Skip Navigation
|
Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 26, 2018 3:23:56 GMT
After finishing his fifteen burgers in a record-breaking minute and a half, Shoutmon laid back in his seat, rubbing his satisfied belly and letting out a small burp. "Aah, that hit the spot."
"It was also very disturbing to watch," Adrian says as he eats a single fry. "You probably just grossed Alan out to no end." At least he wasn't catching onto who Shoutmon really was, right?
Now the situation was just... kind of awkward. No one was really saying much at all. Until finally, Alan asked if he was interrupting something. To that, both Adrian and Shoutmon just gave him kind of a confused look.
"Interrupting what?" Adrian asked. "I don't think I understand what you mean."
"Yeah neither do I," Shoutmon added. Before Alan could say anything more, there were a few screams heard from a distance away. Adrian turned around to see three men and two women run away in the same direction. After that, even more people began to run away. What was going on?
"Stay here," Adrian told both Alan and Shoutmon as he ran to go see what was happening.
|
|
|
Post by Alan Pantell on Sept 26, 2018 4:02:16 GMT
"Oh, yeah, sure." Alan leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling. "It's not like it's a gunman or anything."
The pleasure he found in his morbid quip didn't last long. A long string of thoughts quickly flashed through his mind.
That might.... actually be a gunman. No, no, wait. Gun control's a lot better in Japan. Plus, I didn't hear any gunshots, but... something must have been fired for five people to be running away with such horrible screams. That's too many for someone to have just... noticed a gun. Is some psycho swinging a sword around down there? Why would someone do that? The authorities could easily handle that. Are they using a silencer? No, this many people noticed fast enough to...
Continuously tossing and turning the situation over in his head, Alan's thoughts grew increasingly disorganized.
Is this where I die? Am I okay with this? Am I dead? Am I...
"....Dreaming?" he said aloud, wasting little to no time in shutting up his inner voice.
It was a trick that he had once read about online:
He looked down at his hands, making his left hand flat, like the familiar "paper" sign, and outstretching the index and middle finger of his right hand. He took a deep breath,
The right hand will go through the left.
With that, he pushed the two extended fingers of his right hand into his left palm. To no one's surprise, the right hand simply pressed against the other.
"Nope," he whispered.
His life was, in all likelihood, in immediate danger. In lieu of a better way to handle the situation, all Alan could do was carry on, and do as Adrian had instructed. He turned to the one who was called "Sho," taking care to assume the most casual posture, if only because of the small glimmer of humor it provided. Before he could engage in small talk, he remembered there was something he wanted to say.
As if nothing had happened, he resumed the conversation from earlier.
"Don't worry about it. If you don't know what I'm talking about, the answer was probably 'no' to begin with."
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 26, 2018 12:44:45 GMT
Adrian knew exactly what all the running and screaming people could mean; a rogue Digimon. It was probably stupid of Adrian to go without Shoutmon, but Alan needed someone to talk to, right?
As Adrian approached the situation that had everyone running, he saw exactly what it was: a Veemon. A random Veemon just wandering in the middle of a human mall, no questions asked! Some people must've thought he was a dog or a stuffed animal or something. It seemed to be... talking to people? The speech coming from the creature must've been what scared everyone else. Carefully, Adrian approached the blue Digimon.
"Hi there..." Adrian said as calmly and nicely walked towards the rookie. "Are you lost?"
Meanwhile, Shoutmon was a bit weirded out by Alan, since he seems to be lost in his own thoughts and just randomly says 'dreaming.'
"Hey. Alan, was it? Are you feeling alright?"
|
|
|
Post by Alan Pantell on Sept 26, 2018 14:22:17 GMT
"I guess you could say that."
Alan was pondering how to put his feelings into words, in a more succinct manner this time.
"I'm afraid, but... somehow, only a little. Had I been alone, chances are I would be looking for a hiding spot right now, rather than staying put."
He turned to regard Sho with a faint smile.
"You seem to trust Adrian. So, even though I've only just met you two... I've decided to trust him, too. I'm sure he knows what he's doing."
------------------------------------------------------------------
"You could say that," said Veemon, looking up at the first person to knowingly approach him today.
"And it doesn't help that no one wants to give me the time of day!"
He crossed his arms and stared at the floor to his left, still insulted and saddened by how people had been treating him. He further intensified his focus on that nonspecific spot, and bit his lip, to get it to stay still.
"...Pricks," he snarled.
Come to think of it... he took a closer look at his unfamiliar surroundings. For some reason, none of the digital clocks protruding from the walls agreed with each other.
