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[quote name='Whiteblaze'][FONT="Arial"]The [B]average[/B] French citizen eats 500 snails per year.[/FONT][/QUOTE] I'll call ******** on that one. I doubt enough snails are produced commercially for this to be realistic. Montreal is the world's second largest French-speaking metropolitan area, and accounts for roughly half the population of Quebec.

[quote name='Neuvoxraiha']In Chinese Culture, sticking your chopsticks point down, vertically, into your bowl is considered extremely rude behavior as well as obscenely bad luck. Never do it.[/QUOTE] For the record, that's because this is the way offerings to the dead are presented. Painter Cornelius Krighoff was involved with the foundation of the first Entomological Society of in Quebec.

[quote name='Gavin'][SIZE="1"]- In England, in the 1880's, "Pants" was considered a dirty word![/SIZE][/QUOTE] I dunno if it would be considered "dirty", but in many parts of England, the word still means "underwear".

[quote name='Neuvoxraiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Uh. ......mosquitos bite. They don't inject. Now that folks is a fact. Mosquitos bite. And by passes diseases, I mean that the diseases mosquitos do pass to others exacerbate preexisting conditions and leave the immune system weak and succeptible to HIV.[/COLOR][/QUOTE] The inject their anticoagulant saliva, which is both what transmits diseases and causes itches (it's a mild allergic reaction). Over a dozen, mostly Asian, species of maples have leaves that are not actually maple-leaf-shaped.

[quote name='Neuvoxraiha'][COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]HIV is passed more effectively through the population through malaria. An unchecked mosquito population passes both diseases without bias. Millions have died from getting malaria, then HIV. Ever since the banning of DDT, Malaria cases have skyrocketed and so have casualties. Bring back DDT! I don't care about birds! I care about humans![/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE] Actually mosquitos don't transmit HIV because what they inject never contains HIV: [QUOTE]When mosquitoes bite a person, they do not inject the blood of a previous victim into the person they bite next. Mosquitoes do, however, inject their saliva into their victims, which may carry diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, yellow fever, or West Nile virus and can infect a bitten person with these diseases. HIV is not transmitted in this manner.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='James'][color=#606060]I never really buy the slippery slope argument though. If we applied that logic to everything, we'd never be able to regulate anything effectively.[/color][/QUOTE] Wen was the last time you saw a slippery slope argument that wasn't a misleading fallacy, anyway?

[quote name='Gunslinger']"A ball of glass will bounce higher than a ball made of rubber. A ball of solid steel will bounce higher than one made entirely of glass"[/QUOTE] There are quite a few rubbers that don't bounce at all... [quote name='Neuvoxraiha']Canaries can't swallow when hung upside down. They lack the muscles that humans have allowing such an action.[/QUOTE] Most bird are like that, actually. But canaries are the lucky one that went into space. The word "transformer" was only uttered once in the movie [I]Transformer[/I]: after a "earthquake" caused by the Autobots, Ron Witwicky comments that one was busted.

[quote name='The13thMan']There's even blue stuff on the walls! [/QUOTE] I hope that's just blueberry jelly because I seem to recall the spores from those fungi are toxic...

[quote name='Lunox'] [font="trebuchet ms"] I didn't read anything about it, but were the Westboro Baptists violating the ban on distance? Was the funeral public? As far as I know, it is not protected by the Respect of America's Fallen Heroes Act, as it was no under control of the National Cemetary Administration. If it was, the maximum fee is $100,000, not $10.8 million. [/font][/QUOTE] For the most part, you seem to be missing a key element here: this was a [i]civil[/i], not criminal lawsuit, which carries a whole different set of issues. They were not issued a fine; those were punitive damage for the harm they did to the family.

I'm just popping in (Oddly enough, I still occasionally browse around) to ask if somebody is willing to document that trend we had at some point of having "OB families", which were, unfortunately, mostly listed only in signatures?

