The bond that transcends reality [Akemi/Amelie/Asher]

Her eyes widening for a second, Katherine sweatdropped. Honestly? The whole premise of Amy being good at investigating made her a bit nervous. “Don’t be silly…” She replied, her eyes going elsewhere.

That same reply would be fitting for the blue-eyed’s next comment. “It’s not that we don’t have faith in Nei. It’s…” Her eyes shifted towards Akemi for a second. “… Anzu and Jazz who we don’t trust.” Those two could cause a ruckus in a church.

Silly Asher. Everything is curious about everything! That’s what Undying Curiosity is all about. Of course, Katherine couldn’t expect someone who had just met her to understand this concept. Besides, there was a small reason why this made her especially curious. “Jazz used to be a Lopmon a while ago. Some very… odd circumstances brought her to evolve into a ChoHakkaimon and then some tragic circumstances brought her to remain like that until now.” The Spaniard lowered her head, looking a bit dismal. Amy knew a lot about that part of the story.

But that was that! No point in feeling sad about it. Besides, before they noticed, the group had arrived at the end of the shoreline. A cave was in their way now, announcing their little trip was over. The insides of the cave were… glowing, for some reason. There was something fluorescent inside, although they couldn’t quite tell what it was from here.

Katherine wanted this to be a fun day, so Amelie didn’t feel like she had dragged her here just because of work stuff. But if she was that curious about the not-so-fun reason behind all of it, it seemed like what would make her happy was for Katherine to go straight to the point talk about it, huh? Maybe she was going to be a tad disappointed. The Spaniard took some steps forward, letting the water that advanced through the sand from the waves reach her feet. Then, she glanced at Akemi.

“Please, let me know if I’m missing anything.” She let out a sigh that hid the words 'here we go' behind it.

It was probably a good time to recap. After all, even if her friends knew most of the first part of this story, Asher probably wasn’t aware of any of this. She would try to summarize everything as good as possible.

“Five powerful gems have been somewhere inside this world for more than three hundred years. The Zoid Gems. They are the key to release an ancient digimon known as The Ancient Sage, which is locked inside the Drum Sanctuary. The sage will answer any question from the one who frees him from his slumber. That’s where I’m going. I want to ask the sage what no one seems to want to know. Why was I given a digivice and pushed to come into this world? No… there are many more things I wish to ask. This is not only about curiosity now, after all.” She made a pause.

“The Dark Army. A criminal organization with the same goal: to gather the Zoid Gems and get to the Drum Sanctuary. Why? That I don’t know. Whether there is something in specific they wish to know or there is greater power held inside the sanctuary they wish to control, I know their intentions can’t be good. The Zoid Gems are extremely powerful, so the sole fact of knowing they have them terrifies me to the core. I reunited four of the gems, the Dark Army only had one back then. Until Luke, the Valkyrimon, almost killed me and took all of the gems I had. Now they have the five gems in their power but don’t know where the sanctuary is. The map they owned that would take them there was stolen by an old member of their faction. That’s Bastian.”

So far, so good, right?

“That’s one of the reasons I joined the Deeplane City Council, I knew Bastian was in the Dark Area, and I needed to look for him. I found him, and he had the map. Which means the Dark Army doesn’t, so they can’t reach the Drum Sanctuary now. Bastian and I now own the last piece of their puzzle. And I am going to take the rest of those pieces.” Katherine turned her head towards the group, the waves crashing behind her.

“By using a radio frequency Bastian remembered from back when he was a member, Amy was able to talk to the Dark Army and actually helped them on a mission, without them knowing she was my friend until the very end. She discovered they are using the Zoid Gems, but still have no clue on where Bastian and the map might be. We need to strike now, while their guard is down. Bastian is cracking the code of a key that will get us inside their hideout. We need to go in, take the gems, and go out. During these days, Bastian has also been trying to decipher the map to the Drum Sanctuary so we can get there once we have the gems.”

And now, the request… there were two of them, actually.

