One Of Those Days (Alicia/Elliot & Isaac) (H Fraction Hunt)

Originally, the Digital World had been little more than a curiosity to Elliot and Isaac. Their three days there were spent dipping in and out, occasionally going on adventures but always retreating to the safety of their home. After last night, however, Isaac knew they couldn't afford to keep doing that. When the danger decided to follow them, bio-emerging in the form of a digital ghost, it brought a shift in priorities with it. What if something even stronger bio-emerged? Or something more malicious? The ghost had the courtesy to be afraid of humans, but future threats may not have been so kind.

That was why, with a brief goodbye to their mother, Elliot and Isaac found themselves on the first Trailmon to the Digital World. It was far earlier than they were used to, but if the adventure wasn't going to wait for them they'd have to keep a step ahead of it.

"Alright! You're okay. I'm okay. We're gonna be trying to do that Digivolving thing so we can get tougher. And if not, at least we'll bump into a bunch of cool stuff along the way," he said, trying to reassure his brother.

"By trying to Digivolve, do you mean just flexing and grunting in your room?" Elliot asked. " 'Cause I'm pretty sure Mom thought you were having night terrors again."

"Better than when you tried spinning," his brother retorted. "I was sure you were gonna hurl all over the carpet."

"At least I would've cleaned it."

"Okay, okay, whatever." Isaac wasn't about to get distracted and miss their Trailmon stop by more brother-banter. "What matters here is that we've got no clue what we're doing, and until we do this place is gonna kick our ass. So it's up to us to get stronger and maybe help keep more people safe. As fun as it was running around and taunting a ghost, we can't just keep messing around like that every day." That didn't stop Isaac from grinning fondly at the memory, of course.

"Yeah, and how else are you gonna protect Mai-"

"Sssh! We're not having this conversation again."

Thankfully, before Elliot could get back to gently teasing his brother, the Trailmon came to a stop. They usually got pretty antsy if people stayed inside for too long, so the two made sure to leave as soon as possible. It was pretty standard by Trailmon Terminal standards, in that they could barely hear themselves think over all the noise, hustle, and bustle. In particular, however, the shout of one woman stood out. It was immediately apparent that she was having a bad day, judging by how her despaired groan bounced through the walls of the station.

The two brothers looked at each other, Elliot motioning his head over to the source of the noise. At first Isaac rolled his eyes, but after a stern look from his brother he gave a reluctant nod of approval. The two brothers began to make their way over to the woman, Elliot calling out "Excuse me, Miss? Are you okay?"

Of course, they weren't the only ones in the area. While in most circumstances, a Mekanorimon hiding behind a pillar would seem like an incredibly obvious eavesdrop, anything was possible in the Trailmon Terminal. When you've seen Megidramon squeezing onto a train and taking up half the space inside, it becomes way harder to discount anything as suspicious. Beyond the monocle draped over its eye and the custom-tinted passenger window, the Mekanorimon looked like a perfectly-normal deactivated machine. Surely it was nothing. Maybe just an abandoned walking aid for a particularly fancy Koromon.

The two brothers paused to look at each other, somewhat confused at the girl's immensely quick deduction skills. They had a quick conference in hushed, English whispers, reverting back to their home language for the ease of communication.

"How did she know that? We're not that obvious, are we?"

"Maybe she detected us on her Digivice too?"

"If that's how it worked we'd have a way easier time meeting new friends."

"We don't have any leftovers from our transformations, right?"

"Now that's just being silly. There's no way we could blend in if that was the case."

"She seems smart. Come on, you don't always have to be suspicious."

"After the Black Knight answered us asking for directions by trying to spear us?"

They could go back and forth all day about this, but if that was the case nothing would get done. Elliot coughed and turned back to the girl, holding up his own Digivice proudly.
"Yep!" he merrily chirped. "I only have one so far, but I am sure if I try my brother and I can help you.

My name is Elliot, by the way. It is very nice to meet you!"

"And I am Isaac," the other boy said, reluctantly holding up his own Digivice. Judging by the V on one and the smiley face on the other, their first forms probably seemed quite apparent. He took a closer look at the Digivice, his brow furrowing when he noticed the dot being right by the Trailmon track. That was quite a conundrum.

Maybe they could ask the train nicely? No, they got pretty frustrated when people tried to interrupt their route. If they had a bad day, one might have even sped up just to spite them.

"Do you know where on the track it is? Or just the general area?" Location made the difference between a quick dash across the tracks and the horrible tedium of trying to pry a wall open.

The Mekanorimon's eye seemed to flicker open as the trio continued talking. As much as it wanted to continue eavesdropping, following the group would only make them more suspicious. Instead it waited for them to move, holding as still as a statue until then.

