[IC] Digimon: Recompilation

[Forsythe]

Chapter 1: Index City

Index City was not the largest domain of the Digital World, nor its oldest, but it was among the most orderly and secure. Built with deliberate precision and purpose, it stood as a bastion against the steady spread of the corruption encroaching on other regions. Patrols moved in strict rotations; the walls hummed with layered defenses.

Yet even here, the horns of alarm now sounded.

At the Citadel...

Darcmon was flying to the citadel in the center of the city, foregoing all manners. She touched down beside Dominimon, her voice tense. "My lord! The containment expedition is now three days overdue. I think we have to assume they are lost to us. Depending on what they did manage to do, the corruption will reach the outer walls no later than three weeks! Should I take the citadel guard and march out to face it?"

"You could take every digimon left in the city, and it will not change the outcome," Dominimon replied, steady as ever. "Mon the walls. Keep the corruption from touching them. But stay within the defenses."

Darcmon opened her mouth to protest. "Then how are we to stop it?"

"You are correct. We cannot stop it," Dominimon said. He placed his hand against a set of carved glyphs in the wall. "Not alone. But that is why we have built this city here, upon what remains from the ancient Digital world." The glyphs lit beneath his fingers. With a grinding rumble, a massive stone panel sank into the floor, revealing a descending corridor bathed in cool, pale light.

"You mean... Well, what can we lose, I suppose?" Darcmon said, her tone resigned.

"Hold the walls. I will do what must be done," Dominimon said. Darcmon bowed and took off toward her post.

Once she was gone, Dominimon paused at the threshold and looked upward, past the ceiling and toward skies he no longer walked. You must be in stitches, Seraphimon, Dominimon thought, [/]You always believed the Digital World would summon heroes from beyond when the need became dire. I called you a madmon for it - waiting for prophecy while the world broke apart. I left your sanctum, descended to this plane, fought while you watched from afar.[/i]

He shook his head, a mirthless smile on his face.

How ironic... My own hands are about to summon the saviors you hoped for but did nothing to bring forth, and I advocated against.

With that, he stepped into the passage.

Deep in the Citadel's heart lay an ancient structure: The Gateway. A pyramid of untouched stone, its patterns older than recorded data. Legends said it once bridged worlds in ages past.

Dominimon approached the central dais. Concentric rings of the ancient mechanism awaited his touch. He moved each one deliberately, aligning them according to the ancient schema he had spent years deciphering.

The final ring clicked into place. A surge of power rippled outward. The alcove walls lit from within. From outside the Citadel, great lances of energy shot skyward - and several stray arcs vanished toward parts of the Digital World. Dominimon raised an arm against the cascading light as the Gateway activated.

In the human world...

The effect was instantaneous.

Wherever you were - in your room, on the street, at a desk - something tugged at you. A pressure behind the eyes. A low hum at the base of your skull. It drew you toward solitude - an empty hallway, a quiet corner, a private room.

And the moment you were alone, the world flashed white.

A thundering sound fills your ears.
A twist in your stomach threatens to spill whatever it was you last ate.
A feeling of falling and simultaneously being launched high takes over you.
And then something new comes to view.

Back at the citadel...

When Dominimon’s vision cleared, the alcove chambers were no longer empty. Humans and digimon lay on the stone floor, stunned, and some ill from the sudden transport. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw what he though may be an Arukenimon, shortly before they shrunk as their data degenerated.

Not all of the new arrivals were well.

One digimon was obviously corrupted, leaking data streams. What rotten luck that someone destined to be the world's savior would be corrupted what could not have been longer than a minute before the Gateway whisked them away!

Another digimon was little more than a collapsing cluster of unstable data, flickering on the edge of dissolution. Dominimon knelt beside the dying data-form, halting the collapse with a gesture. Not enough to restore its mind - but enough to salvage power. Under his guidance, the fragments condensed into a small pink totem pole with a red scarf, which floated towards one of the humans as if drawn by unseen power.

Dominimon stood and faced the newly arrived Digidestined.

"Greetings, humans," he said. "I am Dominimon, guardian of Index City. You have been summoned to the Digital World, which stands in grave danger... and we are in desperate need of your aid. Our world picked you, because it determined you had what it takes to, alongside with your partners, to succeed. You must have many questions, but time is running out. Follow me, and I will do my best to answer."

---

Yuki

Location: Gateway
Skills/items used: None

---

The day was not going great. It wasn't a disaster per se, dare she say it was rather good, but it wasn't great. 96% on a big test at school. A little tap in the spar she was just coming from that was smarting a bit. You should see the other guy. Overall, pretty good.

Yuki's father didn't deal well with 'just' pretty good.

She was sitting on the bench in the locker room. The rest of the HEMA group has already cleared out, but Yuki was still wearing half of the protective gear, resting her head against the cold metal of the lockers and letting the feeling calm her down. She didn't know why the feeling of cold calmed her nerves rather than being warm and cozy, but she chalked it up to her Scandinavian part.

Then the day got worse.

It started out as a sudden rushing sound in her ears. Before long, her stomach was trying to violently turn inside out. She tried to stumble over to the sink, but halfway across, the world turned white and gravity seemed to become a distant afterthought. And as suddenly as it began it was over, just short of Yuki managing to think whether she was dying of a stroke.

Stone.

Her cheek was pressed against stone, alongside the rest of her. Before whatever it was that happened, she was tired. Now she felt like never getting up again. Compared to what happened now, the symptoms of when she caught COVID were a mild annoyance. With a monumental effort, she managed to open an eye.

She was in a spherical room, made of yellow stone that wouldn't be out of place in an Egyptian pyramid, albeit it lacked a layer of dust or sand to match that feel. The wall was littered with alcoves that looked like intricate, stone-arched door frames, something resembling Ellias' fire buzzing around in the negative spaces on the wall. In or in front of the alcoves were more people, and...

Things.

More precisely, creatures. Critters of what looked like every shape imaginable, from something that might be called an animal to stuff that was matched only by the weirdest of plushies. That wasn't even the weirdest thing.

That would be the angel like being that looked like it just arrived from the crusade. It seemed to tend to a... mess... in the alcove right next to the one she apparently arrived from, transforming whatever it was into an object that seemed to float to her. Against her better judgement (and her protesting muscles), she reached out for it. As soon as she touched it, she felt it to be just a shiver colder than the room around her. A pleasant feeling, like a snowflake melting in her hand. It gave her the strength to try and get up.

She managed with only a few dark spots gathering around the edges of her vision, trying to listen as the angel - Dominimon, was it? - spoke. Digital world? Aid? Partners? It all sounded like hogwash.

Okay. Pause. she thought to herself, Take inventory. You were in the locker room, and you started feeling bad. Occam's razor says that your are laid out cold on the floor. Probably hit your head trying to stumble to the sink. This is most likely some comatose dream... or something. A few more moments were spent trying to rationalize how and why this could be real, but the practical side of her arrived to the same conclusion all the same: Whether this was a dream and her destiny was in the hands of doctors, or whether this was real, there seemed to be no harm in rolling with this for now.

"Um... what's this?" she asked, pointing to the totem pole that attached itself to a silver chain she didn't know she was wearing. Come to think of it, she noticed she was now wearing her school uniform. Damn. If she really was in a 'world in grave danger', her HEMA gear and a good blade would have been preferrable-

Manners! she mentally slapped herself. "And my name is Yuki." she said, loud enough for everyone to hear, but clearly aimed at the Angel.

[Azure Bubbles]

Location: Gateway
Skills/Items Used: None

Noel had just finished making dinner.

Well… prepping dinner. His parents were still at the clinic with Clara. It was another long treatment day, maybe even an overnight stay if things didn’t stabilize, and Noel had slipped into the familiar habit of keeping the house warm and running in their absence.

The kitchen was quiet. Noel had just set a pot on the stove when something strange tugged at him. A prickle at the base of his skull. A pressure that made his eyes blur for a second too long.

“Okay… that’s weird,” he murmured to nobody.

He stepped into the hallway, just a few feet away, just to steady himself, and the world exploded into white.

A roar drowned out every thought. His stomach lurched violently, like he’d been spun and dropped and launched all at once. He barely had time to gasp.