[SIZE=1] The next morning found Michel awake earlier than usual. He shuffled around in his bed and pulled the covers over his head in a vain attempt to muffle the annoying cheerful chirping of birds outside his bedroom window. All to no avail. He threw the covers off and some clothing on and left the discomposed room to fix himself a breakfast, grumbling all the time. Breakfast eaten, Michel was stuck between two options. He could either wait for Jacob's call, of set off right then for the facility where they had their reserved stalls. Considering he still had to move across town without his bike anyway, the man set off. He finally reached the front desk, nearly an hour later. His trip had been lengthened significantly by realizing mid-way that he had managed to forget his digivice home. The desk operator was someone new to the job, apparently, and dealing with the weekend's intake of customer took the guy more time than Eiffel had expected. Eventually, all matters settled, he was allowed entrance and searched for his boot. He smiled just as hi mind was wrenched away and projected into the game [COLOR=DimGray] Eiffel opened his eyes to find an eager lizard and flying mammal waiting for him. "Hey there," he greeted them, his voice more subdued than usual. Guilmon cocked his head to the side "You okay Eiffel?" he asked "You sound tired." The player smiled weakly. "I'm all right. It's just..." "Uh uh?" his partner prodded. "It's Gabumon," Eiffel finished. "Oh? Right, you never told us what happened back there..." Guilmon commented. "He... He tried to push me away. And he slipped. It all happened so fast... I couldn't do anything..." "But you tried," Patamon said. "Of course I did! But I failed." Eiffel shook his head. "I was supposed to protect him, and I only got him killed," he explained. Guilmon snorted. "You fought for him. That's all that matter. Remember what you told Kalika yesterday? Battles are not to be won or lost. they are to be fought." "You tried to save him, but he fought back and in the end, you both lost," Patamon summed up. "He got himself killed, not you. Besides, we were supposed to get him through the battle safely, nothing more." "I know, I know. But it still doesn't make me feel better," Eiffel sighed. He gave a glance to his digivice, finally noticing the blipping that indicated an incoming. It was from Kiva. Whatever she wanted to drag him into he wasn't interested with. Not today at least. He deleted the message without it a second thought and slumped down. "I don't feel like battling or such today. How 'bout we just have some good leisure time?" he proposed. "I'm all for it," Patamon answered. Guilmon just shrugged. Whatever they did it was probably not going to end the way it had been originally planned. Not that he really minded. Guilmon wasn't big on plans. "How about we have a trip to Miskas?" he offered. Eiffel smiled up at him. That suggestion was definitely interesting. Miskas had always held up a special place in his heart. It was the starting location where he'd first began to play the game, for one. It was also where he'd met and befriended Guilmon, as well as most digimon he had gone adventuring with. As a plus, the city fervently maintained a culture of neutrality, which meant they would not risk getting dragged into a random battle. He pushed himself to his feet and stretched his arms as if he had been sitting for hours. "Let's get going then guys, we're going sightseeing," he announced. They have took their time, and still, because of the Digital World's special brand of time compression, the long-distance travel had been barely a hour long. as much as the entire Digital World was unusual to the players, seeing Miskas still floored him. The entire city was carved in, build amongst or hanging from the branches and trunks of several dozens of humongous trees. Access was regulated from ground through staircases, manned elevators and a system of aerial shuttles. A Lillymon lead the trio in a basket hanging from a lower level and asked for a lift up. She hushed them out nearly before they even reached their destination. Eiffel couldn't help noticing that there was indeed an unusual amount of players hanging around in town and he wondered whether there was some event coming up he wasn't aware of. He resolved of asking as soon as possible. "So, what now, guys?" he asked. "Eating would be nice, after all that walking," Guilmon commented. Eiffel laughed and lead the way to a nearby pub. What he saw inside he certainly had not expected. [/COLOR] [/SIZE] OOC: I felt like giving Miskas a more definite description. I'll change/remove it if you want me to, takuya.

