A TRIAL BY FIRE (STACY) XROS-SPIRIT USER SWITCH [COMPLETE]

Faustein had been deeply engrossed in the examination of the environment when without any warning or preamble, a deafening, enraged roar resounded and moments afterward, a medium sized fireball shot towards his location, appearing like a bolt from the blue or perhaps some hellish comet. Luckily, Faustein had all of his usual gadgets active, so he was able to activate his "Anti-Grav Device" and float up into air to avoid a direct collision with the scorching missile. Consequently, the fireball instead landed where he had been sitting moments ago and exploded on impact with a thunderous boom which was no doubt heard around the area.

Is this perhaps the territory of some feral digimon that has been disturbed by my research activities here? Or maybe some human is ordering their digimon to attack me for some unfathomable reason? Either way, it would be prudent to tread with caution henceforth.

Faustein mused silently as he forced his brain to switch gears abruptly into a more combat ready mode, but for the life of him, he could not figure out what was the source of the fireball that had nearly killed him just now. However, he did not have long to wait, for said source revealed itself a few moments afterward

"So, we meet again, eh you puny human?! Good!! I am ACTUALLY glad to see you once more!!"

The as yet unknown four armed figure said with a cruel smirk that played upon its currently enraged visage. Naturally, Faustein did not know the identity of this mysterious digimon, so he responded accordingly, in his usual calm, collected tone and his rich baritone voice while having his standard impassive, inscrutable expression on his face

"Ah, is that right? Would you mind enlightening me as to your identity, perchance? "

This calm tone employed by Faustein in tandem with his intrepid, almost nonchalantly bored expression only seemed to incense the mystery digimon even further than it already was, and as Faustein watched from his position floating 15 feet in midair, the mysterious digimon roared again, its belligerent warcry sounding almost deranged and feral, before it exclaimed

"You accursed maggot!! This is what I hate MOST about you!! You've been the cause of my eternal suffering from that fateful day where you snuck into my slave camp all those months ago and COMPLETELY wrecked my slave trade operation!! As if that was not enough, NOW you dare to go and say you forgot about me?!!!!"

All at once, the puzzle pieces finally clicked in Faustein's mind as to the identity of this hithertofore mysterious digimon. Apparently, this was the same Musyamon that he and Stacy, one of his female acquaintances, had fight in order to free some captured digimon which were being forced into slavery. However, there was something completely different about said Musyamon now. Luckily, after pondering the issue silently for a few moments, the answer came to him at last.

"Ah, so that's your identity then. You are that same Musyamon which was soundly routed by the combined efforts of your slaves and of course, my acquaintance, Stacy. So then, after that, presumably something transpired to induce your digivolution into your present Asuramon form, eh? How very intriguing, so pray tell, what was it exactly? The researcher in me is desirous of discerning the truth behind this phenomenon."

Faustein asked the Asuramon while his entire face practically shone with the light generated by the force of his signature unbridled curiosity, albeit unfortunatley marred by his obvious, maddening lack of tact. Needless to say, thr Asuramon was NOT amused by this facetious and cavalier attitude that Faustein was displaying in his ineteraction with it at the moment. The fact that he was essentially asking it to relive the excruciating torture it had undergone to finally prove its worth to its superiors of the "Millennium Syndicate" by digivolving into its present Asuramon form enraged it still further

"You want to know how and why I digivolved?!! My overpowering rage fueled by the thought of you and that human girl, that's how, you foul insect!! After my defeat at your hands, as I lay there charred and broken; my superior, Mr. A, came and took me into custody!! Then, for 40 days and 40 nights straight, Mr. A tortured me and experimented on me relentlessly as punishment for losing to a pair of pathetic humans!! Then, he made me fight his other test subjects nonstop as additional punishment for my failure to maintain control of the slaves in my possession!!! And this is ALL because of you and that measly girl!! So, i engraved the memory of both of your faces into my very Digi-Core and every day, vowed that I would one day find and destroy you both!!! I thought about it all day, every day and even dreamt about it at night when i would go to sleep!!! That is why I now have this form, the form of the avenging demon!! Now die, you piece of human filth!!! Asura Exploding Fist!!"

