I don't own digimon.
Story 58
Datacenters and Digimon - UlforceVeedramon
UlforceVeedramon looked about for his friends. As the one running this game, it was paramount that he was prepared for anything that might come their way. Yet, why did he feel like the one about to be completely blindsided here? It was the oddest feeling to feel. Perhaps switching to his other mode would provide the answer to that question.
UlforceVeedramon mode change too… UlforceVeedramon Future Mode!
Wings darkening, UlforceVeedramon felt lights forming across his body. The sound of a clock ticking echoed across his mind, the constant ticking calming as it was irritating in that regard. Normally, he would see some kind of scene of what was to come. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Whatever it was, that was just one outcome. Given enough time, he would be treated to other, similar outcomes. But all he was met with was a cemetery. A single gravestone stood in front of them, the lettering too faded to make out. Looking about, the future knight digimon found himself all alone. Why weren't any of his friends here? In a time like this, they were bound to be his side. Whether it be playing Dungeon and Dragons, helping each other with their own problems or just finding a bit to eat. Why did they all turn their back on him now of all times, when he was bound to be at his lo-
UlforceVeedramon Future Mode was unable to finish that thought, his body forced to revert back to his original form. Raising a hand to his forehead, he could feel the stress bubbling to the surface. Not helping matters was the fact that his players were being pulled back to the Real World. At this point, he was waiting for only one more player- Mikemon. Normally on time, something had to have come up to prevent them from getting here sooner. Whatever it was, he could only hope they could get here soon so that they could talk about this and make a plan to possibly change this future. If that was even possible. What if there was nothing that could be done to change this? The future knight digimom could only hope that was not the case.
"Please be alright." he thought and shifted his seated position ever so slightly. Even after all these years, this chair was still the most uncomfortable one of the bunch. In the face of all his attempts to make it comfortable, the chair refused to accept any of them. If anything, the chair had somehow gotten even less comfortable. Like it knew what UlforceVeedramon was trying to do and was purposefully resisting for the sake of making things difficult during the hours of DMing and watching his players get through all he threw at them.
"Here I am!" a feline voice called out and UlforceVeedramon's gaze shifted to the far end of the area. Mikemon was heading over, pulling behind them a bag with their dice and character sheet. But as they approached, their body began sinking into the floor. Trying their hardest to beat this mysterious force, Mikemon was fighting a losing battle on this front. What ground they did manage to get back, they and their bag were promptly sucked down even faster… until no trace of them was left. UlforceVeedramon let out a sigh, his gaze falling upon a stack of books in his laps. Miniscule in comparison, it took a lot of finesse to not accidentally crush them into a paper pancake. Picking the books up, he stood up from the chair and looked about. All alone, he could feel the anger bubbling to the surface.
"Can I just have one person get here without them being whisked back to the Real World?!" the future knight digimon screeched, waiting a moment for the force that whisked digimon back to their partners to respond. But all he got was the sound of wings flapping. Looking for the source of the flapping, UlforceVeedramon found himself unable to find where it was coming. Just one more thing to deal with here. Exactly what he needed at a time like this.
"UlforceVeedramon?" a voice inquired, Imperialdramon making her approach over. UlforceVeedramon stared back, trying his hardest to bite his tongue and not blow up here. While he appreciated someone coming to see him, that didn't make the feelings he was facing any less frustrating.
"Permission to head to the Real World." UlforceVeedramon muttered and Imperialdramon stopped. Switching to Fighter Mode, she set a claw on UlforceVeedramon's shoulder. UlforceVeedramon pushed it down, muttering a word under his breath. Imperialdramon didn't catch it, but she had a pretty good idea what it was.
"As much as I would love to give you permission, you're clearly not in a good place to be around humans. Let alone other digimon." Imperialdramon Fighter Mode answered and UlforceVeedramon looked away. Of course she refused. She didn't have all of her friends get ripped away at the last possible moment or a singular vision of a gravestone to haunt her mind until she figured it out.
"I need to know that they are all safe." UlforceVeedramon announced and was met with an eye roll from the counselor digimon. Clenching his fists, he was more than willing to solve this problem with one of his many attacks.
"If they somehow weren't, then we would have likely heard about it. That's usually how these things go." Imperialdramon Fighter Mode answered and UlforceVeedramon unbleached his fists. For as hyped up as he got at actually fighting, that would solve nothing. If anything, he was just asking for the problem to get worse. "What makes you think that something is wrong?"
UlforceVeedramon sighed and stared down at the ground.
"I had a vision of myself standing in front of a tombstone. I couldn't read what it was carved in, but I think that it's my partner." UlforceVeedramon whispered and felt Imperialdramon Fighter Mode's claw on his shoulder. Letting Imperialdramon Fighter Mode get in a couple pats to his shoulder, a light cooing escaped her lips.
"Did you see anyone else there?" Imperialdramon Fighter Mode inquired and UlforceVeedramon shook his head. If there had been people there, that would have eased the burden looming over his head.
