A Friend In Need... (Solo/Hunt)
Jul 9, 2020 6:54:54 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2020 6:54:54 GMT
"I'm so sorry for bumping into you, officer!" She cried out as if she were holding back tears. It wasn't that hard, considering the past few days.
"Just watch where you're going!" The man in the uniform chastised her. "And where are your parents? This isn't the place to be hanging around all by yourself! Don't you know what time it is? Get home and go to bed!"
"I'm sorry, sir! I promise that I'll get to bed, but my mommy and daddy said that I can't go to bed until I brush my teeth!" She exclaimed with a smile, displaying her pearly whites.
"That's... right. Just get home! I don't ever want to see you here this late again!" The officer pushed her along rather rudely before walking off. Once he turned the corner, Airi stuck her tongue out at the man before running off and dashing into an alley. He opened up the man's wallet only to find it loaded with bills. Seriously!? Guess police officers got paid better than she thought. She should lift their wallets more often from now on. She slipped the policeman's bills into her own pocket before unceremoniously tossing the wallet to the ground. With a little luck, someone might turn it into the police. Airi would have loved to see the face of the officer when someone turned a wallet into him only to find out that it was his own. But she would have to be long gone by then.
As expected, the alley smelled a great deal, but it was nothing compared to a certain slime monster she had met in a fantastical world. The Digital World... it had been about a week until she had last been there. As promised, Sable had taken her back to the human world and surprisingly went her separate ways. For a Digimon that was willing to knock a little girl unconscious and bring her to the Digital World by force, Airi suspected that her... partner... was stirring something up. Still, she hadn't seen the Sistermon since.
"Getting bolder by the day, I see..." She heard a familiar voice from the darkness of the alley. Airi managed to subdue a surprised shriek as she spun around. It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but sure enough, there was a man sitting next to a dumpster.
"You..." Airi didn't know his name, but it was a homeless man that Airi had frequently seen around her explorations throughout the town. Whenever she knew he'd be somewhere, she would always stop by bring him something to eat and drink. She didn't exactly know why, but it just felt like the right thing to do. She didn't really know the guy or even like him all that much, but it wasn't like she could ignore him, either.
"Stealing from the law can be pretty dangerous. You been living dangerously lately?" There was an edge to his words, like he was trying to fish for some kind of answer. Airi found it strange, since he had never even so much as asked Airi for her name before. But to ask if she'd been living dangerously... Airi could really deny it. Realizing that there was another world with caves with tiny cat monsters in them, and all kinds of wonders out there... made this city she lived in seem small by comparison. All of a sudden breaking into random buildings for the thrill of it suddenly became... less thrilling.
"What's it to you...?" Airi finally answered. She took a step away from the man. The one thing she liked about him was that he didn't go around asking her questions or pretended to be concerned for her safety. He didn't think she was just some helpless little girl that should be prancing about in ballet class or whatever.
"Just heard some nasty rumors from a few acquaintances of mine," He shrugged, looking away. "A little girl and a nun stole a good deal of money from a yakuza hideout. Not only that, but they missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity from a foreign supplier."
Airi didn't quite get what the man was saying. Stole some money? Airi didn't steal a damn thing from those pricks! They're the ones that tried to grab her, and when she tried to fight back they... Airi began to shiver as she remembered the pain she felt when the large man had struck her so hard she couldn't even move her body. She admittedly didn't remember what happened to them once Sable and knocked her unconscious, but... Airi's eyes widened as she remembered that Sable was carrying a heavy black tote bag with her when she was on the Trailmon. If that bag was full of cash... Airi didn't even think she could calculate how much yen Sable had stolen from the fucking yakuza, of all people.
"Judging by your face I'm guessing you know what I'm talking about," the homeless man commented. His face was covered by wild facial hair and filth, but Airi thought she could see some concern in the homeless man's eyes. "You should probably be careful. Maybe not wander the streets so much. If someone were to find you..."