[SIZE=1][COLOR=DimGray] Eiffel sighed and turned toward Guilmon. "Think you can track him?" Guilmon smirked. "You doubt me?" he asked, running forward. Eiffel and Patamon took after the sniffing lizard. "Not for a second," the man said. The forest slowly changed as they moved. As they moved deeper into Saware valley, it became darker. The air dampened and the shadows thickened until it seemed like they could not see beyond the next tree. The ground began to make light squelching under the trio's feet. When Eiffel looked down, he immediately noticed Gabumon's tracks. They were widely space and rather erratic. The rookie had obviously not been spending much attention as to where he was going, and had ended up tripping over several times. Eiffel bent over to collect a now familiar item: Gabumon's lost claw. [i]Damn! Why do those things always happen to me?[/i] he thought. Just then, Guilmon stopped to sniff more intently at the air. Eiffel looked at him. "What now?" "Caltrop plants," Guilmon answered. Patamon shook his head with a dispirited expression. Eiffel could only stand there with a puzzled look on his face. "Well, color me stupid," he announced. "What the heck are caltrop plants?" Guilmon quickened his pace and Eiffel panted slightly as he himself tried to keep up. Patamon continued to hover next to his partner "Carnivorous plants," the digimon explained. "They grow underground and they can open or close like pit holes." "So if he get caught, we can't even [i]find[/i] him?" he exclaimed. [i]I hate my life,[/i] he added for himself just as the gang reached a clearing. It was an almost perfectly circular area covered with the tall fronds of ferns. From place to place a tall purplish flower rose through the plants. Eiffel was about to enter the glade, but froze upon hearing muffled screams. "[i]Help! Anybody out there?[/i]" "He's there! I can hear him!" Patamon said. "How do we find him?" Eiffel asked. "If we get in there, we risk getting caught too." Guilmon grabbed a rock the size of a football. He turned around and threw it in the clearing. Almost immediately, the ground split open, revealing a long pit lined with a thick-mucous covering. It was a brownish green in tint. From inside the pit a yell came. It was Gabumon's voice. "Hey! Watch out with these things!" Eiffel gave a short smile and shook his head. The player took out his Digivice and looked through his item list until he reached what he needed and summoned it. Eiffel handed his partner and Guilmon an end of the rope and had them tie it to a tree. He tied the other end to his waist and advanced cautiously to the edge of the caltrop plant's pit. "Some help there please?" Gabumon's insisting voice rose. "I'm starting to slip." Below, desperately clinging to a root that stuck from the wall, was the rookie. The bottom of the pit was filled with a yellow liquid, the nature of which Eiffel didn't ponder on. He looked around to check that the other two digimon were ready and started scaling down without a word. When Gabumon noticed him, he pointedly looked the other. Eiffel sighed and reached out with his hand. "Come on, we're getting you out of this soup," he said. "Go away," Gabumon flatly retorted. Eiffel blinked and tried to hinge closer. "Don't be like that, I promised..." "GO [i]AWAY[/i]!" the lizard suddenly yelled. He reached around with his right arm to try and push the human away. Fatal mistake. His already uncertain hold gave up. Gabumon, his fingers clawing at the air, fell down. Eiffel did not have the time to catch him or anything. With a gasp of surprise, Gabumon was swallowed by the unknown fluid and did not resurface. All the player could do was watch in shock as is charge vanished. "Get me out!" he finally yelled. He knew there was more panic in his voice than he'd have liked. "Got 'im?" Guilmon yelled. "Get. Me. OUT!" he yelled more urgently. He did not hear the answering "Okay, okay!" over the deafening sound of his own breathing. He did not really notice it once he'd been pulled out of the pit. The digimon looked at him inquitively, but he just shook his head, incapable of words. Nobody spoke again until he logged off, once they had gotten away from Saware Valley. [/COLOR]Eiffel found his friend waiting for him in the lobby. He barely gave Jakob a look before he grabbed his bike and walked out. The other man looked after him in bewilderment before jumping to his feet and following him. "Hey Michel!" Jakob called. "What's going on?" "I failed, Jakob, that's what's going," Michel calmly answered. Jakob's eyes widened. "Come on! I beat you, and so? I know you're going to get the crap out of us next time." Michel rolled his eyes and gave out an exasperated sigh. "T's not that. It's Gabumon." "You mean that brat thing that was following you around?" "Yeah, he got eaten by a Caltrop Plant." Jakob couldn't help it. He guffawed. Michel quickened his pace, forcing the other man to run after him. "That's rich.Oh really Michel, you know just how to choose your friends, don'tcha?" "And you, what happened to that Tentomon of yours?" Jakob looked away with a distinct blush. "He's going to stick around for a while." Michel repressed his laughter. "Interesting. I thought you had bigger ambitions," he teased. "Says the guy who got his charge killed," Jakob retorted. Michel frowned. "You got a point..." he sighed another. "See ya tomorrow? I'm probably going to be a bit late though. My bike met with a old wrench on the way in." "Sure thing! Can't wait to see what,s in store!"[/SIZE] Disclaimer: I don't like this post. It sounded so much better when I was thinking it out in my head :mad:

