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Post by supesman on Feb 8, 2023 13:38:34 GMT
"Well the thing is that I don't have a mouth. Not the way that humans have one at the very least. Like there's hole behind my pincers where food goes after I swallow it but my pincers are the closest thing I have to teeth and they're on the outside. I don't have any use for a jaw or lips or a palette because my chewing and swallowing mechanism is all on the outside." Marigold said, opening wide with a cute little "aaahhh" sound as she showed what she meant. Jagged zigzag "teeth" on either of her pincers that fit together like the halves of a pair of pliers when she closed her mouth and a neat little black hole at the back on the flesh of her face. "No, don't ask me how I make the majority of mouth sounds when I talk. Because I do not know and I have resigned myself not to ask." Marigold said, shrugging to herself. She was an insect and that meant looking at things from a mostly mammalian worldview the way even a lot of other insect themed digimon were able to just didn't work for her.
"Just think, one of these days soon she's gonna be driving your car. Then you're really gonna be paying for her lessons of hubris. I just hope that with as many kids as you've got you got a GOOD insurance premium. Me? I walk. That way if my kids cause some kind of horrible bloody vehicle crash it's technically the Tokyo Metro's problem." Zack said, brushing his hands together as he symbolically washed his hands of the worry. He wasn't SURE that they could really mess up a train that badly, the Tokyo Metro was famous for being timed down to the precision of a Swiss watch. But with Violet's mechanical expertise and incorrigible curiosity always hanging around one could never be quite sure.
"The sensation of "taste" is alien to me. The satisfaction of food that burns will is the closest feedback that I can think of but I also do not engage with energy production in quite the same way." Violet said as they also shared their perspective. Zack's children had many things that made them different but he had to nod along with Lothar's appraisal of the situation. Compared to the "normal" brats some humans raised, he could only consider himself lucky.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Feb 8, 2023 22:45:20 GMT
Circe had finished her milkshake just as Marigold began to explain that she didn't have a mouth in the way humans had one. Then the Fanbeemon began to explain how she had a hole behind her pinchers where her food went after being swallowed and that her pinchers were the closest thing she had to teeth. Circe cocked her head to the side showing her curiosity as Marigold opened her pinchers wide showing how her pinchers fit together. "W-We digimon do many things that would outright baffle humans. Insect digimon w-with pinchers just seem to make mouth sounds like humans even though it doesn't seem completely logical." Circe said in response to Marigold's shrug. Somehow there was something about this Fanbeemon that made Circe willing to talk to her more than some people. Maybe it was the parallels the two of them shared what with them being abandoned by their mothers. Though the term respective was one she didn't dare direct at either Marigold's nor her own Arukenimon mother.
"I never thought about any of my current children or potential future children driving but at least Lothar had the forethought to handle everything needed when he bought the car for me. To be honest I would be surprised if LJ didn't drive considering he is the eldest." Mandrake said as it appeared as if his mind was wandering for a moment before he then said "Regarding the Metro one can hope Violet can keep their curiosity in check because the last thing this city needs is a small digimon messing with the mechanical systems of the trains."
Then when Violet spoke up contributing their way of feedback regarding their method of energy consumption, Circe took on a thoughtful look before she said "I g-guess the one advantage to your internal incinerator is that you don't sometimes get food stuck in you teeth like I sometimes do with my fangs. Other t-than my spider legs it's the only other outward spider trait I have. Well t-that and the fact that I am a venomous spider."
Both Mandrake and Lothar looked surprised for a moment before realizing it made sense given her preferred method of catching prey in a web since she had only recently been learning how to forage for plants or how to catch fish and small non digimon prey without her web. Such alternate methods were useful when her web was not a practical means of catching food.
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Post by supesman on Feb 9, 2023 20:46:24 GMT
"I couldn't explain how I talk to someone if they had a gun to my head. By all rights it simply doesn't make sense. I suppose it's our privilege as Digimon to break the laws of physics over our knees and then go about our days as if it was totally normal." Marigold said as she continued to demonstrate her own speech without even having all of the tools of speech within her mouth or anywhere on her body.
