay, that's DeathMeramon," Biyomon commented as she remembered how it got hot moments before he chose to attack.
"Well...here we are…" Ren said as he and Nora met up with Yang and Pierce.
"So...how are we gonna find wherever Myotismon is hiding?" Nora asked.
"Honestly...I don't really expect us to find the hideout itself persay," Pierce frowned. "But at the very least we should be able to find some clues."
"Better than nothing, I guess," Iori commented.
"Guess we'd better start combing the area…" Yang sighed.
The process was...slow...and not really enjoyable. The only nice thing that came out of it was due to how empty the area was, the Digimon could all move freely...though they could do without the unavoidable smell of fish.
"You sure Myotismon would hideout here? He seems like too much of a stuck up type to pick this place as a hideout," Veemon asked, pinching his nose when he accidentally found a pile of discarded fish parts.
All the digimon cringed at what that would be like.
"You might be right, but we can't overlook anywhere just because it might not be his style," Wormmon said.
"Well...nothing to do but keep at it I guess…" Salamon sighed.
"...I say we take a break…" Tentomon suggested. They'd been at this for a few hours now…
"That...might be a good idea," Ruby said, blinking a bit more than usual. She'd been staring at the screen too long…
"Do you do that Koshiro?" Mimi asked with a curious look.
"Why are you asking me?"
"Because you're the most likely to stare at a computer screen too long," Mimi shot back, earning small laughs.
"...Sometimes," the Chosen of Knowledge looked highly embarrassed.
"I think so too…" Weiss nodded, having the same issue.
"Let's take a few minutes then we can continue later," Palmon nodded, before they all went out of the room and dug into their pouches for a few energy bars. They'd planned to have to be here all day if needs be, so they came prepared.
"You know...all the work aside...hasn't it been getting hotter here?" Tentomon asked.
"So it wasn't just me?" Ruby blinked.
"Maybe the air conditioner is malfunctioning," Weiss mused...before the air soon got hotter. "...okay this doesn't seem right…"
Everyone knew what was coming next.
"Yeah, now it feels like the air is getting hotter…" Palmon nodded. THEN the explosions happened.
And there it was.
"Okay, that's our cue to check it out I guess," Tentomon would have blinked if he could.
"It came from the upper floors!" Ruby said...to which they rushed for the elevator.
When they came to the higher floor they were met with several people running away, as a large figure in an overcoat and hat was smashing the consoles. "Hey! What do you think you're doing you brute?!" Weiss said angrily.
The figure turned to them...and they saw the face under the hat. It was metallic with red eyes. Clearly it wasn't human.
"You're a…!" Ruby started, but didn't get to finish as…
"Chosen Children...BURN!" the figure roared as he was covered in blue flames, turning his coat and hat into ashes. Underneath it was a large man with pale skin, a metal mask covering his face with only red eyes visible, chains wrapped around his torso and arms, black plants with a flame pattern on them with boots that had skulls on the tip of them, and blue hair on top of his head that looked like a flame, and of course, blue flames came off his body like steam.
"Here we go," Tentomon commented, while wondering how this fight will turn out. After all, this time it was his and Palmon's other.
"That's DeathMeramon. Careful, he's a strong one!" Weiss said as she did a quick check on the Analyzer.
Digimon Analyzer: DeathMeramon
DeathMeramon. Data Type. A Perfect Level Flame Digimon. A dark evolution of Meramon, he is far more sinister than his previous form, with flames that burn brighter. Although flame Digimon tend to be weak against Digimon with water or ice powers, this doesn't matter to DeathMeramon, as it would be like pouring water on a hot stone. His special attacks are Heavy Metal Fire, melting down the metal in his mouth before firing it at his opponents mixed into his blue flames, and Heat Chain, using one of his blazing chains like a whip.
"Guys! We've got a problem! A Digimon is attacking the CCT, its DeathMeramon!" Ruby quickly said into her scroll.
"What?! Hang on, we'll be there as soon as we can!" Gyro said, followed by several more nods of agreement.
"Pierce, you guys better stay where you are. If you've got a lead, it'd be better if you take it. We can handle DeathMeramon!" Jaune said.
"...alright. We'll leave it to you," Pierce said, albeit reluctantly before the call was ended.
Just in time too, as they were forced to evade a blue fireball, which impacted the elevator, disabling it. "Well...there goes our escape route," Palmon chuckled weakly.