“I want you to come with me, Amy.” Her eyes were fixed on the French girl now. In this case, her tone of voice was a lot firmer than when she asked Akemi. The reason? She knew Amy was waiting for this. She knew Amy had been ready for a while. “But… in order for this to work, we need to be prepared. The Dark Army is powerful, and we are going into the eye of the storm. Which means we need more power.” Now, her gaze shifted to Akemi for a moment. “Bastian told me about a technique that can make Jazz and Anzu stronger, known as DNA. We want them to fuse into a new, stronger, digimon. To test this new technique, we need someone who pushes them to their limit and forces them to reach this new stage. And since they are supposed to fight together, and not against each other…” Her green irises went back to Amy. “… we are going to need someone who works as an opponent for them.”

    Did Amy expect for such a quick change of topics, especially when the response she had gotten didn't have the degree of clearness she expected? What could she say? Credit where credit was due! A faint shade of pink made itself present across her cheeks at the sudden half compliment-half tease.

    "Too busy thinking about how pretty I am, huh...?" Her voice drifted for a couple of seconds before refocusing again. "Annnnd, who knows! There should be still a couple of levels to go for me. Maybe my current evolutions are foreshadowing a pretty digital girl as the final stage or something." Of course she wasn't being serious about it, but she could hope! "Hope you still think I'm pretty when that happens!"

    It seemed like her tale regarding how the couple came to be wouldn't receive any input from the redhead, despite there being plenty of room to do so. Then again, Asher didn't seem like the type who liked long recounts, so that was more or less expected. Remaining silent while the two girls interest remained focused on her boyfriend, a placid smile was the brunette's expression while the exchanges happened, even though it slowly transformed into a smirk at both Katherine and Akemi defending against her 'accusations'. Could they even be called that? Probably not, but they sounded more important that way.

    "Don't worry~!" Of course, she didn't know the two better than their own tamers, but there was something she had taken for granted. "I have full trust in them. There are few digimon I'd trust more than those two." Was that trust misplaced? That was a very good question.

    The same smirk was directed at Asher shortly afterward. "Maybe I am a spy." She replied, teasingly. "That's the kind of thing you gotta keep secret, though. If others knew I'm a spy, that wouldn't be very sneaky. A famous spy would be a bit of an oxymoron, don't you think?"

    That last lighthearted comment aside, the atmosphere, just like the brunette's expression, grew heavier as soon as Katherine began her tale; one that Amy knew all too well, and that had gone as far as to experience firsthand, in a sense. She focused on Asher, trying to gauge how she felt about the whole deal. What would were his thoughts about it? In any case...

    Eyes widened a bit at the request. So, that was the 'serious' matter was about, huh? To say that she wasn't expecting something like that would be a bit of a lie, but still! "So, basically," Her tone was a bit nonchalant about it, despite the implications of the words the two had. "You want for me to wreck Jazz and Anzu until they decide to do the DNA thing? And want for me to team up with Asher to do that? I guess it's your plan, and you've thought about it long and hard, but doesn't it sound a bit... crude?" Considering they were pretty much gonna brute force an evolution, it might! Then again, a shrug was the gesture that followed those words. "But, if you're sure about it, I guess I'm game."

    Her eyes immediately went towards Asher's. Another squeeze was given to his hand. "What do you say? Considering this wasn't quite what I told you we would be doing here, it's fine if you don't wanna do it." It was obvious that Amy wasn't going try to force him, and figured this could get really violent from one moment to the next.

For some reason, Katherine always seemed to find Amelie saying the most... dissimilar statements possible. At least regarding her own personality, her actions and things she had said herself in the past. Had her previous words and actions been misinterpreted by the Spaniard? Or did Amelie try to look like a lot meaner than what she actually was? She didn't want to think there was a level of hypocrisy related to all of this, considering the leader of the DLC did not strike her like that type of person. However, it was an odd feature she had, the skill of saying things that were very incompatible with the personality she often tried to show.

