Sho Tsuginaga vs. The Sea of Blood [Sho & Yuko]

“The Dark Area, the most wretched place in all of the Digital World. Home to those who were cast away by God, those whose data was horribly and irreversibly corrupted… The Nightmare Soldiers, evil Digimon, whom I once ruled with a silky fist. Its denizens know only of darkness, despair, war and the constant struggle to stay alive in a land where violence is the only law. Behold! The Sea of Blood, where the data of the poor Digimon who couldn’t reconstruct themselves endlessly drift towards oblivion! What a vivid red color! What exquisite music do their screams and moans of everlasting torment make! Isn’t it marvelous? Isn’t it beautiful?”

“No, it isn’t! It kinda makes me sick. And cut down on the dramatic narration, will you?!”

Another day, another odd quest, where Yuko had been dragged by her partner Jokermon into yet another random part of the Digital World. Only this time, instead of ending up in a colorful fantasy landscape, they had boarded a creepy ass, red-eyed Trailmon and literally found themselves in Digi-Hell. Yeah yeah, Jokermon had called it the ‘Dark Area’, but Yuko was both smart enough and Japanese enough to know what Jigoku actually meant.

“Why are we even here?” The delinquent girl asked, while walking along the shore, hugging herself closely as the bloody sea’s haunted atmosphere made her skin crawl and sent shivers through her entire body.
“I have some old friends downtown that I need to visit. Ahhh… It feels good to be back home!” The jester-like Digimon replied, sighing in content, as he took in the macabre scenery much more nonchalantly than his human companion.
“I wish I was back home…” Yuko said in a resigned voice, looking down sadly.

Something was approaching the traveling Tamer and her partner at a rapid pace, making no attempt to hide their presence. Upon noticing, Yuko gasped and immediately clung to Jokermon for protection, since she knew better at this point than to try her luck with wild Digimon. “Shit, something’s coming towards us! Do something!”

The mad clown, in turn, grinned wickedly and willed his ruby-colored scythe to manifest in his hand. “Way ahead of you! Lunatic S- huh?” He prepared to attack, but stopped in confusion, as the creature did an aerial flip over them, landing behind them. It was revealed to be a half-humanoid, half-feline Digimon, dressed in exotic clothes that made no attempt to hide its rather… robust figure.

“A cat-girl Digimon… a cat-girl Digimon! Jokah, what’s it called? And why does it call itself a researcher?” Yuko asked the demonic clown. She clearly still thought that this was a wild Digimon.
Jokermon adjusted his jester’s cap and took one long, hard look at the scantily-clad feline, smiling widely as he thought he recognized them. “Bastemon, you sneaky old cat! What are you doing running around in the Dark Area and calling yourself Sho Tsuginaga? Oh dear, is this a new phase of yours?”

To say that Yuko was surprised when the playful Bastemon switched form before their very eyes would be an understatement. This wasn’t a normal Digivolution, at least not of the kind the newbie Tamer had so far bore witness to. This was something else entirely. “You’re… a human… that can turn into a Digimon?” The multicolor-haired girl muttered, still very much in a state of shock.

Heck, even Jokermon was bewildered by this, his one visible eye blinking twice. “A human Digivolving into a Digimon? Impossible! Unless…” His red lips curved into yet another smile, as he started laughing jovially. “Ohohohoho! Well, I’ll be! Humans have discovered the hidden Spirit Totems and are using them to channel the ancient Digimon’s powers! Who would of thought!”

The young Japanese delinquent hesitantly shook Sho’s hand, before drawing back. “I’m Himura Yuko… and this is Jokah. My partner, I guess.” She said, pointing with her thumb.
“It’s Jokah-sama!” Jokermon corrected his Tamer, willing his frightening scythe to disappear, before tipping his funny hat off to the curious researcher and bowing like a stage actor. “Worry not, Mr. Tsuginaga. The Demon King of the Digital World shan’t harm a young man who thirsts for knowledge. If you want answers, I have them! I’m not called the Clown Prince of the Dark Area for nothing, after all!” The harlequin proudly claimed.

The young researcher was thrilled to hear of Jokermon’s title as ‘Demon King of the Digital World’. A rare occasion, really, in which someone was not annoyed or even miffed by the mad clown’s mad ego. The flamboyant Nightmare Soldier loudly cleared his throat, spread his arms widely and opened his mouth, as if he was about to break into a villainous song.
Before he could sing the first lyric, however, he was crudely cut off by Yuko. “He’s not a real king, he just says he is. Ignore him.”