"No, I was all alone." UlforceVeedramon answered and felt Imperialdramon Fighter Mode's claw return to her side. "Do you think my players have abandoned me?"
Silence fell over the area. Both Royal Knights opened their mouths, but no words were able to escape the tension hanging in the air. While the answer was obvious here, that didn't make it any easier to say it.
"No, but they're likely worried about you." Imperialdramon Fighter Mode announced and wiped away tears that were threatening to fall down from the future knight digimon's face. UlforceVeedramon accepted the gesture, just catching a glimpse of the portal appearing behind him. "If it helps, I'll fill out your vacation paperwork."
UlforceVeedramon nodded, spinning around to meet the portal. Quashing his fears to the best of his abilities, he marched through.
.
On the other side, UlforceVeedramon found himself falling through the air. For most digimon, this would be the time to panic and freak out. But not him. No, he took the time to look around for anything of importance. But all the future knight digimon found was the blue sky and white clouds.
"Really? You couldn't Plane Shift me onto the ground?" UlforceVeedramon announced, the words talking upon the wind. Getting torn apart, that was as good of a fate as any for such sounds. Staring down, he searched for anything familiar. Nothing in the way of a graveyard, UlforceVeedramon couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. Likely on the ground, they were likely to be around his size. While he couldn't see them yet, he was probably a couple seconds away from making eye con-
A large armored hand grabbed hold of his chest, cutting off UlforceVeedramon's thought and pulled him out of the air. Looking about, he found himself getting stared at by Ophani of all digimon.
"Hello there." Ophani greeted and UlforceVeedramon froze. Of all the digimon to run into, Ophani was not the first one to come to mind. He would've much rather had a rendezvous with one of his players, but there no doubt existed worse digimon to cross paths with. "Oh. You're a Royal Knight. Are you here in regards to what happened at the school?"
UlforceVeedramon raised an eyebrow. He had heard nothing about an incident at a school. While his first guess was that Ophani was behind this, something about her demeanor confirmed that she wasn't the one behind it. Instead, it was as if she was attempting to ask for further help. Odd as that sounded, it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities. Beyond that, there was little he could do to help her.
"No, but I am looking for a bunch of digimon all in one place. Have you seen a group recently?" UlforceVeedramon inquired and Ophani pointed in the direction of a nearby house. From his position, one could just make out Nidhoggmon. Setting the future knight digimon down on the ground, he could feel a new set of eyes on him. Looking around, UlforceVeedramon found a small red fawn staring up at him. "Hi there. I'm UlforceVeedramon. What's your name?"
The fawn took a step back, composing herself right after.
"I'm Emily, a Rutikmon." she announced, UlforceVeedramon kneeling down to be closer to her level. A pet followed. "Are you here to fix my mommy?"
Emily's words rolled out, UlforceVeedramon's gaze splitting between both digimon. While part of him wanted to say 'yes', he had a feeling that there was quite a bit more to this story than the information currently on offer here.
"I can't make any guarantees, but I'll try." UlforceVeedramon answered and stood up. Heading for the fence, he took care to get over without damaging the fence. Clearing it with little issue, he headed for his destination. A mix of excitement, anxiety and fear swirled through his mind with each step. Happy as they and their partners would be to see him, he couldn't shake the feeling that his partner wasn't going to be there. The future knight digimon couldn't say why he felt that way beyond the vision from earlier, but that didn't make it any better. Just made it worse. He was actively expecting to be proven right and have to live with a future without him. The potential to be proven wrong was very much there, the odds were not in his favor. Nor were they likely to change anytime soon. Instead, he would accept this fate and create something from it. At least, that was what his partner Dick would tell him. While they left on good terms, it hadn't felt like a proper goodbye. Instead, it felt like something along the lines of a 'see you later', one more chance to see each other again. Perhaps once digimon were more accepted by the public and the rest of the world. In the end, only he was able to keep up his side of the agreement.
"UlforceVeedramon?" a voice called out and UlforceVeedramon stopped. Gazing down, he was met with the eyes of his players. Eyes split between his face and the stack of books under his arms, he could already see their humans heading in his direction. But no Dick.
"In the flesh." UlforceVeedramon announced as he was swarmed by his companions. Doing their best to hug his legs, the results spoke for themselves here. They absolutely knew what had happened. While he could say it out loud here, he was far better off just waiting for everyone else to come.
"So you're the one who had the books." Matthew announced and was met with a nod from UlforceVeedramon. Had Dick not told them that he was given the book. Considering how difficult it can be to schedule a game at times, he honestly didn't blame them for not knowing. Nonetheless, he handed them back to Matthew.
"He's gone, isn't he?" UlforceVeedramon whispered and was met with nods on all sides. Letting out a sigh, his eyes began to water. Feeling the tears fall down, no attempt was made to wipe them away. Instead, they fell right on those who had chosen to stand under him. Didn't stop them from wiping away the tears.
