I was feeling the vibe of the digital world at first but real life punched me in the guts like a freight train. Don't wanna bore you with the details though, so I'll just power through with pure determination. Any Halo fans out there? Inspiration struck me when I kept double KO-ing one of my friends with melee attacks, so this may be fun for you…
Chapter 10: Welcome to the Digital World!
"Roast these evil beings with your flames!"
Eve's eyes widened in surprise. The pure Digi-Soul coming from her body was insane. It didn't even look like Digi-Soul, it was just… evil.
"This child… What's with her power?" Eve lowered her binoculars. She didn't need to watch anymore to take a guess at what would happen next. Kotemon was going to Digivolve, and their opponents would be destroyed. She wouldn't have been surprised if there was nothing left of their data afterwards. Eve clutched her heart, an extra strong heart beat pulsing through her body. "I wonder… is Witchmon reacting to her power?" Eve's lip twitched in a semblance of a smile as Kotemon began to Digivolve. She was right, as usual. Her already massive power was being twisted. Even that evolution was wrong. She could only guess at what the child's future held. Eve stared at her own Digivice questioningly.
Witchmon… You're acting strange today… Are you trying to tell me something? What is it about that girl that's gotten you so worked up? Eve turned away from the battle. The child was dangerous, and her friends needed to know. Now more than ever, before it was too late to save them…
. . .
"Sorry for calling you all out of the blue," Ryuga said. The group was all in the usual meeting place, their digimon and Digivices all with them as expected. "Just that there's something that we need to discuss, pronto. It's to do with Emily and Yoshi."
"I think we kind of guessed that," Sam said, staring at the huge cardboard box next to Emily. There wasn't anybody passing, but with how huge and conspicuous he looked, nobody was gonna take any chances. "So Kotemon managed to Digivolve and I missed it? Aw man, you couldn't have called us sooner could you?"
"Sorry," Emily said. "I kinda wanted to take care of this myself…"
"That kind of thinking could have gotten you all seriously hurt," Mwape reprimanded. "Just try and imagine if you hadn't been able to Digivolve him. They were under strict orders to destroy you. Once they'd done that it would just be a matter of time before they came for us."
"And we destroyed them!" Sam added enthusiastically. Everybody glared at him. "What? It's not like I'm gonna get double teamed or something. Check it, I have five digimon in my team already! Five!"
"The point is," Ryuga said, drawing their attention away from Sam. "Regardless of how dangerous that was, we need to figure out what to do with Yoshi now that he's so… big… He can't exactly stay in your room or in the doghouse."
"Whatever happens, I'll never leave Emily's side!" Yoshi exclaimed, his loud low pitched voice coming as a bit of a shock to everybody. It looked like his Digivolution had cured him of his previous shy disposition. "I'll be watching her every waking moment like a hawk, my eyes roving for any evil that awaits the chance to spring its traps…"
"Yoshi, you're saying some really weird stuff," Emily said, backing away from the box slowly. "We're not saying that you should stay away from me, though I'd probably rest easier if you weren't watching me in my sleep like some kind of stalker…"
"But your safety! The forces of darkness are after your life! A Samurai is forever loyal to their master and my master is you is it not?"
"I'm not your 'master' I'm your friend! And for all we know I could be those same forces of darkness so I don't think I have much else to worry about anyway. Right now we're still trying to figure out what to do with you. Although I get you on not wanting to stay too far away from me. How're we gonna work around this?" Everybody lowered their heads in thought, an idea springing to nobody.
"Maybe…" Mighty began. "Nah, forget it."
"What, you got something?" Mwape asked.
"No, no… Not really I guess… I'm just thinking… It's a little bit too soon to declare that Yoshi can never turn back into Kotemon again isn't it? I mean, I hear that people with D-Arcs take a bit of time to degenerate their partner digimon the first time they Digivolve right? So maybe it's like that again?"
"I dunno," Allison said. "Kotemon's Digivolution seemed kind of weird to me, I think he would have degenerated already if that was the case. I mean first of all, these weird bar thingies came out of her Digivice and they looked a bit like an old school bar measuring a phones battery. It was a bit like-"
"With a D-3?" Ryuga suggested.
"Yes! Like a D-3! Those were really similar to me and Mwape's Digivices right? So he should have degenerated by now. It's basically just raw power, so it doesn't last very long the first time, even when a teenager or adult does it, so he should have turned back after one or two attacks. Second…"
"Her Digi-Soul," AxeHounmon picked up. "It was black." Everybody looked at AxeHounmon in surprise, then at Emily. Emily looked around in confusion, tugging at her sleeves nervously.
"Huh? Guys, what's wrong? Why're you all staring at me like that? Is that like really bad?"
"Well it's not normal," Allison said. "It's kind of suspicious actually. Even your Digivice, it's completely black. While that does happen sometimes, it's a bit odd considering everything else we've heard about your powers already. Even the way you Digivolved him…"
"Wait, don't tell me that was also weird!"
"Blast Digivolution," Eve's voice said, appearing from behind the stands.
"You!" Sam screamed, pointing his finger at her. "Where do you keep coming from?!" Eve laughed a little.
"You'd be surprised how long I can listen in on your conversations before you notice I'm here. Actually, you never really notice. In any case, Emily didn't Digivolve her Kotemon with the power of puppies and rainbows like most of you do. She Blast Digivolved him, she basically took all of the pent up rage, emotion and damage, physical and emotional, and sent it at him in one concentrated burst. It's used to make a Digimon evolve one level above what they're physically capable of doing, so if your limit was Champion, you can Blast Digivolve to Ultimate. It's incredibly dangerous, and can easily make evil digimon. It's like a Super Dark Digivolution. The fact that she willingly Blast Digivolved Kotemon is worrying."
