Located somewhat northwest of New Network City is the Tropical Jungle. This densely populated forest runs deep with plants, trees, and tropical, nature-based digimon digimon of all sorts. Despite the massive canopy, this area feels a lot of the suns blunt force, creating a rather humid jungle-like area that might be more than the typical unprepared tamer can deal with. It is worth noting that the vegetative quality of this area is also quite plentiful as if the forest itself would wish no harm on those that enter, but it would be wise to make note of what is poisonous and what is not.
Deep, deep, deep within this jungle area is a sacred shrine of sorts that only the bravest and most heat tolerant adventurers will ever reach. What is truly located here is completely unknown as well as unexplored. What treasures or even dangers this are holds is a complete mystery, but should one try to find out, they'll have to prepare just for the trek alone.
Locations within this area -Sacred Forest Shrine (Arc-Specific accessible ONLY)
☢_Hazards_☢ -Arid temperatures increase the need for water intake -Fruits of the Garden~ (Ignore if traveling with a plant/insect/beast digimon) --- When partaking of the forest's fruit, roll a 6sided dice and RP the following ----------1 or 3 - The fruit, should you eat it, is fine ----------2 or 4 - The fruit is poisonous and you get a tummy ache (anything extra @ rollers discretion) ----------3 or 6 - You disturb a hive and wild insect digimon attack you (number of attackers @ roller's discretion)
Mission Board
Current Arc Missions* being offered/On-going:
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 2:26 pm
☆Ċalendar☆
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The jungle was as hot and humid as Nikky remembered. The buzzing sounds of cicadas were echoing throughout the jungle. She didn't mind it much and felt more concerned about the possible new dangers ahead, yet excited about finally being back. She'd spent most of her days in the Digital World exploring this place after all. The jungle looked more beautiful than it did the last time she'd been here; the trees looked majestic and there seemed to be more vegetation. In the past Bugsy, her JewelBeemon and former resident of the Tropical Jungle, with the help of Hanako would guide her through the harsher areas the jungle had to offer. Her thoughts then focused on the jeweled bug digimon. So much so that she was not paying attention to everything around her. How was he doing? Did he decide to live here once again after humans were banished from his world? She then wondered about the other digimon she had befriended during her journey. So many questions she had had yet to be answered and as she continued pondering, more were piling up. 'How's everyone doing?' She thought with a heavy sigh, wanting to see them again.
Her train of thought came to a halt just as Hanako physically stopped her. The group had stopped by a stream flowing with clear water. "Okay! Break time!" The plant digimon said as she took Nikky's bag to take a swig of water from her bottle to then pass it to her tamer. Nikky hadn't noticed, but she was thirsty and drank most of the bottle. After drinking, she looked around her bag to offer Marco and Chibomon some of the cookies she made. "C-Cookie?" The brunette asked as she passed a bag to the guys. The girl still had difficulty making eye contact with him. It took them quite a while to get deep into the jungle and it looked like they only had a few hours of daylight left. They haven't found a single ingredient yet which lead Nikky to pout when her Palmon told them it was time for a break. "Relax, we're near one of the locations of the ingredients..." She reassured them as she pointed above. "There's a huge tree up above that has the mushrooms we need. You wouldn't last long at the strength you're at now." She proceeded to draw the mushrooms and the other two ingredients so that the other knew what to look for and then passed the list to Marco and Chibomon. "The flowers are north side of the giant tree and Digian fruit is a little bit further from there." Honestly, Nikky wasn't familiar with the ingredients on the list, but she knew that she could trust her partner's judgement on this. The ingredients were within walking range of each other, so the most tasking part this adventure was actually retrieving it. Or so she thought. "So any questions boys?" She specified to them alone due to knowing full well that Nikky wouldn't stop asking her questions if she directed it to her.
Marco wasn't too fond of the hot, humid jungle and apparently neither was Chibomon who wouldn't stop fidgeting. Jungle would not stop making noises ranging from insect noises to bird noises. There were several trees along with different plant life that wrapped around trees or other plants. Marco took off his jacket and wrapped it around his waist. Underneath the jacket he wore a sleeveless turtle neck zip-up shirt. He pulled the zipper down and exposed some of his chest, but even that wasn't enough to cool him down. He wished he was wearing lighter clothes like Nikky who was at least wearing some small shorts. Her legs were certainly cooled and very smooth with a beautiful pale color. Marco blushed realizing that he was staring at Nikky's legs and his eyes would continue to wonder to other places. He shook his head wondering if the heat was getting to him. Since Hanako knew the way and Nikky was her tamer, naturally the two were in the front taking the lead. Marco and Chibomon.were behind them to provide cover so of course the young man had a view of Nikky and several hours already passed so of course his eyes would wander. Marco blushed hoping that Nikky wouldn't notice him, but seeing as her back was to him that was very unlikely. Also she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. She seem to hardly be paying attention to anything else except the jungle as if she was reminiscing.
