EPISODE 03 - TURN AROUND
Azure, unsurprisingly and unfortunately, woke up before anyone else did.
The sun was barely peeking over the distant horizon, lighting the forest with only a scant few rays of light. It didn’t brighten it enough to see clearly - it was still dark enough that they had to strain to even look down at their hands. A gust of wind swept over their back, and they shivered at its cold touch.
They blinked and rubbed their eyes wearily. They’d like nothing more than to fall back asleep and wake up with everyone else in a few hours, when it was properly daytime. Curse their morning-person genetics.
Normally, they enjoyed being able to wake up early - they were less tired at school, and it let them have some time to themself in the morning before anyone else was awake. But being awake this early, right now? In a strange, alternate universe? When everyone else in the group was still sleeping? It felt like a school camping trip, where they’d have to wake up at the asscrack of dawn to go watch the sunrise and hike up a mountain. They’d never been fond of those field trips.
Speaking of, hadn’t Hackmon said Aldamon lived on a mountain? He hadn’t mentioned having to scale any mountains in their immediate future, but if Azure looked very hard out into the distance, they could see the faint silhouette of a mountain range far off. Their asthma would not take kindly to that - it had protested against them too much already over the past two days.
Eventually, the sun broke halfway over the skyline, and Azure had to shield their eyes against its bright rays. It was still chilly, and Azure hunched over, rubbing their arms to warm themself up. Their jacket was doing an okay job of keeping the cold out, but not enough.
Sleeping out in the open last night had also lent the illusion of a camping trip, although, of course, they didn’t have any tents or sleeping bags, as one usually would while camping. Hackmon had lent Alex his cape, and Azure had been just a bit jealous at first, but they got over it and had curled up into a ball to conserve body heat. They’d tossed and turned a lot during the night, but thankfully they weren’t too tired.
Azure sighed quietly and ran a hand through their hair, picking out leaves and dirt. It would probably still be a while before anyone else was up, and they’d never been particularly skilled at falling back asleep after waking up, so it seemed like they’d have quite a bit of time to themself. Of course, they couldn’t wander too far away, in case they got lost or someone woke up and wondered where they were.
At least they had their book, but they were almost finished with it - and then what would they do? It was the only one they had - the only one that had been in their bag when they’d all been pulled through the computer. Should they reread it? Read it backwards? Upside down? Maybe Digimon had books here. Maybe they could buy one. No matter; it would probably be at least a few days until they came across any sort of civilization.
…Azure had a feeling they would be stuck here for quite a while.
And so there they sat, letting the ever-rising sun wash over their face, contemplating how they’d ever ended up in this situation and how they’d ever get home, for two more hours, until, slowly, everyone around them came to.
They reached the Vast Plateau at what Azure assumed to be noon.
Everyone’s phones were still on the fritz, so time-telling had to be boiled down to an educated guess - or, in Alex’s case, uneducated. He’d thought they’d woken up at around eleven in the morning. It turns out it was more like 9 AM, based on how long it had taken them to walk, but of course, time was wonky here.
So, yes, they had walked for three hours.
Azure was starting to get really sick and tired of walking, and it was only their third day.
The morning had gone by slowly, with a simple breakfast of chopped digitakes and a snack break of what Hackmon called cloudy oranges about an hour away from the edge of Host Forest - the forest they had been in. (Yes, Azure had paid very dutiful attention to him while he’d explained the geography of Server, the continent they were on.) Talk had been minimal, and the few conversations they’d had had revolved around Ryan. Big whoop.
“Do you think he’s okay?” Miguel had asked, staring thoughtfully at his orange. “He’s all by himself who knows where. Maybe he can handle himself, but I’m still worried.”
“Don’t be,” Alex had mumbled, biting down with a sour expression on his face - it could have been from either the taste of the orange or some lingering irritation at Ryan’s departure. “He agreed we’d be better off without him. We’re just wasting time by thinking about him.”
“Well, maybe,” Harmony said, “but he’s a kid just like us. It’s not wrong to hope that he’s doing okay.”
Alex had shook his head and thrown his orange peel on the ground, gently kicking dirt over it. Ezra remained silent, but tilted his head understandingly.
“It’s okay to be angry with him,” Harmony had said quietly. “Just remember that he’s just as lost as we are, and wishing him well won’t hurt anyone.”
Azure had held their tongue, silently agreeing with Harmony - although they were still pissed at Ryan for being such a jerk, he was still a kid their age, and, as much as they hated to admit it, they did hope he was doing alright.
Now, standing at the edge of the forest and staring out at swathes of impossibly green grass that reached as far as the eye could see, only broken up here and there by stretches of telephone poles, they completely forgot everything they had been worrying about (Ryan, monsters, how in hell they would ever get home) on the walk here.
The sun was at its peak in the sky, or at least what its peak would be if they were on Earth - Azure had kind of taken this planet’s rotational speed at face value, assuming it was the same as back home - and despite them being beyond grateful to be back in the open again, it was hot.
They didn’t mind this quite as much as the others did. See, Azure had grown up in Texas, so they had a much greater tolerance for high temperatures. It was something they’d always held over their school friends’ heads, and they felt a small pinprick of smugness well up within them when they heard the other complain. They could hold their own under the sun better than anyone else they knew. They’d be fine.
Save for the startling amount of land between them, the forest in the distance, and the mountains past that, it seemed to be relatively easy ground to cover. No sand to slog through, no mountains to climb up and over just yet, no forests with creeping underbrush for now - it all seemed fine.
Except there was just so much walking they would have to do, on top of the three hours they had walked already, plus all the walking they’d done yesterday and the day before… Azure couldn’t remember the last time they’d ever willingly walked this much.
And then it hit them. Yeah, it was willingly, because there was something going on here, and if they didn’t get to find out what it was, they would punch a wall like an angry white man, so help them God.
Also, how many kids their age could say they’d been pulled into another world full of monsters? Not many, that’s how.
Snapping back to the present, they looked out across the fields towards the mountains in the distance. The telephone poles seemed to follow some sort of pattern; they continued on in lines from one side of the field to the other, going completely straight and never curving around.
The sun was at its zenith, and the group had reached the Vast Plateau.
None of them took a step forward for a long time.
“It’s huge,” Ezra eventually said.
“That’s why it’s called the Vast Plateau,” Hackmon said, looking up at him. He stepped out from under the last remaining shade of the trees and faced forward. “Shall we proceed?”
