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Post by Nanako Uehara on Aug 2, 2017 19:13:53 GMT
It had all happened so suddenly. One moment, Nanako was standing on the banks of the Shibuya River, doing a victory hop over catching a Pikachu in Pokémon GO, and the next, the world was spinning as she plunged into the river's depths. She felt her body break the surface of the water, felt herself sinking toward the bottom... and then nothing. She didn't dare to open her eyes, nor did she dare to inhale even though she no longer felt herself surrounded by water. Was she... dead? Was this what death felt like? Was this how it ended, drowning in a garbage-infested river while playing a mobile game? She knew she shouldn't have gone outside, not even for a game--bad things always happened when she went outside... Then, she felt a breeze. Were there breezes in the afterlife? There definitely weren't any underwater, and that gave Nanako enough courage to crack an eye open. Both of her blue eyes widened when instead of seeing sludge or the buildings crowded around the Shibuya River, she saw the sky. "Wh--?" She didn't have enough breath in her to finish the question, not that she even knew what to ask at this point. She took a deep, shaky breath and turned her head. A rolling green landscape that had definitely seen better days unraveled before her. Okay, so this probably wasn't Heaven; it looked too much like a battleground for that, but it was still too nice to be Hell. So where was she? And why was she floating down instead of crashing into the earth? (Not that she could complain about that, but it was still weird.) It wasn't until she'd landed in a sitting position on a patch of grass that she realized something else: "I'm not wet." She looked herself over to make sure she hadn't gone insane, but she was dry and clean as a whistle, to boot. "What's going on? Where am I? Am I...?" An idea struck her. She pulled on her cheek, the accompanying "Piiinch" sounding weird with half her mouth stretched out. It hurt, which meant that if she was dreaming, it was one heck of a lucid dream. She looked around, trying to find anything familiar in this place. Nothing but broken grassy plains stretched out on most sides, but behind her, Nanako could see a huge grey wall protecting... something. A fortress? A city? She couldn't tell from here. "Hmm?" She tilted her head, hoping that she could somehow get a better angle on it, but nothing. "Hmm..." Well, it was the only thing that looked like, well, anything out here, so it was probably her best bet at finding where she was. Nanako braced her hands against the ground so she could pull herself up but stopped when she brushed against something hard. She looked over at what turned out to be a sizable orange egg with big yellow spots. "Huh?" She reached out to pick it up with both hands and found it to be surprisingly warm. "Where did this come from?" she asked, holding it up to the light. Something else on the ground caught her eye, too: a white and lavender device with a square screen with an up and down arrow next to it and a big button at the bottom. She set the egg back on the grass and picked the device up. She'd never seen anything like it before, but it felt... familiar somehow. Like it had been with her all this time. And the egg... She couldn't explain why, but she wanted to keep it close to her. She nodded with a determined "Okay," pocketed the device, pulled herself to her feet, and scooped the egg up in both arms. She wasn't sure what her overall mission was, but she had three tasks she needed to accomplish now: - Protect the egg and help it hatch
- Get to that city/fortress/whatever the heck it is
- Get home
She didn't know how to hatch an egg, let alone one this big, and she had no idea how she was going to get home, so the only thing she could do now was complete her second task. If the progression in this area was any good, that would get her closer to her other two goals and help her figure out everything else.
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Post by theogrelords on Aug 13, 2017 3:21:41 GMT
Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Whoever came up with the idea that In-Training Digimon should move by bouncing was a horrible person. These poor things already had such tiny bodies to store energy with, and they had to spend most of it on physically launching themselves into the air. It was no wonder they had to spend any time not bouncing on eating and sleeping. Why couldn't they all be like Motimon instead? Motimon had all the best luck. They actually got crawl around. And punch things! It'd be like a dream come true, frankly.
Unfortunately, the Ogrelords were not Motimon. Right now they were a pair of Botamon following behind a Pagumon, trying to find their way across the vastness of the Network Plains. The Network Plains was already vast enough for creatures taller than three apples high, let alone for a gaggle of babies. The Pagumon leading the group had a map in his hands. Or at least, it looked like one. On closer examination, it was more like a steakhouse napkin with some crayon doodles on it.
