Determined Training (Armor Hunt) (Finished)
Apr 22, 2018 0:14:44 GMT
Post by agumaru on Apr 22, 2018 0:14:44 GMT
Agumaru has been having quite the adventure lately. So many good things were going his way. He helped take down a Black Spire and free a Rhinomon from its insidious control. He has undergone training that has shown promising results. He has met new friends, both Digimon and human. He has even faced down a Champion level Digimon in a sparring match.
Everything seemed to be trying to make him the happiest he's been in a long time. So why does he feel so dejected and disappointed?
It is because he is weak.
Each of these events, despite the potential to be highlights in his life, have shown him just how weak he is. He did not take down the tower, nor did he damage it through his own strength. Instead, he allowed the Rhinomon to strike him, turning him into a living projectile, and that wasn't even the finishing blow to the tower. During his training, he tried pushing himself beyond his limits, only to realize what a limit is once he broke himself apart on the log he was trying to break. The Champion level Digimon he fought was his friend, who seemed to be at the same strength as him when they fought the Rhinomon and Spire together, but that Shoutmon has already surpassed him and Digivolved. Shoutmon - now SuperShoutmon - easily defeated Agumaru. He isn't mad or even jealous of Shoutmon. He is, in fact, happy for him and proud of him. It just shows Agumaru how far he has to go to reach his goals, however, which seem far out of reach.
Agumaru won't give up that easily, however. His disappointment fuels his drive to succeed. He is weak now, but he won't be weak forever. It was time to redouble his efforts. It was time to push himself even further. But how? He has been training as hard as he can in the various training centers he has gone to. He can only get so strong from them. That's when he realized what he must do. He must escape the confines of his comfort zone. Training centers would only get him so far, but what he needs is real-world training. Agumaru versus the environment, enduring hardships deemed too unsafe for a training center - that is what he has been missing from his life!
The only question now is where to train. It has to be a tough environ that pounds away at his endurance, while giving many challenges to help him grow. One possibility is the frozen north, tall mountains or deep caves with freezing air, uneven terrain, and risks of snowstorms and avalanches. However, he is a firebreather. He could easily just create his own fire to keep himself warm, removing much of the challenge. Besides, it was mostly rock climbing, which many training areas already have and which he has undergone many times.
Maybe the exact opposite would work! The Folder Desert is a harsh climate. Burning sands stretching in all directions, sapping away at his strength, would be a great test of will. However, he could get easily lost and would have to take lots of supplies with him. He doesn't want to have to take a lot of supplies, only to run out with no way of restocking, and end up dying from lack of water -
Water! That's it! The answer strikes him like a lightning bolt except a lot less painful. He was terrible at swimming, though it was great exercise. Water is quite a weakness that he must overcome. There was even a new place that he can think of to train at that would be perfect. The ruins of the sunken Elysium have risen.
Agumaru takes off for the Elysium on foot. While he could take a Trailmon at least to a nearby spot, he figured he would get exercise in before even getting to the training spot. This would leave him plenty of time for reflecting on things, but as he has done enough of that already he decides to sing random songs until he reaches his destination.
Agumaru finally arrives at the Elysium. "Wow," he thought out loud, "this place... it must have been beautiful." In fact, he was sure that in its heyday that it was a magnificent city, but time, water, and barnacles have worn away at its past majesty. Most of the ruins were deep under water, with only old stone towers and spires above the sea line.
"Well... done admiring it for now, time to train!" Agumaru leaps into the water, attempting to swim out away from shore. His motion quickly halted, then continued...downwards. He holds his breath and flails his arms and legs in a panicked attempt to reach the surface, but no such luck. Eventually, he drags himself to shore along the bottom, making it just in time. After catching his breath, he takes a few steps back and charges the water once more...
A few dozen attempts later, he was at least able to tread water, even if he couldn't actually get any forward movement beyond a snail's pace. He would count that as a success - as he had never been able to swim before, this was a marked improvement. A trip to the nearest town - this time by Trailmon - ends the day as he stays at an inn to recover for the next session.
