Breakup [Digimental Hunt]

    Frankly, Maia wasn't sure how this was all playing out so well. She certainly wasn't an actress by any means, and was just kind of rolling with everything that was being said! Not that there was much choice, really, unless she wanted to risk fighting this thing. But, honestly? He seemed kind of...

    Well. Pitiful, for a MetalGreymon.

    Should she feel bad for the dinosaur?

    "Rabbit?" she repeated, slowly, while tapping her index finger to her cheek. Maia, herself, did not like the idea of eating a bunny! "Well," she hummed, pensively.

    Pulling the door open, Kuu let out a breath of relief. Glancing between the hatch and the dinosaur, Kuu gave a small cringe. Rabbit? Yellow eyes peered down at the creature that had caught his attention within the trap. Oh. Rabbit!

    Was this supposed to be dinner? Maia wasn't going to eat this at all!

    But, before the Kudamon or his tamer could react in any way, it looked like the dinosaur was planning on going to collect the dinner! And then? Had second thoughts! Which was a grand relief for Kuu and the bunny that he was trying to rescue! Much less of a relief for a... wifey?

    Oh god, it managed to get worse.

    And, there was the break. Maia audibly sputtered, immediately covering her mouth. She just couldn't handle 'hubby!' This was worse than the assets! She hadn't kissed anyone in... forever! This wasn't going be the first one since then! "I-I'm sorry! I think I've been sick," she explained, while leaning away from the tongue. Oh, do not touch her. Do not touch her. "I don't want you to catch anything."

    Could Digimon catch colds? MetalGreymon seemed like he might be dumb enough to buy it.

    Meanwhile, Kuu leaned into the hatch, only for the bunny inside to lift up a strange item for him to grab. "Can you lend a paw? I can't hop out if I need to carry this," the Digimon requested, hushed. Which, doing the best a two-legged Kudamon could, he complied!

    "Wait," the rookie commented, rather bluntly. Covert operation, out the window. "This a digimental?"

    "Heck if I know! It's science, and I don't have science tools down there!" the rabbit informed, now pulling herself out by her big, Terriermon-certified ears. "But, it's important! It has to be!" At least, despite her determination, the lab-coat donned bunny was still keeping quiet!

    Not that it probably mattered too much, when Kuu hadn't been.

    But hopefully, either from his talking, or Maia's sudden 'cold,' she could avoid whatever affection this dinosaur had stored up for her!

    Egg? Maia couldn't help but get the feeling that this situation was getting worse by the second. What type of egg was the bunny carrying? Was it a baby? Was this EasterBunnymon, and MetalGreymon was just going to ruin Easter for millions of digi-children? Honestly, Mai wasn't too interested in finding out. Nor was she interested in eating anything with this lizard, anyway!

    But, even Mai would rather eat talking rabbits, than deal with what was about to happen next. It took a lot of self-control not to gag at the smell on the lizard's breath as he got closer. Why did this have to happen to her, of all people? She had really just wanted a relaxing day of not seeing busty figures of herself, and not being harassed by a delusional monster about being married! Was that so much to ask?

    While Maia was dealing with what would surely be yet another traumatizing event for her [non-existent] auto-biography, Kuu was busy with his own, much less traumatizing, events! While the jacket-wearing Terriermon assessed the situation, Kuu took a better look at the digimental that he was holding onto. And, sure enough? A very familiar symbol was on it! "I think this is ours!" Kuu announced to the Terriermon, with excitement.

    "Uh, no," she stated, bluntly, "I found it. It's science. It belongs to science!" Even Kuu had to question this logic. How did a specific 'mon finding an item automatically classify it as 'science'? Now probably wasn't the time for that. Especially when the fox looked up to see a certain dragon-breath Digimon leaning way too close to his tamer. Scrunching his nose, the rookie watched in disgust. Dear God, he could smell the breath from here! Maia was going to smell so bad.

    Granted, Kuu had a pretty sensitive nose. It seemed his new Terrier-buddy was completely oblivious to the stench, and was instead looking between the digimental and the staircase. "We should go while he's distracted!" She insisted, swiping the digimental from the Kudamon's stubby legs, and scurrying toward the stairs. Which left Kuu little choice but to begin following her! Who knew where the bunny would go, and take something that he wanted? He wasn't going to risk it!

    But, he did pause to check on his tamer long enough that he could bear witness to a sight that should never be seen again!

    There were several reasons why Maia was doomed from the start. One being? She really wasn't that fast. Another reason? She was small and wasn't going to be able to dodge an entire MetalGreymon tongue! Third? She didn't want to obviously dodge affection, and then get squished by a heartbroken MetalGreymon. Which meant...

