[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

[video]

[oneeyedterror]

[Well somemon has read that text, and even though it took Jetstream and Rotorstorm a while to find Whirl? The Impmon has the Terminal and she is frowning mightily at you Mister Anonymon.]

Do you really believe all that, that pointless drivel you wrote?

It doesn't matter if they're human or horse or giant creepy robot!

[... Whirl can hear that, Jetstream. Ouch.]

They still need us, for as long as they're here. They'll always need us.

[So impassioned, from a 'mon who's partner treats her like crap even before this all happened.]

[Anon permatext for Vanguard]

[proveyourmetal]

[No. He really doesn't mean it, but in the spirit of being STUBBORN, he half-heartedly maintains his stance.]

Yeah. I believe it. We were fine before they came along to be all needy and useless and we'll be fine after.

The digimon protect their Chosen. That's what we're here for. What's to protect when your creepy giant robot can smash everything with his foot?

[Text]

[robotfightclub]

[What's that? An offending text? Only he's allowed to send those!]

WOW RUDE

[Anon permatext for Vanguard]

[proveyourmetal]

[He narrowly types 'U MAD?' .. until he recognizes the ID of the message. Not that he's any less annoyed with Bee's robot friends. But he... might make his reply less inflammatory anyway. If only because BIG ROBOT.]

Yeah? Well it's true, isn't it?

ACTION LIKE A BOSS

[neededthat]

[A familiar ambulance pulls up nearby, and parks right in front of the hospital. Otto slips out from the passenger side as Ratchet transforms, seeing Bumblebee.

Oh he's smiling wide, seeing Bumblebee back as a robot.]

I bet you missed your wheels, hm?

[proveyourmetal]

[Bumblebee straightens, jovial smile becoming softer as Ratchet approaches. He finishes the tail end of a chat with the resident who lives across the hall, waving goodbye when they excuse themselves.]

[Bumblebee was overjoyed to see Arcee and Wheeljack in their true forms. But this particular meeting with this particular bot? It holds more significance to Bumblebee than Ratchet knows.]

[It's with his own voice that he speaks:]

Missed more than just my wheels.

[He can feel it just below the surface, itching to get out: words he's waited a long time to say to Ratchet. Ones that he can say now, because of him.]

[brokenground]

[Usually it's Terra that seethes with anger at something in the world around him, be it interactions he doesn't enjoy or things simply going wrong. He had a terrible temper, for all that he restrained it more often than not.

But this time, it's not Terra that's angry. No, the human half of the pair has gone looking for a giant robot, leaving Dorumon to seethe on his own in fierce, furious indignation. And carefully type out a lengthy response.]


You're an idiot.

Some of the Chosen no longer need a Digimon to do everything for them every moment of every day. You should be glad. They come into the Digital world helpless and hopeless, torn from everything they know to help this world instead of their own.

They can't even rely on their own fighting skills anymore, they have to rely on their Digimon. It's not a matter of choice for them either. They have their own worlds to save and they're stuck in this one until it's saved. Who knows if they'll ever get to go home again.

How dare you act as if some independence and the joy of not being trapped in the wrong body is some kind of personal insult. You should be happy. Maybe your partner is a demon now, or a pony, or a robot. You should be happy for them, and glad that you're experiencing the person you've been waiting for so long for, as they truly are. Not how they were forced to be, for the convenience of this world. How selfish. How piteous, that your only way to feel like you have a partnership is to treat your partner as if they're new-hatched.

A Digimon's partner is more than a meat battery to guard and protect. If your partner's lucky enough to have a natural form that lets him or her fight at your side, be glad! You finally have someone to watch your back the way you've watched theirs.

[proveyourmetal]

[Vanguard's indignation is fierce when he receives the long text message. A part of himself even braces himself, gets his hackles up to rebuttal anything this long-winded digimon or Chosen has to say.

But as he reads oh, the fire cools into confusion. Then to awkwardness. And then to a cloying guilt. Vanguard is terrible at coping with that last one, and he rereads the message three times with the intention of nitpicking it until he has something sarcastic or just as potent to say.

He comes up with nothing. He doesn't reply for another ten minutes. When he does, it's woefully short.

But stripped away of all he believed slighted him, it's open and honest in more ways than one.]

What am I supposed to do?

Meanwhile, actions

[brokenground]

[Meanwhile, Terra's caught wind that there are giant robots in HospiTown.

Now, Terra's mostly grown out of such childish desires such as wanting to have his own dragon. But giant robots were still, he's fairly sure, remarkably awesome. So he of course has to investigate. Dorumon had asked to be left behind for a little bit, insisting he'd catch up, and Terra had allowed it. After all, finding the giant robots shouldn't be that hard and thus finding him pretty easy too!

And when might he get a chance to say hi to a giant robot again, especially one that might not want to kill him?? Thus it is with a remarkably good mood that he's looking for Bumblebee. Surely if people are regaining their natural forms, Bee's a robot again. This was going to be awesome.]

awww yis

[proveyourmetal]

[Bumblebee certainly isn't that hard to find- especially when the location in question looks almost like a blast site. While the well-used pathways have been cleared of bricks and debris by the staff, there's still a pile of bricks and plaster sitting just outside a rather large hole in the hospital's outer wall where Bumblebee's transformation into his original form had first happened. There are similar holes and piles of rubble in other parts of the hospital, but Bumblebee's room is thankfully closer to the entrance of the building itself. Easier to find.