"Yes… it was right after the Eosmon attacks." Penny explained as a mousy looking boy scooped Mikemon up. Holding them in his arms, that got the feline digimon a pet. Reaching down to do the same, UlforceVeedramon got some purring. Pulling his hand back, he took the time to compose himself.
"Can I go and pay my respects?" UlforceVeedramon inquired and watched his players speak among each other. Turning to their partners, what sounded like whispering followed. Trying his best to catch whatever it was they were saying, he found himself unable to do so. Even if he could, it would be disrespectful to them.
"Yes, but let us come with you." Meramon announced as Matthew motioned for the group to follow. Taking care to not crowd out the road, the walk to where their fallen friend had been buried. With each step, the clock ticking from earlier echoed across his mind. Why did it have to be now of all times? Couldn't it see that he was so close to reaching the goal? It would only be a couple of minutes.
'Your time has come, UlforceVeedramon.' a voice announced and a large winged jackal man appeared. UlforceVeedramon let out a sigh, trying to hold in the swirling storm of emotion threatening to blow through right about. Just his fucking luck. Can't have a goodbye without someone forcing an encounter. At least this time it was just one person and not a mysterious force pulling his players away. Which wasn't saying much
"Anubismon, can I at least pay my respects?" UlforceVeedramon announced and was met with an eye roll from Anubismon. Of course the lord of the dead digimon would not take such a small ask into consideration. After what happened with Eosmon, he was likely not in the mood.
"You had well over a year to say the things you needed to say. The only reason I didn't come sooner was because I had to have a whole new area built to accommodate all who have fallen from the last two major events." Anubismon countered as energy began to pour into his hands. Met with that of UlforceVeedramon's saber, the result was not quite what the future knight digimon wanted it to be.
Ammit!
Weathering the blast, UlforceVeedramon gritted his teeth. Leave it to Anubismon to not play fair. Holding strong, he felt his saber shatter. Pulling his other saber out, that one didn't last much longer. Perhaps even shorter than the first.
"Give it up. This will be the end of the line." Anubismon announced, a golden pyramid appeared over UlforceVeedramon's head. Gaze split between his broken sabers and that of his companions, Anubimon was ri-
"He hasn't rolled his death saves! Cut him some slack." Penny announced as the mousey-looking boy dug into his pockets. Out came a moderately sized D20. Throwing it in UlforceVeedramon's direction, the future knight digimon managed to catch it. "You either need to roll higher than a 10 three times or a nat 20 and you'll be good."
UlforceVeedramon nodded and let out a deep breath. The pyramid was slowly closing in on him. At most, he had only a single roll. Could he actually pull out a miracle? He was going to have too in order to keep his promise.
"Here goes nothing." he whispered and threw the dice to the ground. Closing his eyes, it was a challenge to not do anything that might accidentally influence the die's final results. Regardless of the fact that it provided plenty of opportunities for Anubismon to cheat. Opening his eyes back up, the future knight digimon did a double take.
20.
"He did it." the mousey-looking boy announced as UlforceVeedramon met with Anubismon's gaze. Getting an eye roll, that didn't stop from letting out a chuckle.
"I guess I live another day. Better luck next time." UlforceVeedramon as what remained of his sabers rose up. Fusing together into a massive greatsword, it resembled something made from crystal rather than pure light. Picking the weapon up, it felt perfect for his hands. Looking at the blade, what appeared to be 'Memento' had been carved down the length of the weapon.
Memento Saber!
Slamming the greatsword into the giant pyramid above his head, the future knight digimon made quick work of the possible prison. Afterwards, he pointed the weapon in Anubismon's direction.
"I will let you have this one. But understand that you're running on borrowed time." Anubismon announced and teleported away. Sheathing his weapon, UlforceVeedramon let out a sigh. While he would've preferred a cleaner solution to this problem, this was more than satisfactory as they headed off once more. Making quick time to the graveyard, he mentally prepared himself for the last leg of this journey. But as they crossed over into these hallowed plots for the fallen, his gaze came upon a black cat. Sitting in front of a grave, it looked to be paying his respects. While Dick had cats, none of them were like this. Was this some kind of clue to the final destination? Whatever the case, he took care in weaving around the tombstones and plaques until he reached the feline. Smaller than Mikemon and similar feline digimon, that didn't stop them from trying to pay their respects as well.
"Why hello there." UlforceVeedramon greeted and reached down to pet the cat. Feeling their head rub against his leg, his focus shifted to the tombstone.
Dick
Writer, Dungeon Master & Friend
"I'm sorry I couldn't get back to you in time." UlforceVeedramon announced and set his hand on the tombstone. Trying his hardest to hold in the tears, they all came out in that moment. Yet, it felt quite good. Like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. A twisted, sorrowful weight filled with happy memories, but still a burden nonetheless. Reaching down to pet the black cat, his thoughts turned to the future. Whatever form that might take, he felt ready to meet it head-on.