They were very bad crayon doodles.
As they bounded from place to place, they feverishly talked about the current situation they were in.
"The heck are we even going? You got us lost again!"
"Oi! I'm the one with the map, I say where we go."
"That Ogremon's not even affacing the right way."
"See his arm? He's doing a handstand!"
"With his horns on the floor?"
"Didn't say it was a good handstand.
Look, you want the map? Come and get it, ya gits!"
The Pagumon held the map high over his head, laughing as the two Botamon began hopping up to try and reach it. The larger of the two eventually reared back, letting the smaller one catapult off of his body and tackle the larger. Immediately the three of them fell into a heap, the map fluttering a few paces down from where they were standing. Letting out a cheer of triumph, the Botamon bounded over to the map and stooped down by it, upon which they realized something quite unfortunate.
"We don't have the gubbins for picking this up, we do?"
"Not with that attitude, we don't."
The Pagumon pointed as he laughed uproariously at them. "Looking for these?" he asked, striking a variety of flexing poses to demonstrate his far superior manual dexterity. "Well, I gots 'em. 'Cause I'm the leader! And that means the map's all for me. We're gonna find the beach any second now, I'm telling ya."
"And what're we gonna do until then?"
"Die of boredom, probably."
"What? There's tons of stuff we could do! Like throw rocks-"
"You can throw rocks, maybe."
"-or pick on other Digimon-"
"That are all bigger than us."
"-or count dirt, or, or . . .
Okay! So we're all bored! What do you gits want, the answer to our problems to just fall on us?"
PLOP! Somebody promptly fell from the sky, and the Ogrelords dove into a nearby crevice. There were a lot of crevices around the Plains, weren't there? It seemed no matter how many efforts there were to repair this place, it remained thoroughly dug up. It was awfully convenient for the purposes of hiding. They peeked out from their little hiding spot, only to retreat again once the mysterious person started cracking her eyes open.
"Y'see that? Another 'umie! And she had somethin' on, her, too."
"A DigiEgg?"
"Dinner!"
Pap! Pap! Two bonks to the head for Pagumon's two idiot companions. "No, ya morons!" he said, the frustration in his voice giving way to wonder. "She's got a volleyball." Both Botamon's eyes widened in excitement at the possibility. Who cared about starvation or being lost when they could be mildly entertained? It was perfect! "We gotta get our hands on it, yeah?"
"We could ask really nicely," the smaller Botamon said.
The larger one looked down at him and scoffed. "Asking? A 'umie?" he said. "We're the Ogrelords! We seizure whatever the heck we want from whoever the heck we want. Especially from 'umies."
"Then it's settled!" Pagumon said, flipping himself out of the tiny crevice. "Over the top, boys! We're gettin' that volleyball, or my name's not Ogremon." The Botamon bounced out to follow, and soon the cadre of tiny Digimon was bounding towards the new arrival at breakneck speeds. These breakneck speeds could probably outpaced if the new arrival walked moderately briskly, to be honest, but for the Ogrelords things were getting intense.
They finally skidded to a halt before her, Pagumon pointing a dramatic ear-finger in her general direction. If he leaned back slightly, he could probably point at her knees. "Oi! You!" he barked. "Give us that volleyball, y'hear?"
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Post by Nanako Uehara on Aug 14, 2017 21:04:59 GMT
Nanako hadn't made it very far before she felt something move underfoot, and a moment later, a voice barked out: "Oi! You! Give us that volleyball, y'hear?"
