Dedicated to a friend who's no longer with us.

I don't own digimon.

Story 24

Datcenters and Digimons: Meramon

Meramon usually considered himself a well prepared person… at least when it came to Dungeons and Dragons. Somehow, that was one of the few consistent things to exist in his life. Outside of food, his abode and of course - sleep. Couldn't forget about that.

"Character sheet, check. Notes, all sorted and written out." he announced, staring into the metal boxpack he used for transporting everything he needed. For today, that entailed the stuff for today's game day.

UlforceVeedramon had finally managed to get some form of time off to play and he wanted to do a longer session to celebrate the occasion. Who was he to decline the request of a royal knight of all digimon? That was only something that fools do. Maybe criminals too, but he didn't know of any that would exactly call UlforceVeedramon a friend. No, they would probably see him as an enemy. Which was an absolute shame and they were missing out. But he pushed that thought to the back of his mind. Picking the boxpack up, Meramon carefully slipped the metal straps up his arms and to his shoulders. Make sure it was all on tight, Meramon turned his focus to the door. A large metal rectangle, it could easily withstand the heat he gave off on a daily basis… most of the time. Sometimes he accidentally melted it while cooking or another Meramon got jealous and attempted to steal it. Surely there was enough digizoid to go around for all the Meramon to have their own door. Or maybe they just needed to buddy up more. Adding that thought to the pile of thoughts, Meramon exited his home.

Outside, the volcanic landscape welcomed in. Basalt and obsidian all throughout, it made travel for most digimon an absurd challenge. But not for him. No, he reveled in crossing lava flows and patches of unstable ground that could drop him into even more lava. Not that we're many of the latter these days.

"What way was it again?" Meramon thought and scanned the horizon one more time. Out in the distance, a ginormous tree shined brightly against the yellow light of the lava. Nice of a landmark that it was, sometimes he wished the light would just stop. If only for a bit. Sadly, that wasn't his decision to make. No, that would be whoever was leading the Royal Knights currently. Something to ask UlforceVeedramon about once he got there."Guess that answers my question."

Heading in the direction of the tree, Meramon let his thoughts turn to his character. Contrary to what his appearance and mannerisms would suggest, he was playing as a dwarf barbarian. Quick to anger but not a fan of drinking, it made for an interesting dynamic. Especially once everyone else's characters were together and they were adventuring. That was going to be so much fun. Letting out a chuckle, the fire person digimon picked up the pace. Taking care to make sure that nothing dropped out, he began humming a travel theme. He wasn't sure where it had come from or where he had heard it. Probably from one of the more musically-inclined digimon. Though, they were always claiming to be onto the next multi-billion money idea. They never were. The only thing close to genius was that time an Etemon tried to create an 'Elvis Impersonation School'. Even then, the whole thing was such a disaster it only lasted a week before imploding on itself. Though, that could've gone a heck of a lot worse. From disagreements on who this 'Elvis' person was supposed to be to how the digimon in question were to pay for their classes. What an absolute mess that had been. Thankfully, he had managed to keep his head out of that and only heard of the mess secondhand from a friend. Definitely for the best, especially with the ginormous tree somehow bigger now. Part of him wondered if the royal knights actually lived within that thing. What else were they supposed to do now that King Drasil had been punched to death? Let it serve as some strange monument to all the times they wished to kill digital life and invade the human world? Absolutely in bad taste after all the humans had done to save it.

"Sir, I must ask you to stop." a voice called out and Meramon looked about. Eventually, his gaze came upon a Piximon of all digimon. Holding quite a large spear, they even had a little armband with writing on it. Not that Meramon could really discern what it actually said. Probably something denoting him as a guard for this place.

"I'm here for UlforceVeedramon's D&D game." the fire person digimon explained and watched Piximon turn around. Shouting something into the tree's courtyard, it took a couple seconds for him to get a response back.

"UlforceVeedramon should be up ahead." Piximon explained and stepped to the right. But not before switching what hand his spear was being held in. Not that Meramon stepped through. Instead, he continued to stare at Piximon.

What's with the increased security?" Meramon inquired and got a sigh from Piximon. An eye roll followed. While they probably didn't have any kind of information when it came to the heightened security, it was worth a shot.