With that, the Asuramon was apparently done with its monologue, and so it fired off another medium size fireball at Faustein, but this time, the main fireball split into four smaller ones which hurtled towards him even faster than their parent, seemingly drawing energy from thr very lava and volcano dominated environment around them.

Well, it was worth a try at least, but this Asuramon does not look like it would listen to reason any longer. What a troublesome situation, indeed.

Musing thus silently, with no other recourse left to him, Faustein pulled out his Xros Loader and called forth his twin digimon, "Taser" the "Kokuwamon" and "Lego" the "ShadowToyAgumon", in order to protect himself and without wasting time, he instructed them in that same calm, even tone and that intrepid, impassive facial expression

"Taser, Lego, initiate combat maneuvers STAT."

The two immediately went on alert and fired off their strongest moves in an effort to intercept the flaming missiles

"Enemy assault detected, processing countermeasure. Processing complete, battle subroutine, set..Execute: Combat Protocol γ - Mjolnir Impact!!"

"Taser" the "Kokuwamon" uttered this warcry and then rushed at the fireballs, attacking them with a somersaulting double electrified spinning heel drop/axe kick. At the same time, "Lego" the "ShadowToyAgumon" fired off its two upper limbs like a pair of rockets at the swiftly approaching fireballs with its own battle hymn

"Enemy assault detected, processing countermeasure. Processing complete, battle subroutine, set..Execute: Combat Protocol γ - Block Rockets!!"

The resulting collision created a giant explosion in midair which sent Faustein hurtling toward the ground as a result of the ensuing shockwave of force that rolled outward from it. Of course, due to this, Faustein's body was now fairly battered and bruised on the exposed parts of his body and most probably over the entirety of the rest of it as well, though that could not be seen yet since it was under his clothing currently. To make things worse, the fireball attacks hurled by the Asuramon kept going through the smoke cloud generated by the explosion that preceded it and then slammed hard into Taser and Lego which had just landed in front of Faustein and thus caused a fair bit of damage to them, a fact that was evident from all the dents and breaks that Faustein could now see all over each partner's chassis.

Is the level difference between these two and that Asuramon really THAT insurmountable? This is truly irksome, to be sure.

Faustein thought with a slight frown on his thin, firm lips as he tried to devise a battle plan to handle the looming threat of the Asuramon. However, sadly, he could not come up with any strategy which could compensate for the lack of sheer power on of his two digimon partners.

---

OOC:

Combat Log:

Kokuwamon's Combat Passive: Support Protocol ε: Tacti-Helm (+30% to Kokuwamon's offensive abilities)

ShadowToyAgumon's Combat Passive: Support Protocol ε: Dismantled Chassis (+30% to ShadowToyagumon's base evasion rate)

Kokuwamon:
- Used Combat Abilities:

• Combat Protocol γ - Mjolnir Impact (0/3 cooldown)

ShadowToyAgumon:
- Used Combat Abilities:

• Combat Protocol γ - Block Rockets (0/3 cooldown)

Faustein had been mulling over the most expedient way to protect himself and his twin digimon from the ire of the Asuramon when his reverie was interrupted by the sound of both of their voices.

"Suggestion: DNA digivolution to twin units' Mekanorimon form in order to combat current enemy unit."

Faustein considered this for several moments and entered this factor into the mental calculations he was performing at present

Mekanorimon, eh? If memory serves, due to the low baseline parameters of these two twin Rookie level units, the resulting DNA form would only possess approximately 75% of the parameters of a true, full Rookie level unit. The Asuramon is an Ultimate level digimon and so, it would still exceed them by two stages, in terms of parameters. However, it is a Vehicle digimon and so, with me sitting in the pilot's chamber inside may just even the odds to some small extent...whatever the case, it is perhaps the most logical option for the time being.

With that plan in mind, Faustein nodded while instructing his twin digimon on the planned course of action

"Taser, Lego...initiate fusion protocol, "Mechatronic Meld", immediately."

Upon hearing his instructions, both Taser and Lego went on alert once again and commenced the DNA digivolution with a unified battlecry

"Acknowledged, now initiating fusion protocol, "Mechatronic Meld". Twin units, Kokuwamon and ShadowToyAgumon, fusing to DNA Rookie unit, Mekanorimon in 3...2...1."

