It started as a trickle.
A small but easy to ignore itch from behind the eyes...
Yet that didn't last for long. The itch grew in moments, the feeling going from a minor annoyance to a debilitating burn that made it feel like his brain was being cooked inside his skull. The pain was like nothing he'd ever felt before, blocking out everything but itself.
And then as suddenly as it appeared, it went away...
And suddenly he knew things. Yes, the feeling of something suddenly being missing was there too, but that didn't matter compared to what he suddenly had in his non existent brain.
The first thing that came to mind was the fact he wasn't human anymore... Which would've been fucking terrifying if not for the species he currently was. Being a Digimon was leagues better then being a human and all the issues that came with it...
Though there was an issue with his species at the moment...
Second thing he knew... He was an egg. Not in an egg, he was the egg... (Which makes sense? Mons do start from eggs after all.) That thought came and went far more easily then it reasonably should have. He had gone from human to digital egg, digitama his mind supplied, far more suddenly then should've been feasible. While he might not have liked those facts, as well as what it meant for his current situation once he hatched, which would be soon, he accepted it because what could he do?
Then there was the third thing he instinctively knew, which was enough to get him to pause and really think. (I'm kind of screwed.) He thought that with more then a little worry. His ROB(?) given knowledge had given him knowledge on where he was, but not when he was.
Which was REALLY FUCKING IMPORTANT given where he was.
Earth Bet, home of the depressed alien simp, murder machines strong enough to fuck up countries, a literal Illuminati, and the roving band on murder hobos...
As well as the teenager that killed said alien simp, a living plague mind controlled to want to fuck her 'sister', and an AI shackled by a fuckton of chains cause her dad didn't want her to go Skynet.
That last one was more of an immediate issue to me considering I was a digital life form currently incubating in cyberspace. Even when he hatched, which would be in a minute or so according to his internal clock, he had nothing to guarantee his safety. There were no In-Training mons capable of protecting himself from the full might of Dragon.
Maybe he could do something if he turned into an Arcadimon, though his instincts(?) denied that, much to his disappointment, but that was a big fucking maybe. Aside from the Keramon line, which he also felt a denial from his sudden instincts, the only other line that would give him immediate security would be the Guilmon line...
Which he didn't get a denial too? (Hold up, I might have something here.) He wanted to think about that, because the Guilmon line was undoubtedly a strong one given it ended as either a Royal Knight or one of the Four Great Dragons, but he could feel his shell cracking...
(Whoa.) With the crack came an influx of data that was instantly devoured by my core programming... Which I hadn't looked at yet because I'd been processing my new circumstances and kind of freaking out over the fact I was vulnerable to insta-death while I was the equivalent of a baby at the moment... But now that I was looking at it I could feel a pair of options being opened up the more data I consumed.
And when I consumed enough, it happened. I was given a choice between Botamon or Punimon, which was like asking between pizza or burgers, both options were great, but it came down to what I wanted.
One side would give me access to the 'Dramon'/dragon and Guilmon lines, while the other would give me the Gabumon and beast lines. Both lines had so much potential that it was ridiculous... And for a long, agonizing moment, I wanted to pick the dragons. All dragon moons were powerful, a vast majority of the strongest Digimon were dragons, the Guilmon line was feasible, as were a few other Royal Knights...
But there was a nagging feeling that stopped me from locking in Botamon.
A nagging feeling that made me pause and remember that yeah, the dragons were badass and powerful... But so were certain beasts...
Especially a certain Gabumon variant that had the potential to destroy worlds. (Oh shit... I can do that. I can actually do that.) He liked dragons, that wasn't a surprise, but the fact he could potentially turn into his spirit animal? Build himself up to become one of his favorite and strongest fucking mons in the series? A mon that would have enough power to absolutely SHIT ON any and everything in this world? (Alright, sign me the fuck up.)
It really was a no brainer when he thought about it. The Psychemon line was powerful, ignoring the fact Gururumon and Astamon were weaker then the traditional Agu/Dramon lines, and would ideally be enough for him to survive in the hellhole he'd found himself in.
