The Seal Man, and Other Tales, with Barry and Cisco

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Jyou's located a short walk away -- a little way south-east, over a bridge to another one of the islands that make up Odaiba, past a construction site repairing some light damage from a Digimon battle, and to the southernmost tip of one of the islands.

But he's there, sat on a bench with a textbook in hand and a white, orange-mohawked sea lion slumped around his shoulders like a scarf.

"Hope we didn't keep you waiting," Yamato says, as Jyou looks up at them and flicks down his glasses.

Comments

[run_barry]

Barry frowns when he hears Gennai could be responsible, then turns his head quickly to look towards the city when he hears the loud booming.

He's a heartbeat away from running towards those sounds of explosions when Yamato's voice grabs Barry's attention.

"We're fine," Barry replies, looking down at the hologram of Yamato. "What's going on?"

[makes_the_toys]

"See? SEE??? THIS is why you bring a go bag!" Cisco says loudly, then does a terrible, high-pitched imitation of Barry. "You don't need all that junk, Cisco. Leave it behind, Cisco. Be sure and write that on my gravestone, Barry!"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"That's a good impression," Yamato says mildly.

"It's not a good impression," Jyou mutters.

"All-out assault by what looks like the Ironworks Trading Company," Yamato says, turning his attention back to Barry. "We have Takeru, Mimi, and Koushiro handling evacuation, and Sora's been dispatched to deal with the airship. Jyou can secure the Bay."

He cocks his head to one side. "Their targets are probably Meiko and the broadcast station. Taichi's guarding Meiko, but I could use someone to evacuate the broadcast station and make sure they don't get access to the machinery there, if you don't mind being put to work."

[run_barry]

"It's a terrible impression," Barry says, in full agreement with Jyou.

Barry listens as Yamato lays out the situation, then gives a quick nod when Yamato asks for his help.

"I can do that, yeah," he says, then has a quick realization and turns around.

"Cisco... "

[makes_the_toys]

"The best impression," Cisco says with a firm nod.

When Barry turns to him Cisco puts on a brave face and waves for Barry to get going.

"I'm fine, dude. Rather be here than where all the explosions are going on, anyways."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"I'm sending coordinates over to Jyou now. Jyou, transfer those and a copy of the Analyser program onto Barry's phone," Yamato says. "Gabumon and I are occupied right now, but we'll meet up with you as soon as possible."

As Jyou pulls out his phone, waiting for a download to finish before waving it in Barry's general direction to transfer the data over. Meanwhile, Yamato looks over at Cisco, tilting his head.

"I can divert Takeru to pick you up and take you back to the safe house, if you want. Get you linked into comms there," he says. "Or you can stick with Jyou. With him in the middle of the water is a pretty safe place to be."

[run_barry]

Barry pulls out his phone to receive the information from Jyou and give it a quick look over.

"Are you two alright?" Barry asks. He knows Yamato and Gabumon can handle themselves, but he can't not ask.

[makes_the_toys]

Cisco watches the data exchange, hesitating just for a moment before declining Yamato's offer.

"Nah, I'm good here," he says, sounding more confident than he really feels.

Cisco would much rather Not be in the middle of the water with a big Digi-blimp overhead and explosions happening in the distance, and he hates not being near a computer where he can monitor Barry, but he also can't ask Takeru to stop helping other people just to come get him.

"You guys be careful out there."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

The coordinates yield a map pointing to a spot near the western edge of Odaiba, just north of an arterial cluster of train lines, and a picture of a building that looks very much like a three-dimensional grid of steel and glass holding up a sphere. The Analyser, meanwhile, simply appears as an app icon with an 8-bit ladybug as its symbol.

Yamato gives a quick nod to Cisco: "Roger that. Things might get a little noisy, but nothing's going to get close with Jyou there."

He turns back to Barry, adding: "We're alright, just dealing with one branch of the attacking force. Garurumon's sensors have a wide enough range to cover the island and bay, so we're keeping track of the battle."

[run_barry]

Barry takes in the map and building, looking up from his phone to the bay and city beyond.

"Okay, heading out now," he says to Yamato.

"Let me know if you need me," Barry says, casting his gaze from Yamato to Jyou and Cisco, laying a hand on the latter's shoulder before Barry takes off with a gust and spray of water as he runs across the bay towards Odaiba.

[makes_the_toys]

"I believe it," Cisco replies to Yamato, giving a thumbs up to both Yamato and Jyou. "Especially not with our boy Ikkakumon here."

He gives Barry a nod, squinting against the blowback and spray as he watches Barry run off.

"I need to make a travel suit," Cisco says, chewing his lip with the idea, totally not because he's worried.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato gives a quick nod, and the hologram fizzles out.

"Maybe one that unfolds out of some kind of carry-able sack," Jyou supplies to Cisco, helpfully.

As Barry runs, there is, one by one, the indicators of a handful of the Chosen activating their power across the island. The sky lights up for a second with a barrage of purple lightning flashing between the clouds; then grass and flowers start sprouting from the concrete of Odaiba, blooming within seconds; then with a resonant chime the daytime is swallowed by night, the sun replaced by a too-large full moon, as a cold snap hits the area; before finally with another chime it snaps back to daytime, the moon replaced by an orange sun and the sky stained yellow and amber, as that cold snaps turns all at once to midsummer heat and stays that way.

Over the Bay, a glowing orange bird the size of a building swoops by, making a beeline for the Blimpmon. Meanwhile, across Odaiba, Barry might occasionally catch glimpses of a giant insect ferrying people to safety in a basket, or an enormous cactus gesturing people towards shelters.

