Missing In Action

It was 8:47 PM in Shibuya when that SOS signal was sent. It had also been a month since the mysterious disappearance of Rebecca Story's boyfriend, Tadayoshi Teppei. While before Rebecca was a complete wreck of a person after the disappearance, even reverting back into her old ways before she had met her partners, she was now in an acceptance stage where she could at least function again. In fact, she was beginning to lose interest in him romantically, since Rebecca pretty much gave up hope that he'd be found.

Regardless of all that, tonight she was sitting at her desk in her pajamas, consisting of an oversized white shirt and salmon capris sweatpants, messing around with her D-Terminal while listening to music with her earbuds, Agumon and Gabumon napping on top of her bed. She hummed along with the song as she moved around on the map feature on the D-Terminal, before a signal was sent for a total of three seconds. It looked like it was coming from the area ElDoradimon was in.

And it definitely looked like an SOS signal.

"Guys... hey guys, wake up," The human girl would say as she took off her earbuds, lightly shaking her two sleeping Digimon awake. "A distress call popped up on the D-Terminal, from ElDoradimon. Something could be happening there..."

"*Yaaaawn* And by any chance, do you believe that's where Tadayoshi is, too?" Gabumon sleepily asked.

Rebecca blushed lightly. "I never said that..."

"What would Tada*yaaaaaawn*oshi be doing in ElDoradimon? Doesn't that place have like a big problemwith humans or something?"

"Whatever it is, I think we should check it out."

"Agumon is right, they don't tolerate humans on ElDoradimon. You'll need a disguise."

"...hmmm, I think I have an idea for one..."

---

It was DEFINITELY not easy tracking the big Digimon down, which was surprising enough considering his size, but eventually the trio did find the ginormous Digimon, and headed to the main city on top of his back so they could look around for information about the mysterious SOS alert.

Now, what was the disguise White Wolf ended up going with? Why, it was simple: all she did was dress up like a Sistermon Blanc, she had the face for it after all! (It would save everyone the trouble if we didn't explain HOW she got the costume, let's just go on cartoon logic here, okay? Okay, good, cool.)

"I cannot believe that disguise is working," Gabumon commented as he, his brother and their disguised Tamer walked through the streets of ElDoradimon without any of the residents batting an eye towards White Wolf.

"I'm not complaining, as long as it helps us avoid violent reactions, right? Now come on, let's ask around for information about an SOS signal."

While they were searching around, White Wolf eventually noticed an all-white Lopmon sitting on a bench nearby. Maybe they knew something about it? The Sistermon Blanc-looking human walked up to the small rabbit. "Hi there, could you help us out? We're trying to find some information about a distress signal that was sent somewhere around this area. Do you know anything about that?"

Some time had passed once again since that surreal encounter with the "EmperorDarkdramon" that Faustein had acquired immortality from for his partners and himself. Since then, as per usual, he had gotten back to his usual routine, both in his professional life as a practicing physician-scientist and his work as a mad scientist researcher of all things mysterious. His latest subject of study was a certain titanic digimon known in the various legends of the Digital World only as "ElDoradimon". This was why Faustein had come back for yet another sojourn through the many regions of the Digital World. It was during a rest stop at a local Inn that Faustein noticed his D-Terminal and Digivice beeping intermittently, indicating that the Digi-FM upgrade he had recently installed on them was picking up an SOS signal.

Well now, this is certainly intriguing. An SOS signal of all things? Something tells me this will lead to an entertaining adventure.

Faustein thought as he looked over the map and triangulated the SOS signal, only to end up seeing that it seemed to be emanating from a rather large data signature, one that was far larger than any he had seen thus far.

Could this potentially be the legendary ElDoradimon that has been referenced in various legends? Now my curiosity has been piqued even further.

With that thought in mind, he set about readying himself for the expedition that now loomed ahead. However, at one point, he hit a snag, that being the fact that allegedly, the city atop this giant digimon's back was extremely xenophobic, albeit only towards humans and not digimon.

Now this is a rather troublesome development. What coule be a potential solution to this conundrum?

Faustein mused silently as he pondered a solution that would resolve this issue of his human form. However, it was quite fortuitous for him that the solution practically presented itself moments afterward.

Of course, my brain must not be fully booted up currently, the solution is almost laughably simplistic!. Curses, that makes me feel like a veritable imbecile.