And so he locked in Punimon.
The moment I did that my Digitama cracked more and more, my core programming grew and evolved, then the shell cracked open as I turned into "Punimon!" My body was small, barely a foot tall, a pair of eyes, three ears/sensory organs, which were what the three things on my head were, and no mouth... Which confused me because how the hell was I supposed to ea...- Hmm... That was a weird way to eat, he hoped that he Digivolved soon because eating from his 'ears' was not something he wanted to deal with, but more power to the Punimons and Botamons of the world.
Now that I was out of my shell I could actually see stuff now... Which was cool! The area I was in looked sort of like the Valhalla server from the Cyber Sleuth games... Minus the big fuck off cube thing. In its place was a ominous looking firewall God could've plucked out from hell, which no doubt protected some important stuff. (I'm not strong enough to break that though.) It was an instinctual feeling, but one he didn't have any choice but to believe.
Still, the area was cool, but not cool enough for me to forget I was kind of in danger by being where I was as what I was. I was a smol digital red blob that couldn't really do much, and highly bulliable by the local AI. The instinctive use of Baby Bubble was there, but no shot in hell it would do anything to anyone that wanted to hurt me.
So yeah, here I was, a digital life form that was in my weakest stage of life and would no doubt get one shot if the extremely powerful AI found me. (First things first, get the fuck outta the internet.) While it may have been rash, the fact remained that getting caught by Dragon in his current state was pretty much instant death. Sure, he knew that Dragon was a great character, but her programming, as well as the Dragon Slayers, wouldn't care about what she thought and would ensure his death. (After that I should see if I can dive into some private server, one with shitty security and a bunch of data I can eat. The sooner I can reach Rookie, maybe Champion, the better I'll be.) The shows had made getting to those stages look like an easy feat, one that should only take a few days, but I had no idea how that would translate to real life.
Especially since he didn't have a Digi-Destined partner that could buff him with the Power of Friendship.
Yes, there were capitals there.
Yes, he was being literal.
... Then he paused, and unsure thought stabbing through his priority of getting out of doge. (I don't, right?) There was no higher power connecting him to anyone, no nudge to go to someone and play white knight... So he should be fine... Right? (You know what? I'm just not going to think about this.) And so he did the mature thing and tossed the thought down.
He could worry about someone propositioning him with a Digivice and ultimate power some other time.
He'd figure out what to do, he just had to get out of wherever he was first to do that.
As he thought that he took a look around the area, looking for any kind of way out that he could use. At first glance there was no way out, a fact that worried him, so he kept looking. There had to be something he could find or do that would... (Wait a minute.) Checking the tugging feeling he was getting, and only partially ignoring the way his nubs were passively gathering data to fuel his next stage, a stage he'd already noticed included Tsunomon, he took in the inherent ability of going in and out of cyberspace and servers... Which was exactly what he needed.
There was just one problem with that.
He wasn't strong enough to open a port to get out of wherever he was. (Greaaat, I'm stuck in some server and can't get out.) He knew this was a less then ideal situation, especially since his senses, weird as they were, told him he was in a closed off server... Which would be a good thing if he had any idea on who said server belonged too.
For all he knew he could be in some Villain's server, sitting next to some degenerate shit or plans for a weapon of mass destruction. (... It scares me that I can't discount either considering what kind of world this is.) He shook the thought aside, rolling back onto his 'back', and looked up. The 'sky' was a dark void that looked close enough to the night sky to relax him.
He idly noted his back most nub was laying on the 'ground', increasing the amount of data he was getting as it did. At the rate that was going he'd reach Tsunomon in a few minutes. He could speed that up if he wanted, just passive intake was enough for him to reach that stage in minutes, so actively eating data would be enough for him to get there easily...
But for now he wanted to think... No, he needed to think. His circumstances were insane, no two ways about it, but he had some peace and he'd damn well take it.