He turned back to the stranger who had actually bothered to talk to him.
"What is the time of day, anyway?"
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 26, 2018 21:14:43 GMT
Shoutmon smiled when Alan said that he trusted Adrian. "Yeah, I trust him. He's my best friend. Always there for me, and wanting to help others as well. He tends to knock himself down, though. That's my only worry about him." Adrian was pretty surprised by this Veemon. Did... he not realize that he was in the HUMAN WORLD? In the middle of a crowded mall, no less?! He seemed to be really confused on why humans would run away from him.
"It's... it's one o'clock," Adrian responds. "You know, you really shouldn't be out here in the open like this. Other humans are going to come and find you and lock you away if they find out a blue dragon was just wandering around Shibuya 104."
Adrian would then pull out his Digivice. "I can take you back to the Digital World, though, quick and easy. What do you say?"
|
|
|
Post by Alan Pantell on Sept 26, 2018 22:49:23 GMT
"I appreciate the offer. Really, I do," Veemon responded. He... wasn't sure if he was lying or not. His exaggerated upper body movements certainly made it seem like he was, but as long as they were doing their job, he could...
"But think about it from my perspective. If you were to jump through some random portal, only to abandon the new experiences just because you happened to meet some... 'close-minded' individuals on the other side..."
He could...
"...that wouldn't make you any better than they are, now would it? That said..."
As he was saying this, Veemon moved his gaze to his feet, narrowing his eyes and pulling the most smug grin he could muster. Then, he slowly raised his head, until eventually, he was making direct eye contact with the stranger, who had been so nice to him.
Satisfied that this maneuver had drawn adequate attention to the new space that had been created between them, he delivered the final line:
"I can't help but get this strange inkling that you're not about to take 'no' for an answer."
Beat.
"See ya!"
He smiled and waved as he took off in the direction in which he had been walking before being interrupted, with impressive speed that wouldn't be expected of a creature of his size.
Meanwhile, back at the food court, Alan continued his first real conversation with Sho. He perked up somewhat at Sho's earlier comment regarding Adrian.
"So he's hard on himself, huh..." he looked down for a moment as he thought of his next line, then looked back at Sho with a grin: "I know I can think of a certain idiot who fits that description."
Alan wasn't quite sure how that joke could possibly be misinterpreted, but after getting himself into trouble multiple times, he had learned to never completely trust that it couldn't.
"It's... it's me. I'm t-the... I'm the idiot," he breathed. "I... I know you knew that, I just, I... you know."
He returned to staring at the table. Being ultra-considerate of other people's feelings just wasn't fun sometimes.
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 26, 2018 23:17:48 GMT
"Oh, you've GOT to be shitting me!" Adrian yells as the Veemon pulled a run away trick at the last second. Immediately Adrian gave chase, vaulting over chairs and everything. He couldn't let a rogue Digimon run free! He pulled out his Digivice and called Shoutmon using the comms.
Meanwhile, Shoutmon was enjoying his conversation with Alan, until his comm began ringing. "Gimme a sec," he says, pretending he had one of those bluetooth ear-phones. He made sure he talked in a way that Alan wouldn't hear or understand. "Hey, what's going on?"
"Rogue Digimon! Veemon! In pursuit of it now!"
"Oh, come on, this happens EVERY TIME we go to the mall."
"Look, this one is a Veemon, like Leith's... but with the personality of his Shoutmon. We're just down the food court, catch up as soon as you can!"
"But... what about Alan?"
"He can't know about any of this. He isn't a Tamer. Just... tell him you'll be right back!"
"...alright, fine." Shoutmon then got off the comms and turned to Alan. "That was Adrian. He needs my help with something. We'll be right back! Sorry!" The hoodied Shoutmon would then run off to join his partner.
|
|
|
Post by Alan Pantell on Sept 27, 2018 1:10:48 GMT
Alan watched Sho as he ran away, waiting until he was barely out of approximate hearing range and then...
He laughed. He just threw his head back and roared with laughter.
"No way!" he said, once again to no one but himself, "This is too good! He didn't actually believe me when I said I was an idiot, right!?"
He remembered the bitter taste of the mall floor, and decided that he had spoken too soon.
