Digiegg 1.4

AN: Did you think this would ever update? Regretfully, the pandemmy did not kill me and I am just a poor writer. All criticisms, comments, and general geeking make me smile. This needs some cleaning and formatting but it's been almost 3 years and I honestly have been trying to justify a Worm/Digimon kaiju fight since 2019. Good enough to ship for me, if I ever finish I'll be back. If there are any glaring errors or inconsistencies just let me know and I'll be on that though, a lot of this was reordered from how my outline originally had it.

After following Mori through the woods for what felt like an hour, we set up a camp. Night in this Digital World was equal parts alien and nostalgic. The sunset took less than a minute, as the hue of the sky changed abruptly at even intervals before going dark. The stars were much brighter than back home, and the moon looked impossibly close, but it still reminded me of camping as a child. Given that I was pitching a tent that was knit by a giant bagworm and made from the same worm's silk spit, this was definitely much more surreal than what I grew up with. Good to remember Mr. Barnes struggling to dig a piton into the ground while Dad just laughed and drove them in. A little bittered to reflect on now that Mom was gone and Emma was…Emma.

Being alone in my thoughts sobered up the fun I was having but the tent was up and Wormmon rolled in some extra cloth he'd knit to sleep on. He worked extremely fast, as he then made a set of sleepwear with one of those goofy pointed nightcaps for himself in under a minute. While I was busy laughing, he just as quickly made a person-sized matching set.

"For you." He held them up folded for me. "If you need anything more, please say so. Er, could we speak a minute while," he gestured outside vaguely in the direction Mori and Betamon went to collect food, "they aren't here."

"I think their story has a lot of holes," I offered, and at Wormmon's relieved sigh I continued, "I still think sticking together will keep us safer. We couldn't have taken down Meramon, and from what you've said there are much worse out there."

I could sense much worse out there. Some extremely fast not-insects flew by every now and then as if the treeline wasn't even there. The quiet sounds of the forest at night had already been interrupted several times with the cracking of treetops.

Wormmon nodded along, but then leaned closer and spoke nervously. "They definitely seem honest."

I raised an eyebrow, sensing a 'but' hanging somewhere.

"Betamon, um, gives off something untrustworthy. I don't feel lied to but I feel like they know so much about the digital world without knowing the basics."

Wormmon gestured upwards, towards some box-like containers growing on trees that my bugs had discovered were full of grainy cereals, "I hear DigiBytes grow in nearly every active section of the digital world. Most fish-type digimon have some way to produce water too, or they're fine-tuned for finding clean water sources."

I understood what Wormmon was getting at, if only because we were similar peo- we were similarly minded for him being a giant insect monster and me being an average teen girl who could sense most of the living creatures in a few blocks radius. This was supposedly a dangerous area and they had implied they had traveled to get here. It would make more sense to me to stay together and get the literal low-hanging fruits rather than split up and put more effort into finding something else. Their story seemed convenient to me, and I still wasn't convinced I wasn't the victim of some Tinker mind control/hallucination effect on top of it. However, I was also painfully aware from my power that creatures much larger than Wormmon were missing limbs, and I wasn't ready to fight some building-sized monster alone if I could help it. Something inside me loathed to admit this, but I needed Mori and Betamon right now. If they betray us, we are entirely at their mercy, but Wormmon and I likely wouldn't be safe without them.

Further, if everything was how it appeared to be, I could let Dad know I was alive. I doubt he would appreciate the obviously parahuman worm I had befriended but it would eat at me if I was fine here and he was mourning his last living family. Some prideful bone in my body made me want to get home soon too. Hebert's did not give up, and I didn't want to run away from my problems. I had issues with Brockton Bay and I swear my cape life would make it better.

A fly was heatlessly vaporized as it tried to land.

I sent a few insects towards the position only for them to meet the same fate. Whatever killed them was moving towards camp.

Broken from my own thoughts by the issue at hand, I tried to ease Wormmon's discomfort.

"Maybe Betamon is from an inactive region. In our world, the area between where Mori and I live is mostly ocean, and it's difficult to cross." Wormmon seemed to process that so I continued, "Let's try and walk, clear our minds. It helps me."

"Walk?" Wormmon questioned, tensing a little, "it's much too dangerous to move about carelessly this close to night. Plus, I'm already in my nightcap."

An insect had landed on something walking behind it, but the obliteration ball continued to walk in the direction of the camp.

"Look, Wormmon," I didn't know what was coming and I could not say I wanted to, "this may be a little strange, but something dangerous is coming towards us, and it isn't Mori and Betamon. We should hide at least."

