The Great Binary Archipelago All Out Race [Kath/Amy][Career]

Silence reigned across the small section of the forest they were at. Katherine was still staring from behind a tree, trying to hide from the insects. She couldn’t actually hear what they were saying, but apparently, a moment of tension had been brought up thanks to something Amelie had explained. Meanwhile, at the heart of the conversation, Leo broke the silence with an, as always, over-dramatic tone.

-S-S-S-S-S-he… DID IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT! –The Yanmamon started buzzing around Amelie. –She figured it out! She figured it out! She figured it out! How could this be? The master of riddles, the lord of puzzles has been defeated by a human girl!? –He added, speaking in a quick pace, still buzzing around the brunette. Katherine kept looking from behind the tree, were the insects mad? Were they going to attack Amy? What was she going to do if they did?
-I can’t believe it, the little girl got it! –Tyrus said, looking at Caesar.
-We’ve beaten one of Leo’s puzzles, for the first time ever! –He replied, buzzing happily.

After the situation calmed down, the three Yanmamon went up the tree flying and took three ‘Big berries’ off the branches, carrying them on their bags, and handing them to Amelie. If she held them, she would notice they were not even closely as heavy as they seemed, it was a pretty light fruit, even though it seemed even bigger having it so close, Amy could carry the three of them on her arms. Katherine smiled, still from behind the three, she didn’t know how, but her friend had made it, she had the fruits in her power now.

-I have to say I’m very impressed, Miss. –Leo added, after handing the fruits. -From now on, I pronounce you… Empress of Riddles! So, everyone… hail our empress! –He said, flying slightly upwards in an excited manner.
-Yes! Long live the Empress of Riddles! –Both Caesar and Tyrus yelled at the same time, hard enough for Katherine to listen to it, tilting her head confused. Before Amelie could reply to these weird praising, a very easy to identify laugher could be heard, far deep into the forest.

-Yiiiiiiiiiiiiaaaayiayiayiayiayiayia!!!!

-Liquid!? –Katherine ran heading to the west side of the jungle, deep into the woods, waiting for Amelie to follow. The laugher could be heard as they crossed the trees and bushes until the duo reached a clear.
-Yiiiiayiaiayiayia! You’re so funny, Lion-bro! –Effectively, Liquid was there, laughing as usual. Nevertheless, he was talking to no lion. It was a huge, flower-like digimon, and he seemed pretty angry.


-Liquid! –Katherine said, upon arriving at the scene.
-Oh! Cheater-sis! Last place-sis! What’s up? –Liquid had left the serious expression he had when he left the warehouse behind and was back to his usual merry self. –I’m just talking to my friend Lion! He’s very funny! –But the plant digimon didn’t seem like he was being funny, he seemed rather unpleased. On the top of his head, there was something that didn’t seem to be part of his body.
A hand of silver bananas rested in between the flowers that rounded his face. –Metal… bananas…-Katherine mumbled. This digimon had one of the fruits they were looking for, just above his head, but he didn’t seem willing to talk, judging by his expression.

-Who do you think you are calling me ‘Lion’!? I’m the great Blossomon! –The creature swung his vines, around the place, making the duo crouch to dodge the attack: if one of those things hit them, they were done.
-Liquid, what’s going on? –Katherine asked the candle.
-Yiaaaayiayiayia! I just wanted to ask for that fruit lying on his head! But I think he got mad when I talked to him! Yiaaayiayia! –He replied joyfully, as always, apparently underestimating the danger of the whole situation happening around them.

-Oh! Great Blossomon! Don’t get mad, please! –Caesar, along with the two other Yanmamon, had followed the duo here.
-Huh? –Blossomon turned to the insect digimon with an evil look. –Hehe! Do you really think I’m great!? –But it easily wore off, into a much nicer and flattered expression. The flower was now ‘scratching’ his head with one of his vines like he was genuinely flattered by Caesar's words and seemed a completely different creature than some seconds ago. Katherine could even see a light red tone formed around his face, like he was blushing.
-What the…?-The girl raised an eyebrow.

-Blossomon is a very powerful digimon living in this jungle, he has a very bad temper, but he is pretty easy to calm down. –Tyrus, right next to Amelie, explained. –Yes. All you have to do is praise him, or tell him nice things –Leo added to the clarification. Katherine tried to ignore the fact that these insect digimon were so close to her, since saving their lives was more important at the moment.

-Hey, Lion-bro! Can you give me that fruit? I really need it! Yiayiayiayia! –Liquid addressed the creature once again, and once again, he pissed him off.
-SHUT UP YOU STUPID CANDLE! –Blossomon yelled, changing back to his angered expression - I’m not giving you my fruit! –The monster started waving his vines around again.