"Examon was dispatched a couple months ago. This is just a precaution ahead of more of the knights getting whisked off." Piximon explained, Meramon giving a nod as he passed through. While a good enough explanation, that didn't make sense. Just one Royal Knight going to the human world was odd, but not enough of a reason to justify having someone like Piximon guarding one of the entrances to the tree.

"UlforceVeedramon, I'm here!" Meramon announced, scanning the area for his friend. One would think someone as large as UlforceVeedramon would be a cinch to find. You would be wrong. Somehow, UlforceVeedramon was the sort who just managed to slink into the background. Reminded Meramon of one of those hidden object games. Not that was ever his friend's intention. No, always something out of his control seemed to happen that caused that to be the way things went. "There we go."

Out in the shade of the ginormous tree, was a massive table. Sitting a couple feet off the ground, it meant the chairs around it required ladders just to get up and actually play. On one end, a large screen of sorts had been placed to prevent people from cheating. Cheating was perhaps the wrong word in this situation. No, 'metagame' made a lot more sense here.

"I'll be over in a minute, Meramon. Just make yourself comfortable!" a loud, booming voice announced, Meramon bracing himself just in case he was accidentally pushed down. When that didn't happen, he waved and slowly headed over to one of the chairs. Hopefully, UlforceVeedramon had remembered that he was made of fire and got the proper protective measures in play. If he hadnt, there was stuff in his boxpack to make counteract the major portion of his body and not burn the table and perhaps the ginormous tree down. If the latter could even be burned to begin with. Surely the place that housed some of the strongest digimon in all the digital world practiced fire safety. But considering that they didn't know any calming techniques when it came to their former boss, that was perhaps asking way too much.

"Here goes nothing." Meramon thought, reaching for the first bar of the ladder. Gripping it for a couple seconds, he let go. To his surprise, the wood appeared untouched. Grabbing back hold, the fire person digimon began the climb up to his seat. Doing his best to not look down, the view from all other directions was absolutely gorgeous. Rarely did he get the chance to see things like this. In turn, Meramon's thoughts found their way to the other players. With no exception, they too would have the opportunity to take in the sights like this. As for the one digimon who couldn't, they got to do so on a daily basis. All of this probably appeared to be pretty normal to them. Or at least, that was how it looked to Meramon. Whether or not it actually was a question for them when they did arrive.

Nearing the top, Meramon took a moment to catch his breath. Oxygen or not, the climb up was a heck of a lot longer than looked from the ground level. After the walk through the lava fields, it would've been to his benefit to take things slower. But no, he had to go at his usual pace up the ladder and to his chair. Hopefully there wouldn't be anyone up there once he finished the climb. To have gone through all of this trouble only to find someone had already taken this spot would be the worst. Though, he could just walk across the table in that instance. Yeah. Ulforceveedramon probably wouldn't notice. If he somehow di-

Meramon didn't finish that though, a portal of sorts appearing right above him. Reaching up towards it, that was all it took. Grip giving way from the ladder, he didn't have enough time to really shout out a cry of help before the portal sucked him in. Especially with things going dark right after. The least they could do was provide him with some kind of visual to make this teleportation less confusing. But no, they went with the tried and true black void until wherever he was to be dropped would appear. If nothing, it would at least give Meramon a reason for why this was happening in the first place. While he couldn't remember having a partner, that could easily be chalked up to that mess with the whole 'reboot'. Maybe that was it. Whoever was in charge of the whole 'sending digimon back' remembered that they forgot someone and were rectifying that mistake. Mostly made sense. But not really at the same time. If a mistake had been made, why go through the trouble of fixing it now? It had been nearly half a decade since that mess went down. Surely they would've been speedier about it? Unless something had come up in that time frame that somehow took precedence over reuniting people with their partners. Hopefully his partner remembered him. That way, they could fill in the blanks of his memories and start the next chapter of their life. Though, they better like Dungeons and Dragons. If they somehow didn't, then the deal was off.

