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A new hero arrives! EM Rider Hachi! (Yuji)
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Post by Octavio on Oct 22, 2021 3:03:28 GMT
"I can personally guarantee that there is no possible way for him to be physically harmed by this test. Emotionally? I can't make any promises on how he'll react. I'm a scientist, not omniscient." Tartar promised. That was really the best they could hope to get out of him, seeing as they would likely need to stress Kazuo out to actually trigger his battle mode.
The Kokuwamon X would have Soundblaster pull a chair over by a nearby monitor and speaker while the scientist wheeled over a cart with a smaller monitor and keyboard set up on top of it. Tartar opened a drawer on the cart and pulled out what looked like several large, multicolored stickers. "Alright, Kazuo. Just sit down in this chair so that I can stick these wireless sensors to your head. You may feel a slight itch, but please do not scratch at the sensors as it'll damage them. Before we begin, do you have any sensitivity to bright, flashing lights, or difficulties seeing or hearing?"
Seeing as she didn't seem to be needed any longer, Cecilia quietly wandered off towards her bedroom. Soundblaster and Metal would be more than enough to keep Tartar in check.
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Post by Yuji Moriyama and Kazuo on Oct 22, 2021 3:22:37 GMT
"Well... I decide when we stop then," Yuji concluded. "If I think he's had enough, and I tell you he's had enough, then I expect that you shut everything down right away. But... he's a tough little guy. I have faith he can handle whatever you decide to throw at him." It was hard for Yuji to be 100% on board when he's left in the dark on what EXACTLY Tartar intended to show him.
Soundblaster would then pull a chair over to a nearby monitor while Tartar got his equipment ready. He instructed Kazuo to sit down in the chair, which the Tentomon did just that. Yuji crossed his arms as Tartar stuck the sensors onto Kazuo's head, which the Kokuwamon-X warned him not to itch. "But they're so itchy though," Kazuo complained, very much feeling the itch that Tartar was talking about.
"Just do what he says, Kazuo, okay?" Yuji reminded his partner.
"Alright, Yuyu..." Kazuo said as he let Tartar do his thing. It still itched like crazy, but he could take it. Tartar asked if he had any sensitivities to bright lights, or any difficulties hearing or seeing. "Hmmm, no, not at all. I'm used to flashing lights since I'm electrical and all."
While everything was being set up, Yuji moved closer to Soundblaster. "How trustworthy is Tartar?" Yuji whispered to him, so that Tartar himself wouldn't hear. "He told me that Kazuo wouldn't be physically harmed but... I don't know, I still can't help feeling uneasy."
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Post by Octavio on Oct 23, 2021 23:29:00 GMT
When Yuji asked about Tartar's trustworthiness, Soundblaster gave the teen a 'so-so' gesture with his hand. "He can be a jerk with dubious morals at times, but you can usually trust what he says at face value. If he says your partner won't be hurt, then it would take something ridiculously crazy and/or stupid for your friend to get hurt. Besides, I took a quick peek at the stuff on that hard drive while you guys were talking with the others. The stuff on there isn't that bad."
While the Ballistamon did his best to reassure Yuji, Tartar had already started showing the first samples on the screen. True to his own word, the Kokuwamon started off small with short clips of ordinary things, such as kittens playing, thunderstorms, and battle scenes from WWII movies before suddenly interrupting the clip show with a quick jumpscare of a shrieking skeleton.
After the jumpscare transitioned into a clip from a shark documentary, Tartar would scribble notes down on a notepad as he observed the sensor readings and Kazuo's reactions to the footage.
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Post by Yuji Moriyama and Kazuo on Oct 25, 2021 1:39:36 GMT
The "so-so" gesture didn't inspire any confidence within Yuji. Almost made him feel like he made a mistake accepting Tartar's offer. Thankfully Soundblaster explained that Tartar was at the very least not a liar, and he genuinely means whatever he says. He also said that the stuff on his hard drive he planned to have Kazuo see wasn't even that bad. "Alright, thanks, I guess..."