"Crude..." Katherine muttered under her breath after hearing her friend use that word. "You were the one who made me go back here and try my best at stopping Luke. I would have thought you were prepared for me to do whatever it took to do so. Knowing me, you can't possibly have thought I was coming back to take things for granted again or hold anything back." Her tone of voice was dead serious now. If she had gone back, it was to give her absolute everything. "Jazz loves this idea, which shouldn't be surprising considering the form she has right now. I think Anzu is okay with it too." Her green eyes shifted towards Akemi for a second, looking for reaffirmation.

It probably was not easy to comprehend the size of the battle they were about to engage into but... If Amelie and Asher managed to gain even a little grasp on the magnitude of what was coming, they would probably understand this was not even close to the crudest things that needed to be done. And, in all honesty, it was probably not even in the top five of the crudest things Amelie had done herself. Maybe the Frenchwoman liked to be tough but didn’t want the rest of her team to be the same? That was very hard to accomplish. For Katherine, she was almost a role model.

“However…” Some clarification needed to be issued, though. Especially after Asher’s words. “… Callum is right. We think you will be more than enough to face the two of them. That way the fight can be very grueling without it being completely uneven." Ironically, a two on two combat would probably be uneven in these circumstances. This was Amy they were talking about. Katherine had never seen the blue-eyed’s digimon forms go through any kind of trouble in combat (probably because she wasn’t at a certain wedding). If Anzu and Jazz managed to actually get her to fight for real, that would be a huge accomplishment.

Now that all of this super serious talk was drawing to an end, Katherine wrinkled her mouth. “See? This is why I didn’t want to talk about something so serious like this so soon…” She confessed, her eyes shyly drifting towards the sand. “Now it's very hard to go back to having fun. I kind of feel like we have to do this battle now, and we haven’t even enjoyed our day together.” Well, this was Amy’s fault for being so impatient! Now she should be the one in charge of making the mood go back to 'relaxing, fun beach day'!

… Unless she actually wanted to do the fighting right now. In that case, they should go back to the group of digimon.

What would it be?

    At least for now, Asher was managing to answer correctly; such a deviation from his usual self! Maybe a new tactic of his to keep her silent? It could be, even though that seemed way too simple for him. Could it be that he was plotting something? No way for her to know, even though that probably didn't matter at the moment.

    While the small-talk regarding Lopmons or whether Tamers had gotten less common over time was interesting, none of those queries had been directed at her. The comment that had gone her way had been one quite different; it was accusatory, even! And, unsurprisingly enough, based off a wrong assumption. But that was okay.

    "No, no. Don't get me wrong, Curls." Amy hastened to say in the face of Katherine's rather forceful answer. At least for now, the brunette kept a relaxed tone; she didn't seem to be all that fazed at the reply. "I really value that you're willing to do whatever it takes to be able to level the playing field with the Dark Army. It's pretty much what I expected from somebody like you. But..."

    Amy wasn't referring to that. At all. "You misinterpreted me. I didn't mean crude as in grisly, or whatever meaning you're attributing to the word at the moment. I kinda expected a plan with a bit more... finesse? What we're gonna do is basically drive Jazz and Anzu to the brink until they decide they had enough and evolve together; not very subtle, you know? But if you think that has the best odds of making it happen, I'll roll with it. Unsurprising that Anzu and Jazz agree with it, though. That's just how they are..."

    In any case! It seemed that she'd fight on her own. Two-on-one, huh? And everyone was saying that the fight would be unfair otherwise? It seemed that she was held in very high esteem for that to be the case. "Aw, you're all no fun." A shrug followed suit. Would it have been that much of an overkill if a little teaming was involved? Apparently. "I guess that's a relief in a sense. If somebody's watching over the fight and making sure everyone's safe, then I can go all out without having to worry, right?"

    There was one detail that the brunette couldn't really let pass, though. Related to Asher, of course. "Well, I haven't seen you fight either." Of course, her tone was teasing more than anything. "It's a bit unfair, don't you think? Hope you're thinking about a way to fix that!"