The two brothers sighed in mutual relief. They hated having to speak in stilted, awkward Japanese, and whenever they got to slip back into their native tongue it took a lot of language stress off of her shoulders. Sure, it would make it harder for them to learn the language, but it wasn't like they would be staying in Japan for too long. They were already about halfway done with their vacation.

Besides, there was no flaw with her deduction. The boys never really thought about how the train station worked before, but knowing that made their spill into the trash all more convenient. Sure, it smelled bad and lead to the start of a very stressful day, but it was also apparently the only way to kick off their little adventure. Maybe it really was a good fate that shot them down this road after all.

"High up?" Elliot asked for confirmation. His eyes sparked as he started to come up with an idea. "Isaac, you can fly, right?"

"Not very well. I'd probably have to make a few passes to try and grab after it," he responded hesitantly. "You sure I wouldn't get hit by a train?"

That was a good point. Trains were tall and fast. If he wasn't careful, he'd get clobbered big-time trying to grab for the fragment. "Oh goodness, no. I think Alicia's idea is better, then."

"Then it's settled! Time to catch a ride, guys," Isaac finished, waiting for the train to pull up to the stop.

Unfortunately for the Mekanorimon, that meant the group wouldn't be moving anytime soon. The machine's joints were starting to get sore from the uncomfortable position it was left squatting in. A gentle scribbling noise could be heard from within the dome, as if something was taking a lot of notes about the situation. Occasionally its eye swiveled a little to the side, watching out for the train. It wasn't sure if it would be able to stealthily board after the group, but Trailmon had many doors. Surely it'd be able to sneak in from a little further down the stop, right?

"Aye aye, cap'n!"

"You can count on us."

The two brothers nodded and moved to each side of the train. Elliot took the side facing the tunnel, so he could immediately focus on looking for the spirit without anybody distracting him. After all, it wasn't like he planned on getting off anytime soon. He needed to keep his ears free of distracting chit-chat, and his eyes on the spirit instead of on the many colorful creatures that made up the Digital World's population. In his mind, he couldn't be efficient enough to notice such a tiny spirit unless he shut out any distraction.

To Isaac, who had taken the passenger side, the distraction was the whole point. The Digital World was full of people, both harmful and helpful. Of course Alicia wasn't going to expect them to see a tiny spirit from inside a fast moving Trailmon. That'd be silly! No, she wanted the boys to help be her eyes and ears, and pinpoint anybody that wished to do them harm. When your average, peaceful citizen had the strength of a prospective bodybuilder and was armed with the equivalent of a flamethrower inside their mouth, you needed to be wary of those that did have evil intentions. He kept his eye firmly on the crowd, looking for any suspicious characters.

There were a few of them of particular interest. Well, besides a passing Betsumon. Isaac didn't even want to acknowledge that thing. One was a SkullMeramon with a big, billowing trenchcoat, who had formed the fire atop his head into a flickering fedora. He looked like a biker and a hardboiled detective did the fusion dance. Another was a Mekanorimon, with a suspiciously tinted window and a strange monocle upon it's singular eye. A third had already boarded, and looked almost like a human silhouette sunken within a pile of rags. Unless Isaac wanted to start peeling away at the rags, he had no clue what sort of Digimon was even buried beneath them. A group of Roachmon, making a ton of noise and shooting Isaac cruel grins as they passed, looked especially suspect. A final noteworthy individual was a Pipismon, leering at passengers from above as he swooped for the ceiling of the Trailmon in hopes of using it as a perch. He took note of these and turned to focus on his seat, not wanting his cursory glance to be seen as suspicious by any outside observers.

The Mekanorimon settled into a seat far in the back of the Trailmon, looking a little silly crammed into one of the smaller chairs. Generally, bigger Digimon took the larger seats, but the Trailmon was filling up fast and he wasn't too picky. He twiddled his thumbs somewhat awkwardly, letting out a tiny whisper as he tried to squeeze into his seat. "You sure this is a good idea, Ulysses?" he asked, seemingly to nobody.

A slight chuckle came from beneath the tinted glass dome. "Are you doubting me, Ferrus?" he asked, a sharp, inquisitive edge to his voice. "Sure, our first plan fell through, but if we nab a one-of-a-kind artifact? The Academy will have to acknowledge us! And you know what that means, I trust?"

"We finally get a hot tub?"

Ulysses scoffed at the idea, voice raising slightly until he remembered that subtlety was the key. "And ruin my robes? Pah. Maybe a hot tub full of bits. Now that's a nice vision, ain't it? All we gotta do is grab the artifact, modify you into a kickass new form, and then-"

"Pass me off as your own invention?"