"Hey planning for the future is important. It was just over a year ago that this one's egg showed up in the middle of my dorm room in the dead of night. All I've been doing is planning for the future since then. Though when it comes to digimon lord help me if I have a snowball's chance in hell of actually predicting what on earth is going to happen next." Zack leaned back, placing his hand lightly on his face as he shook his head and smiled. One thing he could certainly say about his current life is that it was never anywhere near boring.
Marigold smiled at Circe, she saw the shy spider begin to come out of her shell (the proverbial one, coming out of her literal exoskeleton would probably hurt a little) and if that meant that Marigold could keep pushing her to open up then she would do that just to do a little good that day.
"Venomous huh? Not me. My stinger is just a big serrated piece of OUCH on the end of my body. That's usually more than enough to make sure that bad guys don't overstep or, if they do, that they very SHARPLY come to regret it." Marigold said, giggling at her own pun as she brandished her jagged looking stinger polished to a mirror sheen making it look like a saber ready for battle.
"I will state for the record that my intense interest in the mechanics of human heavy machinery has only ever nearly resulted in a crash once that I am aware of." Violet said, Zack giving them a sideways sarcastic glance that communicated "one is probably one too many" without having to say it in words. Violet crossed two of their tendrils in front of them and huffed with an exaggerated exasperation, the twinkle in their tone showing more than a smile ever could. A smile their father easily returned with a gentle pet to the top of the V-Pet device.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Feb 9, 2023 21:37:53 GMT
"Yeah we digimon tend to do a lot of things that humans can't easily understand even the ones with more humaniod forms defy the human's perception of physics. However, Marigold, you and I both know that in the Digital World our concept of physics is all over the place." Lothar said with a warm chuckle after Marigold's demonstration of how she spoke without the visibly needed tools for such in her mouth.
"Yes planning for the future is indeed important. Sure there are things that happen you can't always prepare for but those tend to be the tests that show how well you can handle the stress that is thrown at you. At least you seemed to handle the sudden appearance of Marigold's egg appearing in your dorm room very well. At least she didn't eat your entire dorm room or you would have some explaining to do." Mandrake said chuckling at the last sentence he spoke given he learned Marigold would inhale most plant matter shortly after she hatched. Seeing as a lot of things in the Human World were made of plant matter that could of been quite the mess indeed.
Circe made a face before she said "A serrated s-stinger sounds like it might hurt more than spider venom depending on the opponent. Ouch is r-right." Then a random thought entered the spiderling's head as she tugged gently on Mandrake's arm causing the disguised Wizardmon to look at her before she asked "D-Dad, do you two have any ideas in mind for your future wedding?"
"This was brought on by Zack's mentioning of being prepared for the future wasn't it?" Mandrake asked and Circe nodded. Then Violet admitting to interest causing a crash caused Mandrake and Lothar to glance at the V-Pet in shock before Mandrake asked "Why do I get the feeling that crash was more than just innocent curiosity?" His tone was sarcastic matching the sarcastic glances Zack was directing at the V-Pet.
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Post by supesman on Feb 10, 2023 14:37:28 GMT
"Evidently they found a way to release just about every safety mechanism holding a wrecking ball to a crane at the exact same time. So we ended up with a massive ball of iron and steel plummeting toward earth like an elevator in an action movie." Zack said, pointing up in gesture in order to motion toward the idea of what he was talking about. "They evidently forget that, however much to my chagrin. I am NOT Superman and couldn't just catch the ball out of the air. The best we could do at the time was make sure all the people who were standing under the damn thing had gotten clear before it left a yacht sized crater in the sidewalk." Zack said as he explained the entire story to his compatriots. Looking down to Violet with the "explain yourself" explicit in his face.
"I was simply curious to see how many of the latches attached to the ball's chain I could detach before the weight of the ball overpowered the mechanism. Turns out it is all of them, each safety feature on a wrecking crane is designed to be able to hold the entire weight of the ball by itself, the other mechanisms are mostly for the sake of redundancy." Violet said, speaking as if they were rattling off a fun fact that they had learned on television and not that they had actually be responsible for a dangerous and expensive technological calamity.