The broadcast station isn't difficult to find, though: It's the largest building on the island, and it's also the only one with a film crew outside of it, trying to catch good shots of the battle.

[run_barry]

The change in atmosphere is startling. The crack of lightning breaking the sky actually makes Barry jump, and the alternating time of day and temperatures is astounding, even having witnessed it once before with Yamato.

When Barry hits land he streaks down the streets, zig-zagging through traffic and the people running away from the chaos.

He makes a few quick rescues along the way, pulling pedestrians out of the path of speeding vehicles, and whisking an elderly woman out of the crowd and to the head of the line into one of the shelters. He doesn't slow down, moving as a blur through the city until he finally reaches his destination.

Coming to a sliding stop in front of the broadcast building, Barry takes in the scene.

"You all need to get out of here!" he shouts out to the film crew.

[makes_the_toys]

"Yeah, I could compress it, like one of those emergency rafts or something," Cisco says with a nod. "Maybe a vacuum sealer, or I could try playing around with that shrink ray again... "

Cisco rambles through ideas while his gaze is fixated on the island and the crazy sky show going on out there.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"You have a shrink ray?" Jyou asks, his own gaze flicking about at the waters around them. "What do you need that for?"


Over at the broadcast station, several of the camerapeople startle as Barry appears. Even living on Odaiba, speedsters aren't the kind of weirdness they're used to.

"No can do," one of them -- a man in his late thirties, who looks perhaps suspiciously like an older, less lupine, more brown-haired and brown-eyed variant of Yamato -- remarks, jabbing a thumb at the cameras. "Someone has to stick around and get a record of all of this."

There's a slightly nervous hum of agreement from a few of the other cameramen, as they angle the cameras to catch a Digimon flying past.

[run_barry]

The similarities are striking and Barry is sure of who he's run into, which makes Barry even more anxious to get the man and his people out of harm's way.

"I get that, but listen, there's a chance this building could be a target," Barry says, gesturing up at the structure. "We need to evacuate it immediately."

[makes_the_toys]

"To unshrink people mostly," Cisco replies. "It was a whole thing. I have photos of teeny tiny Yams if you wanna see them."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Deal. He got turned into a doll once, but nobody got any pictures," Jyou says, glancing at one side of the Bay, then the other. "Teeny tiny Yama is the next best thing. Also, hold on."

There's about a second's gap after he says that before a few mechanical looking, car-sized mantarays erupt out of the water, about fifty meters away. There's a flash of fire from Ikkakumon's forehead as he fires off torpedoes from his horn, the missiles curving around to hit each Mantaraymon.


At the broadcast centre, the man considers for a moment, then clicks his tongue irritably.

"I swear every time someone invades, they make a beeline for this place, hoping they can hijack the equipment and make the Gate wider," he says. "Fine. There's still a couple of dozen people inside, how quick can you get them to a shelter?"

[makes_the_toys]

Cisco shudders at the doll thing.

"Ugh, the only thing creepier than dolls is ghost children."

On the warning Cisco hits the dirt, or rather Ikkakumon's back, ducking and grabbing fur as those torpedoes fly.

"Oh god! Enemies off the port bow! Damn the torpedoes and all that stuff!"

[run_barry]

Barry's relieved when the man doesn't argue. Plan B was of course just to speed them all out of there, but that generally doesn't always go over well.

"Pretty quick," Barry says with just the tiniest bit of a smirk. "Let's get you all somewhere safer and then I'll get the rest out."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Ikkakumon, luckily, has plenty of fur to grab, most of it stiff and bristly. He wheels about in the water, still firing off a barrage of torpedoes, which curve towards their targets with unerring accuracy.

"Don't worry, we've got them covered," Jyou says, adjusting his glasses quickly.


The man grunts, giving a gesture to the other cameramen, who immediately reverse what they were doing, switching off cameras and packing them away.

"All right, Speedman, whenever you're -- ..."

He's cut off, because just as he's starting his next word, a streak of light drops down onto the edge of the carpark, resolving into a stooped, purple and black lion man.

"MadLeomon," the Analyser on Barry's phone chirps up. "Adult-level, Virus-attribute Undead Digimon. Although originally classed as a Beast Digimon, repeated self-modification has resulted in a change of type. Its sharp claws contain a bear a deadly necrotoxin."

[makes_the_toys]

"Alright, cool, because I always sucked at Battleship," Cisco replies, still hanging on and watching as those torpedoes take out their targets.

[run_barry]

"I'm the Fl-- " Barry starts to correct on the name, then decides that's not really important right now.

Especially because now they have company.

Barry pivots, putting himself between the camera crew and MadLeomon.

"Oh man," he breathes, looking at the Digimon. "Hey dude, what's up?"

Barry pitches his voice louder and goes for a friendly greeting, but he's ready to move and get people out of the way if and when the Undead Digimon decides to attack.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"I've never played it," Jyou says. "But it's -- I can feel the water move, I can track them before they close the difference."


MadLeomon pads closer, sniffing the air, then breathes out through his teeth.

"Humans. Dead matter," he rumbles, shaking his head, then focuses his attention on Barry. "You. You're the only one with any spark of energy here. Move aside. I'm only being paid to secure the broadcast equipment."

[makes_the_toys]

"Riiight, the hydrokinesis," Cisco says, forgetting to be afraid for a moment in favor of getting excited. "That's so awesome."