-Wah! –Katherine squealed crouching again. –What should we do now, Amy? I really wouldn’t want to fight this thing.

---

-Game? –The other group had reached a very strange grid in their attempt to grab the fruits hanging in the bush behind Tortomon. Jazz tilted her head, index finger on her mouth, trying to figure out how this floor mechanism worked.-Okay, so we must cross the grid at the same time, stepping simultaneously on every square and onto the next one before it makes that awful sound, right? –The bunny didn’t quite understand how this system came out of nowhere on the floor, but couldn’t say she was too surprised, after all, the Digital World had places like this. It kind of reminded her an old game the band used to play back at Rustport where they drew some circles on the floor and called them ‘stations’, racing through them, so the one that made it in the shortest time possible would win.

Jazz then prepared to cross the grid along with Ooi, who was standing at the other side. The first square in front of her lighted up, indicating it was time to start hopping across the grid. –Okay, go! –The bunny tried to synchronize her hops with Ooi’s steps, to cross the grid at the same time. As they got closer to Tortomon, the task got more nerve-racking, since a loud noise that close to the sleeping giant would wake him up for sure. Luckily, there were only a few squares left and they would reach the so wanted yellow fruit, no loud noises on the horizon, so far.

-Oh, you’re definitely a very smart girl, aren’t you? –Blossomon giggled flattered. The evil expression had wiped off his face, and he was back to his merrier self. This, of course, only because Katherine had thrown some flatteries to the monster.
-Come on, I don’t need to be smart to tell you’re pretty awesome! –The girl replied with an awkward smile. Such a weird tactic seemed to be working.
-Humans pick up very fast, don’t they? –Tyrus whispered to Leo, while they buzzed at a safe distance. –They can be scary sometimes –He replied, sweatdropping.

Meanwhile, Liquid had been dragged away from the scene by Amelie. His expression changed to a much serious one as he listened to the brunette’s words. –You’re right, Last place-sis -In the end, he just nodded, and stared at the situation happening in front of them. Like he wasn't sure this plan was going to work. 

Katherine cleared her throat and smiled to Blossomon again, now that their lives seemed to be off-danger, it seemed like a good time to try and go for that fruit. –Oh, great Blossomon, you’re so awesome and good looking. –She started, in a voice that was so engulfing that even herself couldn’t stand.
-I am pretty good looking am I? –The monster flower replied, still giggling.
-Of course! But sir, I think you would look even better if you took off that fruit from your head –She said winking –You can give it to me, I’ll take care of that.
-Huh? –Blossomon eyes widened. –Do you want to take this fruit? –He raised his view to the fruit lying on his own head.
-Y-Y-Yes! We can take care of it, you look pretty awesome without it, it’s only ruining your looks. –The girl tried to explain, a little scared from the reaction that might be coming. Blossomon’s expression started changing again, to an angered one.
-YOU WANT TO TAKE MY FRUIT!? -His yelling could be heard around the whole clear, and probably further. –How do you dare!? This is a sign of my greatness, I will not give it to you! –Apparently, Blossomon was back at his angry mode now, and Katherine could only cover her ears to not be deafened by his screaming, being so close. –You want to take my greatness away from me! I won’t allow this! –The creature raised his vines, prepared to hit Katherine, she tried to run, but couldn’t, she was completely paralyzed at the sight of this monster about to crush her.

-M E L T     W A X!!!! –An ascendant road of melted wax was formed between Liquid and Blossomon. The candle digimon jumped and ‘surfed’ into it, straight to the giant plant, the road ending just some inches before reaching the creature. Liquid jumped and quickly took the metal banana off the monster's head and swapped it with a spiky object he was holding, which was hard to identify at first. Liquid then landed safely behind Blossomon.
-What the…? –Blossomon had stopped his attack to raise his view and see what had been placed on his head. Katherine, recovering the movement around her body, but still with a huge emptiness in her stomach, out of pure fear, glanced at the object on top of the monster’s head: it was a crown, made of solid wax.
-IT’S BEAUTIFUL! –The biggest smile Katherine had seen on a digimon formed on the creature’s mouth, he was truly happy with his new accessory. –Now I’m a real king! Just what I deserved! –He squealed, completely ignoring the fact that Liquid had taken the fruit off his head.

Katherine then walked by Blossomon as he had begun dancing in a very odd manner, shaking his head and vines. –Thank you, Liquid –The girl said with a soft smile. Liquid was a valuable asset to this group, and when he took things seriously, he could definitely be capable of comprehending the danger of a situation around him and end up being of much help, of course, Amelie had helped to accomplish this by giving him a reality check, Katherine could only assume. –Don’t mention it, cheater-sis. –He said with a smile, holding the metal banana in his hands. –And also…-He took some air. –THANK YOU A LOT LION-BR- -Katherine covered his mouth just before he could finish the sentence, to avoid Blossomon getting mad again. In the end, Liquid would always be Liquid.