Yuji watched from not too far away as the screen began showing the first few clips. It started off with short clips of ordinary things, like kittens and scenes from World War 2 movies and the like. Both Yuji and Kazuo were a bit confused by where this was going. ...what is Tartar planning on doing with-
And right in the middle of that thought was when the screaming skeleton image popped up, startling both Yuji and Kazuo. Yuji would stagger a bit, looking away as he recovered from that sudden jumpscare ("A screamer? Really?!" he would vent out loud,) and Kazuo would just out-right yelp and the suddenness of that jumpscare, putting a claw on his chest.
"I hate horror movies..." Kazuo complained as he recovered from his own scare.
On the sensor readings itself, Tartar would notice them change suddenly in response to the jumpscare, but they would be average readings for a Digimon who had just gotten jump scared. Nothing too out of the ordinary had been recorded quite yet...
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Post by Octavio on Oct 29, 2021 4:33:23 GMT
"All right, that's on me for not noticing he'd hidden jumpscares in the files. My bad." Soundblaster sheepishly apologized to Yuji and Kazuo. Even the Ballistamon had been caught off-guard by the jumpscare.
"It appears that fear alone is apparently not enough to trigger this 'battle mode' phenomenon." Tartar said as he wrote the observations down on a notepad. "A lackluster result, but still ultimately progress, in the end. Moving on to the next phase of testing."
For this phase, Tartar would set his equipment to play an ultra-low frequency that was imperceptible to those who lacked enhanced hearing, but was still capable of inducing feelings of anxiety in those exposed to it for prolonged periods of time. The Kokuwamon X would then play a similar series of clips to the first, with places where you'd obviously expect a jumpscare. However, no jumpscares would actually pop up this time.
In essence, this round of testing was meant to psyche Kazuo out and make him feel stressed and paranoid about more potential jumpscares popping up. Stress, rather than fear.
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Post by Yuji Moriyama and Kazuo on Oct 29, 2021 18:22:03 GMT
Yuji took note on how Soundblaster reacted to the jump-scare. He didn't think that a Digimon like him was even capable of being jump-scared like that. "You weren't startled by the skeleton, were you? The actual image itself wasn't even that freaky, it was the fact that it came out of nowhere that got me."
Now it was time for the next phase. Kazuo didn't know why, but suddenly he was feeling very anxious all of a sudden. Even Yuji was feeling it as well. What they didn't know was that Tartar was playing this low frequency sound that invoked feelings of panic and anxiety to those who listen for a while. The screen continued showing more images like before the jumpscare happened...
...only this time, no such jumpscare image would appear.
Kazuo's breathing got a bit heavier, his Digicore started pulsing more. He was one hundred percent anticipating something to just suddenly pop up on screen but it just wasn't happening! Why wasn't it happening?! Just get it over with already! "I don't like this... I don't like this..."
On Tartar's sensor readings, something was definitely happening. Signs that Kazuo was indeed stressed out. But again, these were ordinary readings that simply showed that Kazuo was anxious and stressed. But it was close to revealing at least something about his supposed battle mode...
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Post by Octavio on Oct 31, 2021 22:03:10 GMT
"I don't like skeletons, okay? It's creepy to see internal body parts on the outside like that. Not to mention it makes me think of SkullGreymon." Soundblaster admitted. "Tell anyone about this, though, and they'll never find your body."
Tartar, meanwhile, kept a close eye on the sensor readings while the anxiety was getting to Kazuo, but the ULF tone still wasn't eliciting the desired results from the Tentomon's core. Tartar softly growled to himself in frustration, accidentally snapping the pencil he was holding as he did so. After cleaning up the pieces of the broken writing utensil, the Kokuwamon X would irritably slam the pencil halves and notepad on the cart and shut off the audio file.
Once that was done, Tartar took a deep breath before gently trying to get Yuji to follow him over to a private corner of the lab so that he could speak to the Tamer in private. "*Sigh* Unfortunately, it seems that fear and stress alone aren't enough to draw out your partner's 'battle mode', meaning we may have to resort to more... drastic measures to bring it out. I believe that the only way to do so would be for one of you to be in danger, or rather for Kazuo to think that you're in danger. That would require us pretending to threaten one of you, even if we won't actually hurt either of you."
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Post by Yuji Moriyama and Kazuo on Nov 7, 2021 3:33:28 GMT
"So what I'm hearing is you're the type that would faint at the first sight of blood," Yuji responded with a smirk. "Maybe I oughta sit you down and force you to watch something like Parasyte or Biohazard at some point? Also, don't think I've ever seen a SkullGreymon before..."