Faustein thought exasperated that he did not realize it sooner, but at least he had the answer he needed now. So, he headed off in search of a Digimon disguise that would be both easy to assemble and impersonate well enough to avoid detection by the citizens of that city. It took him a while, but ultimately, the one he settled upon was that of a Wisemon. There were a few reasons for this particular choice: 1) Wisemon was a human shape digimon, 2)It's form was almost completely covered up by its outer data shell which resembled human clothing, 3) Only its gleaming yellow eyes and perhaps its hands could be seen by any who chose to examine closely, and last but most important, 4) He had recently interacted with one and so he knew its behavior fairly well, atleast well enough to impersonate it. Thus, it was settled and he went ahead and bought the clothing resembling a Wisemon's outer data shell as well as the two orbs, one red and the other yellow, that it seemed to always have with it. These were known as "Space-time Stones", but of course the ones he had bought were fakes, intended for deception. That said, they were holographic projectors of some sort and could depict past events though only pre-recorded ones up to maybe a few weeks back. The assembly and donning of this disguise took him several hours, but eventually he did manage to get it just right. After that, he made sure to practice the mannerisms and speech patterns of the Wisemon from the Great Moving Library till he could imitate them with some reasonable degree of accuracy. Once that was done, he pocketed his digivice and finally set off to track down the SOS signal.

After what seemed like the better part of the day, he finally arrived and caught sight of the "ElDoradimon" whilst there was still a fair distance between them. Therefore, he hid himself behind some large rocks which happened to be near him with the intent to make final preparations for his infiltration.

Perhaps this situation calls for use of my Analog Jammer, and combined with my disguise, it just might help me evade detection and if need be there is also the Anti-Grav Device to help me float momentarily just as a Wisemon would if the situation called for it. Lego can help propel me forward while floating.

Faustein mused as he turned on each of his gadgets in turn and then he was ready to make his move. So he called out "Lego aka his "ShadowToyAgumon" and had it affix itself to his back with its rocket limbs turned outward. Then, he floated up into the air and had Lego push him forward with the thrust from its rocket limbs, thus giving the illusion of flight. Luckily, thanks to this and the fact that his Analog Jammer was active, he did not get stopped by the guards when he entered the city on the ElDoradimon's back. Upon arrival, he floated along and looked about to see whether he could discover any clues which could point him in the direction of the curious SOS signal he was seeking currently. After traveling through, he noticed what looked like a rather familiar white Lopmon and next to it what seemed like a Labramon and a Sistermon Blanc. So he headed over to them and asked them

"Greetings, perhaps you can assist me in the location of a certain target SOS signal? I am currently searchhing for it, but the aboriginals do not seem very friendly or helpful. So, any information which could facilitate my quest would be greatly appreciated, indeed."

As he spoke, Faustein made sure to execute all the typical mannerisms and speech patterns of a standard Wisemon so that he could keep maintaining his disguise for as long as possible.

---

OOC:

Appearance:
-Current Disguise (SEEN OUTWARD):


-True Appearance (CURRENTLY HIDDEN FROM VIEW):

What looked like a Sistermon Blanc with an Agumon and Gabumon and Wisemon but something seemed amiss about the Sistermon Blanc because she smelled human to him. Not that Alucard cared she was human since he had nothing against them either and he wasn't about to announce her true nature to a town of digimon who were xenophobic towards humans. Something about the Wisemon seemed off too as he had a signature that wasn't readable. That and his scent was familiar. 'So we meet again.' the white Lopmon thought. It had been awhile since he encountered him on a Trailmon.

Though he could hear the townsfolk he ignored them for the moment as he decided to answer the group of mostly stranger with his usual cold tone of voice said "I'm afraid I know as much as you do when it comes to the SOS signal. All I know is it came from this town and the locals aren't being all that helpful. That and next time you disguise yourselves you might want to mask your human scents. There are digimon with much better sense of smell compared to myself. Lucky for you, I'm not one of the locals and am only here to help whomever may have sent the SOS signal." 

    Good, the girl knew her stuff about treating good boys as they should. Labramon was very happy with the thorough petting he had gotten, which meant he had enough love energy to track what he supposed was this girl’s former significant other!

    The canine took some moments to acknowledge the new arrivals; a stark-white Lopmon and… a human pretending to be a Wisemon. All in all, it was quite the fancy gathering, even though they probably didn’t have much time for introductions. If one bothered to listen to Dracmon and Dracomon talking to each other, either the two were just uncannily misleading, or something terrible was about to happen.

    And that could only mean one thing! The group had to hurry if they pretended to arrive in time to prevent such an event. Thus, Labramon barked and rushed onward, navigating the crowd with the agility you’d expect from his species.

    Given the conversation, and Labramon’s own instincts, it was fair to assume that the track would become stronger as they approached the main plaza. If that wasn’t the case, however? The dog was confident that his instincts would eventually lead the group towards where Tadayoshi was.

