Wanderlust 2: Electric Boogaloo (Mana)

Elliot laughed a little as Haley helped him shake his brother awake. "I know, right? I can barely sleep in my own bed, and here he is sleeping away on a moving train. I'm pretty sure he sleeps enough for both of us." While he was mostly good natured about it, there was the slightest bit of irritability in it. If Haley listened closely, she would hear at least a hundred ignored alarms and almost-late school days. It was probably the closest to upset sounding Elliot had been this whole journey.

"Anyway, I'm not really the biggest on traveling. Its more of a necessity than anything. But its also the easiest way to get around the Digital World, so I don't mind it. The exploration's where the real fun stuff is, anyway. How about you? Enjoyed your first train ride?"

Thankfully, with one final shake, Isaac's eyes fluttered open. He looked around, stretching slightly and stifling a yawn. "Jeez, sorry for passing out on you guys," Isaac said. "Public transportation kills me every time. One good thing about the noisier ones is that at least they're too loud for me to doze off."

The boys started to leave the train, peering out the station windows to get a hold of their bearings. Sure enough, there was a series of quaint huts in the distance that practically screamed Village of Beginnings. A large, peaceful statue of an Angemon stood high in the distance, and the barest hints of gentle pan flute music could be heard drifting off into the wind. A few multicolored blobs seemed to be hopping around in a carefree fashion, the absolute smallest a Digimon could be. It may have been pretty far on the horizon, but it easily looked close enough to be within running distance.

"And there's the village. Think we'll see any Digimon like yours over there?" Isaac asked, grinning.

"Hey, its like having your first adventure again. It must be nice getting to experience it all like it was brand new," Elliot commented, voice somewhat dreamy. It probably helped that his first Digital World experience was a mess. Sure, the part where Isaac met his girlfriend was fun, at least, but it took a lot of stress and fatigue to get there. It probably helped that being thrown into the grody-as-heck Shibuya River was now #2 on his list of experiences he wanted to forget at any cost. "Anything you hope to do for it?"

It seemed like Elliot wouldn't be able to forget that experience soon, though, because Haley asked about how the duo found their spirits. "Oh boy, that's a long story," he said, laughing fondly. "Well, started out when we went to check out the river-"

"-Which is really more like a septic tank these days, just a warning-"

"And that's where we found this weird demon-looking kid. We found out later she was a spirit user, but at first we thought we were just talking with a furry because of the ears and tail. Anyway, a bunch of punks had a problem with her, so Elliot tried to help watch her back, and then one of them just flung him in the river."

"Never, ever, ever let that happen to you. Its so gross," Elliot interjected.

"So I knocked him right out," Isaac said, grinning proudly. He neglected to mention this was a cheap shot via a Monster Manual to the head. "A few of his buddies kick the crap out of me, but the other spirit user turned into a wizard and scared 'em off. She tells me something about the Digital World, then bails. So what else am I gonna do but dive in there and save my bro?"

"He got kidnapped by this giant living tank. Kraktoof, he called himself. Thankfully a few other tamers there were to help me find my way around, and we were able to get to Isaac and fight Kraktoof off. That's when we found the spirits, buried in this giant crater. It was, uh . . ."

"Long story short, we had no idea how to work the things and accidentally fused together. Like how you met us, except we were a lot smaller and less cool looking. That took us a while to get the hang of, but at least by that point we had our spirits."

"So now are you gonna tell her the part where your girlfriend met you by plucking us out of a trash can?"

Isaac flushed a bright red. "N-no need for that story!" he protested. He hated telling people that one!

"Enjoying the Village so far? Air's really nice around here," Elliot said, resisting the urge to giggle at a tease gone so successfully.

"I know, right?" Elliot said, trying his hardest not to let his laughter flow freely. "But I think that makes it really sweet, too. My bro can find love, even if he's trash." That was it. Now he couldn't stop laughing, pushing himself just a bridge too far.

"Ah. But seriously, its just more proof you and Maia are great for each other, right? Finding love against the odds. What could be better?"

"Remember the whole 'we fused together' part?" Isaac explained, a good deal of red still fading from his cheeks. "Well, we didn't really know how to change back. We thought going back to the human world would trigger it, but no dice. That meant we had to hide out until we found a solution, so we figured we'd just hide under an empty garbage can so nobody saw us. No sense making everyone freak out and getting us in trouble, right? Worst case scenario, if someone saw us, I figured they'd think we were a raccoon."

"It didn't work. At all. But at least we got startled so bad it split us up again."

Unfortunately, they couldn't tease Isaac forever. Soon the shoe was on the other foot, and now Haley had Elliot in her sights! He didn't seem to react much to the first part, but at mention of being a heartbreaker he turned quite red. "Huh? Oh, no, not really," he said. "Thanks for the complement, though!"

At mention that she was enjoying the journey, Elliot smiled. "It really is, isn't it?" he said. "There's a lot of breathtaking views and awesome journeys in the Digital World, but this is shaping up to be one of my favorite places."

