[ Text // Video ] First Mission

[proveyourmetal]

>> [Text Message to the Network] <<

[First things First. Bumblebee sends out an urgent message, seeking out his allies. Please be all right...]

Autobots. Do you read? Bumblebee to Autobots.

What's the situation? Everyone make it out??   

[Unwilling to divulge further information on an unsecured line, the message ends there. Unfortunately, Bee won't be able to reply for another 20 minutes.]





>>[Video to the Network 20 minutes later] <<

[Scaring the marbles out of knucklehead teenagers is difficult enough when you're the size of a Golden Retriever, but Coronamon manages it just fine. And with flare!]

[He even records the image of those scuffed up teenagers as they make a hasty retreat, their digimon hot on their tail. It's one of the first images showing where it's happening: on a well traveled road near HospiTown.]

[Coronamon kicks at the dirt, sending a symbolic farewell in their wake.]

Yeah, that's right! Turn tail and run, ya good for nothin' lunkheads!

[The D-terminal swivels around, and Coronamon's head fills the entirety of the screen.] Kids, these days. More concerned with intimidatin'' Bits out of unsuspecting newbies than doing our duty. What this world comin to?

[The delinquents might have been able to intimidate a couple of Bits out of other newcomers (already had, most likely), but Coronamon's not the average digimon. Besides, there was no way Coronamon was going to let them ruin his day. He's finally found his partner: Bumblebee. The D-Terminal settles on the young man standing some ways away, clad in an orange and black suit bearing a peculiar red insignia cough Autobot brand.]

Smile for the cam!

[Coronamon toddles forward for a more dramatic shot, and after some prompting, Bee finally indulges his partner's cinematic venture with a celebratory gesture of his own. He raises a casual fist and pats his arm. That's the power of squishy human fists and fire wielding organic creatures, he supposes]

[Sorry, Terminal. Bee's not real talkative. Still, wordless as Bumblebee is, it's clear that something is wrong with him. He's in relatively good shape (aside from the fact that he may be favoring his left foot and he's sporting some smears of dirt across his face and suit. Both of those are his own fault anyway- this new body's a little awkward...). Yet the frown on his face as his hands come to rest over his stomach is perplexed, almost to the point of bewilderment]

H-hey. Whatsamatter? [Coronamon scrambles over, inspecting his partner until a familiar grumble meets his ears. Coronamon's shoulders sag in relief. The D-terminal shudders as he laughs.]

Way to scare a guy. That aint no injury, that's called an empty stomach!

You're hungry, ya goof.

[Hungry!? Bumblebee's stare remains fixed on Coronamon. He used to be a giant  robot. How's he supposed to handle this as a human? The feed finally cuts.]

Comments

[lionhearted_destiny]

[Juri list-- er, reads with rapturous engagement, slowly grinning in awe. So big... It reminds her a little of Vikaralamon, but she knows Arcee and her friends are good robots.]

That's amazing. Visitors from another world... It's like the Digimon on mine! Did you have to hide? I bet you did, it was so hard keeping Guilmon and the rest a secret!

[proveyourmetal]

We had to be pretty sneaky. Any time we went to a location that might have humans in it, we had to make sure the place was deserted before we used our robot mode. The rest of the time we got by as cars, trucks and motorcycles. Or we hung around our secret base.

Looks like there's another friend we have in common. I just talked to Guilmon earlier. He'd definitely stick out in the human world. How'd you manage to hide them?

[lionhearted_destiny]

[Juri winks.]

Well, we had a secret base too! Takato hid Guilmon in an abandoned hut in the park, and he brought him bread and we all played when no one was around, and a few times we pretended he was just dressed up in a costume! [She giggles.] I...don't know how more people didn't catch on. If I'd had to hide my partner for longer, it would've been trouble.

[proveyourmetal]

[Bee smirks, amused at the misadventures.]

Looks like I've got a couple of Special Ops agents in the making, here.

[Though, the mention of Takato makes this something of a more solemn discovery. If this is the same Guilmon he's just met, the world Juri comes from isn't as picturesque as it sounds.]

Juri, do you think I could ask you something a little more serious?

[Video]

[lionhearted_destiny]

[A serious question? As Juri reads that, she goes a little wary, but she tries to keep up her relatively friendly smile.]

Like what?

[Video]

[proveyourmetal]

[As fun and lighthearted as Juri has described their times together, his talk with Guilmon has revealed some concerns.]

Did you run into any other digimon? Dangerous ones?

[Video]

[lionhearted_destiny]

[Her eyes lower, and her smile sinks.]

There were a lot of them. Not just Digimon, too. You've talked with one of my friends, haven't you?

[She's more perceptive than she appears.]

[Video]

[proveyourmetal]

[Bumblebee recognizes that look, and it's one he'd rather not have to see on her. It's the expression of someone who has knowledge beyond their years.]

I have.

Someone as young as you shouldn't have to shoulder that kind of burden.

[The burden of conflict, danger and responsibility.]

