Taint [Closed] [Spirit Hunt]

Sinokira was... In a forest now. And not those fields filled with maybe 20 or so trees, this was the real thing, untouched by hands wishing to make it more accessible, the shiny reflective surface of his spirit, the manifestation of machinery Escamon appeared to his side, glancing around, "This place is nice. Kinda asymmetrical, though." he remarked, looking at all the trees, "I've never seen this many trees, why are they so close?" The spirit asked, trying to grab at the bark, before recalling his incorporeality, and turning his attention back to his mountain of a human partner, who felt the bark of a tree, remarking on how... almost lifelike an imitation it was. It was a nice place, "Oh, uh, trees, they usually grow in places with lots of good ground, I guess, but I don't know if this data place works the same way." he explained his knowledge on trees, recalling some classes he had as a kid, where they studied why trees lost their leaves and how they survive for years. The two looked at the trees, each fascinated for their own reasons, before they heard some rustling. Kira turned, scanning the trees, for a moment, before he saw someone, a girl, race through, he stared through his lenses, before deciding to follow her, tripping and stumbling over roots and small plants in his way, but he tried his best to keep her in his line of sight.

Amelie ran, and ran, and ran a little more after that. For some reason, she couldn't feel the burning sensation welling in her lungs, or the tiredness on her legs. The only thing her brain currently was registering were the voices. They were easing up, just like her rhythm; tired breaths came out of her mouth in ragged puffs as she collapsed on her knees, arms barely supporting her upper body, preventing it from colliding with the grass beneath.

Her gaze wandered through the green blades around her. A clearing? She wasn't aware enough to know if this was the same clearing as the one where this madness had begun, even if surprisingly... the whispers had fallen silent, and had been replaced by the incessant beeping of her D-Tector. She was near.

Focusing her senses, Amelie finally caught the source of digivice's beeping. Amid the clearing, and bounded by a mix of chains and a strange symbol inscribed on the ground, the totem rested. It seemed as if... it had recently been placed in there? Or as if it had been hiding and decided to come out for some reason. Both restrained elements seemed almost new, as if recently placed.

Funnily enough, she wasn't alone in the clearing either; a lone Labramon for some reason was... digging into the patterns around the totem? She didn't know why, but that seemed like a terrible idea.

As soon as the first trace of a symbol was broken, the chains holding the totem shook violently, almost as if the item itself was alive and struggling against its bounds; a sudden, forceful push released it, the impulse directing it straight into the dog's body. A lone whimper was the only reaction it had before the spirit set shop. The digimon's body instantly contorted and changed, elongated and expanded, the final form being something Amelie herself couldn't describe with mere words. What was that... abomination? It was easily three times bigger than her and donned a somewhat humanoid appearance, but... not quite.

Blue eyes were affixed on it, surprise and fear etched on the teenager's features as the thing regarded its environment. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as it seemed to notice her existence. It began to move in her way, its movements being spasmodic, unpredictable and... quite fast, the brunette had to admit. She couldn't discern her intent, but if its appearance had anything to do with it, it didn't have peaceful intentions.

The brunette was frozen in her place, unable to move while she looked at what would likely be her demise, eyes widened, mouth agape and cold sweat running wildly on her back.

---

Digimon's Siftermon. You can check its "exact" description on my profile. Sorry for being vague about it, trying to keep the characterization on!

Rinji had forcibly closed his eyes, unable to believe the chances that Amy would be here of all places. And yet, the sound of the girl running and panting was far too familiar. It was how they first met, after all. He'd never forget that day.

"Amy?" He whispered to himself questionably. At this point, she had already ran straight past his chosen sleeping place. Her running had stopped, replaced by an incessant beeping. Could it be her digivice?

It had to be. Curious, Rinji abandoned his branch and stretched his body, reaching for the next branch. There was no need to descend to the forest floor. With so many legs, he had a pretty good grip up here.

Following the beeping noise wasn't difficult, and he soon found himself looking out from a tree top at a decidedly ominous clearing. A chained totem and a symbol was smack dab in the centre. That... hadn't been there before, had it?

And that was definitely Amy! With a Labramon? He'd never seen it before either. Before he could call out for her, the Labramon's digging had broken the symbol - and an instinctual dread filled him. Maybe it was the oppressive atmosphere, or a strange digital sixth sense, but his feelings were vindicated when the totem suddenly burst into life.

"What...?" The Labramon had digivolved into some sort of... monster. He really couldn't describe it. The only thing he did know, was that there was something fundamentally wrong about it. And Amy was right in the firing line. He heard the panicked shouting of another human, and that was all he needed.

"Scarlet Rain!" Immediately, a multitude of red bullet-like lasers formed around him, suspended in the air. Within the split second after they'd formed, they raced down from the tree above, showering the ground below where the monster was standing. Dust and dirt kicked up everywhere as the projectiles burned into the earth.