Yeesh, Soundblaster made it crystal clear that he didn't want Yuji telling anyone that he didn't like skeletons. "Okay, okay, I won't tell anyone," Yuji conceded, defensively raising his hands up. "You're really defensive about this kind of thing, huh?"
The feeling of anxiousness quickly left the room as Tartar pulled Yuji to the side. He explained that he would have to have Kazuo believe that Yuji was in danger for the battle mode to be triggered. That was the deal breaker for Yuji. "No way, I'm not doing it Tartar. I don't care if it's fake or what, I won't do it. The first time it was triggered, it was after I got struck in the face with a flaming piece of wood. I was in great pain, and it caused Kazuo to snap. If he does end up falling for it, it's just going to make him hate all of you, and you have to know how highly he thinks of you guys. So if you think I'm going to go along with this, then you're out of your god damn mind. If there's really nothing else, then I'm going to grab Kazuo and we are going to leave before he gets scarred for life."
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Post by Octavio on Nov 7, 2021 6:58:46 GMT
To be blunt, Yuji's reaction to Tartar's suggestion ended up being exactly what the Kokuwamon X expected it to be. "I never said we were going to go through with it without your permission. I was merely stating what the data we've received was implying. While I would be willing to play the role of the villain here for the sake of science, I will ultimately respect your decision not to... to..."
As the Kokuwamon quietly trailed off mid-sentence, Soundblaster noticed that the scientist was staring at a point behind Yuji and followed his gaze, only to similarly freeze up when he caught sight of a... familiar-looking fridge that had quietly appeared in the open doorway to the lab. "What are you staring at - oh. Oooh, s**t."
The newly-returned "Monster Fridge' would open it's door to reveal the sharp teeth and tongue located inside while unfurling the tongue like a chameleon right towards Yuji, seeing the human as a potentially tasty snack. However, Tartar would instinctively react by pushing Yuji out of the way and letting himself be grabbed by the tongue and pulled into the refrigerator's gaping maw instead. Having swallowed it's prey, the refrigerator would let out a burp that ended up spitting out one of Tartar's arms.
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Post by Yuji Moriyama and Kazuo on Nov 8, 2021 5:12:25 GMT
Yuji crossed his arms and listened to Tartar as he tried to explain himself. Ultimately, the mad scientist assured Yuji that he wouldn't do this without the human's permission, despite clearly sounding disappointed about it. Yuji was preparing to respond to Tartar, but the Kokuwamon stopping mid-sentence made things a bit weird. It looked as if he was staring at something behind Yuji. Even Soundblaster looked the same. "Whaaaat's going on...?"
The teen turned around and came face to face with what looked to be a robotic refrigerator monster, its door opened to reveal sharp teeth and a chameleon-like tongue. "HOLY SHIT!" Yuji screamed, his body freezing up with fear as the fridge monster's tongue shot out at him. In a surprising turn of events, it was Tartar who pushed Yuji out of the way just in time, allowing himself to be taken instead.
"Yuyu, I heard screaming, what's-" Kazuo started to say as he appeared in the open doorway himself, just in time to see the fridge monster swallow Tartar and spit up one of his arms. This... thing... ate Tartar... no... no. "I am going to kill you!" Kazuo growled as he glared right at the fridge abomination.
It would be at this moment that the sensor readings would start to go utterly berserk, showing readings that one might have never even seen before, before the readings themselves were stable but entirely abnormal. It would be a mutated reading of the target being... focused.
"TENTOMON, DIGIVOLVE TO..." Kazuo yelled as his body started to glow and morph, unwittingly borrowing power from Yuji. "KABUTERIMON!"
Now a Champion level, Kazuo would dash up towards the fridge and shove his hand into its mouth, grabbing onto Tartar and pulling him out. He was missing an arm but he should be fine otherwise, Lightly tossing the Kokuwamon onto the ground, Kazuo grabbed the fridge with all four of his arms before spinning around and launching it up into the air, right through the ceiling. "Electro Shocker!!" Kazuo then sent an insanely powerful electric blast upwards towards the ascending monster fridge, frying it greatly in the process for all who were nearby at the time to see. Not too far from the lab, a lone Stingmon was flying through the debris of Old Terminus, as if he were searching for something in particular. That searching would come to a halt when he spotted the lightning shoot up into the sky like that, from some sort of old small building not too far away.