Assuming the Jazz-Ooi pair would be able to find 2 fruits themselves, the quest for the human duo was completed now. Katherine took her distance from the three Yanmamon, who waved goodbye to their ‘Empress of Riddles’.
-Oh! The painful farewell moments! –Leo squealed in a dramatic tone as he buzzed around the place.
-Bye bye, Empress! –Caesar said, ignoring Leo’s drama. -We’ll go see you in that race, so see you in a couple days! –Liquid and Amy had explained the group of insect digimon they were planning on competing on the great race, and they had told them they had heard about it and were planning to go, so they had decided to cheer for them.

-Oh! So you already had one of the fruits! Now we have two! That’s just great! Follow me, then. –Liquid lead the way, and Katherine and Amelie just followed. Katherine could see they were heading north, towards the end of this jungle, were Nanimon said they would find Liquid if they didn’t find him around the jungle.
-Liquid, what do you need these fruits for anyway? –The brunette tilted her head, as they kept walking just behind him.
-Yiaaayiayiayia! I’ll explain everything when we get there, cheater-sis. –The group kept walking for some minutes, until they reached what seemed to be the end of the jungle, it was a beautiful clear, much bigger than the others they had been at, the start of a huge mountain could be seen just in front of them, indicating the jungled had ended. There was a beautiful lake, that perfectly reflected the sunset that had started already, and a two-floor wooden hut built next to it, that was rather small compared to the huge warehouse where they met Nanimon, but still big enough. Katherine thought this was definitely a beautiful place, and if they were going to work on a boat, this seemed to be a good place to spend the next couple of days. Her eyes widened at the realization reached by her own train of thoughts ‘couple of days?’ where did she get that from?

-L-Liquid… I can’t believe I haven’t asked this already but… did I hear those awful insects say the race is in… -She heavily gulped –A-a-a couple of days?
-Oh? Yiaaayiayiayiayia! Yes! The race Is going to take place the day after tomorrow, Cheater-sis. –Liquid replied carelessly. Katherine turned at Amelie, kind of horrified, with a ‘We’re doomed’ expression. She definitely didn’t expect the race to be so soon.

---

The Bunny-Ooi pair had only found their first fruit, but Jazz felt pretty pleased about it. That had been a pretty good teamwork after all. Out of pure enjoyment she felt like giving the oval fruit a good bite, but that probably wasn’t a good idea, since Liquid seemed to need those. Nevertheless, it was hard to hide her excitement, since she loved playing games and particularly winning. This excitement was quickly brought to an end as a squeal for help could be heard by the duo. If someone was screaming for help loud enough for them to hear it being that far, then they were probably under some kind of threat. Due to the yelling, Jazz was even scared Tortomon, who wasn’t that far from them, could have woken up, which would probably add a major inconvenient to the list of troubles they already had. The bunny and Ooi turned at each other while the human asked what should they do now.

-Let’s go! –To be fair, Jazz didn’t know if she could be of much help, but they had to try, right? Plus, curiosity, as more often than not, was getting the best of her.

The afternoon sun could be seen going through the palm trees, as the sunset would start very soon. It was probably a good idea to end their trip through the jungle before the night fell, since it would be hard to guide themselves once it did.

A shinning key came out of Liquid’s body, apparently the small candle could store items inside his waxy body, which made Katherine tilt her head at the sight, wondering how much stuff was he hiding inside his body and how much more could he store. Holding the key and hoping towards the hut with a smile, the candle laughed at Amelie’s commentary.

-Yiaaaayiayiayiayiayia! Don’t worry, Last place-sis, I would never do something like that. –A brief silence covered the clear for a couple of seconds. Wouldn’t he, really? –I don’t like salad. –He added. Katherine sweatdropped; being as it may, apparently the fruits did have a special purpose in all of this.

-Well, at least we know we weren’t dragged into som-. -Somewhere, deep inside the jungle, Amelie’s name was being shouted, Katherine knew this much after she stopped talking just when Amy raised her hand. Even though at first, the yelling seemed to come from far away, it began to turn louder every passing second and if at first, it was hard to tell if such voice was actually calling for Amy, as it became louder, it was clear. A constant stomping could also be heard, and also getting louder by the second.

