Chapter 1: Bug in the System
This is too easy, Cinder Fall thought as she tapped away at the terminal, smirking. She was so close; close to getting the rest of the power of the Maiden and the destruction of Beacon… And they practically gave it to her on a silver platter!
To be frank, with the minimal security detail and virtually no problem getting into the CCT's systems, she was almost insulted that it was this easy. Almost. Her thoughts were interrupted by Emerald Sustrai calling in.
"A party guest is leaving."
Cinder sighed in exasperation, "Which one?"
"Ironwood."
Mercury Black continued, "I guess the general's had enough fun for the night." Cinder continued to tap at the interface, coding the virus that Watts had engineered. She placed her Scroll onto the data port, finalizing the Black Queen virus' creation. Suddenly, all the terminal screens in the room flashed the Black Queen chess piece emblem before disappearing with no one else to be the wiser. "Should we intervene?"
"No," Cinder answered as her smirk returned. "We're done here." The woman got up and headed towards the elevator, but froze as she heard the elevator car as it came up. She ducked behind a set of terminals as someone walked in.
What the both of them had failed to notice were a few bolts of magenta energy arcing across a screen or two…
Ruby Rose, in her dance dress and wielding Crescent Rose, walked cautiously into the room. Her eyes darted, looking for any sign of an intruder.
"Hello…?" she asked testingly. She walked further, barely catching herself as she stumbled. Frustrated, she kicked off her footwear in retaliation. "Is anyone there? Hello?"
Cinder then rose from her hiding place, forced to acknowledge the fact that a fight was inevitable. She turned to the girl, who watched her cautiously.
"Excuse me..." Ruby said, eyeing the mystery person up and down. "You know it isn't a masquerade party, so why don't you take off that-"
The woman suddenly pulled out a container of sand in front of herself, formed several glass shards, and threw them at the Huntress-in-training.
Even though she was only slightly taken by surprise, Ruby twirled Crescent Rose, destroying the glass before firing several shots at the intruder. Cinder harmlessly blocked the bullets with her bare hand.
Twirling herself around, she formed her two obsidian swords and leapt backwards into the air, dodging Ruby's blade. Forming her bow, Cinder notched three ignited arrows and fired them at the girl, causing a small explosion. Knocked back, Ruby looked up to see the woman smirking-
At least until an arc of magenta energy streaked past the two. Looking around them, half of all the terminals had either static on the Black Queen emblem on their screens. Sparks of energy connected several of them.
Ruby turned to the intruder and asked incredulously, "What did you do?!" But Cinder was just as dumbfounded as she was.
Did Watts set me up? Cinder asked inwardly, fearing that she had been manipulated into creating her own assassination. Is he trying to eliminate me?
Then all of the screens turned the same color as the energy, before a new black-colored emblem faded in: it looked like a vertical eye that spiraled in on itself, with five oblong and black diamonds around the top of the 'eye.'
A low thrumming sound emanated in front of the terminal that Cinder had sat in front of just a few minutes ago. A black circle rimmed by magenta, black, and sickly green pixel-like particles slowly expanded in front of the terminal. The two looked into the black void the circle had behind it, with only strange, white ladder-like structures littered throughout.
A monstrous black arm suddenly reached out of the portal. It was tipped by three large and white claws and wrapped in brown leather belts, of all things… The two heard a deep, guttural growl come from behind the portal. A large, blue colored eye looked at them angrily, desperate to get free.
The portal was now opening at unusual angles, distorting it. The arm clawed itself into the floor and bent; whatever the thing was behind the portal, it was trying to pass through it. Three more claws gripped the edge of the portal as a black and fanged snout started to emerge. Then the thing roared.
/~/
At hearing the immense roar, Ironwood, Ozpin, Goodwitch, the rest of the faculty, and the students attending the dance rushed towards the sound, worried that Grimm had somehow gotten inside the city. What they didn't expect, however, was for someone to land in front of them.
Cinder had crashed through the CCT's observation window to escape...whatever that thing was, leaving the Huntress in training to fend for herself. She used her powers to slow her descent and land softly onto the ground, only to find herself not alone. She looked up to find Ironwood, Ozpin, and everyone else that was supposed to be at the dance was staring at her dumbly.
