Everyone got comfortable again as the TV booted up.
The Dancing Ghosts, Bakemon!
Ruby: "Oh great, there are ghost-type Digimon, too?"
Yang: "Whomever this chapter is focused on will be in a section of File Island that is like a horror set, no doubt."
The mist covered the waters of this area as an eerie tranquility seemed to permeate the waters. Said tranquility was soon broken by the sound of someone losing their lunch.
Blake: "Well I think that narrows it down to who is in focus here," leading to chuckles from everyone and a groan from a certain someone.
"Of all the ways he had to separate us, WHY did it have to be flying?" Jaune moaned miserably, having finished throwing up after landing, his tendency to get airsick once again rearing its ugly head.
"It must really suck that you get sick whenever you're in the air," Gomamon said, patting his partner on the back to help relieve the symptoms while they floated on the water on top of Jaune's bed.
Jaune: "You have no idea, Gomamon."
"Yeah...my entire family suffers from some form of motion sickness. I'm just glad I'm not my dad. He'd be throwing up every few minutes right now," Jaune sighed, and eventually he felt his stomach settle.
Ironwood shivered. "I remember that happening not long after meeting your father."
Jaune: "Please tell me he didn't throw up on you."
Ironwood: "No, not at all," but he glanced over at Qrow, silently telling him if he even opened his mouth, there would be hell to pay.
"Now what do we do?" Gomamon asked.
"Well...first things first, let's find dry land," he sighed. "Think you can call the Marching Fishes to help us out?"
"Oh yeah, didn't think of that." Gomamon muttered, about to do so, before both him and Jaune blinked as they noticed something emerge from the foggy waters and drift towards them.
"Is that a crate?" Jaune asked dryly.
Weiss: "What the heck is a crate doing out in the water?"
Winter: "Not too sure, but I think it's safe to say to be on guard."
Nora: "Well, we have a feeling Devimon isn't around, and we know Leomon was with Ruby and Weiss..."
Ren: "I think we know who that crate belongs to."
"Looks like it yeah." Gomamon shot back, just as dry, before the two looked at each other, sharing the same thought 'Obvious trap is obvious'. "So...what do we do with it?"
"...think you can puncture a hole in it?" Jaune suggested.
A moment after his suggestion, the crate's top was blown off, as a screaming Ogremon came out "Don't you freaking dare you damn kid!"
Pyrrha blinked a few times. "Wait a second. Can Ogremon not swim?"
Glynda: "Judging from his reaction to Mr. Arc's suggestion, I'd say that's VERY possible."
"Why not? Obviously you were planning on killing us." Jaune said, crossing his arms, feeling rather confident considering Ogremon was a few feet away from him and his club seemed to be just shy of hitting the bed at this distance.
Ogremon looked away nervously, caught red handed, before raising a finger up "Just a moment." he said, before crouching down into the crate and rummaging about.
"He has stuff in there?" Gomamon whispered.
"I'm betting on some weird logic being in play." Jaune whispered back.
"This is the Digital World we're talking about," was the unspoken thought everyone had.
"Ah ha!" Ogremon said suddenly as the two focused back on him as he rose back up, holding…
Pyrrha gasped. "Is that Miló and Akoúō?"
Jaune blinked as he was staring at Miló and Akoúō, Pyrrha's weapon and shield. Miló itself seemed pretty banged up, and Akoúō looked to have rust over it. "Where the heck did you get those?" he blinked.
"Ah, Devimon kind of wanted me to throw them into the sea, but I forgot." Ogremon answered sheepishly.
Everyone blanched at how Ogremon had approached disposing of Pyrrha's weapon and shield.
Weiss: "...okay, I was right in my assessment of him from before."
Ozpin: "Despite that, Mr. Arc, though without his weapon as well, does effectively have the 'ball in his court' with this conversation."
The flat stares the two gave him at that were priceless. Eventually Jaune sighed, rubbing his head in mild aggravation. "So...I'm guessing there's a reason you took those out, right?'
"I'll hand them over if you promise not to make me drown." Ogremon said a bit nervously.
"Deal." Jaune said immediately, catching the lance and shield, before watching with a bemused look as Ogremon took out a paddle and started paddling away from him as fast as possible.
Everyone started laughing at seeing Ogremon comedically paddle away.
Qrow: "Not a bad poker face, Arc. I'd say you'd do well at a poker table."
Jaune: "Oh no, I know how bad gambling could get. I'd be out of lien before you even finish your first drink."
The two watched him disappear into the fog, before Gomamon finally broke the silence "You've got a pretty good poker face."