"Wait, something evil?"
"If you were to Blast Digivolve your Greymon, you would likely get SkullGreymon, and MetalGreymons of any variation become BlackWarGreymon. Believe me, you do not want to know what a SkullGreymon is."
"Wait…" Ryuga walked over to the enormous box Yoshi was hidden beneath. He tossed it off of him with ease and stared right into Yoshi's eyes. Yoshi, as Musyamon, waved at him sheepishly.
"Surprise?"
"Emily, why is he a Musyamon?" Emily stared in confusion. "He's a Kotemon, a walking lizard. He's meant to become… a bigger lizard, Dinohumon maybe. Musyamon though?"
"Well they're both samurai so I thought it made sense at the time…"
"It would normally, but black Digi-Soul, Blast Digivolution, hints at dark powers… What exactly…" Ryuga waved his hand in the air, as if waving away his doubts. "Never mind, our biggest problem right now isn't the nature of your Digi-Soul, but how to turn Yoshi back to normal, and where to keep him hidden."
"We can camouflage him!" Mighty yelled cheerfully.
"Yes!" Starmon yelled. "Okay, we'll get all the paints while you plan out what colours to paint him!" then addressing the Pickmons; "Tank, you scout out an area that's unused, but still habitable. Sniper, acquire paintbrushes! Blue, get me a soda." They all nodded their heads as they spread out to gather the equipment before Sam grabbed them all.
"I think there's no need for that… We're not gonna paint Yoshi, alright?"
"Bro, think about it, try and imagine him green? A green Musyamon!"
"No, no green Musyamon!" Eve wasn't sure what to make of Sam and Starmon's bickering, Mighty eyeing Yoshi carefully as if thinking of where to paint.
"Are you guys even paying attention to what I'm saying? For all you know Emily and Yoshi could be plotting ways to kill you all right now!"
"I'm not too bothered about it," Lexi said. "Emily doesn't really seem like she's a bad person for a start, and if she was evil she wouldn't have fought Persiamon with us would she?" Eve rubbed her temples in annoyance.
"It doesn't matter if she knows it or not but she's definitely going to be your downfall you know… She purposefully Blast Digivolved her Kotemon. That doesn't seem safe for either her or Kotemon, and it just doesn't seem pleasant… Maybe you weren't there, but you saw everything." She gestured at Allison now. "Same with you, Sam. You two have both seen a side of Emily that doesn't normally show itself haven't you? Roast these evil beings. Does that phrase sound familiar?"
"Come on, you're overreacting!" Allison laughed. "Even if she's got some weird powers, what reason would Emily have to hurt us? Relax a little." Eve shook her head.
"Children, children all of you, so naïve…"
"You're still our age to!" Sam pointed out. "In fact, Mwape and Ryuga are definitely older than you!" Eve shrugged her shoulders and turned on her heel to walk away.
"Whatever you say. You were all warned. I guess we'll meet again at some point. For your sakes I hope you've realised the truth of my words by then…" She waved two fingers in the air before disappearing, leaving swirling leaves behind her. There was a pause.
"… How does she do that?" Sam asked.
"Anyway!" Ryuga yelled, trying to shake his thoughts away from the uneasiness her presence brought about. "We still need to figure out what to do with him! He can't be seen by normal people after all." Sam flicked his goggles as an idea hit him.
"Duh! He can stay in my Xros Loader! Whenever Emily's mom is around and it's cold out he stays at my place anyway, and my mom knows about digimon anyway so getting food wouldn't be too much of a problem! I noticed Digimon don't eat as much as usual if they spend the night inside a Xros Loader, with the whole stream of Xros Loader juice or whatever, so as long as my mom cooks a bit extra it's all fine!" Ryuga nodded his head in confirmation.
"Then it's settled then right? This problems out the way? Good. So the plan for next week is also set?"
"Heading to the Digital World right?" Sam asked. "Still though, how do we even get to the Digital World? I mean, if we could enter the Digital World, wouldn't we have entered it earlier?"
"It all comes down to timing," Jay said. "And right now, the timing to enter the digital world is on our side. The gate should be open the Wednesday after school closes."
"So it's not always open is it?" Jay shook his head.
"There's lots of ways to enter and exit the Digital World, but with the only gate I know of its open and closed during specific times and dates, and even then you never know. If you're not careful, you can get locked in or out for a long time."
"So there's no problem getting in I hope?" Ryuga asked one more time. "Good. Emily, you and Yoshi should lay low till next Tuesday. On Wednesday Jay will lead us to the gate. Your parents should all get an email about a Summer Camp trip on Monday so they should be fine with all this, so long as you don't tell them you're going to the Digital World." Jay tensed at the mention of his parents. "Not much else to say really. Disperse I guess, shoo. Get some rest. If a digimon Bio-emerges, call everyone first!" He stared intently at Emily as he said this.
"Hey, why don't we all have like a going away party on Tuesday?" Lexi asked. "Just to chill out before we actually enter, bonding and such, you know. I mean, once we head off we're gonna be stuck together for a loooong time, so we might as well get to know each other a bit better before we all leave, right?"
