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An Appreciation of the Classics (Ari)
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Post by supesman on Dec 30, 2021 18:02:59 GMT
Thunk... thunk... THUNK. The sound of rocks bouncing off the metal side door of a large warehouse echoed gently along the city streets. The stylized face of a rabbit marking the place as a gang hideout. Whoever it was that happened to be bouncing rocks off of that particular door was either too stupid to know better or just stupid enough to know EXACTLY what he was doing.
One could argue that Zack fits both descriptions.
"HEY! What's the big idea?!" A pair of Lopmon guards shouted out into the side alleyway as they threw the door open after a long pattern of shifting and clicking locks. They both paused upon see the Stingmon that was towering over them, cracking her neck with her arms crossed over her chest. Her crimson glare met both of theirs and they swallowed hard.
"Hi there~" She said, seemingly relishing in the fear and surprise of the pair as they tried to slam the door shut and gun it for the hills. Marigold caught them both by their ears as they began to turn, swinging them around and around, yelping, like bolas in either hand before slamming their faces together in a hard crash of their weight and momentum. Leaving them both seeing stars before they blacked out and got tossed over her shoulders into a pile of black bagged garbage. "Alright, dad. Should be clear for now." She said, shrinking down to her smaller Fanbeemon form.
"Good work sweetheart, I think I felt MY teeth rattle from that one." He said, taking a rock to prop open the formerly locked door, staring out into a long dark section of the warehouse. All of the living quarters and storage areas that the gang had set in were several hundred yards down on the far wall, meaning that the two sentries guarding the locked door were the only line of defense for this chink in the proverbial armor.
"What can I say? I'm a weapon of mass destruction. Doesn't hurt that I'm cute as a button either." She said, batting her eyelids up at her father. Able to feel the smile underneath his custom motorcycle helmet even if she didn't need to see it.
"Locals say that there's something shady moving in and out of this warehouse at night. Nobody's yet seen what exactly. They move them in and out in heavy boxes at dawn. Last the locals checked, boxes aren't supposed to shout and struggle the way these ones have...if I had to hazard a guess, we'll hit pay dirt over there." he said, taking cover with Marigold behind the boxes to one wall and peaking out to get a look at a massive chain link fenced area taking up one corner of the warehouse directly under the watchful eye of the large penthouse constructed into the upper section of the warehouse. They hadn't realized or thought about the door still being open behind them.
"Whoever the big boss is will be watching the merchandise from that window. Getting in or out without starting a fight is gonna be almost impossible."
"Who said anything about not starting a fight?"
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on Dec 30, 2021 19:57:20 GMT
An exposition-filled
entrance, yo!
Honoka & Naoki | Zack & Marigold
"And what exactly are we planning on doing here?"
A pair of teenaged humans quickly entered the alley, a girl and a boy. The boy was dressed in a navy-blue dress shirt and a pair of cargo pants. A baseball cap of some digital symbol the boy didn't recognize covered his light blue hair, and he looked as if he were just on a midnight stroll through Terminus.
The girl on the other hand, was a tad bit conspicuous in her inconspicuousness. Black turtleneck sweater and gloves, black yoga pants and heavy boots, and a ski cap to boot, covering her magenta hair that had balled up underneath. As they walked, the boy tried to gradually slow his pace, as to put as much distance between himself and the black-clad girl.
The girl looked over towards the boy, looking around nervously for about the 87th time. They were speaking in whispers, though they were still noticeable in the relative quiet moments. "I just heard some rumors about this place from an old friend of mine. And I told him that I'd look into it."
"And you happen to have friends related to... the trafficking business?" The boy asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow. "And you give me shit about the friends I hang out with?"
But instead of giving into the boy's obvious bait, the girl rubbed her wrists. Even underneath her sleeves, there weren't any scars anymore, but even so, the girl could remember the cold iron bands that had once clamped over them. "It's a long story," She answered before shaking off the chill. "What's important is that we take a look at what's going on."
The boy scowled for a second in thought before saying, "And why isn't Ms. Goodie-Two-Shoes just doing the 'responsible thing' and leaving it to the cops?"
"I... If it's only rumors, then they might not take it seriously," the girl answered. "And besides, the rumors might be false, and if they are, I don't want to waste their time. So I wanted to get a look for myself, maybe... grab some evidence or something."
"So you wanna break into someone else's property, maybe steal something of theirs, and then go to the police with what you've stolen," The boy summarized, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.
"Only if they're doing something bad!" the girl responded. "If we don't find anything, we'll just leave!"
"Okay... and why am I here, exactly?"