Jaune let out a sigh as his shoulders sagged in relief "Yeah, well, I was afraid he might try to kill us for the whole conversation, glad he was scared of drowning," he nodded, before inspecting the weapons again, seeing that the damage to Miló seemed to make it be stuck in it's javelin mode, while the edge of Akoúō was just as rust covered as the front. "Damn...Pyrrha's not gonna be happy when she sees this," he sighed, before shaking his head. "Anyway, about the fishes?"
Pyrrha: "I've never seen them that damaged before. Sure they've been scraped up from a few battles and what not, but never that badly."
Ruby: "Could that mostly be because of your semblance?"
Pyrrha: "Well...yes, but I'm not too proud of that, as you already know. I may have routed my opponents' weapons to strike Akoúō every now and then, but most of the time it was just to have them strike at nothing instead. As for Miló, I don't remember it getting stuck in one of its modes, as that would heavily hinder me in a fight."
"Oh, right! Marching Fishes!" Gomamon called out, summoning the school of fish who were soon pushing the bed. "So...where are we going?"
"Honestly? I have no idea. But anywhere's gotta be better than floating in the middle of the ocean, right?" Jaune shrugged.
"That's true," Gomamon nodded.
Meanwhile, a fishing rod flew through the air, and landed in the water.
Nora: "Who would be fishing at a time like this?"
Ren: "Considering Miló and Akoúō were found, Nora?"
"Do you really think it'll work that well?" Gabumon asked as he sat on the edge next to his partner.
"Well, a mushroom is better bait than none at all at the least." Pyrrha said after a moment.
Winter: "Hmm, I noticed something."
Qrow: "Oh and what's that?"
Winter: These chapters in particular seem to have focused on the partner groupings of Teams RWBY and JNPR."
Yang: "But the first one was focused on the twins and I, and by extension Keenan."
Jaune: "And last I checked, Gyro might be considered Ruby and Weiss' partner, while Pierce would be Nora and Ren's. While Yang is Blake's."
Glynda: "True, but I think the first one was structured like that to show the starting of Mr. Vermillion and Miss Xiao Long's relationship, while also introducing us to young Keenan."
Winter: "Exactly."
Ruby: "And after this we only have Ren, Nora, and Blake to catch up with."
Blake: "I think I see what this is leading up to," as everyone else started to put the pieces together.
Hedge: "You know I'm not surprised they were able to figure that out pretty quickly," he thought.
Gabumon nodded as he ate one of the few mushrooms they had found "That's true I guess, at least they're tasty."
Pyrrha hummed lightly in agreement, before noticing her lure suddenly going under, and feeling weight on the line. "I think I got a bite! And it feels like a big one!"
"Really? I'll help!" Gabumon said as he helped her pull the rod. The two struggled for a moment, before they pulled whatever it was out...and it was only an instinctive reaction from Pyrrha activating her semblance on instinct that stopped them from getting metal to the face.
"Oh… Jaune's not going to like this." she said with a grimace as she looked at the weapon that was Crocea Mors, the blade snapped in half, though the shield/sheath seemed to have been ignored.
Jaune's face turned pale at seeing the family weapon destroyed. He wouldn't know how to show it to his father. Heck, he probably wouldn't even show himself at all.
Pyrrha: "Jaune, out of curiosity, what would happen if you returned home with Crocea Mors like that?"
Jaune: "...I might as well have my will written."
"Didn't he say his weapon was a family heirloom?" Gabumon added with a frown.
"Hopefully we manage to repair it before going back." Pyrrha added as she realised how much trouble her friend would be in should he come back with the family heirloom in pieces.
Ruby: "Considering it's a sword and has no mechashift, it should be fairly easy to repair." Brothers know if Crescent Rose was worse than what she saw it was, she would probably be at repairing it much longer...or she'd have to forge a whole new Crescent Rose.
Gabumon was about to talk again, before closing his mouth as he turned his head to the water, hearing a peculiar sound "Do you hear that?"
Pyrrha paused as she had been about to cast out her line again after putting Crocea Mors down, trying to hear what her partner could "It sounds like someone swimming." she said after a moment.
Blake: "I think that's the Marching Fishes."
Glynda: "At least you two won't be separated for long."
Straining their eyes, they looked out to the mist, trying to see if they could see what was making the sound. At first they didn't see anything, but slowly but surely, something was coming into view.
And once it did, they were treated to the sight of Jaune and Gomamon, sitting on a bed, while it was being carried by a huge school of rainbow fishes.
