Chapter Three - No Paladins Here

EDEN was a clumsy, klutzy place, full of broken data bits and too smooth land. There were a lot of clinical whites and electric shades of blue. All of the buildings and the people in their various outfits did not fix that. Then again, there were mostly business people and bots right now, still testing the

It was rather boring, in Juri's opinion. The Digital World was much more lively. Still, it would have to do. She was here to help Takato-kun, after all. And if Takato-kun's tormentor was anywhere for now it was probably here. Or related to here.

Sometimes she wished Leomon was here, but for now.

"What are you necessarily looking for?" Kamishiro-kun was polite and sweet in a way Takato wasn't and that meant there were claws waiting to be unsheathed, as opposed to Takato who skipped claws and went straight to beating you with his paws. It was refreshing. It was almost like talking to Jen in a good mood.

"A digimon," she answered absently, not thinking anything of it. "Specifically, a big red dragon dino with the biggest heart and love for bread that anyone could see. I told him to come here the other day and I hope he didn't forget." She smiled at him, at the brilliant white coat he covered himself with in EDEN. "I thought avatars weren't customizable."

"... To an extent," the boy said. "You need certain access, hackers or permission from your parents. I have that."

She didn't even ask which of those he had. She was learning.

"What's a digimon?" His eyes were intent on her back, watching the tension rise and fall from her shoulders like puffs of air. He really was like Jian, she realized. They'd have to be introduced when this was over. "It sounds familiar."

Something in Juri's stomach curdled. It couldn't be. There was no way.

Had they met Digimon before?

"Does it?" she asked, willing herself to sound level.

"It does. I don't know why though." He looked over at her. "Do you?"

"I don't." At his raised eyebrow, she corrected with as much reluctance as she could carry in a voice. "But Takato-kun might."

"But he's in a coma with EDEN syndrome."

"That doesn't mean he wouldn't know."

Yuugo's forehead crinkled with confusion. "How?"

"We'll ask him and find out."

She gestured to a portal key and typed it in with seemingly practiced ease. (She'd never done this before and it terrifies her.) It dinged green and she grinned. "Got it."

"If you're going to hack, I have friends for that." He looked more amused than he should.

"Huh." That takes all of the fun out of it really. "We can ask them next time." Then Juri pulled him onto the portal and they were gone, right as he was muttering about there being a next time.

Of course there would, don't be silly. This can't be solved with one trip.

Maybe if they hadn't assumed that, Leomon would have lived.

But well, that was a while ago now. And he'd want her to be strong and brave.

And she would be. She had to be.

"Oh this is much messier," she declared as she enters the strange hacker's land. There were half destroyed buildings, ferris wheels in mid-air, all sorts of things, crumbling together. "Much better, I like it."

He was really worried about her sense of taste. This place was giving him a headache.

"And look there's a nice center area where we'll wait." She skipped over to the nearest pole, which after a few moments Yuugo puzzled out to be a basketball hoop. There was a jungle gym, somehow rusty and crumpled, like some monster had sat on it in the rain.

"You're awfully calm about this."

"What's there to be panicked about?" Kato-san smiled at him like a cat. "Besides, I've seen much worse."

Yuugo had to wonder what qualifies as worse in a data space, but he felt very sick and out of sorts, which again, should not happen in a data space.

It had something to do with this place, but what?

To Yuugo, the wait must seem interminable. To Juri it felt like no time was passing at all.

Takato-kun, especially in this world, was very easy to find. He thrummed with power, stuck behind something like a great wall, overpowering logic and good sense. But she was a Tamer. Logic is legitimately for the weak.

"What was it like, this monster of yours?"

She was surprised it took this long for him to ask. "A squid, if they made toys that looked like squids. It swam through the air."

Yuugo shuddered. "Gross."

"It looks like a hyper realistic toy too," she added. "And the noise… it's like voices, a legion of voices. That's how I heard your name Kamishiro-kun. Takato-kun heard it."

"Why would some monster know my name?"

"That's what I'm asking you." Juri paused, reached into her pocket. "Although, I may just have to ask you later. I think we've got bad company."

She watched the confusion on Kamishiro-kun's face warp into pain as the air shuddered with the impact of … something. Something began to tug gently at the cyberspace. Or it must have been trying to be gentle, for each tug yanked and pulled at them, at their frail forms, frayed the giant stuffed bear open further.

Then a nearly perfect, veined circle cracked open the sky and the tip of a tentacle poked its way out as light seemed to be sucked in. more tentacles slowly pull themselves out and the great heaving squid jerks its way into view, writhing and tentacles twisting.

It roared in words that were not words, voices that were not voices, and her brain heard what it meant, what it was singing for.

"What a hungry thing," she said softly to no one in particular. Juri watched, careful. "Get ready to run," she said, as if this happened every day.

Kamishiro staggered upright, hand over his mouth, face palid.

"Run where? The exit means we have to get past it." he wheezed.

"There's likely another exit further in. We need to move now," she said.

And she turnde to do just that.

Thankfully, he followed her.

He was a good listener.

Hurry up, Takato-kun, Juri thought. I've had enough of monsters trying to break me.