Once again, Agumaru walks down to the Elysium, eager to continue his training. "What's next," he wonders, as he scans the area. "Hm... perhaps I'll be doing some rock climbing after all!" He wades through the water to the nearest stone tower and begins his ascent. Due to crumbling rocks and loose barnacles giving way, he descends even faster with a splash. It only takes a couple more attempts to get to the top, however - unlike swimming, climbing is something he is decent at. He then spies a nearby tower from the one he is now standing on, and gets an idea...
"That one doesn't seem too far away... I bet I could make it!"
He couldn't. His jump landed him in the water once more, forcing him to swim and climb back up. He adjusts his angle, strength, and aim of his jump... and makes it just a little bit further than his last splash. He repeats this all day, heading back to town at night, over and over until he finally makes it - and slams head-first into the second tower. A flashback to the Spire fight plays through his throbbing headache, spurring him on further. A few attempts later, and he manages to get to the top of the second tower. And falls in.
A wet feeling on Agumaru's back wakes him up. "What... where...ow." The area was pitch black, but mostly dry, except for a slowly rising wetness. Nearby is an egg-shaped object with sharp pointy things popping out of it. The tower was too dark to see what the object was, but he picks it up anyways. A crackling noise, followed by the sound of rushing water gives him an idea of what the wet feeling is, however, as the water rises. He quickly scrambles up the walls... and back down. It was too slippery to climb, especially with this large spiky ovoid. That doesn't stop him from trying, but it is no use. The water rises over his head.
By a stroke of luck, the object seems to be buoyant, lifting him up as he holds onto it. Soon he was out of the tower and into the sunlight. The dry part of the tower seems much more scalable, especially if he holds the object in his mouth. Resting on the edge, he spits it out and examines it. It is definitely egg-shaped, white with red, green, blue, and yellow arrows jutting out of the sides. Engraved or branded into it was a symbol of one large arrow piercing through two smaller ones. "Wait... is this a...?"
Agumaru had no time to finish that thought as a patch of the ocean explodes. From the depths rises a giant white squidlike Digimon. Tentacles tipped with claws, glaring at Agumaru with what should be eyes but are instead replaced by cables, this was none other than the fearsome Gesomon!
"Hey Gesomon," Agumaru calls out, holding the egg out towards it. "I found this in the tower, is this your-" The Gesomon swats the object away uncaringly, then swats Agumaru in the opposite direction. "Gah ow ugh," Agumaru groans as he skips across the water like a stone. "If... if it wasn't yours... all you had to do was say so..."
A rookie that can barely swim versus the White Demon of the Depths... this was not a good matchup. And besides, this was its territory and he was intruding. Agumaru attempts to swim away and leave it be, but Gesomon has other plans. It grasps Agumaru in one tentacle and rips his right arm off with another before slamming the 'disarmed' Digimon against a tower and then throwing him. The pain and loss of an arm was no big deal to Agumaru, but the red bracer on his claw...
Greymon towers over the little Koromon, smiling sadly. "I've got a gift for you." He hands the Koromon a pair of red fabric arm bracers. "I know you can't wear them yet, little bro, but I also know that someday you'll grow up to be a great protector of this village in my place." Koromon grins widely, holding back tears. "You mean it, big brother?" Greymon leans down to meet him eye to eye. "Of course I do. I'd never lie to you, Agumaru."
The beaten, battered, barely floating Agumaru manages to keep himself treading water even with only one arm. "Give... that back.." he groans, letting loose an explosive flame missile. Such an attack has no effect, but that doesn't stop Agumaru. "Give me...back my...-" The rude Gesomon interrupts again with a tentacle slash, causing Agumaru to spin and sink. His data grows unstable and glitchy, on the edge of deletion. Despite all that, he still refuses to give up.
By some miracle, he had been knocked down to where the egg is, which was now glowing. It enters Agumaru, fusing with him. Suddenly, he finds himself full of newfound strength, full of energy, full of....