Qrow: "Definitely not something you see everyday." He'd honestly think he was drunk if he was in their position. More drunk if he already was.
Pyrrha blinked, once, twice, before rubbing her eyes to be sure they weren't playing tricks on her, eventually deciding this was real and setting down her makeshift fishing pole as she waved to the blonde knight, which he returned with a relieved smile.
When Jaune set foot on land, the small group relaxed a bit, glad to have found each other after being split up, before Jaune looked around a bit "Where's your bed?"
"Over there, it fell in the water and we jumped off and landed on the ground here." Pyrrha said and gestured to an upturned bed which kept crashing against the coast a few meters away.
Blake: "That wouldn't have been a safe landing." Then she realized what she just did. "Oum damn it. Yang, I blame you," as she face palmed.
Yang cackled. "You know you love them."
"Well, that would have hurt." Jaune said with a wince "Glad you're alright." he told her with a nod, which made her smile at him.
"Oh, I almost forgot." she started with a grimace, before lifting up Crocea Mors, which she had put back into the sheath, before pulling it out in front of him, seeing his face fall at the broken blade "It was like this when I found it, I'm sorry Jaune." she said as she handed it to him.
He shook his head "It's not your fault, besides, Miló and Akoúō were in similar shape when I found them." he said as he nodded at the javelin and shield which he had handed to her after landing.
Pyrrha examined her weapon again, before shaking her head. "Its not so bad. I can still use it more or less, and I can always have it fixed when we get back to Remnant," she said.
"Yeah, same here," Jaune smiled. "Heck, since Crocea Mors isn't a mechashift weapon, it shouldn't be TOO hard," he said.
Ruby: "I just said that," which caused a few laughs at the small echo.
"Maybe you could ask Leomon for help once he's free from control? He does use a sword after all." Gabumon suggested.
"Using a sword isn't quite the same as making one, but I'll keep that in mind," Jaune nodded. "At any rate, where are we anyway?"
"Not really sure," Gomamon said, looking around. "This mist is way too thick, and with how the island got broken apart, I can't tell any landmarks."
"It would help if we could call any of the others, maybe they could see a fog covered island from where they are." Pyrrha said with a sigh.
Ozpin: "Uh, couldn't you actually do that?" Jaune and Pyrrha face palmed.
Pyrrha: "Right, we have all the functions available to us."
"Yeah." Jaune sighed in agreement… before facepalming three seconds later "I knew I forgot something." he said as he pulled out his scroll, going into his contacts and tapping Gyro's number before putting it to his ear and waiting.
He waited for a quite a while, before he got an automated message, but it wasn't Gyro's voicemail.
"We are sorry, but the person you are trying to reach is too far away at the moment, please try again later."
Ironwood: "That'd be too easy if it did end up working."
Jaune: "Can't have everything be convenient for us."
"...well, it was worth a shot," Jaune sighed, not at all surprised things weren't gonna be that easy.
"So now what do we do?" Gomamon asked.
"Either we keep trying fishing...or we explore the area. Maybe we'll find something," Pyrrha said.
"I think I already did." Gabumon said as he looked behind everyone as the fog started to slowly lift from the area.
When they all turned around, they followed his eyes to see what looked like a church standing on top of a hill.
Nora: "Well ain't that a bit creepy."
Qrow: "I don't think that's there to worship the Brothers," he said jokingly, which did get a few laughs.
"Well… that's ominous." Jaune said after a moment.
"I feel like I should know this place." Gomamon mused.
"That's because I think this is Overdell Graveyard." Gabumon said with a hand on his chin.
"Overdell Graveyard?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yeah, I heard Digimon called Bakemon live in this area," Gabumon said.
Ren: "Considering the title, they're ghost types."
"Let me guess. They're ghost or zombie Digimon, aren't they?" Jaune sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Ghost, yeah," Gomamon nodded.
"...we landed on a horror movie set come to life…" was the groan that came from the blonde.
Yang: "I know I made that joke at the beginning, but I can kind of see that."
Hedge: "It is a common trope with horror films to use a graveyard in some capacity. Especially when ghosts/spirits and zombies are involved."
"Ghosts are usually the kind of beings to try and trick people, right?" Pyrrha asked with a hand on her chin.
"Especially Bakemon, they love their illusions." Gomamon answered.
"Well that's just great." Jaune said with a groan "Alright, the guys said that ghost grimm were a thing, so they had a few ideas that could have worked, and they might for a ghost Digimon as well."