The village caretaker, a serene yet exhausted looking Elecmon, wandered up to the three.  Whether human, Digimon, or anything in between, it was critical for him to keep a vigilant eye on newcomers when the newborns were out.  It was fortunate that they were children themselves, or he would've come out with his hackles raised and his tail sparking. "Hey there, strangers!" he said, the smile on his face every bit as genuine as it was weary. "What brings you all around to these parts?"

"Oh yeah, she's the best. Really kind and patient. And her partner's hilarious!" Elliot said. Sure, Kuu was an acquired taste. A really, really acquired taste. But he was really great when people got to know him! "I bet she'd love to meet you, too. After all, she knows a cool person when she sees one." Coming out of anyone else's mouth that probably would've sounded like a cheap attempt at being smooth, but instead Elliot said it without a shred of irony. "Maybe once you're back in the human world, we can show you where she's at. Ooh, or maybe we'll bump into her while she's here! Wouldn't that be cool?"

The other bros bowed as Haley did, smiling at the Elecmon. He bashfully rubbed the back of his head at the complements, a few arcs of static electricity kicking up as he did that. It didn't seem to hurt him, but once he noticed his hair was standing up on end he started hastily matting it back down. "Aw, shucks. Glad the Village's nice enough to be a spot on your road map," he said, voice swelling up in pride at the compliment. "We all do our part to keep this place beautiful. And safe, too. Just look at all these happy tots!" He motioned with a slight sweep of his arm to the In-Training and Fresh Digimon cheerily bounding around. It was an idyllic-looking paradise, where nobody seemed to have a care in the world going on.

"Say, any of you three got a Digimon of your own? Don't usually get humans wandering around on your lonesome around here." Immediately, Elliot and Isaac pointed at each other. It was their favorite dumb joke whenever anyone asked who their partners were. The Elecmon tilted his head, confused, but a flash of their D-Tectors helped clear up any questions he had. "Ah, spirit users. That makes sense.

And you, miss?"

"You wouldn't believe how much their trust pays off. Its part of why we can always count on the Village of Beginnings to be such a safe haven." He calmly smiled, thinking of generations upon generations of Digimon that have risen up to fight for Primary Village when the chips were down. Whether passing tamers, Digimon of the Timberlands who were born and raised there, or even former villains who were able to find new life and redemption thanks to the village. "Everyone does their part to help keep things running smoothly 'round here. Like the meat farm Veggiemon's been running. Oh, the little guys have been loving it!"

He leaned toward Haley's eggs slightly, "Lemme take a look at these. Hm, I don't think I've seen anything like these two before. But that spotted one? That's a Fufumon egg! Not the most common, but we've had a few of them raised here in the past. They become kind of snakelike, and then turn into these big, furry dragons. Although what comes after that part's usually a lot less predictable. Digimon can be almost anything, you know?"

Sure enough, there was a delicious smell wafting over from the back of the village. Elecmon stood up on his hind legs, sniffing at it curiously before perking up in alarm. "Well! I should get on that farm, speaking of. These little guys are terrors when they're hungry.

Say, are you kids hungry? Food here's a bit simple, but I'd be remiss to not offer you a bit of hospitality before you go." Elliot's eyes lit up at the statement, but he turned to Haley and Isaac first. He wouldn't want to hold them up if they weren't feeling it, even if he really wanted some food.

"Its the least I can do for a few weary travelers in need of a pick-me-up," Elecmon commented, looking Haley up and down. "Heck, you look like you haven't had a bite to eat in days! 'Sides, the babies are really picky eaters. Ask for a whole plateful, eat three bites. There's always plenty left over, if that's your concern." The Village of Beginning's reputation for hospitality did not go unearned. In fact, Elecmon seemed like he would (very patiently) drag the trio to the dinner table if they didn't get a move-on soon.

Thankfully, Elliot didn't seem to have any reservations about that. "Oh heck yes, I'm starvi-

I-I mean, if everyone else is okay with it." He caught himself pretty quickly, but it was clear Elliot couldn't contain his hunger much longer. He kept casting long, lingering glances at the table, and was priming himself to get moving the second Isaac and Haley gave the sendoff. It was hard to blame him, though. When so much of the Digital World could be cold and distant toward humans, hearing offers of home-cooked meals was one heck of a temptation to deal with. It was just like home, but with red things!

"Heh. I can't say no to my bro. We owe you one, okay Elecmon?" Isaac added. With the ability to turn into a giant demon-dragon, he didn't have much trouble imagining what sort of favor he could cash in. If a Kuwagamon or a Woodmon suddenly snapped and started marching on the village, he'd fly right over to put them back in their place.

Elecmon clasped his front paws together happily. "Excellent! It's always a pleasure having company to dine with. Gives the babies something to talk about, you know? Well, it's right this way!" He scampered off to a large picnic table, some modest offerings set up on top of it. There were simple piles of bone-in meat, looking like they came right out of a cocoon, and a few leafy greens underneath the pile. "Don't worry about the bone, by the way. Meat slides right off," Elecmon explained, Isaac having the dawning realization that this crazy Digimon was going to feed each of these babies individually.

Who, speaking of, now had their eyes laser-focused on the trio of newcomers. It would only be a matter of seconds before they filled the air with a relentless shower of questions. The only thing stopping them seemed to be that none wanted to speak first.