"This is why we don't bring them on stakeouts anymore. They get bored, and then that boredom becomes everyone else's problem and there's only so many discarded electronics we can give them to take apart to keep them interested." Marigold said, looking over at her sibling who simply shrugged her shimmering silver tendrils in reply. "Whenever we're on patrol if we find an old cellphone or a discarded appliance or something, the kind of things you find in alleyways and the like we always bring it home and its like all their christmases have come at once." Marigold said, but Zack visibly smiled at that. It was not skin off his nose that keeping one of his children entertained was so easy.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Feb 10, 2023 21:15:18 GMT
Mandrake, Lothar, and Circe looked at Zack in shock as the human explained what had happened. It seemed Violet had gotten bored and disconnected the crane. The trio breathed a sigh of relief at learning that fortunately no one had gotten hurt from Violet's shenanigans. "Sounds like if you two take them on stake outs again you should bring them things to help keep Violet entertained." Lothar said before Violet began to explain themselves. Apparently they wanted to know how many latches on the wrecking ball that could be detached before the weight was overpowering. Apparently all of them were necessary due to the safety features. This was good for humans under most circumstances but not if there was a curious and bored digimon involved.
"Violet..You do realize you could of hurt a lot of people." Mandrake began with a stern but concerned tone before it calmed as he then said "I get you were curious and wanting to relieve your boredom by trying to figure the machine out but maybe you could of looked up the blueprints online while on stakeout or something instead of endangering others."
"So I guess a giant book of crossword puzzles wouldn't keep them out of trouble for long then." Lothar said putting in his two cents. Meanwhile Circe was staring at the V-Pet nervously as if now wary of Violet.
Seeing how Circe was staring at the V-Pet, Mandrake said "Don't worry, Circe. Violet isn't trying to hurt anyone on purpose. They apparently become a handful when bored though."
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Post by supesman on Feb 11, 2023 13:45:38 GMT
"I had much the same conversation with them after the whole fiasco and to be fair they did learn from that experience in more than just a technical sense. Nowadays they're much more careful to only screw with things that could cause a large amount of deeply expensive damage which is...AN improvement I guess." Zack said as he shrugged. Causing a few hundred or thousand dollars in damage because they were screwing with something is at least a general improvement over causing damage that might kill someone at the very least.
"No, they'd want to invent something that could solve the crosswords all at once and it would end up turning into a terminator with a VERY advanced vocabulary." Marigold said, equally resigned to the "eccentricities" of their sibling's mechanical fixation.
"We just leave them at home most of the time. They're not a superhero by nature, which is totally fine. Just because Marigold and I are committed to that lifestyle doesn't mean that all of my kids automatically have to be." Zack said with a smile. Violet was usually very well behaved when left at home. The internet and television were more than enough to scratch that itch for mechanical knowledge without having to actually go out and wreck something. "They REALLY like mechanical physics games where they can break things and instead of having to fix it they can examine every little detail in slow motion from any angle." Zack said, recalling all the times Violet had been glued to his laptop screen watching the physics dominoes fall on screen
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Feb 11, 2023 21:14:47 GMT
I guess every little bit helps. Maybe with time Violet will learn to be more patient despite their quirks." Lothar said taking in Zack's shrug. Then when Marigold mentioned Violet would want to invent something that could solve all the crosswords at once turning into a terminator with an advanced vocabulary both Mandrake and Lothar snorted with laughter before he said "Sounds like such an invention would ruin the fun of all those crosswords."
"Maybe their talent with machinery can inspire them to invent devices that could help others." Mandrake said after Zack explain how Violet entertains themselves at home. "You are right about them not having to be a superhero. Just like my children don't have to use their magic to entertain others but they are still going to be taught control so the young ones don't blow themselves or others up or something else crazy that can happen with magic."
Now calmer Circe cocked her head again appearing as if her curiosity was overcoming her wariness as she asked "Zack, has V-Violet ever invented things that have helped you and Marigold in your superhero work? They s-seem smart enough to do such seeing as they made that machine for M-Marigold that one time you and they played villian to test Marigold."
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Post by supesman on Feb 12, 2023 13:47:10 GMT
"Well let's take a look, why don't we." Zack said, slinging his backpack into the seat beside him and unzipping the top of it. First things first they saw that insectoid helmet that was the most recognizable definition of his superhero persona. "They fixed this one all up for me. It's not bulletproof but it won't shatter on impact if I end up getting shoved into a wall."