Still dazed from her strange fall and unsure of where she was, she stopped, looked down toward the voice's source, and blinked a couple of times, much like a confused owl, at the sight before her. Three small creatures stood--even though they had no visible legs--before her, and even though Nanako was far from an expert on animals, she was pretty sure nothing like them should have even existed. Two of them were little more than cat-like heads with solid yellow eyes peering out from behind the black fur that covered their entire bodies, if they could even be called bodies. The third was a bit more complicated: an oval-shaped blue creature with red sclera, yellow eyes, a cat-like smile, and two... long ears? Short arms? Regular-sized arm-ears? It was using one of its "fingers" to point at Nanako, so it was probably the one who'd spoken.
She hadn't even really registered what the creature had said, though. Everything was still too weird for her to think of something normal like a volleyball. Instead, she knelt down so she was closer to the creatures' eye levels, still hugging the egg close to her. "What... are you?" They weren't Pokémon, that was for sure. Besides, Pokémon couldn't even talk.
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Post by theogrelords on Aug 16, 2017 5:34:54 GMT
"I don't think she's listening, boss."
The smaller Botamon's deadpan comment earned it a bonk on the head from its Pagumon boss. "I see that, ya git!" he barked, not letting the other finger remain un-pointed. "And we know what she's saying, so it figures she knows what we're saying, yeah? Then that means . . ." This next leap in logic seemed to be taking a while. Pagumon dropped his hand to his nonexistent chin, stroking it gently. She spoke. He spoke the same. She didn't listen. But what could it mean? He turned it over in his head, lost in a world of his own contemplation.
"Psssst! I think she's ignorifying you," the larger Botamon helpfully whispered.
That snapped Pagumon out of his trance, causing him to point at Nanako full force. "Oi! You're ignoring me!" he squeaked, trying to look as big, mean, and angry as possible. Considering he looked more like a furry egg than anything, it probably wasn't very effective. "Didn't your ma ever tell you that's impolite?"
"Yeah! And also how to share and all that junk," the smaller Botamon added, looking up at the "volleyball" expectantly.
That said, it'd be equally rude to ignore Nanako back. Especially when she had asked a question about the most important topic of all; themselves. Pagumon hopped back a step, motioning for the Botamon to bounce after him. "Alright, alright. Wanna know who we are, 'umie?" he asked, grinning deviously. He curled his ears up as if flexing with them. "We're the strongest of the strong and toughest of the tough!" After saying this he hopped in a small circle, moving his ears into a bodybuilder's pose. "We're the terrors of the Digital World and masters of the beach!" He turned once more to face Nanako, doing a small, wiggly dance with his arms. "We're mean! We're green! And we're the best darn thing you've ever seen."
With that said, the other two slid to his side to flank him. Pagumon folded his ears, trying to look like a badass but in the process covering his eyes and mouth. The two Botamon leaned in from the sides, holding their ear nubs over his head in an attempt at posing symmetrically. With one Botamon far wider than the other, this was not easy.
"We!"
"Are!"
"The Ogrelords!"
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Post by Nanako Uehara on Aug 29, 2017 17:32:21 GMT
The little creatures' introduction created more questions than it answered. If they were the "terrors of the Digital World," did that mean Nanako was in that Digital World? What was the Digital World, anyway? Was it the internet? It sure didn't look like any depiction of the internet Nanako had seen before. There wasn't any code floating around or wireframe information tubes to fly through. Actually, nothing was wireframe; everything looked too solid to be the internet, even if the land did look like it'd been stomped on a few times. But before Nanako could voice any of her questions, even to herself, the two black creatures (whoa, Shadow the Hedgehog flashbacks) flanked the blue one in a poor man's Ginyu Force group pose. And when they gave their group name, any questions that Nanako had been forming dropped from her mind.
"But you don't look like ogres. You're not even green," came from her mouth, instead.
It took some effort and a little grunt to stand up again since Nanako wasn't used to using her leg muscles like that and couldn't support herself with her hands thanks to the egg. She tumbled a couple of steps back before she managed to regain her balance. "So this is the 'Digital World'?" she asked, looking around for anything that might be a URL or a website or... well, anything digital-looking.