Alex was the first to follow him, and immediately after was Ezra; Harmony ventured out a few seconds after, and then Azure and Miguel a moment later.
And just like that, their journey picked back up again.
It wasn’t a super big deal, but something new had been sparked deep within Azure - they weren’t sure what it was, but they felt refreshed, and their dread at the amount of walking they’d have to do washed away instantly. Something about the gentle breeze, and the swaying grass, and the clouds drifting across the sky. It was peaceful.
They trekked onward, and although conversation was still sparse, they did get to talking after Azure stumbled and fell into a ditch - Ezra had laughed, and Harmony had gotten angry at him until she realized Azure had laughed first. Tensions began to ease up around that point.
Azure, near the back of the group, resisted a sigh as they tripped over yet another knoll, hopping out of the way to avoid falling again. It was a relief to be out in the sun again, away from the trees looming high above their heads, but there were so many clumps of grass and dips in the ground out here in the plains. Azure kicked a rock away off to the side.
“Why are we here…” they asked, raising their face to the sky. “Just t’ suffer?”
“Death is inescapable,” Harmony piped up from in front of them.
“Yo, Hackmon, how much longer till we meet this Aldamon friend of yours?” Alex groaned from the front of the group.
“How many times do I have to say this,” Hackmon sighed. He tossed his head back, throwing his hood away from his face. “A couple days, minimum. We have two whole forests to cross through.”
“Well, how much longer until we can stop and take a break?” Miguel asked. “And eat, maybe?”
“We have to ration o ur supplies,” Azure said, looking back at him. “We’ll find a place that has somethin’ to eat, don’t worry.”
“If we don’t die first, that is,” Ezra said, grinning back at Miguel with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He raised his hands and curled his fingers to imitate claws. “If there’s no creepy Digimon hiding in these fields, waiting for a tasty snack to come by…”
“Stop that!” Miguel shouted, clutching his arms tightly. Ezra laughed and winked at him, earning a punch in the arm from Alex.
Ezra snorted. “It’s not like we can get hurt here, anyway,” he amended. “This is a Digital World, right? Chances are we’d just lose a bit of data.”
“Whatever that means,” Miguel mumbled, ducking his head.
Azure let out a loud sigh and placed their arms, fingers interlocked and elbows outstretched, behind their head. Their palms brushed up against the shaved underside of their hair, and they subconsciously scratched the base of their neck.
They turned their face upwards, closing their eyes and letting the sun warm their features. It had been a weird few days, but the endless blue of the sky helped to ground them, no irony intended. Azure blinked and spotted a cloud, unmoving, just hanging in the sky.
They all spread out after a while, with more space between each member of the line; Alex and Hackmon leading, and Azure and Miguel trailing perhaps thirty feet behind. Harmony had wandered off to the side and was wading through grass that reached to her chest. She sneezed as a blade brushed the underside of her nose, and the group laughed.
Walking out here in the open fields was much preferred to the claustrophobic feeling of the dark forest they had spent their first two days in. Azure shuddered as they remembered the creeping feeling that something was always watching them, deep in the shadows of the bushes, waiting for the right moment to pounce.
They sounded like Ezra now.
Azure gave a single snort. Out of the corner of their eye they saw Miguel flinch at the sudden noise, and they bit their lip in guilt.
Walking wasn’t so bad, they realized after a while. The grass had gotten shorter, and it was now possible to see patches of bare dirt along the ground. The forest in the distance was definitely getting closer - or rather, they were getting closer to the forest.
Perhaps an hour into their hike across the plateau, they heard someone yell out to them from behind.
Hackmon, immediately, pulled his hood over his head and defensively positioned himself between the humans and whatever was approaching - and something was definitely headed their way.
“A Digimon?” Alex asked him, warily edging closer. Hackmon tilted his head in confusion, not taking his eyes off whoever or whatever it was.
Alex was half right, they found, as the figures - yes, plural, there were two of them - got closer. One was a small bipedal Digimon, and the other was -
“Ryan?!”
Ryan had a smile on his face, and was waving a hand in greeting, so he was entirely unprepared for Alex decking him across the face as he came to a stop near them.
Ryan fell to the ground almost instantly. The Digimon with him pinned its ears back and lunged at Alex, kicking him in the face before springing back to stand in front of Ryan, who was sitting up and dusting himself off.
Alex flew backward, landing flat on his back and letting a hiss escape through his teeth. Ezra knelt down next to him, guarding him against the Digimon while he came to - but Hackmon didn’t wait.
“
“
Everything happened too quickly and too unexpectedly, so much so that Azure barely had time to stumble backwards when the new Digimon attacked Alex mere seconds after he’d hit Ryan. Ryan, for his part, seemed to have caught his breath, and was watching the fight play out with a mixture of confusion and anger.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Ryan shouted, splaying his palms out and glaring at Alex. “Tell your dog to calm down!”
“Yours is the one that’s a dog!” Alex yelled. “And it attacked me!”
“She attacked you because you PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE!”
“Calm down,” Azure said sharply, pushing Alex away from Ryan as they felt their patience melt away. “If you get in one more fight, I’m goin’ to lose it.”
“I punched you in the face,” Alex hissed at Ryan - quieter, but with the same amount of venom in his tone, - “because you ditched us, and now you think you and this dog can just waltz on back with a smile on your face?”
“I am not a DOG,” the new Digimon said, sitting up straighter. “My name is Dare.”
“You’re a Dorumon,” Hackmon panted, still trying to catch his breath. “That’s your name.”
“No, bitch,” it growled, “my name is Dare, and I’m Ryan’s partner.”
“Take it back, now, y’all,” Azure demanded, putting their hands up to stop them. “Ryan, who is this?”
“Look, I gave her a name because I thought it sounded cooler,” Ryan said, putting his head in his hands. “Yes, she is my partner or whatever the hell we’re going to call it. Yes, I realize that I look like a massive fucking hypocrite. And yes, I came back. Shoot me now and get it over with.” He flopped on his back, staring up at the sky with a sulken expression.
Azure sighed and rubbed the bridge of their nose. “We’re not going to shoot you.”
“Oh, believe me, I’d be happy to,” Alex said, smiling cheerfully. Harmony rolled her eyes and tugged on his sleeve to get him away from Ryan.