"Are we almost there?" the fire person digimon announced, the black void giving way to the bright blue sky of earth. Below, lines of neighborhoods and other buildings twinkled like stars. Or would it be lights in this case? Meramon wasn't completely sure. What he did know was that he needed to find a way to slow down his ascent. Creating a crater was exactly the opposite of the kind of welcome his partner would want to be given. No person ever wanted a gift like that. Unless it somehow brought with it something good. But he pushed that thought from his mind and focused instead on slowing down.

Roaring Flames!

Carefully shooting a fireball up into the sky above, it landed right into him. Slowing him down slightly, he got ready to fire another fireball off. Bigger than the last one, hopefully this would have the same effect.

Roaring Flames!

Firing the projectile off, Meramon watched the projectile head up into the air… only to end up passing him right by. So much for that attempt. Especially now that the buildings were now a heck of a lot larger.

"Darn it." Meramon muttered and reached into his boxpack. Out came a metal six-sided dice. Done up with a red flame theme, it fit him perfectly. Good thing too after all the sets he accidentally melted.

If nothing else, better to roll for fall damage. Throwing the dice out, they rolled in place with him. Grabbing it back, he put it back into the boxpack. Turning back to the ground, Meramon braced for impact. Hopefully the ground could take someone like him. Worst-case scenario, he landed in someone's house would need to have whoever was partnered to him to p-

Meramon didn't get to finish that thought, his feet touching the asphalt. Melting some of the road, the fire person digimon looked about for exactly where he was supposed to go. Eventually his gaze came upon a large armored titan. Ophani, in other words.

"Miss, could you tell me if you've seen a bunch of nerds playing Dungeons and Dragons?" Meramon announced, only to be met with a confused look from the fallen angel digimon. The incident with Volcadramon happened a couple days ago. Surely that wasn't what they were talking about here. Nor did she know what exactly entailed a dungeon. Something to ask Steve once he got back with groceries. Took Beelzebumon with him, mostly so he would stop complaining about having nothing to do at home. Probably still complain about stuff.

"Uh… not completely sure what you're talking about." Ophani answered and looked out over her fence. Meramon gave a wave and headed on. Surely there would be a sign that he was on the right track. Why else would that portal have dropped him down in this neighborhood?

Scanning the area about one more time, Meramon's gaze came upon a house with an open door. Tempted as he was to just walk in like he owned the place, he decided against it. No, he would just poke his head inside and see if there was someone there who could direct him to his partner. Better yet, that could be where his partner was. The odds might not be in his favor, it was at least worth taking a shot.

Before he made his way over, Meramon reached into his boxpack. Pulling out a set of metal booties, the fire person digimon slipped them on. Making his way over, he took care to avoid making any unnecessary steps. The last thing whoever owned this home needed to do was clean up any fires that he inadvertently created. Especially with this weather. No one ever wanted to deal with a massive inferno - accident or not. But he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and headed up to the door. Looking for anything in the way of a doorbell he found none.

"Uh… is there anyone in there?" Meramon called out, waiting a moment for a response back. Surely someone had to be here.

"Where the hell did he put the books?!" a voice announced, the sound of dice rolling echoing from somewhere within the home. The sound of a reply didn't quite echo to the doorway, but Meramon had a pretty good idea of what they might be talking about. Taking care to bend down to get through, the fire person digimon made his way down the hall and into a living room. "Meramon?"

There, a man stood. Dressed in what looked to be a faded suit and slacks, green hair and blue eyes stared back. Odd of a combination that it was, something about it felt right to Meramon. He wasn't sure why or even how he knew that.

"Uh… I would shout your name, but I don't remember it. Could you maybe tell me?" Meramon answered and reached into his boxpack once more. Out come a long set of gauntlets. Snapping them onto his hands and arms, he went in for a hug. The man accepted the gesture with a touch of reluctance.

"Mathew." the man whispered and looked over to Meramon's boxpack. With the gauntlets and boots, he could just make out a set of dice and a bunch of metal sheets done up as character sheets. "Wait. You play Dungeons and Dragons too?"

Meramon nodded.

"It's still the third edition… right?" he inquired and got a sigh in return. Feeling Mathew grab hold of his hand, he found himself pulled along into another room.

Notes:

Yes, I'm very much aware of the tonal whiplash going from a suicide to a possible game of D&D. Just needed to get this out of my system.