And then he hit stone. Cold, smooth stone pressed against his cheek. Noel inhaled sharply. His head throbbed. His legs felt like overcooked noodles. For a moment, he just stayed still, trying not to revisit anything he’d eaten in the past twelve hours.

When his eyes focused, he saw… creatures. Dozens of them. Some adorable, some unsettling, some that could only be classified as a “weird little guy”. And in the center… An angel. Not a metaphorical angel. A literal angel. Wings, armor, the whole nine yards. Noel blinked. Then blinked again. This was real.

Noel pushed himself upright. As he steadied himself, a soft jingle caught his attention. A gold charm bracelet was on his wrist, and a feather charm was attached to it.

When Dominimon addressed the group, Noel looked around automatically, scanning other faces, checking who was shaking, who needed help standing, who looked scared. Old habits. Even dizzy and nauseous, his first instinct is to check on everyone else.

A girl, Yuki, spoke first.

Noel swallowed and forced his legs beneath him. His first attempt at standing… did not go well, and he fell on his face. The second one worked better. Even dizzy, he managed a small, warm smile.“I…I’m Noel,” he said softly. “I think I’m okay. Just… a bit shaken.” He hesitated, then looked around the chamber again, eyes lingering on the less steady arrivals. “Is everyone else alright?”

[Byte]

---

Siobhan O’Riley

Location: Gateway
Skills/items used: None

---

PING-A-LING

Siobhan scowled at the jingle like it had offered to improperly file a resignation form. Glasses slid down her nose in tandem with the lower jaw that couldn’t quite reach her desk in spite of its determination.

“Oh, fer God’s sake-”

DOCUMENTATION PROJECT #1215 and in closed brackets (AMENDMENT EIGHT)

Her arms flew upward with a tired huff; a guttural groan resounding with the effort of a teenager grumbling at their bean and sprout dinner. If there was one thing Siobhan hated more than soggy instant noodles dripped on her week old jeans, it was a last minute e-mail.

“Me entire feckin’ day wasted, ya eejits!” Siobhan didn’t even have the strength to stop her hands from whatever they were doing to her messy ginger mop; pulling aimlessly as though she secretly hoped it’d fall out with the rest of her sanity.

She never quite understood why she bothered. Or more to the point, why didn't she just consider buying some fisherman’s shack and live the rest of her life off the grid. Because honestly? She had a better chance baiting fish than a bunch of snooty executive suits nodding along to their suggestive desk toy.

Sighing proved equally fruitless, however, and she figured shouting at a pointed e-mail detailing someone’s lack of understanding the point of documentation at least put the exasperation to good use.

Her hands flexed at the built-in keyboard like they had the perfect, snarky retort ready. Instead one lifted and adjusted the slanted glasses on her nose and the other pushed Siobhan off the ergonomic chair in defeat.

“Right, coffee.” She murmured towards the empty condo, a dingy little place in the middle of the city center Siobhan rented for the better part of a year now. Her socks flopped across the wooden boards towards the kitchen.

And that’s when it happened…

First there was the static behind her eyes and ringing in her ears, a flicker of something not unlike a white screen flashed as though her brain had suddenly decided to crash on principle. And then she fell. Not fell-fell, but that sense of vertigo as you’re hurdled through a roller coaster with inhuman g-force that made unprepared stomachs churn their half-consumed contents back out.

“Jaysus,” The Irish accent lilted aimlessly as Siobhan’s consciousness sippled through the layers of quiet distress she’d come to master with a firm poker face. Her green eyes fluttered closed and open again, body splayed against the cold floor in ways she had grown familiar with during her student years; though missing the raging migraine she was pretty sure would come sooner or later.

Several voices rang through the room, and Siobhan had found the energy to pull her body into a cross-legged sit while she took stock of her new environment.

Her thoughts swayed between ‘Don’t remember havin’ a cult altar in me place’ and ‘Shite, I’ve died’, the latter prospect seemingly likely as she took notice of the angel-like creature standing in the middle who’d rambled about prophecies and destiny like it was a generic MMO with a million chosen ones running around.

And along with that several odd little creatures, things that didn’t seem it’d belong in either a petting zoo or a farm. One flickered oddly, like blocks of data fading in and out. And that’s when Siobhan noticed the weird device clipped to her belt; the tech piece seemingly reacting with beeps and static as though it had a life of its own.

“Right. Drank meself stupid and put me VR kit on. Noted.” She muttered, deciding that was as good a reason as any before standing up and waving lazily at the other people there for want of a greeting.

[Psyker Landshark]

Akaishi Azumi

Location: Gateway
Skills/Items Used: None

"Alright, that's enough fucking Sekiro for the day! Let's wrap up with supas~" Azumi laughed as she set her controller down, toggling the scene on her OBS recording to her usual background as she leaned back in her chair. She muted her microphone for a second as she took a swig of energy drink from the can on her desk, spinning around briefly. Another good fucking haul today: decent chunk of subs and donos to keep her bank account in the black for a good long while to come. And wasn't that what mattered? The more she took in, the more she wouldn't have to go to college, after all~

"Mmmkay, how's about we get started then? I can't wait to see which supa from you absolute freaks makes me want to commit the final yab today~" A brief, audible cackle. She was playing it up a bit: most of them weren't that bad. Just the usual crowd of other NEETs, with some in on the bit (if it was even really a bit at this point) and some taking it as permission to go all in. And even that wasn't too bad compared to some of the shit she'd looked up for funsies when she was younger.

"Pochiko, thank for the supa-" She paused, twitching as some sort of light came up in the corner of her vision. And then came the feeling of falling. And the vertigo. When Azumi opened her eyes, it was to the sight of straight out of isekai, if isekai involved demented little twisted creatures and angels like it was some sort of creature collector.

"Ah...huh...?" Azumi blinked, still rather dazed and confused from the sudden change in scenery. She took in the angel's words, what everyone else around her was saying, thought about it all for a second, and came to a conclusion:

"Ohhhh my god, people are gonna think I faked disappearing in the middle of stream for attention!" She groaned, hands clutching her head in frustration. "I'm gonna end up on the fucking hate threads! Shit, shit, shit, I'm so cooked!"

___

Vemmon

WARNING: DAMAGE CRITICAL. DEVOLUTION.BAT ENGAGED.
LOAD ERROR: FILEPATH CORRUPTED.
DEVOLUTION SEQUENCE CANNOT BE CONTINUED SAFELY.
AUTOREPAIR INITIATED.

Where was it? Who was it? The creature stirred briefly, seeing little through a haze of pain. Whatever was going on, it knew that this situation should not be.

ERROR: PROCESS HALTED.
MANUAL OVERRIDE ACTIVATED. DEVOLUTION ENGAGING.

ERROR: INCOMPATIBLE FORM SELECTED. DEVOLUTION TO GREY.MON ABORTED.
ERROR: INCOMPATIBLE FORM SELECTED. DEVOLUTION TO VEE.MON ABORTED.

It managed to lift its head only slightly as it felt something around it. Other...presences? It couldn't tell.

WARNING: FILEPATH CORRUPTED. DEVOLUTION TO...&*#!$.MON ABORTED.

"Graugh...mrgr..." It tried to open its mouth. To engage text-to-speech. What came out was a jumble of mishmash. What was it even communicating for? What was there to say?

COMPATIBLE FORM LOADED. DEVOLUTION TO VEM.MON INITIATED.

The light faded, and what emerged was a horrifically scarred purple lizard-thing, twitching and writhing on the ground as data leaked from azure gashes in its body. If something wasn't done soon, it would suffer the same fate that had just befallen the other poor wretch Dominimon had given final mercy to.

[Byte]

---

Vigilemon

Location: Gateway
Skills/items used: None

---

It started with a flicker, an infinitesimal bundle of light; flames licking outward when it grew. Slowly at first like a candle flame, then a more pronounced shape as a pocket-size ball that had detached from a torch.

Small and shapeless it floated in the middle of a receptacle mounted on one of the pillars. Flames curling gently into vague blueish shapes. A clump of long hair that didn't quite look right, a perfectly round head, two beady bright dots for eyes that blinked in rythm to its breathing and burning form.

The helmet on its head felt too big, one- maybe two sizes. Lopsided, dented and the creaky visor hung just over where its beady eyes could blink underneath curiously.