Weiss: "Wait, they are? I know of the Geists, but what other type of Grimm are there that could be considered ghosts?"
Winter: "The Chill, but they are very rare."
Ruby: "And what do they specialize in?" Not exactly looking forward to the description.
Glynda: "Well, much like the Geist, they too are able to possess."
Ozpin: "Except, instead of possessing inanimate objects, they are able to possess living things."
The students looked horrifed at that, and they all looked toward Hedge, asking the silent question if they were telling the truth.
Understanding what they were asking, "Oh they're telling the truth. 100% factual."
The children all came to the conclusion to destroy that Grimm before it even had a chance to do that.
"What are these possible weaknesses?" Gabumon asked.
"They said that a chant, holy water or a cross might work. They didn't know any chants, and don't know how water can qualify as holy, but a cross is pretty easy." Jaune said as he went up to a tree and snapped off two branches before putting them to the correct size "Alright, now I need something to tie it with." he muttered, before blinking as Pyrrha handed him a vine she had used for her fishing pole, taking it with a smile as he tied the two branches together into a makeshift cross.
Hedge: "For water to be considered holy, a certified priest would need to bless it."
The children didn't know if they'd go that route or even learn a chant to keep the Chill off, so they all decided next chance they got, they'd each craft a makeshift cross.
"...are you sure that's going to work?" Gomamon asked, looking a little skeptical at the makeshift cross.
"Honestly? I don't know. But something's better than nothing, right?" Jaune sighed.
Gomamon tilted his head in thought at that before shrugging "I guess that's fair."
Qrow: "Do many people actually believe those methods work?"
Hedge: "Truthfully, there are many people that do. I'd rather not get into a beliefs debate regarding it, but I myself have a cross around my neck." They eyed him, but didn't see one. "My human form," he clarified, earning some nods.
"We should be careful on our way up, we don't know if any traps have been put in place." Pyrrha advised, the others agreeing with her as they started on the trek up the hill towards the top.
What they found at first seemed abandoned, but as they got closer, they saw what appeared to be a festival of some kind...and from the looks of it, there seemed to be humans there.
Blake: "I don't think those are actually humans."
Pyrrha: "Knowing what Bakemon like to do, I agree."
"Are those humans?" Gabumon asked.
"They sure LOOK like it," Pyrrha said. "Of course, the keyword is 'look'," she added, earning a few nods from them all.
"Yeah, Bakemon are supposed to like illusions, so this would make sense for them to do." Jaune agreed as he held the makeshift cross in his hand. As they got close, one of the humans turned towards them, revealing he was wearing a rather bizarre mask on his face.
"Welcome," he said, his voice...rather off. It was clearly intended to be friendly but...it came across as rather off putting.
Everyone deadpanned at the attempt of having a normal conversation from the "human."
Jaune: "Could they be any more obvious?"
Despite that, they maintained their composure. "Uh...thank you," Pyrrha said. "So...are you all having a festival or something?" she asked, referring to how the 'humans' were dancing.
"Why yes. This is a very special carnival," the 'human' said.
"What's the occasion?" Jauned asked.
"It is time for us to give an offering to Lord Bakemon," the 'human' responded.
Winter: "And that just gave it away even more."
Jaune looked at the 'man' dryly "Wow, can you make it even more obvious?"
"Whatever do you mean young man?" the 'human' said in confusion.
"For starters, me and my friends are the only humans here, that much has been confirmed by a lot of sources that don't know what a human is. Secondly, Bakemon is a trickster, if anyone actually worships that, their weird."
Elsewhere on a snowy island shard a goggle wearing trickster god worshipper sneezed.
Everyone was confused on that.
Ruby: "Uh, what was the significance of showing Gyro there?"
Hedge: "Oh nothing. Only that Gyro worships the Norse trickster god known as Loki."
Ironwood: "And how does he worship this god?"
Hedge: "By dropping pranks on other people online."
Glynda's eyebrow twitched. "Seriously?" she asked dryly.
Hedge: "Seriously."
"...he better not play any tricks against my other, or he will know just what a prank is," the deputy headmistress said coldly.
Qrow: "I have to actually agree with her. The pranks she played when we were students...oh boy. They were not pretty," shuddering as he remembered a few of them.
"And finally," Jaune started, before shoving his makeshift cross into the 'human's' face. The effect was instant as the 'human' stiffened, before their face seemed to crack, and with a pop, his form broke, revealing what could best be described as a bedsheet ghost with sharp teeth. "Your disguise sucks."
"That's Bakemon?" Pyrrha blinked. She was honestly expecting something a bit more...menacing than that.