Azure gave him a blank stare before turning back to Ryan and Dare. “I don’t have anything else to say. Just - for the love of God, don’t start any more fights.”
“I - hey, HEY, that was ALL ALEX,” Ryan protested, scrambling to his feet. “Alex started that and Dare fought back to protect me, you know, LIKE HOW HACKMON DID WHEN ALEX WAS ATTACKED. -
“I don’t wanna HEAR it!” Azure snapped, whirling around to face him. “Shut up and let’s get moving! You are fucking insufferable.” They ignored Ryan’s response, but noticed Alex was smirking and turned to face him as well. “You too, asshole, you’re just as bad. Learn how to get along and not turn everythin’ into a fight, and maybe we’ll get home intact.”
Azure began walking in the direction they had been headed, but stopped when Alex decided he had something to add.
“So just like that, we’re gonna let him rejoin?”
“This is not a gated community, stop being an asshole and get a move on,” they said, staring at him pointedly. “We have lots of ground to cover, and I think I can speak for all of us -” they gestured around at Ezra, Miguel, and Harmony “- when I say we’re all sick and tired of your constant fighting.”
Azure started walking again, not looking back. Slowly, they heard the others get to their feet and follow, however reluctantly.
Any relaxation and perhaps even friendliness between the members of the group had altogether disappeared - which was to be expected, considering their personalities and what had just happened, but it was still disappointing. All of them (minus Ryan and Dare) had been getting along rather well up until now, but then of course another fight had to break out, and now they were right back to where they’d started.
A few tense minutes passed, and then Miguel ran up to Azure’s side. They paid him no mind at first - not out of irritation, they just weren’t in a great mood - until he spoke.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” they immediately shot back, before cursing themself. “Sorry. I shouldn’t take it out on you.” They paused for a moment. “We’re trapped in an alternate dimension and they still can’t get over each other for two minutes. They can fight all they want when we get back home, but right now is not a good time.”
Harmony caught up to them just in time to hear Azure’s final words. “You stole my show back there,” she joked, making a mock angry face at them. “I thought I was going to be the one to intervene again.”
“Yeah, well,” Azure sighed, looking upward, “I have to deal with enough fightin’ back at home. Thought I’d be able t’ get a break here.”
They masked a wince - they hadn’t meant to let that slip out, but there was no taking it back now, was there? Sighing internally, they left it at that, and fortunately Miguel and Harmony did as well. They were grateful.
An uncomfortable silence eventually settled over their heads, and Azure fell to the back of the group when Alex and Hackmon took the lead again. The sun and sky seemed offensively bright after everything that had just transpired, and the fact that they had yet to reach the end of the plateau only dragged everyone’s mood down. So much for feeling even somewhat upbeat about the situation.
As far as Azure could tell, Hackmon and Dare had mostly gotten over their previous fight; they were laughing with each other as they walked, with their respective partners at their sides not even looking at each other. The two Digimon had a race with each other at one point, and although Ryan and Alex were still giving each other the silent treatment, the others in the group cheered them on.
Azure had to admit, as they walked, that they were growing more and more curious about Ryan and Dare’s relationship, and how they’d met. They were still outrageously mad at him, but they were a bit interested in how he’d managed to find himself a Digimon in the span of less than twenty four hours, and even more interested in how he had met one who was at all able to put up with him.
They asked him this, having nothing to lose, and he responded gruffly, which wasn’t a surprise, but still not what they were hoping for. He relayed the previous night to them, albeit a very shortened and bland retelling, they could tell, explaining the mountain and the Vegiemon and the app.
Dare was a bit more pleasant than he was, and much happier to answer any and all of Azure’s questions. At that point, questions were few and far between, but they appreciated her warmth.
Other than those few sparse interactions, the only sound to be heard was the crushing of grass underfoot and the occasional sigh from whoever was the next victim to be subject to tripping over a hidden rock. It seemed nobody wanted to risk another argument. Azure could relate.
So it was a huge relief to all of them when they crested the top of a hill and saw the forest not fifty feet away from them.
At the edge of the plateau, bordering the forest, was a long strip of bare dirt that seemed to stretch both ways for as far as the forest went. Bushes broke up its monotony here and there, and as they got closer, they recognized vending machines much like the ones they’d seen in Host Forest.
The forest, for its part, was actually more of a rainforest, and Azure could see dangling vines and brightly colored flowers here and there. No sunlight was able to break through its canopy, and they shuddered slightly as they realized they’d have to walk through that soon enough.
The eight of them stood at the top of the ridge for a few more silent moments - no one wanted to be the first to set foot down the side of the hill.
“Here we are,” Hackmon said eventually. “Let’s get going.” He and Alex went down first, and the rest were quick to follow.
Descending wasn’t particularly hard; sure, the cliffside was steep, but it wasn’t very high up, and they all made it down relatively safely. If anything, the hardest part was finding the willpower to keep walking. They’d been at it for four or so hours now, with barely a break in between.
They traveled along the edge of the forest in silence, none of them - even Hackmon - wanting to enter it just yet. None of the vending machines seemed to work, but they all collectively came to an agreement to try to find at least one that could give them some food, though they weren’t expecting much.
They were pleasantly surprised to find, a few minutes after walking, what seemed to be a convenience store.
“What is that?” Miguel asked as they approached. “There are stores here?”
“I’ve never been here before,” Hackmon admitted. “But yes, we have stores.”
One whole side of the building was open to the outside, and they could see shelves and freezers inside. There were no working lights, it seemed, and the whole interior was dark and cold, which may have been the only thing keeping the food in the freezers fresh - after flicking a light switch on and off to no avail, Azure realized it must not have any power.
Items were strewn about the floor, placed haphazardly on shelves and hooks and in bins and baskets here and there, as if someone had spent two minutes trying to clean up after a tornado had come through. Most of the items were undamaged, although a few they found had rips or suspicious looking stains sullying them.
The checkout counter was along the wall opposite to the large opening, but there was no cash register. What looked like arcade tokens were tossed into drawers lazily, and there was obvious water damage along the tile and baseboard.
It was most definitely abandoned.
“We should probably stock up while we’re here,” Azure suggested, inspecting what seemed to be a flashlight. “Not just on food.”
“The food is good, though,” Alex said through a mouthful of chips.
Azure stared at him. “Are you serious?”
“What?”
“You have no idea how long that’s been there, or what it’s made out of.”