"It's like you're reading my mind."

At the sound of the girl shouting "Found it," Ferrus' eye flashed. The Mekanorimon had photographed the area around it at the second of the sound, and the sound of something being printed buzzed through the air. With a soft chuckle, the mechanical menace planned to get off at the next spot, now fully sure in his knowledge of where to go. "Easy." he whispered to himself.

"But must we be the ones to work for it, Ferrus?" asked Ulysses. "Surely if our brilliant new friends found it, they can be the ones to procure it. Then we, how do you say, lighten the burden off of them?

No, no, you don't need to say anything. I know I'm brilliant. That's why I'm the one with the degree." With that, the Mekanorimon shuffled back into position, a little antsy now that it would have to start watching for stops.

Both Isaac and Elliot looked dismayed to hear how deep in the ceiling it was embedded. That was crazy! How were they supposed to reach that? Elliot in particular seemed dismayed. Veemon wasn't the best Digimon for this situation at all. He was short, stumpy, and only good in close quarters. A high in the air target like this would just defy him as he meekly hopped up and down to try and reach it. Isaac, on the other hand, found the gears in his head starting to turn. Unlike Elliot, he could fly and blow stuff up. Ceilings were part of stuff. It'd certainly get past the whole deeply embedded thing, that's for sure. "I could always shift into Impmon and blast it out. So long as I'm not in the path of a moving train, it'll be a snap."

Elliot, on the other hand, looked a little concerned. "I don't think people'd take kindly to you blowing things up in the train station. They'd call the digi-cops on you, probably. There has to be some way we can get it out carefully, right?"

Expectant looks fell on Alicia.

Isaac blinked in surprise as Alicia went from 0 to 100 in seconds flat. It sounded like her plan was pretty ironclad, but only on the longshot condition that his flight would work. And the whole 100 pounds of metal thing had him worried, considering Impmon was a rather short form.

The entire success or failure of this spirit hunt fell solely on his shoulders. It was no big deal, really!

"It's magic," he started to explain. "It only works on myself, but usually I can stay in the air for a pretty long while using it. I've never tried lifting that much before, though. Can't imagine I'd be able to hold the spell for more than a single pass upward in that case. We can try, but I'm going to warn you, it might end up flubbing on us."

Elliot just kind of kept quiet, looking down at his feet. He felt pretty useless here, and was starting to worry that he'd just be a third body to have to account for in the train station. Would he just end up dragging everyone else down by sticking around? They'd be getting off the train soon, and he almost hoped that the others would have a role in mind for him by the time they got off. What could he even do, otherwise?

Ferrus was very casually reading a newspaper. Very, very casually. So casually that he was holding it up to his dome instead of up to his eye.

"Pah! A rubbish rag!" Ulysses sneered, scoffing at the various tabloid headlines coming to mind. Who cared about PileVolcamon losing his championship bout to Regulumon? What did they ever contribute to society? Far less than his genius, that was for sure.

Well, once he had a chance to apply his genius.

"I don't know how much juice it'll take out of me, but I'm sure I'll be ready for action before the next train comes," Isaac replied. "Of course, it'll probably also make people suspicious why I'm trying to drag around some metal dragon. I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to start some kind of fight." The gang of Roachmon had disembarked with them, and as they continued jostling and taunting each other they looked as belligerent as ever. Would they take such practice as an excuse for starting a fight?

Elliot, on the other hand, cheered up massively at Alicia's reassurance. She was right, too. Veemon was small, yet quite the strong form. He could easily catch at least one of the duo if something went wrong. Besides, everybody needed a lookout! He smiled warmly at the girl, a great burden lifted off of his shoulders by her reassurances. "I'll do my best!" he said, turning to Isaac for help. The older brother began turning to the various suspicious characters he saw getting on the train. Only the Skullmeramon and Roachmon had seemed to get off on the same stop, so those were tje ones he advised Elliot keep an eye out for.

"Alright, ready? And don't forget pizza toppings!" The two held up their Digivices and were promptly bathed in a white light. Occasionally the lights tried to spill into each other, but flickered away as if repelled. If their thoughts weren't in sync, the spirits weren't either, so there was no risk of accidentally forming VictoryImpmon. The two distinct shapes of Veemon and Impmon appeared instead, making the boys even shorter compared to Alicia. They nodded, ready to act when she was.

What of Ferrus and his unseen master? The two were confident enough in their literal photographic memory to bother getting off at the current stop. "Those fools will never expect us now, Ferrus. Who would think we'd come all the way from the next stop? It's genius, I say! Of course, so is everything else I do." It wasa good thing he was inside the Mekanorimon, and couldn't see it rolling its eye in response.