#toramon

Prompt 4: A Hero’s Uniform (Feb 18th 2017)

Jules woke up with every limb and joint shooting with soreness.

”Ugh,” he groaned, as he righted himself up from the fold-out bed in a plaster-white waiting room. He had underestimated how exhausted he was from the night before - being tossed around and dropped into choppy seawater from ridiculous heights was not how he expected to spend a Wednesday evening - not to mention how mental everything was with meeting Michael and Buns digivolving for the first time.

He peeled his eyes open and looked up at the clock. 10:30am. He overslept. As disappointed as he was with himself, he wasn’t surprised; the long drive down with Michael and Himekawa was draining. After leaving the city so late last night, the three of them didn’t arrive at the meeting site until 4:00am.

Suddenly he felt his face pressed back into his pillow, “Wakey wakey sunshine!” teased Buns as his little feet bounced up and down the back of his head.

“Ugh, Buns - cut it out!” Jules groaned.

“Oh, someone’s grumpy this morning!” Buns giggled.

Jules ignored him and sat up. His shirt was completely wrinkled. “Enough already, didn’t Michael say everyone was meeting in the next room? We gotta get moving.” He tried patting down his shirt and straightening his collar. No use, still a mess. He combed through his hair quickly with his hands. All knots.

Jules walked quickly into the meeting room adjacent to the waiting room he had slept in. It was quite a decorative, official space, with plaques of key scientists and innovators, pictures of significant moments of technology history, and large display monitors strewn across the walls. The Computer History Museum in Mountain View didn’t spare for flare.

“Ah, look who’s finally up!” Michael greeted Jules cheerfully as he saw him stumble in with Buns on his shoulder.

“S-sorry I’m late,” Jules announced.

“That’s quite alright,” Himekawa answered, standing at the end of a long, broad table at the far side of the room. “The others haven’t arrived for long, and have been spending some time getting to know each other,” she continued in her thick foreign-but-official-accent.

Jules glanced a slight eye at Himekawa - there was nothing he liked about that pretentious woman. He looked around, and there were quite a few people all gathered around, all chatting with each other before he and Buns had walked in, and were now staring at him. What’s more, each person had another pair of eyes with them that stared - they all had Digimon!

“Wow…” Jules didn’t know what to say. Buns was taken aback as well - the little bunny hadn’t seen so many of his kind in one place since, well, as long as he could remember.

A girl with dark hair tied in a ponytail broke the silence, “Hey there, do you work for Himekawa?” she asked politely.

“Wha- what?” Jules answered frantically, “No way - why would you - “ he looked down at his own clothes. Button-down dress shirt and khakis. He looked around the room. Everyone was dressed way less formal than him, save Himekawa. “Ah, figures.” he thought. “No, uh, no I don’t. I’m new here.” He replied.

“Yeah he just looks like a dweeb all the time,” Buns added.

Everyone chuckled and Jules blushed profusely. He noticed that aside from Himekawa and Michael, everyone gave off a noticeably younger vibe than him. He felt like he had just stepped back into college or high school. Or maybe it was just he was so hopelessly out of fashion that he felt out of place.

“Ah, gotcha. The more the merrier!” said the dark-haired girl. She approached Jules and extended her hand, “My name is Liz, nice to meet you!” A small ball of flame slowly peeked out from behind Liz’s back; it had a soft glow and shy face, “And this is Minnie!”

“Oh, uh - hi. Jules. Nice to meet you. This is Buns,” Jules shook her hand, immediately feeling like his reply was stuffy. He noticed her outfit. Long-sleeved, weather-proof teal shirt; blue shawl; brown hiking boots; utility backpack with blankets and first-aid kit; this girl was prepared. “Uh, wow… you’re dressed like a… real hero.”

Michael chuckled from the back of the room near Himekawa, “Jules is the guy I was telling you guys about earlier! Him and Buns there were the first on site during last night’s emergence!”

Murmurs and commotion went throughout the room. Jules didn’t know how to respond - he was always uncomfortable in front of crowds, the only time he could be articulate was when he prepared for hours the day before a board meeting presentation at work.

Liz gave Jules a chummy pat on the back and brushed Bun’s ear. “Nice job, you two!” she said reassuringly. Buns puffed a smile full of content and climbed from Jules’ shoulder to his head in triumph.

Another girl on the other side of the room with glasses gave an approving nod. She was wearing plaid and had a large red dinosaur with intense yellow eyes next to her. In a corner, a kid that looked around college-age in a beanie giggled with a floating, tapir-looking creature.

Next to them, was a brunette girl with an orange, striped, cat-like creature perched on her shoulder. She wore a black tank top, blue arm band, and orange gloves. She took her turn at introductions, “Sounds like you two are quite a team! I’m Kana, and this is Toramon.”

A taller-looking person with blonde hair, a dark cape, studded belt, and ripped black jeans stood up from the corner of the room with an impish-looking purple creature and gave an edgy smirk. In the same corner, a girl in a vintage 1990’s Jim Lee X-Men tee shirt and a purple skirt looked on in silence, accompanied by a sheet ghost with an oversized witch hat.