Hanako told everyone that break time had begun. They were away from the trees and reached a stream with clear water. The spot was perfect to take a break and there was even clean water to drink. Marco didn't waste anytime in nearing the stream. He scooped some water in his hands and drank. Chibomon jumped into the stream wanting to cool himself down. Marco splashed some water on his face sighing in content as his face was cooled. He splashed some water in his exposed arms as well. Marco heard Nikky's voice, she was offering them cookies. He smiled at the shy girl and received her cookies, "thank you." Marco handed a cookie to Chibomon who jumped out of the water to catch the cookie in his mouth. His face a mixture of delight and happiness. "These cookies are awesome!" Marco took a bite and his eyes widen; the cookies tasted incredible. "These are really good cookies." He smiled at Nikky as he ate more of the cookies.
Nikky looked a little down probably concerned because they didn't find any o the ingredients yet. Marco wasn't sure how much longer the day would last, but if they didn't hurry then they would fail their mission and be forced to sleep in the jungle. He understood why Nikky was concerned, but Hanako was not worried. She knew her way around this jungle better than anyone and she explained to them where the location of the ingredients were. Apparently, the area above them was the place where they would find everything they needed. Once Hanako finished her explanation, she asked them if there were any questions. Marco and Chibomon looked at each other then back at Hanako. They shook their heads, they were ready to go whenever everyone else was ready. "We should get started, I'm sure Babamon must be waiting for us."
Nikky went to the stream to refill her bottle as the guys took up on her offer and tried the cookies. Their compliments relieved her. She made the cookies to her taste, so she didn't know how they would take it. "I'm glad you like them." She replied to the both of them with a bright smile while facing Marco. She almost immediately looked away and blood rushed straight to her head. For some reason she couldn't understand, she was having a harder time knowing where to look since his arms and chest were exposed. Marco and Chibomon looked like they didn't have any questions and were ready. "Y-Yeah, let's get started!" She said in a rather awkward manner. After checking if she had everything and hearing that everyone was ready to go, the group made their way to the giant tree.
Walking towards the tree was a lot more taxing with the blazing sun beaming down on them. Luckily for them, the hot ball of fire was not at its highest peak. "There should be some mushrooms near the foot of it. They're hard to spot, but remember the shape I drew and you'll find it in no time." Hanako mentioned as soon as they reached the roots of the tree. The girls felt relief from the shade given by the area. The ring of the tree was gigantic and the mushrooms were of the same color as the tree trunk, so they'd have to keep their eyes peeled for it. As they were searching for the ingredient, Nikky would find herself trying to steal glances of the dark-haired male when she thought he wasn't looking. 'Hey! Stop distracting yourself! You have a job to do.' She thought to herself as she pinched her cheeks to snap herself out of it. Moments of looking later, Nikky found some of them hiding under one of the larger roots and motioned her partner to verify. She didn't want to be wrong and possibly harm herself after all. "That's it!" The plant digimon said as she plucked the fungus. She then put the ingredient in the bag that used to contain the cookies for safe keeping. ...What the?" Looking around, Hanako found it strange that there were so few mushrooms to be found. There were plenty of them when she walked by last time. "That's one down. Two more to go!" The brunette said with enthusiasm as she pumped her fist in the air. As the group starting walking to the next area, she heard whispers from behind her and saw bushes moving rather unnaturally, but didn't think much of it, believing that she was only getting delusional due to being thirsty. She took a sip from her bottle and followed the group.
Once everyone finished resting, the mission continued. Marco took the last bite of his cookie. Nikky was still shy around him and with the way she was always looking away from him he wondered if perhaps he was disliked. Hanako was the one that asked to join them which could possibly be that Nikky just went along with her digimon's decision. Those thoughts bothered Marco so he pushed them aside so that they could finish the mission. The big tree that Hanako talked about was just ahead and no more time could be wasted. Hanako drew a picture of the ingredients they would need to collect so everything was ready. Reaching the tree was quite tiring especially the path was uphill. Marco and Chibomon stayed behind the girls which again gave the teenager a good view of Nikky's legs. He gave up trying to look away and instead took glances whenever he could; he felt bad, but they were quite the sight. He was able to keep his spirits up so the walk to the tree wasn't too bad, but clearly the hike was taking its toll with the sun shining down on them.
Once they reached the roots of the tree, Hanako told them where they could find some of the mushrooms. Chibomon hopped off from Marco's head and went to look for the mushroom. "Be careful, Chibomon," Marco called out unsure whether his digimon partner heard him or not. The tiny blue dragon seemed to be more preoccupied with exploring the area underneath the tree. Marco could still see him so perhaps he didn't have to worry and could look for the ingredients while keeping an eye out for Chibomon. Speaking of keeping an eye, he felt like someone was watching him. Whenever he felt that gaze on him and he tried to find the source, the feeling quickly disappeared. When he felt eyes on him again, he quickly turned to glance at the person. Marco momentarily locked eyes with Nikky; her cheeks were red and he wondered if perhaps she was feeling hot from the sun.
Hanako's shouts of victory snapped him back to his senses. The first of the ingredients was located by Hanako meaning only two ingredients were left. Nikky was quite excited and Marco enjoyed watching the brunette looking so happy. Marco looked around, "where is Chibomon?" The blue ball digimon was nowhere to be seen. Did he get lost or wandered too far into the tree? Marco started looking for his digimon partner; he should have been more careful when watching him. "Marco!" a scream was heard which startled the teenager especially since he recognized that voice. "Chibomon! Where are you?" Marco turned his head to look around, but there was no sight of his partner. "I'm up here!" Marco looked up when he heard Chibomon's voice again. From one of the branches of the big tree, Chibomon was wrapped around some sort of sticky thread. He was hanging from the branch. How did he get up there?