<<DETERMINATION>>
The area fills with blinding light as Agumaru begins to stretch and morph. His jagged edges smooth out and blue fur, short, sleek, and similar to an otter's - coats his body. His tail grows large and heavy, feet become webbed duck feet and hands a cross between those and mole claws, and blocky draconic muzzle becomes a duck bill. Red and green armor covers his upper beak and forehead, shoulders, parts of his leg, and in an almost ToyAgumon form, on the upper half of his tail. In the middle of the outer side of both legs, spurs form like fangs of a viper. The symbol from the egg appears on the armor on his forehead.
"PLATYMON!" Agumaru's transformation was complete. "Hm... so it was a Digimental after all! Er... I'll think about that later." The ToyAgumon arm Gesomon was holding has vanished, but it still holds Agumaru's bracer. "Time to get that back," the Platymon says, determined. "QUACK CANNON!" Round ring waves burst forth from his beak, causing a loud rumble around them and striking Gesomon with an electric charge. It cries out in anger, thrashing and slamming tentacles at Agumaru, who deftly dodges through the water. He then counters with a continuous crash of kicks, each one weak on its own but definitely adding up.
Another dodged tentacle by Agumaru and Gesomon gets angry! It fires a spray of ink right into the Platymon's face. He quickly wipes it away, but it is too late. Colors and light fade, lines fuzz, and everything blurs into blobs of grey. There was no way Agumaru could see the tentacle attacks coming now, yet he dodges the strikes almost as easily as before. "Ah cool! I got some kinda super sense!"
He could 'see' Gesomon even though he was blind. Dodge after dodge proves how beneficial this is, but soon he discovers a drawback to it as he slams into a wall. "Ow...It must be some kind of life sense..." he realizes. Up against a wall, he was unable to dodge Gesomon's grapple. As he is pulled towards it, he sticks out his right leg and shouts "Venom Kick!" While it wasn't much of a kick, it was definitely an attack. The spur on his right leg extends and pierces the squid-like Digimon, and the venom pumped into it makes it realize that this fight isn't worth it.
Gesomon flees, dropping Agumaru's prized possession. The newly evolved Platymon rushes over to it and holds it close to his chest. The ocean hides his tears of joy. One step closer to his goals and to his hero, his big brother.
=====================
2164 words
Everything seemed to be trying to make him the happiest he's been in a long time. So why does he feel so dejected and disappointed?
It is because he is weak.
Each of these events, despite the potential to be highlights in his life, have shown him just how weak he is. He did not take down the tower, nor did he damage it through his own strength. Instead, he allowed the Rhinomon to strike him, turning him into a living projectile, and that wasn't even the finishing blow to the tower. During his training, he tried pushing himself beyond his limits, only to realize what a limit is once he broke himself apart on the log he was trying to break. The Champion level Digimon he fought was his friend, who seemed to be at the same strength as him when they fought the Rhinomon and Spire together, but that Shoutmon has already surpassed him and Digivolved. Shoutmon - now SuperShoutmon - easily defeated Agumaru. He isn't mad or even jealous of Shoutmon. He is, in fact, happy for him and proud of him. It just shows Agumaru how far he has to go to reach his goals, however, which seem far out of reach.
Agumaru won't give up that easily, however. His disappointment fuels his drive to succeed. He is weak now, but he won't be weak forever. It was time to redouble his efforts. It was time to push himself even further. But how? He has been training as hard as he can in the various training centers he has gone to. He can only get so strong from them. That's when he realized what he must do. He must escape the confines of his comfort zone. Training centers would only get him so far, but what he needs is real-world training. Agumaru versus the environment, enduring hardships deemed too unsafe for a training center - that is what he has been missing from his life!
The only question now is where to train. It has to be a tough environ that pounds away at his endurance, while giving many challenges to help him grow. One possibility is the frozen north, tall mountains or deep caves with freezing air, uneven terrain, and risks of snowstorms and avalanches. However, he is a firebreather. He could easily just create his own fire to keep himself warm, removing much of the challenge. Besides, it was mostly rock climbing, which many training areas already have and which he has undergone many times.
