Danger on the Dance Floor

It would seem that night that not only a seventeen year old human girl would get past the bouncer. A disguised Wizardmon and Leomon by the names of Mandrake and Lothar had managed to acquire convincing fake ID as well. What helped even more was that their disguises looked the part of human adults and the fact that Lothar towered over the bouncer in his disguise didn't hurt either. Normally such noisy clubs weren't for Mandrake but Lothar managed to talk him into it.

Entering the loud and bright club Mandrake was able to sense only humans in the club currently but wouldn't be surprised if other digimon showed up considering the night was still young. Finding a table to sit at the two friends sat down. "Are you sure you've fully recovered from your injuries, Lothar?" Mandrake said even though he had to raise his voice a bit to be heard since he wasn't sure his old friend could hear him over the ruckus around them.

"I'm sure, Mandrake, now take it easy we came hear to enjoy ourselves. I know such a place isn't where you are most comfortable but give it a chance." Lothar answered with a smile which made Mandrake feel more relaxed.

It seemed Lothar's appearance was a good way to ward off those who meant them harm. After all, in his holosuit disguise, Lothar was a six foot eight muscular man. Mandrake's disguise made him look tall but Lothar was a towering giant by comparison with muscles to boot. Then a young woman approached from behind Lothar causing the disguised Leomon to slightly jump when she spoke to them but do nothing else. After all, she was human and was little to no threat to most digimon. She then asked if she could join them claiming it was not safe for a delicate girl as she put it.

"If it's not safe for you, why would you come to such a place? No offense but you look a little young to be in here." Mandrake said as he took in the girl's appearance. By human standards, she looked in her late teens. Most the crowd here looked young but this girl took the cake by comparison.

Apparently a foreigner but she was easy enough to understand despite her broken Japanese. Lothar had already settled after she had moved across from Mandrake so obviously he didn't think she was threatening either. Strange, perhaps, but that was about it. When she introduced herself as Arissa, Mandrake said "A pleasure to meet you, Arissa. I am Mandrake and next to me is my childhood friend Lothar. Don't take it personally if he doesn't speak to you right away. He usually doesn't talk to strangers at first."

She came to meet interesting people, eh? Well digimon disguised as humans were interesting by human standards that's for sure. Neither friend knew if Arissa knew what digimon were so they decided to not mention digimon through subtle glances at one another before turning their attention towards the human girl. "Yes I'm sure between Lothar and myself any brutes wouldn't be a problem." Mandrake said with a light chuckle.

"I never said you weren't mature. For all I know you could just look young for your age." Mandrake said in a calm tone as if trying to pacify Arissa not knowing if she was offended but one had to be careful sometimes.

When Arissa was touching and leaning on Lothar, however briefly, he looked at Mandrake with a look that reflected how awkward this human's behavior seemed to be but otherwise didn't budge an inch. Mandrake noticing how confused his friend was said "Lothar was always stronger than the other kids ever since I met him."

As humans went this girl was a weird one indeed seeing as most humans Mandrake had met until this point had been what people would consider normal with the exception of a white haired mad scientist that is. When drinks were mentioned, Mandrake said "Lothar and myself haven't been here for longer than a couple minutes at most so drink orders hadn't come to mind yet." The two of them had spent the day making money with Mandrake performing magic and Lothar had been handling potential crowd control in case things got out of hand. Some how they made enough money to get enough money to feed and get drinks for both of them. Since Arissa was offering to pay for the drinks and not wanting to be rude, Mandrake said "Since you want to pay for them I guess anything will do." Glancing briefly at the bartender, Mandrake then asked "Did you do anything strange when you got your drink?" 

Lothar was finding this girl hard to figure out and had the feeling Mandrake was just as puzzled as he was but since she didn't seem to mean any harm, he nodded politely at Arissa. Since he didn't know her that was probably the most she would get out of Lothar for the moment.

When Arissa looked at the dance floor the two friends did the same and also noticed the middle aged man in the group. Compared to that guy both Mandrake and Lothar didn't stand out nearly that much. Considering the man was making the girls on the dance floor uncomfortable it was obvious why they and many others tried to avoid him like the plague.

Turning their gaze back to Arissa, Mandrake said "Nothing fancy is needed for either of us. I would like some wine." Looking at Lothar he noticed his friend nod in agreement and Mandrake continued "And the same will be fine for Lothar."

While Arissa was getting the drinks Mandrake looked at the odd man on the dance floor while appearing confused. Picking up on his friend's confusion, Lothar followed Mandrake's gaze and asked "Mandrake, what's wrong?" 

As the two made eye contact, Mandrake said "I don't know. With everyone else I can tell they're humans but I can't read that man at all. I don't know whether he's human or digimon." Mandrake looked concerned as he tried to puzzle out how his telepathy was interfered with. It was true in his holosuit disguise that if he did things more complex than sensing others and whether they were human or digimon his holosuit would be disrupted.

Lothar had to admit he was concerned too after seeing his friend looking so lost. Placing a hand on Mandrake's shoulder he said "Then for the sake of these humans we better keep alert for trouble. Subtly of course." 

Mandrake was glad that Lothar was far more clever than some gave him credit for. The idea was sound and all they had to do was interact with Arissa without blowing their cover. Seemed easy enough. By the time Arissa had returned Lothar had long taken his hand off Mandrake's shoulder. Arissa was now sitting across from Lothar and next to Mandrake.

After she talked about who she was and where she was from, Mandrake said "She has a fair point, Lothar. What harm could come from talking to her?"

Mandrake had a point so Lothar said "Not much to tell about myself really. My family were traveling merchants and while we weren't rich, we made enough to get by on. So you might say that I grew up moving around like yourself. That is until my family came to the village Mandrake was living in."

"As for myself, I spent my whole life in a small village but until Lothar's family came through one summer I had no friends other than my adopted father, if you will. Lothar was the one that saved me from being beaten up by some of the villages' children. After that the two of us quickly became friends and after that summer was over Lothar's family moved on. When we were old enough we adventured around looking for one another. I also have a small knack for magic." Mandrake explained. He doubted she would ask specifically where he was from since he curiously spoke with a British accent. Which was weird since no one else in the village did.

It was true that Lothar had a gentle giant vibe to him most of the time even with his voice though Arissa was the first person to mention such. Though he wasn't so gentle if he was provoked as a certain Koromon from their childhood was quick to learn. Then Lothar said "Maybe so but I generally talk only to people I've gotten to know. It's not that I'm shy, it's more along the lines of believing trust has to be earned. You don't seem like any trouble."

Only if Arissa knew about digimon, they would have mentioned that technically they still were wondering the Digital World and occasionally coming to Shibuya. "Yes, adventuring alone can be lonely but worth it as you learn about different things through your travels. I have definitely met some interesting people in my travels before I caught up again with Lothar." Mandrake said as he thought of his previous adventures before he reunited with Lothar. In those adventures he met folks interesting as well as odd and even digivolved to Wizardmon along the way.

"It's more like we look out for each other than him protecting me." Mandrake said with a smile.

"Yes being alone as a child can be difficult but in the end meeting Mandrake was worth it." Lothar replied with a nod. It was true that by human terms they hadn't been apart for long. Technically they were younger than Arissa if digimon age was measured in that manner. Adults? Well Mandrake and Lothar were young adults by digimon standards but both of them doubted Arissa was an adult but decided to say nothing about that considering they got in with fake IDs as well. When she raised her glass indicating a toast Mandrake and Lothar clinked their glasses with hers. However, Lothar broke all three glasses and chuckled "I guess I underestimate my strength at times."