"I'm coming, Chibomon!" Marco started making his way towards the tree so he could start climbing, but he was stopped. He felt something pulling him back and when he looked over his shoulder, he noticed a thick thread as well as a yellow looking worm with a sharp stinger on its rear. "Electro Thread!" Marco noticed electricity running through the thread that was connected to his back. His eyes widen and he was too late to react as he was shocked. Marco shouted in pain and fell down to his knees. The shock was momentary, but it was enough to make him feel numb. How could a video game make pain feel so real? "W-What are you?" Marco asked looking over his shoulder at the worm monster.
"Ignorant human! We are Kunemon and you are trespassing on our tree!" The yellow worm spoke as it shot another strike of his 'Electro Thread' at Marco. The teenager shouted in pain again, this time lying down on the ground. That last shock was worse than the last! "Don't hurt my friend! Acid Bubbles!" Chibomon fired small pink bubbles from his mouth down towards the Kunemon attacking Marco. The yellow worm digimon released its thread holding Marco and instead fired a new thread at Chibomon's pink bubbles instantly destroying them. "Chibomon...Nikky, Hanako...get away," Marco felt his consciousness leaving him. He didn't think that he could feel this much pain from a video game; when they told him the experience was real, they were not kidding.
Chibomon struggled as his body began to glow. The digivice inside Marco's pocket started glowing as well. "Chibomon digivolve to...DemiVeemon!" The thread that was previously wrapped around the baby digimon exploded as a new digimon entered the battle. Chibomon was no longer just a ball with a face. The new Chibomon possessed a body, hands, feet, and a tail. Along with these changes, a different name for Chibomon was created; DemiVeemon. His blue skin tone was darker and his ears were nearly as long as his tail. "Pop Attack!" DemiVeemon fell down right on top of Kunemon with his feet landing on the yellow digimon's face leaving his footprints. Kunemon growled mostly annoyed than hurt, "Electro Thread!" Kunemon fired his thread once more, but DemiVeemon quickly hopped away with the thread just barely missing him. The In-Training digimon was trying to lead Kunemon away from Marco so that Nikky and Hanako could help him. "You're slow!" DemiVeemon taunted Kunemon as he stuck his tongue out at him.
As they were getting ready to leave, Marco had difficulty finding Chibomon. He found the baby digimon hanging by a thread on a high branch. As he went to get him, he was suddenly attacked. Nikky turned her attention to Marco when she heard him scream in pain. The girls saw that the dark-haired teen was wrapped by electrically charged threads. A second shout was heard and he was down on the ground. "Marco!" They ran straight to up to him. Chibomon acted quickly and attacked their foe, but it didn't look like it had much affect on the worm digimon. "Chibomon...Nikky, Hanako...get away," She had no intention of leaving his side. The thought didn't even cross her mind until he mentioned it. "We're not going to leave you alone." She said softly, worried about the male. All of her previous shyness was no longer present; she was too worried about his well-being to be so. Hanako on the other hand had other concerns and was rather insulted at the comment. "Psh... As if I couldn't handle this..." The Palmon said as stretched her arms and neck. Knowing that the newly digivolved DemiVeemon lead Kunemon far enough from the hurt Marco and her tamer to be deemed safe and that he was strong enough to keep the yellow digimon busy for a while, the Palmon left the two tamers alone to go into the jungle.
The brunette removed the still charged threads from his body fast as she could which slightly numbed her hands in the process. "Marco! Stay with me!" She told the male who was slowly losing consciousness. She put her ear near his face to check if he was still breathing and check his pulse. She was relieved that he still showed vital signs of life, but he seemed to be in pain. She then rearranged his limbs so that he would be lying comfortably on the ground and put his head on her lap. She wasn't familiar with the plants in the digital world, so she didn't know if there was anything she could do to help. Hanako showed up with a few moments later with dark red berries on hand and passed them to Nikky. "Make him eat these." No explanation was given, but she knew she could trust her partner. Hanako then casually followed the blue digimon to back him up, leaving Marco to Nikky again. "Marco, can you hear me? I need you to eat theses berries. They'll make you better" The girl said as she tried to feed him. All she could do now was hold his hand to show him that she was still here and hope that the berries would work.
"Poison Ivy!" Hanako's fingernails that stretched and was barbed with thorns grabbed the Kunemon from behind to slam it into the ground. "Hey fish bait! Doesn't feel great to be taken by surprise now, huh?" She then directed her attention to DemiVeemon. "Blue boy!" she said, forgetting his name. "We can't be wasting time on chumps like him, so let's hurry it up shall we?" Perhaps it was because she was back in home turf, but she was feeling more confident than usual.