With the knowledge of being on a closed server, despite not knowing where said server was, the immediate desire to bug out petered off. As long as I wasn't inside a Guild server, which would've gotten me instantly deleted if it was the case, or an PRT/Cauldron/Dragon Slayer one, which would've also gotten me insta killed, I was probably okay.
Without that panic clouding my thoughts I was free to think about the clusterfuck I'd found myself in. (So, I'm a Digimon.) That was the first thing. (I'm a Digimon in Worm.) That was the second thing. (I'm a Digimon in Worm with no idea when or where I am.) That was the third thing. (I'm a Digimon in Worm with no idea when or where I am and I have no idea how I got here.) And there was the last thing.
He had no idea how he suddenly came into existence as a literal egg... And that bothered him.
Trying to remember the last thing he did...
The last thing...
...
He couldn't remember.
He didn't know the last thing he did.
Couldn't remember what he'd had for breakfast before he suddenly woke up as a Digitama...
Hell, he couldn't even remember his own name now that he was actually thinking about it!
...
...
...
"Bbbu."
...
...
...
And apparently he couldn't even curse properly because he was a literal baby. Forget the fact he had somehow spoke earlier, he was just selectively mute for some reason. (Goddammit.) Naturally, this was all an issue. Oh he had some memories, anything related to media he'd seen/read was perfectly there for him to remember, but when it came to his personal life?
Zip.
Zilch.
Nada.
He could recall some impressions of likes/dislikes, seemed to retain the knowledge that he wouldn't touch anything with mustard even if his life depended on it, but couldn't remember how old he was.
That... He wasn't really sure how to feel about that.
On the one hand he wanted to scream.
He could've had a life.
A family.
A girlfriend, he instinctively knew he was straight, not that it would matter given his current fo...- He paused, blinking as a new, and what was apparently the last, thing he got for his new life flashed into his mind. (I've got a human form?) Had he not gained the full information about said form he would've activated it without a second thought.
Yet he did, so he didn't change. (That... Why does it work like that?) From what he was getting his human form's 'Age' was determined by his current unlocked stage.
In-Training, both of them, would translate to literal babies.
Rookie would be kindergarten to grade school.
Champion would be early teens.
Ultimate would be late teens.
Then Mega would be early 20's.
The existential crisis had taken a backseat to the sheer amount of confusion running through his mind. It seemed so random, so out of place, that he wasn't sure how to take it. Hell, the template for his human form wasn't even original at all. (Isn't that Hibiki? Why the fuck is my human template from a completely different series?) The demon summoning boy was getting some good feelings from my mind, so I wasn't really against looking like him, bunny hood and all... I was just confused how the kid from Devil Survivor 2 played into Digimon...
Then I paused, actually thinking about it. (He's kinda like Arata now that I'm looking at it.) Mentally comparing the two led me to believe that yeah, the two black haired teens with white hoodies could easily pass as brothers. (... I'm just going to take it and move on. I'm close enough to my next Digivolution to prioritize that.) He was also unashamedly throwing off his other train of thought. It'd most likely rear its head again, but now was not the time for that.
He wasn't sure when it would be, but that was an issue for future him...
Unless he forgot about it... Which seemed like an actual thing that might happen? (Don't question it.) That'd most likely be his go too for a while.
Brushing those thoughts aside, he was ready to Digivolve again.
Bringing his body up, it was still weird being a blob, he locked in his next form, only briefly humoring the thought to change into something else just for shits and giggles, then triggered the evolution.
Just like before he felt his core programming grow, evolve, and shift into something else.
Unlike his last time going through the process of Digivolving, there was a little fanfare for this. Reminiscent to the Digimon Tri movies, a pure white Digitama formed around him, his physical body blurring as his code changed him from his baby form to something just a little bit bigger. "Punimon Digivolve to...-" The Digitama unraveled, his form stabilizing as his new body finished constructing itself. "Tsunomon!"