As soon as the countdown reached 1, Taser and Lego were each engulfed in a protective cocoon of light which then proceeded to merge into a single, larger cocoon of protective light. Of course, the Asuramon did not just stand idly by while this happened, no, it went on the offensive in an attempt at interrupt the DNA digivolution.

"Oh no you don't, you pieces of trash!! Take this, Asura God-Fist!!"

With this new warcry, it unleashed a punch rush from its four arms which seemed as though it possessed the raw, unparalleled offensive power which could annihilate Faustein and his twin digimon completely. Naturally, since it used this move while having its Face of Wrath dominant, this move it unleashed appeared the strongest one by far, though Faustein had not seen its full repertoire yet. Luckily, Taser and Lego finishing their DNA digivolution just in time to bring forth their Mekanorimon form and thanks to the vestigial protective cocoon of light blocking the Asuramon's attack, the resultant Mekanorimon was spared from premature destruction. Of course, since the Asuramon was nearly at point blank range, the DNA Mekanorimon used its thrusters to launch itself backward till it was next to Faustein so that there would be some distance between the Asuramon and itself. Faustein opened the piloting chamber's hatch and climbed inside to take over the controls of the Mekanorimon as per the battle strategy he had devised for this occasion.

Sensory array, check...Movement systems, check...Armaments, check...

After climbing in, in this manner, Faustein quickly inspected each of the systems present in the Mekanorimon so that he could construct a mental map of its piloting chamber and all the salient elements therein. Once he was done, he resumed combat against the Asuramon with him guiding the actions of his Mekanorimon. Under his directive, the Mekanorimon retaliated by charging a medium amount of lightning energy in the space between its two outstretched arms and then fired it off in the form of an arrow made of pure electrical energy at the Asuramon with the battlecry

"Enemy assault detected, processing countermeasure. Processing complete, battle subroutine, set..Execute: Combat Protocol β - Lightning Arrow!!"

Since the Asuramon had just deployed its strongest combat move, it could not intercept this retaliatory strike and so, took the full brunt of the impact. Upon occurrence of said impact, the electricity flooded its body, temporarily slowing it down. That said, if it were perhaps a lower stage digimon, then maybe the attack would have actually immobilized it completely, but in this case, it proved to be a mere nuisance to it. Faustein did not wait to see what the Asuramon would do in retaliation, but instead guided his Mekanorimon into executing a tactical retreat as swiftly as its thrusters could propel it.

Perhaps there are some caves around here which could serve as a hiding place for me and this Mekanorimon and thus allow us to evade the assault of the Asuramon.

Musing thus silently, Faustein employed the sensor array of the Mekanorimon to send out a scanning pulse in an attempt to detect the presence of any caves in the area. Fortunately for them, when the pulse returned, it indicated just such a cave which was not too far from their present location.

How fortuitous, it would seem that the Norn of the present, Verðandi, is favoring us.

Smirking at the thought, Faustein guided his Mekanorimon towards the cave and promptly hid away inside it, after which he guided the Mekanorimon to destroy the cave's entrance so as to create a wall of rubble which could, at least for the time being, conceal them from the Asuramon's senses. Hopefully, this would be enough to allow him and his Mekanorimon time to recover from their injuries, if only to some small degree. Naturally, the Asuramon chased after them, but by the time it caught up to the much more mobile Faustein and Mekanorimon's previous location, they had already left for the next one, namely the cave in which they were hiding currently. Normally, it would have been a simple task for the Asuramon to detect them, but in this case, since its "Face of Wrath" was dominant, it was not able to employ its sensory abilities to the fullest extent as it would have been able to do otherwise. Consequently, it became even more infuriated and thus, unleashed its unbridled rage upon the surrounding area instead while constantly roaring

"WHERE?!! WHERE ARE YOU, MAGGOT?!! COME ON OUT AND SHOW YOURSELF SO I CAN DESTROY YOU AND THAT PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A DIGIMON PARTNER OF YOURS!!"