    Yes. He successfully licked her. Taking a deep breath before the saliva could hit her face, she continued to refuse breathing for as long as physically possible! And, hoped she could resist whatever her gag reflex wanted to do in response of all of this! Lucky for Kuu, as he was not involved in any of this, he could shudder for his poor tamer. That was so gross.

    So, so gross. Why couldn't it have been GiantSaintBernardmon? At least that would probably be a cute Digimon! Maia loved dogs! Big lizards with wings? Not nearly as much! So, was it really that surprising that, when MetalGreymon offered her a lift, that she didn't take it? While the blonde managed to keep quite the poker face, despite extremely recent trauma, she didn't budge! Catching a glimpse of her partner making wide gestures so that she could see that he was planning on following the bunny up the stairs, she came up with a new plan.

    Kuu disappeared from sight, though surely wouldn't have gone far enough to leave Maia in any real danger with a dragon. He was probably just far enough out of view that if MetalGreymon looked, he wouldn't be spotted! Hopefully, at least.

    With that, the damp tamer pressed her lips together. Everything was gross. Everything was so, so gross. "I was actually thinking that I'd like to go outside," she answered after a few more seconds. "This is just a lot to," to what? Not vomit from? "handle. Seeing you here." And smelling you here. Just the little things, really. Or obnoxiously large things! The sort of thing that nobody could really look past in a relationship. Or lack-thereof. "How about, you prepare the rabbit while I get some fresh air? And then we can talk?"

    Seemed like a valid enough suggestion, right? It would be hard not to notice that the blonde had already taken a side-step toward the staircase. "I just really need a few seconds. I won't be long." Please buy the lie. Maia wasn't sure how much more she could handle with this! Was it too late to just go with killing the lizard? After being licked by him, she was really starting to debate it! Heavily!

    For someone covered in drool, it was rather hard to notice someone else's happiness. Or, perhaps, it was that she didn't want to notice the happiness. Because this was really an unpleasant experience on several levels! Clearly not for this lizard, but to her? She'd rather never have to deal with this sort of thing again!

    At least, after her need of a shower, and the MetalGreymon's jubilance, the girl was going to get to go outside. Anything to smell something other than lizard-breath. Admittedly, she was far less interested in being carried! But, it was happening anyway! There was a debate on fighting it, but the blonde easily established that it probably wasn't in her best interest to do so. So much for sneaking away while he wasn't looking, or something!

    Once Kuu established that his tamer was not about to be utterly crushed, he opted to scurry after Ela. It wasn't like he could do too much right now, anyway.

    As Maia avoided being crushed by any emotional responses that her fake-husband might have, she remained silent for a moment after his newest inquiry. "It's really a blur," she admitted, slowly. The blonde wasn't much of a talkative type in situations that she found unpleasant, was she? Some people, or some Kudamons would ramble up a storm! But instead, she paused heavily between sentences. "It has been a while." How long? Infinitely. She didn't know this dinosaur! But, in a way, he felt familiar. And not necessarily in a good way. Maybe, it was just how much he was pushing his affection upon her! "How long do you think it's been?" Could she get a better understanding? Did she want to try to understand much of anything, considering they were a little higher up than she preferred, and the tamer was particularly unhappy with the concept of falling from such a height?

    There probably wasn't much point in worrying about falling right now. It wasn't like she could control it much, if she did!

    But unlike her 'partner' in this flight, the girl wanted to look anywhere except at him. Which made it painfully obvious when eyes fell onto the approaching figures. Was she supposed to know who they were? Or, were they just more troublemakers, like earlier? Frankly, if it got her away from this flying dinosaur easier, she'd welcome either option! But, for now, she'd silently lift a figure to gesture to them.

    Surely, the monster was talkative enough that if she should know them, he'd say something! And if not? He would probably still say something. At least, if she was lucky. She didn't necessarily want the MetalGreymon realizing she wasn't who he thought she was, this high in the air!

    "I hope they do, too," the teen stated, rather honestly. There really were some problems with her memory, after all! For what seemed to be a variety of reasons, at this point. But, at least she could be genuine about one statement. As soon as MetalGreymon had finished answering her next question, she uttered, "why didn't you look harder for me?" A question that could have sounded rather pitiful, instead drenched in agitation.

    If 'she' was so important to someone, why would they stop looking for her? It didn't make sense. And, frankly, for someone claiming to love her after such a long time of giving up? Maybe Maia had a poor idea of how love worked. Surely, she did. But, it was baffling how someone could claim love, when they didn't continue to try. It almost seemed more like an obsession. A lazy one, at that.

    Luckily (for the Greymon, mostly), their conversation wouldn't have much time to continue. Kuu and Ela had scurried across the city, trying to keep an eye on the situation from a safe distance. "That's your human, right?" the bunny confirmed, gesturing toward the lizard that was clearly carrying someone.

