Skip Navigation
Come to the Valley of Dragons If You Want An Asskicking (Az)
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Apr 13, 2016 2:15:37 GMT
"That is actually a question that's still fresh in my mind, what with Alicia having asked me that about a week and a half ago. To be honest, the actual answer changes from user to user. Alicia's Spirit Totems draw on mine and Kisara's stored powers, and then create a form for her to use that best represents her mindset and intentions. For you and Elliot? I cannot say for sure. Perhaps it is the same scenario. Perhaps when you invoke a given Spirit Totem, you actually take on a form that Digimon used, becoming it in all but mind and name. There may even be another answer out there somewhere. I'm sorry Isaac, that's the best answer I can give. Especially given the nature of Chaos infusing your spirits. Whenever Chaos is involved in the equation, the only thing that is certain is that anything can and will happen." Sol responded, sighing softly. Of course the boy would pick another frustratingly hard question to ask. He really did ask the best questions. Well... maybe not always.
"Oooh? What was I going to say?" Kisara began with a grin. Alicia just groaned again and banged her helmet on the ground. Isaac had asked for it, so she had no right to interrupt Kisara this time. "Well, I don't know. My exact train of thought was a bit dera- oh, right!" The ice maiden cleared her throat as she got back on said train of thought, grinning. "- wanted to gush about how you were such a brave young soul and are certainly such a dashing young man. Ah if only time had conspired to reduce the gap in age!" Oh she certainly laid it on thick. Was any of this even true? Maybe she just felt like jabbing at Alicia as much as she'd jabbed at Isaac earlier.
"Stop putting words in my mouth..." Alicia groaned a bit. If the knight dragon was to be believed, Kisara was indeed spining a tall tale for the sake of teasing. "Or at least don't be so over dramatic about it. I don't randomly wax poetic like that... I get that you pull this kind of stuff for some entertainment but really...?"
Kisara giggled to herself as she and Sol started to flicker and fade from the living world. "Oh let a woman have her fun once in a while, will you? Besides, I can't go using Isaac as the punchline all day, that's just not fair. Have to spread the teasing love around, you know?" The ice maiden cleared her throat and stood tall with her draconic companion. "More seriously, as a closing note? Try to make your dreams happen, if only to say you made the effort. Good bye!"
And with that, they were gone, their voices only reaching Alicia herself once more. "And yes..." Alicia began, "They're like that all the time. At least they let me sleep though."
|
|
|
Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Apr 13, 2016 2:47:37 GMT
Isaac had a feeling Sol didn't know too much either, especially because they weren't even the same sort of spirit. It was still Isaac's best chance at finding out more, though. A little bit enlightened and a little bit disappointed, he was still grateful above all for the spirit's help. He smiled warmly at Sol's apology, saying "Hey, don't worry about it. I'll be able to find my way around this, I'm sure of it. Who knows? Maybe I'll find out how to dig up its secrets, somehow." What was he supposed to do to dig them up? Try and talk to the spirit? Then again, it worked well enough for Alicia. Maybe Yasyamon was in there somewhere. Maybe he was long gone, and so was Impmon too. Regardless, it was time to focus on the present.
Right now, the present was being showered in compliments from Alicia by the maybe-not-quite-entirely trustworthy medium of an excitable ice witch. Isaac found himself looking down at his feet, blushing a little. "Sheesh, you guys are way too nice to me," he said, any bravado in his voice gone. He had tempted fate, and fate had answered back by kicking the door down and loudly marching all over the place. He couldn't tell if Alicia was denying it entirely or just claiming it to be too flowery for her tastes, but either way the spirit was saying some really nice stuff about him. He couldn't help but wonder if Maia saw him that way. It'd certainly be a huge shock to his system if she did!
And then the two were gone, the words "follow your dreams" what they left him off with. "Jeez, and they're in your head all this time?" Isaac asked, starting to recover from the shock. "Elliot's annoying enough only being my little brother. I can't see how you can handle two ancient warriors poking fun at you on a day by day basis. Can you ever evict them from your head for a bit to get some privacy?"