Such stomping boomed in Jazz’s ears as she held tight to Ooi’s red shirt, while the girl ran as fast as Jazz had seen a human run before. Of course, had Jazz ran by herself she would already have been crush by the giant tortoise since her feet were too tiny for her to actually run long distances with good speed. Under this thought, she had decided to hold to Ooi, as the girl was definitely faster than her right now, for as long as her stamina would last, that was. And of course this meant gripping to that shirt with her life, since falling from Ooi’s body meant getting crushed by the gigantic digimon after them that, to be fair, was surprisingly fast for his size, not mentioning that being so huge, every step he took counted like 5 or 6 Ooi could make and that translated on him being very close to the running girl during the whole chase. Trying to be somewhat useful, Jazz took a chance and climbed to the girl’s black cap on her head, holding to it as much as she could and looking to what was up front. She could see a clear just in front of them, after a small set of trees. Going somewhere opened definitely seem the way to go since re-directing was out of the question on such a short space. They had been running for a while now, so the jungle could end any minute now, and they were going to be crushed when they ran out of road to run.

-Ooi! Listen to me –Jazz yelled to be heard, even though being over the girl’s head since the stomping and all the fuzz could make it hard for her to pay attention. –We’re heading to a clear. Once we get there, we need to jump to the side, out of Tortomon’s way –The bunny explained, still holding tight to the cap. –He probably won’t be able to stop on such short notice, so he’ll keep going forward and we’ll be able to run somewhere else or think on what to do. –That was the best plan Jazz could come up with at the moment. Keep running was eventually going to get them killed.

Liquid stopped hoping towards the hut for a moment, and turned to his right, also noticing the crescent stomping and yelling that had almost got to them.

-It’s getting closer! –Katherine turned to the direction the noise was coming from and then turned her head to Amy. –Is that… Ooi’s voice? –She asked, her eyes widening. Whatever was coming their way, was about to get there. –They’re almost here! –Katherine said, moving out of the way of whatever this was since she already knew for sure where was this coming from.

-J-Jazz!? –The girl asked in disbelief, as Ooi went inside the clear with Jazz gripped to her cap and a small bunny digimon held in her arms. There seemed to be something huge going after them, as she could see the figure entering the clear.
-Yiaaayiayia! But if it’s Jazz-sis and Third place-sis! –Liquid said with a smile.

Jazz, still focused on saving the running trio lives, spotted the lake just in front of them, as Ooi kept running. It was a perfect chance to let Tortomon cool off inside the lake, they just had to jump to the side out of his way, and he would go straight into the water.

-NOW! –The bunny yelled, using his legs to jump from Ooi’s cap to the side, out of the way of Tortomon. If Ooi did the same and jumped to the side too, probably Tortomon wouldn’t be able to react and would fall to the water, that was what the plan was about. Of course, what would come after this was a whole other story since Tortomon was probably going to go out that lake pretty angered. Nevertheless, saving their lives right now was the top priority, so they would deal with the consequences later.

The splash sound generated by Tortomon going into the lake was almost as loud as the stomping he produced upon running some seconds ago. Liquid, who was the one closer to the lake, by the hut, placed both hands on top of the fire coming out from his head, just to protect himself from the water that splashed around the whole clear; Tortomon was certainly huge, and a fall in the water at such speed was expected to generate that aftermath. While the little drops of water kept falling, Katherine promptly ran towards Jazz and Ooi.

-I’m good here, too. –Jazz replied to Amy’s inquire.
-What the hell was… that? –Katherine asked, crouching next to Jazz to check if she was actually fine.
-It’s a Tortomon, he was chasing that digimon and we... –The bunny pointed to the creature Ooi was holding just to see it was… another bunny! –Oh my god that’s so creepy! It’s a Terriermon! –Katherine’s eyes widened upon sight: Jazz was right, it was kind of creepy, but this digimon looked a lot like her bunny partner, only she had two horns less and a green colored pattern, instead of the pink and brown pattern Jazz showed.
-Terriermon? –The brunette tilted her head, still staring at the digimon.
-Yes, they look a lot like we Lopmons, we’re twin species. –The brown bunny explained, then hearing Terriermon addressing the group.

Liquid, looking at the scene from a certain distance, smiled upon seeing Jazz and Ooi were fine.

-Yiaaayiayiayia! That seemed fun, Jazz-sis, Third-place sis! –Katherine realized that, while Liquid seemed to be usually worried about the wellbeing of his teammates, he often had a hard time measuring the real danger around a situation, mainly because since he never meant to hurt anyone or doing something bad, it was hard for him to comprehend someone would want to do any harm to him or his friends. His laughter stopped abruptly when he heard some bubbles pop over the surface of the lake, taking a couple of quick hops to the border and peeking his head to see what was down there. –Em… Guys… I think your friend is about to come out.

