[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

[run_barry]

"Friend and family discount," Barry says in his defense, struggling to maintain a not-awkward-at-all attitude. "And I was in college when she started there, so I needed every dime and drop of caffeine I could get."

So there.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"How much is Mountain Dew paying you to say that? Be honest."

He grins a little at Barry's response, shrugging one shoulder. "Sure, sure. Friend and family discount. That doesn't sound like something she made up to give you cheap coffee at all."

Either that or just, like, a really relaxed business model.

Through the dense mists, the vending machine they passed before slowly becomes visible in the distance, except now the purple 'GRAPE?' neon sign is orange, and reads 'MANGO?'

Yamato has about two seconds to frown about this before the distant, shadowy shape of a gangly teenage boy comes barreling out of the fog near the machine, bodyslamming it to shake loose several cans of mango?, which he starts gleefully gathering up.

[makes_the_toys]

"I'm not ashamed to admit I take my commission in swag," he admits.

Yamato said it, not him, but Cisco is still all smug smirks about the Iris thing.

The sign change does not go unnoticed, and Cisco is about to ask for more cash when the kid comes running out to tackle the machine.

"Who the heck is that?" Cisco asks, surprised at the appearance of another person.

[run_barry]

"Coffee shop life is sometimes boring," Barry says, still working for excuses. "Cheap coffee is an easy bribe to get me to hang out on long shifts."

Right.

Watching the kid slam into the machine, Barry winces.

"Is that one of your friends?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"More fool her if she thinks she needs to bribe you," Yamato says, half under his breath.

He watches the slamming and subsequent mango?-collecting fairly dispassionately.

"Jyou," he calls, raising his voice just enough for it to carry. The boy straightens up like he's been jabbed with a cattle prod, hurriedly depositing mango? cans into a bag at his side. "Over here."

The boy lopes closer, becoming more visible through the mists: He's a few inches taller than Yamato, with glasses and black hair, and a generally nervous-seeming disposition.

"Hey! We were -- looking for you, Sora's around ... somewhere thataways ..." Jyou says, jabbing a thumb deeper into the forest. "Are these guys human? They look human. They're very human sized."

"This is Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon. They're human," Yamato says, gesturing at each of them in turn. "Barry, Cisco, this is Jyou. Our medic. Also human."

[run_barry]

If Barry hears that comment he pretends not to, focusing instead on Jyou.

"Hi," he greets warmly, offering a hand. "We're friends of Yamato."

[makes_the_toys]

"Hey, blabbermouth, maybe next time let a guy pretend to not be human first before giving it away," Cisco chides Yamato before smiling up at Jyou.

"What's up? Those sodas any good?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Well, since Sora's apparently 'round here somewhere, I promise that none of us will stop you trying to convince her you're a Digimon," Yamato says to Cisco. "In fact, I want to see you try."

Jyou appears momentarily torn between shaking Barry's hand and reaching for a mango? soda to give to Cisco, and just flails wildly for a second before eventually grabbing Barry's hand with both of his own and shaking it.

"Nice to meet you! I'm also a friend. Of his," he says. "Oh, er, the sodas? I haven't tried them yet. I was on my way over here and I saw the machine and I put some yen in it and it ate my money so I had to run into it to get my drinks out and then you turned up."

[makes_the_toys]

"Oh, I will. Just call me Ciscomon."

Cisco is just as awkward, holding a hand out for the can, pulling it back, reaching again, and finally shoving his hands into his pockets.

"It was Grape? earlier. I don't recommend it."

[run_barry]

Barry shakes Jyou's hand, giving a smile and nod.

"I hate when that happens. There's a machine where I work that's pretty hit or miss most days."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Jyou rummages around in his bag, producing two mango? sodas, enthusiastically shoving one towards Cisco before cracking open one himself.

He sips it, swilling it around in his mouth thoughtfully like a discerning wine taster.

Eventually: "This tastes like beef."

He pauses, peering at Barry for a moment.

"Where do you work? You're not from Odaiba, I know everyone on the island," he says.

"It's a complicated situation," Yamato says. "Ask Taichi about it later or something."

[makes_the_toys]

Cisco accepts the soda, waiting to pop the top on his until after Jyou has done the taste testing.

"Beef again? Gross."

[run_barry]

"I-- we're from... " Barry glances at Yamato, then nods, pointing at him. "Yeah, that. Complicated."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"I guess it's still good for trade. Digimon have a whole different sense of taste than we do," Jyou says, only a little mournfully.

He peers at Barry for a moment, then smiles, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I guess I won't pry, then. Oh! But if Yamato's not taken you to Odaiba yet, he totally should when we're next back there! It has a ferris wheel! And the best mall in Tokyo!"

"Had," Yamato says.

"Had those things," Jyou says, slightly downcast. "Yamato and Taichi's battle with Alphamon managed to level the entire shopping district a few months back. But it's being rebuilt! Should be open again by Christmas!"

As he talks, someone else starts to emerge from the mists: A young woman around Yamato's age with a tennis player's build, auburn hair, and reddish eyes, carrying herself with the same confident presence that Yamato usually has.

