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Post by ollieandprocopius on May 4, 2022 14:52:24 GMT
"...Hmph. You're a good egg, barkeep. That or you're an exceptionally bad one who just so happens to be playing on my side of the tracks for a little while. Sure, I'll take that bet, tell you how it all turns out when it shakes loose." Procopius said, turning around and scuttling to the edge of the bar before leaping up and clamping down on Ollie's arm to climb back to his shoulder. "Come on folks, we're burning daylight. Besides, we've made plenty of a nuisance of ourselves here so we better scram for the sake of our hides, especially you Alpha." Procopius said, though his eye upturned in the best impression he could do of a genuine smile without any lips. Alpha's hidden dimensions seemed to be charming for the little roughneck.
"Red eyes...uncommon in Hackmon...seems to be genetic? Make a note...look more into Digimon gene expression and...inheritance." Ollie said, if anything the things Beta was telling him seemed to bring the young man out of his shell much more comfortably than it would have before if she were asking him a direct question or talking about something other than his work. New information seemed to, for a moment at a time, tamp down on that anxiety that haunted him so often the rest of the time.
"The barkeep said Old Terminus? Cripes, why doesn't he send us straight to hell while he's at it." Procopius said to Alpha, it seemed that the quartet had effectively paired off with Procopius needing to talk with the more wise and street smart member of the pair they had run into. "Even I never sent my boys down into that deathtrap. I'm pretty sure the guards don't go that way either if they know what's good for them. Old Terminus. Even Yggdrasil would rather have buried it." Procopius said with a shiver. There was something about that place, the tomb of a world that never was, haunted by ghosts of the could have and should have been.
"I read about Old Terminus and we certainly heard about it as we passed around its perimeter. Is it really a half finished prototype of the Digital World?" Ollie asked, one part of his tone was the sparkle of unmatched curiosity that seemed to come to the kid as naturally as breathing. The other half was nervousness and creeping dread as they walked closer toward that forgotten city. The streets became less clean, even for the alleys and inner city's standards. Windows were broken or totally missing glass, doors lay open and ajar with the remains of their contents strewn about at random and with the creeping feeling that there was always at least one pair of eyes on them as they passed the darkened crags between dusty buildings. They came to one of the entrances to the underground. Like the maw of a dragon it yawned up at them, only a single rusty handrail leading them down into the dark like the most forgotten subway station on the planet, a warped mirror reflection of the pristine Trailmon terminal that had brought Ollie and Procopius into the heart of the city.
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Post by Alpha & Beta on Jun 7, 2022 3:30:00 GMT
"I gotta set a good example for the kid, Don't I nao!" Looking over at the Lucemon who stared back, thought about it for a moment before simply waving his hand in the middle, not too bad not too good. "Everymon's a critic nowadays huh?" waving the Lucemon off at Procopius went about his buisness the Barkeep went back to what he was doing, which was mostly just picking up the glass that he broke to make sure he or no one else got hurt by it, hopefully.
Alpha just looked away to the side before nodding for a moment. "Mhm, the less time I spend here the better. Was hoping no one would notice me though. Or remember for that matter." It had been a while since he came around here, though Procopius might've had the wrong idea, it was mostly because they knew Alpha was WAY too young to be in a place like that, though no one had to mention that part hopefully.
"Yup, well wait technically no? We're both Hackmon but different types. Alpha's type is always supposed to have Red eyes but mine isn't, apparently. At least that's what I was told, wouldn't know since I've never seen another digimon like me!" That did beg the question of why they had the same name, it was something to do with localization but Beta didn't know about that.
Procopius seemed like he wanted to chat with Alpha about old Terminus, mentioning how it was a deathtrap and he wouldn't even send his own men down there. "Yeah, definitely not the ideal place to live around but once you get used to it then it's not so bad." Alpha mentioned heavily implying that he used to live around there himself. "It's definitely a safe place to go if you're doing something like this. Yeah that's what I've heard, it's a weird place always shifting and moving but it can be navigated with some great effort."
Beta was noticeably quieter than before, muttering the name Old Terminus to herself. "You don't have to go if you don't want to, I know what that place is like for you." Alpha offered looking back at his sister who simply shook her head, then realized that needed context.
But Beta seemed to be the one to explain. "I used to be trapped down there, a Myotismon had me and my mom trapped in an old room under an endless sleep for most of my life. Thankfully Alpha found me one day and saved us from that, it's a terrible, terrible place but if that's where I need to go then that's where I need to go!" Yeah that was definitely not something she liked sharing but even still she felt like they should probably know why she seemed quiet and more afraid then before.