Back in the company of himself, he immediately began his speculations and deductions:
By now, I can safely assume that whatever those people were running away from wasn't a gunman, and it wasn't a sword-swinging psycho, either. After all, everyone knows that swords and guns both exist. Regardless, Adrian and Sho both seem to think that there's at least a possibility that I am in actual danger. Knowing this, the next sensible step would be for one of them to tell me to evacuate. But neither of them did. Instead, they told me to stay put, and wait for them to come back. For one reason or another, they couldn't tell me about the threat, despite it being a real one. They decided that they needed to take matters into their own hands. But why? What makes them qualified for this particular threat? Who do they work for? I can't just blindly make accusations based off of a speculation that two people might be some kind of secret agents! That's the stuff that gets you targeted! By... some kind of secret agents! Tangents aside, they don't wish me any harm. That much is obvious. As it stands, my best option is to stay right here. Just like I was asked.
Having effectively reasoned himself in a circle, Alan leaned back, put his hands behind his head, and waited. He waited for something to happen. He waited for someone to show up. It didn't matter who it was.
Adrian.
The one called "Sho."
The mysterious threat.
Eventually, footsteps would echo down the hall. He wondered whose they could be.
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 27, 2018 1:20:03 GMT
Eventually, Shoutmon would join up with his human partner, who was still chasing this Veemon around the mall, much to the dismay of the other shoppers. They just assumed it was a dog or something...
"So what's the story here?" Shoutmon asked Adrian as they ran.
"I offered to send it back to the Digital World peacefully, and it just bolted! We can't let a rogue Digimon just run all over the place, you know that, right?"
"Yeah yeah yeah, just tell me what to do!"
"Get up close to it. Try to convince it to turn itself in. If it refuses, use very little force. Got it?"
"Clear as crystal," Shoutmon cheered, taking off the blue hoodie and handed it to Adrian. He then ran up closer to the Veemon, smirking with his trademark smirk.
"Hey there! Out for a nice run? Same here. Listen, we gotta send you home dude, okay?"
|
|
|
Post by Alan Pantell on Sept 27, 2018 2:11:43 GMT
"I HAVE NO HOME!" the Veemon shouted back. It wasn't true, but, as one might expect, he was feeling rather contrarian at the time.
Looks like I read the situation correctly. They really weren't going to take "no" for an answer. I didn't expect he'd have backup, though. I'll give him that. Wait a minute, why am I running? I can take both of tho-
He had his head turned towards his pursuers, in an attempt to asses their strength. However, Veemon's short stature gave him a considerably better view of the face of the hooded figure than any of the humans around him would have.
He mouthed the word "Shoutmon" to himself.
"I... I think I'll keep running."
The pair that was chasing him had an air of professionalism about them. They attempted reason, they attempted to minimize civilian involvement, they had a system in place to call for backup. In one way or another, they had trained for situations exactly like this one. The only thing keeping him ahead was pure speed. He had to come up with something else, if he ever hoped to actually lose them.
One thing's for sure. That Shoutmon won't be doing any digivolving. I don't know who sent them, or if no one sent them, but they're trying to protect these humans. He can't digivolve to anything beyond Rookie in good conscience. But that's not good enough! What else? If they're trying to keep me away from something in particular, then... where was I when they first deemed it necessary to come after me?
He glanced back once more, serving as a reminder that it was probably a better idea to focus on running. He could no longer remember why it was so important to him that he didn't get sent back home. In fact, he only started considering it important once people started trying to force him back. In all likelihood, he was simply feeling rather contrarian at the time.
I was coming up on some sort of... dining area. That's it! Alright, Levi, this is important. If I'm right on this, they're gonna start getting desperate the closer I get to that spot. All you can do is keep going.
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 27, 2018 2:22:05 GMT
"You see, I just don't buy that," Shoutmon quipped while still smirking. "Because y'know, it's SUPER EASY for Digimon to get a home somewhere like Terminus or Whitewater..." Shoutmon noticed that the Veemon was catching speed, so he ran even faster to keep up.
"And if you're actually homeless, then that means you're a wild Digimon, and we just can't have that here in good ol' Shibuya."
The chase went on for quite a while before Shoutmon started to get annoyed. "Look, I just ate lunch and all this running is making me hungry again. So how about you do the sensible thing and turn yourself in? No hassle at all!"
Speaking of hungry, they were coming up on a dining area... The McDonald's!
"ALAN!" Adrian suddenly semi-yelled to himself before running ahead. He searched frantically for Alan's table, before finding it just as it used to be. "Alan, I think we better get going now, don't you think?" He sounded out of breath...
|
|
|
Post by Alan Pantell on Sept 27, 2018 3:17:54 GMT
The person to whom Adrian was talking is, was, and will always be Alan. There is no doubt about that. But this isn't the Alan he was quite as familiar with. This wasn't the Alan who fell flat on his face because he forgot he had packed food. This wasn't the Alan who sheepishly apologized for not being physically capable of having two different meals at once.