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Post by theogrelords on Sept 13, 2017 16:37:06 GMT
Pagumon's jaw dropped to the floor as Nanako dared call his qualifications into question. Immediately the two Botamon, eyes wide with shock, hopped up to her. They looked almost pleading as they waved their ear nubs at her, trying to make her rethink this course of action.
"Y-you just doubted the boss' greenosity!" the larger Botamon said, words tumbling over each other clumsily. "And his ogretude! That's really not a good idea. We're in for it now . . ."
"Heh. Sounds like he needs to cool down," the smaller Botamon offered, only to be hip-checked angrily by the larger one.
"You don't even have your ice powers!" he blurted. "You can't be punning without the stuff to back it up."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whate-
Boss? Boss, your blood pressure!"
Pagumon was standing in a sort of powered up stance, a raspy war cry squeaking out of his throat as he tried to force himself to get big again. "You wanna see some green? Oh, I'll show you some green, alright!" he barked, his grey fur occasionally shimmering a bright white. "Any second now!"
Right. Low-level Digimon were awful at Digivolving on command. This could take a bit.
While they waited, the smaller Botamon turned to Nanako, shrugging a little. "Digital World, yeah," he clarified, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "What about it?"
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Post by Nanako Uehara on Sept 21, 2017 19:08:14 GMT
Nanako stared down at the two black creatures (she really needed a new term for them--henchmen? underlings?) as they flailed at her feet. She had to admit, they were pretty cute, especially now. They were like little kids playing supervillains, only they were a lot more monster-shaped than kid-shaped.
The two henchlings squabbled a bit, preventing Nanako from asking just why they were so insistent that their boss was green when he clearly wasn't. But that was suddenly a lot less important when she saw that their boss was in a battle stance, letting out some kind of war cry and flickering from his normal blue-gray color to white (which still wasn't green, Nanako noticed). She still had no idea what was going on, where she was, who or what these "Ogrelords" were, or what their leader was doing... but she felt fear begin to bubble up inside of her, threatening to burst through the curiosity that had kept it in check until now. She took a deep breath that hitched for a moment, hugging the egg closer to her.
"It doesn't look digital." The words came out without her even realizing it, as focused as she was on whatever the leader was doing. Powering up? Getting ready to transform? She'd seen enough anime to know that he was doing something like that, but this wasn't anime, was it? And that's what had Nanako's heart speeding up.
In her arms, the egg stirred. |
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Post by theogrelords on Oct 7, 2017 2:15:24 GMT
The smaller of the two Botamon blinked, confused. "What's it supposed to look like?" he asked, confused. "But I mean, hey. Not like I'm the one who lives here and all that. So feel free to tell me if I'm wrong." Why, yes, Nanako. You were just sassed by a baby. Granted, it was a baby that seemed to be alive for quite a long time, but it was still a baby!
"Are you two still on all of that?" the larger Botamon asked, slapping the smaller one with his ear. "If the boss sees you slackin' off with a 'umie before the big fight, he ain't gonna be too elaticious!"
"Ah, c'mon, he's just gonna throw his back out again," the smaller one complained.
"We don't even got backs! We're a buncha blobs!" the larger one said, shooting a glare. The two continued going back and forth about the subject, seemingly not even noticing as their boss' grey fur had turned completely white.
Once he had turned all white, he slowly started to change. His ears grew longer and sturdier looking, flexing up like a pair of arms. His body split at where his arms had formed, slowly starting to form into proper head and body segments. His right hand opened, and 0s and 1s rushed to form a club inside. As he wrapped his hand around it, the white light dispersed to reveal green skin, a mop of red hair, and bulging eyes.
"'Ere we go, boys!" the newly-formed Goblimon shouted, letting out an uproarious laugh as he spoke. "Feels good to be me again! But you two slackers better be catching up soon, y'hear? Although . . . " Slowly the goblin sheathed his club, walking up to the squabbling Botamon and cracking his knuckles.
Once he was close enough, he scooped them up and flung them right at Nanako's face. "Handle it!" he shouted, watching as they gracelessly tumbled through the air at her.