Digimon were weird.
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Apr 13, 2016 4:44:33 GMT
"Depends" Alicia began, sitting herself up again. "Do you count ignoring them as hard as possible as 'evicting' them for a moment or two? Even when they're manifested and I shove them off, I still hear echoes from them. And even then that's only briefly since manifesting is a temporary thing as you've seen. Take it from someone who had it this way from the get go, if you don't have to wake your Spirits up to do whatever it is you need or want to do, don't. It's not worth having to be entertainment for millenia old beings."
The SolSaberdramon shook her head, groaning a bit. "Still, having a couple extra pairs of eyes on look out can be a real life saver. If it wasn't for Sol I'd be short an arm or a leg and basically be crippled for the rest of my life. Ninjas apparently think literal Bear traps are a good idea." She could still sometimes feel the rushing wind and hear the snapping of the Gryzmon's jaws at night... "So it's really your call. Both ways have their ups and downs."
Well that was certainly a thing to say about the two voices that were ever present in her mind. One would hope that Alicia wouldn't actually go crazy about this one day...
|
|
|
Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Apr 13, 2016 4:53:41 GMT
Alicia made sense. There really wasn't any situation quite like the one that Alicia was currently stuck in. It seemed like it fluctuated very quickly between essential and irritating. Kind of like having a little brother, except forced to have them in her head. Frankly, Isaac figured it likely wasn't worth the hassle, but it was really neat meeting the spirits for the brief period they could manifest throughout. Frankly, he was just hoping that she wouldn't be driven mad by them as time went on. When she was too old for adventuring, would they still be kicking around in her head and commenting on her life?
"Eh, I've already got Elliot. I think I'm good," he said, laughing a little. "Still, not gonna lie, I never expected this was how my day was going to go. Did you know they could just manifest out like that, or did they catch you off guard too?" Figuring that the sparring was over now, he finally took the chance to degenerate from Yasyamon back into his human form. In a way, he was lucky he stayed as the masked demon for that little extra bit of time. If Sol and Kisara could've seen how much they were making him blush, he would've never heard the end of it!
"Those all the new forms you found? Or are there any you're holding out on?" Isaac asked, his tone light. In the time he and Elliot had found one spirit each, she had found like three of them. It wouldn't have surprised Isaac if the woman had other spirits she was keeping in her back pocket, just in case.
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Apr 13, 2016 17:02:27 GMT
Alicia hummed softly, shaking her head. "Oh that was nothing. Apparently Kisara was able to freaking hypnotize me one night in the real world while she was hanging out in the tundras to the north in the Digital World. Let me tell you, going to sleep in your house only to wake up in the tail end of a raging blizzard was not my idea of a good surprise." Yeah... that was a thing she was still a bit sore about. "Blasted snow woman... I mean really?"
Sighing, the SolSaberdramon shook her head, about to revert back to human form as well. Then Isaac asked her if she had any other forms waiting in the wings. Raising a hand to her chin, the knight dragon hummed. "Well... I do actually have one more that I didn't show off. I was going to use it if you and Elliot decided to double team me to even the metaphorical playing field." The wicked grin she flashed at that showed just how much trouble the brothers would've been in if the matches had gone that way. "I think I'll show it off though, just to round the day off."
Nodding to herself, Alicia held her D-Scanner up and grinned. "Ever flowing, ever changing. My soul is Steel in it's most malleable form! Beast Spirit Evolution!" swinging her arm clockwise, the D-Scanner left a stream of metallic liquid which rapidly expanded over Alicia's form. She made it this way for a reason, to hide the fact that her old form was basically melting into the same flowing metal.
The sphere enevolping her lifted off the ground a bit and began to twist around and mold itself directly into her new form. First the legs took shape, slamming down into the ground. The tail formed next, lashing about like a whip. Then the arms flowed out, clenching fingers into fists as the settled against the ground, showing this was primarily a quadruped form. The wings began to stretch out, only half formed, ready to finish when she wished to take flight.