No.
This was the Alan who had decided where they should eat. This was the Alan who wanted to call "Sho" short.
Incidentally, this was also the Alan who had just lost all reason to show courtesy.
This Alan opened his eyes from his reclined position, staring at Adrian upside-down with an all-too-familiar narrow-eyed grin. But Alan didn't know it was familiar to anyone.
"Oh," he said, with enough pure apathy in his voice to de-power a developing nation, "so I'm in danger now."
"Alright. Sure. But wait, who says we have to leave now? I see all that running must have tired you out. Why not get that SUSHI you wanted? Why not stop at a game store? Why not but some clothes? You could get some HOODIES that-"
"HOLD IT!"
In all honestly, Alan was relieved to be interrupted. He was grasping at straws, and really just listing off keywords until one of them yielded a response. In the time that Alan took to think about how relieving it was that he had been interrupted, a small, blue and white, dragonesque creature had charged up to them, grasped onto Alan's head, and was now practically piercing his skin with one of his sharp claws.
"Hello," said Alan, "are you the threa-"
"Shut up!" The creature turned to Adrian. "Wh-wh-who is this to you?"
Great, thought Alan, we're both grasping at straws.
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 27, 2018 3:27:39 GMT
Adrian's heart skipped a beat. Did the sudden running off rub Alan the wrong way? Why was he acting like this? Was he mad? It didn't matter, he just had to get out of here.
"Alan, listen to me-" Nope, too late! Veemon had jumped up to the top of Alan's head, and was seemingly planning on KILLING the kid! "Veemon, listen to me: you let go of him. Now."
At this point Shoutmon had managed to catch up, and he stopped to a halt when he saw the situation. In panic, he summoned his microphone and aimed it at Veemon. "Let the kid go. He has nothing to do with this."
For a split second, Adrian was considering opening up his D-Terminal and calling for help for somebody. ANYBODY. This Alan kid was going to become a victim, all because of Adrian! He couldn't let that happen!
"Just let him go, okay? I don't want this getting ugly, and neither do you."
|
|
|
Post by Alan Pantell on Sept 27, 2018 3:56:22 GMT
"Please. This thing isn't going to hurt me." Alan seemed rather confident in that fact. "And how do I know that? That's the best part! I don't."
For the first time in about three minutes, Alan thought. He wanted to explain why he felt that way.
"Nothing feels real anymore. I'm lost. I'm confused. I'm angry. I'm invincible. I'm-"
...dreaming.
Once more, Alan made a reality check. He was able to do this because Veemon was too small to restrict his arm movement. But, just like last time, he felt his right hand simply press against his left.
"...Shit."
Everything was put into perspective. He had been acting recklessly because he had been half-expecting to wake up back at the hotel, or even in his own bed in America, at any moment.
He reevaluated his situation. A few better reasons why he wasn't about to be murdered by a tiny dragon came to mind.
"...Get offa me."
With that, he threw the Veemon off of him. This task was made a lot easier by the fact that Veemon was not sure about his own actions at all. The dragon hit the ground with a thud, and just... stayed there, emotionally and physically spent for the day.
Alan spoke again.
"I've caused everyone a lot of trouble." He knew that the amount of trouble he had been the cause of was actually rather low, all things considered, but a bit of exaggerated self-deprecation usually couldn't hurt when apologizing. And he was certainly sorry about his little episode.
He cleared his throat. "As such... I'm not gonna ask you any questions. However, if anybody has something they'd like to tell me... I'm all ears."
|
|
|
Post by Adrian Boriker on Sept 27, 2018 12:45:29 GMT
"Alan, that thing IS going to hurt you," Adrian says to him, as Alan had clearly gone Froot Loops levels of insane at this point. He would then go on to explain that nothing felt real anymore. Like he was in a constant dream... however, he soon realized that this wasn´t the case.
And just like that, Alan THREW the Veemon off of him, surprising both Adrian and Shoutmon. Out of any way they expected Alan to react, they didn´t expect anything like what he just did.
With that moment, Shoutmon ran over to the Veemon and grabbed him, making sure that he wouldn´t escape his grasp. That was when Alan wanted answers. And so, Adrian gave them to him.
"These creatures here... they´re called Digimon. They come from another dimension known as the Digital World, which is essentially a mirror image of the world we humans live in. Sometimes, these creatures cross over into our world and either cause trouble or form bonds with humans. The latter is exactly what happened between me and Shoutmon... you might know him as Sho."
|
|
|