Jules reached back to nervously scratch his head, only to accidentally hit Buns on his. He was trying to cope with being the focus of attention in the room. “Uh… um… thanks y’all… I guess… ha,” he replied. “Say, uh… this might sound weird, but, uh, how old are y’all?”

“Huh?” Liz was surprised by the question, “I dunno, I thought we’re all about the same? I’m 22, for what it’s worth.”

“Oh,” Jules felt slightly more comfortable, “Okay, y’all all look really young, so, uh, I just didn’t know… you know? I mean, I felt old.”

“Ha! Relax my man! Are you scared of college kids or somethin’?” laughed Michael.

“Jules is scared of his own shadow if you don’t tell him it’s gonna be there beforehand,” jabbed Buns, always ready to get one in.

“Man, you’re a firecracker, Buns!” Michael and the others in the room laughed along, “Hey man, I’m 25 here, don’t make me feel like a fossil.”

“No that’s not what I meant - I’m 24.” Jules quickly replied with an apologetic tone, “Anyway,” he turned to Himekawa, suddenly firm and determined, “I asked because I want to know - why the hell do you have a bunch of kids gathered here, lady?”

Himekawa sighed and smiled. She closed her eyes for a moment, then looked straight at Jules, unwavering. “I suppose I owe everyone here an explanation,” she started. She began her long briefing in her distinct serious, foreign tone.

“My name is Himekawa Maki. What all of you need to know is that I am part of an international agency responsible for the monitoring and resolution of digital anomalies. It is our duty to prevent and deter cyber threats of any manner of manifestation, and we operate independently from political boundaries towards this cause.”

“Woah, that’s a lot of gibberish there,” commented Liz.

Himekawa ignored the remark and continued, “To put it simply, I’ve gathered all of you here to inform you of your current situation and to ensure your safety.”

Jules scoffed, “Our safety?! What exactly do you think is our situation?!” He looked at Michael, “Michael, did I not tell you the whole story in the car?” He turned back to Himekawa, “I trust Michael, but you, I still think you’re up to something fishy!” he accused.

“Mr. Yue, if you are referring to the emergence incident last evening in San Francisco, that is part of the reason I have brought all of you here today,” Himekawa responded.

“So you’re saying… what happened to Jules here, and the Blossomon that Minnie and I encountered, these things are connected?” Liz asked.

“Precisely. The frequency of digital anomalies is something that is unprecedented since the Demiurge Incident of ‘06. I believe you are familiar with the event?”

“The… Demiurge Incident?” Jules repeated in confusion.

“Okay, lady, you really lost me now,” said Liz. All eyes around the room looked towards each other for some kind of confirmation. No one had a clue. Liz glanced at Michael, who was patiently waiting for Himekawa to explain.

“Interesting that no one here admits to the rumors they’ve heard on the internet,” observed Himekawa, “considering that I found all of you through your forum browsing history.”

“You what?!” Liz was shocked.

“Please hold a moment,” Himekawa held a hand up calmly, “The Demiurge Incident is the designation used to refer to the string of digital resurgences in Tokyo, Japan that occurred six years after the viral digital anomaly broadcast of 2000. I’m sure some of you have seen the term “Demiurge” used in online communities that expound on theories regarding entities known as ‘Digimon.’ We believe that the emergences this time are similar to the events of 2006. However, there is one major difference.” Himekawa paused.

“Uh, okay… what?!” prodded Jules, frustrated with Himekawa’s complicated explanations.

“We believe that the current emergences are synthetically triggered. Our intel has led us to match several distortions of the digital plane coming from IP addresses of a linked server during the same time as the most recent emergences. Digital anomalies have consistently appeared in many locations where our agents are stationed around the world. We believe that a highly sophisticated cyber sleuth has compromised the system and is carrying out a vendetta against our organization.”

“Hold on… let me get this straight,” Jules rubbed the bridge of his nose, “You’re telling me, some super hacker is messing up the apparently world-class act that you’ve got going on, and your solution is to bring us all here to, what? Keep us safe?! Aren’t you making things more dangerous by having everyone be a sitting duck around you?!”

“The opposite actually,” Himekawa replied matter-of-fact-ly.

Michael sighed and propped himself up on a desk, leaning his back on the wall and kicked back his feet. He knew the twist.

“You see,” Himekawa continued, “our organization has been keeping an eye on each of you for a long period of time, to ensure that these anomalies you call Digimon that you spend time with do not pose a threat to public safety.” Himekawa glanced at each of the tamers in the room, all with various degrees of distressed looks on their faces. “However, our current ability to keep both you and your partners safe from each other and yourselves is compromised due to the many emergences we discussed that are occurring globally at a rapid pace.” Himekawa suddenly looked down, as if in shame, “I’ve asked you all here today as a request for you and your partners to assist us in finding the culprits behind these attacks.”

“Huh,” grunted Jules, “So you want to use us as pawns in your weird cybersecurity games?”

“We will need your help to keep the public safe,” Himekawa reiterated.

“Sorry, no thanks,” said Jules. He turned away with the slightest of hesitations, “this isn’t our problem. And if you ask me, the public isn’t any safer with your kind roaming around.”