Maybe the exact opposite would work! The Folder Desert is a harsh climate. Burning sands stretching in all directions, sapping away at his strength, would be a great test of will. However, he could get easily lost and would have to take lots of supplies with him. He doesn't want to have to take a lot of supplies, only to run out with no way of restocking, and end up dying from lack of water -
Water! That's it! The answer strikes him like a lightning bolt except a lot less painful. He was terrible at swimming, though it was great exercise. Water is quite a weakness that he must overcome. There was even a new place that he can think of to train at that would be perfect. The ruins of the sunken Elysium have risen.
Agumaru takes off for the Elysium on foot. While he could take a Trailmon at least to a nearby spot, he figured he would get exercise in before even getting to the training spot. This would leave him plenty of time for reflecting on things, but as he has done enough of that already he decides to sing random songs until he reaches his destination.
Agumaru finally arrives at the Elysium. "Wow," he thought out loud, "this place... it must have been beautiful." In fact, he was sure that in its heyday that it was a magnificent city, but time, water, and barnacles have worn away at its past majesty. Most of the ruins were deep under water, with only old stone towers and spires above the sea line.
"Well... done admiring it for now, time to train!" Agumaru leaps into the water, attempting to swim out away from shore. His motion quickly halted, then continued...downwards. He holds his breath and flails his arms and legs in a panicked attempt to reach the surface, but no such luck. Eventually, he drags himself to shore along the bottom, making it just in time. After catching his breath, he takes a few steps back and charges the water once more...
A few dozen attempts later, he was at least able to tread water, even if he couldn't actually get any forward movement beyond a snail's pace. He would count that as a success - as he had never been able to swim before, this was a marked improvement. A trip to the nearest town - this time by Trailmon - ends the day as he stays at an inn to recover for the next session.
Once again, Agumaru walks down to the Elysium, eager to continue his training. "What's next," he wonders, as he scans the area. "Hm... perhaps I'll be doing some rock climbing after all!" He wades through the water to the nearest stone tower and begins his ascent. Due to crumbling rocks and loose barnacles giving way, he descends even faster with a splash. It only takes a couple more attempts to get to the top, however - unlike swimming, climbing is something he is decent at. He then spies a nearby tower from the one he is now standing on, and gets an idea...
"That one doesn't seem too far away... I bet I could make it!"
He couldn't. His jump landed him in the water once more, forcing him to swim and climb back up. He adjusts his angle, strength, and aim of his jump... and makes it just a little bit further than his last splash. He repeats this all day, heading back to town at night, over and over until he finally makes it - and slams head-first into the second tower. A flashback to the Spire fight plays through his throbbing headache, spurring him on further. A few attempts later, and he manages to get to the top of the second tower. And falls in.
A wet feeling on Agumaru's back wakes him up. "What... where...ow." The area was pitch black, but mostly dry, except for a slowly rising wetness. Nearby is an egg-shaped object with sharp pointy things popping out of it. The tower was too dark to see what the object was, but he picks it up anyways. A crackling noise, followed by the sound of rushing water gives him an idea of what the wet feeling is, however, as the water rises. He quickly scrambles up the walls... and back down. It was too slippery to climb, especially with this large spiky ovoid. That doesn't stop him from trying, but it is no use. The water rises over his head.
By a stroke of luck, the object seems to be buoyant, lifting him up as he holds onto it. Soon he was out of the tower and into the sunlight. The dry part of the tower seems much more scalable, especially if he holds the object in his mouth. Resting on the edge, he spits it out and examines it. It is definitely egg-shaped, white with red, green, blue, and yellow arrows jutting out of the sides. Engraved or branded into it was a symbol of one large arrow piercing through two smaller ones. "Wait... is this a...?"
Agumaru had no time to finish that thought as a patch of the ocean explodes. From the depths rises a giant white squidlike Digimon. Tentacles tipped with claws, glaring at Agumaru with what should be eyes but are instead replaced by cables, this was none other than the fearsome Gesomon!