"Because I wanted someone to be a lookout... or something," She answered. "And you've done this kind of stuff before, haven't you? So you can help me on this!"
"What kind of shit do you think I..." The boy let out an annoyed groan before he finished.
"I know this plan is kind of... incomplete, but if the rumors are true, then the longer we wait, the more harm is done! I know I'm not good at this kind of stuff, which is why I need your help! You know I wouldn't have dragged you into this if I thought I could do it on my own! Please!"
The boy sighed. "Fine... but the instant things look dicey we're leaving, even if I have to drag you out myself. I don't care if there's a dozen orphans dangling over a vat of acid while the villains are twirling their mustaches. I don't wanna explain to dad that I let my baby sister get herself hurt or killed just because she wanted to play hero for a day. Damned kids can melt for all I care..."
The siblings moved forward, only to find the warehouse door propped open. "Wow. What amazing security. Criminal masterminds, to be sure," The siblings proceeded to open up the doorway, pretty much announcing their presence to anyone still conscious within.
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Post by supesman on Dec 31, 2021 14:27:26 GMT
From the open doorway the pair would be more than able to see Zack and Marigold huddled behind the tower of boxes peeking out over the edge to see who else was on patrol. They had just about waited past one of the patrols when the pair of kids stumbled through the open door. Zack's hands shot out, grabbing them both by the arm and tugging them down into their hiding place.
"You two wanna explain what the hell you think you're doing?!" he said in an exasperated whisper harsh enough to strip paint of the edge of a ship's hull. "Do you kids make a habit of just wandering into any open doors you find in the bad part of town?" He said, for a moment not realizing he was basically hissing at them from behind a faceless helmet probably scaring the kids half to death in the process as Marigold scanned out between two stacks of boxes. The guard who was making rounds of the open floor seemed to be mostly out of it, probably daydreaming from the monotony of what he'd been doing for god knows how long. it had given them enough leeway for him not to spot the pair out of the corner of his eye before they had been yanked behind the box tower.
"Don't lose your head, if we blow it now we have no idea who might end up getting hurt in the crossfire. I'd bet my left wing that the victims are in that caged area over there and we have to give them a way out before we start blowing the lid off this place." Marigold said, distinctly professional in her approach. The masked man and his digimon partner seemed to be a little more dedicated to this than the pair who had argued about it so much on the way here, not that their new "partners" could know about that. Zack pantomimed pinching the bridge of his nose over his helmet.
"You two." He said, looking at them very sharply. "There's still time to leave while his back is turned. If you've got any doubts about the fight on your hands then you'd better bolt now and rest assured that the issue is in good hands. If that fails to spook you...we can always use more hands. Keep your heads down and we'll wait until the guard comes back around. We have to grab him when his route takes him out of sight of THAT window." Zack pointed a bronze gloved hand up toward the large enclosed balcony of the custom made penthouse taking up most of the upper floor of the warehouse. "Our best guess is that the head honchos are keeping watch from up there and we need to at least pop the door on that cage before we start that kind of fight. Last thing we need is the people already in this garbage to get pulverized by a stray shot." He looked over the boxes again, the wide, roughly circular route of the patrolling guard looping back toward them with heavy, bored shuffling. "Once we grab him and bonk him on the head just gun it along the wall underneath the window, stay in the window's blind spot and we should make it across the floor before anyone starts to notice he hasn't stepped back out. I'd bet you money that there's someone guarding the cage itself but we'll burn that bridge when we come to it. Any questions?" He said, turning to the pair half expecting to see them gone out into the night again. If they'd had any good sense that's exactly what they would have done but then again when is Zack the one to lecture anyone else on the nature of good sense.
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on Dec 31, 2021 19:09:40 GMT
An Appreciation of the
classics
Honoka & Naoki | Zack & Marigold
A man lurking in the shadows when the pair had just entered was sure enough to take anyone by surprise! And yet, at the last second, both kids noticed the figure trying to grab them. They both moved to push each other away, their efforts effectively canceling each other out. The girl let out a scream which she quickly stifled as she covered her mouth as she got a better look at her assailant.
The boy, on the other hand, instinctively threw a punch to the side of the guy's helmet-covered-head. After his attack went in vain, and they received a quick lecture from the main, he rolled his eyes as he got a better look at him. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me..." He groaned, shaking his head at the ridiculousness of the man in front of him. "Freaking Digital World and its freaking weird-ass people..."
The girl seemed to be more receptive to the costumed stranger, however. Though she didn't seem particularly thrilled about getting lectured. "And do you have a habit of breaking into places in the bad part of town?" She asked rhetorically. "My name is Honoka, and this is my brother Naoki. We're just looking because we heard some nasty rumors and we needed to see it for ourselves."