Dammit, she thought after a second.
Ironwood whipped out his pistol and aimed it at her. "Hold it!" Before anything else could happen, another roar erupted from the tower, taking everyone's attention.
"What is that?" asked Jaune.
"I don't know," answered Pyrrha, who was equally a perturbed as her partner was, "but whatever it is, it doesn't sound friendly..."
Yang called out, "Ruby!" as she saw her sister jump out of the tower...and fired a few Gravity Dust-infused bullets to slow her descent until she landed safely onto the ground.
"Everyone," Ruby heaved, "we need-"
Another loud roar came from the CCT tower, along with breaking infrastructure and glass.
Ironwood, suddenly aware of the situation, looked around for the woman, but saw that she had disappeared.
"Where did she go?!"
Ruby tried to warn the group again, "That doesn't matter! We need to-" Weiss walked up to her partner, growing more concerned.
"Ruby, just what is going on?!" Ruby was just about to answer, when she heard a deep growl. Looking up, the reaper's eyes widened considerably.
Ruby tackled her as she yelled at everyone, "MOVE!" and activated her Semblance to get as far away as possible as a dark figure leapt out of the tower. The others saw as the dark shape fell and began to run, but were thrown into the air from the shockwave as it landed.
Thankfully, Glynda had levitated several cars in front of the group, creating a makeshift barricade. It managed to protect them from the debris, but not the shockwave…
What none of them saw was that another portal opened up right behind the building, but unlike the last portal, this one was magenta, grey, and solid green. Two figures stepped out from it; a large humanoid whose appearance was covered by a dark brown cloak, but clawed feet and a fur-tufted tail could've been seen. The much smaller one of the two was white and purple, with large ears, expressive green eyes, and a red triangle in the middle of it's forehead.
The dark shape stretched from it's crouching position, showing itself to everyone in the area. It was a black and white, bipedal saurian creature with red stripes along its face, arms, legs, and tail. Green fins sprouted from its back. Its elongated arms were wrapped in brown, leather belts. White teeth and a pair of tusks lined the creature's snarling jaws. Angry blue eyes looked around the area, searching for something to destroy.
Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't a Grimm…
The large reptile roared again as it walked close to a nearby building and proceeded to decimate it with a heavy swipe of it's three white claws. It crushed a car underfoot as it sent another one flying with its tail.
Several rocket lockers landed by the group, to which several students approached and retrieved their weapons, namely Teams RWBY, JNPR, SSSN, BRNZ, ABRN, and NDGO.
"And what do you think you're doing?" asked Professor Port, quirking an eyebrow at the students.
"You really think we're just going to let that thing rampage?" Yang argued as she knocked Ember Celica together.
"Agreed," nodded Pyrrha. "It needs to be stopped."
"While we admire your resolve," Oobleck said after he had zipped up to the group and sipped his thermos, "this is neither the time or place. We are dealing with a distinctly non-Grimm being, with no real idea of it's strengths or weaknesses. Let your Professors handle this."
As he finished talking, three more rocket lockers landed not too far from the teachers. Port claimed his blunderbuss-axe, Green held her twin pistols, and Peach grabbed a bladed rake-like weapon. The four walked over to their fellow instructors and nodded to them, which were returned in kind.
Ozpin turned to Glynda and asked, "If you wouldn't mind?" She nodded as the Combat Instructor levitated a car and held it right next to the creature's head, confusing it. Without missing a beat, Ironwood took aim and fired at the exposed Dust tank underneath. The resulting explosion caught the creature off guard, but it quickly recovered and turned its head, glaring at the attackers.
With it walking towards the teachers, Green and Ironwood began peppering it's face with gunfire. As it tried to block the incoming bullets, both Peach and Oobleck rushed forwards and struck at its legs. The saurian stomped the ground, sending the two backwards from the resulting shockwave.
As soon as the gunfire waned, the creature removed it's arms in order to see the attackers, but was blindsided as Ozpin delivered a brutal upwards kick, staggering it. He was about to swing his cane across the creature's face, but the headmaster was batted aside, sending him flying.