The blueish hue flickered into a pale white, briefly, awareness. Then a soft yellow, pride. And finally back to blue; its neutral state.
The digimon descended from what seemed like a divine height, fluttering down elegantly if it had any limbs to spread in an awe-like figure. Something, or some things, had died, and it had been born in place. Not replace, but simply a new cycle; a new generation to pick up where predecessors had stopped.

A vigilemon...

The wisp floated its body near Dominimon, bopping up and down energetically as if to say “Hi, I heard you and headed the call.” The blueish hue delving into purples, curiosity, then back to a lighter blue shade as it took notice of all the other things, creatures and humans that had been summoned. Vigilemon tilted its head, the helmet flopping sideways as it hovered slowly around every new arrival tenderly. Warmth flickered from its small body, a silent greeting that said “Friendly.”

It took its time observing each individual, each fellow digimon, orbiting them once until it lingered near the shape of a tall, lanky human. Dressed too neatly for a temple visit, something pulled it towards him. Flames flickered curiously as her body lifted, beady eyes meeting tired ones.

It paused... And then bopped eagerly.

It was saying “Hi”, but almost in a bonding tone. A connection.

[Fish of Oblivion]

Shogo Tatsugami

Location: Gateway
Skills/items used: None

---

Shogo hadn't intended for it to be a late night in the office, but as he found himself waking up in his chair with a mess of documents still laid out in front of him, that seemed to be what he'd ended up with.

Pulling himself into an upright position and groaning lightly as he brushed a few strands of hair from his face, he tried to recall what exactly he'd been looking to accomplish. The day trickled back to him slowly, an early start as he met with the new lead manager of one of their manufacturing plants (he'd never really been a car person, but the man had seemed genuinely passionate), into an afternoon of talking to the marketing team at that plant's office (did any of the commercials they put out actually tell you anything about the cars?), before a run of the mill board meeting. Neither of the twins had deigned to make an appearance, and nobody else seemed to appreciate that he'd made the time to come and talk to them about the problems they brought up, but that was nothing new; and at least it gave him an idea of what he was looking at for the next week. Now, if only he could figure out how he'd ended up here instead of going home and cracking open the bourbon.

He ran a hand over the documents on his desk, trying to pick something- anything- out. Concerns about how much budget was going to one site, concern how little was going to another... something about a VR project that was hitting critical snags close to launch.

It took a moment, but awareness crashed in as that sliver of information kicked out the floodgate. The project had been picked up from elsewhere after a spike of interest in the technology, and a shift in direction from the original concept had opened up and exposed a bevy of problems that threatened to have it dead in the water on release or- worse yet for the investors- delay it past the point of demand. Shogo couldn't remember when he'd last spoken to the lead, though he did remember being assured that everything was under control as the project changed teams; no doubt he'd be looking to make an example of someone to save his own skin before he next spoke to any of the Tatsugami siblings.

Oh, Shogo was looking forward to having that conversation, Yamazaki could be sure of it. But fortunately for him, he had bigger problems to worry about for now; namely, the sheer amount of crunch they were looking at to get these problems fixed in a reasonable timeframe. The question of the moment, though, was whether there was likely to be anyone else about and available to follow up?

Shogo remembered it had already been getting dark when he got here, but with the window running the length of the office that overlooked the city from its vantage point atop the Tatsugami's building in Marunouchi, it only took a moment to confirm that the sun had long since dipped beneath the horizon, the streets below swallowed up in an ocean of neon light as most sidelined business for pleasure. Checking his watch to get his exact bearing, the big hand had almost made its whole way round; well, if he was already here, he supposed it was too late to worry about the time. He could at least check his inbox to see what was going on with it, maybe kick a few emails along to the relevant teams to try and get things under control before he had words with the man in charge... and this time of night on this day of the week, maybe it wasn't too late to catch the tail-end of a stream?

A few minutes later and he confirmed as much, the colourful figure on his monitor going from jabbering excitedly to screeching in rage as the boss in the game they were playing got back up for a surprise second phase after being decapitated. Oh, Vep. Well, seemed like she was going to be winding down on the game soon, one way or another, but having her on in the background would make the end of the day go down a little easier.

That and some coffee, he thought to himself, as he pushed his chair out from the table and got up to his feet. He held out a hand to steady himself as he felt the sudden headrush, before making carefully for the machine atop a cabinet on the opposite side of the room. Nonetheless listening carefully for any notification alerts, or any announcement that the stream was wrapping up early, he stood there for a few minutes rifling through the pods- not his preference, but unless he felt like going however many floors down, it'd have to do- as his blood pressure slowly returned to normal. Finally settling on a blend and popping it in, he let the liquid drain into his cup, topping it up from the electric kettle next to it, before he turned back to his desk-

The rush hit him again, not enough to send him keeling over, but enough that his mind went blank to everything but the sensation for a moment. He felt himself stumble, splaying an arm out as he did his best to stay standing and not spill his drink; and he squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to force himself back to focus. Come on, keep it together, he thought to himself, as he opened them once more-

He blinked. The scenery beyond his office window was gone, the neon sea replaced by a warmer, flickering light that seemed closer than the cold buzz of before. And as he looked from side to side, his office was gone too, the glass and his desk replaced by an open space carved from sandy yellow stone. Claustrophobia set in a little, however, as he perceived how much smaller this space was, and how crowded it was in spite of its lack of furnishings: every edge of the room that he could see was taken up by a series of alcoves, all of which, as his vision came back into focus, seemed to host someone... or something.

"..." Either his habits were catching up with him, or he'd somehow left his office without knowing it. He looked from side to side, the voices around him feeling distant as his mind struggled to catch up with his vision. A tall figure stood in the center of the room, humanoid but just a bit too tall for that to be the case. Unable or unwilling to process that at this precise moment in time, his vision shifted instinctively to the others present, four of which seemed up and at attention. The first was a young man of about average height who seemed about as lost as him, the second a tall woman in a school uniform who was pointing to some odd ornament on her person, the third a slightly shorter woman who was convinced she was drunk (and with that cadence, he wouldn't be surprised either), and the fourth a significantly shorter woman yet who-

Shogo didn't quite make out what she was saying, but he certainly felt how loud it came out. Fortunately, whether it was the sheer volume and pitch of her voice or the odd familiarity, it was the final thing he needed to snap back to reality-

"Pull yourself together, damn it." His own voice didn't come out as loudly as hers, but there was force behind it all the same as he forced himself back to awareness. He took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose as he let the impact of his words settle, before looking back up past the others to the center of the bizarre chamber, where the tall man stood. Disregarding anything else about him that wasn't immediately reconciling itself with his perception of reality, he carried himself like he was important.

"You. Explain." Time to see if that was warranted. The words 'Digital World' and 'Index City' percolated in his mind, perhaps from something the figure had said while he'd been trying to gather his bearings; but without any real context for what was going on, they were meaningless, just proper nouns being thrown around without any care to explain them. And so Shogo levelled a glare at him, eager to find out exactly what all this was about...

But he found his expression softening a little, however involuntarily, as something began to tug at the side of his vision. He'd noticed the flames upon the walls as soon as he'd regained partial focus, even if he hadn't immediately identified them, but the flickering light that greeted him now was different. The colours were colder than those that adourned the chamber, but their warmth was unmistakeable, doing a remarkable job of setting him at ease in spite of the exhaustion, anger and confusion running through his mind; it didn't seem to be purely psychosomatic or palliative either, as he felt a voice reach out to him, words more felt than heard but no less soothing for them as they washed over him. He paused for a moment, allowing his attention to shift slowly from the man in the center of the room to the source of the sensation-

"... Hello?" He offered cautiously to the strange entity floating besides him, trying to keep his expression neutral even as he grappled with both the calming influence of their warmth and his amazement at the sight of what was undeniably a small, fiery ghost wearing a knight's helm.

[Fish of Oblivion]

Dokugumon -> DemiDevimon

Location: Gateway
Skills/items used: None

---

Of the various figures that arrived in the chamber from elsewhere, not all came intact. The humans all appeared safely and in as good health as could be expected: some even better than before! But among the Digimon, it was more of a shot in the dark. One of them arrived in pieces, only pulling themselves together through the influence of their host. Another handful didn't seem to survive the journey, collapsing into forms that could only sustain themselves as they became anchored to one of the humans present.