    Of course, that conversation seemed to have its downside as well. Katherine's disposition seemed to have dropped in the face it, citing that it had spoiled the mood. Was that true? At least for Amelie, it wasn't, but then again... the two girls probably had very different mindsets. "What, so you can't enjoy the day anymore? That kind of lame attitude won't get you anywhere, Curls! The day's young, and there's plenty of things to do. For example, we haven't even gotten to the water! Unless any of you is afraid of the water, I wouldn't want to miss it."

    Would anyone follow her, or would any other ideas spring? At least for now, the young woman seemed positively excited about going in for a dip!

Her mouth wrinkling a bit at the statement for a second or two before actually saying something, Katherine finally replied to Amelie's statement. "Bastian and I thought long and hard about it, and... I think this is the best course of action. It is true Jazz and Anzu never turn down a fight, but they also won't keep trying the same thing if they know they're doomed to fail. Because of that, I think they'll find out sooner or later they have to join forces to match your strength." Was this really a solid argument to defend their thesis? Probably not, but it was everything they had. "Whether it will work or not, it really remains to be seen."And that accompanied Akemi's own comment perfectly.

Regarding Amy going all out, well... That was kind of the plan. Although Katherine couldn't help but be a bit worried. She had never witnessed first hand Amelie's full power. Who knew what the French beauty was capable of.

However, it seemed to lay on Katherine the decision of whether they should try to enjoy their beach day to the best of their extent right now or after the combat. While she pondered about this, the curly haired girl folded her arms and frowned once again.

With a sigh, Katherine started untying the knot that she had tightly tied around her waist, letting her pink shirt loose to then slide it above her chest. She kicked off her sandals and her white shorts also fell to leave way to a red bikini. Actually, one of the ones Amelie (and a certain clam) had picked for her for the date that had taken place yesterday yesterday!

"I don't wanna risk anyone being unable to enjoy their beach day after the combat, so..." A smile had appeared on her face, while she held her hair with her right hand to avoid the wind blowing it away. "... Let's have some fun right now!"

What!? She was really trying here!

This actually seemed like a perfect part of the beach to get into the water and have some fun. Had anyone in the group brought any interesting item for them to play once they were inside the water, or were they just going to relax and float their worries away? Both sounded nice! Once everyone was ready and considering the sun was not shining too brightly for them to need any sunscreen, Katherine wouldn't hesitate in getting right into the water with her friends.

    It seemed like there was no way around changing Katherine's mind regarding this situation. Or Akemi's, for that matter; guess that was fine; having the conviction to follow through with a plan like that was something she could appreciate. The two had true conviction regarding the path to follow, despite its apparent lack of depth. Who was she to object, at the end of the day?

    Sides, she couldn't quite place why, but she has been itching to fight for a time. Going back and forth between political and administrative duties could get dull really fast. Nothing like a friendly spar to get her blood pumping. Or maybe just some time in the sea; yeah, that was good as well. And a lot less violent, she reckoned. "I'll put my trust in your judgment. Not like there's any point on defying it, all things considered."

    With that taken care of, the brunette was free to focus on Asher, a coy smirk already on her lips. "Up to you. Not expecting anything in particular, just for you to think about a way to fix it. Mustn't be too hard to please your girlfriend, right? Especially when you have that much freedom regarding the request! I think I'm pretty good at adapting."

    Good thing that Katherine had taken the lead at undressing, and it seemed like there was a small surprise in store for the other two girls. The smile on Amy's lips widened as soon as she recognized the garment And Akemi's beet red face, of course. "Y'know, Curls, I kinda like your swimsuit. I feel like somebody with pretty good taste must've chosen it."

    Of course, Akemi wouldn't wait a lot before doing the same. Seemed like a trend was in place! "Same thing with yours, Akemi. Don't they make quite the cute couple, Asher? I think I could even get them to the front page of a fashion magazine."

    Amelie herself didn't have to get rid of a lot to don her own swimsuit; the sarong was folded and neatly stored inside her Infini-Store™, but her hand lingered inside the dodecahedron, almost as if she were rummaging for something inside. Something that became obvious as the group was approaching the shore. "Remember when I told you we weren't going to fight before entering the later?" Her expression was the very picture of fake innocent at the moment. "Well, I lied."