"So what, we're all gonna paint each other's nails and stuff?" Allison asked. "Still, sounds like fun! So long as we don't have to share a room with the boys of course…"
"No worries, the girls can hijack my brother's room while we stay in mine, so if we chill there it'll be fine!" Sam said. "The neighbourhood knows my mom for being really trustworthy so we could genuinely get away with saying she'll drop us off to, that'll save us the trouble of coming up with excuses for why we don't want our parents seeing us off!" While discussing in much smaller groups now, they all slowly began to spread out, digimon returning inside their Digivices or melding with the shadows as they ducked out of sight. Emily glanced over her shoulder to see Jay had stayed behind, discussing something with Ryuga in hushed tones.
Already the lack of Yoshi's presence felt odd for her. Even when he wasn't there, she could still tell whenever he was nearby, but now without the knowledge that he was looking out for her, she felt a little… exposed, at least. Still, it was only temporary. They'd find a way to turn him back to normal, and if they didn't, he was still her partner, no matter what form he took. Her only worry was what would happen if he Digivolved again…
. . .
"Toothbrush."
"Check."
"Towel."
"Check."
"Clothes."
"Check."
"Toilet Paper."
"Definitely check!"
"Swimming stuff."
"I don't like swimming…"
"Just in case, you never know."
"They're in there anyway…"
"Those fluffy pink pyjamas you love so much!"
"Mom…"
"And your Harry Potter blankie, you always take it with you."
"I don't need that Mom!"
"And enough sets of underwear, the silky smooth ones, you have sensitive skin."
"Mom!"
Emily's room had been upturned packing up all of her stuff for the camping trip. Honestly she didn't need so much stuff. Ryuga told them to pack light anyway because carrying it all would be a huge pain in the neck, but if her Digivice really could transfer all data then she had something she needed to try out anyway…
Her mother had just been helping her pack up her stuff, defying physics through what she called 'mother's logic' and stuffing more objects than should have been possible inside her duffle bag.
"Okay, so I'm getting just a little bit excited," she admitted sheepishly, not looking up from her checklist the whole time.
"A little? If I didn't know any better I'd think you were going to some Girl Scout reunion or something."
"Well you can't blame me, my baby is actually making more friends!" she squealed in delight. "You have to bring back pictures for me, so I'm packing a camera with you. Don't lose it!"
"I won't Mom, don't worry about a thing." Her mother nodded her head, pausing as she returned to checking off everything she had.
"Chocolate."
"Check."
"More chocolate."
"Double check."
"Jumbo Chocolate bars."
"Jumbo checked!" Emily laughed.
"You'll need those if you ever miss home alright? Rest of the snacks, pack of cards, compass, telescope, pocket knife, lighter and a torch."
"All checked off!" She handed the list back to Emily. "Thanks for helping with my packing Mom."
"I'm your mother, I don't think I have a choice!"
"I know you're my mother, you keep reminding me constantly!" The pair stared at the bags assembled on the floor before them.
"Well… I guess I won't see you for… a month? That was how long the trip was right?"
"Yeah… a month… Well, it'll give you more time to work on Hang Time."
"Yeah, I guess you're right about that. My artwork is getting a little sloppy isn't it? The story is falling flat on its face to… If we're not careful we might actually get cancelled. Tough making a comic about sports when all kids want is to see superheroes kicking some righteous butt…"
"Maybe you should try include some more action scenes to it? Or a race or something to show it's still got flavour. Or actually, since its ratings are going down, try making a big three issue long arc to build tensions, and end it on a grand finale! You should include the rival, and…"
"Whoa their munchkin, slow down! You're not meant to be doing my homework for me, you're meant to get ready to get outta here! You're spending the night at Sam's place first right? Say hi to his mother for me, and little Simon to alright?"
"Yeah, will do."
"Oh, and… Um… I'm glad that you're out being active and stuff, making friends and all. You never really seemed very sociable before. It's always just you and Sam, but I don't normally see you hanging with other kids a lot…"
"Mom, don't get all mushy on me!"
"Too late, already started! Look, you might think it's stupid but I always think it's my fault, so now… I don't really know where I'm going with this! Just, try make friends, alright?" She smiled softly at Emily.
"Yeah, I've already made a few more actually. I think they're good friends to."
"Well that's good to hear for me. When you get back, invite a few over. I'll try not to cook anything poisonous for them." Emily grabbed her duffle bag, struggling against its weight before her mother took it off her hands. Instead she reached for her backpack and together they walked downstairs and out of the house in silence. Even the rare and normally lively car journey was silent, so to fill the time Emily just put her earphones on and played the last track on her playlist. She cringed as she heard the depressing tone of Jeff Buckley's Grace. Good song if not ridiculously old, just not what she was in the mood to listen to. She skipped to the next track and immediately wished she hadn't.
Run, by Disturbed? Seriously? Should I be worried about my choice of music to get? They stopped outside of Sam's house, and if it wasn't for the luggage she was carrying and the fact that she was actually driven there, it would have been a normal day.
Emily's mother looked her in the eye as she stared back.
"Well, see you," she said awkwardly, holding up a hand weakly. "Have fun, I'll keep myself busy." Emily stared at the hand, then up at her mother. What was she expecting anyway? A motherly kiss on the cheek? Even if she was her mother, Emily probably wouldn't even notice if she wasn't constantly reminded of the fact. Her mother's expression softened at the look in Emily's eyes, apologetic love pouring out of her own as they embraced tightly, both of them squeezing as hard as they could. "Aw who am I kidding, I'm going to miss my little baby sooo much…" Her voice wavered as she struggled to hold back tears.
"It's only for a few weeks mom," Emily replied, struggling with her own.
"But we've only spent a few days apart, even if I'm always working when I'm at home to!"
"I know, I'm sorry…"
"What're you sorry for?" she asked with a strained giggle. "I'm the one who doesn't hang out with you enough!"