"Excuse me, miss?" Airi turned around to see officer Kuzunoha blocking the end of the alley, staring back at Airi with a curious expression. Shit! The dude's wallet was right in front of him! If he found it, then he might start to suspect her! And if he discovered a fat stack of bills that she had just put in her skirt's pocket... She glanced over towards the homeless man. She didn't exactly want to throw him under the bus, but she really didn't see much of a choice.
"Oh, I'm sorry, officer! I meant to go straight home, but there was someone who wanted to ask me a question!"
"Hmm? Oh... I see..." The officer moved up over towards the homeless man and rather crudely kicked his leg. "You! Get off the street! Find some other hole to crawl in for the night!" The homeless man grumbled before getting up and grabbing his belongings.
"Eyes open, kid!" He warned before taking off, leaving Airi alone with the officer.
"You're Hirano, right? Hirano Airi?" Airi felt the air around her freeze once she heard her name. What... how exactly did he know...? He walked up in front of her, kneeling down and placing his hand on her shoulder. "Airi-chan, you have to listen to me very carefully. Your parents have gotten into an accident, and you need to come with me to the hospital." His hand pressed down on her shoulder so forcefully that he clearly wasn't giving her any opportunity to resist.
"Mommy and daddy...?" She was finally able to reply. Something was off about this guy, but she wasn't able to tell what. She felt it best to use her cute girl persona. Still... she needed to know what was up. "But mommy and daddy are on vacation in Singapore!" It was a lie, of course. But she needed to know if he was telling the truth.
"They... must have come home early to surprise you, because they love you very much, Airi-chan!" At that point Airi knew the officer was lying. Daddy was rotting in prison, and mommy had ditched Airi years ago, traveling around the world and spending all of daddy's stolen money. There wasn't anyone in Airi's family who loved her. He wanted her to go with him, but wouldn't tell her why. Did that mean... he was some kind of pervert or something?
"I... I need to call my brother, then!" Airi lied, needing to stall for time. In this alley, there wasn't any chance of Airi getting away from this officer. And even if she screamed for help, who was gonna stop a police officer? So she pulled out her Digivice and held it up to her ear like a phone. "He needs to know about this, too!" She began pressing the few buttons on there, hoping there was some sort of device on there that could summon her partner. The thought of Sable coming to save her again didn't please Airi in the slightest, but it was better than... whatever this police officer had in mind.
But the officer used his other hand to grab her wrist and looked at the girl with annoyed expression."Airi-chan, we need you to come with me. We'll take care of all of that stuff. Don't you want to make sure your parents are okay? It would be really bad if they didn't get to see their daughter before they passed away, don't you think?"
"You're hurting my wrist, sir... please... let go...!" Airi begged, shedding a tear. The man was grasping her so tightly it didn't have to act so hard. The man loosened his grip, and Airi responded immediately by gripping her Digivice and shoving the heavy end of it right into the man's eye. He reeled back from pain and let out a shout, but he didn't let go of Airi's shoulder. In fact, his grip tightened, and he threw the girl into the side of a dumpster.
"You little bitch!" He yelled out with one eye closed. He stood up, leaned down, and lifted the girl up until her feet were dangling in the air. Then he pressed his forearm into her throat as all her air began to squeeze out of her. She put her arms up on the man's arm in attempt to pull herself free, but it went about as well as the nine-year-old expected. "I'm gonna get a lot of money bringing you in, but I'd cut that sort of shit out before I decide you're not worth it!"
Airi wanted to scream and shout for someone, anyone to come to her rescue. And as Airi's head began to get foggy, she couldn't help but think why she was so god-damned helpless all the time. Sable needed to save her from those thugs, and Magnus and his partners were the ones who dealt with Meicoomon. But all alone... this girl couldn't even escape from some corrupt cop with shitty acting.
Whoever Sable stole all that money from must have put some kind of bounty on her or something. One of the thugs that had attacked her found out her name, so it wasn't much of a surprise. The fog in her head thickened as her vision blurred and she began to lose consciousness. But then... she felt her knees smack into the pavement before falling face-first onto the filthy cement.