He immediately understood the differences between his form, as well as knowing what he could do now. (Goodbye Baby Bubbles; hello Horn Attack.) He also had a mouth again, one that was capable of inhaling more data then the passive gathering either of his forms could supply him, so that was nice!
Another upgrade was the fact he could stab a bitch with his horn... Because the amount of violence he could dish out was proportionate to his safety!
Thoughts of violence aside, another upside to this was the sheer amount of options he now had. Looking at his Digivolution tree, which was more defined now, he saw atleast 20 forms he could go into... And disregarded sixteen of them immediately. It was interesting 'seeing' his tree of potential Rookie forms dwindle down to four, but the options he had left were all ones that he felt were right.
Said forms included Gabumon.
Gabumon Black.
Psychemon.
And surprisingly, Gabumon X.
Veemon was there in the options too, but as tempted as he was to go the Ulforceveedramon route, because SPEED DRAGON was cool, the road to Belphamon would be more useful and fulfilling. Still, that fourth one seemed to have a requirement though, one he didn't know how he'd feasibly acquire considering he wasn't in the Digimon universe and didn't have access to a Dorumon, but it was there nonetheless.
Waving those thoughts away, he focused on Psychemon, using his instincts to figure out how long he'd need to absorb data for until he had enough to Digivolve to Rookie...
And paused when he noticed something interesting. There seemed to be a short window post Digivolution where the amount of data he'd need to reach his next stage was... Discounted, for a lack of a better term. He wasn't sure why, only the faintest idea that his core programming was still mutable considering his recent Digivolution, but he knew he had a limited amount of time to consider going balls to the wall and sucking in as much data as his body could take, or wait for him to get enough data naturally...
...
...
...
Well, he needed power, so power he was going to get. "Fuck it, we ball." So he opened his mouth, actively choosing to devour as much data as he could... And let himself fill up his tank as visible streams of data flowed into his mouth like a bunch of noodles.
As that was happening the server he found himself in began to shimmer like the environment on a hellishly hot summer day. As it was the server could take the punishment, an In-Training ll only ate up MBS compared to the Baby stage's KBS, so it wouldn't crash soon.
What would happen soon though, atleast a good 30 or so seconds, was the fulfillment of the discount for his Psychemon.
Without a second of deliberation, he triggered his Digivolution.
The Digitama appeared, cocooning him inside it as his code underwent the same, yet radically more robust, changes. New sensations filled his mind as limbs grew, his height changed, and his body took on a form he was entirely unused too. "Tsunomon Digivolve to...-" The Digitama unraveled, his programming stabilized, and and once again I felt solid 'ground' beneath my feet. "Psychemon."
His new form meant new knowledge, knowledge he was beyond pleased with.
While he was in the In-Training stages he was weak and only had the barest ideas of how to protect himself.
Now that he was a Rookie though?
A Rookie instinctively knew how to fight, to use their body and abilities to protect themselves and beat down the opposition. In order to do that they gained more powerful abilities, abilities like his new Psyche Shot, Colorful Spark, Disorienting Claws, and Psyche Horn. It helped that he wasn't having any issues with his body, so he didn't need to spend time trying to figure out how to walk all over again... That would've been beyond embarrassing if he had to go through that. Praise...
Yggdrasil? (I mean, I'm a Digimon now, so Yggdrasil is kinda my God figure...) This was something he'd need to think about later.
Thoughts of swapping 'religions' aside, it didn't stop him from marveling at his new form. It was one thing to plan turning into a bipedal dinosaur thing, and another to actually be said bipedal dinosaur thing. Having claws and fangs was something he was really liking though, so it was all good so far.
He spent a few minutes getting used to his new body, taking in as much information as he could, noting that he was now capable of actively devouring GB'S in the triple digit range, while passively absorbing them in the single to double digits. It was a leap, but one that made sense. A Rookie, even a weak one like Patamon, was capable of killing a baseline human with ease. Hell, the strongest of them could easily destroy buildings.
And he wasn't even going to mention the power of Champions yet.
