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Digi-Doppelgangers II: Electric Boogaloo [Jen]
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Post by Akemi & Anzu on May 16, 2019 4:34:13 GMT
If there was one thing Akemi learned about the river portal, it's that not only did it smell bad, but getting sucked into it actually hurt. A lot. Then again, going through a portal and trash tended to be mildly unpleasant. What occurred next was quite unexpected for her. While Akemi knew that the Shibuya River portal took you to any random place in the Digital World, she wasn't aware that the destination in question could also be the Dark Area. So, she and Anzu (and Jen and Cheeto, hopefully?) were spat out onto the dreary and dusty pavement of the Dark Area, the black and red sky bearing down on them. This was a part of the Dark Area that she hadn't been to before, either. A village, a shoddy looking one that seemed to be held together by junk. "What the..." Akemi groaned as she sat up, Anzu quickly bolting up! "That was awesome! And look, we're even home!" This wasn't home. And there were a variety of Digimon just...staring at them. Looking at them warily. They did just come out of a portal, after all... Jen & Cheeto |
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on May 16, 2019 17:29:26 GMT
As the portal yanked at Jen’s skin, any coherent thoughts were replaced with “AAAAA” and “IT HURTS”. Sure, it stank, but that was easy to ignore in the face of all the pain.
Soon, the “pulling” pain was replaced with a “just fell on something” pain. And that was indeed what had happened.
Tears poked at the corner of her eyes. But, resolving not to cry, she took a deep breath and looked around. It didn’t take long to find Anzu and Akemi. “Is everyone okay?” She gasped. “Ohmigod, Cheeto!”
“Oww…” Cheeto was right behind her, flapping his wings. He’d thought fast enough to avoid the impact.
Jen sat up straighter and examined him. “Are you alright?” It looked like there were no visible wounds, so that was good, at least.
“I don’t wanna do that again.” But Cheeto shook himself like a dog and perked up. “Ooh! Where are we?”
“If you don’t know, there’s no way I would.” But what Anzu said was a good sign she or Akemi might. “Oh! Do you…” There sure were a lot of pairs of eyes. Watching. “...live...here?”
Cheeto was not so fazed. “New friends? They look funny.” He paused. “But that’s okay! Hi! I’m Cheeto!”
“I don’t think it’s polite to comment on people’s appearance…”
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Post by Akemi & Anzu on May 18, 2019 4:56:50 GMT
Anzu scurried over to check on her orange doppelganger the moment his name was called. "It's alright, I don't wanna do that either. Smells like butts." She nodded, sagely. Akemi dragged herself to her feet and began to dust herself off, before taking note of the eyes all watching them.
Digimon. A lot of them strange looking, and the kind you don't really see in Terminus. A Dracmon, a Goburimon, even some incredibly ugly pink roach thing were among the litany of rookies staring the group down. The Dracmon stared at Cheeto. Well, more accurately, it pointed its hands at him.
"Yeah, I look funny and you look fat. Who the heck are you bozos?"
Anzu took some sliiight offense to that. "Who the heck are you calling a bozo, bozo?"
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on May 20, 2019 21:22:39 GMT
“Lots of butts!” Cheeto agreed.
At this point, Jen hadn’t met a lot of Digimon. So while the bunch that faced them now were a bit off-putting, she had no idea they were in any way unusual. But still, something told her she should stay on her toes. This round headed guy and the others clearly didn’t trust them, and she didn’t know what they were capable of.
“I said already! I’m Cheeto,” said Cheeto, who had never learned that “fat” was supposed to be an insult. He extended a wing towards the Dracmon, mirroring it.
Jen figured she needed to say something before the situation grew into a fight. “It’s okay!” she said, hands in the air. “We’re just visitors. We don’t mean you any harm!” Well, she and Cheeto didn’t. Hopefully the same could be said of their companions. “Came here completely by accident. And you’ll have to excuse Cheeto. He’s...a very small child.”
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Post by Akemi & Anzu on May 26, 2019 8:33:47 GMT
"YEAH." Anzu -immediately agreed- right back with Cheeto. Though, she took offense at the Dracmon calling her friend fat. "Hey, he's not fat! Patamon are just naturally round!" This, of course, elicited a snort from the Dracmon. And the Goburimon. And the goddamn ugly roach thing.
Speaking of the roach, the Arkadimon (yes, that was an Arkadimon) finally spoke up. It was startlingly baritone for such a wretched beast. In fact, it sounded like a well-educated aristocrat rather than whatever heinous tone one might expect from an Arkadimon at the rookie level. "Children don't do well around here. I assume you came from a portal in the other world, then?" It chittered.
"Ugh, that explains a lot if that's true..." Dracmon murmured. Akemi then chose that moment to pipe up. "She's telling the truth, we had no control over our coming here. And we do indeed mean no harm."