They had to agree with the other Pyrrha's expectations.
Nora: "They don't look that strong."
Ozpin: "Never judge a book by its cover, Miss Valkyrie."
Yang: "Uh...aren't we forgetting one major tidbit about this situation?" A hint of worry in her voice.
"Yep, that's Bakemon alright," Gabumon and Gomamon nodded in confirmation.
Digimon Analyzer: Bakemon
Bakemon. Virus Type. An Adult Level Ghost Digimon. Known for being a trickster spirit, Bakemon prefers deceit over actually fighting it's opponents. They also have a weakness to religious objects and spiritual chants. Its special attack is Hell's Hand, draining the power of its enemies until they are at death's door.
The Bakemon recoiled, but it seems in the commotion, they'd attracted the attention of the other 'humans'...before all of them shattered to reveal more Bakemon. "...in retrospect maybe we should have waited till we were alone with him or something," Jaune sweatdropped.
Weiss: "Right...the other 'humans' were other Bakemon in disguise as well," she stated dryly.
"Probably would have been a good idea yeah." Gomamon agreed nervously as he looked at the overwhelming numbers.
"Well, they can't get too close at least." Pyrrha noted as Jaune kept aiming the cross everywhere, the Bakemon recoiling away when it was aimed at them.
"But we can't fight these many at once," Gabumon added.
Ruby: "Run and find cover?"
Jaune/Pyrrha: "Smart idea/Good call."
"Into the church! If they're weak to holy things, we should be safe in there!" Jaune said quickly, earning nods from all of them as they ran into the church, closing the door behind them. However, the Bakemon soon got in.
"In retrospect, this IS their home…" Gomamon gulped as they soon backed away to the altar.
"Guess no choice then...guys, get ready to evolve," Jaune said.
"Right," Gabumon and Gomamon nodded. However, before they could even try, one of the Bakemon flipped a hidden switch, and a trap door opened underneath them.
Ironwood: "Not only is it their home, but they also have trapdoors in the flooring. How often do they get unsuspecting Digimon visiting," he asked incredulously.
Qrow: "Jimmy, I don't think we want to know that answer."
It seemed gravity was being slow to respond, as they all had time to look down, before soon falling down into the hole, hearing the cackling of the Bakemon as they fell.
Several minutes later, the group groaned as they got up, looking around the area to see they were in a dungeon of some sort… though the Bakemon didn't seem to be too bright, as the door to their cell was wide open instead of closed.
"...seriously?" was the deadpanned response from everyone.
"...really?" Pyrrha couldn't help but deadpan at the sight of the wide open cell door.
"Yeaah...Bakemon aren't the brightest," Gabumon sweatdropped.
Winter: "This pretty much proves it."
Blake: "Well, best not to look a gift horse in the mouth."
"Strange, but not really a bad thing," Jaune sighed. "At least we don't have to bust our way out...though we still have to find our way out."
"At least the cross is still ok." Gomamon said as he picked it up between his claws and threw it up at Jaune who caught it.
"It has been surprisingly helpful." Pyrrha noted.
Some really did wonder if it would work against the Chill. Though some didn't really want to test that theory.
"Thank Gyro and Pierce. I wouldn't have thought about it if they hadn't told me about this idea," Jaune shrugged. "At any rate, we should get out of here as fast as we can."
"Right, but we should keep our guard up. The Bakemon may not be the brightest Digimon we've met, but you never know what might be in this area," Pyrrha nodded.
"Yeah, it'd be pretty dumb if we got caught by some cheap trap," Gabumon nodded with a chuckle.
Yang raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you guys just get caught by one?"
"Didn't you fall into a freezing cold lake?" the blonde knight shot back.
"At least that wasn't a trap!" she retorted.
Ruby: "She's got you there," causing the Arkos duo to just groan.
The group soon began making their way through the underground dungeon. So far it seemed the place was empty, as while there were a lot of cells, nobody was actually in any of them. In fact, they were starting to wonder if there even WAS anyone here...if they didn't accidentally come across a room that had a sleeping Bakemon in it. They could tell he was asleep by the literal snot bubble he had, and it was huge.
Weiss: "Some security guard," she muttered. Winter and Ironwood just hoped none of the Atlas Military were like this.
"...really?" was the dry observation from both Jaune and Pyrrha.
"Wow, this one must be a real idiot," Gomamon chuckled.
"How can you tell?" Gabumon asked.
"They say you can tell an idiot by the size of their snot bubbles."