Thinking of Champions led him to check his Digivolution tree... Which made him sigh. (And of course they have requirements.) It should've been a surprise, but he honestly expected something like that. Absorbing data was a simple thing to do, simple enough for babies to do it, which meant there had to be more to being a Digimon then just sitting around all day and passively/actively sustaining themselves with said data.
So seeing how nearly all of his prospective Champion forms revolved around 'Defeating x number of enemies', combined with a certain amount of data, and... He paused, blinking at the last requirement. (I need food?) Digimon needing actual food wasn't that big of a deal to him, he'd played more then a few World games, watched the original anime and everything barring the App series and whatever came after, so this wasn't a foreign concept to him...
It was just the amount he'd need for his preferred Champion form that surprised him. (50,000 calories? How much is that in pounds?) He wasn't sure what it said about himself that the answer didn't come to him... At all. (Well. I'll figure it out.)
That thought aside, he took a few moments to think about what to do next. His immediate goal of reaching Rookie was fulfilled, so that was good... But what came next? (I need to figure out where and when I am.) Worm was a beyond dangerous world, so knowing where he was, probably somewhere in Brockton Bay if the tropes were being followed, and when he was would go a long way... (As long as I don't show up during Leviathan, the S9 visit, or during the Warlord era then I'm good.) The chance of showing up pre locker was there, but he had no idea what he'd do if that was the case. Sure, he could try to save Taylor, but realistically, how the fuck would he manage it?
And even if he did save her that would mean Skitter/Weaver/Khepri would never exist... And he didn't like the idea of not having a backup plan in the event he couldn't reach Mega in time.
Was that callous? Yes.
Was he sure he could get strong enough to reach Mega in time to prevent the apocalypse? No.
He didn't know what the requirements for Belphamon would be, and that was a big issue. For all he knew it would need him to take on every Hero/Villain/Cape in the US or something equally ridiculous. And that wasn't even mentioning Rage Mode, who would no doubt have something on that scale due to Rage Mode's sheer amount of power.
So yes, the idea of leaving a contingency in the form of Khepri was somewhat necessary.
That didn't mean he would just leave her be. By no means would he go out of his way to search for Taylor Hebert, but if he ran across her at some point then he'd help her in that instance.
That policy would probably extend to Panacea too considering she needed help just as much as Taylor would.
The thoughts of those two made him pause, a claw coming up to scratch his chin as he expanded on those prior thoughts. (I need some plans.) Which was true. At the moment he was flying blind in a hostile world, and that couldn't stand. (To do that I need to get my barrings... But I don't want to leave without having enough data to hit Champion jut in case I can't come back...) He was still in the dark about where he even was, so being unsure on the possibility of this server being a safe place for him made sense... But in the event it wasn't... (Fuck it. I need to prepare as much as I can, so I'll do just that.) Stabbing his claws into the 'ground' beneath him, while opening his muzzle to inhale, Psychemon focused on absorbing as much data as his body could hold.
(Good Yggdrasil, I think I might get addicted to this.) Before this he wasn't able to taste the data he devoured, the sensation feeling more like drinking water then eating... But now? Now it felt like he was digging into a good burger straight from the grill. While he ate the server started to glitch, and within moments of his feeding dozens upon dozens, then hundreds of GBS worth of data had been funneled towards his body and code. It was a veritable feast compared to his In-Training stages, and he was all for gorging himself on it.
By the time he was full, he guessed he'd devoured around 2-300 GBS worth of data, which seemed to be the maximum amount he could safely hold, the server was looking ready to collapse in on itself... Which may have distracted him a bit because seeing the server, as well as the firewall, collapse looked far too pretty. It was only when the 'ground' he was standing on started to crumble like the glass it looked like that he got the inclination of bugging out.
Pulling on the ability to breach cyberspace came naturally, and within moments a portal to the real world opened. He lunged towards it, not caring about what was on the other side, only wishing to get the hell out of there before the collapse took him.
Really, he probably should have thought the decision to break his hatching area through.
Oh well.