At last, the head was molded out of the upper half of the blob of metal that made up her torso, obviously draconic in nature. Rearing her head up, Alicia loosed a brief roar more for show then anything else, before declaring her Beast Fraction's name, "Mercurialdramon!"
The liquid dragon smirked to Isaac once she was finished, rolling her shoulder a bit and watching as the arm connected to it lost definition and became a slowly whirling spiral of mercury until she set it back down. It was still a very freaky feeling, being able to morph one's body almost absolutely. As long as she adhered to a few vague in-built rules, this form really did just do whatever she wanted. "What do you think, Isaac?" With the new form, Alicia's voice had fallen several octaves, becoming fairly deep and guttural. Probably had something to do with no more organs or anything like that...
|
|
|
Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Apr 13, 2016 17:15:24 GMT
The idea of being hypnotized and stolen away by your own spirit was horrifying. The grin on Alicia's face that practically read "you guys would've been so screwed" was moreso. The vaguely reptilian mass of liquid metal formerly known as Alicia? The most terrifying of them all. Compared to the cooler, more noble looking forms Alicia had demonstrated earlier, this looked to be at least 300 pounds of dripping wet terror. He couldn't help but find it awesome, even if it was unnerving how simple motions like rotation of her arm caused her malleable body to wind up and distort.
She nailed the catchphrase and pageantry, though. If Isaac wanted to be half the spirit user Alicia was, he'd need to start matching her ability to stick the landing. Maybe one day he, too, could inspire equal parts awe and terror just by the mere act of becoming a Digimon. He looked Alicia's form up and down, trying to come up with what he wanted to say for his compliment. "Like some kind of badass nightmare dragon," he eventually concluded, grinning wickedly. "I'd hate to be on the bad end of a beast like that!" It made him thankful that Elliot hadn't intervened during that last Steel Prominence. If Mercurialdramon showed up and the chains were off, they'd well and truly be in for a bad time.
"So what can you do in that form? Looks really versatile," Isaac commented. SolSaberdramon and ShadowArmsdramon had a lot of cool tricks up their sleeves as is, and they weren't even made of liquid metal! Something gave Isaac the feeling that Mercurialdramon would be even harder to keep up with. Maybe once Isaac and Elliot got their next set of spirits, he'd be the highlight of a rematch.
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Apr 13, 2016 17:47:26 GMT
The liquid dragon laughed a bit at Isaac's comments. "Yeah this form is kinda nightmarish..." she admitted. "And to answer your question? As long as I adhere to two or three loose rules on what my form is, and have enough mass for it, I can literally try to do anything I want. If you've seen the Fantastic Four, it's basically Mr. Fantastic's rubber body on steroids. For example."
Trailing off, Alicia lifted one hand up and began to morph it into a variety of forms. A sword, a drill, an axe, and a mace were the more... simple forms her hand had morphed into. Then she did some more crazy things like stretching it out into a net of sorts and then a large pair of scissors. Feeling she'd made her point, Alicia allowed the limb to return to normal.
"Plus I can pretty much flatten out and get anywhere I want to go. Its tough enough to stop water from flowing in as it is, imagine trying to stop water with the mind to focus it's pressure on a weak point early. Really it would be faster to list the things I can't do." That got her laughing again for a bit, smirking victoriously.
Yeah, they would've been in serious trouble if she'd used this form...
|
|
|
Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Apr 13, 2016 17:58:25 GMT
Isaac stared in awe as Alicia demonstrated her long, long list of abilities and tranaformations. It was as if the T-1000 was made out of dragonfire and terror. "Sheesh, I'm just glad you're on our side," Isaac concluded, finding himself pretty amazed by the other spirit user's mastery over the form. Heck, he was akazed by her mastery over all of them! In many ways when fighting, he felt more like a lost child than anything else, swiping at any opportunity he could find and trying to put what little knowledge of his abilities he could to the test. In contrast, Alicia was like a fighting machine.