Alex pouted. “It’s not stale. I figured someone should test the food.”
Ryan wandered over to Azure, Dare trailing close behind. The little Digimon was holding a bouncy ball, tossing it back and forth between her paws.
“Do you think someone owns this place?” Ryan asked Azure in a low voice.
Azure shrugged one shoulder. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s been here for -”
There was a crash at the other end of the store, and everyone went quiet.
“Get down,” Dare mumbled to Azure and Ryan, but they didn’t need to be told. The three of them crouched down behind the shelf, and Azure hoped that the others had done the same.
Loud footsteps echoed through the building. They were fast approaching, and they seemed to be headed toward Azure, Ryan, and Dare. Just their luck.
“It’s probably fine,” Azure said quietly, mere moments before Dare jumped out into the aisle.
“
“What -” came a new voice, sounding entirely displeased. “
“Oh, come on,” Dare said, getting to her feet. “That’s no fair!”
“You’re the one who invaded my store and decided to steal from me!”
“We didn’t know you owned it!”
“Hey, hey,” Azure said, walking over and getting in between Dare and the newcomer. “We’re not here to hurt you, we’re just lost and hungry.”
It was a very large bug (a beetle?), its head reaching to Azure’s hips if you counted the ginormous horn on its face - and Azure themself was already quite tall. Two large wings with red spikes rested on its back, and Azure realized that its footsteps had been so loud because of its huge clawed feet. Its “mouth” was a pair of gray mandibles, and its eyes, lacking any visible iris and seemingly compound, were bright yellow.
“That doesn’t mean you can just take what you want,” it said, waving the smaller of its four arms around dismissively while the other two tugged at the yellow scarf around its neck. “Don’t you humans have stores where you’re from?”
“We’re sorry,” Azure said, crossing their arms. “We didn't know anyone worked here. We thought it was abandoned.”
It scoffed and shook its head. “Well, now you know better.”
There was an awkward silence between them. “I’m Azure,” they finally said, sticking a hand out. The bug regarded it for a moment before taking it in its own claws.
“KoKabuterimon,” it said, in way of introducing itself. “Who’s the Dorumon?”
“That’s Dare,” Ryan called out to it, picking himself up and walking over. “She’s my partner. I’m Ryan. I think everyone else can introduce themselves.”
Slowly, the others throughout the store wandered over to the three of them, and KoKabuterimon looked a bit taken aback at how many there were. They just kept getting more and more friends, didn’t they?
The group took turns giving a brief rundown to KoKabuterimon about their situation, and he seemed skeptical at first, but ultimately went along with it. He reluctantly agreed to let them take what they needed for free, but only after Hackmon explained that they didn’t have any money on them.
“You guys have money here?” Miguel asked.
“We’re not idiots,” KoKabuterimon said. “We’re just as advanced as humans. I don’t know why you’re surprised.”
“Well,” Alex mumbled after a beat. “Since we’re here, would you mind if we stopped for lunch? I’m starting to get hungry.” As if on cue, his stomach rumbled, and Hackmon snickered into his cape.
“Sure, why not?” KoKabuterimon said - it could have been taken sarcastically, but Azure had a feeling he was being genuine. “Take whatever you need.”
“I’m going to go eat outside,” Harmony said, swinging her arms gently. Everyone else nodded and followed her out.
Azure stroked their chin and frowned slightly. KoKabuterimon looked up at them expectantly. “Are you going to join them?” he asked, flicking his wings slightly.
“I think I’m good,” they said. “You wanna sit with me in here?”
KoKabuterimon paused and nodded hesitantly. “Yes.”
Azure cleared away a space for the two of them to sit in the giant opening, so they could still see the group, but had their own area to themselves. They pulled some apples from their bag, and accepted a bag of chips from the bug with a grateful nod.
“So where are you from?” KoKabuterimon bit into an apple of his own, tilting his head toward Azure.
“Texas, I guess,” Azure mused. “Technically California, if you’re askin’ where I live right now. You?”
“Oh, I live here,” he replied. “It used to be a really popular place for travelers, but… recently I stopped getting supply shipments, and now no one ever comes here anymore.” He kicked his feet lightly, his shoulders slumping. “So I can’t afford the electric bills. That’s why it’s so run down now.”
“You have bills here?” Azure exclaimed, reeling backwards. KoKabuterimon chuckled and scratched his cheek.
“Yeah,” he sighed, looking over his shoulder into the darkened store. “And since this place isn’t exactly in tip-top shape anymore, it’s just making everything worse. This was my only place of comfort, where I felt like I was needed, and now… now I don’t have anything to do. I’m just waiting until I use up all the remaining food, and then who knows what I’ll do next.”
“Who knows,” Azure repeated under their breath. “Well, I’m sorry that we didn’t have any money. I woulda loved to help support you.”
“It’s alright.”
Azure had a feeling it was not alright. The two of them finished their meal in silence, save for the occasional sharing of an apple bite or cloudy orange.
It had to be at least… what, 1 PM now? 2? If they’d walked for about two hours after reaching the Vast Plateau…
Time sure had passed by quickly.
Azure rubbed their eyes and wondered how everything was going back home. Were their parents worried? Had the school called them as soon as they had noticed the six of them were missing? Did anyone else see them get pulled into the computer? What would they have made of it?
They were going to have a hell of a story to tell when they got home.
If.
No, when. Azure narrowed their eyes and nodded slightly. They’d make it through this. It couldn’t be that hard to get home, right? They just had to find a computer or something like that, and then they could get right back home. That was how they got here; surely it would be the same for going back.
…What would happen to Dare and Hackmon when the six of them went home? They probably wouldn’t be able to come with them. Even if they could, how would their families react to monsters joining the household? How would society react if they found out there was a parallel world full of monsters?
Well, that was a problem for Alex and Ryan.
“Hey, Azure?”
Harmony’s voice snapped Azure out of their thoughts, and they blinked up at her as she leaned toward them. “Hm?”
“Oh, I just wanted to know if you wanted to come look for more vending machines with us,” she said cheerfully. “I think Alex and Ryan wanted to turn it into a game? Something about whoever can find more working ones is better and automatically wins all their prior arguments. Maybe it’ll be a good way for them to take their hate for each other out.”
“Oh, thank you, but I think I’ll stay here,” Azure said apologetically. Harmony shrugged and smiled.