-We’re still inside the jungle –Jazz answered her green twin. –About where Tortomon is… I think he’s coming back now. –It was expected such plan couldn’t stop Tortomon for long, he seemed to be coming out of the water now.

What was it going to be now? Time to battle this Tortomon? Or could this be settled somehow else?

Unavoidably, the situation was starting to feel frustrating for Katherine and her bunny partner too. Individually, they had faced one enemy after another to find these fruits, and it wasn’t even over yet. Tortomon had come out the water like a bullet, with a big jump, landing on the ground in front of the lake, very close to liquid, kind of making the ground shake a little. This was a massive and dangerous digimon, no doubt about that. Again, water splashed everywhere, thanks to such a massive body coming out from the water. Katherine turned at Amelie, kind of looking for answers on her face expression: she found an answer, the girl was determined to face this monster herself, but that had another question attached, what was she planning on doing?

-S-Sure, but … -Katherine stared as her friend walked towards the spiky digimon. -… What are you going to do? –Amy had already walked away, with a very determined look. After some staring and a couple of minutes of complete silence, when even Liquid didn’t say a word, Tortomon simply left, walking into the jungle. The girl hated those characters in movies that opened their mouths in disbelief when another character did something amazing, but she had to be that character right now. Jazz and Katherine could not believe what they had just seen. This cute girl had scared off a Tortomon that was in complete rage mode just some minutes ago. Was it scaring, even? He didn’t seem that upset when he left, but like just calmed? Katherine couldn’t really tell, but the monster was gone and there would be time for questioning Amy about such amazing abilities she apparently had later. –So cool… -Jazz mumbled.

While Amelie walked back to the group, another trembling sound, but this time produced by Liquid’s bubbling melting wax had raised Katherine and Jazz’s attention. The candle digimon’s entire body had caught up on fire! The wax was even melting, but he didn’t seem to be in trouble, his expression was somehow excited and joyful.

-That… was … -He mumbled. –AAAAAAAAAAWEEEEEEEESOMEEEEEEEEEEEEE- A bonfire sized flame had caught up his whole body, as he jumped from excitement towards the group. When he reached, he had already extinguished the flame and was back at his regular form. Apparently, that was Liquid’s way of being excited? –That was amazing, Last-place sis! You just looked into his eyes and he was like NOPE! I’M OUT OF HERE! Yiaaaayiayiayiayia!–He kept hoping in excitement as he imitated Tortomon’s stomping sounds by making ‘bomp’ noises with his mouth. Katherine only giggled at this exhibition and turned back at the Terriermon, who was now making her introduction. She was named Marie, and was working for a nearby shipyard. It was undeniable the little bunny was very cute. Katherine introduced herself and Amelie first. –Very nice to meet you, Marie. My name is Katherine and this is Amelie. –She said, looking briefly at the brunette.

-And my name is Jazz, and this is Ooi –Jazz added, but due to her arrogant expression, Katherine knew she wasn’t done. –But you can call us… saviors. –The bunny said, raising her head a little and closing her eyes, feeling super important.

-Shut up! –Katherine said, crouching and smacking her partner’s head softly. –Please, don’t mind her, Marie. –The girl added, addressing the Terriermon again.

Now all the fuss seemed to be over, Katherine had time to look at the fruit Ooi was holding. It was a yellow, round-shaped fruit. –Is that…? –The girl had already memorized the four fruits from Amy sketches on her notepad and how they looked. –The oval fruit!? –She then turned to the ground, were two orange fruits with very odd geometric shape were lying, being the ones that Marie dropped after waking up. Katherine couldn’t actually count how many faces that fruit had but they were at least 10. –And that’s the side-full orange! –A big smile popped up over the girl’s face. –Amy and I got the Metal Banana and the Big Berry! –The girl said opening her backpack and pulling them out. –Do you know what this means? We’ve got all the fruits!



-Uuuh… -Jazz moaned, frowning. Katherine turned at her, noticing she and Ooi didn’t seem to be that excited. –Actually… those side-full oranges are not ours –The bunny said. –Marie had those when we found her.

-Oh… -The girl lowered her gaze, getting a little sad about it. Well, that was awkward.

The haughty expression that had taken over Jazz’s face suddenly became an angered one. The bunny loved being praised for her actions by strangers, even though she had trouble admitting it.
-Hey! I totally helped! –Jazz clenched her teeth, to then cross her arms and look to the other side. Katherine couldn’t help but giggle at the situation. –I-it’s not like I need your recognition or anything, anyway… -Her partner digimon added. 
-Of course she does, she loves being the heroine. –Katherine demolished Jazz’s statement with a smile.
-W-what!? –The three-horned bunny turned her angry looks at her tamer, blushing a little, only for Katherine to laugh after. The laughs were promptly interrupted by Marie’s questioning, making everyone turn at Liquid immediately. Even though the group seemed really happy about getting to keep the one fruit they were missing, the truth was neither of them actually knew what the fruits were for, so it was up to Liquid to give the explanations. The candle tilted his body, not really knowing what they expected of him.