Marco couldn't feel much of anything; he just felt numb. His mind registered that he was lying on the ground, but he didn't feel like he was lying anywhere. He did hear noises, but they were getting further away. He wanted to just ignore those voices and go to sleep, but they were so persistent. "Nikky.." why did he whispered her name? The brown-haired girl suddenly occupied his thoughts and he wondered how it would feel to lie his head down on her lap. Marco felt something small and circular being pressed against his lips. He was reluctant at first, but the touch of tender fingertips against his lips caused some of his senses to return. Marco took the berry into his mouth and slowly chewed. When he was done, he swallowed the crushed berry and slowly felt his sense returning to him. He didn't realize that his body was shivering nor did he noticed that he was using Nikky's lap as a pillow. Marco slowly blinked his eyes open and looked up at his savior. The sun above the sky made Nikky look as if she was wearing a halo, just like an angel. Marco closed his eyes again, he still needed to rest a bit more before he tried moving his body. This game was strange and dangerous, but at least he wasn't alone.
DemiVeemon continued to move trying to distance the Kunemon from his partner and Nikky. He felt so much energy rushing through him, having legs was amazing and how he could even grip things with his new arms. When he was a Chibomon all he could do was be carried by others or hop if he wanted to move. DemiVeemon was running and jumping (not necessarily in that order) as he got used to his new limbs. He would need to adapt fast because the Kunemon was closing in on him. "Electro Thread!" a thick string of tread was fired at the blue digimon who jumped out of the way before he could be trapped. His small size and speed made it easier for him to dodge Kunemon's attacks, but the worm digimon was getting close with each thread he fired. "Electro Thread!" DemiVeemon was unable to dodge the thread which cause his foot. Kunemon snapped the thread back sending DemiVeemon soaring into the sky. The tiny digimon was having trouble keeping balance in midair and soon enough he was falling. "Pop Attack!" DemiVeemon tried using his attack to regain his balance as he fell down ready to stomp on Kunemon like before. However, the worm digimon knew better than to be tricked twice with the same move. "Electro Thread!" Kunemon fired another thread which instantly wrapped around DemiVeemon. Kunemon flung the DemiVeemon once more, but the thread broke this time which send DemiVeemon crashing into a bush (lucky for him!).
DemiVeemon held his head as his eyes transformed to spirals circling in confusion. Kunemon made his way towards the plushie-looking digimon. "Where's my back up?" right on cue, Hanako appeared slamming the Kunemon into the ground. DemiVeemon shook his head and regained his senses. "Hanako! Yay you're here!" DemiVeemon cheered instantly forgetting that he was stuck in a bad situation. However, all of that came back when he saw another digimon trying to take Hanako by surprise! "Hanako, watch out! There's another one!"
Nikky felt relief when Marco slowly opened his eyes. The berries had healed him or at the very least they were starting to. "Everything's going to be okay..." She said softly to not disturb his rest. The girl noticed that he was shivering, but his jacket was around his waist and far from her reach. She decided to remove her hooded long sleeve shirt and put it on top of him, revealing a light green tank top underneath. She then watched from her safe distance the on-going battle their digimon were fighting, hoping that they'd come back to them safe and sound.
DemiVeemon seemed glad to see her, but his cheerfulness soon changed to give her a serious warning. "Watch out?" Another two Kunemon came from the giant tree and shot some string in her blind spot. Before she knew it, she was covered with sticky, silky string charged with electricity and fell to one knee. As the electricity ran through her body, Hanako did everything she could to stifle her scream, not wanting to show that the attack was actually hurting her. "Sneak attacks are all you chumps got, eh!" She shouted angrily as she struggled to get up. If she wasn't already mad, she definitely was now. She pulled off the charged silk by force with her one free hand. Still having a hold of the Kunemon who attacked the boys in her grasp, she started tightening her grip. "Root Breaker!" As if poisoning and slamming it into the ground wasn't bad enough, she also drained the poor insect digimon of most of its energy. When she was done, the plant digimon flung the Kunemon's limp body at the ones that attacked her, feeling somewhat replenished. At this point she completely forgot about the mission and only thought of paying back in full what had been dealt. "So who's next?" Their two opponents were a little shaken by what had just happened and decided to try a different approach. "Palsy Thread! Poison Ride!" As one of them spat out bolts in every direction, the other would make use of the chaos and coordinate itself to attack either DemiVeemon or Hanako from behind with its poisonous stinger. Hanako clicked her tongue as she struggled to dodge both the stinger and the bolts flying everywhere. Reading the pattern was going to take a while.
The shivering continued and Marco could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He didn't feel cold, but the shock probably gave his body goosebumps which probably gave the illusion to his body that he was cold. The berries that he was fed were slowly having an effect on his body and he really did feel the numbness disappearing. He was becoming more aware of his surroundings including the fact that he was resting his head in Nikky's lap. The embarrassment did not come yet, but he was sure that once it did he would be blushing a lot. The shivering and goosebumps were disappearing as well and Marco closed his eyes temporarily to have his final rest before getting up. He was suddenly overwhelmed by a sweet fragrance of strawberries along with other earthy scents. Marco opened his eyes again and looked up at Nikky. She wasn't wearing her hoodie shirt and she was looking at him with concern, but tender eyes. "I'm...okay," Marco took a deep breath, "where...where is Chibomon?" He slowly sat up as he tried to put weight on his arms and legs to test his body. Marco noticed his bag was on the floor not too far from them, but he didn't paid too much attention to his bag. He slowly stood up almost tumbling over, but managing to regain his footing. "Nikky...thank you," Marco was panting a little, but he took another deep breath to steady his breathing. The berries were now on full effect and he wasn't feeling numb anymore just a little disorientated as if he woke up from a deep sleep.