The shape that dropped into the alcove next to the short, twin-tailed human didn't undergo such a dramatic transformation, if only because what remained after they crashed in with a wordless shout was at least still intelligible as a living being. Their initial form had been among the largest in the vicinity, a great bulky form with horns and eight legs fully filling the space they had been pulled into even as its mass slowly filled in to the wire frame that was attempting to receive it. Even as it finally gave up, skeletal rig contracting into a significantly smaller shape that readily filled with colour and texture, it was still visibly dense; the main body the size of the previous shape's cephalothorax, and larger than any of the human's heads even before one factored in the wings that sprawled out across the dusty floor.

They were quiet for a moment, other than the low grown of pain- or perhaps frustration- that sounded off as they tried to get their bearings. As the others spoke and shouted amongst themselves, they pulled themselves up, sharp talons finding purchase in the cracks of the bricks that made up the floor beneath them. Blinking rapidly, one eye settled half-closed, squinting against the warmth and light as the other shot about the chamber, sharp and appraising. Much like some of the humans, they seemed to be struggling to get their bearings, confused by both their sudden change in shape and their new surroundings. Their gaze passed indifferently over the other Digimon present, regardless of their shapes or states of being; as it swept over the humans, it paused, perhaps a little more interested. Their good eye squinted a little, as if trying to place details they were only faintly able to recall, before-

Their scan of the room stopped dead at the sight of the angel, their eye shooting back open. But rather than the confusion of the humans and the awe of the other Digimon, this was a moment of comprehension that had their one visible pupil narrow in a more intense emotion: and as it tracked quickly from side to side, confirming what it saw-

"HA!" The volume of some of the voices in the chamber had been loud before now, but the barking laughter that came from the creature in the alcove was above any of them; a mixture of mirthful schadenfreude and unbridled anger projecting it clean across the room and back. "I should have known it was you useless fucking assholes the moment I stepped into the light!"

They stepped forward out of the alcove, tucking long, leathery wings away behind them as they stared defiantly up at the angel ahead. The creature- a particularly large and ornery DemiDevimon, by the look of them- seemed to be a little older and more collected than any of the others present besides the angel, judging by the timbre and weathered sound of their voice, and also appeared a little more comprehending of what was going on around them. Though, that didn't seem to be because of any association or amity with their host.

"I knew you chicken-winged wastes of space were getting desperate, but I didn't think you were gonna come to me with your pointy little caps in hand." Rather, it seemed to be something a lot more mundane: good old-fashioned contempt for everything their presence here implied. "What's the matter, Dominimon? Mr Lucky Sevens leaving big shoes to fill after he tripped and fell into the corruption? Need these hairless shits to come and unfuck your mess for you so you don't have to get your pretty little wings dirty? Or did you just hit the communion piss too hard and sit on the emergency button?"

[King Cosmos]

---

Jellymon

---

It took several moments before Jellymon realised, or rather guessed, what had happened to her. It was quite a disorienting experience to suddenly find your entire surroundings replaced in a single instead, as you can expect; for the soft and tranquil sounds of nature to be replaced by the jarring but gentle cacophony of a room occupied by a dozen or more confused individuals, for the bright and cheerful light of the sun to be replaced by the harsh and all-consuming light of... whatever brought her here and to then be plunged into the relative darkness of a room lit only by torches and illuminated glyphs, for the springy carpet of fresh grass to be replaced by the cold, hard stone flooring.

That was not even getting into the moments leading up to the transition; the teleportation itself may have been almost instantaneous, but Jellymon had been looking at the sky at the time and had seen the arc of light crossing the sky, several arcs of light in fact, before one of them suddenly veered down towards her and she experienced the disconcerting sensation of a force hooking onto something non-physical in the centre of her being and yanking.

She felt dizzy, like a sense of vertigo that comes from an unexpected fall or when there is one more step at the bottom of the stairs than you thought, and the amount of new sensations was overwhelming at first. Nonetheless she pushed back up to her feet and crossed her arms across her chest, presenting an appearance of unaffectedness as she regained her bearing and took in the room.

As expected from the noise she was far from the only Digimon present; many were injured, at least one even in the process of regressing to a weaker form and one projected a sense of power even greater almost as strong as that of GrapLeomon. But there were other creatures too; weird bipedal things with long gangly limbs and fur that only covered the top of their heads. Their similar proportions would lead one to think they were all the same kind of Mon, but the differences in appearance meant that couldn’t be the case.

Before Jellymon could puzzle out anything else the large angelic Digimon began to speak, though rather than provide answers they just prompted more questions. Summoned to the Digital World? As in, these strange creatures came from somewhere else?

Jellymon resisted the urge to scratch her head at that. At least there was one thing that she definitely understood; Dominimon called her here because they needed her aid. Ha! Well that she could do. Providing aid and protection was her job after all. Her role in life. Her chest swelled a little at the idea that the world itself recognised her abilities, though she wasn’t too sure about the whole ‘partner’ thing. She worked alone and had done ever since...

She’d worked alone for a while.

It seemed not everyone was a keen to be of help as she was however, and a particularly loud and obnoxious DemiDevimon launched into a rather profanity-filled tirade directed at the angel. Jellymon tried to parse some more information out of what they were saying, but once they’d filtered all the swear words out all they could really conclude was that DemiDevimon definitely knew more than the rest of them seemed to and that they were also a huge jerk.

Turning to the person closest to them, who just happened to be one of those strange new creatures, Jellymon cocked a gelatinous thumb towards the angry devil as asked; “Did you catch what any of that meant?”

[Luluna]

Kimura, ItorI

Location:Gateway

Current Emotions: Confusion, by Extreme amount

---

Itori was basically busy in her room, as she currently sat at the desk reading an action manga idly. It was only three in the evening for her as she looked at the clock on her nightstand next to her idly. The pinkette sighed to herself as she looked back at the comic. She loved the action scenes while reading the Soul Eater Manga; she always wondered how Maka and Soul worked together so well despite their differences. But she looked at the wall, eying the poster that was taken from when she was qualifying for the BMX tournament, it left her thinking back to before the incident, and her now slightly numb limb of her leg, subconsciously touching the brace on her knee at the mere memory of the incident that ended her potential career of becoming a young pro.

She eyed the book, having realized she had finally finished reading Soul Eater Book Seven as she picked it up. Pushing herself off her chair, slightly limping as her healed leg still didn't like responding as well as it used to. Making a somewhat moderately slow and somewhat steady walk towards the bookshelf across the moderately sized room, placing the finished manga in the "finished" section of the bookshelf, and turning at the "Needs to read" section, seeing Katekyo Hitman Reborn, with its first five books, alongside the rest of Soul Eater, Gachiakuta, and Trigun Manga Series. She pulled out book one of Reborn! Manga, as it seems today, was nothing important but to read anyway, as she stepped back from the shelf and to the desk.

But before she could even open any of the books, Fate had another plan for her. The teenager, hearing this static in her ears, as it seemed everything in her vision turned white. It all felt odd, like the weirdest thing to happen to her. As if this wasn't enough of a problem for her, she felt like falling, like actually falling or flying? and with all of this suddenly going on, it was disorienting for her.

All of that was soon gone as the scenery had changed instead of her bedroom, and holding the book she was about to read. She fell onto the ground with a soft plop! like as if she were a rag doll. The pinkette gazes around absentmindedly of the unfamiliar space, where an Angel, Several Smaller creatures that uh kinda look like some animals she knows back home. She didn't exactly know, along the lines of humans here. The other fellow humans seem to be confused about this predicament as well. Itori can only blink twice at the Angel greeting them, and well, his name is Dominimon? Interesting name choice there. She looked at him, saying that it wasn't much time, but she really didn't get what was going on.

She pulled herself off her feet and stood up, and almost fell cause of her leg, but she managed. "I'm alright, Just.... Disoriented." Itori answered as she looked at the Blonde Boy.

It also didn't help with the fact that a Bat, or whatever, was basically saying something very angrily at Dominimon. It left her lost for a moment, but with the Jelly-like creature, who looks like a mascot out of a magical girl anime. And one she dearly wants to hug at the moment, cause of the cuteness factor, who gestured to the bat-thing as she shook her head. "I didn't. I'm as lost as you." Itori piped up.

---

Coltmon

Location: Gateway

Emotion Currently: Annoyance and Pride.