The insect that had safely landed paralyzed, as if poisoned, and died.
Wormmon had retreated back a little; his body language not as trusting as I expected. Shit, was I projecting onto a digital monster? We'd only met less than half a day ago and I was expecting him to blindly follow an unreasonable request.

"Alright."

Wormmon looked at me more resolutely than I would have thought possible from him.

"I don't understand but I'll trust you. As a friend."

My face flushed with emotion but I quickly grabbed Wormmon and headed for a tree which did not fully exist. My bugs had found that it was hollow despite looking like a broad based oak; when Wormmon and I touched it, we phased right through. The insides were translucent like a hologram, which they technically probably were, and for the second time today I was hiding in a tree, quietly hoping I wouldn't be found. I stopped sacrificing insects to the creatures; they would be in sight soon enough and my bugs were too valuable in mapping and testing this environment to lose them all. I had immediately tried to breed everything on hand as soon as I had a breather but it could be a month before I see real results. Regardless, Wormmon and I held our breath as our clearing was intruded by an odd pair.

Slightly behind was the one which caused a slow death for the insects. It somehow was a perfect mesh between the kid everyone knew was in a gang and the mushroom everyone knows not to touch because it was obviously poisonous. It absentmindedly tossed a smaller mushroom around like a baseball. I could tell it was focused, but wasn't looking for anything in particular. Just around. The fact that they had made a straight line for our camp and stopped unnerved me.

More unnerving was what had been vaporizing everything sent his way. Far from being an obviously dangerous creature, he looked like ten-year old Greg Veder, if he had a spine. There was a shitty cloak draped over him, and some kind of bruise on his face, but it still gave a clear look to blonde hair, pallid skin, blue eyes, and a face like a younger brother. This sucked. If Greg was the tinker behind this, he would definitely be one to put in an untouchable blatant self-insert. I felt dirty, like I definitely had to get out, and maybe send some bees to sting him afterwards. My stomach sank to deeper lows when my eyes locked with the basically-Greg before he smirked, nodded, and casually turned to his mushroom lackey. Bleck.

His voice was unnaturally smooth and warm.

"Mushroomon, I think our quest for your partner continues. We will ask to stay here for the night when the Digimon living here return; the tent is clean and unwrinkled."

Mushroomon's barely existent brow furrowed, "I don't get watch you mean boss. Finder's Keepers, nah?"

Not-Greg sighed.
"It's rude to just intrude on other people's things. I think the inhabitants heard us coming and chose to hide rather than fight. We mean no harm."

I didn't like that he was obviously aware of our position and trying to seem friendly, but I spread out my remaining insects around the camp and found that Mori and Betamon were returning carrying something and were soaking wet.

Taking a deep breath, I decided on a course of action. Hiding did not work, and Mushroomon and Not-Greg could have probably killed Wormmon and I. Should they change their minds, Mori and Betamon should be able to return and surprise them, hopefully bailing us out again. So, before committing to revealing myself, I sent a couple gnats toward Not-Greg to try and witness his vaporization technique.

His eyes clearly tracked each insect but some cognitive choice he made led to the gnats successfully touching his cloak. He went to crush them the mundane way, now that he knew I had eyes on him.

I stood up and stepped out. Wormmon seemed nervous but followed, and Not-Greg turned calmly.

"Wh-"

Before I could talk, he interrupted.

"I thought I heard something. Clever to hide in an imaginary tree, this is Mushroomon," he curtseyed neatly, waving an arm, "and I am a benevolent digital sage. You Hu-mons all possess names, no? Whose camp am I intruding on?"

"I'm Taylor," I verbally backpedaled a bit, "who are you?"

"So ru-"

This time it was Wormmon to interrupt.

"I'm Wormmon. It's more rude to scare us in our own camp and imply we're being rude without even giving your name."

Not-Greg's confident posture didn't flinch at being told off. Rather, he quickly pivoted into a polite bow with the same sickeningly saccharine tone as before.

"You may call me Lucky. I apologize for intruding but I can offer you many things if you only let us rest with you."

"Lucky!"

Mori had entered the clearing and recognized our uninvited guest. Wormmon was shifting uncomfortably and I was right there with him; this was potentially really dangerous for us. If being in a simulation made by Greg was the worst case scenario, we were approaching potentially an equally bad one where we were the outsiders tagging along with a much stronger group.

Mori put down the pot full of vegetables she was holding and glomped the now named Lucky before turning to me with all the restraint of a poorly trained puppy.