"You're my mother, normal mothers don't say stuff like hang out!"
"I know, I'm sorry…"
"Now what're you sorry for? You're the coolest mom ever because you say weird stuff like that!"
They released each other slowly. "Wow, we really need to hug more often don't we?"
"Yes, yes we do!" Emily laughed. Her mother smiled and planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Enjoy yourself eh? Text me tomorrow when you're about to leave, you'll probably have no signal when you're gone, so that'll be the last time we can talk." Emily nodded her head as her mother retreated back to their old four door sedan. Sure, her mother didn't usually act very grown up, and was sometimes more immature than Emily herself. She was sloppy and disorganized, couldn't cook to save her life, always embarrassed her in front of everyone at school, and when it came to expressing her own emotions, was as blunt and tactful as a rusted axe, but she was still her mother, and Emily wouldn't ask for a different one. Just the thought that she wouldn't see her for so long didn't sit well in her stomach, but she wasn't alone this time. She had Yoshi with her to, and Sam and Starmon, and Allison and Lexi, Mwape and Jay, and even Ryuga. She had nothing to worry about. She wasn't alone.
. . .
"Oh my, things have gotten quite lively here haven't they?" Sam's mom said, sweat building up on her forehead. Sure, she had gotten used to her son occasionally bringing in digimon for dinner, but when he'd said he was bringing home friends before the Summer Camp, she didn't expect so many digimon to! The shock of seeing Yoshi standing just under ten feet tall was also a little hard to take in in one go, but she was made of tough stuff. Or strange stuff. Nobody was ever clear when she asked them what they mean by 'strange stuff'.
The group of children and teens were all gathered around the TV playing one of their new age shooting games, their digimon with them of course. Sam and Emily both pushed the buttons on their controllers furiously while a smaller child in strange yellow armour and a boy dressed in black (Jacob was it?) both went pale as they exploded on the screen. She may not have a clue on how to play but she knew that Emily was the best in the whole room with Sam close behind. Good thing Emily's mother wasn't there to. It's rather embarrassing to have your score doubled by your own mother in front of your friends.
"I'll go get some snacks," a girl said getting up from her seat on the couch. Sam's mother wasn't really sure why her hair was silver instead of some natural colour, or even if it was its natural colour. It looked too perfectly silver, no traces of black or blonde or anything of the sort. The other girl had the same shade of hair to. Maybe it was some new hair product?
The girl stared at the white cat-like digimon as if silently asking the digimon to accompany her. The cat was licking her paws lazily, resting on Emily's feet. She stared at her with a look that said do I have to? Sighing in annoyance, the cat stood up and followed her to the open kitchen door.
"Need anything dear?" Sam's mom asked sweetly. "You're Alexis, correct? Need snacks? Drinks? It's almost dinner so I wouldn't advise anything but juice now. Should I bring you all drinks?"
"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll handle it," Lexi replied as she headed for the fridge herself. "I'm surprised that you're okay with all of this actually."
"Okay with what?"
"All the digimon roaming the house. I'm sure my mother would freak if she saw Gatomon prowling my room."
"You mean all of your parents don't know about the digimon?" she asked in shock.
"Well… Most parents wouldn't take the thought of a monster for a best friend very well…"
"Well I understand that part. Apparently I nearly swatted Flare's flames out when I first found out about him, and I already knew a bit about Tamers. I can't imagine what your parents would think! Still, isn't it easy to hide your friend though? She does look similar to a real cat if you remove the mittens…"
"Nobody touches my gloves!" Gatomon rebuked protectively, keeping her paws away from her. "It's not like I can't remove them, but these gloves are sort of a part of me. Keeping me separated from them isn't good for me or my gloves… If things get dangerous though I just pretend to be a doll. It works well."
"Well, I don't really think it's a good idea keeping something like that a secret from them though, but if that's what you've all decided I don't think I'm going to change your minds." She bent down to look at Gatomon closer to eye-level. "I for one think it's great that you're watching out for our kids all the time, so keep Lexi out of trouble, alright? Sam to, that boy's always getting himself in trouble somehow…" Gatomon giggled as she grabbed a juice pouch from the fridge as well.
"I know what you mean, I'll look out for them so no need to worry!" With that, the pair of them turned around and went to join the others again.
"Must be fun having a digimon with all your friends… Sure wish I had friends like that when I was younger. It would've saved me a lot of grey hairs…"
. . .
"Mighty, Sam, let's talk about this," Jay said, barely noticing as Lexi and Gatomon brought apple juice. "Emily is gonna destroy us if this keeps up, so let's all have a truce and triple team her."
"Agreed," Mighty confirmed. "Her Needler is tearing right through us…" Emily laughed manically as the bottom right corner of the screen flashed red. "Oh yeah, and the Spartan Laser. Can't ignore the Spartan Laser…" Yoshi stared at the screen in fascination, his legs tucked underneath his rear in a position that honestly looked rather uncomfortable. He didn't seem to mind though.
"How do you control the pictures on the screen?" Yoshi asked in amazement. "And these weapons… Even in the Digital World such objects are rare. And the dexterity and speed of these warriors … Are they truly humans?"