---

Coltmon was supposed to be training right now. He was. It was all to say. Training was the most prominent priority for him, and that was to become as strong as a General as strong as Sleipmon. But the funny thing was that a ball of fire literally appeared from above before crashing down into the ground, revealing the Colt-like digimon on the ground, with him getting up, looking around, confused. He didn't feel the welcoming heat of the outside or the shining rays of the desert sun, nor the sounds of other digimon around who were also training. Instead, there were a variety of digimon, including one that was not too long ago a Dokugumon, and a Digimon that was in literal digital pieces. Then there were the humanoid Digimon, dressed in clothing with fur on their heads, Odd Digimon, per se. His tail and left ear flicked as he looked around before looking at Dominimon whom who introduced himself to the odd group of Digimon.

But before he could say anything, it seemed that Demidevimon had a few colorful choice of words for Dominimon. Must've really disliked that guy, sounds laughable. But this was no laughing matter, him being among some weaklings. Utterly pathetic, and Dominimon had the gall to summon him in the middle of training, absolutely terrible choice for such an angelic Digimon. The Horse Digimon only let out a soft "Tch" with a muttered.

"Ugh… I can smell incompetence." his partially obscured eyes narrowed slightly in disgust at the mere sight of this. Seems like this is going to be fun.

[Forsythe]

---

William S. Harris

Location: Gateway

---

The steady beep of the heartrate monitor was the only thing Bill heard for several days now. This week has been the worst one so far. Normally, he had trouble walking down the hallway before breaking down in a fit of agonizing coughs and wheezes. This week, he couldn't get himself even to the shitter, being reduced to less dignified method of taking care of that. As per usual, his daughter didn't check up on him.

Then it hit. A flash of light. For a moment, Bill thought that the Ruskis have finally sent the nukes. Who in their right mind would drop a nuke on Reading though? Even though the ugly shithole had it coming for decades... he managed to think, before being rattled out of the bed.

Weird. What should have followed the flash of light was the thermal shock incinerating his body and leaving a shadow on the wall, not the shockwave.

Then he slammed into the ground.

Took one breath.

And his eyes opened in surprise, laying eyes on the stone room he found himself in. No pain.

He got up. No pain in the knees either.

In fact, he didn't feel this good in decades. Some of the... kids? That seemed to be around seemed ready to throw up, but he for one wanted to scale a damn mountain, just because seemingly, once more, he could.

Running his hand through his hair, he noticed the short cut and finally looked at his hands.

Young. In uniform. What?

Someone finally spoke up and that was when Bill realized that not all of the people around were actually kids, let alone humans. The angelic figure clearly disproved his initial thesis that he died, because there was no way he was going to heaven. Bill was certain he already had a parking spot reserved in hell, right next to the Devil himself.

The other people and... critters... in the room seemed to be in various states of shock, denial or 'offense taken'. Bill took this in stride. "Way I see it," his voice picked up. Huh. Still his old man voice. "Either this is a hallucination for one or more of us, and nothing we do here matters, or, Mr. Dominimon over there is saying facts, and there is a world that actually needs our help. One that form the name, may just be somewhat tied to ours, and in failing perhaps wreak havoc on our own. Or have you not spared a moment of thought to just where a 'digital world' may be operating? Either way, does any of you pups have something to lose by humoring him?"

He walked forward to stand in front of the angel. "Colonel William Samuel Harris, retired. I will hear you out."

[Forsythe]

---

Location: The Gateway

---

Well, clearly, this was a mistake. Dominimon thought as much when he came here, but the annoying ball of leather and nag was right in one thing. Nothing else was enough, and this was literally the last resort. For good reason, apparently. The damned gateway barely worked as it was, as more of the Digidestined arrived in variously wretched states. Another of the digimon looked like it was on the verge of collapse. Fortunately, it stabilized on its own - Dominimon certainly couldn't prevent another one's data from disappearing thsi soon after the last one. Though the purple lizard thing that came out of it could hardly be called coherent.

The humans did not look much better. One arrived believing herself to be under influence and not in possession of her own faculties. Another one selfishly - and vulgarly - cried out about her own reputation. Next a prancing phony muttered something about incompetence - clearly he has not seen himself in the mirror lately, and one demanded explanation that he just promised to give, not apparently able to keep up. And this lot was supposed to help.

Still, there were some promises. One of the males cared for the others first thing on his mind. For some reason that annoyed Dominimon, like he has seen that type of person before somewhere, but he couldn't argue that it was a mindset he would expect a Digidestined to have. The Jellymon and one of the humans seemed to at least have a neutral attitude for now, and so was the former Cutemon's partner. The one identifying himself with a military rank even tried to speak some sense to the others, thank Yggdrasil.

The little wisp in a helmet was curious. Dominimon has never seen something like that before. It amazed him that this broken world was still capable of giving birth to entirely new things. Perhaps the situation was not as hopeless as he thought yet?

Oh. and then there was her.

He looked down at the ball of snark that seemed to have finished degenerating form a spider like form. A memory surfaced into his mind. "Are you that Arukenimon reject from the boonies which even the corruption does not want to touch? Yes, the situation is rather dire, as I just said. However, we are on the same page in one thing, old hag. Clearly whatever system thought you could be of any help is not working properly."

He then straightened up, looking over the group. "Like I promised, I will explain what you need to know, though there is much to tell, and I believe showing would be better than telling. So, if you please?" He pointed to the entrance theatrically.

Then, he finally answered the first question someone posed that was relevant to the task at hand, as his gaze shifted to Yuki. "That is a spirit totem. When one of our kin dies, they normally move on to a primary village, where they are reborn. However, sometimes, events may prevent this cycle from completing for a while. In this case, I believe this unlucky fellow was supposed to be your partner, and does not wish to move on until you see your task through, one way or the other. It is said that some of you are able to use these spirits to evolve into a form in between. Not quite your kind. Not quite ours."

"I believe more like you are in your ranks, seeing as you outnumber the locals brought here. To the others, the legend of the Digidestined claims that selected Digimon will be partnered up with otherworlders who have the power to grant them fast digivolution to face the threats that plague this world. A Digivice is a symbol of such Digidestined: A Physical manifestation of your bond. I am certain if you search for it, you will find it on you."

[Fish of Oblivion]

DemiDevimon

Location: Gateway
Skills/items used: None

---

"Arukenimon? Please, I ain't that old and busted. I'm just your friendly neighbourhood Dokugumon, trying to spin some coin on her own time." Fortunately, or perhaps frustratingly for Dominimon, DemiDevimon didn't seem put out by his own pointed response to her words. If anything, she seemed heartened by it, cackling viciously: this one definitely seemed to have been taking enthusiastic communion. Seraphimon would have come down with a blue screen of death if he was still around to see and hear one of his flock like this, but at least she was dealing with something a little more tolerable than a milquetoast altar boy. "Or at least I was, before your miserable ass hit the panic button."

She looked back around, taking stock of the others. What an absolute mess of a crew. She remembered the stories of humans passed around in the old Edge City days, the older children telling the young ones tales of beings from another world who'd come and deliver them from their miserable lot in life, beings overflowing with warmth and vitality that dwarfed the meagre fire the storyteller had them huddled around. They'd come threadbare before long, the very real threats of bitter cold, scarcity of food and the retribution aimed at them by the merchants and their guards forcing them to leave those fancies behind for more realistic and tangible solutions; even now, confronted with them manifested into digital reality, 'threadbare' seemed too mild a word for these alleged saviours from beyond the stars. They were strange, ungainly things who seemed more confused by the Digimon than the other way around- whether they had the sense to question or protest the situation or were simply overwhelmed into panic- and frail-looking to boot. A handful of them looked like they might survive for an hour or so out in the wilderness, but more than one of them seemed insubstantial enough that they wouldn't even hit a Fangmon's sides on the way down. Knowing her luck, it was one of those she'd get stuck to.

That wasn't even getting into the other Digimon here. Her circumstances weren't exactly ideal, but reversion was hardly permanent; she could claw her way back to her Adult form before long, with or without being wired up to one of these alleged deliverers. But besides the Jellymon, who seemed to at least have control of her faculties, the others seemed dubious at best. So Lord Third Banana had pulled in some brat who thought they were hot shit, a bundle of junk data that barely seemed conscious of what was going on, some half dead reptile that looked a hair's breadth from making the full transition, not to mention the two who had outright bitten it the moment they landed, and yet she was the big mistake here?