“Okay, have fun!” she said, then turned to look at KoKabuterimon. “You too, Ko! We’ll be back soon!” She turned and called over her shoulder to the others, who were finishing up their lunch and getting ready to go. “Azure said they’re gonna stay here.”
“Ko?” KoKabuterimon asked as Harmony went over to join the others. “Why did she call me that?”
Azure paused for a moment to wave goodbye to the group as they left, then turned to KoKabuterimon. “Maybe as a nickname? Your name is kind of a mouthful.”
“My name is great, thank you very much,” he sniffed. He cocked his head to the side and tapped his mouth with a claw. “Although… Ko is simple and to the point… and my name already has that in it… you said that the Dorumon has a nickname, right?”
Azure nodded. “Yeah, her name is Dare.”
“Well, then surely I could have a nickname.” He lifted his head higher and propped his chin up with a fist. “Ko. I like it.”
“It fits ya,” Azure chuckled. They stood up, stretching their arms above their head. “Do you wanna go on a walk? With me?”
Ko rolled his shoulders back and picked himself up off the ground as well, gathering up their remains from lunch and tossing them off to the side. “Sure. Did you not want to go with them so you could be with me?”
Azure stood stock-still for a moment, their mind going blank. Ko, ever-patient, waited for them to come around.
“I,” they stammered. “No? Look.” They paused again, searching for a good answer. “I’ve had enough of them for the day, and thought I would take the chance to get a break. And you’re pretty cool.”
Ko leapt into the air and hovered for a moment, propelled by his powerful wings. “Thought so,” he chirped. “I think you’re cool too.” He landed back on the ground with a thud, dusting himself off, and Azure tried their best to hide a smile.
The two of them headed off in the opposite direction, not wanting to run into the others and have to explain themselves. Azure didn’t want to fully enter the forest just yet, so they walked along the edge of it.
They came across some vending machines of their own, and yet again, none of them seemed to be working. Ko explained that broken-down machinery was just a feature of the world they were in; finding one that actually did work was rarer. Azure laughed as they realized that meant Ryan and Alex wouldn’t be able to win their game, and even Ko chuckled at that.
They continued walking in silence for a bit longer. It wasn't as hot now, and a pleasant breeze swept over their backs as they walked. They were relatively silent, occasionally exchanging words, but not often - it was just nice to be in each others’ company. Weird how you can make friends with a bug in less than a day in this world.
“So your store,” Azure said after a while, turning to Ko. “How long has it been since it… got like that?”
He hummed to himself for a moment, tapping his claws together, before replying. “A couple months. I don’t know what happened. One day the shipments stopped coming in. I tried reaching out to the suppliers, but I didn’t get a response.” He sighed. “I’d love to go and try to find the warehouse one day to see what happened, but…” He looked back over his shoulder, his wings drooping slightly. “I can’t leave my store. Not until everything’s gone, that is.”
“Yeah,” Azure said, sighing.
“They never even told me in advance,” Ko said quietly. “They just… stopped, one day, and since then I haven’t been able to contact them.” He scratched the back of his head, his footsteps falling heavier for a couple seconds. “I just hope they’re alright, wherever they are.”
“What are you going to do after everything runs out?”
Ko was silent for a minute or so, his eyes narrowed as much as they could be. Azure gave him the time to think - it was a heavy question, and they readily admitted it. Maybe they shouldn’t have asked?
Right as they were about to tell Ko to forget about it, the bug spoke up. “I’ll probably go try to find them. I want to know what happened, why they stopped, why they didn’t try talking to me. Just for closure, you know?”
“Makes sense,” Azure said. “I wish you luck with that.”
“Thank you,” Ko said, flicking his wings.
Azure smiled down at him, but was greeted with a sudden sinking feeling in their own stomach. They paused, faltering in their gait for only a split second, but it was long enough for Ko to notice.
“You okay?”
“Fine,” they replied, a little more snappish than they had intended. Immediately they felt sorry, and closed their eyes. “Sorry. Today’s been a long day.”
“It’s barely afternoon.”
Azure sniffed a laugh, running their hand through their hair. “Guess so. I’unno. Time’s been hard to keep track of since we got here. Do you know how fast the planet rotates?”
Now it was Ko’s turn to stop in his tracks as he tilted his head at them. “Excuse me?”
“How fast the planet rotates around the sun,” Azure said. “The planet does rotate around the sun, right? And -” They paused, staring off into the distance for a moment. “Is this a different planet from Earth?”
“What are you going on about?” Ko’s voice held no real malice; if Azure had to guess, it seemed like he was more confused than anything else.
“I don’t know how this world works,” Azure said. They had both stopped completely at this point, Azure having turned around to face Ko, who had fallen behind them. “It’s new to me, and I’m not sure if it’s a parallel world to ours or if it’s a completely separate planet out in the universe, and I don’t know if it rotates around the sun or if the sun rotates around it, and how - how long do days last, because time - feels all messed up, and - just -” They lost steam near the end, letting loose a loud sigh and taking a seat on the ground. Ko walked closer to them, placing a hand on their shoulder and looking as sympathetic as a bug could.
“I don’t know anything about this place,” Azure mumbled. They were repeating themself at this point, but they didn’t care. They couldn’t help it. “I want to know how it works. I need to know. If we’re going to be stuck here until we can find a working way back home, it would be nice to have some sort of idea about what its deal is, right?”
“Seems fair,” Ko said. He sat down next to them, folding his claws together in his lap. “I could tell you about the Digital World, if you’d like.”
Azure smiled wearily, getting to their feet slowly and reaching a hand down to Ko. “That would be really nice,” they said. “Let’s keep walking?”
Ko took their hand, rattling his wings as he stood up. Azure waited for him to get situated before setting off again.
They walked slowly this time, sticking further away from the forest than they had previously. The vending machines were few and far between at this point, slowly being replaced with the occasional shrubbery or straggling lone tree.
Ko answered every single one of Azure’s questions - was each day twenty-four hours long (yes), did the planet rotate around the sun (yes), did they still count by days and weeks and months and years (yes and yes and yes and yes). The only thing he wasn’t sure about was where this world was, exactly.
“It could be another planet,” Ko said, tapping his chin. “Nobody really knows for sure. We aren’t able to do much research into your world. I think it’s just a parallel world, seeing as how you got here and all that, but I can’t say for certain.”
“That would make more sense,” Azure agreed. “Why aren’t you able to do any research?”