"We're aware that my father can't exactly fight on a Digimon's level. The best thing we can do for him in a combat sense is make sure he doesn't get killed from his repeated attempts to do it anyway." Marigold said, sighing and placing her head in her "hands". Zack would never simply sit back and let Marigold take a fight if there was even a single chance he could give her some kind of advantage, no matter the risk.
"I've got my grappling hook, these little tracer things that I can track with an app on my phone, OH! They encrypted my phone to hell and back." He said, setting down his smartphone and clicking on the screen which looked like a normal password screen and he opened it as such. But when he closed the phone again and opened it onto the passcode screen, tapping all four fingers on his right hand onto the screen in a particular sequence it opened up to a totally separate home screen filled with the information and technology he used in his superhero persona
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Feb 12, 2023 21:31:10 GMT
Mandrake and Lothar watched as Circe cocked her head in curiosity while watching Zack sling his backpack into the seat behind him before unzipping it revealing the all too familiar insectiod helmet Zack was known for as the Digi Rider. Apparently Violet had fixed it up so the helmet wouldn't shatter upon impact with a wall. "That sure is handy given the trouble you and your children tend to attract whether on purpose or not. So what will be next for Violet, light weight armor or would that go against the whole Kamen Rider theme you are going for? Or will Marigold and Violet work together to make a more resilient hero outfit for you?" Mandrake said. Sure his last two questions were more playful than serious and Zack and his children would likely notice that.
"W-Well at least with a better helmet Zack's brain will be more resistant to damage and won't be as easily splattered on a wall or something." Circe said after taking in the information for awhile. Then Zack mentioned various devices Violet had modified which caused Circe's eyes to light up in amazement before she said "W-Wow! They did all that. Violet is amazing." She then glanced at Lothar before she looked at her hands and said "L-Lothar is amazing too as he can fix many machines but I don't know his true limits to that talent." Lothar smiled at Circe's compliment and wasn't bothered about not being referred to by any word for dad. The fact that she was speaking highly of him on top of feeling safe around him was enough. Yes he had adopted the little spider as his own but he wanted her to be comfortable around him. Heck Kshin didn't call either him or Mandrake dad and it didn't bother the pair in the least.
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Post by supesman on Feb 13, 2023 13:43:44 GMT
"Unfortunately the designs that we have submitted to improve his body's defensive capabilities have all been rejected over superfluous technical concerns." Violet said, crossing their arms over their torso with a clear tone that made it obvious they weren't saying the entire context.
"I couldn't move in most of them! I appreciate that you two want to keep me alive, really nothing could make me more proud and feel more loved as a father but I've told you I'm not going to stand around in an iron fridge while Marigold does all the fighting. It's unfortunate that human world materials don't make me bulletproof AND able to do a quadruple back flip forty feet in the air, really it is but I need a range of motion in order to back Marigold up." Zack said, rejecting what ideas the pair had already sprung on him out of hand, waving them off with a toss of his hand.
"Turns out when you design something out a bulletproof material that looks like an actual Kamen Rider suit you run into the issue that Kamen Riders only look as acrobatic as they do because of lifelong, top of the line stuntmen, expensive special effects and deliberately careful editing. And THOSE suits are made out of plastic and pleather, instead of Kevlar and ballistic weave." Marigold said, shrugging and shaking her head like it was a real shame. Zack just shrugged. He had actually grown slightly attached to his place as an off brand Kamen Rider. The jank inherent in his costume and equipment only made people more inspired when they found out, or believed, that he was really out there doing good in the dark of the night. It made him feel like the underdog proving the whole world wrong and doing some good in the process. Win win.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Feb 13, 2023 20:47:18 GMT
Mandrake, Lothar, and Circe listened as Violet mentioned trying to improve defense capabilities and how Zack mentioned not being able to move in most of them. Yes mobility for a tamer was important especially more so for a human involved in the superhero business. "Violet.." Mandrake said in a gentle tone to get their attention before he continued "While it is nice you want to keep Zack safe, surely you know mobility is important for humans especially in the Digital World where they may have to flee if things go wrong. If such a suit cuts Zack's mobility it cuts his ability to evade digimon attacks. Besides many digimon abilities can go right through kevlar like a hot knife through butter especially the high level digimon."