Glynda: "I'm not sure if that's actually true."
"...that sounds like some kind of wive's tale, but somehow I'm inclined to believe it," Jaune sighed.
"How about we just take his food and avoid waking him up?" Pyrrha said with an amused smile.
"Yeah, would be good if we ate a bit more, we only had mushrooms earlier, and we don't want Gomamon and Gabumon to run out of energy if they have to evolve." Jaune said with a nod as they silently took the many bananas the Bakemon was guarding in the crate he was leaning against, the two Digimon quickly digging in once they were a safe distance away.
Ren: "Not to mention the whole Devimon's illusion with the mansion and food. They're essentially on empty."
"Oh man these are good." Gomamon said with a relieved sigh as he ate through a few purple bananas.
"Surprisingly yeah, I never thought food that looks so weird would taste good." Jaune said as he ate one as well. Once upon a time he wouldn't think to touch something like a banana that was purple colored...but as with a lot of things, the last week in the Digital World broke him of any notions of normalcy...and crazy as it sounded, he would do it again in a heartbeat.
"Easy you two. I know you're hungry, but don't give yourselves stomachaches now," Pyrrha chided lightly as she too ate one of the fruits. Despite the less than ideal situation, she couldn't help but smile at the moment. Ever since they'd been thrown into the Digital World, she'd been met with more and more unfamiliar situations, yet she couldn't help but feel happy. For the first time in a long time, ironic as it sounded, she felt like she was just a normal girl, among friends she could be herself around. In this Digital World, she wasn't the Invincible Girl. She was just Pyrrha Nikos.
Pyrrha felt a pang of jealousy of her other getting to experience that. Ever since she was given that title, she fet like she couldn't live a normal, teenage life. Always having to do meet and greets, sponsorships, even modeling. It was all too much for her.
Sensing his girlfriend's plight, Jaune softly grabbed her hand. "Hey." Her eyes met his. "I know all that fame has been a real pain, but I don't see you like that. I see before me just Pyrrha, no titles attached."
Pyrrha smiled and kissed him. "And that's what I love about you."
"Don't worry about us. We're fine," Gabumon said as he polished off another banana. By now they'd walked a good distance away from where they'd found the sleeping Bakemon, and so far nothing had really happened.
Apparently Murphy was bored, as even the thought of how uneventful it had been so far was enough to invoke him, evident by them having to quickly duck back into a corner when they found a few Bakemon floating around a room.
Nora: "Because of course he would interfere," she groaned.
"That's quite a lot of them," Gabumon frowned as they peeked out of the corner.
"Hey, I think I see the way out on the other side of the room," Gomamon added.
Yang: "So what you're saying is they just have to get by all those Bakemon to get, right?"
"So they're literally floating between us and the way out, huh?" Jaune mused. "Any ideas?"
The altered echo was a bit funny.
"Why not go all out?" Pyrrha suggested.
"...that works," the three of them nodded. Sometimes simple was the best.
Jaune: "Time for a little beat down."
(Play Brave Heart)
"Gomamon, Evolution! Ikkakumon!"
"Gabumon, Evolution! Garurumon!"
The Bakemon floating around the room heard the calls and turned to where the voices came from...and were promptly met with a face full of blue flames, courtesy of Garurumon's Fox Fire. The few that managed to evade didn't even get a chance to get their wits together as they were met with Ikkakumon's horn, throwing several of them aside.
"Let's get out of here!" Jaune quickly said as he and Pyrrha ran to the exit, and soon found open air as the entrance seemed to lead to the graveyard behind the cathedral...before their partners burst out of the ground behind them, seeing as they were too big for the door.
"I feel like this should be disrespectful, but I can't really bring myself to care after what happened," Pyrrha commented with a sweat drop as she noticed their partners had destroyed several gravestones when they got out.
"Yeah...let's hope we don't come to regret that anytime soon," Jaune nodded awkwardly.
Ozpin: "I think those are more decorative than literal."
Pyrrha: "I hope you're right, Professor."
Ruby: "Yeah, not like there are any zombie like Digimon," though she did pause, and everyone turned to Hedge, "...right?" she asked a bit nervously.
Hedge decided to stay quiet, and that didn't make them feel any better about the possibility of there actually being any.
"How dare you disrupt Lord Bakemon's domain!" came an eerie voice, as several Bakemon appeared from the cathedral.
"Yeah well, we didn't feel like playing along with the whole offering thing," Jaune said.
"For this transgression, you will all pay dearly," the Bakemon said in unison.