“It’s hard to study a world that you don’t have any consistent contact with or access to,” he said somewhat wryly, and they smiled. “Humans rarely come to the Digital World. I’ve never seen one before - I never thought I ever would. All we have are old stories of the human world, but nothing about what it is. Is it like the Digital World?”
“Yeah, actually,” Azure said, folding their arms behind their head. “We don’t have random vending machines or telephone poles in the middle of the wilderness, but everything else is pretty much the same. I was actually really surprised that the area we first landed in looked so much like our world. Minus the falling from the sky thing, of course, but still.”
They kept talking as they went, about anything and everything that came to mind. A huge relief washed over Azure while Ko explained things to them - it was nice listening to him talk, even if he’d said he did find their whole fascination with it a bit silly.
(What could they say? They really loved stuff like this.)
They’d almost forgotten about the pit in their stomach from earlier; Ko had pretty much entirely taken their mind off of it. They almost wanted to blame it on what they’d had for lunch.
But… when they looked down at Ko, waving his hands around as he walked, his voice brimming with excitement and enthusiasm and genuine happiness… they felt it again, settling in their gut like a stone.
What was this feeling?
“What about you?”
Azure blinked. “Pardon?”
“Where are you headed next?” He looked up at them expectantly, gently adjusting his scarf. “You and your group? You’re on some sort of journey right now, correct?”
It took Azure a couple minutes to process the question. Ko had startled them out of their thoughts so quickly and so unexpectedly that they hadn’t had any time to prepare for the sudden shift in conversation.
“Ah, that.” Azure squeezed one eye shut as they scratched the back of their neck, trying not to look too disoriented. “Mm. We don’t have a big plan, just go find Hackmon's friend so he can tell us what’s going on.”
“With what?”
“Ideally? Everything - but no one knows everything.” They shrugged one shoulder, using the opposite hand to brush aside the branches of a bush in their way. “Supposedly he can help us find out what the deal with Alex’s phone is. And Ryan’s too, now, I guess, what with him getting a partner.”
“Ah,” Ko said, his scarf blowing in the wind. “And you’re heading where for that?”
Azure tapped their knuckles against their cheek rhythmically as they walked. “Twister Mountain. We -”
A loud roar echoed from behind them. Azure and Ko whipped around, bracing themselves, but the sound seemed to come from back at the store.
“What,” Azure said nervously.
“That is not a normal noise,” Ko muttered. Without another word, he pushed himself into the air and sped off toward his store, his wings beating the air and whipping leaves into Azure’s face.
“Hey, I -!” They stood still, gaping in confusion, for one single moment, before running after Ko. “My asthma is going to kill me for this,” they huffed to themself as they accelerated.
They hadn’t realized just how close to the store they’d been until they broke back into the clearing about thirty seconds later. They skidded to a stop behind Ko, placing their hands on their knees and gasping for air. “Damnit,” they heaved, looking up at the bug. “Why’d you take off like that?”
Ko didn’t answer, but the even bigger bug in front of him did with a screech.
Azure’s eyes felt like they were going to boggle out of their skull as they stumbled back. The green giant turned its head toward them slightly, cocking it as it did. It had no eyes, but rather a series of red stripes where they should be. Threatening sickles grew out of its forearms, which were poised together to imitate a praying mantis. Its wings, tattered and translucent, fluttered behind its back in the wind, and looked much too small to fly.
The bug, of course, flew anyway, because it didn’t care what Azure thought.
“That’s a Snimon,” Ko said, much too calmly. “They’re not very fun.”
“Ya think?” Azure hissed, keeping one eye on the airborne monster.
“I don’t know why it’s here,” he continued, seemingly unbothered by it. “It’s been ages since I’ve had a customer.”
“Sorry to break it to ya, but I do not think that’s a customer,” Azure said as it crossed its sickles together.
“
Azure stopped just inside the open end of the store, ducking behind a shelf within to try to hide from the Snimon. “It’s attacking,” they said to Ko, shaking his shoulders. He shook his head and rattled his wings before taking off, facing off against it.
“
“
Azure cringed as the Snimon swept a claw out at Ko and caught him across the chest, throwing him back onto the dirt. Ko got up immediately and charged at it again with another Beetle Lariat.
“What do you want?” Ko said, spreading his hands out in confusion. “Why are you attacking? We can talk about this!”
Snimon shook its head wildly and headbutted Ko across the clearing, smacking him into one of the walls of the building. He let out a cough and slid down, but got back up and dusted himself off.
“
He hissed and pushed himself up, giving Azure a look of determination and waving them away when they offered a helping hand. “
“Ko, it’s ginormous,” Azure called out, their throat stinging. “You’re gonna get hurt!”
Ko slammed his foot into its face before spinning around and thrusting his horn into its chest again. “I’m good,” he said calmly.
“No, you aren’t,” Azure yelled as Snimon hit him with another Twin Sickle. Ko stood his ground, but his arms shook as he raised his claws to his face to block out most of the damage.
He paid Azure no mind, twisting around midair after landing a blow to the Snimon’s face to use his wings as a shield. The Snimon roared as one of its sickles hit the spikes on his wings, which seemed to do more damage to it than Ko.
“
He rolled across the dirt, but pushed himself up again, launching himself onto its back and digging his claws in.
It screamed and bucked around like a wild horse to try to dislodge him, and unfortunately for Ko, it worked. He crashed against the back wall of the store, flying past Azure and nearly giving them a heart attack. This time, he did not get up.
“Okay, that’s it,” Azure said, rushing to Ko’s side to help him up. “You cannot handle this guy. We need to get out of here.”
“And just let it run rampant and hurt others?” he coughed, thumping his chest with a hand. “Not on my watch.” Before Azure could hold him down, he rushed back out of the store at the Snimon and slammed a fist into its stomach.
It roared. “
The Snimon slashed down at Ko as he slid back out from underneath, and he grunted as he was pushed into the ground by its sheer force. He struggled against the sickle that pinned him down, trying and failing to free himself.
Seemingly satisfied with its takedown of Ko, the Snimon turned its head to Azure, who was now completely out of hiding options - and although it had no eyes, Azure had a creeping feeling that it could see exactly where they were.
Having little time to think and even littler self-preservation instincts, Azure grabbed the closest thing to them and hurled it at the giant insect.