The creature blocked two more cars and Glynda launched them right at it, but she was surprised as it tore the third vehicle apart with its claws while calling out, "Dark Nail!" The large reptile reared its head back, flames flickering past it's teeth. "Fire Blast!" A jet of intense flames shot towards her. She stood there from both shock and fear as the heat had reached her…
"Fist of the Beast King!" She would have been dead, if it wasn't for a lion head-shaped blast of orange energy plowing through the fire and dissipating it.
A ten foot tall figure wearing a large brown cloak landed in front of and to the left of Goodwitch. She blinked at the figure as he turned to her, revealing blue eyes.
"Are you hurt?" Glynda had come over her shock to answer with a shake of her head. "Good, now stand back." The figure walked a couple of feet forward and ripped the cloak off, revealing his form.
Everyone gasped as they saw a muscular, humanoid lion stand in front of them, wearing a pair of black pants and a sheathed sword behind him. A golden-yellow mane framed its head as a lion's tail swished back and forth. Several black belts wrapped around his left arm as his blue eyes pierced his opponent's.
"DarkTyrannomon!" the lion-man suddenly shouted as he unsheathed his sword, holding it in a reverse grip. "I, Leomon, am your opponent now!" The now-named Digimon snarled at Leomon and rushed forward. Leomon did the same, sword in his left hand and behind him.
"Dark Nail!" DarkTyrannomon slashed downwards towards the leonine warrior, but Leomon blocked and parried the attack, knocking the dinosaur Digimon off balance.
Taking the opportunity, Leomon called out, "Smashing Kick!" as his heel smashed against DarkTyrranomon's chin while performing a back-flip kick. But before Leomon could land-
"Iron Tail!" DarkTyrannomon's thick tail carried and knocked it's opponent into a car that Goodwitch hadn't used for a weapon yet. DarkTyrannomon stepped forward, ready to end the fight with its claws…
Until a gunshot rang out, flinging a red blur right in front of the frenzied Digimon. Ruby swung Crescent Rose forward, startling DarkTyrannomon more than actually damaging it. It stumbled back, rubbing the scratch that the young reaper had made.
"What are you doing?!" Leomon shouted as he got up. "DarkTyrannomon is too strong, especially for a human!" To his surprise, Ruby gave the Digimon an equally reprimanding glare.
"And just let you fight this thing all on your own? That's not happening." She knocked back the lever, casting out the spent bullet casing.
"That's right," Yang said as she came up from behind her sister. "This creep chose the wrong day to mess with us!"
Blake wasn't too far behind, "We'll need to be careful… We don't know what else it can do."
"I hope you have an idea..." sighed Weiss, looking at their leader.
"Yup," Ruby nodded. "Ice Flower and Bumblebee." The other three girls nodded in unison.
"Right!" They ran off into their prospective pairs, with Yang being swung around from Gambol Shroud by Blake and adding momentum with several shots. With DarkTyrannomon distracted by the strange actions of the human and Faunus, Weiss prepared a Glyph in front of Crescent Rose's barrel.
Finally shaking his head of the shock, Leomon shouted, "Wait, dammit!" But before he could stop the girls, Ruby fired several empowered shots at DarkTyrannomon's feet, freezing them in place.
Team JNPR charged to where their friends were fighting, wanting to help them.
Jaune (still in his dress) called out, "Ren, charge Nora with as much Electric Dust as you got." The two nodded, Nora's smile being as big as it could have gotten, before Ren pointed StormFlower and fired at Nora.
Jaune turned to his partner and said, "Pyrrha, keep firing at that thing until they're done. After that, we're giving Nora a boost." Pyrrha nodded, trying to hold off blushing, before she knelt and fired Miló in it's rifle mode.
Leomon turned to the sound of gunfire and grumbled to himself, "More humans..." He turned back just in time to see Yang swing straight for DarkTyrannomon's head while it was distracted, trying to free itself from the ice.
"Hungry? Have a knuckle sandwich! On the house!" DarkTyrannomon looked up just in time to see the blazing form of the blonde punch it right upside it's head. To say that it was shocked would be the understatement of the century…
"I wanna get a hit in!" They all turned to see Nora, standing on Jaune and Pyrrha's shields before launching herself into the air, more than ready to give the dinosaur Digimon a migraine.