"Oh yeah? What are you guys gonna do about it?" Ikkakumon shot back.
Face palms sounded out at that.
Glynda: "Did he seriously have to invoke Murphy?"
"Uh...I don't think you should be provoking them," Jaune groaned.
"Relax, they're weak as heck, and we're at full power. What's the worst that could happen?" Ikkakumon waved off.
Weiss: "That just invoked Murphy more!" she cried out.
"...you DO realize you just provoked Murphy, right?" Garurumon and Pyrrha deadpanned at that.
True enough… "You have all earned the wrath of Lord Bakemon!" the Bakemon called out, as they, and several of the ones that were in the tunnels, soon gathered together in the air, seemingly circling around, before they seemed to merge together, revealing another Bakemon...only this one was easily 10 times larger than a normal Bakemon.
Qrow: "Well, that looks a lot more menacing than how they looked before."
Blake: "That didn't bump them up to a Perfect level, did it?" a little fearful for their friends.
Hedge: "No, they're still at the Adult level. All it is is a merger, though you could say their power greatly increased because of it."
"I'm guessing THAT is Lord Bakemon. You HAD to ask, didn't you, Ikkakumon?" Jaune said dryly.
"Yeah...that may not have been so smart," Ikkakumon admitted with a sweatdrop as the giant Bakemon descended.
Jaune groaned. "Ikkakumon, learn to keep your mouth shut."
"Hell's Hand!" he called out as from the 'sleeves' of his form, a pair of demonic blue hands shot out, grabbing hold of both Ikkakumon and Garurumon and throwing them both aside.
"Looks like his size isn't just for show!" Pyrrha said in alarm as she and Jaune got out of the way, avoiding a swing from the giant ghost.
Ikkakumon and Garurumon quickly got back on their feet and began counter attacking. "Harpoon Vulcan!" Ikkakumon called out, firing his horn, but Lord Bakemon grabbed it with his Hell's Hand, and threw it aside, causing it to explode in the distance.
"Fox Fire!" Garurumon called out, sending the torrent of flames, but Lord Bakemon shielded himself with his arms, and quickly dispersed the attack save for a few singes.
Ironwood: "I can definitely see what you mean by the power increase." He really wondered just how his military would be able to hold out against something like this, or even that of a fully licensed Huntsman/Huntress.
"Okay, he's holding his own against them. Not a good sign," Jaune frowned. "Well, in that case we'd better lend them a hand," he said, looking at his makeshift cross, and then to the advancing ghost. "And I think I know just how to make him stop."
"What do you have in mind?" Pyrrha asked.
"Something crazy and stupid, I must really be out of my mind to even try it," he sighed, before running towards Lord Bakemon. "I've been spending too much time with Pierce…" the blonde muttered before saying, "Hey you! Halloween reject!"
While some did laugh at the joke, Ruby wasn't too forgiving.
Ruby: "Hey don't go making fun of anything related to my birthday!"
Qrow: "Ruby, not the time."
Lord Bakemon turned to face the human, not impressed by the insult.
"Open wide!" Jaune shouted, before rearing back...and throwing his makeshift cross at Lord Bakemon. The large ghost blinked...before gasping when he realized what it was...big mistake, as when he opened his mouth, the cross went right in, to which he swallowed. Immediately he was grasping at his throat, or whatever passed as it, as he looked like he'd swallowed something VERY hot.
Winter: "I can't believe that worked," she muttered, astonished that a makeshift cross was able to burn the large ghost Digimon.
"Thanks Jaune!" Ikkakumon grinned. "Harpoon Vulcan!" the attack struck true, exploding in Lord Bakemon's face and causing the ghost to cry out in pain, but through the smoke, a pair of Hell's Hand shot out, grabbing both the adult Digimon and began hitting them against each other, Lord Bakemon flailing around in pain, and dragging them for the ride.
Jaune: "...That wasn't supposed to happen," as the two partner Digimon were getting ragdolled all over the place.
"Okay...that's not what I had in mind," Jaune gulped.
"He's definitely weakened, but not enough," Pyrrha said, looking around frantically for something to help their partners. She soon found her answer when she eyed the large X on top of the cathedral. The METAL X at that. "I've got an idea."
Ozpin: "I think I see what your other is going for, Miss Nikos."
"If you've got something, better make it quick. I think my plan may have backfired," Jaune gulped as both their partners were bodily thrown into a heap.
