[3rd Transformation // Anon Text // Optional Action with Bumblebee]

[proveyourmetal]

[When Bumblebee first emerges from the damaged apartment of 010 in his robot form, 16 feet of towering metal and living machine, Vanguard is filled with immeasurable awe an wonder.

In an hour, when he finds himself sitting in the car form of his partner, playing session after session of video game inside his cabin, that wonder becomes joy. In three hours, when Vanguard goes to tell off some insolent digimon on Bee's behalf but Bumblebee speaks up on his own first, gently resolving the situation with his own voicebox. All he feels is confusion. Six hours later, when Vanguard has to step outside and get his feet on steady ground after one of Bumblebee's races, it's irritation. The final straw happens when Vanguard finds himself held in the giant, protective metal hand of his robot partner, narrowly injured from a reckless Chosen. Saved. Protected. Lovingly guarded.

Then... it's just anger and resentment.

He leaves Bumblebee to talk with companions just beyond the hole in their apartment (hastily covered by the staff with a sheet of plastic). Bee doesn't need Vanguard to help translate his feelings to the friends he encounters outside. He laughs, and dances and transforms just fine on his own.

So the digimon retreats to their room just a few paces away. It takes ten minutes for it all to boil over. In the back of his mind, he knows he's going to calm down and regret this later but... he's not thinking about that at the time. He angrily jabs an anonymous message into the D-terminal.]

+ [Anonymous Text] +

All you Chosen. You think you're so impressive.

You could hardly take care of yourselves when you got here. You couldn't figure out how to eat, sleep or walk. Some of you couldn't even speak. We chased off digimon three times our size to keep you alive. We kept you safe on the journey down to HospiTown.

We did everything we were supposed to. We're your digimon. We were made to meet you and fix this world together.

So much for partners.

You can take your real forms and just

Just go home. We didn't need you either.

[The moment he presses send, he experiences a moment of hesitation. Of something beyond anger. Regret? He crosses his arms and tries not to think about it.]

[ooc: Vanguard (Coronamon) will respond to text anonymously while Bumblebee will react to action outside the hospital.]

Comments

[Text]

[the_lion_roller]

[Ooops. Somebody agitated the Penguinmon. Enough that she's actually going to bother with attempting to text on her end.]

You should be ashamed of yourself. Just because your partner looks different now doesn't mean they depend on you any less than before.

Real partners should have each other's backs no matter what!

[Text]

[proveyourmetal]

[The regret for having sent out the message is starting to set in already. But no one knows it's him, and he feels obligated to stick to his anger rather than admit he's wrong. Or hurt.]

Watch their backs?

Watch them how? It's not just how they look.

They can fly, they can fight, they can get from place to place before you can even blink. What do they even need us for anymore?

[Text]

[the_lion_roller]

[Her Chosen can't do any of that right now but that's besides the point.]

How about when they need somebody who can do all of that with them? Just because they can do it now, doesn't mean they want to do it alone. And who knows how long their abilities will stay? They could lose their powers just as quickly as they got them! What if they lost them in the middle of a fight? Or in mid-air?

And what about when your partner just needs somebody to talk to? Somebody to confide in or even just keep them company? Lots of Chosen left friends and family behind back in their worlds that they haven't seen for awhile and may not see for longer still! Being a partner isn't just about helping your partner physically, you know.

[Especially considering the amount of Chosen that have been vanishing recently, leaving their friends behind.]

[Text]

[proveyourmetal]

[He reads over the text twice. Tries to muster up an inflammatory answer because it's easier to be angry. He is disappointed in himself when all that comes out is a wishy-washy argument.]

I know that!

[Though, the thought only occurs to him because Penguinmon says it.]

I've been with him since the beginning. I was there every time he missed home, every time someone said something dumb to make him angry and I taught him how to do everything he knows how to do in this place. Even if he's dumb sometimes,[And this part he takes some time to write because it's so sappy, it feels like it takes away from his argument:] he's my friend.

But in a place where digimon are trashing whole cities, dark fields are wreaking havoc and that ARcloner is making a mess of everything...

Don't you feel like friendship isn't enough?

[Text]

[the_lion_roller]

[It takes her a good moment or two to think of how she wants to answer that, and a little bit longer to type given that texting in general is a little difficult for her.

Her temper's cooled considerably though, so while she's no less sure of what she's saying, the initial anger behind it is gone.]

It can be enough. I know it can be.

My partner knows people that, where they come from, friendship is its own power. It can do amazing things.

And he told me that, back where he comes from, sometimes it's just him and his brother depending on each other and keeping each other safe when they're out in the field. And that their trust and how much they care about each other and what they're trying to do is what helps make them a great team. He said he's got that trust in me.

And I have that trust in my partner.

You need to believe that too. That we can all do this. If we trust in our Chosen and they trust in us and we all help each other. We can make everything better.

[Text]

[proveyourmetal]

[Vanguard may be considering this answer for quite some time before he replies. As long winded as he thinks it is, it seems to hit concerns that Vanguard never knew he had. It's hard to be confrontational when he doesn't have anything to nitpick. And certainly not things he ... actually hopes is true. ]

That's really all it takes?

All that sappy stuff you talked about. He didn't need any more than that from you or his brother?

[He approaches the topic cautiously, like a stray cautiously accepting a treat from a stranger.]