Except for that, DarkTyrannomon had recovered just enough to flick its tail at Nora, sending her back and crashing into her teammates. Leomon's eyes widened as DarkTyrannomon broke free of the ice and readied some flames in its mouth.
"Fire Blast!" A jet of flame shot straight for Team JNPR-
"NO!" Leomon shouted as he rushed towards the teenagers. He arrived just in time to throw them a fair distance out of the way before taking the hit. "GAAAH!"
The humans and Faunus looked on in horror as Leomon tanked the blast and kept standing. He glared at the reptile, his body singed from the attack. Leomon then chucked his sword as hard as he could while calling out, "Lion Slash!" The blade embedded itself deep in DarkTyrranomon's right shoulder, causing it to shriek in pain.
"Fist of the Mighty Beast King!" Leomon roared as he held his two fists together, generating a large amount of orange energy into the form of a roaring lion's head and launching it at the enemy. DarkTyrannomon's shrieks stopped as the resulting energy caused an explosion with smoke obscuring the area.
Leomon smirked in victory...only to gape as a slowly fragmenting DarkTyrannomon rushed him from the smoke and punctured the warrior's body with the claws on the right side of its body, since it's left arm was gone. DarkTyrannomon groaned and fell over, finally dying as it dissipated into dark data fragments all at once. Leomon's sword clanged onto the ground ominously, as it was the only sound to be heard.
Leomon struggled to walk forward, only to stumble and fall forwards. Teams JNPR and RWBY sped towards the fallen Digimon, as did everyone else. Leomon reached his sword and grabbed it, tried to kneel upright, but stumbled again. The beast man Digimon fell onto his back as his sword embedded deeply into the ground.
Ruby spoke softly, "Don't try to move..." Leomon turned to her and smirked.
"I...didn't know a human could be capable...of being so foolish..." Ruby flinched at the criticism, but Leomon chuckled, "But...so very brave." He looked at all of the gathered solemn humans and Faunus and chuckled again. "So brave...even in the face of such danger..."
"Maybe, just maybe..." Leomon leaned as much as it could and reached into his pants pocket, holding seven colored orbs in his paw, each one roughly half the size of a pool ball. The leonine warrior spoke to the group, "Courage, Hope, Integrity, Kindness, Serenity, Unity, and Wisdom… These are the virtues which mark the mightiest warriors of the Digital World..."
"Since DarkTyrannomon attacked… It's Dark Masters now threaten this world...and the new DigiDestined must rise to save your world and ours..."
Out of the sky, a small white and purple creature fluttered down next to Leomon, who's other arm shifted from being fragmented to being normal again. "No, Leomon!" The small creature cried out, tears welling it's eyes.
"Calumon," Leomon began, "you need to be strong, to be brave, like them..."
"You know I can't fight!" But Leomon shook his head.
"There is more than one way to be strong..." Leomon lifted it's arm and the seven orbs floated in the air. Each one glowed in it's own color: orange, amber, blue, pink, grey, green, and violet. Each orb flew straight towards a person: Yang, Ren, Weiss, Blake, Nora, Pyrrha, and Jaune, respectively.
"Whoa..." Nora half-whispered at the glowing orbs in wonder, as did everyone else. As the orbs glowed, the people that they chose began to glow, too, sorta like an aura. Their Scrolls levitated in front of them and opened up all by themselves. The orbs then entered the Scrolls, making them shine in a blinding light.
After the light had died down, they saw that their Scrolls had transformed. The Scrolls looked somewhat like they had before, but with several key differences. The sides of the Scrolls were pretty much the same, but each one was a different color than the standard white. Each side either had white or black ergonomic grips and the left sported three mysterious buttons.
Yang's Scroll had become a dull yellow with white grips and buttons, Weiss' had become light blue with white grips and buttons, Blake's had become light violet with black grips and buttons, Ren's had become magenta with black grips and buttons, Jaune's had become white with black grips and buttons, Nora's had become pink with white grips and buttons, and Pyrrha's had become red with white grips and buttons.
The upper and lower corners were concave, making the Scrolls look loosely like addition signs. Except for the upper left corner, there was a lens there that was visible from the front and the back. Instead of a dull yellow diamond in the middle, there was a silver-colored ring that looked like a directional pad with a different lens in the middle.