Pyrrha nodded quickly before reaching out with her semblance, plucking the X off the cathedral. Straining a little, she willed the metal to warp, changing its shape, adjusting a few things...and before long she'd made a crudely shaped metal cross. "Take this!" she shouted, Lord Bakemon turning to see her...before the large makeshift cross was rammed into him, causing him to shout in pain.
The sounds of the metal being warped were not kind to their ears, especially Blake who hissed at them.
"Great idea, Pyrrha!" Jaune grinned, before turning to their partners. "Do it now!"
"You got it!" they both nodded.
"Fox Fire!"
"Harpoon Vulcan!"
The two attacks flew through the air, Lord Bakemon barely able to turn to see it, and with his powers so severely weakened, he could do nothing as the attacks hit, and he burst into scraps of torn cloth and data.
Nora: "Ooh, pretty explosion."
Ren just shook his head in amusement.
(End Song)
The two humans sighed in relief as the fight was finally over, while their partners surprisingly stayed in Adult level for once.
Before any proper cheering could commence though, the ground cracked open, a portion of it collapsing away, allowing everyone to peer down into it.
"I really shouldn't be surprised." Pyrrha said with a frown as they looked at the large amount of Black Gears in the earth, all spinning about for some sort of mechanism.
And then they suddenly stopped, before breaking down into pieces, and the island jerked to a stop, sending them to the ground. "What now?" Jaune groaned.
"Look over there!" Ikkakumon pointed into the fog, which they could see was starting to lift, and finally, gave them a view of Mount Infinity.
Glynda: "So the Bakemon were effectively powering the Black Gears on this portion of land."
Qrow: "But they didn't seem to really draw power from them, so tough to say if they truly were part of Devimon's employ."
Pyrrha: "Maybe they had a hidden Black Gear on them?"
Ironwood: "I think we would've seen them burst off and be destroyed when Lord Bakemon was defeated."
"Maybe we'll be able to get back now." Garurumon said.
"The others will most likely be making their way towards the mountain." Pyrrha realised.
"Then that's where we're going as well." Jaune said with a nod, before he climbed up on Ikkakumon and Pyrrha got on Garurumon's back while the two Digimon ran out of the graveyard and jumped into the water, Garurumon surprisingly being able to keep up with Ikkakumon.
They had to hurry, as there was no telling the kind of situations their friends were in.
With that, the TV shut off for the last time of the day.
Ruby: "Whew, well, I say we learned quite a bit today."
Weiss: "That's an understatement. It seems there is more to these Digivices than what has been informed to us at a glance," eyeing hers in her hand.
Ren: "And I get the feeling more information will be provided on them as we continue on."
Hedge: "You're right about that, Ren. But that will do it for tonight. Any questions before we head off for some night grub?"
No one spoke up, so they all headed off to the dining room as Hedge used his powers to clean up the theater.
Though Ironwood stood back. "Mr. Badnic, truthfully, how would a fully licensed Huntsman handle a Digimon?"
Hedge considered this, but he wondered where this question came from. "Why do you want to know?"
Ironwood could guess why he would ask that, putting his hands up in surrender. "I understand why you may be asking that, but I can assure you, I don't plan on doing any experiments on the children's Digimon. Humor me, please."
Hedge eyed the General, curious if there was any hidden meaning in his tone, but he found none. "Alright then. I would say they could handle up to an Adult Level fairly well, but that also depends on the type of Digimon they are dealing with. As for a Perfect, that may require a full team, if not multiple to handle, and again, it depends on the type."
Ironwood nodded at that, but he remembered there was a secret evolution past Perfect. "And what about that secret evolution afterwards?"
Hedge chuckled. "Well, unless it's from the Numemon line, there's no chance for any type of Huntsmen to handle that, and I wish I was kidding."
Ironwood's jaw dropped at that. "You're...you're serious?"
Hedge nodded. "100%. Especially if some of them are coated in Chrome Digizoid. Needless to say, dust rounds won't do anything to them."
Ironwood didn't know how to feel about that. Granted, he didn't think the students would turn on them, and by extension, their Digimon partners that Hedge and Swift gave them.
But if she was able to do something that did make them turn, well, he didn't want to think what would happen afterwards.
Hedge: "I know your mind might be thinking about Salem, but keep in mind, the students and their Digimon will be here in my dimension to evolve and improve their skills for quite some time. They'll be ready for her and her cabal."
Ironwood: "How can you be so sure of that?"
Hedge wrapped the General in a one arm hug around the back of his neck. "Let's just say Swift and I have a lot of contingencies planned for every avenue she could throw at them. Now come on, let's get something to eat before we go to bed on an empty stomach," as the two walked towards the dining area.