[Video]

[lionhearted_destiny]

I know I shouldn't. [It's accepting, gentle, slow. And rough, in some ways.] But back home, kids were the only ones who could bond with Digimon. If we didn't do anything, everything would've been destroyed.

[proveyourmetal]

[Juri can't see it, but there's a slight tilt of Bumblebee's head. Like he's looking at Juri a little differently.]

So it was a choice.

You chose to take up the responsibility to save your world.

[lionhearted_destiny]

Not really.

[She looks down a little. Her mouth keeps smiling, even if her eyes don't.]

Leomon chose me as his partner...and I had to help him. My friends all were doing it before, and even if I couldn't do anything to help them...I had to try and be a good Tamer. By the time everything got worse... I didn't really have a choice, I'm not that brave like Takato-kun or Ruki-chan.

[proveyourmetal]

Juri.

What does being brave mean to you? What does it mean to be 'brave' like Takato or this 'Ruki'?

[Because as someone who's seen more war that he cares to, he has a definition of his own.]

[lionhearted_destiny]

I...ended up very sad for awhile. And because of that, a lot of people got hurt, and a lot of things went bad. It took me too long to stop feeling that way...and I get scared, so much that it keeps me from doing things I can to be a good Tamer.

[All of this is said with a thin, weak smile.]

If I'd known everything that would've happened, I probably wouldn't have become a Tamer, back then... I like to think I'm getting better, at least a little.

[proveyourmetal]

[He reads the text, his expression falling. He has has a very specific stance on this kind of fear and sadness too. But before he even comments, he wants to listen to her first. He wants to know something.]

You wouldn't have become a tamer, 'Back then.'

But what about now? Would the person that you are now-the person you're trying to be- would they still want to become a Tamer? Would you still help your friends if you could?

[lionhearted_destiny]

Of course I would! I-if I could really help... If I can do something to help Leomon and everyone else, I will, I'll try, even if I can't do much. ...I'm still not very good at this, thinking about the past...but I hope I'm getting better at that too.

[A quiet fire shines in her eyes, despite her unsure words. Juri Katou wants to be the best girl she can be, that's the message.]

[proveyourmetal]

[And it's a message well received. Because a thought strikes Bee like lightning.

There it is.

A strong spark, one with spirit enough to match many treasured and honorable allies he's had the fortune of fighting alongside. And Juri really doesn't see it in herself, does she?]

[It may be time to share a little something with the younger Chosen, in hopes of helping her see.]

I know I've told you a little bit about our world and what it's like. And that Arcee has told you about what Cybertronians can do.

But did she mention there's a lot of fighting on our world too?

[lionhearted_destiny]

[How strange, the turn this is all taking. Juri's face grows a bit clouded as she reads his text, and she starts to shake her head...but then she nods.]

She hasn't told me a lot. I don't think she likes to talk about it. ...I understand, of course, no one would, wanting to talk about fighting.

[proveyourmetal]

It isn't something we like to share more than we have to, no. But it's a part of life where we come from.

Fighting powerful enemies. Risking our lives day to day. Outnumbered a hundred to one.

Every one in my unit, every bot who who put their lives on the line for what's right - there's one thing that we all have in common.

[lionhearted_destiny]

That's all... That's awful.

[Her lip trembles.]

All the time? It reminds me...of the Digimon...

[proveyourmetal]

It's awful maybe. But we all fight because we believe in something. We try and fight so we can live in the kind of world that we've always hoped for.

And what we have in common is that every one of us is afraid. Any bot who tells you otherwise would probably be lying.

[And just because Juri doesn't fight with blasters or with alt-forms, doesn't make her plight any less reasonable to feel sad or afraid of.]

My teammates taught me that it's not about charging into any situation without fear. That's not possible.

It's about being scared and fighting anyway, because we realized that there's something far more important than that fear. Something we believed in. Something we had to protect.

Just like you, Juri.

[lionhearted_destiny]

[She's slowly realizing, as she reads his words, where they're going. At some point, she looks a mix of embarrassed and honored, a bit wistful, or nostalgic.

It takes some time for her to be able to even say something, and when she does, it's a bit of a mumble.]

Leomon said... I have the heart of a lion...

[proveyourmetal]

[Bee's not actually all that familiar with lions, but he has heard of them in passing, and mostly in metaphors. Raf isn't the only one that Juri reminds him of. There's an unassuming bot on his team, someone that Bee deeply respects.]

And do you believe him?

[lionhearted_destiny]

...I really try to.

[proveyourmetal]

Sometimes the people who change our lives the most... are the ones who don't believe they've changed anything at all. Our commanding officer, Optimus, never calls himself a leader. But everyone who follows him believes it in their spark.

Juri. You don't need to be, or live up to the impossible.

I've met many bots and many people in my long life. And if you ask me?

What you are right now? Is more than enough.

[lionhearted_destiny]

[Juri reads and is quiet...and touched, visibly so. Her gaze meets Bee's after a moment or two and she smiles softly.]

Thank you, um... Look at me, we've only just met and already you're trying to cheer me up, that's not a very good first meeting, is it?