    One question lingered in the air, however. What would the group do once they stumbled into what was the most likely situation? Would a fight break out? Would they be able to set up a distraction and free the captive human? With any luck, the group would be able to come up with a half-decent plan and hopefully not stumble while improvising a rescue.

Labramon's prediction about the scent's track was true - but it wasn't quite the whole truth. 

There was more overhearable chatter on the party's way to the plaza as well as a noticeable increase of both air and foot traffic. Most of it was in the same direction they were going, but a not insignificant portion of it was going any other way. "Do you wanna stay for the last one?"

"Probably not. We all know how it's gonna go."

"I dunno about that. The defense actually convinced me he might not be guilty."

Instead of concrete, brick was what the group transition to walking on as they seemed to approach some tall and impressive monument - or, rather, a tall, flat wooden platform that been set up before it. It was before this stage where the crowd became thickest. While that might have meant more eyes to possibly catch humans in their disguises, the true result ended up being an even higher disinterest in them. The real action was happening on the wooden stage. Featured most prominently was a boy who was almost certainly less good than the one navigating this investigation but also had an air of goodness about him: a grand Caturamon with his two paws up on a podium that seemed a little too small for him. Whatever it was that was happening here, his next unnaturally loud proclamation signaled that it was just wrapping up. "Has the jury reached a verdict?"

Caturamon - and most of the audience that the investigation group had lost themselves in - looked to a bench on his own right side. On it, eight rookie and smaller champion level digimon were assembled to return the canine's gaze. Behind them, six more larger champions and an ultimate - Astamon - stood where they couldn't obstruct the view of the shorter front row. A Gatomon was the one who answered the call. "We have, your honor. On the count of aiding and abetting the destruction of Gesshoku Tower, we find the defendant..."

The Gatomon juror unconsciously pointed out the defendant by looking him in the eyes as she spoke, making it clear that the accused in this apparent trial was a Strabimon who stood center stage. Also far to each stage's side, an Angemon near the jurors and a LadyDevimon out on her own little section. Could these be the prosecution and the defense? The Strabimon's two hands were bound by the wrists by some mystical glowing blue cuffs that were clearly not made of any solid material, yet they convinced the wolf not to attempt an escape.

In any case, most of the group probably had no apparent reason to care about this trial. For starters, if Faust or Alucard had excellent memories, they may have noticed this site was absolutely not the source of the distress signal. That was just a little farther toward Eldradimon's rear (on a constantly moving city, it was sometimes more useful to refer to direction using him as a reference point than cardinal directions). Labramon in particular probably noticed that although his trail led through this location - and was indeed quite reliably strong - this place was not the end of said trail. Maybe their empathetic hearts (for those who had one) might have led them to feel bad for this Strabimon, or their curiosity (for those who had any) just wanted to know how it ended. In any case, they would find out very quickly. "...not guilty."

Only Rebecca, Agumon, or Gabumon could have known that the defendant was absolutely relevant to their mission here: they could have recognized Dakota's signature baggy jeans, and if they didn't maybe they knew him by his face, his expression, or just his relaxed attitude about being pronounced not guilty. This Strabimon, Dakota, was an associate of her missing soon-to-be ex-boyfriend Tadayoshi Teppei and his team. "On the count of felony reckless flying, we find the defendant..."

Oh, maybe he wasn't in the clear just yet. There were more charges to be read after all. "...not guilty." Charges which he had escaped yet again! "On all seventeen counts of felony neglect leading to injury, we find the defendant... not guilty." Each narrowly evaded brush with justice made the Strabimon visibly sigh and relax just a little bit more. "On the count of conspiracy to smuggle a human within our walls, we find the defendant... not guilty." This verdict clearly generated some dissent from the crowd. There were boos and shouts of outrage, but when the judge growled the mob seemed to quiet itself in a hurry that was almost unnatural. "On the count of aiding and abetting a human's presence within our walls, we find the defendant..." Whoever that LadyDevimon was, she must have been one heck of a defense attorney - either that, or maybe the facts of the case were on Dakota's side in the first place? "...guilty."

"I object!" The Strabimon instantly piped up.

The canine judge, to even the wolf's own surprise, heard him out. "On what grounds?"

This seemed to catch the Strabimon off guard. He opened his mouth but didn't speak instantly. When he did, it was a weak mumble. "...I don't like it."

"Overruled," Caturamon callously silenced him, "Continue."

"Thank you, your honor. Finally, on eight counts of attempted escape from justice, we find the defendant... guilty."

"Objection! She called me guilty again!"