"Welcome to the human world buddy," Flare said, patting him on the back. He looked peculiar seated so comfortably on the sofa while wearing a wizard hat. "Clearly none of them are gonna beat Emily, so you'll get a turn with me and Mwape soon. I'll explain the controls to you, unlike somebody in this room…" Sure enough, the screen turned blue, Emily roaring in triumph as her corner of the screen showed her as the victor. All the pads changed over, Yoshi holding his nervously in his huge hands, the pad being upside-down, Flare getting Sam's and Mwape refusing his controller saying he was absorbed in the book he was reading, ignoring the sounds from the TV entirely. Instead, Allison grabbed it, cracking her knuckles before getting ready to play. Flare gave Yoshi a brief tutorial on the basic controls and how to hold the controller before the game began.
The first three minutes were the usual slaughter on the field, Emily barely even lifting a finger as her foes fell before her. Yoshi shook the pad in frustration as Allison shot him in the face with a pistol, his avatar collapsing on the ground before a grenade seemingly from nowhere destroyed them both.
"This… this isn't fair!" Yoshi whined. "My blade should be superior to all your flimsy firearms! If I could only deflect the bullets the way I do in the real world…"
"Dude, there's no way that even you can deflect bullets!" Flare pointed out. "All you're doing is running out trying to melee us, there's no way you'll win if we see you coming a mile away…"
"But… this human I use is too weak, how come Emily is just fine?"
"I think we've established that Emily is a cheat code on her own," Allison said as a massive laser blasted her off a cliff. "It's like she's everywhere and nowhere at once!"
"Yoshi, relax," Emily said, getting worried from the shade of red his face was turning. "Just imagine that you're a rookie level and we're all Ultimate levels. If you fight like that you should do a lot better. And use your gun."
"To hit them?"
"No, to shoot them!" Yoshi stared at the screen in concentration, some of his temper dying down.
"Like you're all Mega Levels… I can't charge in like a fool…" Allison blinked in surprise as her screen flashed blue, Yoshi's avatar slicing through her with a glowing sword.
"What? Where'd he come from?" Before anybody could notice Yoshi was gone. In the next instant his avatar returned, leaping at Flare's red armoured avatar, cracking his spine and discarding the corpse. He switched to a pistol before running off.
"Guys, Yoshi just assassinated me!" he cried.
"We can see that!" Allison died again, sent hurtling off a cliff. A grenade went off on Emily's screen, driving her backwards right into Yoshi's blade.
"So you wanna play rough now don't you?" Emily asked with a smile on her face.
"Hah! Struggle all you wish, but my very soul lies behind my blade! You who have forsaken the ways of the samurai stand no chance against…" The crack of a rifle sounded, Yoshi's avatar collapsing to the ground. Yoshi grinded his teeth as he respawned, now without his sword. Switching to his pistol, he roamed the halls of the futuristic battleground again, looking for fresh meat to hunt. Flare was the first to fall, firing wildly into nothingness, Yoshi already hidden behind cover.
"Flare, your aim is still horrible!" Sam yelled.
"Shut up already!" Flare shot back. Yoshi had already leaped out of cover, leaping through the air, a flying fist smashing into Flare's avatar. Flare's shields emptied from the blow, sending him scrambling to cover, firing blindly at Yoshi. Too late, Yoshi had already dived on him, beating him to the ground before wheeling around, firing his pistol into the gloom in case he had stalkers. Sure enough, Allison followed Flare's example, her avatar standing no chance. A grenade ricocheted against the wall, exploding by Yoshi's feet. Emily entered the hall, hovering in the air from a jetpack. A storm of exploding purple Needler rounds was more than enough to finish him, but not before she noticed the grenade below her feet. The explosion blanked out her screen, her shields emptied as Flare returned, finishing Yoshi's job for him, before he too was defeated as Yoshi returned.
Emily and Yoshi met yet again, both Allison and Flare clearing out of the area before they could get caught in the crossfire, explosions and tracer bullets flying through the air. Even the most disinterested of spectators stared at the scene, absolutely speechless as the two combatants danced around each other, shields often depleting as they would retreat from the battle. Whenever Flare or Allison intervened they would be met with a swift blade to the gut or Needler rounds to the head.
"How? Halo's a twitch shooter!" Mighty yelled. "They should both be dead right now, but every time they come close to falling they deplete their shields and retreat, dodging everything tossed at them…"
"The battle's gone on thirty seconds already," Sam added. "For Halo, that's ridiculous."
The two met in the centre of the stage again, Emily spraying bullets into Yoshi's body, depleting his shields as they clashed in the centre. Out of options, Emily smashed her rifle against Yoshi while Yoshi swung his deadly Beam Sword against her, the weapons clashing against each other, the clashing blows killing them both, sending the corpses of their avatars sprawling across the entire centre stage and off the edge.
The rest of the game continued like this until by the time the game was over, Yoshi was tied for first with Emily.
"How… He literally just grabbed the controller now!" Flare yelled. "He did next to nothing but throw grenades and punch us in the face. With million dollar weapons and a Spartan suit at his disposal, he simply… punches us… in the face!"
"If this is him in Halo," Allison said. "I think I'll just sit out of COD before he knifes us all to death there…"
"Or, the boys can turn off the console and we can have dinner," Lexi suggested. "Why not watch a movie once we're done?" Sam rolled his eyes and groaned exasperatedly.
"Ugh, it's probably gonna be some weird chick-flick or Twilight even, something dumb like that," Sam said.
"Yeah, I was just getting into the zone to!" Allison whined. "Come on, be nice!"
"My goodness, first: I'm not thinking of watching Twilight, not really my cup of tea, okay? Second, have you even watched it before? Or at least read the books? I bet you just read stuff on the net and assume it sucks from that don't you?"
"Well maybe I haven't watched it, but only because I got bored and left halfway through. Besides, Emily read the books and even she got bored, and she reads anything!"