"Why would you offer up our names when we're in the middle of a..." Naoki began, shaking his head and placing his hand on his sister's shoulder. "But it looks like we're not needed here. So let's go home, get some sleep, and read about what a great hero Crazy Biker Man is in tomorrow's paper!"
Honoka shook off her brother's hand and instead gave Zack a polite bow, however. "We won't be leaving, but you were here first, so we'll go along with what you recommend. Please take good care of us."
Zack laid out his plan while Honoka listened attentively and nodded, while Naoki shook his head and kept himself from groaning again. Afterwards Honoka added, "My brother and I are both spirit-users. I'm confident I can beat any Digimon in a one-on-one fight, but my forms and abilities are a bit..." Full of the power of sunshine, rainbows, and song, but that was a bit embarrassing to say aloud! "...flashy. Once I evolve, stealth won't be an option, anymore."
Meanwhile, Naoki just gave Zack and Marigold a begrudging nod and thumbs-up. "Let's just get this over with..." He sighed. |
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Post by supesman on Jan 1, 2022 15:30:31 GMT
The thrown punch bounced off the side of the custom motorcycle helmet with a hollow and rattling sound. Zack just sort of looked at the boy in front of him, the slow and sarcastic blinking was easy to guess even though it couldn't be seen, broadcasting the range of snarky responses flitting past Zack's mind before he actually settled on one.
"You uhh...you decided to go for the face against the gun in the motorcycle helmet, yea?" He asked, stifling a little laugh and shaking his head. "I'm the Digi-Rider. Real names can wait until after we're out of all possible ear shots. What with all the rabbits about you never know when we might be overheard. Also yes, young lady, I DO have a habit of breaking and entering on the bad side of town. Or did the get up not get the idea of "vigilante" across?" He chuckled good naturedly, shaking his head as Marigold kept one eye peering out between the cracks in the crates as the guard made his long round along the perimeter of the warehouse space.
"Never simple with you, dad. NEVER simple. Even when I come up with an actual plan after days of staking the place out something always lands in our lap. There's ALWAYS something-" She was cut off in the middle of her throat by one of the lopmon guards, the one she was supposed to have been watching peering behind the boxes, catching the huddled crew in the spread of his flashlight like deer in the headlights. "Oh son of a-!" She reached out before the guard could shout anything resembling words, just a yelp as she wrapped her legs around his shoulders and headbutted the tiny rabbit with the golden exoskeletal head, making her wince as the impact left her head ringing.
"Alright folks let's keep it going, first casualty of any battle is the plan, after all." He said, gesturing for the pair to follow him and Marigold out from behind the stack of crates. Zack and Marigold pressed themselves against the wall underneath the massive penthouse window, scooting along with wide sidesteps as they tried to keep themselves under wraps. Not because they wanted to avoid a fight but mostly because they wanted to start the real fight AFTER the prisoners and victims were out of harms way.
"Plan's not dead yet we just have to...you have GOT to be kidding me." She paused upon seeing no less than a half a dozen Wendimon circled around the fenced in area, standing guard around the huddled mass of digimon prisoners.
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on Jan 1, 2022 17:43:32 GMT
An Appreciation of the
classics
Honoka & Naoki | Zack & Marigold
Naoki gave the vigilante a rude hand gesture before saying, "Hitting you upside was just a reflex, so lay off."
Honoka wanted to get into why punching someone was the first thing Naoki wanted to do, but there were more pressing matters at hand, weren't there? Like... getting discovered by a guard! Thankfully, Marigold was able to dispatch them with relative easy, though headbutting a creature with three horns probably came at a price for the poor insect.
The pair followed Zack and Marigold, actually staying quiet and not bickering, which was a definite plus, though Honoka knew that her brother was most definitely finding something to complain about later.
Unfortunately, their plan seemed to come to a halt as they saw the large number of adult-level guards surrounding the captives, trapped inside of a fence. If it were a couple, Honoka would have no doubt been able to take care of them herself, but that many... well... she probably could still take care of them with her Beast Spirits, but not the captives paying the price, so that was off the table. She wasn't quite comfortable using them for anything but raw destruction.
Meanwhile, Naoki grunted as he whispered as low as he could. "So, you got a plan for this, Mr. Man?" He asked the helmeted vigilante. However, Honoka spoke up, instead.
"If we get someone to be a diversion, then the other three can probably take care of whoever's left," Honoka suggested. "I can try and get their attention while-"
"Or I can start setting things on fire, cause a panic and maybe get some of them to run for help, and some others to try and put things out," Naoki interrupted. "Plenty of dust and wooden crates here. I'm sure I can find plenty of things that'll burn if I just apply myself. Warehouse is far enough from anything that there probably won't be any other collateral damage. Besides, I ain't exactly scared of torching any side projects these guys have going on."