"What happened?" Marco looked around seeing the roots of the giant tree and the day's journey came back to his mind. He finally noticed the battle happening further ahead. He looked over his shoulder at Nikky. "We have to help them."
DemiVeemon was glad that Hanako arrived because she was kicking Kunemon butt! That was until the Kunemon ganged up on her. They used a combination of their silky thread to trap her while simultaneously shocking her with their attacks. "Don't worry Hanako! I'm coming!" the plushie digimon puffed up his chest and began his charge to save the beautiful Hanako! Unfortunately, for the Kunemon, they made a grave mistake by making the plant digimon angry. DemiVeemon stopped his charged as he watched Hanako rip the threads from her body, suck the energy from one of the Kunemon, and throwing said Kunemon at his friends to knock all of them down. She was like some sort of warrior digimon goddess who was fierce, but graceful as she destroyed her enemies. DemiVeemon gulped tugged at the collar of the imaginary shirt he wasn't wearing. Maybe he exaggerated his thoughts due to the heat he felt on his face which was strange since the tree provided a huge shade. DemiVeemon snapped back to his senses when bolts started raining down on them. The blue digimon flailed around wildly as he tried to avoid the attacks. His dodging wasn't as graceful as Hanako's, but one way or another he was doing fine.
"Wow!" DemiVeemon jumped back to dodge a bolt from hitting him. Whether it was dumb luck that he was dodging the attacks, the blue digimon was keeping up with the rookie-level digimon, but his luck would eventually run out. "Poison Ride!" DemiVeemon turned around just in time to see the Kunemon firing its stinger at him. DemiVeemon jumped back and avoided the stinger, but he was unable to avoid the bolt that came down on him. DemiVeemon screamed out in pain falling down to the ground. Funny how he was feeling full of energy when he digivolved, but now he felt that energy leaving him. "Did anyone get the license plate number of that truck that just hit me?" DemiVeemon slowly got up. He was bruised, but at least the attacks were over. Hanako managed to take down one of the Kunemon, but there were still two of them left. He wasn't strong enough to defeat them so how could he help? DemiVeemon snapped his fingers (figuratively) as a light bulb light up inside his head. "Acid Bubbles!" DemiVeemon fired a barrage of pink bubbles towards the Kunemon. The attack itself wasn't all that harmful to the worm digimon, but the sting from the acid was quite an annoyance for them. "Over here you ugly bugs! I bet you can't catch me!" DemiVeemon turned around and smacked his butt while looking over his shoulder to stick his tongue out at them. The Kunemon growled angrily at the blue digimon who was taunting them; they charged towards him. DemiVeemon grinned seeing that his distraction was working now Hanako could concentrate on the attack.
As Marco's eyes opened once again "W-Wait!" She said as Marco first struggled to get up. She didn't want him to push himself. He did seem like he was just starting to recover after all. She shook her head when he thanked her. "I-I didn't do much... It was all Hana..." Though he did say that he was okay, his heavy breathing and his near tumble made her think otherwise. "Please take it easy. You were just attacked..." Nikky grabbed his arm to put it over her neck to help support him. She nodded in agreement when Marco said that they had to help their digimon. "Yeah, let's go." She didn't have much confidence in being a human crutch and she probably wouldn't be of help much given their difference in height, but she thought that it was better than doing nothing.
"Not bad blue!" Hanako said to DemiVeemon as they dodged the bug digimon's attacks, impressed by his swiftness despite his small limbs. As she was scanning the field to read the pattern, she saw that a bolt was headed his way. "Watc-!" She was too slow to be able to do anything about it. The plant digimon was concerned about the baby dragon digimon, but she had to focus on avoiding the frenzy of bolts or she herself would get hit. The blue digimon, injured yet still bright eyed and bushy tailed, looked like he had an idea. He attacked yellow digimon and started mocking them. She made use of the distraction that her ally had provided her, but not before snorting at his actions. "Poison Ivy!" With each of her clawed hands she snatched both of the eyeless insects when they were chasing angrily DemiVeemon to then bash them into each other, critically injuring one of them and knocking out the other in the process. The only Kunemon then scurried off into the bushes with what little energy they had left.The Palmon laughed out loud rather haughtily, puffing her chest with her leaf-looking hands on her hips. "That's the last we'll see of them!" But it wasn't.
"Looks like I have to do everything myself... Rain of Pollen!" Purple flowers popped out of the bush, releasing a dusty pollen that, surrounding the unsuspecting Hanako and DemiVeemon. Noticing the cloud of pollen in time, she pushed the in-training digimon out of harms way. "Tch, it had to be you, helmet head... " These two plant digimon were never the best of friends; arguing about the mundaneness of things and always striking at each other's nerves. The tropical flower bearing digimon mind was in a haze and no longer had a sense of reality. A Floramon came out from the bushes with the injured Kunemon after making sure her attack had reached her foe. "My my Hanako... So quick with the insults!" Floramon then kicked her, knocking her to the ground. So much for an easy mission.