    "Yup," Kuu confirmed, unsure whether to focus on the digimental-hoarding Terriermon, or on his tamer. "She looks pretty stressed! You know what would make her less stressed? That digiment-ermal that's totally ours." Who needed to pronounce things properly, anyway? From the expression on the rabbit's face, despite her using her ears to hug her piece of 'science' to her closely, she was actually mulling this 'argument' over!

    Probably because this wasn't really an ideal situation for most people involved! And, Ela kind of owed them one, considering otherwise, she'd still be trapped under a napping Greymon! Also, she would probably need a ride off this island from someone in the end, and she certainly wasn't asking the lizard that thought she was food!

    And, the situation was pretty tense, after all! Maia listened to the 'new' company's chatter, growing less and less interested with every syllable. But, before she could answer, she heard the beep of her D-Terminal. Of course. Everyone wanted her attention right now, didn't they? Taking a deep breath, the girl held up her index finger, with a 'one moment' gesture at the already-agitated fallen angels, before pulling her D-Terminal out of her pocket.

    Great priorities, really.

From: Lycoris
To: AmyST
Subject: RE: Is everything alright?

Could be better. Took a detour, and hit a snag. I'll update you soon.

    Why would anyone think responding to a message like that was more important than what was going on around them? Luckily, it would have only taken a moment to type, but surely, it wasn't going to give off the best impression to anyone present! "I didn't 'mess' anyone up," she commented, firmly, while putting the D-Terminal away. Keeping her eyes on the devil-women, the blonde shifted a bit in MetalGreymon's hand. After a moment, she adjusted her footing to safely hop down from the hand, only patting it lightly upon touching the ground, to keep her balance. And as soon as she was safe from tripping over her own feet? She was completely done with physical contact with the lizard.

    Either way, the tamer supposed that she needed to acknowledge that the gunner-demon apparently wanted some sort of compensation from her! "I'm not really sure what you expect me to do, though."

    "Right," Mai commented, clearly convinced of the supposed-lover's drive to find 'her.' Honestly? It was probably for the best that nuisances would arrive to interrupt their important discussion. Nothing good could have come from it, after all! Not that anything good would come from this either.

    Was the tamer supposed to actually take any of this seriously, though? Probably. But, it was all starting to look more and more like a joke to her! Loves, claiming to have searched to the end of the earth, but being found taking naps on hidden islands. BeelStarrmon and her lackeys, and not only being called an insolent brat, but told that she'd regret her choices. Yeah, this was some shitty television series, or something, wasn't it? There was no way that this was real life.

    Except, it was, wasn't it?

    This was real, and almost hilariously bad. And Maia was stuck to deal with it. How did these sorts of things always happen to her?

    To make the joke even worse, it seemed like the teen was actually potentially in danger. With Kuu having made a point to stay out of sight, even when he bolted forward to try to get closer to his tamer, there was a very clear risk that bullets would be faster than the pipefox! Leaving Ela and the digimental standing in the distance, the rookie decided that there were certain priorities that he had to tend to that would trump new evolutions!

    For some reason? All of this was triggering a very specific memory for the digimon! One where he had been too late, and someone had actually gotten hurt! Or, was hurt the right word? It had changed people, in ways that nobody was happy with, for sure. And, had caused a spiral for his tamer's mental state for far too long. Was he at fault for everything then?

    Would he be now?

    This time, the 'protector' of his human hadn't thrown themselves into direct danger, at the very least. And had successfully shielded Maia. So far, more successful than the predecessor, but Kuu wasn't particularly willing to put his trust in someone else taking care of his tamer. Especially one that was so possessive sounding. Mai was his, darn it! He wasn't sharing! And definitely not with someone who smelled, and--

    Oh. Suddenly, he realized why this dragon-turned-man seemed so familiar.

    Maia stood, biting her thumbnail, while under the protection of the Gaiomon. That was definitely a closer call than she'd prefer, but it had all worked out alright! Hadn't it? Except, maybe she was arriving to the same realization as her partner. The new digivolution even looked a little similar to a form she had caught a glimpse of once before. But, this wasn't the same being. That surely couldn't be possible. Was the voice similar, in a way? The words, definitely.

    Luckily, the size and shape of the rookie would make it easy for him to arrive to his tamer without much obstruction, so that he could drop onto her shoulder. Did she seem like she was debating on if this was crisis-worthy? It kind of looked liked it!

    After feeling the fox land, Maia had at least established enough to pull her D-Terminal out again, to look at her message. Fingers lingered over the keys, but hesitated. Did she really need backup? Maybe she should wait. Kuu was plenty 'backup' after all.

    "Do you always talk like a villain in a B-Rated movie?"

    It seemed that Maia wasn't here to make friends. Labcoat-wearing-bunnies excluded, at least. The girl put her D-Terminal away again, apparently deeming it unnecessary at the moment. Now, her attention shifted to her 'husband.' "And, thank you but," giving a small pat at the defensive Gaiomon, Maia took a step further from him. "I don't need you to protect me from now on, alright?"