Due to this tirade and the berserk fury it kept unleashing on the surrounding area, the Asuramon left a wide swathe of destruction in its wake, with features such as large boulders laying smashed to pieces, whatever sparse vegetation there was around the area being consumed by infernal looking flames, and the ground itself, cracked all over with lava spewing out of it and up onto the surface. Anyone or anything that would come by for whatever reason to the area would see all this and more such devastation quite clearly if they took the time to peruse the area. Of course, the Asuramon would not be glimpsed since it already moved on, getting closer and closer to the cave where Faustein and his Mekanorimon were currently hidden for the time being.

---

OOC:

Combat Log:

Mekanorimon's Combat Passive: Support Protocol ε: Tacti-Helm (+30% to Mekanorimon's offensive abilities)

Mekanorimon's Combat Passive: Support Protocol ε: Dismantled Chassis (+30% to Mekanorimon's base evasion rate)

Mekanorimon: (DNA Rookie of Kokuwamon + ShadowToyAgumon)
- Used Combat Abilities:

• Combat Protocol γ - Block Rockets (1/3 cooldown)
• Combat Protocol β - Lightning Arrow (0/3 cooldown)

What seemed like a relatively long while had passed, but then since Faustein had sealed up the cave entrance, he did not have any of the normal environmental cues with which he could usually discern the time of day down to the minute. However, he had more pressing things to worry about at the moment, namely the healing of his Mekanorimon DNA rookie which currently served as his vehicle and mobile armor suit. So, with that in mind, he pressed a button on his digivice to activate the "Clinic Program" feature which would heal said Mekanorimon's injuries. Luckily, they were mere surface-level injuries so the digivice was able to heal the damage successfully.

Now, what is the best option to deal with...

At that moment, his musing was interrupted abruptly by his digivice and D-Terminal which beeped twice, indicating an incoming message from some party. Naturally, he was intrigued by it so, he accessed the message folder and tapped once on the display icon next to message. In response, the digivice screen started scrolling the contents of the message which, interestingly enough, was apparently formatted completely in capital letters and with the universal yellow triangle alert symbol denoting a top priority message. It even had exclamation marks throughout, all of these serving to amplify his curiosity further

MASTER!! THERE IS URGENT NEED OF YOUR ASSISTANCE ONCE MORE!! MY YOUNGER SISTER WAS KIDNAPPED A FEW DAYS AGO WHILE NEITHER I NOR LADY SAKUYA WERE AT THE INARI SHRINE!! THE PATRONS WHO I CONSULTED WITH DESCRIBE THE KIDNAPPER AS BEING AN ASURAMON!!! PLEASE!! I BESEECH YOU!! SAVE MY BELOVED YOUNGER SISTER BEFORE SOMETHING UNTOWARD HAPPENS TO HER AT THE HANDS OF THAT RUFFIAN AND HIS COHORTS AND SUPERIORS!!


Needless to say, Faustein was even more curious now, despite the fact that current his very life and that of his digimon partners was in grave peril.

An Asuramon? No, it...could not be...just what manner of fate are the Norns weaving for me here, eh? However, on the off-chance that the one pursuing me and this alleged kidnapper are one and the same...There is no data to verify this, but somehow, there is the distinct feeling that this is the most logical path...how very mystifying, for once there is no explanation or rationale for this feeling...but if that truly IS the case, then...

Faustein's could feel his 200+ IQ brain firing on all six cylinders, as it were, clearly in an attempt to concoct a handful of plans and back-up plans of action, each of which would lead him to a successful resolution of the matters at hand. However, it also brought on the rather grim realization that the most expedient of these plans was also the most dangerous of them all, for it required a tremendous sacrifice, namely the potential destruction of his partners at the hands of the Asuramon and quite possibly, the further destruction of his already battered body. So, he took a moment to compose himself and resign himself to this inevitable fate and then asked his partner Mekanorimon which was serving as his vehicle currently

"Laser, this will perhaps be our final fray together. So, shall we make peace with our inevitable doom?"

The Mekanorimon was silent for several moments afterward, but ultimately it responded with the same oh so familiar beeping noises

"This unit and its components merely a tool for the General. The General may deploy it as is necessary given the demands of the situation."

Faustein chuckled as he heard that, realizing that he was acting very out of character at the moment. After all, he was a mad scientist, and thus was supposed to be completely and eternally married to cold logic, unlike the emotionally driven masses.

"Fair enough. Laser, initiate message recording and set it to activate when user Stacy makes physical contact with this unit."