-Oh! –There you go, it sure took him a while. –Right, the fruits! –He said with a smile. –Follow me, then. –The candle digimon started walking towards the two floored wooden house next to the lake, using the small key he was holding to open the door, as he was planning on doing before the whole Tortomon scene took place. Finally, they were going to see what was inside the house. Liquid stood next to the door and waited for everyone to go in. –I’m sorry, Marie. –Katherine apologized as they walked. –But we ourselves don’t know what the fruits do, we’re just gathering them for that Candlemon, his name is Liquid, and we’re helping him win the great Archipelago race that’s going to take place in a couple of days. –The girl explained, trying to remain calmed, although as they went inside, Jazz could actually hear Katherine mumbling ‘Please don’t be something stupid’ repeatedly on a low tone. It was probably safe to say, knowing Liquid, everyone was pretty scared of what could come next.

The inside of the house seemed rather empty, with only a table right on the middle of what could be called the living room and some barrels just scattered around the place. A fireplace could also be seen from the entrance, on the eastern side of the house, in some sort of second living room that had no door. Stairs going into the second floor were just in front of them, but Liquid started walking to his left, into another door, with the group following. This other room was rather more interesting, it seemed like a small roofed dock, with some space for walking around water over a wooden floor and a lifting door on the side that seemed to go down just as the water surface began. It was clear that was the water from the lake next to the house and this wooden house only worked as a dock to test something on such lake. There were some tables at the sides with multiples tools scattered around them; someone had been working hard in here for the past days.The group’s attention was then caught by… a boat! Just resting on the water’s surface. It was a wooden boat with no painting, it had what seemed to be metallic reinforcements around the edges and the bottom part rather than spiky or with squared edges seemed to be oval. It seemed big enough to fit around 5 or 6 people but with no extra space. It also had two barrels attached to its backside.

-Is that…? –Jazz slowly opened her mouth, stunned. –B-But…!

-You told us you didn’t know how to build boats! –Katherine immediately said. 
-Yiayiayiayiayia! –Liquid laughed loudly. –I told you I didn’t know how to repair boats! –Jazz and Katherine got closer to the boat to get a good look at it, like trying to confirm this wasn’t a dream. –I don’t know how to build them either, so I might need your help so we don’t kill ourselves in this thing. –He clarified, making the duo sweat drop on a simultaneous sigh. Okay, so it wasn’t perfect, but they had a boat! That had to work for something right?


-Oh! –A giant blackboard hanging on the wall at the western side of the room caught Jazz attention. -There are some fruits drawn on there. –The Lopmon said, pointing at it. Liquid turned to the blackboard following Jazz’s pointing. 
-Oh, right! The fruits! Yiayiayiayiayia! –Liquid laughed, hoping to the blackboard. 
-So you’re studying these fruits, Liquid? What for? –Katherine got closer to the blackboard too.
-Well, I was, Cheater-sis. –The candle replied, pointing at some specific part of the board, where a lot of different fruits that looked nothing like the ones they had were drawn. –Some time ago, on a local bar, I heard the juice of the fruits around the beaches of Whitewater produced an energizing effect on our organism. I heard stories about digimon standing up after cruel battles just with a zip of these juices. –Liquid explained. He still had that goofy smile on his face, but somewhat he seemed like he knew what he was talking about. –I knew I couldn’t win this race with a regular sailboat since there’s a bunch of aquatic digimon who are capable of swimming at amazing speed. –The candle continued.
-So you decided to make… a motorboat, right? –Katherine asked, looking back at the boat. 
-That’s a pretty good name for it, actually. –Liquid smiled at the statement. –I built a motor that worked like our organism, that was able to take the nutrients in juice and then transform them in mechanic and kinetic energy, moving the blades on the lower back part of the boat, to make it move. –Liquid probably wouldn’t understand how amazing it was that he had managed to build a motorboat that used juice as fuel, but Katherine still had to mention it. 
-That’s incredible, Liquid! –The brunette was sort of a nerd, so the science behind such discovery definitely raised her interest.
-I had trouble finding the right juices, though. –The waxy digimon kept explaining. –Some of them were too charged with nutrients so they overworked the engines. Some other had too little nutrients or nutrients the motor couldn’t process, so the boat wouldn’t even move. –His hands were going all across the blackboard, showing the different fruits he had tried, until he reached a set of four fruits drawn together next to what seemed to be an equation, with writing Katherine couldn’t really understand. –Until I got here: these 4 fruits, when mixed, produce a purple juice this boat can use like fuel to move. Sadly, mixed under normal circumstances and having one of each fruit, they only produce half a cup of juice, when the boat needs around 1 cup to move 15 meters at full speed. –Even though Jazz didn’t understand much at the explanation, she was still paying much attention; the candle seemed to know his numbers. 
-So if you couldn’t change the fruits or the motor you… -Katherine placed her right hand on her chin until something came to her. –Changed the mixing method! 
-That’s right, Cheater-sis! –The candle snapped his fingers. –After a lot of reading I found out the reason these fruits power up digimon’s body like they do is because they are capable of regenerating most of their structures once they mix with our organism’s enzymes. So if I could separate the juice and then mix it again and repeat that process multiple times, I would have a lot of more juice!