"Hey Gesomon," Agumaru calls out, holding the egg out towards it. "I found this in the tower, is this your-" The Gesomon swats the object away uncaringly, then swats Agumaru in the opposite direction. "Gah ow ugh," Agumaru groans as he skips across the water like a stone. "If... if it wasn't yours... all you had to do was say so..."
A rookie that can barely swim versus the White Demon of the Depths... this was not a good matchup. And besides, this was its territory and he was intruding. Agumaru attempts to swim away and leave it be, but Gesomon has other plans. It grasps Agumaru in one tentacle and rips his right arm off with another before slamming the 'disarmed' Digimon against a tower and then throwing him. The pain and loss of an arm was no big deal to Agumaru, but the red bracer on his claw...
Greymon towers over the little Koromon, smiling sadly. "I've got a gift for you." He hands the Koromon a pair of red fabric arm bracers. "I know you can't wear them yet, little bro, but I also know that someday you'll grow up to be a great protector of this village in my place." Koromon grins widely, holding back tears. "You mean it, big brother?" Greymon leans down to meet him eye to eye. "Of course I do. I'd never lie to you, Agumaru."
The beaten, battered, barely floating Agumaru manages to keep himself treading water even with only one arm. "Give... that back.." he groans, letting loose an explosive flame missile. Such an attack has no effect, but that doesn't stop Agumaru. "Give me...back my...-" The rude Gesomon interrupts again with a tentacle slash, causing Agumaru to spin and sink. His data grows unstable and glitchy, on the edge of deletion. Despite all that, he still refuses to give up.
By some miracle, he had been knocked down to where the egg is, which was now glowing. It enters Agumaru, fusing with him. Suddenly, he finds himself full of newfound strength, full of energy, full of....
<<DETERMINATION>>
The area fills with blinding light as Agumaru begins to stretch and morph. His jagged edges smooth out and blue fur, short, sleek, and similar to an otter's - coats his body. His tail grows large and heavy, feet become webbed duck feet and hands a cross between those and mole claws, and blocky draconic muzzle becomes a duck bill. Red and green armor covers his upper beak and forehead, shoulders, parts of his leg, and in an almost ToyAgumon form, on the upper half of his tail. In the middle of the outer side of both legs, spurs form like fangs of a viper. The symbol from the egg appears on the armor on his forehead.
"PLATYMON!" Agumaru's transformation was complete. "Hm... so it was a Digimental after all! Er... I'll think about that later." The ToyAgumon arm Gesomon was holding has vanished, but it still holds Agumaru's bracer. "Time to get that back," the Platymon says, determined. "QUACK CANNON!" Round ring waves burst forth from his beak, causing a loud rumble around them and striking Gesomon with an electric charge. It cries out in anger, thrashing and slamming tentacles at Agumaru, who deftly dodges through the water. He then counters with a continuous crash of kicks, each one weak on its own but definitely adding up.
Another dodged tentacle by Agumaru and Gesomon gets angry! It fires a spray of ink right into the Platymon's face. He quickly wipes it away, but it is too late. Colors and light fade, lines fuzz, and everything blurs into blobs of grey. There was no way Agumaru could see the tentacle attacks coming now, yet he dodges the strikes almost as easily as before. "Ah cool! I got some kinda super sense!"
He could 'see' Gesomon even though he was blind. Dodge after dodge proves how beneficial this is, but soon he discovers a drawback to it as he slams into a wall. "Ow...It must be some kind of life sense..." he realizes. Up against a wall, he was unable to dodge Gesomon's grapple. As he is pulled towards it, he sticks out his right leg and shouts "Venom Kick!" While it wasn't much of a kick, it was definitely an attack. The spur on his right leg extends and pierces the squid-like Digimon, and the venom pumped into it makes it realize that this fight isn't worth it.
Gesomon flees, dropping Agumaru's prized possession. The newly evolved Platymon rushes over to it and holds it close to his chest. The ocean hides his tears of joy. One step closer to his goals and to his hero, his big brother.
=====================
2164 words