"They're not horrible, just… not very good, that's all," Emily said with a shrug. "If a talented writer made them and it was less cheesy, and the vampires weren't… so stupid in concept, then maybe it would have actually been good… I don't know, I disliked them."
"Then can we watch Die Hard?" Mighty asked pleadingly.
"Dude, that's way too violent, Sam's mom is still here!" Mwape pointed out. "Have you even watched the movie? You're way too young to see something like that…"
"We can just watch it up in my room instead then," Sam said. "So long as we keep the noise down my mom probably won't barge in on us."
"Either way I say Lord of the Rings. Even if you hate it normally, it totally goes down."
"No, something funny to make us laugh," Emily suggested. "We're supposed to chill out and laugh before this 'Summer Camp' and not send ourselves to sleep with a three hour movie."
"The Three Stooges!" Bitemon piped up innocently. "It's funny, and Sam's mom won't get mad about it!"
"Yeah, but I've watched that one before…" Allison said. "Handle, you've been pretty silent, what do you think?" AxeHounmon was pretty much passed out in front of the TV screen, his disturbing grin twitching occasionally. "Handle? You can't fall asleep before dinner buddy…"
"What about Saw?" Lexi piped up. Everybody stared at her with surprised and shocked expressions. "What? I like horror movies." The group were still discussing what to watch as they crowded around the dinner table, another table attached to the end to fit them all. Yoshi couldn't fit on the small dining chairs easily, so had to drag in the couch instead. The food, as expected of Sam's place, was a culinary masterpiece, even though it was simply spaghetti and meatballs. Sam's little brother returned from a friend's birthday party, and suddenly the whole table was filled with even more life (if that was even possible…)
The girls all crowded around him at first, commenting on how adorable he looked and the similarities between him and Sam. His eyes widened in surprise at the sight of so many digimon, Yoshi in particular who awkwardly waved at him, but he seemed to be too preoccupied with the girls around him to comment on it. Emily swore Sam was giving his brother an evil glare as he got all the attention. Before anybody could even notice, Yoshi was already going for seconds, though it seemed now at least Emily could catch him in the act of devouring his meal. It was absurd. Conjured in his hands were a pair of chopsticks, and even with them he was still scooping up vast portions of food in a matter of seconds, his chopsticks flying from his mouth to the plate and back to his mouth like lightning.
With the appearance of Simon, watching anything with a rating above PG13 was out of the question, and since Simon was practically pleading to watch Home Alone they didn't really have much choice in the matter. As soon as the movie was over the girls all shuffled off to their own room leaving the guys to their own business. Luckily for Emily everybody decided they had a long day ahead of them tomorrow so decided against doing each other's hair. A bunk bed that must've once belonged to Sam and Simon and a thick mattress had been dragged into the room, and Allison had already called the top bunk. Lexi didn't seem to mind though, less effort needed climbing up to the top bunk in her opinion. It wasn't like Emily minded too much if she got the mattress anyway, as long as she was comfy it was fine.
"So, I wonder what the digital world is like," Allison wondered aloud.
"If nobody is with you, very dangerous," AxeHounmon said. He looked remarkably comfortable lying on top of her legs. "It's a beautiful place if you know where to look, but not all digimon take so kindly to humans, or even strange digimon for that matter."
"We'll probably stick out like a sore thumb!" Gatomon added. "A mix of random digimon from random areas of the digital world travelling together, even without humans it'll be hard not to get noticed by unwanted attention. An android digimon, an Eastern Samurai, a kitty cat and wolf, a dragon digimon and a floating star, hard not to miss."
"Well, let's just hope things go well," Emily said as she rolled over to get some sleep. "Our main goal is to find the king and find out why so many digimon are Bio-Emerging, secondary goal is to return Yoshi back to normal. It's probably gonna get pretty dangerous…"
"But it'll be fun!" Allison piped up. "Think about it, we're going to a whole new world entirely! It's like a super adventure! I can't be the only one who's pumped up here! I mean, maybe you guys have travelled all over the place, but this is gonna be the first time I've ever even left the city! I thought my parents would say no for sure, and sure enough they almost stopped me from coming! I kept telling them it was perfectly safe and here I am! I'm so excited I can't wait for tomorrow! I don't think I'll be able to get to sleep, I just… can't sleep, you know?"
"Well glad that your parents let you come," Lexi said. "It wouldn't be the same without you with us to. I don't think I've got an answer for your temporary insomnia though." Emily clicked her fingers as an idea struck her.
"How about we play a card game or something till you get tired? I packed a pair of cards with me, Summer Camp apparently isn't the same without cards." A sly grin stretched across Lexi's face as Emily pulled the cards out of her backpack, pulling out a chocolate bar accidentally as well.
"And no card game is worth anything unless we put something on the stakes, right? Emily, I know that you've got more chocolate in there, so how about a little wager for that chocolate bar…" Lexi pulled out a few lollipops from her own backpack. Allison shook her head and laughed.
"Didn't anybody ever tell you that gambling is bad?" Allison asked as she pulled out a shiny silver bracelet from her own backpack. Gatomon, much to everybody's shock, pulled out a stick of gum from within her glove though Handle shrugged his shoulders saying he'd rather observe this round first, but after the first four games it was clear that their possessions were all going to go towards Alexis. Emily dropped out in round three for fear of her chocolate bars, Allison then giving up once she found her bag of 'shiny stuff' was half empty, deciding that they wouldn't bet all their stuff just yet. Without stakes on the line this time they all joined again for the last few rounds before finally they all decided it was time to end their game.