Leomon chuckled again, but in more obvious pain as his legs fragmented before going back to normal, "Figures that the Crests would have chosen you..." He coughed in pain…
"There has to be something that we can do," wondered Weiss aloud, but Leomon shook his head as he laid down.
"You need...to get stronger. More Digimon will come… You must be ready..." Leomon then turned his head to the smaller mon. "It looks like they'll be in their care...from now on, Calumon… Tell...Azulongmon that...I'm...sorry..."
And like that, Leomon suddenly dissipated into a burst of orange and yellow data fragments, leaving the small Digimon all alone. Calumon looked up into the night sky to where the fragments had vanished to, as if Leomon was playing some kind of cruel prank. Fat tears were threatening to escape…
Ruby knelt beside the strange little creature. She paused before finally resting her hand on Calumon's back, startling him back down to earth. Large green eyes met silver, eyes that expressed all too well just what it felt like to lose someone close to them…
Understanding, Calumon's bottom lip quivered as tears fell down his face. Ruby was slightly taken back as Calumon tackled her midsection, sobbing loudly into her dress. Ruby smiled lightly as she returned the embrace, which only made the small Digimon cry even louder.
/~/
Yang, Blake, and Weiss had gotten up a little later than they normally would have, since today was a Monday. It was a good thing that Ozpin had decided that a week off for the students and faculty to unwind after what had happened would be the best for everyone…
Since Weiss was finishing her tea and looking over her notes as Blake was in the bathroom, Yang decided to check on her sister and their new roommate.
Yang peered over the edge of the precariously built bunk bed and whispered, "Hey, Rubes-" At least until she saw Calumon visibly sleeping on top of Ruby's slowly rising and falling chest with a blanket partially covering the both of them.
Curious, Weiss walked over and saw the display of adorableness, making her genuinely smile. But then she frowned, suddenly remembering what was discussed the night before…
…
Ruby cradled the tuckered out Digimon as the faculty was discussing what to do about Calumon, with Ozpin and Ironwood arguing with each other more than anything else until Goodwitch had suggested letting the students and Digimon sleep until tomorrow, when Calumon was feeling better and willing to answer any questions.
Ironwood wanted to argue, but remained silent as she gave him a glare to end all glares… To which Glynda reminded him that the members of Team RWBY were more than able to handle a lost and grieving child, which cowed the Atlesian general even more.
Ozpin had agreed with the combat instructor, saying that Calumon would stay with RWBY for the night. In the morning, they, along with JNPR, would come in and ask the Digimon as many questions as he was comfortable answering…
…
Weiss hummed to herself before turning away...which caught Yang's attention. The blonde turned towards the blanchette.
"What's up, Weiss-cream?"
The heiress sighed, having gotten used to Yang's nicknames, "Just wondering just what we had somehow gotten ourselves into..."
Yang chuckled, "C'mon, we've pulled ourselves out of worse situations..." Weiss frowned.
"But that...creature was incredibly powerful..." Yang instinctually rubbed her right shoulder at the phantom pain of remembering how hard DarkTyrannomon's skull had been to punch.
"Definitely stronger than a Grimm," the pugilist admitted, before turning back to Ruby, still sleeping.
"You think that one might, y'know..." Weiss shook her head, but was still unsure.
"I don't think so, but then again..."
"Not enough information," Yang finished, to which Weiss nodded. "Maybe we could ask him a couple of questions before we face the Professors?"
"That would be a good idea, but I don't want to overwhelm… What was his name again?"
"Calumon," Blake answered as she opened the bathroom door as quietly as possible, hearing the conversations via her cat ears. The Faunus turned to Ruby's bed. "They're still sleeping?"
Both girls nodded, to which Blake sighed before looking at the two, "We could ask if he's ready to talk at all..." They both nodded again. Yang quickly grabbed her clothes and ducked into the bathroom.
"My turn!" she whispered loudly before closing the door as quickly and quietly as possible.
"Yang Xiao Long-!" Weiss started, before stopping herself. The two still left in the room looked over as they heard Ruby mumble in her sleep, then yawned. Blake gave her teammate a deadpan look.
"Nice going," she said, making the heiress give her a half-serious glare.
