The Knight and the Sword [Xros Hunt/Holly]

"I wonder..."

Angel gave a sigh, raising a hand to gently scratch at the back of the Meicoomon's head, still looking down onto the fight below. To the Renamon, this seemed like a low-caliber display, simply red flame clashing against blue and the Digimon running head-long into each-other. A spectacle, sure, but the flaws in their style peeled open before her eyes.

"All that wolf has to do is step in there. This Meramon's footing is too desparate-"

"Angel, you're zoning out again." The Reppamon chuckled, an embarrassed blush crossing Angel's face.

"Tch... unfortunately, Holly, I haven't had much chance to learn how to sneak yet. Guru and I have only been Xros partners for a few weeks - I know what I can do, but hardly the application behind it. If I had a good plan, I wouldn't have dragged you along."

That comment was punctuated by the roar of the crowd - the Gururumon blasted clean off the side of the stage by a powerful blast!

"I think what Angel's trying to say," Guru continued, for the now irate Angel ("You were looking away, you dolt!"), just with a simple observation: "You know much more about what to do here than she does."

"Tch..."

Yup, Angel was distracted. Guru just gave a nervous chuckle until the Renamon finally slipped back down into her chair, arms crossed, ear lightly flicking at the Meicoomon's words. Right, security: "It ain't weak, either. The 'brawn' around here's had to deal with rowdy fighters and the like, so its definitely not as simple as brushing past them."

"Hm... is it really so complicated, though?" The Reppamon questioned the logic. "Sure, there's security now, just look at the place - but wouldn't most of it be day security? Surely we could simplify this by accessing the residential areas overnight."

"Ultimately, all we need to do is talk to them and give them the location of our current base." Still, the Renamon gripped her muzzle in frustration. "As for Holly's question, there's definitely a line of security by both waiting rooms and around the center of the ring. Then there would be some around the vending areas, just enough to keep the peace - but its not like a sporting arena like this is made for security-"

The fox blinked.

"... What if we use the ductwork to just find their quarters directly?"

"Hm... so its more likely that security will be by the fighters' quarters at night..."

It was a reasonable enough assessment, but then again, did that really make it better to carry it out in the day? Even if they could avoid security, that didn't mean much if someone caught wind of them, and metal ductwork would be noisy enough to move through. Holly seemed to hone in right on the challenge itself, listing it out for her.

"Well, this place is pretty similar to the base underground," the Renamon muttered, "and when we're Xros'd, we won't make too much noise in the vent. General maps of the stands and 'customer' areas are already available through brochure... here, take this, let us know if that helps." She'd slip a discarded brochure off the ground and hand it to the Meicoomon, the Reppamon considering the situation.

"Why go to this extent at all? Surely we could say we're just visiting-"

"If they already know who that Knightmon is, it could just be bait to lure the rest of us in. Besides, Raider's pretty stubborn about visitors himself. If we're going to make this work..."

The fox sighed.

"How likely do you think using the ducts would work?"

"Hm..."

Of course it made sense that the area would be guarded, but would there be a difference between going in 'during hours' or 'after hours'? With all the noise above, it was hard to believe that anyone would be using it as a general residence during the day - more likely, it was just a place to tucker out for the night. Then again, those were all just baseless assumptions.

As Holly gave her idea ("The General would scoff at anything lower than 1 in 3..."), Angel considered the situation at hand. Of the three of them, there was one who was more likely to get away with something... hm.

"Well, there's another option." Angel tapped her glove, blinking over in Holly's direction. "Its crowded right now, right? I can't pull it off and neither can Guru, but you could make an 'honest mistake' walking down the wrong hallway, and figure out where the residential quarters are." The Renamon gave a shrug, as the arena below cleared out for the next match. "Just shoot the guard a quick question, ask where it is and see if you need a visitor's pass or something."

"Couldn't hurt. Would help remove that 'one in ten', anyway."

"Well, just in case, we'll have Guru tag along with you." Obviously it wasn't entirely safe, but the Xros team had their own way of handling things as well! With the plan set, as Holly would make her way towards the concessions area, the Reppamon would follow along - first briefly visible, but as they would turn the corner, with a flick of his tail, the weasel vanished from sight. So long as they didn't push it too far, there likely wouldn't be someone too sensitive at sensing data - at least, not enough to pick one more random Digimon out of the crowd.

That said, Holly would have something of a ghost following her for the time being. As Holly would make her way through the concessions area, she wouldn't draw so much attention from security - though there would be a few tense to simply see a Meicoomon wandering around, unattended. Still, things went smoothly enough, and the first hall they'd turn down would turn out to be...

... A way back to the east entrance. Alright, no dice, but they had to get to a lower level than this, right? If Holly wasn't too quick to turn around, she'd see a Guardromon standing, well, on 'Guard', in front of another door of a small building a bit away from the arena. It clearly didn't draw much interest, any spectators simply walking on by - and come to think of it, a storage shed didn't make much sense there, right?

"Careful there, kitty."

Angel teased right back, sharing a rare grin and chuckle with Holly, staying in the chair as the other two pulled away. The Renamon would stay to watch that fight - at least for a bit. If this was going to work, the Meicoomon and the Renamon would be better off looking like unrelated parties. That left the invisible Guru and the visible Holly at the east entrance, with Holly asking a good question: could they be linked?

"I would think so. There's not enough space in such a small shed for storage - not for a building this big."

Guru's analysis was careful, seeing Holly's expression as she looked to the shed from the corner of her eye. Now, if it were indoors, it would have been easy to claim getting lost, but outside? Not even Holly would have an excuse.

This was why the Reppamon had another idea: "Get a little closer. I'll distract him just enough."

How would he do that? The Reppamon, still invisible, would walk straight out, silent as ever, to the far side of the guard - and once Holly was in position, the Reppamon would simply press against the machine's leg.

"Hm?" The pressure felt real - but it was gone in an instant, the Guardomon blinking as he looked over and saw nothing. He scratched the back of his head, and shrugged, moving back to position. "Dumb kids these days..."

It would definitely be enough time, and if Holly managed to slip through in those few seconds? She'd find herself at the top of a staircase, which led down and turned right - back in the direction of the arena. The stairs themselves looked to be made of an old stone, easy to slip on, and the lighting down here was just open wires and lightbulbs.

Definitely not a visitor's section.