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Post by ollieandprocopius on Jun 7, 2022 12:27:11 GMT
Procopius flipped a finger in the air playfully as he walked away from the barkeep, flipping the old bar hand the bird as well as he was able in the way that could only be considered friendly and polite in a bar full of roughnecks and criminals.
"I was going to make a point of that. Either Hackmon experience VERY extreme sexual dimorphism or you two are going to be members of different species with the same name. Which happens sometimes even in the human world, especially when different cultures meet. If they call something a say...a Lion Toad in West Africa and during the early ages of biology it was discovered that they also called a totally different species a Lion Toad in China then there's a good chance that we'd end up with a pair of very confusing amphibians." He said, scratching a line though the mark on his notes that said "extreme sexual dimorphism" as Beta explained, because know he knew it was a speciation issue not a dimorphic issue.
"It's the kind of place you hang around if you care more about not getting caught than you care about your general quality of life. Nobody's gonna go looking for you down there unless they're our kind of crazy but on the other hand...well, there's a lot of shit down here that should probably stay buried." he said as they started to make their way down the dark and dusty stairs that lead down into the old city, Beta's story beginning and ending as they were plunged into the dark. "Cripes...I'm sorry kid, that's horrid. I'm with Alpha here, if you want us to walk you back up to the surface then we can do that. Hell, Ollie and I can take the road from hear and you folks can just wait at the entrance if you need to." Procopius said, seemingly really shaken by the story that was being told to him. it wasn't often that he heard something truly to that level of vile anymore, living on the streets had seemingly toughened him up. But every once in a while you get reminded that the Digital World is a cruel place that truly is full of monsters in more than just the technical definition.
The question was hanging off of Ollie's lips even if he wasn't brave enough to speak it out loud. "Why?" his expression asked openly. Why on earth would any being do that to someone? What could possibly be accomplished other than cackling, murderous cruelty for its own sake? Procopius sighed as the look of surprise on his partner's face turned into shock and sadness, cuddling a little closer to his shoulder. Ollie still saw the Digital World as a wonderous place full of escape and adventure. Procopius saw the Digital World as what it was: Full of people. For better or worse.
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Post by Alpha & Beta on Jun 8, 2022 5:06:19 GMT
Beta had, absolutely no idea what Ollie was talking about, sexual dismo- what that was Beta had no idea but she was happy he seemed to excited about this whole thing. Neither did the writer of this post and he was too lazy to look it up so they decided just to skip over to the sadder part of this post as to not cause any more possible confusion on Beta's part.
"There's definitely a lot of stuff that should stay buried down there, though sometimes the danger is more then worth it." Alpha mentioned glancing over at Beta as he said that, if he didn't go down there then he wouldn't of found her and Ciel, that was more then worth the danger in his mind. Even if he didn't think so when he actually did it before.
Procopius offered the same thing that Alpha had but Beta just shook her head. "No, I've resolved to take down that digimon that did that to me. If I can't face the place he came from how could I hope to face them instead, besides." Looking over at Alpha she smiled tilting her head slightly. "With Alpha by my side I'm not scared, he saved me from that place and if I need it I know he'll protect me too. Right Alpha?"
Alpha looked away, a bit shy at the moment just nodding once to affirm. "Course, so long as we're together we'll be alright. I got her back and she has mine, plus we got a famous backstreet member joining us. We'll be fine." Alpha joked slightly with that last part, though it was true it was a bit funny to think about.
Beta however picked up on the expression Ollie seemed to have, should probably answer to the best of her abilities. "We don't know exactly why they did that, all we know is it has something to do with our father. Though he's not around anymore so I guess they targeted us instead." That was the best guess Beta had. "Thanks for the concern though, I try not to show it but I guess it's pretty hard to hide when you're right around the place."
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Post by ollieandprocopius on Jun 8, 2022 13:46:03 GMT
"Staying buried...how...do you know how many previous versions of the Digital World there have been?" Ollie said, running his hands along the walls as he looked through the graffiti, seeing heavy, fresh marks right near the entrance but also... "The graffiti becomes basically non-existent only a little ways in. Something sitting abandoned this long should be covered in it, top to bottom and yet it seems like most people who come down here to tag it only go far enough inside to say that they did it without actually-" Ollie started to explain what he was thinking though Procopius cut him off with something that was at least partially an answer.