DemiVeemon was pushed out of the way by Palmon who saw the pollen attack coming much faster than he did. He was save from any harm thanks to her, but now the plant digimon was on the ground paralyzed. "Pick on somebody you're own size!" DemiVeemon cried charging at her with his Hop Attack. However, the higher level digimon simple swung her hand and whipped the blue digimon with a vine that grew from her flower hand. The force behind her slap was powerful enough to send the In-Training digimon rolling backwards. He only stopped rolling when his back hit against one of the giant roots from the tree. DemiVeemon was losing energy fast. His fighting abilities were not top notch yet and there was only so much that digimon of his level could do against the bigger and stronger digimon. DemiVeemon struggled to stand up, that plant digimon which looked similar to Hanako just brushed him aside like he was nothing. The tiny blue digimon glared at plant-reptile digimon with the red-flower helmet; she was a really pretty -still mean- digimon, but Hanako was prettier! "Get away from my friend!" DemiVeemon shouted loudly so that he would catch everyone's attention. "You caught her off-guard! If you fought her fairly then she would win! Hanako is really strong!" The Floramon glared at the plushie blue digimon who was actually suggesting that Palmon was stronger than her! Her attention was fully directed to DemiVeemon. She was no longer just looking over her shoulder at him, but she turned her whole body with her flower hands on her hips. Kunemon turned around as well to follow its' bosses movement. "You little squirt! That ugly plant has nothing on me!"
Floramon was clearly angry and it was probably a good idea to back off especially since he was outnumbers (and they were strong than him). However, DemiVeemon stood his ground and continue to defend his friend. "You take that back! Hanako mopped the floor with your henchmen and she's not ugly! You're pretty, but but....Hanako is prettier than you!" Floramon's eye twitch and her face twisted. She wasn't just angry anymore, she was furious! "I'm going to have fun deleting you,,," Floramon took a step forward, but stopped when she felt something hit the back of her head. She turned around, but this time it was her face that was struck. Floramon stumbled back, she wasn't hurt instead she was just caught off guard and nearly lost her balance. Floramon glared ahead and spotted none other than a black-haired human carrying a couple some dirt in the shape of spheres. "Two against one is an unfair fight," Marco spoke staring at Floramon and the Kunemon by her side, "so I'm here to even the odds." Floramon wanted to scream, one distraction after another continued and she could not humiliate with all this digimon and human getting in her way! Speaking of Hanako the Palmon, she was no longer on the ground. In fact, she was no where to be seen as if she suddenly disappeared.
Before Floramon could ask what happened to the flower digimon, she felt some weight on top of her head. "Hop Attack!" DemiVeemon pounced on top of Floramon using all of his weight on the attack. The damage from an In-training against a Rookie level digimon would not be much, but DemiVeemon's attack caused the Floramon to hit the ground face first. The blue digimon wasted no time and joined Marco's side. "Don't worry, Hanako is getting better, but until she comes back we have to keep these guys distracted." DemiVeemon wasn't given the complete details of the plan, but basically they were trying to give Hanako some time to recover. The small dragon nodded and put up his stubby hands, "alright then let's fight together!" Marco nodded, but he wasn't really going to fight. There was no way he stood a chance against these digital monsters. Lucky for him he just needed to buy time. His body felt heavy, but the adrenaline rushing through him was keeping him on his feet. Hopefully, DemiVeemon and he could distract the plant and bug digimon long enough for Nikky to cure Hanako.
=====Few Minutes Earlier=====
Marco was slowly feeling his body returning to normal which was a good thing because he needed to move now. Chibomon went off to fight those bugs (Kunemon) that attacked him. He needed to go and try to help his friend as well as learn more about the game's battle system. Chibomon was attacking on his own, but did he help him out or was there some kind of commands that he could give his partner? Marco nearly lost his footing, but Nikky was there to help him. She moved under his arm to act as his crutch which really caught him by surprise. His senses were not expecting to experience so much Nikky at once. He was attacked from all sides and the fact that he had to lean on her was only making it worse. Marco shook his head, "I'm okay, Nikky. We need to go after Chibomon and Hanako, they might need help." Marco looked down at his hand which held the berries that Nikky fed him earlier to get rid of the paralysis. He pocketed the berries then continued on his way towards the battle with Nikky by his side.
The two approached the scene, but they were still some distance away where they couldn't be seen. Marco saw Hanako on the ground and he knew that the situation was getting out of hand. Why wasn't Hanako getting up? Was she paralyzed too? Chibomon was alone against two digimon. "We need to help them," Marco handed Nikky the berries that were in his pocket. "Chibomon has their attention right now so we need to move in and get Hanako." Chibomon had become bigger, but the other digimon were still bigger than him and probably stronger. If they were going to win, then they would need Hanako. "Those berries cured me so they can probably do the same to Hanako." Once the plan was made, they would move in and follow up with the plan. Hanako was their best option at the moment. Marco could cause a distraction with Chibomon if a distraction was needed.
=====End of Flashback=====
Marco ducked just barely dodging the vines that Floramon was flinging at him. DemiVeemon used his Acid Bubble attack to distract the digimon which gave Marco a better chance at dodging. Nonetheless, he was only human and the adrenaline he felt was going away so his body was getting heavy again. Marco and DemiVeemon were both panting. Floramon and Kunemon knew they had the human and blue digimon cornered; their time was up.