To that, Mekanorimon responded with a series of beeping noises and then spoke

"Acknowledged. Message recording feature, initiated. State message now."

Faustein nodded and then began to record the message he knew would bring Stacy to his aid if she happened to run across the destroyed remains of the Mekanorimon

"I leave this message in anticipation of this impending battle I shall have with our common foe, the inveterate slave trader with whom we had crossed blades in the recent past. He is currently in pursuit of me with the intent of resolving the inreconcilable differences that lie between us and possibly will stop at nothing to slay me and my two partners on this fateful day. I am pleased, however, to think that I shall be able to free us from any further effects of his presence and that of his cronies, though I fear that it is at a cost which will give pain to all the friends I have encountered thus far, and especially, my dear Stacy, to you. It seems that my career has in any case reached its crisis, and that no other possible conclusion to it could be more congenial to me than this. Furthermore, a recent development has also made it imperative that I march forth thusly into the lion's den to confront the lion therein. So, if you do indeed come across this message, then it is more than likely that I am already dead. Therefore, I shall now bid thee a fond adieu and wish you the best of fortunes with all of your future endeavors. Lastly, I have but one request, pray give my greetings to all of our mutual friends, and believe me to be, my dear mademoiselle, very sincerely yours."

He paused there for a moment and then gave the closing instruction to his Mekanorimon

"End message."

He said simply and then fell silent, in an effort to enjoy the few last moments of it that he would most likely have before his final hours. In response, the Mekanorimon beeped three times, indicating that his message had been recorded successfully, after which it fell silent as well. Unfortunately, neither had much more time to dwell on it since the makeshift wall of rubble they had built was summarily blasted to bits in a violent explosion and the reason for that was none other than the Asuramon which had been pursuing them up till then. Upon seeing it, Faustein and the Mekanorimon spoke in unison, their voices steady, calm, and intrepid

"Ah, so you have found us at last. Well done, we have been expecting you. So, come at us then, and let us both dine with Hades tonight."

The Asuramon flashed them a cruel grin before remarking in that guttural voice which absolutely grated on Faustein's ears

"So, you made peace with your death, eh?! And you're done running away from me too?!! Good, now I get to relish the sweet feeling of watching you die by my hands, you pathetic human worm!!"

Faustein smirked internally, but along with the Mekanorimon, responded

"Indeed, now en garde!!"

With that, the battle was joined in earnest, and in the chaos that ensued actually ended up destroying much of the cave and causing it to collapse inward as it was no long able to sustain its structural integrity due to all the damage it had taken from the battle. Any who happened to come by the area would find the destroyed remains of what was seeimngly a Mekanorimon, along with a large pile of ash accompanied by a distinctly unpleasant odor hanging in the air, as if something organic was burnt up there. Apart from that, there was just the ocean of environmental destruction to be seen there. What happened to the two that had been present in the cave, remained a mystery, atleast for now. However, any who possessed keen noses would perhaps note that the trail of the distinctly unpleasant smell led to the foot of the giant volcano that loomed in the distance and at the end of this, a rather suspicious cave would be found by any curious enough to investigate it.

---

OOC:

Combat Results:

FAUSTEIN'S TWO PARTNERS, TASER THE KOKUWAMON AND LEGO THE SHADOWTOYAGUMON DESTROYED IN BATTLE BY THE OPPOSING ASURAMON

Meanwhile, the Asuramon had taken the now totally defenseless Faustein who had most of his right lower limb missing in custody and was carrying his apparently unconscious form draped over its shoulder after having tied him up tightly so he would not have any chance to outmaneuver it. After checking around for any incoming threats, it had then marched off to one of the bases of the "Millennium Syndicate", this one being at the foot of the largest volcano in the area. It did not take it very long to reach there thanks to its Ultimate stage form and upon arrival, it pressed a hidden switch on the side wall which caused the megalithic stone door blocking the entrance to the base to slide, revealing a dimly lit tunnel leading further inside. The tunnel had roughly hewn stone walls with what seemed like clown faces depicting various emotions from happiness to sadness to anger, and so on carved in bas relief on its surface which were made to look quite disturbing thanks to the firelight from the oil burning torches casting shadows on them. After traveling through for several hours, the Asuramon finally arrived at a large central chamber which, unlike the tunnel, had the trappings of a Victorian era Shakespearean theater. Looming ahead on what looked like a step pyramid was a large throne which appeared to be constructed out of a a frame of alabaster with various precious stones set into it.

