I don't own digimon.

Story 22

All Dressed Up

Cho Hakkaimon wasn't sure whether to be happy or mad that she was on a time limit. Yes, the prospect of getting to go back to the human world sounded nice. But when it's shoved upon with only a couple minutes to pack up everything in her tiny home, it comes across more as frustrating.

"Yes, I'm very much picking up the pace!" the ultimate digimon announced, shoving outfits into her suitcase like a mad woman. If she somehow found a place, Cho Hakkaimon would take the time to get everything washed. The least she could do for accidentally grabbing a suitcase with a bunch of clothes from her partner. Most of the stuff probably didn't fit her, but that didn't change the fact that she had stolen the clothes in the first place. Accident or not, that stuff needed to be brought back.

'Are you done yet?' a voice announced and echoed about her head. Part of Cho Hakkaimon hoped that this was somehow not related to her former employer in any way. While she still had feelings for her, what happened made getting back together that much harder. But if it wasn't her, then who else could it be? Probably Homeostasis or whatever entity that dictated when a digimon was too return to the human world. They probably weren't bound to the same rules as everyone else, she was sure of it. But the ultimate digimon pushed that thought from her head. Wasn't much use in thinking about that. Slamming the suitcase shut, Cho Hakkaimon waited a moment to make sure it didn't spring back open. If it did, she would be in a world of hurt and the voice would most definitely whisk her to the other side. Thankfully, the suitcase decided to play nice and actually stay closed for once. Grabbing the handle, she lifted the suitcase up.

"Yes." she muttered and watched her body be engulfed by darkness. Closing her eyes, she let it take her in. She had expected to feel some amount of pain from this, but none came.

Opening her eyes on the other side, Cho Hakkaimon found herself standing on sand of all surfaces. Taking care to make sure that she didn't drop the suitcase, care was taken to scan this new environment. Moonlight cascaded down, the stars twinkling about. Most of the people had already gone home for the night, but that hadn't stopped a couple from sticking around for some late night fun. Which made Cho Hakkaimon's task all the tougher. Even if the irony of bringing a suitcase of clothes to a place like this was very much not lost on her.

"Okay. I'm on a beach. Maybe Cindy will be around here somewhere." she thought and took a moment to compose herself. Afterwards, she reached to her face and flung the stupid eye mask off. Watching it head into the waves, her gaze returned to looking for someone to ask around. "Much better."

With the eye mask now gone, now people wouldn't think she was some kind of thief or bandit. Which was the last thing she wanted. No, they would probably think of her as some kind of weird cosplayer trapped between wanting to wear armor and wanting to wear a swimsuit. What exactly did that make her? An armored swimsuit model? No, the armor parts of her outfit only covered the arms, legs and head. A swimsuit model with an affinity with armor? No, she didn't really swim - armor or not. Something that would need to be rectified if beaches were a place that Cindy liked to hang out. As if. Though, this could be a place that she could maybe find one of her friends.

"Angemon, what the heck happened to you?" a voice called out and Cho Hakkaimon looked about. Happy that she was that someone (kind of) recognized her. Even if that did mean she would need to explain what happened between her and that slut. But right now, any lead was better than no lead.

"Bruce?" she announced and ran over. Taking a moment to look Bruce over. Dressed in what looked to be a set of blue swim trunks, his muscles were on full display. Aegiochusmon stood right beside him, dressed in a similar set of trunks. Didn't explain the floaties around his arms. Or why they were themed around Patamon of all digimon. If a Patamon saw those, it probably would've scared them to the point they would probably want to go back. Not that any of them really could. Unless you had business in the digital world like those 'chosen children'. Or whatever the proper term was. Digidestined? No, that only applied to those who lived in the United States. No matter. She could think about that later.

"Uh… how have you been?" Bruce announced and got a sigh from Cho Hakkaimon in return. If anything, it was probably best to begin with the whole ophanimon mess. After that, then fill in what remained. Pretty simple once she remembered that.

"Great, outside of Ophanimon being ophanimon." she announced and found herself getting a look. Surely there wasn't another Ophanimon in this general area who could be an issue in the future? At least she hoped not. One Ophanimon was bad enough. Two just sounded like hell to deal with. Hopefully not together. Or perhaps she could play them against each other in the hopes of them cancelling each other. At least, that could work in practice. Whether or not both Ophanimon were even close to each other remained to be seen.

"Uh… should I tell her about the… you know?" Aegiochusmon whispered and found himself getting a look from Bruce. He was honestly not completely sure what the right course of action was. Yes, Ophanimon: Falldown Mode was very much not someone that this former Angemon knew. But at the same time, the last thing Cho Hakkaimon needed was something else to worry about - risk of death insignificantly as small as it was to begin with. Letting out a deep breath, his focus returned to the ultimate digimon. "Would you like some help in finding Cindy?"

Cho Hakkaimon nodded and a smile formed on her face. This was good. Not only had she found people she knew, they were willing to help in her search for her partner. Once the suitcase was back with Cindy, everything should be good. Cho Hakkaimon hoped at least. Not that most problems were really that simple to quantify happiness in that fashion. You could try, but it rarely if ever worked out in that fashion.

For now, Cho Hakkaimon pushed that thought to the back of her mind. There wasn't much use in dwelling on that. No, she needed to find her partner. That was the only thing that mattered right now. Everything else could probably wait.