[COLOR=DimGray][SIZE=1] It was chaos. Utter and complete chaos. Eiffel hated chaos. busy as the gang were to lose Kalika, they had split in two. As luck would have it, Eiffel was stuck with Gabumon. Towing the rookie by the hand behind him, the player dashed madly between the fighting ultimates and mega, trying to avoid being stomped or hit by a stray attack at the same time. When he stopped for a few seconds, Kalika was nowhere in sight. Gabumon cheered loudly, earning himself a twap from the human. "That probably means she's after Patamon and Guilmon," he panted. Gabumon gave the surrounding battlefield a worried glance. A black grid formed on the ground. "Aaah... Eiffel? I think we'd better move it," the digimon commented. Eiffel looked up to see the grip shape itself up, surrounding the good digimon and attempting to trap the both of them alongside a Panjamon. The grid began to close rapidly, and they could barely slip out before it enclosed the ultimate completely. A few seconds after, a massive attack hit the ice-based digimon, forcing Eiffel and Gabumon to run away again as the battlefield cleared itself slowly. A Phantomon began chasing them, forcing Eiffel to curse loudly at his luck. [i]Talk about going from the frying pan into the fire...[/I] Guilmon and Patamon were not having much more luck. Between dodging stray attacks and not getting crushed by the stomping of incautious massive digimon, they did not have much attention left to avoid being spotted by Kalika. Just when the pair was pretty sure they'd managed to lose her, the fighter scattered themselves as a powerful attack ensnared many amongst the forces of good. Devidramon dove at them two rookies. The attack was predictable and the dragon digimon's Crimson Nail hit the ground, sending dirt everywhere. Guilmon and Patamon took advantage of the momentary distraction to launch their attack, hitting Kalika's ally in the face. Devidramon clawed at its head in pain, almost throwing the player and her partner to the ground and allowing the two to slip away. "Oy! Guilmon! Patamon!" a familiar voice carried over to them. Guilmon and Patamon looked over in joy as Eiffel came down running in their direction. Their smile quickly mutated in a look of panic when they noticed the Phantomon attacking in their direction. "There you are, Eiffel!" Kalika's voice interrupted. [i]Why me?[/I] Eiffel wondered to himself as Devidramon into position. Unfortunately for him, Labramon and Kalika, that put them straight in Phantomon's path. The ultimate couldn't change its course fast enough and collided into the champion's back. "Why you wench, get out of my way!" he yelled at the woman. "He is mine!" she yelled back. She glanced back to the ground and curse loudly. Eiffel and his infernal trio had disappeared again. The quartet slunk into the forest, wheezing. Eiffel slumped his hands on his knees and stopped to catch his breath. "I've had my share of running for today," he managed. "Me too," Guilmon agreed. "Me three," Gabumon added. "Pansies," Patamon taunted them. He was advantaged by the possibility for him to glide, and liked to tease his fellow digimon about it from times to times. Guilmon growled at the Eiffel's partner. Eiffel turned around to see Mekratrimon dominating the battlefield and the forces of good slowly repelled toward the forest. He shook his head. "Let's move it guys. I hate to say that, but this battle is lost." "Really? So soon?" Gabumon whined. The three others glared at him. [i]Some things never changes,[/I] Eiffel though as he grabbed the rookie by his horn and dragged him away. He did not get to ponder on this too much as they stumbled on a smaller battle. It seemed that a secondary tunnel opened in the side of the mountain, and that a group of less-experienced players had tried to enter in the dark lair that way. Unfortunately, a Devimon was now tearing through their digimon, having trapped everyone in some sort of dark energy field. Eiffel frowned. He hated bullies. "Hey Patamon, I've still got a healing tablet. Think you can go for another round?" he asked. Patamon nodded enthusiastically, just as his tamer had expected. Neither of them wanted this day to conclude on such a bitter note. An Elecmon cried out in pain at is was shredded by Devimon's Death Claw. It exploded into data and the Champion smirked at the other digimon. "Now, who is going to be next?" it asked, revelling in the look of fear on his opponents' faces. "How about 'nobody'?" a confident voice answered. Devimon looked around with a look of fury on his face. "Who dares!?" he yelled. A fireball crashed into him from above. It easily ripped through the demon's energy field and sent him to the ground. "I do," Piddomon answered. Eiffel grinned at his partner's antic. Patamon had a flair for the dramatic. The human shrugged, figuring he might as well play along. He walked up to the still petrified players. "Get out of here. You should never hang around after a lost battle." He pointed over his shoulder at the Mekratrimon-dominated battlefield. Those who still had befriended digimon gathered them and got away while Piddomon and Devimon clashed. Eiffel's partner was driven back by Devimon's Razor Wind and the player gritted his teeth. He had stupidly underestimated the wild digimon. It had to be strong to create and maintain that force field. It was his luck that Piddomon's being an angel gave him an edge in this battle. Devimon attack and racked his claw in his opponent's side. Piddomon responded by hitting him clear across the head and following up with an Apollo Tornado. Devimon was hit directly and deleted. Piddomon flew to land next to Eiffel. "That was harder than I expect," he said. His partner was about to answer, but was interrupted by a slow clapping. Eiffel looked over to see a familiar face. "Very nice, very nice, Eiffel," JJ applauded. "What do you want?" Eiffel asked tiredly. "Just wanted to comment that you should follow your own advice," the other man said. Eiffel stared back, puzzled. JJ rubbed his chin mockingly. "What did you told me the first time we came here?" he asked to himself. "Oh right, 'Never get in fights for the sake of others.'" Eiffel glared at his friend and began to turn around when Piddomon, who had let his guard down, was hit by an electric attack. "Gotcha," JJ said calmly. Piddomon turned to face the Tentomon responsible for the attack. From the corner of his, Eiffel caught JJ grinning. [i]Oh no...[/I] "Battle Rod Break!" JJ's partner attacked from the undergrowth, hitting Piddomon right in the wound left by Devimon's earlier attack. Piddomon was weak, he was wounded, he had no chance. He devolved to Patamon, releasing a string of data that Ginryumon absorbed. "You bastard!" Eiffel growled at his friend. "I thought you'd learned your lesson by now," JJ retorted, unfazed. "I am [i]not[/I] a nice guy in there." Eiffel did not answer and went to get his partner. "Oh, and by the way, you might want to get away before the chase starts," JJ continued. Eiffel looked over his shoulder. "The chase?" Eiffel looked over his shoulder. "There won't be any wild or good vaccine left around when it's done. You might want to keep an eye on your new friends," he chortled,turning around. "I'm not exactly proud of it either, if you want to know!" Eiffel called after the other man. He sighed and dropped his head. "Let's go, guys," he motioned with his hand. Then he frowned. "Where did Gabumon go again?" he asked. Guilmon pointed at the forest without a word. Eiffel palmed his forehead. He had offended the digimon. "Oh great..." [/SIZE] Edited as requested. Sorry 'bout that. [/COLOR]