"...Well." Arkadimon began. "We don't really have any jurisdiction as to what to do with you. Atop that, you've not done anything wrong...Tell me, how much do you know of this place?" And at that moment, both Akemi and Anzu remembered that Jen had asked if they lived here.
"We...uh. Know enough to get around. Anzu lived here in a past life of hers. She still does, kind of...?" This was...proving to be Akemi's figurative undoing.
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on May 30, 2019 1:26:16 GMT
Cheeto laughed along with the crowd of Digimon. “Like a bouncy ball!” he added, jumping in the air to demonstrate.
Children didn’t do well around here, did they? It made sense, considering their surroundings, but Jen couldn’t help but let out a nervous gasp. At the pink Digimon’s question of whether they came through the portal, she opened her mouth to say yes, but couldn’t get it out in time before the round headed one spoke.
“Past life?” Oh! She had asked Akemi and Anzu if they lived here, hadn’t she? But Akemi seemed...uneasy. “You don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want. I just wanted to know if you knew any more about the place than I did.” She turned to the group of Digimon. “Yeah, I’m...completely new to all of this. Cheeto, have you been here before?”
Cheeto looked up at the red sky, brow furrowed in thought. She’d take that as a no.
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Post by Akemi & Anzu on Jun 11, 2019 7:00:58 GMT
The Arkadimon and the Dracmon leveled a stare at Anzu and Cheeto. "Yeah, I bet you bounce." The Dracmon muttered, in...slight exasperation. Seriously, why was it always kids? He turned to the Arkadimon, and they had a quiet conversation while Jen questioned the Tsukaimon and her tamer.
"Basically, Anzu's lived and died before. Much of my knowledge of this place...comes from her. She used to be something fierce here, too." Akemi explained as best as she could. Anzu meanwhile nodded a few times. "Yeah, you know how Australia's got a reputation as that place where everything wants to kill you? The Dark Area's basically that. But worse. It's essentially the trash can of the Digital World, and anything that comes from here often doesn't have a nice story behind it, be it good or evil." She said, before looking up at the red sky as well.
"...It's not all bad, though. Some of the Digimon here are stalwart. Forged through trials and tribulations to be able to survive just about anything. They protect the weak where they can. I guess I used to be one of those, though it was more taking the weak in and training them to be strong. But, enough about that. Think those guys know where the nearest Trailmon to get back to Terminus would be?"
Anzu gestured towards the Arkadimon and Dracmon. They were -still- conversing.
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on Jun 22, 2019 17:52:06 GMT
“Reincarnation?” Jen said once Akemi and Anzu’s explanation was done. “Digimon can do that?” She took a moment to consider the rest of the explanation. “Oh, I see. Sounds really...tragic.” She had heard plenty of stories of Australia, with its aggressive kangaroos and giant spiders. Not unlike the giant spider that was over there…
There was indeed an Arukenimon towards the back of the crowd. But Jen’s attention was quickly diverted from her.
“At least there’s some hope, then,” she said. “But this probably isn’t a good environment for Cheeto. Let’s get—“
“The nearest Trailmon, you say?” The Arukenimon pushed through a few of the others to reach the front, near the Arkadimon and Dracmon. Two of her razor sharp legs were various hunks of metal cobbled together to form leg-like shapes. “Yes, when is that low-life coming back? I have a grievance I need to air.” With this, she flashed a sharp fanged grin.
“Green mints?” Cheeto said, still bouncing.
“He’s been a big meanie.” If that locomotive did happen to be around for a confrontation, Arukenimon wouldn’t mind taking along witnesses.
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Post by Akemi & Anzu on Jun 25, 2019 7:17:24 GMT
"...Basically, they get recycled and reborn when they die. It's something I don't think we should be talking about, really." Anzu noted before she turned her attention to the Arukenimon. Of course, this meant that she didn't notice the Arkadimon and the Dracmon finish their conversation and walk back over to them.
"So, after some deliberatin-...Oh, sweet Lilithmon, we're talking about -that- guy, aren't we." The Dracmon said as he pointed the palms of his hands towards Arukenimon. "Did you file a complaint against that Trailmon yet?"
Anzu and Akemi were both confused. "I...Uh. I don't follow." Akemi admitted. "What's wrong with this particular Trailmon...?"
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on Jul 3, 2019 22:59:45 GMT
“I understand,” Jen said. “Death’s a heavy subject.”
Soon, her eyes were on Dracmon and the others. “That” guy? This didn’t sound good.
“Oh, I filed a complaint weeks ago,” Arukenimon replied to the Dracmon. “I filled out every form. But of course, those Board of Digital Transportation bigwigs don’t care about complaints from the Dark Area. I haven’t heard a peep since that automated reply.”
She tilted her head and arms down toward Akemi. “What’s wrong with him is that he can’t be bothered to do his job. Disregard for the train schedule, making his passengers pay outrageous fares, and outright endangerment. Do you see this leg?” She lifted up one of her metallic legs. ”I had to build it myself after that piece of junk closed his door on it. And I was on the outside. He dragged me along for twenty minutes before it finally tore off, and then I had to swim back to shore.”
