[tri OOM] Barry, Cisco, and File Island

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato brings Barry and Cisco out through the same hilltop telephone booth he used to bring Autor through a few weeks back, out onto a cliff with a pretty good view of the island.

The island's central point is a mountain that looks more like a sheer spike of rock, and radiating outwards from it are a lot of very different places: Closest to the mountain, there's a pastel-coloured village of some kind that looks like it might be made of cushions; a tropical jungle with a ruined temple of black and brown stone jutting out of it; and a desert with gear markings carved into the ground and a single, leafy mountain in the centre.

Spreading out further than that, there are forests; some kind of icy tundra; a large town with a glittering white castle; a small village covered by a dark cloud; some kind of factory belching smoke into the air; and a plain covered in railroad tracks and ruined trains. Just down from the cliff, there's a lake with a camp set up next to it.

"All right, File Island," Yamato says, shutting the door. "Oldest part of the Digital World."

Comments

[makes_the_toys]

"Boy, I could name you a dozen movies off of the top of my head where shit goes down in a shady forest like this," Cisco replies, pointing at Yamato.

That said, Cisco is totally not scared and proves it by giving a sort of hop to readjust the straps on his backpack, and then marching into the trees.

He of course only goes a few steps before slowing to let Barry or Yamato take the lead.

[run_barry]

Barry just rolls his eyes and starts walking again.

"The scenery and climate changes are pretty sudden around here," he notes to Yamato while checking out the mist. "How does weather even work here?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato moves a few steps ahead of Cisco, just to show that see, it's fine.

"Weather tends to be, er -- appropriate for whatever the climate is, but it'll stop at the edge of whatever area it's in, usually," he says, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Everything's localised, and there's not really any overlap. The weather changes pretty suddenly, too -- there's no atmospheric pressure change or anything to do a weather forecast with, it'll just switch over from sun to rain and back again."

[makes_the_toys]

Barry starts to step up to walk alongside Yamato again and Cisco reaches out a hand to grab Barry's shoulder and slow him.

"Wait, can you just-- walk right there, okay?" Cisco shoves on Barry's arm and points to a spot that will mean Yamato is in front and Barry will be just behind Cisco.

No way is he going to be the one in the back who gets snatched up while the others are all unawares.

[run_barry]

"That's really-- " Barry turns his head as he's shoved around by Cisco, giving the man a 'for real?' look, before continuing the conversation with Yamato, albeit a few steps behind now.

"It's crazy how that works. But then, considering how and what this place is made of, I guess it does kind of make sense."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

As they walk, something comes into view through the fog -- neon lights at first, then the boxy shape of a vending machine, with the word 'GRAPE?' written across the top in purple neon lighting.

It seems to be stocked exclusively with purple cans, all with the word 'GRAPE?!' written on them in beautiful cursive.

"Areas on File Island are all pretty small -- and the island's odd in that it's got mechanisms for splitting up all the areas and sending them sailing away from Mount Infinity and the Village of Beginnings anyway -- so it's more noticeable, but elsewhere, where individual areas can be huge, it's a lot less obvious."

[makes_the_toys]

With his entourage strategically placed, Cisco settles down and goes back to his research and scoping out the place.

At the vending machine he stops, looking it over uncertainly.

"Why is grape a question?"

[run_barry]

"And do all the Digimon have specific habitats that they migrate to after they've reached the next stage from hatching?" he asks.

Cisco's sudden stopping in front of the vending machine causes Barry to bump into him and he just manages to catch his balance.

"What?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

The neon sign above the vending machine flickers.

Sinisterly.

"Here," Yamato says, holding out a five-hundred yen coin for Cisco. "Why don't you find out?"

To Barry, he adds: "Sort of. Digimon fight a lot, so they'll often go wherever it is that they'll have a natural advantage -- like, Garurumon, Gabumon's evolution, only ever really turn up in snowy areas, because they can maneuver about on top of snowdrifts and trap enemies in them -- or they'll cluster together in loose groups of similar Digimon."