"Then nothing to do but beat him," Tentomon said firmly as the two ditched their disguises.
"Not like there was anything else to do from the start," Palmon commented.
(Play Brave Heart)
"Tentomon, Evolution! Kabuterimon!"
"Palmon, Evolution! Togemon!"
To anyone watching, a floor on the upper part of the CCT Tower suddenly exploded outward, as a trio of large monsters burst out, scaring the shit out of anyone who had been nearby, the three landing on top of a nearby building. Once the dust settled, the students and people visiting were met with the sight of what appeared to be a man covered in blue fire fighting off a giant cactus with boxing gloves, and a large blue insect.
"What the fucking hell ARE those?!" a random male student shouted.
"I don't know but I'm not sticking around to find out!" one of his friends added before running away."
"Is...is this some kind of movie none of us were told about?" a random student asked in utter bewilderment.
"Don't know, don't care, but I'm getting the hell out of here!" her friend said, grabbing her arm and pulling her away.
That was most human's reaction in Tokyo when they first saw digimon. Although what consequences there will be once the news hit might cause problems.
Back with the fight, Kabuterimon rammed into DeathMeramon, the smaller Digimon grunting against the force, but eventually managed to redirect the force, causing Kabuterimon to veer off course a little...but right as that happened, Togemon followed up with a strong punch to gut, causing DeathMeramon to be pushed back considerably. Growling, he opened his mouth. "Heavy Metal Fire!" he called out, shooting the fireball at Togemon who dodged...but at the cost of the fire hitting a section of the CCT Tower, damaging it further.
"Was it just me, or was that last one kinda...deliberate?" Ruby frowned.
"It's not just you...wait...he was smashing up consoles when we found him. That means…" Weiss's eyes widened in realization. "Kabuterimon, Togemon, don't let him attack the CCT! That's exactly what he's trying to do! Destroy the tower!" she called out. They'd long since realized in their various fights, that the Digimon seemed able to hear them in particular better than anyone else. Most likely it was due to the bond they shared.
"Jo, what was the significanse of the CCT tower," Koshiro asked in worry.
The Chosen of Reliability quickly checked the guidebook, "It's... It's what allows all four kingdoms communication. Take one out and the whole network goes down."
"So DeathMeramon was trying to cut the communication," Takeru said with a worried look.
"I get it!" Ruby blinked in realization as well. "Myotismon must be trying to cut Vale off from the other Kingdoms!"
"And there's the confirmation," Sora commented.
"And with the entire network down, he'd be able to take over Vale without anyone knowing what happened, and even IF the other Kingdoms came to try and investigate...his forces would pick them off," Weiss nodded.
"That's...actually really clever…" Ruby admitted begrudgingly. "Let's make sure he can't do that."
"Say what they say about Myotismon, he is crafty when he needs to be," Novice commented.
"Then we'd better end this quickly," Weiss nodded as both of them went to grab their D-Cores and Tags...but just as they were about to, the situation became...a bit more complicated…
Ruby glanced at the sky when she heard some sort of rotor, before her eyes widened as she grabbed Weiss "Hide!"
"Wh-!" Weiss didn't have time to finish as Ruby dragged her behind cover, as she noticed the sound as well, peeking out of cover only to have her eyes widen in understanding.
A news chopper was circling the building, and might have caught sight of them if Ruby hadn't dragged her to cover. Further complicating things, their scrolls were soon receiving an emergency news broadcast, and thus came online, as all over Vale the people were shown the battle live and in color.
This could be a problem. Hopefully what the Children assume to be a news chopper doesn't get accidentally blasted down. Or catch sight of Weiss and Ruby.
(Song paused)
"Well… now I'm wondering if Qrow slipped me something the last time he visited." Ozpin said, blinking at the odd sight. Being that his office was on top of Beacon Tower...he felt the tremor. Then the large blue insect flew past his window. Now he was honestly starting to wonder if the years he'd been cursed to walk the land had finally started to take their toll on him.
Jo frowned a bit at that, before consulting the guidebook. "...The guidebook doesn't say how long exactly Ozpin has been around."
It wasn't a big loss not knowing that, but they were still a little interested.
Fortunately, a sudden news feed proved that he wasn't finally losing his mind. Unfortunately it also confirmed that yes, there WAS a giant monster fighting right in the grounds of Beacon. Three of them at that.