Jules started towards the door quickly, only to trip over Buns, who had jumped down to stop him. “Jules! Wait a minute!” he pleaded.

“No, Buns. We’re going.” Jules insisted.

Suddenly, a bright flash emitted from one of the large display monitors on the wide boardroom walls, and two figures jumped out from the light as if the computer screen was a portal.

“Well?” Himekawa said to the unknown figure while the rest of the room still struggled with the light almost blinding their eyes.

As his vision came back to focus, Jules saw a puffy-haired girl with goggles, a hooded cape, and heavy boots stepping out from the light; a true adventurer’s garb. A small, blue, pointy-eared creature followed her.

“Nothing,” said the girl. “Vic and I searched everywhere. No sign of any rogue tamer.” The girl’s cloak was tattered and caked in dirt.

Vic the Veemon plopped down on his butt, exhausted and full of scratches on his body. “I’m pooped! Man, I could really use a doughnut right now,” he moaned.

“Jeez Choco, you and Vic look rough! What happened out there?!” Michael jumped down from the desk he was sitting on to help Vic back on his feet, and Bates crawled next to Choco to comfort her.

“We ran into a swarm of Vilemon, and then a Devidramon attacked out of nowhere,” Choco explained as she pet Bates, “Vic had to digivolve into two forms, first into Raidramon to run out from the swarm, then into Flamedramon to duke it out with that Devidramon.” Choco gave Vic a fist bump, “You did great pal.”

“You know it!” Vic mustered a boast despite feeling completely worn out, “whoever is behind all these disturbances, though, they ain’t messin’ around!” he added.

“Unforgivable!” shouted Ray, the girl in the plaid shirt and glasses. Newt the Guilmon growled in agreeing resentment.

“I’m sorry the mission was not successful,” apologized Himekawa, “however, it’s prudent that we continue the search.”

“This is insane,” Jules protested, “You - this… this girl just jumped out of the computer screen like it’s a window, all beat up, and you’re telling more people to go into that thing?! Y’all should call the cops or something. I’m done here.” Jules walks towards the door again.

“Jules!” Buns yelled and tugged at Jules’ leg, but he didn’t budge and keeps walking. Suddenly, Jules felt a grip on his arm that stops him.

“Hey!” Liz called out, “can’t you see what’s going on here? These people could use your help. We’re all in this together.”

“‘We?’ What does this have to do with me? With Buns?!” exclaimed Jules, “you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re all naive. Go home.”

“No, you’re a coward,” Liz stated firmly, “you think I don’t know what’s going on? You think you’re the only one here with a Digimon you care about? Wake up. We all have partners. We all love them more than anything, and we’re not going to let some punk just bully his way around, terrorizing innocent people. If you’re too scared to do something when it counts, be my guest and go.”

Jules was silent, stunned. He lost Bao once and he had vowed; never again. “You don’t understand,” he cried, “I won’t do it. I won’t lose Buns too!”

“Jules…” Buns muttered, standing behind Jules, at a loss for words.

Liz let go of Jules’ arm. Minnie gathered cautiously next to the two of them. “Look,” Liz said patiently, “I don’t know what happened to you, what happened to Buns. But you need to trust in each other. Minnie here is my world. She might be bashful, she might be tender, but together our flame burns bright and we are strong. You need to believe in yourself, and believe in Buns.”

Jules wiped away his tears angrily with his sleeve. Liz was right, he thought. His whole life, he had been afraid. Afraid of what would happen if he lost safety, if he lost control. He had spent his whole life running from risk. He gritted his teeth.

No more.

Jules turned around and scooped up Buns from under his little arms. “Where are we going?” he said with determination, looking straight at the still-open digital portal.

Buns looked up at his partner, big beady eyes and wiggling dumb smile full of emotion that he could barely contain.

“That’s the spirit!” cheered Michael.

Liz smiled.

“Um… guys, c-count me in too!” came a softer voice from the corner of the room. It was the young college-aged kid, dressed in a beanie with a floating mammal by their side. “I-I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Salem, and this is Baku!” The Tapirmon floated down slightly in a polite bow.

“Fantastic!” exclaimed Michael, “Now it’s a party!”

“Right. A group strategy should increase our chances of finding the culprit behind these emergences,” reasoned Himekawa, “the rest of you should stay here in case we need to relieve the other group. As long as each team has a D-3, we should be able to transport all of you quickly between the physical and digital world.”

“Great! Good thing we have Salem with us!” Liz gave Salem a supportive nudge.

“Ms. Choco and Vic, please stay and recover for the time being.” Himekawa requested.

Ray, Newt, Kana, Toramon, Choco, and Vic nodded at Himekawa’s orders. The taller blonde with the cape and the girl with the X-Men tee in the back corner rolled their eyes.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” Salem holds up their D-3 as Baku snuggles up against them.

“Alrighty, see you crazy cats on the other side!” cheered Michael as Bates let out an energetic bark.

Liz cupped Minnie close.

“Here we go!” shouted Buns, still tight in Jules’ arms. “Here we go,” sighed Jules.