“So as you see, I feel it necessary to ‘file’ my complaint in person.” She flashed the grin again. “You may follow me, if you’d like.”
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Post by Akemi & Anzu on Jul 6, 2019 23:13:53 GMT
"Tis a road I've walked many times, but...I'd rather not make things sad for the kid." Anzu said, quite plainly, before she and Akemi's attention returned to Dracmon and Arukenimon. What the actual hell was up with -this- Trailmon in particular? Akemi knew they could be pretty eccentric at times but...
"What the actual hell?" Anzu piped up. "How the hell was that guy even hired if he's that much of a lazy piece of scrap metal?" She was honestly confounded on this subject. Weren't the people responsible for the trains supposed to be good at picking who gets assigned where?
"What stop, though?" Dracmon asked. There were a few Trailmon stops dotting the Dark Area, some being close to the village--close , however, meant a fair distance away here considering how desolate the land was.
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on Jul 14, 2019 15:05:24 GMT
“I’ve asked myself the very same thing,” Arukenimon replied to Anzu. “I suppose some Digimon can pretend to be decent.” She side-eyed what appeared to be a Pumpkinmon with the head of a Lalamon, tilted to the side.
“According to the schedule, he’s supposed to come to the closest stop to the village,” she explained. “But he always avoids that one. The track is too bumpy, he says. We should find him at the second closest stop, near the rock that resembles a SkullGreymon head.” She grimaced. “That is, of course, if he decides to show himself.”
The Pump-Lalamon piped up. “Actually, uh, he said he was gonna come back today. Something about a tourism scam?”
“Oh, really?” Arukenimon shot them a glare.
“You think I’d lie to you? After that?”
Jen, assuming this was a private matter, considered Arukenimon’s words. “Are you sure it would be safe if we went with you? I mean, I respect what you’re doing, but it sounds like he could...we could get hurt.”
“Don’t worry. Why confront him at all if not to ensure he’ll never hurt anyone again?”
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Post by Akemi & Anzu on Jul 23, 2019 3:55:34 GMT
"Ethics? In the Digital World? In the Dark Area? How inane." Dracmon suddenly piped up, for the mere purpose of interjecting into Arukenimon and Anzu's conversation. Akemi turned her head to what the spider woman had been side-eyeing. That...was something she had not seen before. A Pumpkinmon/Lalamon hybrid...
That the spider appeared to have history with. "...After what?" Anzu, however, had no concept of privacy. At least in this form. Akemi decided to add on to Jen's statement. "Well, if we went with, you'd have a member of the Deeplane Council accompanying you, if that means anything. Plus, we can settle this matter once and for all."
"Or just throw him to the Trailmon graveyard." Anzu snerked!
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Post by Jen & Cheeto on Aug 1, 2019 1:46:21 GMT
“Please,” Arukenimon said, replying to the Dracmon. “Don’t make me laugh.”
She looked down at Anzu. “Oh, don’t worry about it,” she said with a wave of her hand. “But if they ever offer to locate your long-lost loved one, do not listen to them.”
“HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW HE--”
She elected not to respond to that, instead turning her attention to Akemi. "That would at least make one government official who's paying attention. Perhaps you could put a word in about Trailmon regulations."
“You have a point,” Jen said to Akemi. “Though I don’t think I can be much help in settling this…”
Cheeto, who until that point had been rolling around and playing with small rocks he found, ran back up Jen. “Are we gonna go explore? I wanna see the Trailmon!”
“Well, this Trailmon clearly isn’t very--”
“I wanna go to Terminus!” He flapped his wings so fast he kicked up dirt, a gleam in his big blue eyes.
Jen’s expression softened. “You know what? You’re right. I don’t see how we’ll get out of here otherwise.” She turned to Arukenimon. “I’m ready to go.”
“Excellent.” Arukenimon turned around. “Follow me.”
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Post by Akemi & Anzu on Aug 9, 2019 14:16:48 GMT
This sounded like a very packed subject to have treaded upon, really. "...I won't inquire, then. Good thing I don't HAVE loved ones! Hahaha!" Akemi meanwhile gave the spider woman a nod. "Well, it's not so much the government behind Terminus as the government behind a city under construction, but I'll...see what I can do." It might not be much, but the girl felt as though any bit of help she could give the Dark Area was far more valuable than no help at all.
"Well, even if you can't help--something I don't believe to be the case, there should be something you can take from matters like this, right?" Akemi spoke towards Jen, before turning her attention to Cheeto. "We're gonna see the Trailmon to make him stop being bad." Was that a good way to put it? Probably not, but they both went to follow the Arukenimon wherever she might take them.
Dracmon and Arkadimon both decided to tag along, too. Why? They were bored as heck, one couldn't blame them!
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