She coughed as she gasped for air, looking up to see the dirty cop be held down by a... strange metal lizard creature. It had one clawed hand tightly wrapped around his throat while his strong lizard legs pressed down against his torso. The officer tried to pull free from the machine lizard's stranglehold, and for a second it looked like he was going to succeed, but the strange, blue-colored Digimon bit down into the back of the man's neck and he let out a silent gasp, unable to scream due to the choke. Airi just watched this go on until the officer stopped moving.
The Digimon then slid out from underneath the officer and stood up, sighing. "Some humans are tougher than I thought..." He commented after giving an exasperated sigh. "Well, I don't think using my weapons would have had a pretty result..." Upon mention of weapons, Airi noticed a small machine gun strapped to the Digimon's back. The lizard turned back toward the fallen officer and shrugged. "But I guess it was a fitting punishment, considering what he was doing to you."
"Who are you?" She asked, even though she recognized the voice. It was just... hard to believe.
"That's... the first time you ever asked for my name," He replied coolly. "But since I overheard that guy mention yours, I guess it's only fair you know mine..." He walked over besides Airi, bending down to pick up something. He handed her the Xros Loader. She must have dropped it during the struggle and not have realized it. Airi took it from his grasp as the screen lit up.
"What is... is this supposed to be...?"
"It figures..." The Digimon commented before letting out a laugh. "I come here to escape from the Digital World, and the one good thing about this place turns out to be what brings me back..." He let out a long sigh before staring off into the distance. His attention eventually turned back to Airi. "Well, as generals go, I guess I can't complain... You're still a kid, but you're quick and you don't exactly scare easily."
"General... you mean you're...?" Airi knew that... an Xros General commanded multiple Digimon. So aside from Sable, that meant that this new... formerly homeless man was... also connected to Airi in some way?
"You can call me Sarge. I'm a Commandramon, and I guess that makes me part of your army now," He gave the girl a salute. "So, what are your orders, boss?"
Airi stood in stunned silence for a long minute before looking back at the unconscious officer and the officer's discarded wallet. "We... should probably get going!"
Word Counr: 2180/1000
"Just watch where you're going!" The man in the uniform chastised her. "And where are your parents? This isn't the place to be hanging around all by yourself! Don't you know what time it is? Get home and go to bed!"
"I'm sorry, sir! I promise that I'll get to bed, but my mommy and daddy said that I can't go to bed until I brush my teeth!" She exclaimed with a smile, displaying her pearly whites.
"That's... right. Just get home! I don't ever want to see you here this late again!" The officer pushed her along rather rudely before walking off. Once he turned the corner, Airi stuck her tongue out at the man before running off and dashing into an alley. He opened up the man's wallet only to find it loaded with bills. Seriously!? Guess police officers got paid better than she thought. She should lift their wallets more often from now on. She slipped the policeman's bills into her own pocket before unceremoniously tossing the wallet to the ground. With a little luck, someone might turn it into the police. Airi would have loved to see the face of the officer when someone turned a wallet into him only to find out that it was his own. But she would have to be long gone by then.
As expected, the alley smelled a great deal, but it was nothing compared to a certain slime monster she had met in a fantastical world. The Digital World... it had been about a week until she had last been there. As promised, Sable had taken her back to the human world and surprisingly went her separate ways. For a Digimon that was willing to knock a little girl unconscious and bring her to the Digital World by force, Airi suspected that her... partner... was stirring something up. Still, she hadn't seen the Sistermon since.
"Getting bolder by the day, I see..." She heard a familiar voice from the darkness of the alley. Airi managed to subdue a surprised shriek as she spun around. It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but sure enough, there was a man sitting next to a dumpster.
"You..." Airi didn't know his name, but it was a homeless man that Airi had frequently seen around her explorations throughout the town. Whenever she knew he'd be somewhere, she would always stop by bring him something to eat and drink. She didn't exactly know why, but it just felt like the right thing to do. She didn't really know the guy or even like him all that much, but it wasn't like she could ignore him, either.