"If someone else can deal with the remaining guards, I'm confident that I can get all the captives out, all at once. But if I'm under attack it would put them all at risk," Honoka continued.
"Or we can just take em' head-on, 4v6!" Naoki added, half-joking. "I'm sure that helmet will stop an attack or two, at least long enough for everyone else to take their opponents down!"
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Post by supesman on Jan 2, 2022 16:13:57 GMT
"I appreciate that you both are being so present and helpful. I just want to ALSO point out that starting a uncontrollable fire when the people we want to rescue are locked into a small area is probably not the best idea that's ever been had." He said, conjuring up images of an after effect where the victims are locked inside of that small area while the flames spread. "Damn it, damn it." he rolled his hand down his covered face and looked out over the mob of Wendimon. If they started a row out here then it would absoulutley get the attention of the bosses upstairs which would only make the fight even more complicated. "Honoka if you're SURE you can get the captives clear, one hundred percent, if we keep them off of your then that's going to have to be our lifeline. Especially because the second we start this plan there's going to be no turning back. There's no way to take out so many grown up digimon in a ring around each other without turning this into a big enough deal to get the attention of whoever is watching from up there. Last chance folks, door's still open." he said, looking deep into the eyes of the pair as they considered their options. he was not going to be responsible for dragging them along if they weren't one hundred percent on board, hell or high water.
Marigold seemed to be lost in her own head for a long moment, considering the digimon, mostly Rookie's barely grown up enough to be by themselves let alone trapped like this. She silently boiled, her eyes focusing on the injustice at hand. She knew what it was like for bigger Digimon to take advantage of the small, the weak, the helpless.
"Dad...if you guys need a distraction. I think Naoki and I can cover it." She said, a small buzz in her wings as she looked at the mob in front of her with something at once cold and driven in her eyes.
"Marigold...by yourself?" He said, taken aback. She hardly did anything independently as a baseline, let along doing anything by herself when they were out and about on their "activities".
"You need to help Honoka get that fence open and run interference if they try to chase her. Besides the fact that I feel like knocking some heads together." She growled, looking up at Naoki to see if he was in for the instantly dangerous ride that would start the second they stepped into line of sight of the guards.
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on Jan 3, 2022 1:44:09 GMT
An Appreciation of the
classics
Honoka & Naoki | Zack & Marigold
Naoki's lips pursed up into a scowl when Zack shot his idea down. "You're making a lot of assumptions here, helmet. I never said anything about letting the fire run wild. Give me some credit here!"
Thankfully, Honoka had the sense to push her brother back from his petulant protest. "We'll shelf your arson idea for another time, let's just go with Digi-Rider's ideas for the time being. He got here before we did, so that's probably like... a vigilante rule or something." Otherwise characters start fighting for no reason other than fanservice, the bad guys take advantage of their conflict to get the upper hand, then the vigilante crossover pair put aside their differences to take them down. A tried-and-true formula, to be sure, but this was real life, so it was better to skip that middle segment, no?
Naoki grumbled his reluctant acceptance, and the plan progressed. Honoka nodded in affirmation that she was sure that she could get the captives out. "It will be easier if they all knew how to swim, but I can manage, regardless," She stated. "But things will get... noisy once I start, so the farther away the enemies are, the better."
As for Marigold's suggestion of her and Naoki distracting the six guards? "Yeah, I can go with that. Even if I can't take them all down, I can keep them busy enough while they're all beating the crap out of me." A brutally honest answer, and one Honoka didn't like.
"Maybe that's a little too dangerous, then," She protested. "I don't like-"
"You don't like it because you get jealous every time someone other than you gets to put their life at risk," Naoki interrupted, tapping his knuckle on the girl's forehead as if he were knocking on a door. "We'll be working to make sure you don't get yourself killed before you can rescue the captives, so if you really wanna be little miss hero complex, save 'em quick and come back for us," Naoki stifled a mocking laugh as Honoka glowered at her brother.
Meanwhile, it was time for Honoka to get ready. She held up a finger to Zack. "Umm... pardon me. I need to... get in touch with someone..." She said, not quite sure how to explain the voices in her head. "Lala? I'm gonna need you for this one!" There was some silence before, "I know that you're nervous, but you're the best person for the job." Another pause. "I... don't think singing will help, no..."