    Unceremoniously, a literal arsenal of water guns was dumped on the sand in front of her. It all seemed pretty ridiculous, but that seemed to be the case more often than not when it came to Infini-Stores™. Without missing a beat, the brunette picked up what veritably looked like the water gun version of a gatling gun and began to unleash its destructive firewaterpower on anyone and everyone in the weapon's range of fire, which... pretty much covered the other three humans.

    There would be no survivors.

Even before the water fight started, Katherine was already under attack from all flanks!

First of all, Akemi's comment. Was it something inherently bad? Of course it wasn't! Actually, the fact it made Katherine feel so good was what represented a threat by itself. The Spaniard couldn't help but show a flirty smile, her eyes shifting towards her friend, even if blushing madly. That comment felt... very good. But it was not the time nor the place!

It would be the second attack coming her way what would cause her to go back to reality town. "It was a nice choice, thank you. I..." Wait, what did she say? "C-Couple? Like... what kind of couple?" What was Amy talking about!? What type of relationship did the blue-eyed think her two friends had now? It was a bit worrying.

Just like the second one, a third attack came her way. It was Asher, with a comment pretty similar to the one issued by his actual girlfriend. "Y-You too, Callum? What are you talking about?" How red could a Spaniard's face get? She was probably breaking the record.

Once she had started running towards the water and felt like everything was over, the fourth and last attack made its appearance: water guns.

Katherine's eyes widened, to then turn sharp as razors. As if everything happened in slow motion, she turned her head to see the guns falling from the Infini-Store and on the sand. After their initial sprint, at least 50 ft. separated her and Akemi from the recently displayed arsenal. She needed to make her way to one of those to pick a weapon, without Amy absolutely ending her in the attempt.

Luckily, Asher existed. Even if Amy's shots were still coming their way, the attack of the Frenchwoman's boyfriend could seriously compromise her aiming. This distraction represented a chance.

In her head, Katherine looked like one of these characters that used to appear in the shows Jazz liked to watch, moving incredibly fast from one side of the other to dodge the incoming attack of her enemy. In reality? She was thrashing around the shoreline, moving with less grace than a drunken cat. But... it worked! ... Kind of? Thanks to Callum's help, she would be able to dodge most of Amelie's shots, eventually reaching the stash of water guns.

Two of them. One flew immediately in Akemi's direction. Katherine didn't even have time to carefully select that so, what kind of gun could it be?

Regarding the green-eyed teenager herself, she wrapped her arms around her own piece of water infantry and ran as fast as she can, away from Amelie. Once she had gotten some distance, she turned and held her gun up high. It was likely that, now that she was armed, the number of enemies she had to face had increased.

What had she armed herself with? A water sniper rifle, lock and loaded. The rate of fire was probably not the best, but the water 'bullets' traveled long enough for her to hit everyone from a distance they simply could not reach with any other weapon. Immediately, she pulled that trigger... and didn't let go of it.

---

It had been a while since they left the group of digimon to build that castle. How were they faring off?

"We need our heavy artillery, Queen Anzu! Evil Wizard Nei's troops are getting closer! We can't let him have the mystical egg!"

... What?

A brief description of the scenery could help anyone understand Jazz's words a bit better.

There was a sandcastle. It was huge. At the highest platform of it, Anzu was sitting on a chair made of... well, sand. Did she have a sand crown? Okay, so she was the queen. Next to her, in a sand pedestal, the treasure of the family: the egg. Yes, Amelie and Asher's child.

Outside, an army of transparent Tapirmons, who seemed to be made of some kind of mist, was scattered throughout the front of the castle. They were around 10 or 15, trying to destroy the outside wall of the structure. At their head, Nei, who was apparently the evil wizard in this story. How much effort was he putting into playing his evil character?

"If Nei absorbs all of his soldiers and grows in size, we will need Bastian, the giant robot, to stop him! You have to call for him, Queen Anzu!"