Unfortunately, it was some sort of candy bar, and simply bounced off its chest. It looked down at where it had hit for a split moment, then at where it landed on the ground, before fixing its gaze on Azure once more.
They froze.
What could they do? Ko was trapped and Azure had no special attacks to use. The Snimon was at least four times their size. Did they have any options?
Well. Yes, but it was a horrible idea.
…They went with it anyway.
“God save me,” Azure breathed, clenching their fists, “and lend me strength.”
They charged.
Looking back, it was a terrible idea, and if they had stayed where they were - or, hell, even just ran out to go save Ko rather than fling themselves headfirst into danger - they probably would not have experienced such harsh repercussions. Their foresight had never been quite as strong as their hindsight, however, and this fact stuck out to them very strongly as they rushed forward.
Azure knew how to punch, but they had never actually gotten into a fight with anyone - which was normally a good thing, but in this situation it was not, because it meant they had no experience in an actual fight. The only thing on their mind as they ran full-speed at the monster was to land a good hit and not break their thumb.
They got one of those two things, and it was the latter.
They swung at the beast’s chest and barely skimmed it, but they had good form and their thumb was completely intact afterward. That was one small blessing - but missing their mark meant that it left a good opening for the Snimon to attack back.
It didn’t even call out its attack - maybe it hadn’t thought it needed to waste its energy on a human, or maybe it was just such a simple move that it didn’t even constitute as an official attack - but Azure knew that it had hit its mark the moment its scythe dug into their back.
Picture this: you run at a wall, barely drag your fist across it as you lean to the side, and right as you swerve away, the wall reaches out a giant knife and drags it across your back, except for the wall was a giant bug and the knife was its sickle.
It was the worst pain Azure had ever been in.
They fumbled as they fell, barely having the energy or strength to try to balance themselves as they landed face-first on the hard ground. They cried out, sounding quite similar to one of Snimon’s screeches, but with ten times more pain in their voice and a hundred times more tears in their eyes.
They didn’t even want to know how bad it was. They didn’t want to dare to reach a hand around and try to feel the blood pooling out of the open wound and staining their shirt, the ground, their mind - but they did, and they immediately regretted it as they pulled their hand back to their face and saw it covered in deep red blood.
The Snimon was still right above them, and they knew they needed to get out of the way fast unless they wanted to end up like Ko, but the pain was unbearable. Even just twisting to the side made them cry out with pain, no matter how lightly.
Oh, Ko - Azure could only imagine how he was feeling right now. They tried to turn their body in a way where they could see him, but they let out a sharp whimper as they curled up.
“Ko,” they called out, their breath coming out harsh and ragged. “Ko, are you okay?”
The Snimon above them roared, and Azure would later find out that it was because Ko had stabbed his horn right into the center of its stomach.
Azure shrunk in on themself, not wanting to be trampled, but soon enough, the shadow that the Snimon had been casting over them shifted to the side. “
“
There was silence from both bugs, and then Azure saw the sky light up with a faint glow coming from Ko. This time, they forced themself to turn around and face him, ignoring the pain that shot up and down their body as they moved. They had to check if he was okay, had to make sure he wasn’t hurt, had to know for certain that he was safe.
Ko’s arms were ignited with a bright aqua glow, rushing around him almost like electricity. He lowered his head as he stared up at Snimon, and then jumped up toward it, his wings flaring out to help him hover.
“
Azure let out a long, shaky breath as Snimon shrieked one final time before dissolving into pixels that floated down from the sky and landed on the ground.
A hush fell over the two remaining, before Azure choked out another sob and Ko rushed over to them.
“No no no no,” he cried, placing a gentle claw on their shoulder. “Oh, no…” He wrung his hands together, looking around frantically. “Oh, gosh, I - ohhhhh no -”
Azure said nothing - they couldn’t say anything. They didn’t know what to say, or if they’d even be able to get words out of their mouth. Everything was too much.
This was… blood. Their blood. Their wounds were real. They were feeling pain.
“Ko?” they whispered, drawing a shaky breath in. So they could talk. That was something. “Is this real blood?”
He peered closer at their back, his pincers clacking nervously. “…I don’t know,” he said after a while. “I’ve never… seen ‘real blood’ before.”
“Ko,” Azure said again, stronger this time, causing them to hack out a cough, “do Digimon bleed?”
“…Not that I know of,” he mumbled.
Azure’s head slumped back onto the ground as they groaned in pain.
“Azure,” the bug whispered, bending over them. “Azure, Azure…” He repeated their name like a mantra, over and over again, as if it would help. As if it would do anything. Azure wished it would.
“This is real,” Azure breathed. “We can get hurt here. We can… die here.” They swallowed hard, placing their hand on their chest and wincing. Why, God…
The two of them stayed there for a while, Azure letting out silent tears with the occasional whimper of pain. Ko curled up against their stomach to provide some sense of reassurance, and they placed their free hand on his shoulder.
Azure’s phone beeped.
“Can you get that,” they murmured to Ko, who nodded and reached into their pocket. He tilted his head, and Azure saw a sudden light flash and reflect off his face before dying back down.
“There’s something here,” he said, “with our old language on it.”
Azure drew a breath in, swallowing the lump in their throat. They knew what that was. It only takes two other people for you to know exactly what a new app with an ancient language means.
“I… think you and I are partners,” they said slowly.
Ko tilted his head. “Partners?”
“Like how Hackmon and Alex are,” they said. “And Ryan an’ Dare.”
Ko’s eyes seemed to light up as he looked up at Azure. He spread his wings and placed a reassuring hand on their shoulder - gently, so as not to move them and disturb their wound. He couldn’t move his mouth very much, but Azure knew that if he could, he would be grinning. As it was, he settled for lifting his head up slightly.
“That’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time,” he said quietly. Azure felt more tears welling up, and settled on placing a hand on his cheek.
“Hey! We’re back! …Azure?”
The two lifted their heads as Alex announced the group’s return just in time to see the grin slide off his face. He ran toward the two of them and knelt down, expression morphing into one of horror. Hackmon followed suit, his hood over his head, and the others weren’t far behind.
“Azure, are you -” Alex’s expression darkened further as he saw the blood on their back. “Oh, no…”
Azure managed a weak smile. “Turns out we can get hurt here, after all.”
“So his name is Ko,” Azure said.
