Chemical Burn (Alicia)

The two brothers looked at each other, confused. Elliot plainly had no idea what was going on, while Isaac heard the word "bro" and realized that the universe had a very healthy sense of dramatic irony. It was almost as if Alicia summoned her brothers here just by mentioning their names. "Quick, say they're bringing a million dollars with them. Maybe that news will get sprung on you two," he joked, hoping to make Alicia feel a little bit more relaxed about the situation. "But hey, look on the bright side. At least we'll finally get to meet them now. Shame the world keeps dropping this kinda stuff on you out of nowhere, though." He would've been so frustrated if it was him. Thankfully it wasn't, so instead he could focus his energy on trying to keep Alicia cheered.

"Happy birthday!" was all Elliot said in response. He had no idea if Alicia's high intensity lifestyle was catching up to her and making the days slip away. After all, they really showed up, right? People didn't just do that for no reason! Maybe it was a different surprise instead of a birthday, but it was clear that they had to have some reason for coming around today. It just didn't make much sense otherwise.

For now, it was time to make sure everything was good for their arrival. Elliot hopped out of his seat and immediately started to help clean things up. Alicia already had the house very well done, but there was no such thing as a too-clean house. Besides, things were always kind of messy after an impromptu exorcism. Isaac simply waited by Alicia, hoping she wasn't too flabbergasted by today.

"Well, I guess there's nothing we can do but open the door."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Elliot looked down at his feet, feeling awful about that misunderstanding. He genuinely wasn't sure, and now guilt started heavily weighing down on his neck. He knew Alicia wouldn't be angry at him over something he couldn't have known about, but he still felt like a huge jerk for making her nervous like that in the first place. Sometimes he wondered if being a mind reader would be a good Digimon power for him. Then he'd be better at reading the atmosphere in the room instead of constantly botching. Why would her brothers shout that before pranks, though? That didn't make any sense! "So when is your birthday? I gotta set it aside to celebrate," Elliot decided. Isaac, having caught on a while back, simply shot Elliot a look that said "Really?" He had to sympathize with the poor woman. That was the worst possible day for a birthday, except for maybe Christmas.

"Nice to meet you guys too. Alicia's always talking about you," Isaac responded, reciprocating their statement. Alicia didn't have as much time to talk about non-Digital things with them thanks to all of the curses and chases and adventures, but when she did her brothers were usually a fairly common conversation topic. The April Fools birthday prankoff, though? That wasn't something she brought out before. Generally it was all either good memories or lovingly annoyed grumbles about how she was stuck with two pairs of the most stubborn boneheaded brothers in the world. Weren't siblings great? It seemed like what she told the brothers about them would be similar, even if how they spent the day would likely be heavily fabricated. Unless she told them all about turning into a steel dragon who hears voices in her head. But that would be crazy.

"Your sister's awesome!" Elliot chirped happily, rejoining the group now that he was done making everything spotless.

"April Fi- Oh. Ooooooh," Elliot said, comprehension slowly dawning in his eyes. The boy may have been a bit oblivious, but he wasn't dumb. Once the date was brought up adding two and two together became fairly simple. Still, wow, talk about luck. Elliot shot Alicia an apologetic look, and made a mental promise to do incredibly un-pranklike activities with her on that day. Maybe if she knew the world wasn't out to get her on her own birthday, it'd help cheer her up!

Isaac shook Jeremy's hand and returned his grin, doing his best to keep his handshake firm and respectable. When you were young, short, and babyfaced, this was practically your only opportunity to get people taking you seriously. "Nah, she's been great. If anything, she's the one reigning us in when we end up getting into stupid jams," Isaac said, today's little bout of stupidity sticking out particularly in his mind. Speaking of jams, he couldn't help but wonder about the text Jeremy mentioned. It was likely about Alicia's injury, the same sort of text she sent to him, Elliot, and Maia. He wondered if he'd feel comfortable talking about Digital World injuries with humans as easily as Alicia did. Even Elliot's burn, which nowadays looked like nothing major, got him antsy. Would he be even half as willing to share something as obviously unnatural as a Sagittarimon's arrow wound? If Elliot's shadow burn persisted he would've been halfway out of the country by now!

At the idea of Alicia cooking, Isaac couldn't help but find himself smiling. "For your cooking? Always am," he said, already feeling himself getting hungrier by the second. He just hoped that shrimp jerkass didn't intervene this time. He wasn't going to miss another meal by virtue of being too busy wrestling an angry chef!

Elliot, on the other hand, eagerly looked up at Alicia. "Can I help again? Please?" he asked, remembering how great his first time in Alicia's kitchen was. His brother was quite bemused by the request. Between the cleaning and this new offer of cooking, Isaac was afraid Alicia's brothers would think she hired Elliot as some kind of child butler or something. It wouldn't be the weirdest sitcom premise that the Digital World had turned their lives into.

Elliot let out an excitable cheer and sprinted off, and with Morgan sent away then there were two. Isaac already had a feeling that this would be a somewhat tricky discussion, but what Jeremy asked frankly didn't surprise him. Unless she got herself impaled on some sort of jagged metal pipe, there was no way an arrow wound from a horse archer would look even remotely like a work incident. If anything, he was surprised that the other brother didn't press the issue more. One on one conversations were easier to navigate than frantic question and answer sessions, though, so Isaac really didn't mind.

