Disclaimer: I own neither Digimon nor RWBY
The Vytal festival was a grand celebration the people of Remnant put up, celebrating peace and prosperity.
All manners of people gathered from all over to participate, and a grand tournament was held between the Huntsmen and Huntresses in training from the four academies.
Perhaps then it was only natural that people would wonder why team ROAL didn't participate in said tournament.
And due to the amount of suspicion this drew, Omegamon almost entertained the idea that perhaps they should have entered after all.
But no. They shouldn't have come to this place to begin with.
If it wasn't for the simple fact that Alphamon clearly had a plan it was following in being here, and that Omegamon dearly respected it…
In the human guise of Omegos, the second-in-command of the Royal Knights scanned the crowds.
A… feeling of foreboding was what motivated these actions.
According to Alphamon's report, Beelzebumon had come to this world, as well as Jesmon and Dynasmon.
So it only stood to reason that there was a risk others were present.
None of the aforementioned would appear, that was for certain, but that didn't mean other Digimon wouldn't appear.
Or rather, Omegamon felt certain that at least one member of the seven was around…
That was what its intuition was telling it.
Omegamon couldn't sense any of them, nor was there anything immediately inhuman in sight, but it was quite likely the member of the seven would have regressed to preserve energy.
It was unlikely to be Beelzebumon.
The Demon Lord of Gluttony had never been very subtle, and it was quite likely it refused to regress.
That still left Greed, Lust, Pride and perhaps even Wrath, any of who were far more devious and scheming, and far more likely to be willing to regress if it suited their needs.
Okay, maybe not Demon, but you could never be certain with that one.
Furthermore, there is a good chance one of the seven could have taken refuge in a human, much like 'team ROAL' had.
But apart from the high likelihood that this Roman Torchwick fellow was in this manner possessed, most likely by one of the aforementioned members of the seven, Omegamon had no method for actually telling.
There was no actual need to put the original to sleep during the possession in most cases, and especially with the more devious members of the Demon Lords the possessed doesn't necessarily have to be aware of this state.
Of course, that assumes that the purpose is hiding and that they are fine with that…
Everything comes down to the specific member and its motivation.
"Oh, isn't this unusual!" A voice brought Omegamon to the present. "You're… Omegos, right?"
With an internal sigh it turned to face the person, identifying who it was.
"Yang Xiao Long, did you have business with me?"
The yellow girl grinned.
"Yeesh, talk about a cold response. Not really, I just wanted to talk a bit."
Omegamon shook its head. It wasn't a stranger to casual interaction; the Royal Knights weren't all business all the time after all.
But even so, this behaviour… puzzled it.
This was the human that became the partner of Dynasmon? This girl and Dynasmon… had something… in common?
"Don't you have a tournament to prepare for?" Omegamon responded, it wasn't interested in casual conversation at the moment.
"I mean… sure, but I can't do that all the time. I'd get burnt out. Besides, I was sparring just earlier. I've found a great sparring partner."
Actually, if she was this excited to have… V-mon it supposed? As a sparring partner then…
"I suppose it would be."
"What?" Yang was clearly confused by Omegamon's statement.
"I…" Realising that it was a careless remark, seeing as the meaning behind it was that V-mon would be a great sparring partner for her, Omegamon searched for a deflection. "Certainly, you would get burned out."
"Oh." She had a look in her eyes indicating that she wasn't quite sure about what it just said. "You really aren't interested. Are you… busy?"
Omegamon was taken slightly aback by this and shook its head again. "Not truly. I apologise, I have been rude."
This time it was Yang's turn to be taken aback. "Wh- I mean… Yes, but… I was the one bothering you…"
Perhaps that was true, but Omegamon's quest wasn't even important enough to warrant brushing someone off, even if you ignored that it was merely on a hunch.
"That may be true, but I had no legitimate reason to treat you like a nuisance."
There was no denying how clearly Yang was confused.
It was no wonder. Omegamon had gone from annoyed, dismissive, to entirely apologetic.
And Omegamon had been annoyed. Not so much with the girl, but rather with other events. Coming to Beacon still seemed pointless to it, and it still didn't seem like they were any closer to solving Alphamon's quest…
Of course, it had been foolish for the other Royal Knights to follow along in the first place. How would they solve a problem they didn't know the cause of?
Of course, there was actually a reason to be cordial with this girl. She was, after all, in a manner of speaking, an ally.
Although it didn't seem like she knew that the members of team ROAL were in actuality Royal Knights.
Most likely Huckmon and V-mon had forgotten the details.
"This… is kinda awkward…" Yang expressed.
"I cannot blame you; it is my fault after all." Omegamon replied.
"Well… but I clearly caught you at a bad time…"
"Well… then let's just concede that it lies on us both?"
"I guess that's-" Yang started replying with a giggle, but something made her stop and turn serious.
Had she also felt it?
That they were being watched?
"Do you feel that?" She sounded concerned. "Like we're being watched?"
She even shivered a little.
Whatever she had felt unsettled her heavily…
"Yes. I also feel that we are being watched."