Despite falling, he quickly scrambled to his feet, starting to run, his feet shuffling on the ground, for a moment, before he stopped, and shielded his face from the lasers that suddenly rained down, but he quickly looked back, his eyes completely unaffected from the dust of the lasers due to the suction-cupped lenses on his eyes. "You need to hurry." Escamon warned him, almost sounding disinterested, but Chaze could tell he was distressed. The girl started to move, she seemed to know the bug thing, so he assumed it wasn't the threat here. "...!" He started, verbally, before moving again, as the girl was dragged into the cloud. He didn't know what he was waiting for before, but now he needed to act. he pulled out his device, as a band of energy formed around his hand, he examined his hand, to make sure it was indeed fractal code, before swiping it across the top of his device, his body fading, being replaced by a much taller being with a solid metal head and a massive metal arm, which grabbed at the ground, dragging dirt inside, and standing back up, clenching his blocky metal fist, as steam escaped from the ventilation on the side of his larger arm, before he swung the arm outwards, and a compressed pillar of earth emerged about three feet thick, and 7 feet long, which he gripped like a sword, before swinging it at the dust, trying to clear his view of the monster, before lunging after it, "Pillar Pound." the warrior stated, as more of a fact than an attack, while his weapon aimed towards the creature, carefully aiming his swing to not hit the girl. He wasn't sure if she was alive, unconscious, or still conscious, and his only real plan was to engage the monster before it fled with her.

A membrane being ruptured resounded through the clearing; right away, a pole being swung at the revealed a being that definitely wasn't Amelie struggling against Siftermon; a pinkish-blueish digimon who was thrashing against its stronger counterpart in an attempt to break out. The tissue that would be roughly on the evolved form's shoulder had been pierced, the gaping wound already regenerating itself as the lush vegetation below Stridermon withered.

It didn't take a genius to know that, maybe unconsciously, the brunette had evolved, or that somehow she was now donning her human fraction. Unable to pay attention to the oncoming attack, but somehow being aware of it, Escamon would see his own visage briefly before his Pillar Pound collided with his enemy. The successful attack would be enough to push back Siftermon... and probably deal a fair amount of damage to the digimon himself, but bought enough time for Amelie break free from their foe's grip.

However, it didn't seem like she had any intent on running away now. Even if injured, her evolution carried the strange desire to... fight on. To end this being; this pretender.

Rinji's body collided Siftermon shortly after, further knocking it back, even if not as much as Escamon's attack. Maybe it was on the Scolomon's best wishes to get away as fast as he could because a couple of seconds after his attack, a torrent of fire was unleashed in the Champion level's direction just as it was getting up. An attack Amy had picked back against a certain Tyrannomon. It would surely come in handy.

---

Siftermon is using Reality Hemorrhage right before Escamon's Pillar Pound.

—Reality Hemorrhage: Reality warps and bends around this digimon, changing the perception of her own self and her opponent. The next time this digimon would receive damage, whoever caused that damage is subject to the same amount of damage. Duration: up to 5 posts. Cooldown: 2 posts.

Stridermon's using Surreal Memoir, copying Blaze Blast and aiming it at Siftermon.

—Blaze Blast: Shoots a stream of fire at a target, aiming to damage them and those standing close to them for an AoE range of 5m.

Just as Rinji knocked into Siftermon, he found himself bouncing right back, just a few metres away. He uncurled just before he landed back on his feet, panting from the exertion. Then, his eyes widened when he saw the digimon that had taken Amy's place. Amy had... turned into that?

He shook his head wildly, trying to focus on the battle. It didn't matter. If that was Amy, he'd still try and help her any way he could. He glanced at Escamon, to see him... slightly damaged? Had he been hurt simply from attacking the monster? They'd both have to be more careful, Rinji noted. They had no clue what they were up against.

Rinji tensed up, preparing for another attack, but before he could even usher a word - a feeling of intense heat enveloped his carapace, following by a blazing inferno. No doubt Stridermon had attempted to attack the other digimon, and the left-over from the blast was now rushing towards him.

He froze, his instincts locking up as he watched the so-called red flower unfurl before him. But then, the massive form of Escamon had leapt in, and shielded him. The earthy pillar had successfully absorbed most of the attack, crumbling towards the end, although Escamon himself was comparable to the Wall of China. Even after such an intense licking, he did not fall.

"Th-thank you..." Rinji said sincerely, bowing his head slightly. He was truly grateful that Escamon had saved him from the attack; he could've been seriously hurt.

Then, he looked at the battlefield. That was Amy, and she was free now, wasn't she? "Amy! We've got to run!" He yelled out to her, obviously eager to leave the fight. There was no need to further enrage an already angry digimon, was there?

Escamon stood, staring at his target, almost not noticing Rinji after saving him. He tried to move, but staggered, for a moment, his bulky right arm landing on the ground, before his engine roared, spewing smoke into the air, as he pushed himself to his feet. He saw the beast mimicking his technique, wondering, for a moment, how it could manage that without an arm like his. He ignored this as he saw the creature gain the upper hand. He leaped into the air, slamming his legs into Siftermon's weapon, striking the dead center of the weapon, and then the pistons attached to his kneecaps slamming down, increasing the force of the attack. His opponent was using his technique, he knew where it was most fragile, especially since it was dirt. Whether it broke or not, the impact would undoubtedly throw off the creature's attack. He used his legs mainly because his arms were still feeling the shock of the creatures counter-attack and it's fire attack. He tumbled, after falling from the attack, rolling to his knees, standing, again, before looking up, trying to regain his view of the fight.

---

Used: Mechanism Masher (Leaps forward, throwing a piston-powered dropkick. Cooldown: 2 posts) Cooldown: 0/2

Pillar Pound (takes in a sizable chunk of solid material into crusher arm, compressing it into a pillar-shape, before firing it, or wielding it like a broad weapon weapon, varying levels of durability based on material. duration: 2 posts, Cooldown: 3 posts)

cooldown: 1/3