Adjusting the Clock [K]

A more articulate Dokugumon would have been much more wary of the feline: despite his comparative stature, Mikemon was indeed a champion level Digimon, with more than enough strength to hoist the spider if need be. Feral as it was, the spider continued his charge for several more yards, unaware of the silent fox that approached from behind!

CRACK!

The Dokugumon let out a spitting roar just as that kick landed atop its head, the full weight of the Renamon behind it! The beast staggered, its jaw dragging several feet against the uneven dirt of the forest floor as it stumbled forward. Groggy as it was, though, the spider was quick to try and clamber back up on its front feet, its eye glinting as it turned to face the Renamon-

"Hyah!" With labored breath, the Mikemon had caught up to the spider's side, just as K's hit would strike. Still using his one good arm, his own lightning paw would strike at the spider's temple, the green light in its eyes dimming soon after. With a low, guttural growl, the spider collapsed. Its eyes dimmed, the Dokugumon severed from its consciousness.

"... Ugh..." At that exertion of effort, though, the Mikemon groaned. His 'free' hand locked over the worst of the wound at his elbow, his own 'radiated healing' pulsing brightly over the wound. Eventually, his left paw twitched, the Mikemon taking a moment to examine his arm. 'Good enough for now', he figured. "Right... rope, quickly..."

---

The next few minutes went by rather quickly: with the rope the Mikemon had brought, Mikemon (and K, should she assist) would bind the rear two legs of the spider on each side together, before tying one last bind off, to keep the Dokugumon's innermost fangs bound together. Fortunately enough, it seemed that the beast was out like a light for the entire duration, and Mikemon was taking no chances: he occasionally used 'Shadow Stitching', a dark aura surrounding his paws as he sank several shadowy stitches into the spider's frame.

"Right... he won't be moving for a good while." Finally taking a moment to take a deep breath, he stepped forward towards the spider, and moved its head a slight bit to the side, digging to look behind the mane. There, he gave a 'tch', and beckoned the Renamon over. "Look, right here..."

The texture was undeniably foreign. Underneath the armor of the chitin, white 'flakes' could be seen on top of the insect's sensitive, black skin. Brushing a paw-pad over it, the Mikemon determined that the flakes were wet, and deeply grown into its skin. "... Tch. You know what this is, right, K?" The Mikemon's gaze flicked back towards the mushrooms, the cat swearing under his breath. "This Dokugumon was already dead when we found it..."

Yes, hopefully that spider would stay down: with how closely they were examining the spider's skin, even with the binds, it would be troublesome if the monster stirred! Still, that didn't seem to be the case...

... Though, if it did wake up, it would be as mindless and reckless as before. That was the Mikemon's diagnosis, as soon as he confirmed the existence of the white flakes. It was concrete evidence of a deep fungal growth, something that the cat had suspected during his little 'interrogation' of the town. "No, its not good," the doctor agreed, though it was clear that K didn't have the entire 'puzzle' put together yet. Then again, those missing pieces could only be found with extensive medical knowledge - knowledge the Mikemon was lucky enough to have.

"Well, there could very well be another beast or two out here infected by the growth, but I doubt they would be as far gone as the Dokugumon. He's a virus-type, and under that thin exoskeleton is an outer-layer that's very receptive of the toxins in the air. Put all that together and you have yourself a practical zombie... see how far the skin presses in here?" The cat lightly pressed a finger against the spider's side, it having a surprising amount of give. "This Dokugumon's half starved-to-death."

He stepped away from the insect, shaking his head. "'Nocturne Whitecap', though useful, is very illegal to grow, or even transport its spores, without a permit. There's only one greenhouse I know that even carries it, and that reason is simple: the fungus is stupidly toxic to virus types. Damn it..." He let out a worse swear under his breath, as he knelt over the mushrooms.

"You heard all that stuff in town, right? I actually learned that the Gazimon family had replanted this stuff where they noticed other mushrooms growing... naturally, like an idiot, I cussed them out in the middle of the streets. Entire town started looking at me cross-eyed, and then I realized: how the hell would they know this vague law? All the Gazi's knew was that selling whitecaps made a lot of money, and growing more would make more money."

The cat sighed. "An innocent decision. One mistake, that they wouldn't even know was a mistake, got at least three Digimon deleted. We can't even blame the spider for this."