"Taylor, Lucky. Lucky, Taylor. Taylor, Lucky taught me everything I know about the digital world and getting back home. He even introduced me to Betamon in my early days here."

I wanted to trust Mori and her friends of dubious origin. I did. But everything reeked of fish, not just Betamon. No matter how I tried to cut it, there was something happening here I did not understand yet.

I couldn't afford to zone out. Mori and Lucky were reconnecting, Mori showing her digivice pointing in a new direction and Lucky introducing Mori and Mushroomon. What I assumed to be a bruise at first was some kind of purple tattoo, and it seemed like I would have to let the two stay at our camp, at least for now. Before I could slink into a tent to finally organize myself and my backpack, I caught Lucky explaining why he was here at all.

"The signs were pointing to a batch of hu-mons falling around these regions, so I figured I would help my friend Mushroomon find a partner. When I saw the burns, I figured I would hopefully find a viable candidate, but your friend and that Wormmon seem awfully close. I have some other business to attend to, but should you find another unpartnered hu-mon I will leave Mushroomon with you when I go. Can we help with the DigiStew?"

Unpleasant, and I didn't like that a very obviously poisonous mushroom was handling the food that Mori and Betamon had come back with. I should still have my lunch, but splitting that between Wormmon and myself would hardly be a full meal

My backpack was dumped out on the ground in front of me, next to where I had dropped the pajamas Wormmon made. I winced at how dirty such a new bag had already become, but it would wash. Dirt generally came out fine. My bus card, some notebooks and pencils, a cheap plastic watch, my empty water bottle and brown bag, some dollar coins, and a folder with photocopies of textbook pages we used in class laid before me. I would probably sleep in my jeans and sweatshirt, and keep the sleepwear Wormmon had made for when I could clean my more practical clothes, and when we were hopefully in a safer location. The dye I spilled on my dark sweatshirt this morning didn't show, but it made me feel gross. One of the rampage-prone insects seemed to have calmed and laid down much too close for my comfort, but far enough that it was possible to ignore it and we may be fine. Much closer, the more familiar feeling of Wormmon was climbing a tree to get at those edible boxes. Good, good. I put the watch on my wrist and packed all of my things back into the bag, before stepping out and straight into Lucky. He stumbled in a gracefully fake way before turning with his insincere looking smile.

"I was hoping to talk with you before I left."

I side-eyed quickly towards Mori, Betamon, and Mushroomon gawking at Wormmon demonstrating how to eat Digibytes before focusing in front of me, "why just me?"

"Because it's clear you don't trust me," he laughed airily, "and why would you? But I mean no harm. All I wish to do is see the Human world, and I've spent a great amount of time finding how. Ever since the world was sealed so long ago, I waited for someone to slip through the cracks."

"How and why were they sealed?"

Wormmon had mentioned something about that, and if it was common enough knowledge I doubt this would be where Lucky chose to lie.

"Why and how… First, what is the Digital World? The sealing happened over many centuries ago from our perspective, but before then was a period where humons and digimon were able to interact freely. The last hu-mon recorded to have visited the Digital World successfully occurred in the Hu-mon year 2000." He paused, letting me digest before continuing, "Time can flow differently inside and out. It's because the Digital World was born and relies on what the humans call the internet, but, since its inception, there have been continuous gashes and attacks on the world. Before the grand attack which collapsed the ability to manifest the space between worlds, there came evidence that Digivices that those Chosen by the world bore possessed a backup of all of the data of the Digital World."

"If the world is sealed, how did we get here then?" I asked the obvious question.

"The world was sealed, but the attacks did not stop. Whatever so hates the Digital World has made many efforts to wound it, but it has opened the cracks I mentioned. To attack the world, they have to open a gate somehow. A grand alignment of the celestial bodies must have occurred; the perfect conditions to test my theories have come up in my lifetime. I'm going to trust you and Mori to find others like yourselves, and to become stronger to protect the world."

I didn't like this, but I couldn't find the angle. It could be a lie, easily, but it was so easy to swallow.

"Shame you partnered with that Wormmon already," he muttered just the right thing to say to place him back on my shit-list, "Mushroomon may be a little rough around the edges, but he'll be a great asset once he can digivolve. Please find him a good partner, Mori is a wonderful person but I fear she's too trusting. I will be leaving after we eat."

With that, he quickly strode over to where the stew had cooked and, producing a ladle and some bowls, began serving it.

My mouth tasted like metal. It was sour, but it seemed Mushroomon was here to stay, regardless of my feelings.