He'll be standing outside of it when he spots the keyblade wielder. He strides quickly over to his ally, though his steps take a slower, more careful pace the closer he gets.]

[His eyes optics are bright as he kneels down to greet the other. Though there is one more surprise as speaks up with his own voice:]

Terra.

[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;

[amygdalae]

I'm sorry you think that way. But for what it's worth, not all of us feel as impressive as you think we are.

[Bruce, for example, feels pretty damned useless right now. 'Slump' is putting it lightly.]

text;

[proveyourmetal]

[Vanguard is ready for all the angry responses. But when Bruce's comes, he settles down a little.

Bruce will receive a less temperamental response for his even tone.]

... What do you mean?

a-action?

[fuckinstoplights]

[He hasn't really known what to do with himself since being turned back into his normal frame. At least his arm didn't hurt anymore...]

[So he'd more or less been lurking around the hospital building, for lack of a better option. Part of him doesn't want to approach the other robots, not without knowing for sure who they are. It's caution and introversion mixed.]

[But he does find himself edging closer to the yellow robot. He'd thought they would all be taller than him, larger than him. The size difference might very well have something to do with his approach.]

action?

[proveyourmetal]

[To Kagerou's credit ninja cred, Bumblebee doesn't notice the other robot until he's much closer. Bumblebee's something of a stealth bot, himself. So he knows what it takes to get around discreetly.]

... Kagerou?

[He relaxes, shifting most of his weight on his right leg and resting a hand on his hip. He'll flash the other a smile. He definitely recognizes Kagerou from his earlier broadcast to the network, though Bumblebee hadn't expected him to be a foot taller than himself.]

Almost didn't see there.

What're you sneaking around for?

[Text]

[alley_kit]

Bold words, for someone who refuses to identify himself. Worried your Chosen might actually take you up on the offer if you said them to his face?

[Apparently Aburn is bolder in text form as well. Who knew? And he clearly doesn't share the sentiment.]

[Text]

[proveyourmetal]

[Vanguard has already received several verbal smackdowns from other indignant digimon, so he's long abandoned any attempts to be witty or conjure up coherent arguments.]

[As short as Aburn's message is, it strikes right at the heart, and he feels a pinprick of fear at the idea.]

You don't know what you're talking about. Who even said anything about being worried.

ACTION OH YEAH

[heartdive]

[ yeah, see this kid, Bee? this one down here? the one that just keeps staring up at all 16 feet of yellow and black bot?

that's one Sora. who hasn't figured out that this is someone that he knows yet. because OH EM GEE. GIANT ROBOTS. it's like everyone's favorite dream right? ...well. besides the pirates. Sora really does like his pirates and heroes and stuff.

but yeah. back to gaping. and nearly neck breaking. with the staring. ]

action

[proveyourmetal]

[Hello there! He is totally happy to see you. He also has a few surprises in store for you.

But first- he wants to greet you, tiny human friend. He'll take two wide steps towards Sora, the latter step more careful than the last. He moves smoothly for a giant robot, and he'll kneel down in front of Sora so he's closer to his level.

He'll rest a hand on his knee, and smile at the keyblade wielder.]

Oh. Oh, and Sora. He knows the perfect human phrase for this.]

You should take a picture, Sora. It'll last longer.

action

[darkened]

[Today feels like he's just been handed a big bowl of Halloween candy. Robots, lions, a wild assortment of other creatures... Sure, he'd heard about ponies turning human before, but having seen some video broadcasts, the Replica's decided to go for a romp around town and see just what kind of craziness has overtaken HospiTown today.

And then he sees Bee, and he stops dead in his tracks. After all, network feeds are one thing, but this is an up close and personal look at a 'bot...

So, he'll lean back, crane his neck as far as possible, and slam his hands down on his hips.]

Huh, you guys look even bigger in person. I'm impressed.

action- I'll tag this a bit more once our haunted house thread gets a little farther along

[proveyourmetal]

[Always glad to see a familiar face, and even more happy to be able to celebrate something positive with one, Bumblebee kneels down so he's a little closer to Replica's level.]

I thought I'd return the favor, particularly after you already left impression on me.

[Oh? Does this bot know Replica? It certainly seems like it from the amiable tone.]

Text

[acceptedburden]

Partners implies working together. That we are equals.

If you are doing what you are supposed to, then why are you abandoning the one you have called partner?

Text

[proveyourmetal]

[Vanguard has already been humbled several times over by other vocal digimon and Chosen. His anger is no longer what it once was. Instead, he's just tired and embarrassed.]

[His answer to Kaldur is calmer. And slightly begrudging.]

I'm not abandoning him.

I was just really mad, I guess.

Sure. Partners are supposed to be equals. But admit it. All you Chosen are so easy to break and get injured and die. Digimon are supposed to fight for them, so that never happens, aren't they?

[Text]

[treacherous_widow]

....Someone's jealous.

[Text]

[proveyourmetal]

[Vanguard doesn't reply at first. Just slumps forward and lands face first into a pillow. He's finished reading a lifetime's worth of angry responses. He's reaping the consequence of reckless anonymous texting, and that consequence is a shredded dignity.]

[Still, he manages to wrangle up some indignation and denial. Just for Venom.]

Jeaous? yeah right.

More like 'angry'.