"Without actually temping fate. Yea, the roughnecks and gangsters will come down here to prove they're not scared of it. Thing is they'd only go deep enough so that no one can see them from the top, place a tag just to say they had the nuts for it, then scurry back up into the light before whatever happens to be down here decides that their warm welcome has gone on long enough." Procopius said, both his voice and the clicking of his black nails echoing down the halls. The darkness and gloom was absolute down here, the air was thick with dust and every surface was soaking wet with congealed goo made out of dew and algae or moss. "Everyone stick close, we're not losing anybody down here because we're sure as hell not gonna be able to mount a rescue down in this pit. My god I have no idea why that bastard would be willing hide out down here." Procopius wondered, speaking out loud because the ability for everyone to know where he was in the dark was a bigger boon than the risk of alerting their prey they were coming.
"Some kind of pre mapped safehouse? Alpha did say it could be travelled consistently with some difficulty." Ollie said, sketching little maps of the cracks in the walls, already Procopius' heart sunk. Now that Ollie knew this place was here he'd want to search every nook and cranny he could find.
"I don't know why any gang would risk that when there's plenty of disused corners of Terminus above that DON'T randomly shift on you. He better hope he has it mapped, for his sake. Because if he fled down here in a panic...yikes. Just yikes." Procopius said. Knowing they could blunder into their quarry any second, hear him shouting and hollering down in the dark...or never find him at all, the DemiDevimon lost to the endless black walls of the forgotten city in the dark.
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Post by Alpha & Beta on Jul 12, 2022 11:53:22 GMT
"Well I mean, digital world has been around for at least 200 years if our mom is anything to go by so there's probably even more down there then we know." Man that just put it into perspective on just how young he was, his mother was about 40 times his age! That was a very intense thing to think about if he was honest.
"Coming here just to prove you can, hmmm." Beta didn't know how she felt about that, though she definitely had a different relationship with this place then the average roughneck as he called them. "If I had to guess it's probably because it's the one place most wouldn't go, I mean it makes sense even if he's afraid. That digimon wanted him as well right alongside us? Maybe we're not the only ones after him." a foolish criminal like that? Yeah that would make sense he was in over his head.
"It's hard to explain, the place changes randomly but some part of it remain normal, so like if you hide something somewhere then it stays hidden in that area when it shifts around. Take that ledge for example, if I leave something on there and it randomly changes locations it'll still be there at that new location. Using some landmarks to find your way can get you through but if you don't have anything like that then you can get lost." Pausing for a moment Alpha continued. "It's actually how I found Beta in the first place, there was a bat symbol on the floor next to some small area, going through there and that's where I found her, after that we just had to get shifted around a bit towards the entrance." It was still dangerous even with this little trick but it would make navigating the area a little bit easier.
Though it would seem that their little thief wasn't doing what Alpha recommended given as a scream could be heard that most likely belonged to said digimon as a loud crash could be heard as well, which probably warranted investigation.
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Post by ollieandprocopius on Jul 12, 2022 12:18:01 GMT
Let it never be said that Ollie was easily discouraged by things like fear, darkness or common sense. Even without using a light to actually look at what he was doing, he started scratching and scribbling his notes on what Alpha was saying.
"It's hard to wrap your head around, I guess. Coming, as all humans do, from a world where three dimensional space doesn't just change out from under you at the drop of a hat. If I were the Lovecraftian type it probably wouldn't be good for my stability. Thankfully, I'm not Lovecraftian for a lot of reasons." He said, shaking his head. It was a literary reference, as were most things that Ollie thought or said and it was one that he was NOT going to explain especially in that moment. If his companions didn't already know about all the reasons Lovecraft was a terrible excuse for a human being than the shy and reserved Ollie was certainly not the person who was going to be going into it.
"If he's down here for very long I'd guarantee that we're not the only ones after him. The things that lurk and stalk down here in the dark, they're not exactly welcoming to visitors and trespassers. Like I said, if he was smart he'd use one of the ten thousand unused, unchecked corners of Terminal up above instead of-" Procopius was interrupted by the scream, trying not to say something about how the shout obviously proved his point about how stupid an idea coming down here was on the DemiDevimon's part. "Alright folks we're going for a jog!" Procopius said, clopping along, kicking the front of his feet high up in the air in front of him as he trundled along.
Ollie wasn't exactly setting any land speed records either, the way that he was holding onto his backpack for dear life, leaning forward just to hold his momentum with the heavy weight on his back and shoulders making the pipsqueak of a boy seem even smaller and shorter than he had first seemed. Either way they were off at a decent trot toward the sound.
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