"So, you have returned to us, I see. Well done, the Syndicate is pleased with your work thus far."

The voice was almost disturbing smooth and silky, and along with that exuded an air of unquestionable authority which could only ever be found among the highest of digimon. However, currently, the being whose voice this was was not clearly visible due to the shadows obscuring its form. However, if one squinted, then it would be just possible to discern what appeared to be a clown, or more precisely a jester. The Asuramon grunted at this, but replied regardless in that same guttural tone it had

"Master Piedmon, what would you like me to do with this worm? Personally, I think we should kill him and be done with it."

Upon hearing these words, the being aka Piedmon, opened its crimson red eyes wide, and simply flashed a silent glare at the Asuramon. In response, the Asuramon actually started to show an incredible degree of fear and despite its Ultimate stage form, started to sweat bullets. It opened its mouth a few times, but no words came out. It was as if with a simple glare, the being aka Piedmon, had somehow choked off the Asuramon's ability to speak completely. The being aka Piedmon was silent for several moments as it beheld the cowering Asuramon before it with its mouth contorted into a cruel smirk before saying in that same smooth, silky, and calm tone from before

"Your opinions are of no consequence to us. You are to keep him alive, albeit only barely just, and torture him as brutally as is possible with your neanderthal intellect and methodology. He must feel the fully fury of the Syndicate for the crimes he has committed against us. You know the steep price of disobedience...do you not?"

The Asuramon grunted in response, showing its acquiescence even though what it really wanted to do was to massacre Faustein for the humiliation that he had put it through thus far. However orders were orders, and it could not disobey for fear of not its life, but rather the sordid fate that would be meted out to it as punishment for its insubordination, a fate that was FAR worse than death.

"As you wish, Master Piedmon."

It said simply and then after given leave, it dumped Faustein on the rough stone floor of the tunnel leading off to the side and practically kicked his apparently unconscious form all the way through, repeatedly like a soccer player would a soccer ball until both came to the end of the tunnel which was one of the many prison cell/dungeons that were scattered throughout the base and used to hold enemies of the Syndicate as well as their slaves, disobedient subordinates, and so on. It then opened the heavy, cast iron door of the prison cell/dungeon and after kicking Faustein's apparently unconscious form hard enough to cause it to fly forth and slam into the dungeon wall, it entered inside as well. Then, it affixed Faustein up on said wall with the heavy, cast iron, chain-and-shackle restraints affixed to it after which it proceeded to wake him up from his apparently unconscious state. In reality, Faustein had simply been playing possum as a means of tricking the Asuramon into a false sense of victory and so, was wide awake and alert despite being battered so badly. However, since he had a specific role to play in this situation, he kept up the facade of the unconscious victim until such a time when his current objective of rescuing the younger sister of the Renamon X was complete. So, in accordance with this plan, when the Asuramon which was currently holding him captive splashed the ice laden water rather violently and without warning on his face, he made sure to give it a convincing enough display of a slow, unsteady, awakening to a semi-conscious state. As he spoke, he made sure to alter his voice enough to make it sound raspy or perhaps unmistakably hoarse and looked about while blinking in a bleary-eyed fashion, all in an effort to lend further credence to his display of the hapless, defenseless prisoner

"W-Wh-Where...am...I?"

The Asuramon stared Faustein for a while as if trying to judge whether there was truth to his display, but ultimately it bought into the false show of semi-consciousness, indicating to Faustein that it truly had not learned its lesson from their last encounter. The Asuramon uttered a guttural laugh which echoed off the walls of the dungeon/prison before remarking

"So, you're finally awake, eh?! Good!! This is the base of the Millennium Syndicate and you're current in our dungeon!!"