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Post by Nanako Uehara on Oct 7, 2017 17:35:49 GMT
Whatever the Digital World was "supposed" to look like didn't really matter anymore. Nor did whatever the two little blobs were fighting about. Their leader was changing. The white light that had once been his gray body morphed into a bipedal form. A cluster of 1s and 0s came from seemingly nowhere and formed a weapon in his hand, something actually digital-looking in this Digital World. When it was all said and done, the leader had transformed into something more closely resembling an ogre, green skin and all.
"Oh," Nanako whispered at the sight, her voice flat. Still clutching the egg like a teddy bear, she started taking steps back. This thing was definitely more dangerous than the cute gray blob it had been a minute ago.
She'd expected the goblin to rush after her with its club. She hadn't expected him to pick up his two henchlings and hurl them at her. She let out a "Yeek!" of surprise and tried to duck out of the way, but she only got far enough to avoid getting hit right in the face. Instead, they tumbled into the top of her ducked head, and while their fuzzy bodies didn't make for the best weapons, the force at which they'd been thrown and the sheer surprise of the attack were enough to send Nanako stumbling back on her butt with a high-pitched grunt.
Again, the egg stirred as the data within began to compile at a rapid rate. Nanako was in trouble. The being that was forming--Ursula, she knew her name was at that moment--had to do something to help her. She wouldn't be very powerful when she hatched, but that didn't matter. What mattered was protecting her human.
Nanako's eyes widened when she felt the egg shift. A horizontal crack formed in a ring around its middle, splitting the egg in two. A yellow creature that reminded Nanako of a dandelion peered out with its big red eyes. |
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Post by theogrelords on Oct 13, 2017 1:49:09 GMT
Goblimon laughed uproariously as the most tried and tested of the Ogrelords' team attacks came to fruition. His laughter was echoed, in a far higher pitch, by the Botamon he had thrown. They bounced around Nanako in circles as they laughed, occasionally wiggling as if about to lunge her but only interested in making her startle slightly. If they kept intimidating her, maybe she'd just give up the volleyball and let them be. This was starting to become a major downer, even if a scared 'umie was always a recipe for hilarity.
Unfortunately, the 'umie wouldn't be alone. Doubly unfortunately, she had shed her volleyball in the process. It cracked, shuddered, and split until a small dandelion came out of it. The Ogrelords all stopped to give it a look, the gears in Goblimon's head turning.
When he figured out what was wrong, he stomped the ground in irritation. "Hey! That was a perfectly good volleyball you just broke on us," he complained, the ground shaking ever-so-slightly with each stomp.
"Yeah! We were gonna do some smashspiking," the larger Botamon butted in, puffing its cheeks in indignation. "What even is that thing, anyway?"
"It's adorable," the smaller Botamon said. "Just like me!"
"You? Ha!" the larger one interrupted. You got a mug not even an Angewomon could love!"
"Oh, hush up already!" Goblimon roared, cutting the other two off. He looked down at the dandelion, eyes narrowed. "Looks like this 'umie's gonna get an imprint. Not even a cool one, either. Where's it's muscle?" He got down on all fours and turned his cheek towards it. "C'mon! Gimme one good shot, ya wimp! I dare ya!"
Why yes. Goblimon was calling out a literal newborn for being weak. This is good childcare, ladies and gentlemen.
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Post by Nanako Uehara on Oct 28, 2017 16:58:15 GMT
A couple of little "Nyeh" sounds escaped Nanako's lips as she flinched at the henchlings' fake-jumping at her. The dandelion quivered at seeing this--and at just what she was up against. If it had just been one opponent, she might have had a chance to give her new Tamer the opportunity to escape, at the very least. But three? Even if two of them were still In-Training, this would be a lot more difficult than she thought.
"Volley... ball?" Nanako whispered. Right, the Ogrelords had mentioned something about a volleyball earlier, hadn't they? They had to have meant her now-hatched egg. She flinched again as the ground actually shook beneath her, even if only a little bit, with each of the green Digimon's stomps. If they had used this egg for volleyball...