-Centrifuge Force! –The girl said in a high tone, finally knowing where Liquid was going with this, while Jazz was completely lost. Liquid, sort of stunned at how much Katherine knew, smiled at the girl. 
-Yes! That’s what they call when you make something spin a lot right? –He then took the cover off a machine around Amelie’s size, with a hole on the upper part. –I then built this. When we put the fruits in, he mixes them to get some juice, then makes them spin very fast to separate such mix and then mixes them again, until no more juice can be obtained. –Liquid definitely seemed like he had worked hard on this. –This way, putting in one fruit of each four, I can get over 100 cups of juice! That’s like half one of those barrels. –He added pointing to the barrels on the back of the boat.

-So the fuel you’re using is at those barrels, I get it now! –Katherine couldn't hide her excitement at the scientific marvels Liquid had accomplished. He was very determined to fulfill his dream and he had worked hard to do it, you had to give him that. 
-Yiayiayiayiayia! You seem to know your stuff, Cheater-sis. –The candle laughed excited. –Of course, I didn’t want to run out of fuel, and according to my calculations, three barrels of juice should be enough for us to reach the goal with no trouble, two connected to the engine and one inside the boat, to work as a replacement in case we need a refill. –Liquid then looked at Marie. –So with those side-full oranges to complete our set of 4 fruits, we should fill the last barrel and we should be ready to go in terms of fuel. –He finished, smiling, hoping that explanation was enough for her new bunny friend. 
-Of course, I still need to run some tests so… -Liquid hopped to the boat and got in it. –Who wants to go for a ride around the lake? –The candle asked looking at the group. –It should be at least three of you, to see if the boat can withstand the weight. 
-I would love to see how this works from afar since I can analyze it better. –Katherine explained. –So it should be the three of you. –The girl said looking at Jazz, Amelie, and Ooi.
-I think you can go too if you want, Marie. -She added with a smile, looking at the Terriermon. 
In testing phase, it probably wasn’t the best idea to get on the boat so soon, but they were in a pretty small lake compared to the ocean, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous.

Katherine just stared at Liquid while Jazz got on the boat, he seemed so excited about finally being able to show this to someone. It was obvious he had trouble making friends, giving how he had no one to enter the race with him when Delumon questioned him earlier. It must have been hard for him to work on all of this alone, who knows for how long. He must have been so tired... so lonely. Katherine's expression changed to a sad one. 

After hearing the bunny’s goodbyes, Jazz waved at the Terriermon from the boat, with a smile. In the end, Jazz knew very well how to differentiate a joke from a serious matter, so everything was just fine between her and Marie.
In all honesty, calling her a savior and saying her name was cute, probably helped a lot too. Katherine also waved goodbye to her recently made digimon friend. It was a little sad she had to go now, but the brunette understood everyone had their responsibilities. She only could hope to see her again. Speaking of responsibilities and recently made friends, Katherine turned to answer Amelie’s inquiries, which made perfect sense about such a long explanation.

-I’m really only a high school student. –Katherine replied, shaking her head. Probably mentioning she had won several awards across the country for her contribution in multi-school debates and science contests and fairs wasn’t a good idea right now; mainly because she didn’t want to look cocky, but most importantly because nobody asked. Amelie’s observation was not only extremely valid, but it was also true. –That’s completely true, centrifuge force is, in fact, a fictitious force. It doesn’t have a physical representation, so yes, it could be said it ‘doesn’t exist’. To be honest, its effects are not taken into account when you study a system from an inertial frame. –The brunette explained. -What Liquid did was basically building a centrifuge machine… -The girl raised her gaze, thinking. –That’s right! –She said, snapping her fingers, or at least trying to since she didn’t know how to do it properly. -You’ve probably seen one of those in a laboratory at school. They take a mix and make it spin very fast to separate its components. –She then giggled, realizing her own mistake. –To be honest, what’s happening there can only be named as centrifuge force if we were also rotating with the mix, which of course, we aren’t. –The girl then laughed louder, awkwardly. –I totally misused that term, I’m sorry. But I’m sure you understand the process, right? –Hopefully, that explanation about her honest mistake would do. Actually, it didn’t seem like Amelie had any trouble understanding what Liquid had done, so further explanations probably weren’t necessary.