"Think Elliot and I will ever end up kicking as much butt as you do?" the boy asked, trying to get a feel for where their abilities were currently being measured at. Sol's advice on how to protect those he cared about, and apparently loved, let him know that at the very least he had the heart to be a fighter. But did he have the technique? The mindset? The right stuff, as nebulous of a concept as it was? Truth be told, if he wasn't so stubborn about asking for assistance, the idea of seeing if Alicia would be willing to train him would be a very appealing one. After all, he'd get to spend more time with a cool person and get better at handling his spirit abilities. Win-win!
For now, though, he simply kept mum on the matter. Maybe Alicia would be able to read his voice and face and see what he was fishing for, or maybe she'd simply demonstrate more draconic badassitude. Frankly, Isaac was fine with either option.
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Apr 13, 2016 19:55:19 GMT
Alicia smiled softly as Isaac mentioned being happy she was an ally instead of an enemy. She quite enjoyed having the two brothers as friends as well. Then he asked a fairly surprising question, given how furious the two sparring matches had been.
"Do I think you will? I know you will, you just need a little push in the right direction. I was actually pretty close to pulling out everything I could do in both of these two matches we all had. You two put me in enough pickles to fill a whole freaking jar!" Laughing a bit at her joke, the Mercurialdramon tilted her head as she read a bit deeper into what Isaac was saying. That explained everything if she was reading him right.
"Tell you what," Alicia began, finally reverting back to human form and setting a hand on Isaac's shoulder. "I don't know how much I can help, but I'm more then willing to partner up with you to help you. I admit, though, I learn and teach best through sparring matches like this. It might be for the best though. The heat of battle can help someone develop the kind of mindset they need to really fight to their fullest. Trust me on that one, I had to fight for my life once even before getting Spirits to transform with."
The Steel Spirit User sighed softly, using her free hand to trace the scar on her face. "And I have this to be an eternal reminder of that day. You could say I was forced to learn how to adapt and improvise in a fight early on." It would certainly explain how she took to fighting it out as a Digimon like a fish to water, at least...
|
|
|
Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Apr 13, 2016 20:55:34 GMT
Isaac couldn't help but grin as Alicia found out what he was implying. Sure, Isaac would've preferred not being as easy to read as a picture book. However, what's done is done, and it was too late for the easily emotive Isaac to roughen himself up more. It was almost funny. He tried so hard to present a strong-willed, resilient exterior to the world, and yet people like Alicia and Maia seemed to know exactly how to dismantle it and reveal the huge dork beneath. In this case he sure didn't mind, though, because he was hoping for some sort of lesson or apprenticeship in the end. Maybe next time he'd be able to do better at keeping up with Alicia's might.
"No complaints here," Isaac said. "That was the most fun I've had in a fight so far. It'd be my pleasure to duel you anytime." Then Alicia told her story, and the boy found himself frowning a little in response. He looked up, wide-eyed, as Alicia traced the shape of her scar. Considering she was a dragon nine times out of ten when he interacted with her, he had never actually noticed it before. Worry echoed through his mind as he tried to imagine just who in their right mind would ever try and hurt Alicia. Where were they? Would he have to hunt them down and kick their ass? Suddenly, his fight with Gintama seemed like the least of his problems.
"You were okay, right?" he asked, voice distant and quiet. "God, I'm so sorry to hear that happened. If you ever need a hand call me, okay? Nobody's gonna hurt such a great friend on my watch." Sheer outrage bubbled beneath his determination. Sometimes, people really disgusted him.
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Apr 13, 2016 21:20:27 GMT
Hearing him respond favorably to the idea of future matches set Alicia at ease. She was worried he'd react poorly to the idea, given how today had gone. "Great! It's decided then. Just let me know when you want to meet up again. I'll be happy to help you push your limits safely."
In all honesty, though, she should've expected this response from Isaac after relating a brief recollection of her past. The boy was so noble that she was certain given any good excuse he'd go hunt down the jerk that had scarred her that day. The Steel Spirit User sighed and hugged Isaac. "Yeah, I was alright. A big wrench to the face sent him packing. So he might've gotten his jaw broken. Eye for an eye and all that I suppose. Thanks for the offer though." Alicia closed her eyes and let go, taking a step back.