The group was gathered inside the store, using what little materials they had to clean Azure’s wound - yes, it was deep, and yes, it still hurt like all hell, but they couldn’t leave until they were at least cleaned up a bit. Harmony was looking over them anxiously, clasping and unclasping her hands every so often.
They’d changed out of their tank top, which had been ripped to shreds by the Snimon, and into the one that was in their backpack. Hey, it was blue, and it fit, so they didn’t mind.
No one had been happy to see the slash straight down their back, or hear the story of how it happened. Hackmon had called them an idiot for rushing straight in, and Azure… well, as much as they hated to admit it, he had a point. They should have thought it through and realized that charging at a bug the size of a school bus wasn’t going to end well.
But they couldn’t have just let Ko handle it on his own, could they?
The Digimon the others had had to fight off before had been scary, but no one had ever gotten hurt - at least, not until now. A silence had swept over the group as they all realized that this was real and they could die here.
“Hey, cheer up,” Azure had said with a smirk, despite the pain in their back. “We’re not gonna be here very long. It won’t be a big deal.”
Miguel had bit his lip and nodded. “Y-yeah. We’ll be okay. Right?”
Everyone had agreed, but none of them really knew if they believed it.
If they still needed to get to Aldamon, which would take at least three more days, before they could go home… any number of terrible things could happen to them in that timeframe. More fights. More injuries. Anything else that they hadn’t been able to think of.
They… had had a discussion about just leaving right then and there. If Azure got this badly injured just from one attack, then anything else they might encounter in the future could do the same. Was it really worth it to keep going? Were these strange apps and their little monster friends really worth all the future pain they might (would) go through?
The vote was (mostly) unanimous, and they all said that, yes, it was worth it.
“This is the only thing here,” Ryan said gruffly, plopping down next to Azure and startling them back to the present. He had returned from his search for medical supplies with a pack of bandages. “This place doesn’t really carry anything for wounds caused by giant bugs.” He raised an eyebrow at Ko.
“Digimon can’t bleed,” he said matter-of-factly. “We can get injured, but we don’t get physical wounds.”
“And Ko is a terrible name for him,” Ryan remarked, ignoring the bug’s protests. “Very unoriginal. I expected better from you.”
“Ko means child in Japanese,” Azure shot back, counting off their pre-prepared reasons on their fingers. “Harmony suggested it. And it’s in his name anyway. We can’t all have perfect nicknames for our partners.”
“I think it’s cute,” Harmony said, smiling. “But I might be biased.”
Ko nodded. “Me too. It’s close enough that I won’t get confused.”
Ryan placed his head in his hands. “I can’t believe you.”
“Oh, yeah,” Alex chimed in, sticking his head out from around a shelf. “I named Hackmon, too. He’s Castor now. Thought you guys should know.” Hackmon - pardon, Castor - popped out too, grinning.
Ryan stared at him. “Since when?”
Alex shrugged. “Since you caught up to us out on the Vast Plateau. I mean, I hate you, but the nickname idea was kinda cool.”
Ryan scowled and turned back to Azure, mouthing something sarcastic back at Alex.
Azure chuckled and shook their head, giving him a pointed look. “Be nice,” they said in a low voice. Ryan rolled his eyes.
Ko snuggled up against Azure’s side, tapping a foot on the floor. “So…” he said, rubbing his eyes with a hand, “we’re headed to Plugin Forest next, right?”
“Yep.” Azure took a deep breath and folded their hands together. “We still need to head down southeast to find one of Castor’s friends -”
“Who is supposed to tell us what these strange apps mean,” Ryan muttered under his breath.
“But if Azure is this badly injured, we need to find a medic as soon as we can,” Castor finished. “Ko, there’s Pucchiemon here in Plugin, right?”
“Yes, last I remember,” he replied, nodding. “But I haven’t ever met any.”
“We might as well check it out,” Castor mumbled, frowning. “Kill two birds with one stone.”
“Who’s killing birds?” Dare yawned and ruffled her fur up, stretching her wings out.
Ryan swatted her away. “No one, shut up.”
“What are Pucchiemon, exactly?” Azure asked. They would be fine with any healing magic bestowed upon them, but they couldn’t resist their curiosity.
“They’re fairy Digimon with soothing abilities,” Castor explained. “They won’t be able to heal your wound - no Digimon can do that, since we don’t even get physical wounds - but they should be able to stabilize it and reduce the pain.”
“They’re supposedly pretty friendly, too,” Ko added, looking up at Azure. “They’ll help anyone who needs it.”
“Well, that’s good,” they said. “No more fighting would be great.”
“Azure,” Harmony said, drawing their attention away from the others, “I’m so sorry, but this -” she gestured at the bandages covering their back “- is all I can do.” She ducked her head and wiped her eyes.
Azure smiled and patted her arm gently. “Hey, without ya I’d be even worse off. Thank you.”
“Azure, do you think you’re ready to go?” Castor asked. “The sooner we leave, the sooner we’ll find the Pucchiemon.”
Azure nodded and stood up, wincing as they did so. Gingerly, they reached an arm around to drag a finger across their gash, and hissed between their teeth when it stung. “I think so.”
“I’ll carry your bag,” Ryan offered, not waiting for a response before picking it up and slinging it over his shoulder. He rolled his eyes when Harmony smiled at him. “We can take it easy. Have Azure set the pace.”
“Off we go,” Ko said, standing up beside Azure, who looked down at him with a puzzled expression.
“You sure you’re okay with leaving the store?”
Ko paused, then nodded. “It’s not garnering a lot of attention anyway. I’d much rather be with you and keep you from getting hurt anymore.”
Azure barked a laugh as they started walking. “Thanks.”
It had been a weird day; a scary day, for Azure at least, and yet it opened up so many more questions and thoughts about this world. If they died here, what would happen? It was a Digital World, after all. Would it work like a video game and send them to some sort of save point? Would they die in their world, too? Would they be sent back to it?
Or would they really be gone forever?
Azure resisted a sigh as they stepped into the forest. Everything had changed so suddenly in only a few short hours, and not even fully due to the realization they could get injured..
Three days ago, everything was completely normal, and now here they were, best friends with a bug, wandering through a jungle, with a giant scar running down their back.
Hell of a three days it had been.
Ko peeked up at them and lightly nudged their legs in a sign of affection. Azure smiled softly and patted his head.
That weird feeling in their stomach from earlier? Completely gone now. When they looked at Ko, all they felt was relief and happiness.
At least they had him.