Ruby stretched before yawning again as she woke up. She was going to sit upright, but felt a weight on her midsection. The sniper-scythe wielder remembered the night before and the small Digimon in her bed. Ruby lifted a part of her bed's overhanging cover and looked over at Weiss and Blake, catching their attention.
Their leader hissed, "Should we wake him up?" as they walked over. But before they could answer, Ruby's stomach growled, making her blush.
Weiss gave her partner a disapproving look, "Seriously, Ruby?" She just shrugged.
"Guess fighting that thing took more out of me than I thought..."
Blake nodded her head in agreement, "I'm famished, myself..."
"But we can't leave him all by himself in here," reminded Weiss, to which they both agreed.
"I could go and bring over some breakfast," volunteered Blake. Weiss thought it over.
"That is a good idea, but someone should go with you, so you don't have to make multiple trips."
The dark-haired girl nodded, "I'll go over and see if anyone in JNPR would like to help. They might want to ask our guest questions, too." The two nodded at that and watched as Blake left.
Weiss looked back over to her teammate and then narrowed her eyes threateningly as she saw Ruby's smirk.
"And just what is that look for?" asked the heiress. Ruby rubbed the back of her neck before answering.
"Nothing, it's just… It wasn't that long ago when you and Blake had that fight and..." Ruby waved her arms in front of her at Weiss. "Well, look at you now!" Ruby's smirk returned, "I always knew that there was a caring person under all of that ice..."
Weiss' face reddened considerably after she had heard that. She looked away, before sputtering, "S-Shut up, you! Of course I care; how could I call myself a Huntress if I let something as inconsequential as my teammate's species get in my way?"
Weiss then looked over incredulously, "Ruby Rose, you stop giggling this instant!" That only made Ruby giggle at Weiss' flustering even more. The two then looked down as they heard the little Digimon shuffle and murmur…
Before the heiress could chastise her partner for disturbing Calumon, Blake came back, a large plate of pancakes in her hand. Both Ruby's and Weiss' brows rose.
"That was fast..." Weiss commented.
"Ren made extra pancakes just in case," Blake explained. "Also, they're right outside our doors; they're waiting for us to get ready."
Calumon sat upright on Ruby's chest, freezing the girls in place. The little Digimon stretched his arms and yawned, before his wing-like ears extended, also stretching. Green eyes blinked a couple times as he sniffed the air (much to their confusion, since Calumon didn't seem to have a visible nose...). Calumon continued to sniff the air until his eyes landed on Blake, then Weiss and Ruby, who were all looking down at him.
Calumon, suddenly feeling self-conscious, retracted his ears before looking away, shyly.
Ruby smirked at him, "Hungry?" Calumon nodded, still not looking at any of them.
"I'll get the paper plates," said Weiss as she scrounged in the closet for them. They waited until the blanchette found the plates and handed them out, giving one to Calumon before Blake gingerly paced a pancake in it.
Calumon looked up to Ruby curiously before she elaborated, "You should just have a taste for right now, just in case you don't like it." The little Digimon nodded before taking the pancake into his paws before taking a nibble out of it. Eyes gleaming, Calumon managed to devour the pancake almost as fast as Nora.
The girls did a double take as Calumon stared at the stack of pancakes with near-predatory intent.
"Huh," Ruby chuckled to herself, "guess you were hungry after all..." That's when Yang suddenly opened the bathroom door, a wide grin on her face.
"Are those pancakes I...smell…?" That's when she noticed her sister, partner, and teammate all giving her disapproving looks and Calumon hiding under Ruby's blanket. "Whoops..." was all Yang could say as she scratched her cheek sheepishly.
Ruby turned to Calumon as she spoke softly, "It's okay; that's just my sister, Yang." Calumon looked up at her quizzically.
"What's a 'sister?'" he asked innocently. Ruby was taken aback since she didn't expect that she'd have to explain that…
"You...don't know what siblings are?" Calumon shook his head again.
"Well, do you know what a family is?" And again, Calumon shook its head.
"Wait, how do you… You know," Weiss tried to ask, but backpedaled as a blush colored her cheeks. Calumon tilted his head in confusion, having no idea what was going on.