Meanwhile, Naoki tried to explain things. "Dont mind her. Supposedly, her spirits live as voices in her head. My spirit doesn't talk to me, though, so... Maybe she's just crazy. You and her should hang out sometime! I bet you guys have a lot in common!" Then to Marigold, "So... how do you wanna do this? We just gonna be obnoxious, slap our asses and mock them, or are we kicking 'em in the nuts and running?" |
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Post by supesman on Jan 3, 2022 15:48:46 GMT
"Swim? What the hell are you even...you know what, doesn't matter. If you're sure you can get it done, then I trust you. You wouldn't have been snooping around here in the first place if you didn't want to get some good done in the end." He said, wanting to give the young pair the credit that they were due. No matter how much he and Naoki seemed to clash they were ultimately all on the same side when it came down to the wire and that was what mattered more than anything.
"Part of the hero gig is making yourself too loud and obnoxious for the bad guys to focus on anything else. There's a reason the famous ones have targets on their chests." She said, reaching up to tap her father on the center of his chest as she tried to encourage Naoki to be brave despite the long odds. "As for the methods? The second we both Digivolve we're going to barrel out like our asses are on fire. Start throwing cheap shots, tossing heavy objects, cracking a-holes against walls, whatever we can think of just to make sure that they're paying as much attention to us as we can manage. I'm not gonna lie to you, we're both gonna be walking out of here with black eyes and bruised ribs and that's if we're SUPREMELY lucky." She said, speaking with a mix of arrogant confidence and grave reality that were endemic to her reflection of her father's methods.
"You know. Sometimes your child just says something right out of the blue that makes you so proud." he said, placing one hand against his chest, placing a fake crack in his voice and miming wiping a tear from his cheek. Marigold rightly smacked him upside the back of his head, making a dull THUNK from the forward jerking of his helmet. "And you're absoulutley right about us having something in common, Naoki. I mean you think I lack so much self awareness that I can see myself like this in the mirror and somehow not realize how crazy I am? I'm just owning it at this point." He said, grinning at Naoki, obfuscating the stress of a dawning fight with bad humor. he was cut off by Marigold reaching around him and pulling him into a hug. he returned the hug tightly.
"Come home, dad." She said, solemnly. The unspoken and preemptive goodbye, as if halfway bracing for the worst possible outcome was obvious in her voice.
"I promised that I'd never lead you alone. I don't break promises." he said, trying to reassure himself as much as he was trying to reassure her. Staring right into the hero's idea that sometimes your number just gets called.
"Hey uglies!" Marigold said, darting away from their shared hiding spot, hopefully with Naoki right behind her as she digivolved from FanBeemon to Stingmon. "Go fetch!" She taunted, grabbing up twin boxes of whatever the warehouse was used for storing and tossing them into the bewildered faces of her jump scared foes.
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on Jan 4, 2022 2:13:12 GMT
An Appreciation of the
classics
Honoka & Naoki | Zack & Marigold
The siblings nodded to one another in a grim understanding of what must be done. Honoka didn't want to leave her brother to take such a punishment just so Honoka's job would be easier, while Naoki... just didn't want to take such a punishment. So it kind of sucked for the both of them.
"Can't say I've ever considered myself a hero," Naoki commented. "Just an idiot who doesn't know when to quit, sometimes, to be sure. But you don't get to be as small as I am, do what I do, and not learn to get your ass kicked. I think I'll manage," Admittedly, he didn't elaborate on what exactly he did, but such things were better left to the imagination, really. Besides, they were here to be Good Samaritans, not to chat about their life stories.
And as the Digi-Rider's self-awareness, the boy could only nod in a begrudging acceptance. Knowing that you're insane still didn't make you any less insane, but the young man still found something acceptable in owning up to yourself.
And while Zack and Marigold had their heartfelt moment, the Nijimuras just nodded to each other. There had been enough death in the family that they both knew not to put the other through that once again if they could. But they were also both idiots who couldn't help themselves doing idiotic things. And the teens had long since already known that bad things just happen.
Marigold had evolved into a bigger bug-lady, while Naoki pulled out his D-Tector, igniting his body in a bright blue fire until his evolved form, Agnimon, stood in his place. "This body still feels weird..." He complained as he moved alongside Marigold. "I wouldn't worry about your... dad." he tried to assure her. "My masochistic baby sister will likely break her arms, legs, neck, spine, and a buncha vital organs I don't know the names of just to keep him from taking a hit that she could have taken instead. I'm less nutty, so just worry about keepin' yourself safe, alright?"
Afterwards, when Marigold leaped high up into the air, propelling himself using flaming streams erupting from the back of his hands. He slammed down onto the ground in front of the group of Wendimon, bits of flame occasionally erupting from his body on the off-change one of them got too close.
