"So time moves faster here?"
"Yeah," Tsukaimon nodded her head, landing on top of Agumon so she didn't have to keep flapping, "A year in the human world is something like twenty here."
Sen scratched her, feeling more confused than ever now, "But the sun rising... Why hasn't that happened in all that time?"
"When servers shut down," It was Strikedramon's turn to speak, "When humans all logged off, time stopped moving... Even though we all... Persisted, wind did not blow, sun did not rise, water did not flow..."
Sen looked towards the buildings she'd passed by before. Everything was so vibrant and colorful now, it looked so peaceful and nice, "So when I... Logged in, the gears all started turning again." She muttered more to herself than to them.
"Everything is colorful now!" Agumon beamed, running over to some nearby flowers and bending over to sniff them, nearly throwing Tsukaimon off his head in the process.
Sen sweatdropped a bit, as Tsukaimon fluttered into the air to regain her composure, "What is his deal?" She asked bluntly, "He seems to behave a lot... Differently, than you two."
"He's an idiot," The fluttering purple Digimon rolled her eyes, "But he's also incredibly strong, so I let him follow me around... Since we're getting to know each other, I'm Tsukaimon, he's BlackAgumon but I usually just call him Agumon or B, and-"
"Strikedramon," The larger Digimon grunted, narrowing his eyes at the two smaller ones, "Sun rising slowed me down... But still Virus." He growled lowly, fangs starting to show again.
"H-Hey now, no need to get fussy!" Tsukaimon waved her tiny arms, "Come on, this is cause for celebration! We should... Find some food and enjoy the fact we get to see the sun!" She offered.
"I-I'm Sen, by the way," The human greeted somewhat nervously, "And uh... Yeah food sounds pretty good." She hadn't exactly had the chance to eat before storming out of her house today.
Strikedramon turned attention to her briefly, staring down at Sen before he grunted, "Hrr... Do whatever you want... I will give you two a pass this time..." Before he turned around and walked off back towards the stairs leading up into the city.
As the purple Digimon sighed in relief, Sen quirked an eyebrow, "He's kind of... Anti-social, isn't he?" She noted, "Not that I'm one to talk..." Before looking back to both of them, "So Tsuki- er wait no, what was it again?"
"Tsukaimon." She answered, rolling her eyes, "And yes, he is... We scuffle with him pretty often, he sniffs out and hunts virus types."
"Yeah I was gonna ask exactly what he meant by that," Sen added, walking over to a bench beneath the large tree and sitting down, "You two are... Viruses?"
"Its an attribute, every Digimon has one," She explained, fluttering over, "You're either Virus, Vaccine or Data."
"Is it rude to say you're a lot smarter than I'd expect from a flying purple guinea pig?" Sen questioned a bit sarcastically.
"I don't know, is it rude to say you're a lot meaner than I'd expect a human girl all alone in a land full of monsters to be?"
"Fair point," Sen chuckled. She kinda liked this one, she wasn't turned away by Sen's jaded behavior. Meanwhile, Agumon was rolling in the flowers, basking in the smell and colors, "And uh... What is his deal?"
"You mean why is he huge or why is he a total goober?" Tsukaimon quirked an eyebrow.
Sen blinked, "Goober? Wait, he's huge? I don't get it, he's not even bigger than Strikedramon was."
"He's an Agumon," She scoffed in response, "A normal Agumon would only be like, I don't know, maybe up to your chest."
Sen remembered staring face to face with Agumon, when they'd first met, "Oh..." Yeah B. had at least an entire foot on Sen.
"Yeah, I think its because he's so crazy strong." She explained, landing on the back of the bench so she was closer to eye level with Sen, "But unlike most virus types... He isn't violent at all, I basically have to tell him to fight or he'd probably try hugging Strikedramon."
Sen tried picturing that, and couldn't help but laugh a little, "Wow, yeah he didn't seem at all alarmed by me he just-"
"That's because you Booped the snoot!" Agumon interrupted, rising to his feet with a big grin on his face.
Tsukaimon sighed heavily, shaking her head, "Great, gonna have to listen to that for the next year..."
Sen tilted her head confused, "Yes I... I suppose I did, boop the snoot." Just saying it made her sound silly, but when the words left her mouth Agumon's eyes lit up.
"You're stuck with him now," Tsukaimon spoke before Agumon had the chance, "You realize that right?"
"Wh-What do you mean?" Sen questioned, looking between them nervously.
"SEN IS FRIEND!" He practically tackled her over the bench, taking her to the ground as his weird arms wrapped around her entire body and squeezed, "More friends!"
"Aaagh! H-Hey! Agumon!" Sen gagged out, as Tsukaimon watched, "C-Can't breathe here buddy, f-friends don't choke their friends! Well, platonic ones don't..."
The small purple Digimon examined them closely, "Hmm... Maybe she can help us, but she hasn't been registered yet, how? How are we supposed to get stronger without that?" Her mind searching for answers before she narrowed her eyes slightly and looked towards the morning sun, "Oh well, we have a human and that is a start."
"Okay okay get off!" Sen yelped as she finally managed to push off the big lug, sighing as she caught her breath, "Geez... This place is so weird."
"How did you get here anyways?" Agumon asked, tilting his head.
Bringing Tsukaimon back to reality, "Yeah hang on... The servers were shut down, how did you get here?"
"Well I..." Sen hesitated briefly, "I saw some kind of... Message, I guess?" The more she thought about it, the more she wasn't sure, "Somebody, maybe a Digimon? Told me come to some warehouse... When I got there, I was just kinda messing around and stumbled into a login chamber, next thing I know I'm here." She shrugged, "Oh man... Dad is gonna be pissed." Before her eyes widened in realization, "Hey wait a second!" Standing right up to her feet, "You two, you have to know some way I can log off right? How do I get out of here back to the real world?!"