"Well, I suppose we should consider heading back soon, hmm?"
|
|
|
Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Apr 13, 2016 21:37:49 GMT
Isaac grinned eagerly at Alicia's response. It turned out when he wasn't in a desperate struggle for his life, fighting could be really fun! Was this what Elliot saw in his video games? Besides, it was the easiest way to get stronger, wasn't it? There was no way he could protect Elliot and Maia by just sitting around and hoping. It was power of mind, body, and will, just like Alicia's spirts said, and by honing his abilities like this he would be more than capable of keeping everyone safe.
Isaac hugged Alicia back, a little bit bashful due to the unexpected gesture. "Thank god you clobbered him," the boy said, voice somewhat venomous. "It'd suck seeing such an awesome person get hurt." He wished he knew something better to say, but in his relief his hug on Alicia tightened up a bit. Then she let go and so did he, so thankful that for the time being Alicia would be safe. And if any other low-lifes wanted to change that? Well, that's what he was here for now.
The woman had a point, though. They were away from home way longer than Isaac had intended. "Yeah, you've got that right," Isaac said, looking around the horizon for Elliot. Where did the boy even run off to, anyway? "Where are you headed next?"
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Apr 14, 2016 0:38:54 GMT
Hmm... where was she going next? A large part of the day had been consumed in these awesome matches she had. Plus, while she didn't know it, she echoed Isaac's feelings. A really pressing battle was exciting when it didn't put her life on the line. The two could go all out, knowing when it was time to back off so they didn't do any permanent damage.
"I don't know to be honest..." Alicia muttered. And then the Steel Spirit User's stomach growled in protest. She had the decency to at least blush in embarrassment. "Okay maybe I do kind of have an idea. Time to go make some food back home or something." Huh, had she mentioned to them that she was aspiring to be a chef yet? Well, they got a fair enough hint to that now at least.
With that, the Steel Spirit User began to walk off, glancing over her shoulder. "Going my way?" she asked him as an invitation. She figured it didn't need to be said that the invitation also applied to Elliot, where ever the heck he went.
|
|
|
Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Apr 14, 2016 3:22:19 GMT
"Oh wow, you cook?" Isaac sounded very interested by this new development. "That's really cool! What kind of food do you usually make?" The gears in Isaac's head started turning as he heard what she had to say. In fact, they only seemed to start spinning more when she asked if Isaac was going to be headed her way. He was already getting plenty of training time with Alicia, and he knew Elliot wasn't going to be caring nearly as much as battle. Maybe there'd be a way to help Elliot feel less left out when they started working on more intense training drills.
"Sure thing. Not like I've got must else to do," Isaac said, shrugging. "You know, Elliot's been talking about being interested in cooking lately. If he comes with too, think you'd be okay with letting him watch while you cook?"
As if on cue, Elliot seemed to poke his head out from behind the rock. His eyes were bright and enthusiastic as he chirped "Wait, really? That'd be so cool!"
"Elliot!" Isaac called sharply. "How long have you been snooping on us for?"
"Only the last five minutes!" Elliot protested. "I might've been napping for the rest of it all." Isaac wasn't sure how much he believed it, with how infamously light of a sleeper Elliot tended to be, but he didn't push the issue much.
|
|
|
Post by Alicia Westfield on Apr 14, 2016 4:11:06 GMT
Alicia laughed a bit as she listened to the two brothers banter with one another. "Sure, Elliot can watch. And having an extra pair of hands in the kitchen is always nice. That is, of course, if he doesn't mind. As for what I make? Well, I'm still carving my own path there, but I'm thinking of some seafood this time. Of course, that depends on what I have available." Shrugging to herself, she continued on.
It would be an interesting change, having people around to cook for instead of just experimenting and seeing what works. It'd almost be like having her brothers around after all those years. "Huh... maybe I should give them a call and set something up in a couple weeks or so..." Alicia mused aloud, mostly to herself. She certainly wouldn't hesitate to answer if Isaac or Elliot asked about it though.
|
|
|