Though still scared, Ursula let out a little trill to get Nanako's attention. Nanako looked down at the creature with a soft "Eh?", and Ursula took that as her cue to hop out of what was left of the egg and onto Nanako's shoulder. Nanako's shoulders jumped at the sudden contact, but she relaxed when all the little dandelion did was nuzzle her cheek, eyes closed in its best attempt at a mouth-less smile. Despite her fear and confusion, a smile also found its way onto Nanako's face. She had to agree with the smaller henchling: this thing was adorable. And it actually seemed friendly, unlike the goblin that was currently crouched down all fours, showing is cheek so the newborn dandelion could... hit it?
Yep, Nanako was just plain confused again.
"Ah--!" she exclaimed as the dandelion jumped off her shoulder and bounced closer to the green Digimon. Ursula didn't want to fight--not just because she knew she didn't stand any chance here but because something in her told her it wasn't the right course of action. But if she could catch the big guy off guard, then maybe, just maybe, she'd get a chance to escape with her human partner without having to fight.
So, with the loudest "PRR!" she could manage, she puffed her body out, sending the hairs on her coat flying into the air with her signature (and only) Hair Mist attack. The Goblimon had made it easier for her, too--if she could get some into his eyes and/or nose, then this would work even better. |
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Post by theogrelords on Oct 31, 2017 2:50:42 GMT
Goblimon hadn't expected much from what an In-Training (or even lower) Digimon was capable of. He'd expected some bubbles, maybe a headbutt. You know. Stuff he could laugh about because of how pathetic anything smaller than him was. Basic Goblin stuff. What he hadn't expected was for itchy hair loaded with allergens to suddenly shoot into his face. He immediately scrambled back on all fours, coughing and sputtering all the while. "I said hit me!" he complained between heavy hacks. "Not do whatever the heck that was!" He tried to say something else, but only succeeded in sneezing onto the grass.
The two Botamon were laughing their tiny, blobby heads off. Which, considering that they were Botamon, meant they were laughing their entire bodies. "Hey, come on, that's just rude," the smaller Botamon said between snickers.
"All's fair in love and fightiness, right?" the larger Botamon said. Whereas before the two Botamon were at least trying to hold their laughter in, now they had completely lost it. They rolled around Nanako in circles, thankfully way less hostile than their ringleader.
Not that Goblimon wasn't still trying to put up a fight, even if he was having a horrible case of hay fever. He forced himself to his feet, stomping the ground in anger. "Alright! No more Mr. Nice Ogre!" he spat, quite literally due to all of the allergies currently clogging him up. "Go on and get 'em, you lot! You two better start pulling your weight, or else movie night's cancelled!"
Torn between seeing their boss making an ass out of himself and losing their movie privileges, the two Botamon made a very smart decision. They decided to half ass both, "surrounding" Nanako and undulating "intimidatingly" at them. "Ooooh, look out, we're gonna get ya!" the smaller one taunted, voice hilariously flat.
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Post by Nanako Uehara on Nov 17, 2017 17:57:18 GMT
Yes, it had worked! With the Goblimon sufficiently distracted, Ursula turned back to Nanako, who watched her for a moment before bursting into giggles at the sight of the big, bad ogre having an allergy attack while his minions laughed at him. With a satisfied trill, the Popomon hopped back over to the human, who scooped the little Digimon into her arms and stood again.
Nanako's shoulders tensed when the leader ordered the henchlings to take care of things and they moved into position. But... they didn't seem as enthusiastic about it as they had earlier. Their undulations were halfhearted at best, and the one who taunted her did so in an amazingly flat voice. It wasn't even Bad "Bad Acting"--it was no acting. What the heck was going on?
Nanako turned to her new companion for any possible answers. Ursula just blinked her big red eyes with a small "prr." In that a moment, understanding that required no words flashed between them. They nodded at each other.
And then Nanako turned to run the heck away, her height hopefully giving her an advantage over the limbless henchlings. |
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