"You can't just leave," Tsukaimon exclaimed, fluttering back into the air, "You're the whole reason we've got sunshine again! If you logged off... I don't know, time might stop again!"
"But I can't just stay here forever," Sen argued, taking a step back, "Can't you guys just... Find someway to fix it yourselves?" She knew it was selfish, but this was all just a game! And besides they spent the last hundred years in darkness so... They'd be fine, right?
"Oh yeah I'm sure we'll figure it out in the next hundred years," Tsukaimon rolled her eyes, "Geez, I didn't realize humans were so selfish."
"Hey I'm not even supposed to be here!" Sen said defensively, "This is all an accident, I never even liked Digimon when I was younger!"
Agumon looked at her sadly with his big green eyes, "Friend Sen... Doesn't like us?" He asked sadly, mood swinging as the conversation got more heated, "Are you going to leave?"
"Yes that's it," Tsukaimon hid a devilish smirk, "Give her the guilt trip, make her stay!"
Sen hesitated for a moment, taking another step back, "I just..." Looking in his sad eyes was torture, "Aaagh whatever!" She turned and stormed off, heading for the stairs leading back into the city, "Don't follow me!"
As she walked off, Agumon looked at Tsukaimon worriedly, "We made Sen mad... Is she going to leave?"
Tsukaimon chuckled in amusement, "Don't you worry B, we've got her right where we want her, she isn't going anywhere."
. . .
The moment she started climbing the stairs, Sen was fishing through her pocket for her earbuds and phone. Once they were out, she plugged them in and began to play her music, letting the sounds block out the world around her as she walked along the street. She sighed in relief, the music calming her down as she walked to the end of a large overlook.
Sen could see out over the front portion of the city, the bridge stretching over the wide river and to the green lands beyond. In the darkness before, she could hardly see any of this. And that was how these... These creatures were living for the last one hundred years?
"Ugh!" She shook her head trying to get rid of those thoughts, "No... Don't be guilted into this, you are not... Not that person!" Sen scolded herself, trying to let the music drown out those ideas.
She made her way to a bench on the overlook, sliding into it and trying to relax as she closed her eyes. Today had been different, to say the least. She rarely had days that were exciting, and a part of her might even admit that despite how scary all this was it had been kind of fun. Sen had never interacted with people so easily as she did these Digimon, not since her mother di-
"Agh!" Sen punched her leg, "Stop it!" Only now realizing her eyes had gotten a bit watery, she quickly wiped them with her hand. The music wasn't helping, after wiping her hand on her pant leg she pulled out the headphones and stuffed them back into her pocket, "No crying, you're a big girl, you don't need to cry." She told herself, trying to shake it off.
"Hrrm... Humans still strange."
"Of course I'm not alone here." Sen thought and sighed heavily, looking to her right at Strikedramon sitting on the roof of a building beside the overlook. She wasn't going to pay him any mind, before she registered what he said, "Wait, still?" She repeated, looking up at him, "You've met humans before? I thought there haven't been any humans here in like a hundred years or something?"
"Digimon don't age," He grumbled out, "Just grow... Had a partner, he left for new Digimon Game." Strikedramon explained, shaking his head, "Forgot how... Interesting, humans are."
Sen remained quiet for a moment, digesting what he said. Imagining that there were Digimon that had lived not only their entire lives in darkness, but also that they'd known sunlight before the world went dark. "Is that why he was so struck by the sunrise?" She wondered, before looking back at him, "I don't know what to do... I don't know how to go home, but even if I did if I leave, this world will... Go dark again, right?"
Strikedramon finally turned his head towards her, "You don't have obligation to help us, but at same time... No clear way for you to get home, not here anyways." He explained calmly, voice still rough like gravel though, "Maybe somewhere out there... Maybe don't need to decide what to do right now, because there aren't any options."
Sen wasn't expecting such a... Well thought out response, "I... I guess you're right." It was true, even if she wanted to leave there was no way to do that from here as far as she could tell. So whether she wanted to or not didn't matter, she was here and time was moving again, "Thanks, I guess..."
"Hrm..." He grunted simply in response.
Looking back towards the park, Sen scratched the back of her neck nervously, "I suppose... I should go apologize to them too..."
A low growl escaped Strikedramon's jaws, oddly enough Sen wasn't as startled this time. Maybe she was adjusting? "The viruses..."
"Yeah," She answered, looking back at him, "They don't seem bad, why are you so angry at them?" Sen asked curiously, "Tsukaimon said something about you being a Vaccine and them being Viruses but... I'm not quite sure I understand all that yet."
"Programming of my... Of Digimon like me," He answered, taking a mild interest in explaining things to her, "Certain parameters generate aggression, if acceptable... Parameters for those two, are acceptable."
Sen frowned lightly, "So you can't get along with them at all? That kinda sucks..." Her eyes drifted back towards the distant sun, "You'd think with the world being all... Dark or whatever, you'd try to find others that you could be happy around."
"Hmm... That's-"
His words were cut off by the sound of an explosion, both Sen and Strikedramon looked towards the park where smoke was rising. It looked like the tree in the center was on fire, and from here Sen could see two larger figures on the scene. She didn't know what was going on, but had a bad feeling Agumon and Tsukaimon were right in the middle of it.
Every instinct she had told her to steer clear, but something else told her to go, that she needed to be there.
And so she ran, sprinting back towards the park.