"Stealing from the law can be pretty dangerous. You been living dangerously lately?" There was an edge to his words, like he was trying to fish for some kind of answer. Airi found it strange, since he had never even so much as asked Airi for her name before. But to ask if she'd been living dangerously... Airi could really deny it. Realizing that there was another world with caves with tiny cat monsters in them, and all kinds of wonders out there... made this city she lived in seem small by comparison. All of a sudden breaking into random buildings for the thrill of it suddenly became... less thrilling.
"What's it to you...?" Airi finally answered. She took a step away from the man. The one thing she liked about him was that he didn't go around asking her questions or pretended to be concerned for her safety. He didn't think she was just some helpless little girl that should be prancing about in ballet class or whatever.
"Just heard some nasty rumors from a few acquaintances of mine," He shrugged, looking away. "A little girl and a nun stole a good deal of money from a yakuza hideout. Not only that, but they missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity from a foreign supplier."
Airi didn't quite get what the man was saying. Stole some money? Airi didn't steal a damn thing from those pricks! They're the ones that tried to grab her, and when she tried to fight back they... Airi began to shiver as she remembered the pain she felt when the large man had struck her so hard she couldn't even move her body. She admittedly didn't remember what happened to them once Sable and knocked her unconscious, but... Airi's eyes widened as she remembered that Sable was carrying a heavy black tote bag with her when she was on the Trailmon. If that bag was full of cash... Airi didn't even think she could calculate how much yen Sable had stolen from the fucking yakuza, of all people.
"Judging by your face I'm guessing you know what I'm talking about," the homeless man commented. His face was covered by wild facial hair and filth, but Airi thought she could see some concern in the homeless man's eyes. "You should probably be careful. Maybe not wander the streets so much. If someone were to find you..."
"Excuse me, miss?" Airi turned around to see officer Kuzunoha blocking the end of the alley, staring back at Airi with a curious expression. Shit! The dude's wallet was right in front of him! If he found it, then he might start to suspect her! And if he discovered a fat stack of bills that she had just put in her skirt's pocket... She glanced over towards the homeless man. She didn't exactly want to throw him under the bus, but she really didn't see much of a choice.
"Oh, I'm sorry, officer! I meant to go straight home, but there was someone who wanted to ask me a question!"
"Hmm? Oh... I see..." The officer moved up over towards the homeless man and rather crudely kicked his leg. "You! Get off the street! Find some other hole to crawl in for the night!" The homeless man grumbled before getting up and grabbing his belongings.
"Eyes open, kid!" He warned before taking off, leaving Airi alone with the officer.
"You're Hirano, right? Hirano Airi?" Airi felt the air around her freeze once she heard her name. What... how exactly did he know...? He walked up in front of her, kneeling down and placing his hand on her shoulder. "Airi-chan, you have to listen to me very carefully. Your parents have gotten into an accident, and you need to come with me to the hospital." His hand pressed down on her shoulder so forcefully that he clearly wasn't giving her any opportunity to resist.
"Mommy and daddy...?" She was finally able to reply. Something was off about this guy, but she wasn't able to tell what. She felt it best to use her cute girl persona. Still... she needed to know what was up. "But mommy and daddy are on vacation in Singapore!" It was a lie, of course. But she needed to know if he was telling the truth.
"They... must have come home early to surprise you, because they love you very much, Airi-chan!" At that point Airi knew the officer was lying. Daddy was rotting in prison, and mommy had ditched Airi years ago, traveling around the world and spending all of daddy's stolen money. There wasn't anyone in Airi's family who loved her. He wanted her to go with him, but wouldn't tell her why. Did that mean... he was some kind of pervert or something?
"I... I need to call my brother, then!" Airi lied, needing to stall for time. In this alley, there wasn't any chance of Airi getting away from this officer. And even if she screamed for help, who was gonna stop a police officer? So she pulled out her Digivice and held it up to her ear like a phone. "He needs to know about this, too!" She began pressing the few buttons on there, hoping there was some sort of device on there that could summon her partner. The thought of Sable coming to save her again didn't please Airi in the slightest, but it was better than... whatever this police officer had in mind.