The who part was specific, but considering what had happened in Alicia's past its exact significance went over Isaac's head. The boy figured that her brother was simply worrying due to the fact that she had been attacked in the past. Who was to say that the next crook to try and break into her place of work didn't try a more direct approach, after seeing what happened to the last guy who tried something? As far as Isaac was concerned, Jeremy asking about the Digital World was maybe third or fourth highest on the list of possibilities. That didn't change the fact that the information was very relevant, but it did leave Isaac far less comfortable talking about the subject. "It's a bit of a personal matter. I'm not sure if she'd want me bringing it up. But-"

But Alicia meant a lot. Not just to Isaac, but especially to Jeremy. He was her big brother, a mentoring and protecting figure. If anyone deserved to know, it'd be him. Any denial would probably send him worrying straight into the grave. At the same time, he might not have been ready to know about Digimon. He didn't want Alicia getting dragged over to America because of a shocking revelation like that. Alternatively, he didn't want to get his ass kicked for spewing nonsense in a serious situation. There had to be a smarter way about this.

Then an idea struck. "Hold on. Quick question. What kind of clock do you prefer? Analog, or Digital?"

Isaac returned the knowing smirk, relieved. "Good. Now I know you'll at least believe me when I talk about it," he responded, briefly flashing Jeremy his own Digivice. He felt far more comfortable revealing it now that he knew Jeremy was in on the secret too. Unless, of course, he happened to be really anal about his clock formatting. Then Isaac would've messed up bad. "She got a bad hit from a Saggitarimon. Bad enough that it carried over between shifts. She's fine now, but I can see why you're scared. My brother's been running around in the Digital World too, and if I wasn't there keeping an eye on his every fight I'd probably have my blood pressure shooting through the roof." It was kind of a light comment, but there was an earnestness to it that made it hard to laugh at. It was almost more like gentle levity than outright humor.

The second part caught Isaac's interest the most. "Take care of herself? Are you kidding me? Alicia's a total badass!" he said, excitedly. "She's probably the most dangerous person in a fight at any given moment. She's got all of these really cool fighting styles and techniques. And she's so flexible, too. Like, you could try everything you've got against her, and she'll always find a way to push through it with some new crazy plan. I had to bust my butt just to match her in a spar." There was no way Isaac could be lying with that much enthusiasm in his voice. He hoped he'd be able to help convince Jeremy of his sister's awesomeness. "And you're right. If she can't handle a problem on her own, she's always got backup. Like my bro and I. We'll be damned if she gets even a scratch on her when we're keeping watch." Was that a touch of pride in his voice? Isaac may have hated calling himself a hero, but he sure seemed to be acting like one!

"Seen a lot of combat yourself to figure out that one, huh?" Isaac asked, curious about the other archers that Jeremy mentioned. Maybe he could coax out a list of Digimon to watch out for from the eldest brother. Some Digimon could be deceptively cute until they broke out secret power, while others were basically paper tigers. Having a list to keep an eye out on would be of huge use to Isaac, even if he'd leave the actual curating of that list to Elliot. One brother found information out, and the other successfully gave enough of a crap to put effort into understanding it. Together they were an unstoppable tag team.

"What do you mean take care of her? Please, if anything she's the one taking care of us. You missed her really pulling Elliot's ass out of the fire today," Isaac said, grinning slightly. Sure, it was natural for brothers to worry about their sisters, but Isaac couldn't think of anybody who needed to be watched out for last than Alicia. She was a fighting machine and a really noble guardian. She'd be the one protecting others, not needing saving herself. "Still, Elliot and I do our best to back her up when she needs. And when we're not around, she's got plenty of others willing to keep an eye out. She's a great person. Nobody'd be dumb enough to let her get hurt."

And now he wanted to see the forms? My, this was escalating quickly. Isaac smirked as he lifted his Digivice high, saying "Why don't I give you a little look? Arise, Yasyamon!" Isaac was cocooned in swirling winds and falling leaves, which thankfully dissipated into energy instead of getting all over the carpet. As they faded, the masked swordsman was standing where Isaac once was. At the very least, he was sure to keep his shout quiet so that nobody else would be tipped off to it. This was also why he degenerated as soon as Jeremy had a good chance to look for the form over. Couldn't risk Morgan walking in, right?

Jeez, poor guy. Only one left out of the secret.

"Well, it's not like this is a conclusion most people would come to. If someone comes home late at night, tired and banged up, were they at a mosh pit or at a parallel dimension full of deadly monsters? It's way eaiser to assume you've been partying hard than to think you're some kind of superhero." Isaac wasn't sure if that was the specific assumption that Alicia's family had made, keeping his tone general as if to suggest that as one of many alternatives. Isaac had it even easier. His mom was practically distracted all night, too busy working on the paperwork for their move to actually pay much attention to their current activities. For someone so hypervigilant it was confusing to Isaac seeing her fall into such distance, but now that the move was finalized she would likely reset back to normal over the next month or so. Isaac had better squeeze in his Digital World adventures before it was too late! Honestly, though, he was starting to become more worried about her distance than he was about his silly secrets. He hoped this vacation wasn't taking too much out of her.

Human error, no kidding. That someone who was bound to mess up had just gotten the shadows seared off of his body in an impromptu exorcism. Thanks to incidents such as that, Isaac had long learned the value of keeping an eye out for trouble. The Myotismon incident was a critical slip up, and not one he ever hoped to repeat. "I've been there before, I promise," Isaac said, voice taking on a bit of grimness. He didn't want to elaborate on it, but the idea of Elliot getting permanently wounded, or worse, was a nightmarish possibility for Isaac. That he was so close to the edge of tragedy only sealed the deal.

Oh, wow. That Digivice looked ancient. Jeremy must have been in a major scrap before leaving for it to be left in such poor condition. Isaac would have thought it was some sort of 80s pedometer if he didn't already know it was a Digivice. "Mind if I ask what happened?" Isaac inquired, trying to show support for the older boy without crossing any boundaries. He had a feeling this might be a story for another day, but Jeremy seemed like quite the open book. Who knows how much he would feel comfortable with saying?