[makes_the_toys]

"The giant teddy bear dude loved it," Cisco confirms with a nod, holding the can back out to Jyou.

[run_barry]

"You leveled a shopping center?" Barry asks, looking over at Yamato in surprise.

His gaze flicks away when he notices the woman's approach.

"Hi," he greets, offering a smile.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Not on purpose," Yamato says, gruffly and just the tiniest bit sheepishly. "It was back when we were first learning about the Infection. This Digimon, Alphamon, came through a distortion right in the middle of the shopping district. It'd been evacuated, so nobody was around, but he immediately started making a beeline towards populated areas. So Taichi and I had to fight him there, in the shopping district, before he could go and start killing people."

Jyou scratches the back of his neck, taking the can back from Cisco. "I wasn't there at the time, but I saw the news footage of the fight," he says. "But nobody was seriously injured, and rebuilding's apparently going ... well. Ish."

Sora approaches through the mists, eyes flicking from Barry to Cisco, and then to Yamato, before she gives a warm smile in response.

"Hello, there."

Jyou gives a quick flail of his arms, then pats Sora on the shoulder. "This is Sora, our group's third in command and the current heir to the Takenouchi family," he chirps. "And Sora, this is ... er ..." he pauses, remembering Cisco was going to try to pretend not to be human. "Actually, you guys can introduce yourselves."

[makes_the_toys]

Since they're standing around, Cisco takes a moment to drop his backpack, kneeling down to root around in it.

"Oh give him a break, you derailed a train, Barry," he says before coming up with candy.

Ready for the ruse, he immediately ruins by announcing, "Hi, I'm Cisco." Wincing, he sighs. "Dang it."

Letting it go, he holds a licorice out to Jyou and Sora. "Twizzler?"

[run_barry]

"I didn't-- that wasn't my fault," Barry says, shaking his head at everyone in the group.

Trying ot recover, he steps forward and offers Sora his hand.

"Hi, I'm Barry."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato ducks his head, trying (and failing, badly) not to look openly, overtly worried that Barry might think less of him now. He doesn't say anything, though, instead just shifting a half-step towards the back of the group.

Jyou, meanwhile, stifles a laugh at how quickly the ruse gets dropped, accepting a Twizzler.

"Nice to meet you, Barry," Sora says, shaking his hand. "And you, Cisco."

She pulls a notebook from her bag, leaning around to hand it over to Yamato. "Inventory for the medicine we got from the factory. We were trying to find you and give it to you."

"Thanks," Yamato mumbles, taking it and flicking it open. "We're headed to Mount Panorama. The Pyokomon village is on the way, I bet they'd love some mango? drinks."

Sora gives a quick nod, taking a Twizzler and leading the way as the group starts moving again.

"So, you were in Toy Town?" She asks. "I'm sure Monzaemon was happy. Apart from a few people on the island, he doesn't get many visitors."

[makes_the_toys]

Cisco gives Sora a cheerful nod and smile, hefting his backpack again when they start moving and falling in near Yamato.

"Inventory, huh? Sounds boring. So, back when you said Tsunomon turns into a giant metal wolf I didn't know you meant a legit giant, giant metal wolf. Just how big did that little puffball get?"

[run_barry]

Barry catches that look from Yamato and cants his head. About to ask, he's distracted by Sora and has his attention pulled to her when she asks her question.

"Yeah, we hung out there for a bit. Monzaemon was a very nice host. We had tea and he kept these two and the Penmon from killing themselves in race cars."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Between catching Barry's reaction, and the fact that both Barry and Cisco still seem fairly cheerful, Yamato's rapidly realising that he was worrying over nothing and/or just projecting his own issues onto everyone else. It's hardly the first time.

He looks momentarily sheepish, but at the very least doesn't look like he wants to flee and become a hermit anymore.

"Well, someone has to keep track of what we have and what we need," he murmurs to Cisco. "Compared to the others, Tsunomon doesn't get that big, but it was his -- non-wolfoid fused form. Taichi and I can link up with each other the same way we do with our partners, and fuse our partners into one Digimon, Omegamon. We've only done it about three times, because when he swings his sword he creates enough turbulence to topple nearby buidings."

"That, and the two of you've never been able to hold him together for more than five minutes," Jyou adds. "And then you both spend the next week alternating between sleeping and throwing up."

Sora tilts her head, giving a slightly helpless, slightly exasperated smile to Barry at the mention of the Penmon.

"Yes, I -- ran into a Penmon on the way here. He wanted to tell me the tragic tale of Penmonhime," she says. "It took a ... while ... for him to tell it." She glances quickly back at Yamato and Cisco. "-- And I hope Yamato's competitive streak didn't cause too many problems for you and Monzaemon."

[makes_the_toys]

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Cisco exclaims with glee. "That's Awesome. You Voltron'ed, that's a total Voltron!"

[run_barry]

"We... got off to a bit of a rough start with the Penmon. But I did hear about their prophecy and mission."

Glancing at Yamato, and glad to see him looking less pensive, Barry gives a chuckle.

"It was a good race. I think they all pulled out all the stops before the end of it."