-Heeeey! Are you hopping in or what? –Unlike Jazz, who, without understanding a single thing about physics or chemistry, just wanted to ride a boat. Katherine sighed. Amy and Ooi then decided to board the motorboat.

From the inside, the boat looke pretty well built, even comfy. 
-Hey, cheater-sis… -Liquid addressed Katherine, holding a wooden helm, located at the front part of the boat. –Could you turn that crank? –The candle pointed to a wooden crank, right next to the metal lifting door that lead to the lake. 

As the girl imagined, once she started turning the crank, the metal door began going up, until it was fully lifted. Liquid then pushed a button next to the helm. The boat started making a classic motor sound: it was on.

Katherine observed the group go from the dock. After a couple of laps around the lake to a rather slow speed, everything seemed to be going well, except maybe for the speed; it made sense for them to drive slow in such a small space, but the girl couldn’t help but wonder if the boat would actually be able to reach the speed they needed to compete with aquatic digimon, who could probably swim pretty fast.

-This is so fun! –Jazz hopped, looking everywhere around them as they moved. It was the first time she had ridden any machine-thing that wasn’t a Trailmon, so the bunny was pretty excited. Katherine could only begin to think about how excited she would be about riding a car or a motorcycle once she visited the Human World.
-Want to try driving it, Jazz-sis? –Liquid asked the bunny.
-Could I?
-Sure! Yiayiayiayiayia! –Liquid moved to the side laughing, letting her take the helm, after adjusting it to her height. –You just need to push the pedals below to accelerate, just don’t… -Immediately, Jazz stepped on the pedal with her full paw, making the boat accelerate in an instant. Jazz's expression had never changed so quickly from a happy one to a ‘What the hell have I done’ in her whole life. Once Liquid recovered control of the boat, pushing the brake pedal, the thing was already going straight to the border of the lake, so he had no time for redirecting. Liquid pushed a second button near the helm. Surprisingly, for both Katherine staring at the scene from the dock and Jazz living the action from up close, the boat suddenly ‘jumped’, rising itself around 5 ft. from water level, avoiding to crash with the border, and falling onto the ground, some feet away from the lake, with only a few bumps.

-The boat… jumped. –Katherine started dumbfounded at the scene.
-Yiayiayiayiayiayia! -Liquid started laughing loudly, once they have landed.  -Are you alright? –The candle asked the group.
-I’m alright. –Jazz replied, being obviously okay since the boat never reached too much speed, nor the fall was dangerous at all. The bunny was still kind of surprised of what had just happened. Apparently, this boat had a couple of tricks down its sleeve.
-I’m sorry. -Jazz bowed apologizing to Amy, Ooi, and Liquid, just after they had put the boat back inside the roofed dock.
-I’m sorry too, my partner is clumsy and not very smart. –Katherine apologized next to her partner, bowing too.
-Yes, I am clumsy and not ver- HEY! –The bunny reacted halfway through her own sentence.
-It was nothing, Jazz-sis! –Liquid replied with a smile. –It was actually kind of fun! Yiayiayiayiayiayia! –While it was true the whole experience wasn’t really dangerous at all, Liquid was the only one who could call something like that fun; even though Katherine considered he might be just saying it so Jazz didn’t feel bad about it, they had to remember this was Liquid, a digimon that had a very odd concept of what was ‘fun’.
-I need you all to stay here for a while, okay? –Liquid promptly asked the group. –It won’t take long! –The candle digimon hopped through the door, back inside the house. Leaving the three girls and the bunny just by themselves.

-So, Amy. –Katherine broke the silence. –The boat looked good from here, what do you think? How did it look from inside?
-I think it’s missing resistance. –Jazz frowned. –It’s an all-out race, right? So we could expect any kind of attacks coming at us. I don’t see that boat resisting big amounts of damage. –Her partner had a point, Katherine thought. If for any reason the boat received an attack and was destroyed, they were out. They needed that boat in one piece to win the race.

What could Liquid be up to? To be honest, at this point, the group felt like they could expect anything from their hyperactive friend.