"That kind of power..." the Stingmon muttered to himself, "even though it is only Champion level... that is definitely a royal power signature. I believe that I may have found him at last.
"*huff* *huff* Yuji, are you okay?" Kazuo asked his partner, still in his battle state and in his Kabuterimon form. "What was that thing, anyways?"
"I... I think that was the monster fridge that Tartar built," Yuji responded. "The same one he was talking about earlier."
"...why would you make something like that?" Kazuo asked as he turned to look at Tartar. "I saw what happened. You pushed Yuji out of the way, saved him from your creation. For that I thank you. Is your arm going to be okay?"
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Post by Octavio on Nov 8, 2021 6:08:15 GMT
After Tartar got eaten, Soundblaster and MetalKhimeramon were about to attack the monster fridge, but Kazuo was apparently a bit faster and beat them to it. After digivolving to Kabuterimon, Kazuo managed to pry open the fridge's mouth and rescue Tartar before literally blasting the abomination straight through the roof of the lab and Old Terminus and all the way to the surface.
Missing arm aside, Tartar was relatively okay, albeit obviously chewed up a bit and covered in teeth marks. One of the abomination's teeth managed to actually pierce the Kokuwamon X's left eye, and the optic's darkened appearance made it quite clear that it was busted.
"Th-th-thank you for the Ass-ss-ss-ss-*clang* rescue." Tartar garbled out, hitting himself in the chest when his voice kept malfunctioning like a broken record due to the damage. "The a-a-a-arm can be regraced-laced-*clang*-placed. Ugh, I had-d-d j-j-j-ust fixed that glitch-ch-ch, too."
"Well, that thing isn't coming back any time soon. I knew you had it in you, kid." Soundblaster chimed in, obviously impressed by Kazuo's quick action. "Not sure how we're gonna make sure that damned thing's actually dead this time, though."
At that point, Cecilia came running back into the room after she heard Kazuo sending the fridge through the roof. Ink guns in hand, the Rubescemon quickly scanned the room before seeing the evolved Kazuo, the hole in the roof, and the damaged Tartar. Cecilia angrily called out, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED IN HERE?!"
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Post by Yuji Moriyama and Kazuo on Nov 13, 2021 1:50:22 GMT
Tartar's appearance after he was saved from the robotic fridge was not a pretty sight, to put it lightly. He had sustained quite a bit of damage from being chewed up like that. His arm was missing, he was covered in teeth marks, and one of the teeth had actually managed to pierce Tartar's left eye. Still, he looked like he was still functioning at least. The damage would be a bit worse though as soon as he began to speak.
"Your... voice is sounding a bit different there, Tartar," Yuji couldn't help but point out. "Maybe you're more banged up than we thought."
"I say he should keep it like that," Kazuo said. "It'll be a good reminder to not overcharge again and end up building a monster oven or something to go along with the fridge." He looked at Soundblaster and smiled when the Ballistamon praised Kazuo, slowly snapping him back to his original state. "Oh, wait, did I do the thing again? Maybe the thing recorded it this time!"
Before that could go and be checked, Cecilia ran into the room and saw the aftermath, rightfully wanting to know what the hell just happened. "That... monster fridge broke in," Yuji admitted. "But it was not Murphy's Law, it would've happened regardless if I said anything or not, so don't you dare punch me."
"I'm assuming this monster fridge is what I saw that bolt of lightning fry then," a sudden somewhat posh voice was heard from above. The source of this voice came from none other than a Stingmon that was hovering down from the hole in the ceiling. "I must admit, that is definitely a first for me."
"And who might you be?" Kazuo asked, slipping back to his battle mode state.
"At ease, I am not here to hurt anyone," the Stingmon said, raising his hands up half way. "My name is Sting, and I hail as a loyal assistant to the royal family of Cobug." The humanoid insect would then do a slight bow. "And might I say... you are quite the spitting image of your father, young prince."
"...what?"