Emily stretched her limbs out in exhaustion, curling up in a ball beneath her sheets. She really should have been more excited about the trip tomorrow, but she kept thinking of what would happen with Yoshi and his new form. Even after a week she still wasn't quite used to it. Sure they were defeating Bio-Emerged digimon in their sleep now, but it was getting hard to keep him hidden, and Emily was sure that he was actually growing. If Rookie levels were like children and Champions were adults, then maybe Yoshi was currently a teenager going through a growth spurt? Emily shook the wandering thoughts from her head as she tried to drift to sleep. She would need all the energy she could get tomorrow, she couldn't waste it thinking about something dumb like that. All that was left to do, was wait…
. . .
"Honestly Em, what're you doing carrying so many bags?" Sam asked as they got off the bus. "You realise you're gonna be carrying that stuff around for a while right?"
"Don't worry, Yoshi can carry my stuff since he's so big now. In fact, he can carry all of our stuff, right?"
"W-what?" Yoshi stuttered within Sam's Xros Loader. "Uh… y-yes, of course! I'll always serve you in your time of need! Yes, yes…" Emily laughed at the discomfort in her partner's voice.
"Don't worry, I'm joking, you probably won't have to carry all our stuff. Probably."
"I don't like the uncertainty in your voice," Yoshi mumbled. The bus had dropped them off in the middle of town. Ryuga was already waiting for them at the bus depot, his sister, Yami, with him.
"I don't think we've met before," Jay said with a charming smile. "It's rare to see any pretty girls in our group." The girls all glared at him with a look like venom.
"You're a few years young shorty," Yami said, immediately crushing his spirits. "Thanks for the compliment anyway though. Well, my name's Yami, and I'm guessing you're the Tamers that my little brother is taking with him into the Digital World right?"
"Yeah, that would be us," Emily confirmed. "You're his big sister right? Are you coming into the Digital World to?" Maybe it was a little mean, but she honestly didn't want a grown up coming with them as well. Ryuga barely fit into the teenager category as it was, but he was like their senior when it came to digimon so it was fine. Having an adult with them though might actually spoil the whole trip for them…
"Sorry to disappoint but I can't come along to. I'd love to rip it up in the Digital World again but being a grown up kinda sucks, and I have my own things to do here. I can't just leave to go on huge adventures."
"You'll still be stuck with me to make sure you don't do anything stupid," Ryuga said. "Yami's basically a Digital World veteran from back in the day when we were both kids, so she'll be keeping in touch with us from the real world and keep tabs on our progress."
"If things get nasty, which they will, I'll step in to take care of things myself," she said. "But I won't always be able to reach you guys so don't rely on me. Until then I'll be watching you from the real world. You can't communicate with people here on Earth from the Digital World with normal technology, but if you use Jay's Digivice you should be able to Skype me." Everyone nodded their heads in confirmation.
"So Jay, where to?" Emily asked. Jay headed off down the street, beckoning them all to follow him. At first it didn't look like they were going anywhere special, the stench of car fumes filling the air as they trooped along. Jay stopped in front of a run-down corner-shop, odd trinkets, suspicious appliances and a huge assortment of clocks advertised in a dusty window that refused to be cleaned.
"Um… Jay?" Lexi spoke up. "You made us walk all this way to show us a pawn shop?"
"A clock shop specifically," he said. "That just so happens to sell other stuff as well as clocks, so I guess a pawn shop is more accurate."
"Must've been where Sam got his goggles," Allison laughed.
"No it's not!" Sam shot back defensively, clutching his goggles tightly. "These goggles are like my own little treasure alright? No making fun of them!"
"Relax, I was only joking, they look kinda dusty so what did you expect?"
"They are not dusty! Gosh, leave my goggles alone already!"
"Well there's no need to be so touchy about it, they're just goggles!" Jay stepped in, ignoring the pair's bickering, Emily following him with everybody else behind her, leaving Sam and Allison to continue arguing outside.
The store had a random assortment of clocks of all shapes and sizes lining the walls, from cuckoo clocks to grandfather clocks to clocks ticking in the wrong direction to round objects that honestly looked nothing like clocks at all. Random items filled the various shelves; television sets, kettles, model ships, and even to Emily's amusement, a small Kotemon doll. An odd pair of goggles was wrapped around it, the right lens stretched out like a telescope while the other was wider but like a regular lens. Unlike Sam's goggles which had a thin red strap and blue rims, the rims on these ones were silver and they were tied not with a small strap, but a thick cow leather band. Sam and Allison finally joined them in the room, both of them refusing to even look at each other. Sam spied the goggles and ran towards them excitedly.
"Whoa, these look so weird! What the heck are these even used for? One lens is even a telescope! Emily, you should totally get these?"
"Sam, I'm not really a goggle head like you, I have glasses! Besides, I don't think I've ever met anybody besides you who parades town wearing a pair of goggles in the first place…"
"It's not a fashion statement or anything, we're gonna be trekking over mountains and stuff right? What if you need to check for something a long way away? It'll take way too much time to look for a pair of binoculars or something, so you could just keep them on you to save time! At least you can lie that you bought them as a souvenir for Simon when we get back, that way he'll stop trying to steal my goggles!" Emily looked at them suspiciously.
"I dunno… Well I still have some leftover change on me so if I can afford it…" Emily swiped the goggles off the shelf, staring at them curiously. An odd warmth swept through her body as soon as she came into contact with them, almost as if she had known the odd accessories all her life. Needless to say, she still wasn't going to be wearing them anytime soon. She marched up to the counter, Jay already standing by it. An old man was seated behind it with his red sandaled feet resting on the counter, snoring obscenely loud. A sliver of drool ran down his bottom lip slowly, dropping to the floor.