"Hello there, strangers! I seem to have lost my way! Can any of you guys be a bro and point me in the right direction... straight to hell?" He slammed his fist into the ground, a dragon of blue fire rising up from it and threatening to swallow one of the Wendimon whole. "Well... I guess I'll find my way if I follow you guys..."
Meanwhile, while one sibling was making cringe banter, the other was sticking with the Digi-Rider, ready to move in when the time was right. |
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Post by supesman on Jan 4, 2022 14:39:39 GMT
Zack didn't waist a second of the time that his daughter was giving him. Trusting the young lady to be following behind he bolted up from their shared hiding spot and took off at a run. One of the Wedimon attracting plenty of attention himself as he ran around trying to put out the azure flames that were swallowing his fur and making the entire area smell like singed dog. Zack came up to the locked fence, the victimized Digimon inside flinching closer to one another in a huddle, unsure of the intentions of the newcomers.
"Everyone back away from the gate ok? We're going to get you out of here. Just be ready to go the second you see your opening." He said, giving Honoka a sharp nod as he stepped out of her way. He still wasn't sure what exactly she had in mind but he wasn't in the mood for looking a gift horse in the mouth right at that moment so if she had a way to get that fence open and start moving every one of these digimon toward an exit than that was what mattered.
"Funny *grunt*...I was about to say the same thing to you about my father." She said, beginning to wrestle with one of the Wedimon who jumped toward her, their hands interlocking and pushing against one another as each fighter strained to find some advantage in the contest of strength and weight. "Head's up by the way." Marigold said, sinking fully into the kind of strained banter that made it clear she was just trying not to think about how deep in trouble they all were. A wendimon was finally getting brave enough to approach Naoki despite the flames that still had one of his comrades running around in the background like a chicken with his head cut off. The assailant picked up a heavy sack full of some kind of grey, gritty powder, holding it by the corners and swinging it like a club toward Naoki
The room had instantly erupted into chaos, time was moving at a crawl as instinct and twitch reaction and movement became the only things to focus on. It was something that Zack and Marigold at the very least were totally used to and prepared for. Marigold leaned on one of her tricks she had had already used tonight, jerking her head forward to smash her exoskeletal skull into the forehead of her fuzzy opponent, making him see stars just long enough for her to twist his wrists and sling him with all of her might, using him as a blunt instrument to bash into one of his comrades who had been rushing up behind her hooting like a madman with a length of metal pipe in one hand. Now they both crumpled to the floor for the moment as the victim of the blue dragon flame still ran around hollering and howling like a dog with it's tail caught in a mousetrap.
"Man, sucks to be that guy."
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on Jan 7, 2022 19:29:18 GMT
An appreciation of the classics
Honoka & Naoki Nijimura | Zack & Marigold
"I guess we're both related to some of the world's biggest idiots, aren't we?" Naoki asked, nearly dropping to the ground in order to avoid the heavy sack being swung down on him. Crouching down, he let loose a burst of flames that propelled him backwards as his armored feet skid across the ground with a nails-on-chalkboard kind of sound. "Though... as of five minutes, I'm wondering if my sis's stupidity is contagious..."
Still, just trying to dodge the enemy attacks wasn't going to get him anywhere. It just delayed the amount of time until someone finally did hit him and the rest all ganged up and started kicking him when he was down. And the less aggressive he was, the more focus could be put on his current partner in crime...fighting. So Naoki used another burst of flames to propel him back towards his sack-wielding foe, where he grabbed onto the floppy ears of his enemy, and used them as handles to guide his enemy's face to his incoming knee.
Naoki fully expected his knee to shatter right then and there, but he supposed having a sturdy Digimon's body had its upsides. That said, his opponent having a sturdy Digimon's body also meant that a knee to the face probably wouldn't be able to drop his opponent. So still using the momentum his explosive charge gave him Naoki flew past his enemy's head, using the fact that he was still holding onto the ears of his opponent and did a front flip in midair, tossing the Wendimon overhead, and hopefully towards an enemy approaching Marigold. Unfortunately, his little acrobatic stunt didn't exactly give him a precise way to throw someone.
And as for Honoka and the Digi-Rider, the girl didn't have much more reason to hold back any more. With just her and the Digi-Rider, it meant that it was just a couple of defenseless humans by themselves. So having at least a little combat strength would be handy.
"Spirit... Evolution!" She cried out, channeling her spirit's strength through her Digivice. It shone with a soft light that enveloped the girl's body as it began to change, into the form of the water fairy, Ranamon.