[makes_the_toys]

Cisco hesitates, but it's been at least a couple of hours since his last sugar fix, and he's dying to know, so finally he reaches out and takes the coin.

Stepping up to the machine he sinks the coin in.

"I sure hope it's cold. Nothing worse than a hot soda."

[run_barry]

Watching Cisco put money into the machine, Barry nods.

"So the place operates to some sort of norms and rules, you just have to figure them out."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Yeah -- which is one way that Koushiro's useful. He's got a practically effortless understanding of how this place works," Yamato says, a little wryly. "Get him somewhere like the Factory, the Temple, or the teleporting Sphinx, and he can even manipulate those rules for his own ends."

In the vending machine, one of the GRAPE?! drinks drops down. The liquid inside is a lurid, cut-price-soft-drink-for-kids purple, fizzing slightly. It's odourless, but definitely ice cold.

A taste will determine that it does not taste like grape, or really any fruit on Earth.

It mostly tastes like beef.

[makes_the_toys]

Cisco pops the top on the soda can and salutes the other two with it, then tips it back and takes a good chugging drink from it.

A moment later he's spewing the liquid out in a huge spit-take.

"OH! AUGH! What the hell?!"

[run_barry]

"Oh yeah? That's-- " Barry's eyes widen as he sees Cisco's reaction to whatever has come out of the vending machine.

In the path of the sputter spray, Barry reaches an arm out to hook around Yamato's chest, pulling Yamato with him as he steps backwards at superspeed.

A moment later they are several feet back from where they were standing, and Barry watches the soda spray go by.

"Dude."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato snarls reflexively as Barry pulls him back, but he does have the good grace to look slightly sheepish about that, once he sees the soda spray.

For all that he distinctly dislikes being grabbed and superspeeded, even just a few feet, he feels like he would've also disliked having grape? soda sprayed all over him.

"... Thanks," he mutters to Barry. "Getting grape? in my hair because Cisco can't keep his delicious soda down would've sucked."

[makes_the_toys]

"Delicious? This thing tastes like cow butt," Cisco replies, tongue hanging out in disgust.

"Here, Barry, you should totally try it."

[run_barry]

Barry pulls his arm away quick and takes a step sideways, giving Yamato back his space.

"Sorry," he says, looking slightly sheepish himself.

Cisco's offer he turns down with a shake of his head. "Yeah, no, I'm not drinking that."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato reaches over to lightly nudge Barry's shoulder with one hand, as a kind of silent combination-apology-and-reassurance.

"Talk like that'll anger the vending machine spirits," he notes, starting to walk again.

(The vending machine spirits definitely aren't a thing.)

(Yamato hopes.)

[makes_the_toys]

"That's not a thing," Cisco scoffs with a laugh. Soda can still in hand, he starts walking again, retaking his position between Yamato and Barry.

"That's totally not a thing, right? I mean, I feel like you're messing with me, but I'd just like a confirmation."

[run_barry]

Barry gives Yamato a nod, and begins walking again when Yamato does.

"Totally not a thing," Barry says with reasonable confidence. "But you might wanna finish that, just to be safe."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Barry's right. Otherwise, who knows, the next vending machine might be a 'Cisco?' soda machine."

They're starting to reach the edge of the Misty Woods now, heading out onto a field with Toy Town -- a pastel collection of Tudor-esque buildings, with cobbled streets and a shimmering white castle -- just ahead.

There are a few windows open on the castle, but the windows all seem to just lead onto plastic-y looking walls, as if the entire castle is just a model.

[makes_the_toys]

"You two are both totally hilarious," Cisco says, unamused by them both.

[run_barry]

Looking ahead, Barry is surprised by the castle at first, then a touch confused.

"Is that castle-- not real?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Yeah, it's made out of plastic. And Lego bricks. And there's nothing inside it, it's just solid all the way through," Yamato says.

[makes_the_toys]

"Cooool. I have literally always wanted a giant Lego set."