"Overruled!" That didn't stop Dakota. He kept on shouting in the judge's general direction, but it was very hard to hear. In fact it was very, very hard to hear. Had something happened? After the judge scolded the accused, no sound seemed to be coming out of his mouth even though he was certainly trying and definitely trying to say some unsavory things. "You have been found guilty by a jury of your peers. You are remanded to the custody of the Masayoshi Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility for a period of no less than ten years and no more than fifteen years with possibility of parole. The court is adjourned." It was at this time a pair of MagnaAngemon took the rookie under each arm and threw him into a square box that was being suspended above the ground by a pair of Gryphonmon. One side of the box was made of bars - the other three were solid metal. As they took off and flew away, the dog judge declared, "Court is now adjourned. Clear the platform for the executions of Commandramon, Hagurumon, Deckerdramon, and Tadayoshi Teppei the human this afternoon." 

The ones who remembered the signal's source probably knew that the prisoner was being escorted in that direction, and the one who was supplemented by smell no doubt could determine that his senses led him that same way. As the audience began to disperse, not all of them left. Perhaps some wanted to watch the various cruel devices be brought up onto the wooden stage.

White Wolf noticed as she followed the Labramon that the crowd was getting larger and larger, heading in the same direction that they were. Gabumon figured that this had to relate to what he had overheard earlier. "White Wolf, Agumon, I feel there is something that I have to share with you... oh my..."

Gabumon had stopped speaking when they approached what had looked like a wooden stage, with items on it that resembled a courtroom. Was this a public trial? Whatever it was, it was impossible to ignore.

The disguised human and her partners watched closely as the trial seemed to start with the "jury" giving their verdict. However, the defendant in question was a Digimon that White Wolf and the twins would know all too well. Her eyes widened as she fully realized who it was.

Dakota...!

As the trial went on, the Strabimon was declared as "not guilty" for a bunch of charges, including the destruction of a "Gesshoku Tower", felony wreckless flying, and felony neglect. With each new accusation, this just made White Wolf grow more and more worried for the other members of Silence. "Tadayoshi, what did you do..." she muttered under her breath.

The real showstopper was when Dakota was declared as guilty for assisting to smuggle a human within the walls, which seemed to be a MUCH smaller offense compared to the other ones he was declared not guilty for. What did he get for that? Ten to fifteen years in prison, of course.

"W-What?!" Agumon asked in a hoarse whisper, "He gets that long in jail for something as dumb as that?!"

"The citizens of ElDoradimon hate humans, Agumon. It makes sense thathe'd be punished more for that... we just need to make sure we're not caught for doing the same."

The Strabimon was then placed in a metal box and taken away to the prison. White Wolf locked her eyes on the box as it was carried away, her hand grasping where her heart would be. Nothing about what just happened was right at all.

It was then that the judge had dropped a bomb, for White Wolf at least. He announced the executions of four individuals for that afternoon, all of which were in Silence. Commandramon, Hagurumon, Deckerdramon...

...and Tadayoshi Teppei.

No... White Wolf staggered back, unable to believe what she just heard. No, no, it can't...!

Her mind raced back to when she was eleven. Her apartment catching on fire... Seeing her best friend asking for help, with Rebecca running away in fear... seeing her parents for the final time... seeing the apartment explode from the street...

With tears running down her face, White Wolf bolted in the direction she saw Dakota's jail box being taken to, away from the crowd. Very much surprised, Agumon and Gabumon dashed after her. "White Wolf! What are you doing!?"

"What does it look like?! I'm gonna break Tadayoshi and Silence out of there!"

"Are you insane?! You think you can just smash in there?! I may be stupid but at least I'm smart enough to know that what you're trying to do will just end up terribly!"

"WELL WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!" White Wolf yelled with fury, stopping dead in her tracks and facing her partners with a distressed look on her face. "You don't know how much I've lost! My parents are dead! My best friend is dead! I could have saved them back then, and I didn't! I ran away, and I lost them forever! I've hated myself and everything for SIX YEARS! It's a miracle how I never ended it myself after that! And now I've finally found happiness with Tadayoshi, and they're going to execute him! I can't..." White Wolf dropped to her knees, crying into her palms. "I can't lose anyone else I love... I just can't... Not again..."

The twins... well, they were at a loss for words. They had never seen their partner be this upset before, and she was right: they didn't know what she had suffered through. They looked at each other with sad expressions before they each sat on either side of White Wolf.

"You have us, Rebecca," Agumon said. "You'll always have us. And we're lucky to have you. So if you're sad, well... it makes us sad, too."

"I don't agree with the execution either," Gabumon reassured Rebecca, "so I am willing to help set them all free, but we need a plan. We cannot afford to save them by force. Do you understand?"

White Wolf sniffled. "Yeah... yeah, I do..."