"Old man," Jay said. The man didn't respond. A green cap without the top on it covered his face, a pattern showing multiple coloured gears and arrows on it, and his unkempt white beard hid the rest of his face. Even his silver hair was plentiful, and for some reason made Emily think of a trucker. Jay poked at his chest slightly forcefully, his finger sinking into the man's red shirt, repeating his call. The old man sat up sharply, falling backwards onto the ground. Before anybody could rush to help him the man was up again, fully alert now.
"Wha? What's…? You buying goggles? Two dollars, everything on top shelf is… Oh, you… What do you want?" The old man spoke with a slight hint of an Asian accent, glaring at them all. Then again, Emily couldn't tell if he was actually glaring at them in annoyance behind his incredibly thick red tinted sunglasses. She wasn't sure why he was wearing sunglasses indoors, but with how thick they were they looked more like those masks people wore while welding things.
"Long time no see huh?" Jay said with a smile. "Sorry for disturbing your nap."
"No problem, was having a dream about good for nothing little brother… You want a clock?"
"No clocks this time, just business as usual." The old man looked crestfallen.
"Nobody ever wants a clock… Them to? Where are there Digivices?" Taking the cue, everybody held up their own Digivices, Sam releasing all of their Digimon except the larger ones like Yoshi in the process after seeing the man knew about them. The man inspected them all, stopping in surprise at the sight of Sam's Digivice. "A yellow Xros Loader… I didn't think I would see a Xros Loader out here…" The man laughed as if to his own private joke as he turned his back to them. He pulled a black walking stick out from beneath the counter. "Follow me to the, uh, backroom. If it is the Digital World you're aiming for then this way." The group followed the slow old man through a small backdoor behind the counter, their eyes struggling to adjust to the lack of light. The passage was cramped and littered with cobwebs and torn curtains and veils. Emily batted an enormous spider web out of her way, trying not to get any cobwebs in her mouth. They emerged at the other end of the corridor finally.
Television sets littered the floor and rickety wooden shelves, one of the shelves having a cinderblock replace one of its legs, standing at an awkward slant. Twisted antennas shielded the sets from the world around them. As expected, several clocks hung on the walls as before, watching them curiously as they walked slowly to the end of the hallway, like eternal sentinels standing guard against those who intruded. A large plasma screen TV sat at the end of the room next to a gigantic alarm clock with a cracked face, fuzzy grey lines showing on the TV. The old man turned to them.
"This is the gate to the Digital World," he said. Sam pointed at the screen in confusion.
"This thing? This is the gate? Really?" The old man laughed at Sam's confusion.
"Young boy, why don't you swipe your Xros Loader in front of you? Just turn the dial anti-clockwise first." Sam slowly raised his Xros Loader in front of him, turning its dial before swiping it. A tiny round purple window appeared in front of him. Everybody but Jay and Bitemon crowded around it to get a look. Sure enough, just a few inches in front of the TV was a Time-Shift portal like the ones Sam created, swirling slowly, though without its usual noise. "That is a Digi-Port. It exists in Digi-Quartz and can only be seen with a Xros Loader, and opened by a D-3. They are connected to another Zone of reality, known as 'Digital World'. I am stronger than you, so can open it once every seven days." Emily wasn't going to challenge the man about his comment on his own strength, as long as he got them in it was fine.
"You can get us in, right?" Jay asked.
"Of course, you made a request, I couldn't say no to a Tamer like yourself." The man stood in front of the portal and held his hand up in front of it. A vein began pulsing on his forehead in intense concentration, sweat dripping down his face and into his beard. The portal pulsated with power before turning deep green. The screen flashed with light before an odd black and grey interface appeared on it, a tiny red square placed firmly in the middle. The man looked at them and nodded his head. "The Digital World is very dangerous place, but I'm sure you've already been told. Try not to get yourself killed, and take care of my goggles. Complimentary gift for new Tamer." Emily nodded her head, tucking the goggles into her pocket as she stared at the screen. Sam held up his Xros Loader with an excited grin on his face.
"Let's enter the Digi World, Time Shift!" he yelled. Nothing happened, the screen remained blank. "Huh? How come it's not working?"
"That's not a regular time portal," the old man said. "It's not taking you to Digi-Quartz, it's a different zone. Try saying Zone Transfer." Sam nodded as he tried again.
"Okay, one more time! Let's enter the Digital World: Zone Transfer!" The square on the TV turned green as it shone with bright light, everybody getting pulled in. Bright iridescent colours swirled around Emily as she was sent hurtling through the screen. Pink, green, red and blue hues shot past her like lasers before dripping away like wet paint, then splashing like chaotic ink blots. What she could still see looked like a chaotic mess of computer code and programing. Just a few feet ahead of her was what looked like her own silhouette. Running up and down the shadow was a green laser light, scanning it even as it spun before her then pressed itself against her, the laser burning her eyes. As soon as it released her she went somersaulting forward, occasionally catching glimpses of her friends behind or ahead of her through various stages in the process. Suddenly, the colours all died around her, the ground springing up to meet her. She crashed face first into the ground, rolling over before coming to a standstill, everybody else collapsing on top of her, crushing her beneath their weight. Everybody scrambled painfully to their feet, dusting themselves off and clicking their bones back into place.
"Well, here we are guys," Jay said with a smile as he looked around him, then back at the rest of the group. "After all the planning and discussion, we've finally made it. Welcome to the Digital World!"