"What Weiss was going to ask is," Yang interjected as she walked up, "where do babies, from wherever your from, come from?" Calumon tried to decipher Yang's confusingly put question, before it hit him.
"Oooh," Calumon said. "Digimon come from eggs." This only seemed to confuse the four even more.
"Digimon…?" Weiss asked as Blake placed several more pancakes on Calumon's plate. The little Digimon almost seemed to beam with pride from what he said next.
"Yup," Calumon affirmed, as he nibbled on a pancake, "I'm a Digimon; that's short for 'Digital Monster!'" The four girls' faces became blank. Weiss turned from Calumon, to her altered Scroll, then back to their guest.
"Digital… As in from the Internet?" asked the heiress, apprehensively.
"Yup!" There was a long silence before anyone spoke up.
Yang chuckled, wagging her finger, "That's a good one… You had us going for a minute there-" But she stopped when she saw Calumon, who had it's cheeks puffed up adorably, just like Ruby when she got frustrated.
"I'm not fibbin'!" The four all looked to their Scrolls before looking at Calumon again.
"Then, you're really saying that you come from the Internet?"
"Where else would I be from?" Calumon asked innocently. Another minute-long silence hushed the room. "All Digimon are from the Digital World, which is made out of the data, like all Digimon are."
Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, "Alright then, if you are made out of data, then how are you here, away from electronic devices?" Calumon tapped his chin, as if trying to remember…
"I think Wisemon, one of Azulongmon's advisors, said something about 'bio-emerging' once, but it got confusing, so I just tuned him out, like I do sometimes." Something about what Calumon said caught Blake's interest…
The dark-haired girl asked, "So that means that Digimon are born male or female..."
Calumon tilted it's head again before it asked, "What do you mean?"
Blake elaborated, "You called Wisemon an 'he…' Right...?" Calumon narrowed his eyes.
"What's a 'male' and 'female?'" The four girls blanched.
"Didn't you say that Digimon come from eggs?" Weiss asked, to which Calumon nodded. "Then where do the eggs come from?" To that, the little Digimon looked down, becoming depressed.
"Digimon don't die, at least not permanently… We lose our excess data and become Digi-Eggs again, but…only if we're in the Digital World..." It took a minute for the four to digest the information.
"You mean, like reincarnation…?" Blake asked partially to herself.
"But then that means..." Yang hesitantly continued, "Leomon didn't become an egg because he wasn't in the Digital World..." The implication was clear. Leomon was gone, and he wasn't coming back.
"I can't believe it," Calumon sniffled, "Leomon is really gone..." Calumon's head whipped around as he felt Ruby's hand on his shoulders.
"Hey," she began, "we'll do whatever we can to help you out, no matter what, alright?" Calumon looked around and saw their sympathetic expressions, eliciting a smirk from the little Digimon. He nodded, but then looked confused.
"If humans don't become eggs, then where did you come from?" The four girls blanched again, before their faces reddened. A knock at the door (thankfully) saved them from having to explain the 'birds and the bees' to the innocent Digimon.
"Hey," Jaune's voice came through the doors, "We're heading to Ozpin's office. Um, text us if the, uh… Guest? Text if he needs more time." Ruby grabbed her Scroll, not wanting to shout, and answered the leader of JNPR.
"Oh, right… We'll see you there," Jaune called back out. The five heard as they walked down the hall.
Ruby turned to the little Digimon and elaborated, "There are some people who have questions, including us, and we were hoping that you could answer them. But only if you're ready. Would you be okay with that?"
Calumon looked around at the four before pondering it a little, before he gave a nod.
...To be continued.
/~/
Dammit, Leomon! Can't you not die just once? Lol
In bad taste? My bad…
Just for those wondering, I'm thinking of pulling a Coeur Al'Aran and writing two fanfics at once. Is it a bad idea? Probably… But I want to take a stab at it anyway. That was a Hellsing Ultimate Abridged reference, btw.
Been in a really Digi kind of mood, so whatever *shrugs*
Also been kinda thinking of writing my own original story, though, I don't know if I should publish it as a web serial or try to make an American light novel out of it or something (it's a long ways off from me writing anything down now, so don't worry)… What do you guys and gals think?
Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Do NOT repost or steal. That is rude!