As the tamers were making their way to the battle, they noticed that something was wrong. Hanako was down on the ground and didn't seem to be moving and Chibomon was outnumbered and appeared to be struggling. Nikky blood went cold and started thinking of worst case scenarios, but was brought back when Marco mentioned his plan and the remaining berries that had just cured him. She didn't want Marco to push himself since he just recovered. However, their digimon needed them. The girl nodded with the berries on hand and waited for the right moment to get to her digital partner.
Marco made balls of dirt and threw them at the Floramon and Kunemon, grabbing their attention. When Marco and Chibomon had distracted the jungle trooper digimon and gotten their undivided attention, Nikky moved her Palmon away from the enemies' line of sight. Nikky doused her long sleeved shirt with the water from her bottle and dabbed at Hanako's body to remove the pollen. Looking more closely at her body, Hana had taken quite a beating, making Nikky dabbed a little more gently. With Hanako's body cleared of the pollen and the berries that Marco had given her now in her hands, she began to speak. "Hana... It's me Nikky... You can get through this... You've been through tougher things than this..." The girl said calmly as her hands were slightly shaking while she fed her fallen friend the berries. What if this didn't work? She didn't want to lose her longest friend. The girl vigorously shook her head as if to shake these thoughts out. Now was not the time to think negatively. She finished feeding the digimon the rest of the berries and waited for something to happen.
Meanwhile, on the guys' side, angry screams coming from a certain plant digimon were echoing throughout the jungle. Upon hearing the noises, Hanako suddenly and not to mention clumsily got up, eyes wide open and pissed. The glare of the sun peaking from the trees led her eyes to close as fast she opened them. "Ugh... Where is she?" The tropical plant wearing digimon barely manage to ask, wobbling back in forth trying to get back to the battle. "W-Wait a minute!" First Marco, now Hana? Why were they so reckless after just getting better? "Can't do that... Look..." Hanako pointed to the ongoing fight while continuing to walk towards them. It seemed like Marco and Chibomon were doing the best they could, but they were now between a rock and a had place. Nikky eyes narrowed as she analysed the situation. She couldn't think of any other way. "Alright... But I'm coming with you!" Nikky said as she supported Hana from falling. Hanako chuckled, knowing that she wouldn't be able to change the girl's mind. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
Using the same tactic as Marco, Nikky also made a few spherical pieces and threw them at their foes. Her aim was nowhere near as good as Marco's, nevertheless she did manage to get their attention. Hanako was in front of her tamer, being supported from behind. "Hey~ Didn't think you could get rid of me so easily now did you? Poison Ivy!" While the Kunemon was distracted by Nikky's poor accuracy, Hanako took the opportunity to attack the worm of a digimon, leaving the already weakened Kunemon unable to move from the poison in her ivy vines. "Now it's just you and me~" She said, releasing the yellow digimon. As much as the Palmon tried to hide her tiredness, it was clear to Nikky that her digimon was nearing her limit. They had to end this quickly. "Ahhh! I'm not going to let you take those mushrooms!" Floramon's previous confident composure dissipated into non-existence as she wildly came swinging at Hanako. Nikky continued flinging the pieces of dirt until she finally hit the Floramon square in the face. "My eyes! My beautiful blue eyes!" She shrieked, trying to wipe off the soil from her dirtied eyes. "Do the world a favor and please shut up. Poison Ivy!" As the Floramon was removing the dirt, Hanako decided to go for the win. Her poisonous vines of ivy wrapped around the unready digimon and paralyzed her on the spot.
With Floramon unable to move, the fight was over. It wasn't a clean win, but it was a win nonetheless. Hanako wanted to avoid deleting the digimon in front of Nikky, causing her to spare her rival. She grabbed the injured Floramon and pinned her to a tree. She then whispered into where her ear might have been so as that the others could not hear what she was about to say. "If I find you anywhere and I mean anywhere near us again I'll delete your empty helmet head. Got it?" Floramon could only nod in fear. In reality, both parties were too tired to do anything. Hanako had Nikky and the guys to back her up while Floramon's "friends" were already long gone. It was definitely their win in Hana's eyes. Seeing as how everyone except for her seemed exausted from the ordeal, Nikky had a proposition. "How about we take another break before we continue?"
Floramon's screams of frustrations caught Marco and DemiVeemon's attention. They were dodging most of the attacks, but their movements were becoming sluggish, they were slowing down. Twice now Marco was saved by DemiVeemon who head-butted him on the chest in order to push him away from one of Floramon's vine attacks. Marco felt his body really heavy and now DemiVeemon was looking out for the both of them. They could not keep this distraction up anymore. Floramon's scream was an indication that she was tired of dealing with them as well. "Just a little longer," Marco panted feeling his legs ready to give up on him. DemiVeemon nodded, he was panting as well. "Hanako will come and she'll kick her butt." Marco chuckled, a small and tired laugh, but he agreed with his partner. Hanako and Nikky were their last hope so they were relying on the girls. Marco didn't know them for that long, but he had no reason to doubt any players from this game. This place wasn't the real world so he didn't have his guard up against strangers. However, the game did feel strangely real and so many of his senses were constantly overwhelmed by the experience. He would need to work out his feelings later if he could survive this battle.