"How has she been at least?" Cho Hakkaimon inquired and watched Bruce look her way. Cracking a smile her way, a chuckle followed. What did he know that she didn't? Did something bad and nefarious happen to little Cindy? No, Bruce would've been upfront if that had occurred. Maybe he had just seen her and hadn't talked to her in a while. That could be it. Or perhaps he was trying to keep this a surprise so that she could see for herself. Or maybe this was somehow a case of both. Whatever it was, it probably wouldn't be much longer till she got the answer to her question.

"Pretty good. Though, you'll have to explain to her what happened beyond 'Ophanimon happened'." Bruce continued and got a nod from the ultimate digimon. Oh yeah. She most definitely needed to give her partner a proper explanation. Especially since the last time Cindy had seen her was as an Angemon. A lot taller, yet not as powerful. Though, the powerful part was quite debatable. Without the rake, her attacks were limited to close combat abilities. But the same could be said about leaving behind her staff. Not her brightest move, but what can one do when you're being whisked back all sudden and stuff? Very little. Especially as they came upon a lone woman sitting in a beach chair. Leafing through what looked to be a book, what looked to be a massive rake sat right beside the chair.

"So that's what happened to the staff." Cho Hakkaimon thought as she gave Bruce and Aegiochusmon one more look. This was it. Not only did she have to explain what the hell happened with Ophanimon, fess up for accidentally stealing her clothes and now explain why the heck she inadvertently left a giant rake for her to deal with. Said rake Cindy was insistent on taking to the beach. What were the uses for a rake of that size? A niche tool for sand art, perhaps? No, the size alone made the tool absolutely unusable. Raking leaves was also out of the question. Unless you had a wide enough surface area and more than enough leaves to collect. If anything, the only use this tool had was to hit people. Which didn't seem like the sort of thing you would want to be using it for in the first place. It was more the threat. She hoped at least. Having never actually held the weapon, Cho Hakkaimon really couldn't say. "Uh… hi Cindy?"

The woman set her book down and looked in Cho Hakkaimon's direction. Getting up from her chair, she made her way over to the ultimate digimon. Swimsuit on full display, dull red hair doing a lot to compliment her topaz colored eyes. What looked to be a cute set of sandals hung to her feet, showing off her pink toenails for everyone to see. Finishing off the look was a bag sitting on the sand. Most likely containing her regular clothes and whatever else she needed for her late night beach trip.

"OMG Angemon, like what happened to you?" Cindy announced and Cho Hakkaimon let out a sigh. Taking a step forward, she watched her partner do a couple laps around her. Coming to a stop in front of Cho Hakkaimon, care was taken to pull the ultimate digimon's helmet.

"Ophanimon turned me into this after I said that I accidentally caught a glimpse of her in the hot springs at that stupid palace of hers." Cho Hakkaimon muttered and got a confused look from Cindy in return. Still holding her helmet, it looked so weird without someone's head in it. "Not sure why it was my fault. The place was for all angelic digimon."

Setting the helmet down by her bag, Cindy's focus returned to her partner. While not the weirdest thing she had heard in the last couple days (that went to the supposed dragon who invaded the lobby of an office building), this was very much up there.

"Then she totally kicked you out?" Cindy announced and Cho Hakkaimon nodded. When put that way, it sounded pretty clear cut. Not that it was anything close to being like that in the slightest.

"Yeah. At least she threw her suitcase down with me." Cho Hakkaimon continued, only to be pulled into a hug by her partner. Taking care to wrap her gauntlets around Cindy, care was taken to avoid crushing her by accident. "Sorry about that. I meant to grab my staff but my hand slipped and instead grabbed your suitcase. My bad."

Cindy's gaze moved to the large rake. Propped up against the beach chair, it could very easily crush the chair and whatever else underneath. Turning back to her partner, a smile formed on her face.

"Eh. It makes for good exercise." Cindy answered and watched her partner walk over to the weapon. Picking it up, Cho Hakkaimon took a couple practice swings. While the first time she had ever held the rake, something about it felt familiar. Looking past that this was once her staff, this felt like a natural extension of her body. But how exactly was she going to carry it around? Probably didn't attach to her swimsuit. If it somehow did, still would make for awkward positioning on her part. But that didn't matter right now. No, figuring out how the heck it was supposed to be carried around could come once she and Cindy were home.

"What do you mean, good exercise?" she inquired, only for Cindy to lift her up into the air to do a couple lifts. Afterwards, she set Cho Hakkaimon back down. Dusting off any sand that might have gotten on her partner's body, she found herself faced with a confused look. In retrospect, it probably would've been best to have started with that. But in the face of everything that had just occurred, they could both look past that.

"Like… it's kind of hard to sell a house when there's a giant pole in it. Then the pole totally turned into a rake. It was the absolute worst." Cindy explained and Cho Hakkaimon looked at the rake. To think that much trouble could be caused by a tool with little in the way of actual uses. "But now that you're here, we can be totes training buddies!"

Cho Hakkaimon nodded and looked in the direction of Bruce and Aegiochusmon. But they were nowhere to be found. Not that it mattered to the ultimate digimon. Just a matter of time before she and Cindy ran into them again.

Notes:

I'm going to take a small break (2-3 days) then come back. I hope you don't mind.