"There might be more resilient variations similar to what you wear in the Digital World, Zack, if you don't want mobility cut. You can use some machine digimon as an example as some seem to be surprisingly agile." Lothar said amazed a human like Zack was as agile as a feline digimon like himself. Lothar knew many humans were far from that agile so Zack must of trained for quite some time before studying to be a teacher.
Mandrake took in Lothar's appearance as it seemed he was in deep thought after speaking before the disguised Wizardmon asked "What's on your mind, Lothar?"
"Nothing major." Lothar began before he continued "Just that this conversation has got me thinking of how our friend Zack can be as agile as some feline digimon such as myself for example."
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Post by supesman on Feb 14, 2023 12:36:06 GMT
"Practice, practice, practice." Zack said as his mobility came up in conversation, shrugging at Lothar's confusion as to his "talent" "I don't have the senses or the muscle strength that digimon have, especially a feline digimon like you. My balance isn't born that good, I don't have any whiskers and there's no claws on my hands. I had to memorize my weight on every appendage and in every state of motion that I could think of. It leads to a lot of late nights of me trying to do a one handed spring off the corner of a table onto the corner of another one and ending up face planting onto the floor if I'm lucky. Then I pick my bruised rear end up and I try it again." Zack said, clutching his hand into a fist and rolling his wrist in a wide circle like he was working out stiffness or an ache. Lots of small injuries that added up to his ability in the field.
"If he's not doing anything else, then he's either training his acrobatics or his martial arts. Always trying to figure out some new fringe scenario that would leave him in an awkward position and how he could get out of it." Marigold said with real admiration for her father in her voice. He wasn't born Digimon tough so if he wanted to be able to hold his own against them, even just by being a nuisance at the right time in the middle of their plans that meant pushing the kind of limits most humans didn't even know they had.
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Post by ricochet6-Mandrake on Feb 14, 2023 22:07:33 GMT
"Looks like all that practice paid off and was worth the bruises since you are able to be a nuisance to not only digimon but humans as well. Knowing martial arts is also helpful but not just for your superhero work. Sometimes you might find some trouble when not in your superhero outfit and at least you'd be able to defend yourself. Not all humans are that fortunate." Lothar said in response to Zack's words regarding his hard work.
Circe cocked her head at Zack's last few words before she said "M-Messing up like that must hurt. I-I hope it has never landed you in the hospital for messing up." Circe was definitely a sweet digimon at heart and it was obvious she would not of been the type to help a cruel digimon with conquest but Mandrake had a feeling the young spider was far from weak. She had just not shown her true potential yet.
"Even digimon get some bumps and bruises when training, Circe. You know this as you've been around Lothar and I when we've been training to improve my ability with close range weapons. I still am amazed that a humble illusionist like myself ended up with an ultimate and mega form that were magical knights with one wielding a sword and the other wielding a spear and shield." Mandrake said before he continued "To think if I didn't accidentally copy the data for Lothar's sword back when I digivolved while I had amnesia I might of digivolved into a form like Wisemon or something."
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Post by supesman on Feb 15, 2023 12:42:09 GMT
"Have I ever ended up in the hospital for TRAINING? No, no usually just a bump on the head coming from attempting and screwing up the same thing thirty times before getting it on the thirty first and then nailing it the next ten times. I've ended up in the hospital more times than I could ever care to count. There's a lady by the name of Luna in Rosewood who is currently weighing her options every time I stumble in wondering if it's a breach of her oath to kill me on the spot and put me out of her misery." Zack smiled, leaning his cheek into his hand and almost looking nostalgic about the fact that there was a member of Digimon medical staff that probably fantasized about him just ending up dead.
"She really does hate him, or at least hates that she constantly has to basically bolt him down to his bed whenever her gets hurt. He has that superhero disease where he can't get it through his head that a broken ankle and a concussion means that he gets to sit this one out for god's sake." Marigold said, rolling her eyes at the fact that her father was impossible to get to actually focus on his own recovery instead of trying to save lives every time he sees someone else in trouble. "He doesn't seem to worry about the fact that he will be helping far fewer people in his life if he's DEAD" Marigold said, shooting her eyes up toward her father who only grinned and shrugged
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