Sure, pal. What a cosmic fucking joke.

"Well, chicken wing boy, you got teeth, I'll give you that." DemiDevimon inhaled deeply, before releasing it in a slow exhale. Getting back as good as she gave had impressed her enough to briefly quell her anger, but it wasn't enough to ease her into the situation, let alone make her happy with it as Dominimon tried to shepherd the gaggle of freaks and geeks he'd assembled along to the next scene he'd planned out. One of the humans, a figure who looked and sounded uncannily like a stretched out Nanimon, seemed to be trying to entertain him, questioning what they had to lose: was it really going to fall to her to talk some sense back into proceedings? "But your sense of propriety is as sorry as I'd expect from a god-botherer. You yank these bozos across worlds to do your job for you, cripple half of us while you're at it and this is how you lead off? Some 'call to heroic destiny' bullshit? Trying to play big shot to a bunch of clueless yokels?"

Well, it wouldn't be the first time.

"Get to the fucking point." Her vocabulary was as lurid as before, but now her tone was pointed and direct. "What do we all get out of this? And don't spout off that canned crap about warm fuzzies and 'doing what needst be done', anyone with working RAM knows that's just an excuse to skip out on your overheads. Are you expecting us to throw ourselves into the Corruption so you can go back to business as normal, or do we actually have anything to look forward to after getting mangled beyond recognition?"

[Psyker Landshark]

Akaishi Azumi

Location: Gateway
Skills/Items Used: None

The crashout lasted only as long as it took for the angel’s voice to book in exasperation. As it turned out, seeing such an exalted figure immediately descend into barbed snipes and high school-level gossip was enough of a shock to the senses for Azumi to get out of her own head and actually start paying attention.

And it was funny as hell. The little bat lady thing was a natural banterer, dropping heat as good as she got. With that kind of presence, she’d be an insane collab partner for stream…if she could stream. Damn. Damndamndamndamn-

Before Azumi could doom spiral again, she forcibly shook herself out of it and decided to distract herself as best as she could: by acting out.

”Aww c’mon, Auntie, you heard the big grumpy angel guy!” She snuck up on the hag-sounding bat sphere thing while it was distracted with banter and wrapped it up in her arms like a plushie. Against its struggles, Azumi began to drag DemiDevimon over in the direction Dominimon pointed, yappering away all the while.

”I mean, it doesn’t hurt to at least hear him out, y’know? Gives us time to think of how to extort him later! Can’t squeeze him for all he’s worth if we don’t know the stakes~”

”This is just like one of my light novels, really. Ooh, does that mean we get cheats? C’mon, c’mon, stop struggling, I wanna find out my cheat skill faster!”

[Fish of Oblivion]

Shogo Tatsugami and Vigilemon

(And a brief appearance from DemiDevimon)

Location: Gateway
Skills/items used: None

---

Collab with @Byte

---

Well, that was... a not-inconsiderable amount of profanity in a very short timeframe. Shogo stared at the strange bat-like creature as the little wisp of flame continued to float around him, the anger that had already been quelled by their calming influence fading further into the background of his mind as he marvelled at their (her? she sounded like a granny) torrent of abuse towards the apparent angel. Despite his prior words he couldn't help but feel a mote of sympathy; he definitely wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that.

Vigilemon’s body flickered into a soft white, awareness. Her body orbited the tall man’s upper half closely, helmet dipped sideways as she turned her attention to the crazy bat lady; now scooped up like some gothic teddy bear. Her eyes blinked once, twice. Then she radiated her warmth more noticeably. "Dangerous?" She seemed to ask.

Shogo watched the wisp's movements carefully, noting her curiosity. It was strange. He didn't really know anything more than he had a few moments prior, but the warmth radiating from her brought an almost supernatural calm that had him at ease in even these apparently alien surroundings. A voice at the back of his head spoke to him to be wary of that, as he should be of anything in the bizarre situation unfolding around him; but if nothing else it did give him a moment of respite to collect his bearings and try and assess the situation from something more than a position of pure panic response.

"I don't think so," he responded cautiously to the question seemingly posed by the wisp's shift in body language, though he himself watched with a jolt of concern as the the short woman he'd briefly snapped at scoop up the bat-like creature, who almost immediately started fighting back against the sudden contact ("Oi, put me down before I bite yer fucking fingers off!").

The flames licked cooler now, the familiar blue hues a trail of thoughts and emotions settling. Vigilemon watched the DemiDevimon closer, because so far that one was the only individual present that had no stake in whatever outcome the world could be shaped in.

Instinct pushed her to float toward the girl holding the plump ball of swears and attitude. Blank eyes somehow darkened and serious, something protective flaring with the sign of potential danger. She dipped close enough her natural heat was felt, yet didn't lash out. Simply watchful, her helmet straighter.

It seemed, however, that for the intense vitriol that had spilled from the creature's mouth just moments before, Vigilemon needn't have worried. Despite the clear power in her frame, the other creature's struggle seemed less passionate than her words, fighting her grip furiously but otherwise seeming to hold herself back from doing anything that would seriously hurt the young woman, limiting herself to trying to wriggle free while her talons seemed more intent to touch the ground than anything else.

The wisp's flame eased, like a set jaw going slack when the other Digimon showed less bite than bark. Vigilemon's body dipped to acknowledge the false alarm with a nod, the wisp's heat not as oppressive now that she had allowed a respectful distance. The helmet flopped lopsided once more, imagined shoulders lowered when she orbited her own human again.

Shogo let himself breathe as well, momentary tension leaving him. He couldn't rule out that the creature's sudden gentleness was, like his own, by dint of Vigilemon's apparent influence rather than pure empathy. But also much like his own, it didn't seem to be an entirely intrusive or involuntary response; perhaps, regardless of anything else, these beings weren't as alien as they appeared. At the very least, if their values weren't entirely dissimilar to humanity, that'd give him something to work with.

The young woman holding the bat-creature begin to speak again. Shogo hadn't really meant to raise his voice at her, and he realized now that it more than likely hadn't served to do much than worsen the already-stressful situation: but he was taken aback by the sudden shift in her demeanour. She was no less loud than before, but now she was significantly more collected, more animated than panicked as she leaned into the creature's own words with her own impenetrable vocabulary to try and take control of the situation. Something about it, about the way she spoke, seemed oddly familiar: had he met her before, somewhere? He didn't recognize her, but that voice and that parlance...

Well, he could worry about that later. For now, like her, Shogo couldn't help but feel like there was something to what the creature in her grasp had said. At the very least, as another apparent native of whatever bizarre world they'd been pulled away to, she appeared to have have a better idea of what was going on than anyone else here besides their host: an impression compounded by how with how confidently and casually she threw his words back at him.

Throwing themselves into the corruption? Getting mangled beyond recognition? That didn't sound very cash money, to borrow the expression. The angel (Dominimon, was it?) seemed earnest, if exasperated, but Shogo could tell when he was being run through a rehearsed script. He didn't know enough to know whether they were being mislead, but Dominimon was clearly banking on them falling in line with his designs now that he'd brought them here; he was willing to bet his presentation of the information was more strategic than objective to that end, however well-intentioned it may be.

He certainly used far too many proper nouns for his liking. God, it was like sophomore year all over again.

The knightly instincts called Vigilemon to action, a yellow glow around her small body projecting her willingness to help in Dominimon's quest. With all her wispy strength she pushed at the tall man’s shoulder with a determined flicker. The helmet’s jagged edges digging firmly, insistent. "Help. Protect."

The wisp gestured to the silver smartwatch with a fading trail of ember, the device's buzz seemingly in rythm to Vigilemon's own flame-like glow. "Together."

... It was difficult not to be immediately taken in by Vigilemon. Setting aside anything else about the wisp, there was a breathless natural charm to her behaviour not dissimilar to an acquaintance's puppy bringing you a favourite toy and pleading one to play with them. Despite what his countenance suggested, Shogo wasn't made of stone; her pleas compounded in his mind that there was more at stake here than pride.