Oh, lord. The moment K's first question hit the Mikemon's ears, the feline's ear would give a visible twitch, the cat's expression growing slightly grave. The only answer he would give was a shake of the head - the spider was way too far gone, even if the cat did go all-out and clear away all the fungus! Still, the answer would be far less grave, in regards to the Gazimon:

"Don't worry about me; I might use virus, but I'm still data. As for the Gazimon in town, well, I'd say only the one attacked by the Dokugumon is in any real danger from the fungus. I saw face-masks and the like in their place, so they were at least knew what they were doing as far as planting mushrooms." As for that one Gazimon in the hotel, the Mikemon didn't know how to answer. It really depended on just how the fight went down: "And if the Gazimon's still kicking in your hotel, well, he'll probably be fine." Hopefully that was enough for now, but still, the problem to the town was real.

And the town itself, it seemed, wasn't going to take any of this nicely. Should the illegal act actually get out, and be prosecuted, the resulting fallout would likely have the townsfolk at each-other's throats. Heck, would they even take well to outsiders from Terminus dragging the Gazi's away? Some would be distraught, and others would likely be cheering them on. The doctor took in all of K's explanation, up to the point where she said they would have to get rid of the mushrooms.

"We'll dispose of them discretely." The Mikemon nodded. "Honestly, there's no reason to drag this further into the mud. We'll tell the Gazi's they're gone, and once you go out to Whitewater and get an actual professional to consult, mistakes like this will be avoidable. Bureaucracy might not be too appreciated here, but its a start. And... ugh."

Right. The Dokugumon. He looked down to the spider, and slowly approached the front side. Carefully, he lined a paw up, and extracted a fang - one that came out much easier than expected, due to the infection - and rested it aside, before running a paw across its shoulder. "Sorry..."

There would be a quick strike, the spider's frame quickly disintegrating into red data. Of course, he didn't move to load a single piece of it, both out of respect for the spider and for the risk of its tainted data affecting his own. "We'll use the fang as proof we took out the spider. Then... ugh. I'll need to rest at your inn for a bit..." His left arm twitched.

"Honestly... I'll leave what to tell the town, to you."

"If I had to guess, they must have found Whitecap deeper in the woods and planted them here. Again, they weren't exactly trying to hide it - they had no reason to." That was the crux of it, after all, and why the situation got so out of hand: without knowing the law, they were able to plant these mushrooms without limit. Still, he couldn't imagine that the spores traveled well outside of their natural habitat...

... Oh, who was he kidding, they would be able to spread freely at night! The Mikemon let that thought about the Gazimon slip past - he definitely didn't want this to go the same way the spider did. No, Mikemon would only respond as K spoke of the mushrooms, at which point the doctor opened the bag on his left arm. He pulled out a large plastic bag, and knelt down next to the fungus, taking care to extract them down to their root. Even underneath the mushrooms was a white pulp that had started to grow into the ground: instead of several caps, it all came out as one mass of fungus, which he carefully split in half, and stored in the bag in two pieces. Letting out as much air as he could, he sealed the bag shut. "Burning it won't be necessary. As much damage as it caused, the sheriff will need to see the evidence."

After all, if that was the route that K wanted to go, well, he wasn't going to stop her. He'd even provide his own account to the sheriff, if needed. "As much trouble as it was... for what its worth, I thank you for trusting me. And..." He gave a small smile. "My offer's still on the table."

---

As talkative and active as Mikemon was during their excursion out to the woods, the cat's voice went away as soon as they were back in town. With suspicious stares looking down at the pair, and with the Mikemon's earlier attitude, he simply made his way back to the inn as quick as he could. Before heading off to his room, he took to the back-corner of the common area, setting down his bag to more properly look at and treat his arm.

If K wanted anything, he'd be there for a few minutes longer. If not, he'd soon be back to his room.

"Well. Just keep it in mind. Surely I've bugged you about it enough by now." After today, Mikemon seemed less insistent, but still interested, in the idea of having K under his wing. Still, given the state of this town, he couldn't press her much further about it.

And back at the inn, he wanted little more than to just curl up in his room and call it a day. He finally had the chance to get a proper set of bandages around his arm, and do more than just a simple flash-heal in regards to the Dokugumon's poison. Really, the only loose end around here was the Gazimon: as the room cracked open, she'd see the rabbit Digimon flat on his back, a damp towel draped over his forehead, idle radio in the background.

"Mm?" He grunted, looking towards the door from the corner of his eye. "Ah, evening, K... can I leave, yet? Damn, my joints are still killing me..."

He was 'fine', or at the very least, free of the fungus. Back in the common room, Mikemon gave a wave back towards K, his arm now fully bandaged. "Looked as we passed by; the train tracks are back up. I'll be out of here in the morning." The cat gave a nod, and stood, starting back towards his room.

"... Would be nice to get a coffee with you, at some point later. With none of this work-talk on the table." He left it at that, making his way down the hall.