“Don’t tell him to ignore me! How can you ignore THIS?!” Jokermon protested with an exaggerated pout, while pointing at the phony yellow crown strapped around the base of his jester’s cap. Recomposing himself, he stood upright and addressed Sho’s question. “Anywho. The Sea of Blood… I suppose you could call it a pool for discarded data. Normally Digimon reincarnate back in the Village of Beginnings when they get killed, but sometimes they fail to reconstruct themselves and their leftover data winds up here. Such a tragic fate, is it not?” The self-proclaimed Demon King explained, his red lips curved once again into a wide grin.

“Hold on, can we address the whole humans turning into Digimon thing again?” Yuko interjected, taking a good look at the human boy and thinking back to what he looked like mere moments ago. “That Bastemon was clearly female. Doesn’t it feel… weird to be in her body?” She worriedly asked.

The boy’s explanation of how his questionable transformation into a Digimon worked was a bit winded and esoteric. Most of what Yuko got out of it was that Sho and Bastemon essentially became of one body and soul, which was an explanation she could somewhat buy in this bizarre world where nothing made scientific sense. “Okay, I get that… I guess. But, it doesn’t seem like something you could just get used to. I mean, suddenly having cat ears, claws… and boobs?! That’s a pretty big change. How long have you been doing this?” The delinquent girl asked, trusting Sho’s judgement, but still feeling a bit uneasy over the whole concept.

Jokermon chimed in next, gladly answering more of the young researcher’s questions. “Allow me to explain further. The data might have been corrupted by the Dark Area’s negative influence, destroying any sense of identity and intellect, but it still retains enough sentience to fight for its survival. And if they find a lifeform with a more stable data structure - like say, a curious cat trying to take a dip in the red sea - that’s their one way ticket to get a new body, even if they end up as a hideous abomination, so of course they would latch unto it with everything they’ve got.”

As for Sho’s question about where the Spirit Totems had come from, the flamboyant jester chuckled confidently. “Hm hm hm… It’s a very old tale, but it goes something like this: Long ago, there were legendary warriors who did battle, either for the thrill of it, or to protect the Digital World from villains less handsome than me. When they perished after a life filled with extraordinary feats, their bodies turned into totems. Buuut, they still had plenty of fight left in them, so they slept underground for thousands of years, waiting for someone worthy of awakening their ancient powers.”
Yuko crossed her arms in front of her chest, pondering this explanation. “Ancient powers hidden away to be discovered by someone worthy… So, they’re kinda like Digi-Eggs?”
“Bingo~!” The jester exclaimed, putting his pointer finger up.

Yuko listened to Sho explaining how long he had been using his Spirit Totem, nodding in understanding every now and then. “Woah, I see… That’s almost 8 months. It’s a long time, definitely. You and Bastemon have been through a lot, huh?” Even so, the part of him physically transforming into an entirely different gender was still a bit weird, but it also touched on some pretty sensitive topics that Yuko would rather not question, so she dropped the issue once she had gotten a satisfactory answer.

While the female delinquent contemplated those possibilities, the young researcher was restless and eager to know more about the Sea of Blood and its secrets. “Not to burst your bubble, kid, but unless someone dropped a treasure at the bottom of the ocean by accident, you will find nothing here but pain and misery.” Jokermon gave him the cold, straight facts.

Ah, but that wasn’t fun at all! Like a true trickster, he felt the urge to fill the boy with false hope. “On the other hand, there’s no evidence that someone did NOT drop a treasure at the bottom of the ocean by accident! Maybe you’ll be the first lucky adventurer to find it!” The villainous clown cheered Sho on, pumping his gloved fist in the air to encourage him.

“Riiiiight… Digital time. I totally knew about this!” Yuko nervously claimed, a small bead of sweat appearing on her forehead. “Actually… I’ve only known Jokermon for about a week. Or maybe two weeks? I’m not even sure anymore…” The girl admitted. To think that Sho had experienced a lifetime’s worth of adventures, yet was still only a boy in his teens… Was she gonna end up like him too? On one hand, becoming a badass adventurer over time was an alluring thought, but would she be able to go back to her normal life when all this was over?

The overly ambitious researcher gazed at the Sea of Blood, daydreaming out loud of how he was going to discover all of its secrets. At the same time, he thanked Jokermon for his help, to which the clown bowed once again. “Glad I could be of assistance. If you’re interested in the more esoteric aspects of the Digital World, you could also ask my old pal Wisemon… if you can find him, that is. He knows more things than even I do!”

“That’s good, build a blood-proof submarine or something! Until you do that, can you stay away from the ocean of information that wants to eat you?” Yuko interrupted them, grabbing Sho by the arm and pulling him a few feet away from the shore. “Can’t say I’ve met any other totem users, by the way. I’ve met a few other Digimon Tamers, but that’s it.” She also admitted.