Honoka turned to the Digi-Rider in her transformed state, giving him a sheepish smile before turning her attention towards the matter at hand. "E-everyone! I need your attention, please! Please group up together to the best of your abilities. Anyone that can't swim, please raise an appendage, if you have one! And I ask that you all hold onto at least one other person and do not let go!"
And then the water sprite Digimon began to... sing. A soft, hushed melody, but a song nonetheless. And from her voice game a mist that coalesced around Honoka, forming into a large sphere of water, stretching out 30 feet in any given direction. She floated in the center of the sphere, swimming towards the prisoners as the sphere moved along with her. Those that found themselves within the water would find it quite breathable, and every sound within the water reverberated, harmonizing with seemingly nothing to create a soothing tone.
As Honoka spoke, within the bubble her words were clear and concise, as if she were speaking in a concert hall. "If you can swim well, please stay close to me. If you can't swim, please grab onto me the best you can! I'm much stronger than I look, so I'm going to carry everyone out to safety as quickly as possible! If we all stay within this bubble, we can move any way we wish!"
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Post by supesman on Jan 8, 2022 15:14:34 GMT
"Yea but there's just something so charming about them, isn't there? They're like a puppy, when they run around and crash head first into things you wanna pat them on the head for trying." Marigold said, being a tad patronizing but in a sarcastic way. It was hard to hold tasteless jokes against somebody when they were in the middle of fighting for their lives after all. How much brainpower could really be put into the quips when she was busy trying to not get creamed by the massive Wendimon screaming through the air until he slammed face first into one of his comrades and they both went tumbling into a stack of crates filled with those sacks. The piles of sacks puffed out some of their contents into the air with the impact, producing a fine grey dust. Marigold reached out one of her clawed hands and let a tiny pile of the dust come to rest on her palm. "Concrete? Why the hell does a gang need this much concrete mix?" She said, looking over her shoulder at Naoki before tossing the small handful of dust over her shoulder into the face of an oncoming Wendimon, making him sputter, cough and sneeze as she lashed out with one of her feet and caught him in the gut sending him skidding backward and crumpling into a pile several yards away.
"...huh. Alright not the solution I expected, granted but it's better than nothing and also better than anything I had come up with." He said, giving Honoka a shrug in response to the uncertain smile she gave after transforming in front of him. He wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth considering his original plan had involved simply booking it toward the door and hoping for the best. He reached out a hand, placing it against the surface of the bubble and making eye contact with Honoka inside. He took the role of the Dalmatian running alongside the firetruck, bolting ahead and checking the route, throwing up hand signals to show Honoka that she should head right, left or any other manner of steering so as to avoid the active melee. "Just get everyone out toward the street where they can be seen, as of right now that's probably where we'll have to leave them for a bit. Anybody who's injured or who doesn't want to try and find their own way home can stick around where people can see them from the street." He said, kicking open the front door, shattering the wooden beam that had been used to keep it locked from the inside. He pointed out to areas along the street where streetlamps or other light sources would make the victims easy to be seen. The battle was beginning to wake the neighborhood, lights flicking on in the multi story buildings around them and people beginning to peak out their doors and windows at the seeming battle going on. The gang hadn't exact been subtle with their branding, what with the rabbit symbols on everything and the roving gang of Wendimon being the organization's main muscle. People began to cheer someone finally standing up and doing something about the bullies that had been threatening their homes, families and businesses for god knows how long. "You take the small pleasures of the job where you can get them." He said, leading Honoka out to an area underneath a large street lamp and motioning for her to set the bubble down and release the victims inside. "Come on, girl, we're not getting away from this scrap that easy. Let's go and lend a hand."
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Post by Honoka Nijimura on Jan 14, 2022 1:32:42 GMT
Appreciation of the Classics
Honoka & Naoki Nijimura | Zack & Marigold
The fight was continuing on with a bit of light banter, though it was admittedly distracting for the fight as a whole. Even so, Naoki seemed insistent on keeping it going. Was it to distract himself on how stupid he was being, taking on such numbers against monsters that could take on the toughest of human-world thugs to shame? That probably had something to do with it. He'd taken his share of beating before, but never by giant bunny monsters.
"Charming's about the last thing I'd call her," He bemoaned of his sister. "Nosy, annoying, and constantly getting into stuff she shouldn't be getting herself into is..." He was distracted as one of the Wendimon charged him, tackling the armored young man, then scooping him up with his long arms and slammed him into a wall.
All the air shot out of him as he grit is teeth, unleashed a torrent of flames swirling around him as the Wendimon dropped the Agnimon out of panic. Naoki used the force of his flames to spin around, leap into the air, and deliver a spinning kick right to the Wendimon's ugly face, but the Digimon threw up an arm and blocked it, ignoring the scalding hot temperature of his leg through sheer force of will and anger. Naoki took a deep breath then let out a sigh. He really wished the mooks would just go down in one hit like in the movies.