"Look. The phrasing was... less than ideal, let's call it, but what she said wasn't entirely baseless." But he wasn't ready to set aside his qualms just yet. He looked away from Vigilemon, turning his attention fully back to Dominimon; though he offered her the watch-bearing hand, half reflexively and half to assure her he wasn't deaf to her in spite of his words. "Emergency or not, you did bring us here without giving anyone the opportunity to consent. Where we're from, you'd get drowned in an ocean of litigation for significantly less."

"There are things I want to say, but they'd feel half baked after that, so fine. I'll hear you out." He didn't sound as sure of it as the other man who had spoken up had, but it wasn't for a lack of sincerity. He just sounded tired. "I'm not concerned about a reward, but I'm not without duties of my own, so I'd appreciate a honest account of how you expect us to help you: I'm sure that much goes for everyone here."

Vigilemon beamed a bright blue shade, something between emotional warmth and... happiness as she hovered proudly beside her companion's stiff posture like he was leading a presentation and the Digimon acting as his silent moral support glowlight.

In spite of everything else going through his head, Shogo couldn't help but feel the side of his mouth creep up slightly as he looked briefly back to the little wisp. Her energy was certainly infectious: it was only the hard-wired necessity to stand his ground that smoothed it back out as he looked back up to their host. He supposed that just left the matter of...

"Tatsugami Shogo." The other man had thought to introduce himself, so he supposed it was proper. Part of him nagged that naming himself so casually wasn't advisable, but if it helped to ground the others he'd accept the consequences. "I don't know if I'd call it a pleasure, but for now I'll trust you have a good reason for bringing us here."

[Byte]

---

Siobhan O’Riley

Location: Gateway
Skills/items used: None

---

Not a video game, then. Unless everyone here had collectively decided to not know what the fuck was going on. Siobhan decided she’d err on the side of caution, anyway.

Note-to-self: Probably not fake.

Siobhan was fairly entertained that someone else was ripping the faux-prophecy a new one. That it had to be an angry ball of wings, teeth and sailor-slang wasn’t worth wringing hands over. Luckily her hands stopped short of golfclapping.

The grin, though? That one remained.

The Irish lass wasn’t particular about it either way, cynicism demands she points and laughs. Skepticism asked her to bite back the urge to add a seasoning to the angry bat’s rant. Instead her attention angled to the weird device clipped on her belt.

A Digivice, apparently. “Shite name.” Siobhan hummed, accent softened, fingers flexing; her techie mind finding several different ways to streamline the design.

“What’s that?” The display was a writhing of iconography, static and several unknown error messages overlapping on top one another in an OS-style hang that elicited a theatrical, deflated sigh.

The device pinged. Siobhan noticed it timed suspiciously accurately with the twitches of that weird-ass lizard thing on the ground.

- A physical manifestation of your bond.

Another ping, more desperate this time. The creature convulsed. She looked at the device again.

“Feck.”

A single expletive in resignation, and Siobhan didn’t need more than three strides to approach the poor thing. Siobhan had clocked something about broken cycles and death. She wasn’t really listening, but instinct told her it was something to be avoided; and that the purple lizard was on the brink of it.

“Oi, feathershite!” Siobhan gestured vaguely at Dominimon. “What about this lad, then? I think he’s me partner.” She ducked, analyzing the wounds that looked more like digital package loss than bleeding. “Can ye hand me the manual fer ‘m?”

Her device buzzed, now. The error clearly stating something was failing to initiate properly. “Hey there, love. Easy.” Siobhan’s hand hovered awkwardly above the creature, unsure how to proceed.

Or if she could even do anything.

“Right, can ye defrag yer data or somethin’? Boot in safe mode?” Her smile was wry, humour was easier. But somehow she fucking cared if this thing survived.

[Psyker Landshark]

Vemmon

Location: Gateway
Skills/Items Used: None

Even through the haze of pain and recompilation it found itself in, Vemmon was just barely lucid enough to recognize when it was being addressed.

”Guu…” It groaned piteously, this time in analog. ”...query…acknowledge…initializing…status.”

Siobhan’s Digivice would buzz again, this time spitting out what looked to be a diagnostic log on its screen.


BIOLINK ESTABLISHED. LOADING…LOADING…

VEM.MON STATUS:
AUTOREPAIR INCOMPLETE. DEFRAGMENTATION REQUIRED.
ERROR: REPAIR TOOL INACCESSIBLE. SEEK EXTERNAL REPAIR.

Outside the confines of text, Vemmon managed to raise its head, peering at the woman curiously.

”Designation…Vemmon. Requesting…reciprocation…”

[Azure Bubbles]

Location: Gateway
Skills/Items Used: None

Noel winced at the way Dominimon spoke to them. Who knew Angels could be so rude?

Noel’s hand instinctively lifted at Dominimon’s words, fingers brushing over the gold bracelet around his wrist. The familiar feather charms clicked softly together, but the new one. Small, glowing, and still faintly warm, stood out immediately. A spirit totem. He stared at it for a moment, trying to wrap his head around the explanation. A dead Digimon. A partner. A bond. A world in danger.

That was… a lot.

Still, as unsettling as Dominimon’s tone was, Noel found himself focusing less on the angel’s delivery and more on the others around him. Some looked angry. Some looked frightened. Some looked like they were one more bad sentence away from either bolting or throwing hands. Neither seemed ideal.

Noel took a breath. “So this,” he said quietly, lifting his wrist a little, “is the Digivice?” He said softly “And the totem is… supposed to become our partner? Or help us become whatever you meant by ‘in between’?” He paused, looking down at the bracelet again. The tiny charm looked almost delicate against the gold links, which somehow made the whole situation feel even stranger.

Noel glanced around at the others again, lingering on the ones who still looked unsteady. “I think some of us are still trying to catch up,” he said gently. “So if there’s something important we need to know before moving, now would probably help.”

[King Cosmos]

---

Jellymon

---

This was more talking than Jellymon had had to keep track of for a long time. It had been a while since she’d been around so many people all at once and even longer since she’d been around people who had so much to say.

Most of it wasn’t really relevant to her though, so she ignored it. She focused on what Dominimon was saying, because he had the answers to what she wanted to know. Why were they here? He’d said that the Digital World was in grave danger, which was obvious, and that they could help; did that mean stop the Corruption from spreading? Slow it down? Get rid of it entirely? Or what this about a different threat entirely? Either way, he wasn’t sure exactly how the otherworlders, these ‘Digidestined’, were supposed to help with that. A lot of them looked pretty scrawny and useless in a fight, even if they were all a lot taller than her; I mean, she was proof enough that tough things came in small packages, but there was a certain way that people who could handle themselves in a fight held themselves that none of these guys had, except for that Colonel guy.

The girl who grabbed the angry DemiDevimon and the other girl who said all the weird sounding words had some guts too, but that wasn’t the same as what she was talking about.

Apparently partnering with them could help you Digivolve faster? That would help a lot.

Was one of these guys her partner then, or did she not have one? How were you supposed to know which one of these guys was yours? She wasn’t really feeling a pull towards any one in particular. Maybe Dominimon would pair them up later or something.

Keen to get things moving again, Jellymon raised her hand and spoke. “Hey! Bottomline is that we’re here to do something right? Save the world or something? Can we focus on that for now?”

[Forsythe]

---

Location: Gateway

---

Domonimon had to fight the urge to simply pick up the Demidevimon and throw her roughly in the direction of her establishment so she could live out the rest of her drab, wretched life until the corruption came for her too, like she seemed to want. "For you and all of us of a digital nature, there's the small consolation price of still having a world too live in. If that is not enough for you, I don't know what would be. And if that doesn't strike your fancy, I suggest throwing yourself off of a tallest balcony you can find. It's going to be a less ugly death than- Well, that, actually." he pointed to the purple lizard as he walked over from the rude digimon to the - oh what a joy - rude human.

He looked over the form that coalesced into a Vemmon. "There's someone whose bits were probably saved bythe transport. He looks like he came in touch with the corruption himself, but it didn't finish him off." And Dominimon would love to help. However, saving what was left of Yuki's partner has cost him a good deal of energy already. "I cannot stabilize him so soon after the other one. But he can speak. Good. That is a higher function. Plainly speaking, there is more of this one left than there ever was yet to the newborn over there." he pointed in Vigilemon's direction. "If he is your partner, try to find that connection. Lend him your strength." He wished he had better advice, but the Digidestined were a legend carved to the stone of ancient temples. He didn't exactly have a user manual to the power, much as Dominimon wished he had.