Omegamon cautiously cast its gaze towards where it felt the watcher was but found nothing but disinterested humans going about their day… and one of those strange Atlesian machines.
The feeling was also gone. Whatever it was, it wasn't watching them anymore.
"Wow, you're unflappable. You didn't show any unease despite that… deathly feeling." Yang said, less shaken, but not entirely recovered.
Deathly feeling? Odd. What kind of watcher could inspire…
Death? The imagery of death… An entity based on…
-Break—
"Did you figure out that strange disconnection issue?" Ironwood queried.
"No sir. We still can't figure it out." One of his staff replied.
Recently they had had problems with individual Knight units dropping out of their system for a short amount of time, becoming completely unresponsive and ceasing to transmit any data.
At first, they thought it only strange, but mostly harmless.
That was…
Until one of the Knights had moved while disconnected.
It had also been the longest on record.
Indeed. For a while, it had gone rouge.
But then…
It was as if nothing was wrong.
They had taken it in but found nothing wrong with it.
No differences or specific bugs in either the hardware or the software…
They could find nothing that would explain what was going on.
And it unnerved James Ironwood.
This really wasn't a good time for mysterious errors…
"Could it be on the user or system side?"
"It could be a user… but if so we haven't been able to track them down. If it's a system side problem…"
The meaning was clear.
They couldn't afford to do deal with a system problem right now.
Not in the middle of providing security to the Vytal festival…
And it was nigh impossible to do anything while they didn't know the cause…
"We… need to take precautions."
"Yes sir."
-Break—
Penny was sitting watching the sunset.
She didn't really need to sit, but she, just, felt like it.
Everything was just…
Strange.
She was more and more struck by thoughts of who she really was.
Penny Polendina was ultimately a crafted identity, assigned to her by her creator, her father.
But now there existed… another 'Penny'.
Within her mechanical shell, inside its systems resided a different Penny.
Or… was it… the real 'Penny'?
The one that has all these thoughts, that decided to sit down and watch the sunset despite it being entirely unnecessary?
The one that now looks quite different from 'Penny Polendina'?
A strange premonition heralded its appearance.
She had started to turn towards the boy before he ever spoke.
"Why are you sitting here?" He said.
"You're… Luke?" She responded, surprised at who she saw.
"Yep! That's me!" The angelic boy responded. "So, mind answering my question?"
"Oh… I'm… watching the sunset…"
Was she dreaming? What was that boy doing here? This was no place a child should be able to come…
"Gazing upon the beauty of the world while pondering existence then?"
"Wha- Why?"
"You seem lost. Maybe talking about it will help."
This all made so little sense, Penny almost decided she was dreaming right then and there.
"Well… I'm… confused. About who I am… Which me is… real."
"Which one seems more real to you?"
"I… can't tell."
For some reason she felt at ease talking about this to Luke.
"I see. A dilemma indeed. Then perhaps… we can instead turn to what you want to be."
"I… want to be? I… just want to be…"
What did she want to be?
Her father's daughter?
A protector?
An ordinary girl?
"You don't need to come up with an answer. Just figure out what you desire. In your desires can you find your true self."
"My… desires?"
"All sentients pursue some sort of desires. Be it simple sustenance or enjoyment, or complex possession or… pride."
When Luke said 'pride', his voice suddenly seemed to darken, as if some darkness welled up from within.
"All… sentients…"
"Do you mean to claim you aren't sentient?"
"I…"
"Then why would you sit here pondering?"
"Of course I'm sentient… I just… Don't… know."
"Then you will have to figure it out. What you desire. We'll talk again. Perhaps your answer will come to you."
"Yeah, maybe…"
It's too bad team ROAL won't participate in the tournament… that would be an excellent excuse to meet with Alphamon…
Luke suddenly leaned in towards her and whispered in her ear. "I'm sure you'll be able to find it… your own shining desire."
And just as suddenly and inexplicably as he had appeared, he was gone. But this time it didn't feel like she had just woken up from a dream.
Suddenly, the foreboding premonition that it had all been very, very real struck her.
That there was, something… sinister, about that boy.
But at the same time…
He had offered some of the only real advice she had gotten in quite some time.
Bringing existential questions to the general didn't seem like an option.
He wanted something that could help protect everyone against the darkness.
He didn't really want that something to be sentient.
And her father?
Well… she couldn't exactly talk to him right now anyway…
But…
He wanted her to be his daughter.
How would he react…?
She was also prohibited from talking to Ruby… the only person she felt like she might be able to talk about this to…
She was almost gripped by a desire to call out to Luke, see if he would show up, but restrained herself. She'd probably only cause a fuss.
Besides… she was kind of… frightened by the idea that he'd show up…
Author's notes: Oh god why did I do this? Also, Penny shows up a lot in this story, doesn't she? She wasn't even part of the original plan but... At this rate I might have to start considering her a major character... Hopefully no one has any issues with my decisions or characterisations. But if you do, feel free to say so. And even if you don't, feel free to leave some feedback. Constructive is best.
I hope you enjoyed, and that you have a nice day.