As for Honoka and the Digi-Rider, things went absolutely swimmingly as Honoka managed to swim their way to safety, thanks to the Digi-Rider's guidance. There was cheering and celebrating to be had, but the job wasn't over yet! It was time to grab Naoki and the Stingmon comrade a hand! Still, she needed to say something to the people she just help rescue, right?
"Umm... It's still night, so as soon as you're able to stay safe, make sure that you all dry off, okay? I'm very sorry if any of you catch a cold because of my methods!" She gave them an apologetic bow as she turned back to the Digi-Rider once it was time to get moving. She... probably needed to work on her inspirational speech, or something.
But now that there weren't any hostages or prisoners to keep track of, Honoka felt much more secure in her methods from now on. Maybe if things got bad she could... no, she still probably shouldn't risk it. Losing control of her Beast Spirits could only make things worse, and she didn't know how her current partners in... vigilante crime would react. Still, Honoka had a couple of other forms to rely on!
"Good work, Lala... Lulu!" The Ranamon's form began to shift as the melodic bubbles faded away into a bright kaleidoscopic aura. In her place stood a Kazemon standing up straight and stretching out her body. "Hey, rider-guy," Even with those few words, her tone was noticeably different. A bit more forceful, without being louder. "I'm gonna get us back to the action real quick! Don't throw up in your helmet!"
And without waiting for a response, Honoka would attempt to grab onto the leather-clad hero and fly back inside the warehouse. With or without him, she took the exact same path she left as a Ranamon, little more than a bright, rainbow blur as she rocketed herself back into the fray. So much into the fray that she delivered a drop kick to the back to the head of one of the Wendimon, the one giving her brother so much trouble.
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Post by supesman on Jan 14, 2022 14:57:10 GMT
"Huh? are we talking about your sister or my dad? Sorry I wasn't paying attention." Marigold said, looking over her shoulder at him as she juggled three or four massive crates in her hands, tossing them out one by one to smash over the head of some unsuspecting mook or other. "They could have overwhelmed us like eight times by now if they'd just group up and think for ten seconds. So hard to find good help these days." Marigold said with a shrug. Each time the Wendimon got up, shaking their aching heads or rolling their stinging joints they would come at the pair piecemeal, swinging at them in single file or at most in loose pairs that made it easy to keep them separated and fight them one at a time especially considering Naoki's elemental splash damage and Marigold's quick, flighty motion. "Anyway, as annoying as both of our companion's impossible obviousness is..." She said, grabbing a Wendimon by his floppy ears and redirecting his motion so he crashed face to face with a comrade trying to charge up behind her. "Let it never be said that their hearts aren't in the right place. Besides, hanging around with them is never dull. And I'm sure once you get past the years of eventual therapy and the out of control blood pressure spikes that's worth something, isn't it?" She said, bonding with the grumpy spirit tamer as they swapped thoughts on their shared, more morally unstoppable other halves.
"Honoka...just call me Zack, will ya? I think running head first into something like this together is enough to put us on a first name basis don't you thi-?" His words were cut off for a split second by the sudden rush of air and motion as he was near instantly in another place only about a second later. "-iiink?" He paused, suddenly wobbling on his feet and leaning down to place his hands on his knees, holding up one finger at the Wendimon charging him. "Hold on big guy, I'll be right with you, just gotta stop the motion sickness." He said, taking a few deep, warm breaths and trying to ignore the sour taste of something that wanted to rise up the back of his throat before he leapt forward, the Wendimon sailing past him with a charging momentum that was too heavy to stop and carried him head first into the concrete wall behind Zack.
"Oh. Guys you know what I think I know what all the concrete is for now." She said, sticking out one of her feet and sending a trio of the Wendimon toppling over one another like silent era film stars making yet another hole in the wall where they landed. "Suppose that's the price you pay when you cheap out on the "thick but dumb as rocks" style henchmen. I wonder if the profit margin is really worth it considering how much they have to replace." Marigold said, panting as the last of the Wendimon seemed to be staying down for the count, at least for the moment, stacked up in groaning, aching heaps.
The balcony area above the warehouse floor though started to shake, and the floor along with it. At least two or three pairs of footsteps shaking the ground as large, tall shadows began to approach the window above them at impossible speed.
"Suppose it was too optimistic to think that they'd cut their losses and give up quietly?" Zack said, flippant as always as two Andiramon smashed through the window and landed in a freshly made crater at the center of the space.
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