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Post by Octavio on Nov 13, 2021 21:14:14 GMT
Of course, Yuji had to point out the obvious fact of Tartar's voice box malfunctioning due to being chewed up by the Hell Fridge (trademark pending). However, Kazuo's statement that Tartar should keep it like that as a lesson earned the Kabuterimon a stern glare from the battered robot's good eye as he went and picked up his severed arm. "That l-l-lesson was learned when I f-f-first made that acc-c-cursed thing, so there's no need to insalt-*clang*-sult me to my face. Otherw-wise, you can save your p-p-partner yours-s-self next time!"
While that was going on, Cecilia, realizing that the danger had passed, holstered her weapons and casually strolled up to Yuji and playfully flick him on the forehead while smirking mischievously. "Now, now, there's no need to be so snippy. When did I say I was actually gonna follow through with that, hmm~?"
When the Stingmon suddenly flew down and introduced himself, Soundblaster and MetalKhimeramon both instinctively pointed their guns at the humanoid insect while Tartar reflexively threw his detached arm at the newcomer before realizing what he'd just done and freezing up when the Stingmon dropped the bombshell that apparently Kazuo was actually a prince.
"Come again?" Soundblaster asked in disbelief.
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Post by Yuji Moriyama and Kazuo on Nov 14, 2021 4:46:43 GMT
"Given that that hell fridge broke in and nearly devoured my partner, I feel like I have a right to at least be a little bit angry at you, even if you did save him," Kazuo replied as he crossed both sets of his arms.
"Okay, let's all chill out a bit," Yuji said, butting into the argument. "The thing is gone, and hopefully won't be coming back. Though maybe higher security wouldn't hurt..."
Before Yuji could retaliate against Cecilia, that was when Sting had made his way into the lab. Naturally, he was met with opposition, as Soundblaster and Metal aimed their guns at him and Tartar even threw his broken arm at the Stingmon. Without flinching even a little bit, Sting effortlessly caught the arm. "I assure you that I do not intend to harm, and I have literal arms thrown at me. Wonderful." He looked down at the arm he just caught. "Hm, this arm could possibly be salvaged... would you like it back?"
Once Sting revealed just what Kazuo actually was, needless to say everyone was pretty confused by this revelation, including Kazuo himself. "Kazuo? A... A prince?"
"Sting, was it?" Kazuo responded. "I believe you have the wrong Digimon..."
"Oh, I assure you that you are indeed the one I am searching for, the lost prince of Cobug," Sting insisted. "Let me ask you this... do you ever seem to be a different Digimon whenever it felt as if your life depended on it? Like the whole world now looks different through your eyes, and you're able to focus on your goal more clearly."
"Well... yeah," Kazuo admitted, "but how did you know?"
"Your parents, of course," Sting said. "My job for the past five years was to search for you, and to bring you home to Cobug. They will be so thrilled to hear that you are not only safe, but as much of a warrior as your father was before you."
"My... my parents..." Kazuo repeated, before he devolved back into Tentomon. "So many things... so many thoughts... my head hurts..."
"Kaz..." Yuji muttered as he knelt down to his partner's height, patting him on the head.
"You... truly do not know?" Sting asked, realizing just what he had done. "But Hercule assured me... I apologize for being so blunt, but I assure you now that I am telling the truth."
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Post by Octavio on Nov 14, 2021 5:34:13 GMT
"*Ahem* I ap-p-pologize for throwing th-that at you. After n-n-nearly dying mere minutes ago, I react-t-ted on reflex." Tartar humbly stuttered out, looking away from Sting in shame. Internally, he found it quite fascinating when the Stingmon revealed that Kazuo's 'battle mode' was apparently something inherited from his father, yet was also somewhat annoyed that it meant that all the testing they'd done was basically meaningless at this point.
Soundblaster and MetalKhimeramon both glanced at each other before deciding to give Sting a chance and put their weapons away. MetalKhimeramon in particular actually found the Stingmon's words quite interesting. "I must admit that I'm quite intrigued about this 'Cobug' kingdom you've mentioned. Would you perhaps be willing to explain more about it?"
"This day just gets weirder and weirder..." Soundblaster muttered under his breath as he headed to the door leading to the residential portion of the base. "I'm gonna go make some coffee while you guys figure this whole thing out. Does anyone else want me to bring them some when I come back?"
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