Then it proceeded to wordlessly torture Faustein, with the occasional insult thrown in, or whatever insult its musclehead brain could come up with anyway. Now, even though Faustein was putting on an act of haplessness, the torture methods did truly hurt him to some extent and did scar him all over, but he simply exaggerated his cries of anguish as would be apropos for the situation to make it seem as though the torture was affecting him more than it was in reality. The Asuramon was thus led ever further and deeper into the web of deception that Faustein was now weaving all around it. In this manner, the better part of the day passed and eventually, the day gave way to night with the full moon shining brightly in the darkened sky, not that Faustein could see of course due to the utter lack of windows to the outside in the dungeon which held him prisoner. By now, the Asuramon had stopped and gone away after it had apparently been called to follow whatever other orders its superiors had for it. So for the time being, at least, Faustein was completely unguarded. Anyone or anything that came upon him either by chance or by design, would find him in a truly sorry state, just barely alive, with his right lower limb missing and the distal end of the remaining stump badly charred as if it had been hit with a truly intense flame or some other such heat source, with angry red whip marks all over him, and other such hallmarks of a significant degree of prolonged torture.

This is truly a pitiable state for me...However, phase 1 on my plan is now complete. Next is phase 2...If Stacy is truly the person she appears to be, she should be on her way at any moment now...then phase 2 can begin in earnest.

He mused silently while keeping up the hapless torture victim act and making sure to appear as though he were drifting in and out of consciousness.

It had some time since he had heard anything much at all after the Asuramon had left and the only other noises that had been apparent during this interim were those of the guards which were all, strangely enough, BlackGuilmon. However, after all while even they had apparently been called away for some as yet unknown purpose. So, Faustein had merely bided his time as he could not do much else given his present state and of course, the secret infiltration and rescue mission he was current engaged in upon the request of the strange, but intriguing Renamon X he had been running into occasionally.

That alleged younger sister does not seem to be here at the very least. That would certainly have made it easy for me, though. Ah, what a troublesome mission this is turning out to be, indeed.

He had mused silently before taking a ragged breath so as to keep his brain alert for any changes in his environment. Soon enough, he heard the sounds of something or someone padding towards him, apparently as softly as they could, presumably to avoid drawing the attention of the sentinels. After a short while longer, the figure finally came into view and it was as he had planned and expected, his acquaintance, ally, and possibly even friend...Stacy. However, in order to err on the side of caution, Faustein decided to keep up the facade of the hapless prisoner to avoid compromising his plan. So, with that in mind, he watched silently as Stacy first looked about, apparently in search for the keys to his prison cell, but was not able to find them. Then, he watched as she activated her holy energy and imbued her wolf claws with it before using it to slash right through the thick cast iron door's lock. Then, as he watched further, she had come over to him and then freed him from his chains and shackles via the same method. After that, finally she had supported him with one hand while asking him whether he was awake and identifying herself.

Good, the plan is proceeding according to schedule thus far.

After musing thus silently, he finally spoke in that same contrived hoarse whisper which he had used to trick the Asuramon earlier

Ah, so the first phase of my plan had its intended effect, eh? How very fortuitous indeed.

He said simply while flashing her his trademark smug smirk evn though the action caused jolts of pain to course through his thin, firm, but currently bruised and split lips. Then he fell silent while looking at her with that same, false bleary-eyed expression and the same deceptive but convincing mannerisms of someone who was drifting in and out of consciousness, for despite the fact that Stacy was here, it was also true that this was the heart of enemy territory and also that danger was never too far away from them.

Faustein had let himself be scooped up even though normally he would not have allowed anyone to do that to him since in this case, his body simply had no energy left to spare at the moment due to all his remaining energy being directed to his vital organs. Then, he watched as Stacy carefully made her way towards the exit, but then she had asked him how he had lost his leg

"As is apparent from the scorch marks on the remaining stump, it was burnt off. However, this happened in that final battle in the cave."

Then, he had fallen silent before composing himself and when Stacy pointed out that he should not try to weave half truths, he gave her his usual clueless expression while remarking as though he did not know what she meant by that

"Half truths? Why, whatever do you mean, Stacy? I am a completely innocent boy, and no deceiver."



Then, he reverted back to his usual impassive expression and then resumed

"That aside, we cannot leave this place just yet, for there is another present within this facility that needs to be rescued before we can truly make our escape."

He said and then fell silent while observing her to see whether she understood him or not. Soon, they had reached a staircase leading further into the bowels of the earth and so he alerted Stacy to this fact as an indication that she should go down that path and waited for her to do so.