Turning back, he spoke to Shogo. He really wished these people just followed him out where he said he would explain more, rather than asking the questions he already promised answers to right now. "The digimon of this city have been trying to contain the corruption. However, while it grows on its own power, we have been mostly just losing our numbers to it and getting none too many new volunteers." He shot an annoyed glance at Demidevimon,finding a bit of joy by her being monhandled by one of the humans for the time being. "It's a war of attrition, and we're losing it. But other than the numbers and, as the legend claims, strength you bring... You may have some knowledge from your world that we lack, or even just a different idea on what to do. A different perspective. We tried everything that was in our power, and it wasn't enough." there was a bit of self disappointed loathing mixed to his overall gloomy tone as he spoke.

---

Yuki

Location: Gateway
Skills/items used: None

---

Oh. The partner she was supposed to have in this place just died. Well, that was blue. I suppose at least I didn't get attached to anyone yet? Silver lining on a grim cloud... Yuki thought morosely, cradling the pink totem in her hand. That was all that was left of her partner.

And supposedly, the totem had the power to make her become something like the creatures she saw around. "That's a bit too close to being a lich for comfort... But if it can help?" she noted flatly. The Colonel guy was right. Whether a dream or a fact, what did she have to lose? She wasn't happy and felt caged by her real life. An adventure in an alien world? Sign her up.

She felt a pang of sorrow as her gaze followed the angel to another digimon that didn't seem long for this world. She didn't wish to see another of their freshly minted rank to vanish. That wasn't how adventures were supposed to start, right? There was supposed to be a tavern, and food, and a handsome stout fighter of a lad or sassy rogue of a lass to be had later in the book!

Right. She should try and heal him! Because... She could... Heal? Time! Time out! Time right out! I can't heal. I can maybe do first aid and not on a... Vemmon, is it? So why do I know for a fact that I can? How do I?

Her gaze ticked down to the silver chain around her neck that she couldn't remember having. Noel pointed out to a similar golden one on his wrist. A digivice? Yuki would have expected it to look... Well, forget 'less analogue', make that 'less like a piece of fancy metal'. And yet, if that was supposed to be her connection to this world... New knowledge seemed to be unpacking in her head as she thought of it.

I see... My partner could heal, and they can give me what power they had... Is it? Yuki quietly stepped up to where the ostentative Irishwoman was fretting over her own partner. "I think... I can help? It's just sort of coming to me, I can't explain it. It's like... Hold o-"

More than knowledge hit her at that moment. The totem in her hand sent a tingle through her arm like an electric fence. Then her world faded to white. From the outside, it was like a personal, opaque snowstorm surrounded her.

She felt like she was, for the lack of a better term, shrinking. Something wrapped around her neck, and pressed against her ears that felt terribly huge and misplaced and just wrong. And to top it off, suddenly she felt like she was inside of an oven.

Then the haze cleared. It didn't hit her until a moment later that she did shrink. That or the rest of the world grew up to be twice its size. With a drawing realization, she raised an arm and looked it.

Pink.

Interesting as... All that... Was, the now much closer sight of Vemmon reminded her of what she was trying to do. "Right. Before I accidentaly undo this just as I accidentally did it." she mumbled, stepping closer and clapping her tiny little pink hands together, acting on what felt like instinct supplied by the change that overcame her.

"Healing glow!"

A faint glow emanated from her hands and washed over the purple lizard. It seemed to stitch together some of the wound looking damage, but it wasn't enough to undo what the corruption did to him, more akin to a cancer than a wound.

A wave of tiredness like Yuki didn't feel since the national championships washed over her as soon as she was done, her legs collapsing under her and landing her on her bum. Another flash of a personal snowstorm later, she was sitting there back in her human self. "...sorry. I don't think I can do that again soon." she said, not knowing whether she was apologizing to the lizard, the irishwoman, or both.

[Byte]

---

Siobhan O’Riley

Location: Gateway
Skills/items used: None
Mentioned:
^{Yuki@Forsythe Vemmon@Psyker Landshark}

---

Well.

That was one way to make a first impression.

Siobhan remained crouched by the Vemmon, one hand hovering uselessly in the air where she’d apparently expected either a user interface or divine intervention to pop up and solve the issue for her. Neither seemed especially forthcoming. Instead, she got an angel with the bedside manner of a tax audit, a collapsing lizard, and a stranger spontaneously turning into what looked like a pink stuffed toy with a medical certification.

“Jaysus, Mary,” she muttered under her breath. Siobhan stared at the Digivice like it had personally insulted her family line.

The buzz in her hand came sharp and sudden, the screen spasming out of useless static just long enough to present what looked, insultingly enough, like an actual diagnostic readout. Her eyes skimmed over it once, then again, brow knitting harder with every line.

BIOLINK ESTABLISHED. LOADING…LOADING…

VEM.MON STATUS:
AUTOREPAIR INCOMPLETE. DEFRAGMENTATION REQUIRED.
ERROR: REPAIR TOOL INACCESSIBLE. SEEK EXTERNAL REPAIR.

Her thumb hovered over the side of the device as though she might find a hidden button labeled fix lad immediately. Naturally, there wasn’t one. Just the ugly little truth of it: whatever bond had apparently been forced online between her and the poor reptilian wreck at her knees, it came with diagnostics but no solution. Of course it fucking didn’t. “Biolink established,” she read under her breath, accent curling around the words with deep suspicion. “Christ, I’ve been bluetooth-paired to a dyin’ lizard.”

Her green eyes tracked Yuki’s transformation with the kind of fixed, brittle concentration usually reserved for system failures moments before something caught fire. The healing itself was enough to make the skepticism in her fold up a little and go sit in the corner. Not enough, clearly, but enough that the thing on the ground still existed afterward.

Which, at this point, counted as a win.

“Easy, love,” she said, the sharpness in her voice sanded down just a notch. “Ye did more than the feathery management team over there seemed able t’do in the last five bloody minutes.”

That said, her gaze slid upward toward Dominimon with open, unimpressed irritation. “An’ fer future reference, ‘find the connection’ is a shite set o’ instructions. Very inspirational, real mystical, absolutely useless under pressure.”

Her fingers tightened around her Digivice. The thing had gone from annoying prop to active participant so quickly she wasn’t sure whether to chuck it off the nearest ledge or ask it politely not to let her weird purple gremlin die. The screen still glitched in uneven static, symbols jumping like a busted terminal trying to render a language pack it didn’t have installed.

“Right,” she said quietly, more to ground herself than anything else. She shifted down properly onto one knee beside him, glasses sliding a little down her nose as she leaned in. One hand still held the Digivice. The other hovered, then settled gingerly against his shoulder once she was reasonably sure he wasn’t going to spontaneously combust under the pressure.

“Vemmon, then,” she glanced once at the screen as though to confirm the machine hadn’t invented him. “I’m Siobhan.” A beat. “Apparently.” There was a faint edge of incredulous laughter in it, but only faint.

She looked back to the diagnostic text and read the lines again, lips thinning. Autorepair incomplete. Defragmentation required. Repair tool inaccessible. Seek external repair. “Brilliant,” she said. “So ye can tell me he’s knackered in five different fonts, but not where t’bring him.”

Still, annoyed as she was, the pieces were beginning to line up in a way she didn’t appreciate. Yuki’s little magical triage stunt had done something. Not enough to cure whatever corruption had chewed through him, but enough to keep him from tipping over the edge. And now her own device was confirming the obvious: he wasn’t fixing himself, and whatever internal tool was meant to do the job either didn’t work or couldn’t be reached from here.

External repair.

Meaning not here. Not now. Not by her.

“Feathers,” she called without looking away from Vemmon, her irritation returning with renewed structure now that it had something useful to cling to. “Since yer mysterious bullshit box ‘ere can at least diagnose him, maybe start speakin’ in actionable nouns.” Shiv’s deflated sigh sounded suspiciously tired of the posturing and grandstanding “External repair where?”

Then she squared her shoulders slightly, hand still on Vemmon, and looked toward Dominimon again with the expression of someone prepared to be very difficult until she got something useful. “Because if this lad’s with me, I’m not sittin’ here waitin’ fer him to blue-screen.”