    Maybe, the 'protective spouse' act had gotten old. Rather, it had definitely gotten old. Data flickered around the tamer and partner, before light would wrap and warp, to display a replacement by the Miko Mode. "I showed mercy to some of your friends before," the Sakuyamon started, "if you fight now, we will not."

    But, the offering of survival would still be there. Annoyances aside, the biomerge wasn't heartless. "There's nothing to gain here." Aside from pride, perhaps. Was that enough motivation for a crappy villain? More than likely. "Is it worth it?"

    Was there a sense of pride, in the ability to halt a fight just by appearing? Maybe. In a way, it felt a little empty. Was it awe that stopped them, or was the Beelstarrmon really just a bully, afraid of those that potentially (definitely) were more powerful? Either way, the biomerge had to admit that it did work in their favor, even if it was a shallow way of winning.

    Nobody really listened to anyone when they weren't strong, did they? Not Lady Beelstarrmon. Not even Gaiomon, who had ignored Maia's request entirely.

    It seemed that a new enemy may have been made, through such power, though. Unlikely one that the duo would honestly ever have to worry about. "I'm sure," they commented, as the devilwomen and their 'boss' were quick to take their leave. Maybe, she should have gotten rid of them while the opportunity had been present. It might have saved her some hassle later on!

    And, once the more recent issue was resolved, with the agitated women, that only left one more thing. Or, two really.

    But, one of those was to be resolved rather quickly! A certain, totally unforgotten bunny, scurried over, using her ears to hoist up the digimental that she'd been taking such good care of. "I guess, if you're one of those guys, this probably is yours, huh?" Even something like potential science wouldn't blind the Terriermon Joshu from knowing that this item definitely was not hers for the keeping! Maybe, she had just been meant to be a messenger, and a caretaker for the item, until it found the right hands!

    Which were undeniably belonging to the tamer and partner. As soon as the Miko Mode reached to take the item, there was another glow, and they had separated, with Kuu taking on a new form -- Nefertimon. The winged sphynx-like Digimon was rather convenient, considering they'd be needing a good way to get off the island!

    "Uh," the rabbit drew out a confused sound, "don't the digimental-evolutions usually get some sort of catchphrase, or something?"

    "Yeah, but Mai doesn't let me have one," Kuu commented, while giving a dramatic huff. Of course she wouldn't. She never let him do anything fun!

    Oh well.

    "Mind if I come with you guys?" For how long? Ela would leave unspecified. "I can't do the flying thing, you know," she commented, while trying to flap her arms behind her in an attempt to imitate wings. It was probably best that Terriermons had limited flight! "Least, not enough to leave here!"

    Once permission was received by a nodding Nefertimon, the bunny bounced up and onto the armor ultimate's back. And soon enough, Maia was already moving over to climb onto the cat-monster's back, behind the Terriermon. "I'm not her," the blonde finally answered, once stable on Kuu's back. This was the last issue to resolve, wasn't it? "Honestly, I'm not even sure who you were looking for."

    "But you should totally brush your teeth before seeing her, if you find her!" Kuu insisted, chipper as ever. Oh god. He didn't need to remind anyone of the 'kiss.' Except, he totally did. It was just part of who he was!

    Pressing her lips together, the tamer 'patted' the digimon on his back, the sound of which, audibly thudded for anyone nearby to hear. "I'm just a person," Maia answered, giving a shrug, and making a point to ignore her partner's previous comment. "But," was it smart to be giving any advice? It was almost hypocritical, wasn't it? "I think it's been long enough that you need to move on from her." Blunt? Yes. Was time the only reason she felt this? No. But, it was probably the nicest one.

    "If it's been a long time, have you thought 'bout the chance that humans do the reincarnation too, and--"

    "Don't even," the girl uttered, digging a heel into Nefertimon's side. Bad time for jokes, or any sort of theory like that! Maia was beyond done with this place, this concept, and the ideas of romance with a clingy lizard!

    Or the idea of romance with a lizard, at all. Yikes forever!

    "Look," Ela broke the tension, "I love the moment we're all having. It's great! It gives me warm fuzzies. But, do you know what else gives me warm fuzzies? Science. And I can't do science here. Can we go someplace else now?"

    "Please."

    At least, these two could agree upon something.

    A loud scoff emitted from Kuu, who apparently didn't want to agree. But, he knew he had to! He was really pushing his luck with his tamer, after all! "Well, we gotta go now, then! Good luck on all the stuff, Mr. DragonLizardMan!"

    With that, Kuu took off, back toward the mainland. And, for some reason or another (Kuu's being that he couldn't be trusted to take his eyes off of the direction he was flying), none of them decided to look back.

[Exit]