But the officer used his other hand to grab her wrist and looked at the girl with annoyed expression."Airi-chan, we need you to come with me. We'll take care of all of that stuff. Don't you want to make sure your parents are okay? It would be really bad if they didn't get to see their daughter before they passed away, don't you think?"
"You're hurting my wrist, sir... please... let go...!" Airi begged, shedding a tear. The man was grasping her so tightly it didn't have to act so hard. The man loosened his grip, and Airi responded immediately by gripping her Digivice and shoving the heavy end of it right into the man's eye. He reeled back from pain and let out a shout, but he didn't let go of Airi's shoulder. In fact, his grip tightened, and he threw the girl into the side of a dumpster.
"You little bitch!" He yelled out with one eye closed. He stood up, leaned down, and lifted the girl up until her feet were dangling in the air. Then he pressed his forearm into her throat as all her air began to squeeze out of her. She put her arms up on the man's arm in attempt to pull herself free, but it went about as well as the nine-year-old expected. "I'm gonna get a lot of money bringing you in, but I'd cut that sort of shit out before I decide you're not worth it!"
Airi wanted to scream and shout for someone, anyone to come to her rescue. And as Airi's head began to get foggy, she couldn't help but think why she was so god-damned helpless all the time. Sable needed to save her from those thugs, and Magnus and his partners were the ones who dealt with Meicoomon. But all alone... this girl couldn't even escape from some corrupt cop with shitty acting.
Whoever Sable stole all that money from must have put some kind of bounty on her or something. One of the thugs that had attacked her found out her name, so it wasn't much of a surprise. The fog in her head thickened as her vision blurred and she began to lose consciousness. But then... she felt her knees smack into the pavement before falling face-first onto the filthy cement.
She coughed as she gasped for air, looking up to see the dirty cop be held down by a... strange metal lizard creature. It had one clawed hand tightly wrapped around his throat while his strong lizard legs pressed down against his torso. The officer tried to pull free from the machine lizard's stranglehold, and for a second it looked like he was going to succeed, but the strange, blue-colored Digimon bit down into the back of the man's neck and he let out a silent gasp, unable to scream due to the choke. Airi just watched this go on until the officer stopped moving.
The Digimon then slid out from underneath the officer and stood up, sighing. "Some humans are tougher than I thought..." He commented after giving an exasperated sigh. "Well, I don't think using my weapons would have had a pretty result..." Upon mention of weapons, Airi noticed a small machine gun strapped to the Digimon's back. The lizard turned back toward the fallen officer and shrugged. "But I guess it was a fitting punishment, considering what he was doing to you."
"Who are you?" She asked, even though she recognized the voice. It was just... hard to believe.
"That's... the first time you ever asked for my name," He replied coolly. "But since I overheard that guy mention yours, I guess it's only fair you know mine..." He walked over besides Airi, bending down to pick up something. He handed her the Xros Loader. She must have dropped it during the struggle and not have realized it. Airi took it from his grasp as the screen lit up.
"What is... is this supposed to be...?"
"It figures..." The Digimon commented before letting out a laugh. "I come here to escape from the Digital World, and the one good thing about this place turns out to be what brings me back..." He let out a long sigh before staring off into the distance. His attention eventually turned back to Airi. "Well, as generals go, I guess I can't complain... You're still a kid, but you're quick and you don't exactly scare easily."
"General... you mean you're...?" Airi knew that... an Xros General commanded multiple Digimon. So aside from Sable, that meant that this new... formerly homeless man was... also connected to Airi in some way?
"You can call me Sarge. I'm a Commandramon, and I guess that makes me part of your army now," He gave the girl a salute. "So, what are your orders, boss?"
Airi stood in stunned silence for a long minute before looking back at the unconscious officer and the officer's discarded wallet. "We... should probably get going!"
Word Counr: 2180/1000