"Lisa Lavender here with breaking news! Just moments ago we received several amateur videos of what appeared to be monsters fighting on the CCT tower during our regular traffic report, as such, we just had to verify these claims due to the sheer number of videos we received. To everyone watching, I am both excited yet terrified to confirm that those videos are in fact real!" she said, before the camera panned to the sight of the large insect and cactus fighting against the man covered in fire. "From the looks of things, it seems two of the monsters are ganging up on the smaller monster...yet it seems the smaller one is fending them off well enough by itself!" she reported, as true enough, both the cactus and the insect were hit with a flaming chain, knocking them both back...right before the man on fire began shooting blue fire balls at the tower again. "It seems this one is intent on attacking the tower. Could this merely be a fight for some kind of territory, or are the other two actually defending the tower? Whatever the case, it seems they're at a...wait! Something's happening!" Lisa said, as once again the camera showed the fight, but now the Cactus and the Insect were glowing brightly, their forms shifting. "Something is happening to the opposing monsters…! It...it looks like the insect is growing larger, while the cactus is shrinking!"
"Oh? They must be evolving," Palmon said with excitement.
"Back in Tokyo, Agumon had to evolve into MetalGreymon," Taichi added in, "And he was enough."
"Yeah, but now they need to defend that tower," Yamato added in, "Extra protection doesn't hurt in this case."
When the light subsided, the two creatures were revealed in new forms, the cactus turning into a humanoid fairy-like creature, while the insect was now a large red beetle. "It...it seems as if they'd just undergone some kind of metamorphosis! To all viewers, do NOT change your channels! I have never in all my years seen anything like this!"
Ozpin blinked owlishly at the sight, especially when he saw the fairy quickly zoom past his window, and did she just wave at him? "I… I can't believe this is happening right now… WHAT is happening right now at that?" he said with a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose, because for once in his long life, he was utterly lost.
Everyone chuckled at Lillymon waving at Ozpin.
"If Ozpin is half as old as the story implies, then that's probably saying something," Ken commented.
(Resume Brave Heart)
Now that they'd evolved, the fight was turning in their favor, as DeathMeramon tried to strike them with his chains again, but they deftly dodged, before AtlurKabuterimon rammed into him, catching his torso with his horn and soon brought him flying, before stopping, sending DeathMeramon flying through the air. "Let's end this quick!" AtlurKabuterimon said.
"I agree!" Lillymon nodded as she zoomed past DeathMeramon and soon got a good distance behind him. "Flower Cannon!" she called out, forming her strongest move.
At the same time, AtlurKabuterimon charged his move as well. "Horn Buster!" His attack was launched, hitting DeathMeramon and pushing him back further...right into the shot from Lillymon's Flower Cannon. DeathMeramon soon found himself sandwiched between the two attacks, causing him to let out a roar of pain before both attacks exploded, and he was deleted.
"That was a bit of an overkill," Daisuke commented with a slight grin.
"Tärkeintä ei ole voitto, vaan murskavoitto(The important thing isn't victory, but crushing victory)," Novice said sagely, despite no one understanding him.
(End Song)
"And its over!" Lisa said to the camera. "In a sudden turnabout, the other two creatures have defeated the first...and from the looks of it, quite thoroughly," she said. "But now this reporter has only one question left: What now?"
As if to answer her question, when the camera panned to the two remaining creatures, they were both flying towards the tower...only to pass it, before they soon flew away into the sky, so fast that the camera soon lost track of them. "Well… it would appear we have our answer. These monsters just up and left after defeating the other one. It seems their intent had truly been to defend the CCT tower. My only question now is: Are there more of them? This has been Lisa Lavender, Vale News, signing off for now."
The book shut itself at the last part.
"...This makes me wonder what half the people of Tokyo thought when digimon first showed up," Yamato commented with a thoughtful look.
"Tokyo? Digimon appeared all over the world, in case you don't remember," Miyako shot back.
"I know, but I still wonder," Yamato replied easily.
"I'm pretty sure you all saw varying levels of reactions from people," Novice said with a small smile, "Now if you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to check up a couple things, be right back." With that, Novice teleported out of the room.
"...Is he really so lazy that he doesn't walk?" Veemon asked.
"Maybe where ever he wanted to go was far from this room?" Wormmon suggested.
Me: Let's see... if I add this here and replace this... Yes... that should work. Very soon I can add Beelzemon to my collection, proper. At least I hope I will.