Marco stumbled back as he dodged a string that was shot from the Kunemon. The young man was unable to catch his balance and fell back landing on his butt. DemiVeemon went to try and help him stand back up, but he was too tiny and not strong enough to move the larger and taller man. "Chibomon get out of here or they'll get you," Marco still didn't know the new digimon's name so he continued to address him by his baby form's name. "Get up, Marco! We just need to hang on a little longer. They're coming!" Marco nodded managing to stand up again; was it possible to lose consciousness in a game? The flower and bug digimon knew that the human and blue digimon were tired. They would not be able to dodge this next attack. Marco and DemiVeemon were getting ready to brace themselves for the attack. However, the final attack never came because Floramon and Kunemon were struck with mud balls. Their attention was taken by none other than Hanako with Nikky right behind her! Marco and DemiVeemon's face instantly lit up when they saw the girls.
The events that followed were a battle between Hanako against Kunemon and Floramon. The Kunemon was taken care of quite easily and it ran away once Hanako released him. Floramon on the other hand had every intention of battling all the way with her plant rival. Hanako was clearly tired, but she was not alone; Nikky was right by her side and she was throwing mud balls at Floramon. One of the balls struck the flower-helmet digimon right in the face temporarily blinding her. Hanako took this opportunity to deal the final strike finally ending this battle with a decisive blow. With the battle over Marco and DemiVeemon fell back on the ground feeling quite tired. Marco rubbed his digimon's head, "it's over Chibomon...Chibomon?" Light snores could be heard and when Marco went to have a look, he saw DemiVeemon snoring; his digimon fell asleep. "You've earned it..." Marco smiled and gently picked up his digimon then went to join Nikky.
"Thank you Hanako, Nikky. It would have been game over for us without you two." Marco nodded, he could really use a break right about now. He was confused about why a game would let players get tired and even sweat. This realistic game was perhaps too real to be completely enjoyable. They couldn't afford to rest for too long either especially since Babamon was waiting for their return. "We should continue to look for the ingredients. Who knows when more of those digimon might show up and I don't want to keep Babamon waiting for much longer." Babamon was waiting for them so that she could begin her cooking and enough time had passed. Marco looked around and noticed some strange flowers growing from the branches of the big tree. Marco handed DemiVeemon to Nikky asking her to please hold him for a moment while he went to investigate this strange flower. He made his way to the nearest and lower branch. Thanks to his tall stature, he was able to jump and reach for the flower on the branch. He returned to Nikky and Hanako showing them the flower. "Wasn't this one of the ingredients that we were looking for?" DemiVeemon continued to snore getting comfortable in Nikky's arms.
Nikky breathed a sigh of relief with everything finally settling down. She shook her head when Marco thanked them. "We couldn't have defeated them without out you too." She said with a smile. "We should continue to look for the ingredients. Who knows when more of those digimon might show up and I don't want to keep Babamon waiting for much longer." She nodded. Marco was right; they couldn't take the risk of more delays possibly occurring and keep the elderly digimon waiting any longer, especially since dinner time was swiftly approaching. After a quick rest and cleaning what she could of her pollen stained shirt, they started looking around for the next ingredient on the list.
Marco spotted something from the branches of the tree, leaving him to pass his tuckered out partner to Nikky to retrieve it. It seemed like he found the flowers they needed. Hanako, still slightly leaning on Nikky from time to time due to being tired, examined the flower to make sure it was what they were looking for. Cuddling DemiVeemon in her arms, the girl couldn't help but feel worried about Hanako's tiredness. "Yup, that's it... One more to go!" The plant said with gusto to reassure her worry-wart of a partner that she was okay. Nikky responded with a half-hearted smile, not really believing the plant digimon's buff. The Palmon grinned and gently pinched Nikky's cheeks to reassure her once again. She really did have nothing to worry about. With Hanako's confirmation, the group started looking for the last ingredient; Digian fruit.
Once again luck was on their side. Something awfully similar to the fruit caught her eye, not too far from their previous location. She plucked it from the bush with DemiVeemon still in her arms and brought it back to Hanako. She wanted the rookie digimon to conserve her energy after all. A nod coming from the plantoid confirmed it. "Looks like we got them all!" Nikky said with a relieved look. They found the next ingredient rather easily which was convenient for them since they were running low on sunlight. "Yeah, but we have to hurry..." Looking at Hanako, the brunette knew that her partner didn't the energy to run back. "Right." The girl said as she handed DemiVeemon back to Marco. Before Hanako could comment, Nikky lifted her digimon started running towards the clearing of the forest. The group scrambled to make it back to New Network City before nightfall came.
As soon as they made back to Babamon's place in New Network City, Hanako sat herself onto the nearest, softest seat to the door even before greeting the elderly digimon present. "Ah! Much better!" Though she didn't do much walking on the way back, she was still tired from the battle. Nikky was following right behind her with the ingredients in her bag, trying to catch her breath from all the carrying and running she just did. "I'm... Really sorry about her..." She managed to say in between pants as she gave her the mushroom, flower and fruit she needed. Babamon chuckled as she shuffled about, preparing the last of ingredients into the meal. "Thank you dearies for helping this old lady out. Now please help yourself to this meal."