[I][SIZE=1]OOC: Really sorry I didn't post before, the week has been everything hectic and beyond,but I'm not given up just yet![/I] :animeangr [COLOR=DimGray]Gabumon was hiding. He was pretty good at hiding, as much as he might sometimes hate himself for it. He was huddled in a crevasse in the cave's rougher wall. From there he had a good view of the battle. Anubismon and Asuramon had been exchanging blows for several minutes now, and although none of them showed signs of wanting to stop anytime soon, it was clear the Ultimate was slowly getting worn down. And then something else had caused a stir near the entrance. When several good Digimon were blown to bits by an attack, he could only assume that the enemy had shown himself. And whoever it was, it sure didn't look too happy. Gabumon crawled back farther from the opening in the wall. Somewhere below, he could hear feminine grunts and groans. He dared to crawl to the edge and look down. Two human females were battling. They weren't very competent, even Gabumon could see that, having seen the fight between Piddomon and Wizardmon. Then there was a feral growl and Gabumon retreated again. He was cowering and he did not like it. That was the cry of someone intent to kill. Someone who'd been deeply hurt. Someone oddly familiar. He risked another glance. There was only one human now, and she was fighting a Digimon. She was wearing... Well, Gabumon didn't what it was, but it didn't cover much. She could probably had gotten more coverage off his fur. She was holding some sort of twisted piece of metal and swinging it at... Guilmon? Gabumon blinked. Why wasn't Guilmon back there helping Eiffel? He blushed when he realized he should be wondering why he himself wasn't back there in the first place. Neither Gabumon nor Guilmon could have done much for this fight. Eiffel knew it, but still he'd have preferred it if they'd been by his side. He was worried about both of them, and they couldn't fight efficiently if Eiffel's mind was split up like that. The standoff between Asuramon and Anubismon was, frankly, not going as well as he'd liked. Eiffel was on his last Moon Blades upgrade, now, and the Healing Tablets wouldn't help for much longer. As much as the Moon Blades proved efficient against the mega, Eiffel had to use e new one every time Asuramon scored a good hit, and it cost the ultimate a lot of energy to keep the item active. He skimmed through his item list. It was ironic, he thought, that Asuramon hadn't needed the Elemental Slabs. [i]Wait a minute...[/I] An idea was trying to push its way to the front of his mind, but it was so preposterous it could not... Could it? Combining opposites... Asuramon was a fire digimon, and Eiffel always kept a healthy supply of Fire Slabs power ups. The Water Slabs he mostly used as a defense, because Asuramon couldn't use them very well. Yet the Moon Blade he was so good at using was essentially a water-themed weapon. It was just so bold enough it could work. "Power up! Elemental slab! Fire!" he called up. Asuramon could feel a renewed power flow through his body and the flames engulfing him flared up. It was not a normal power up to have such a massive effect. His partner must have used all of the slabs he had. Well, they would be put to good effect! He prepared an attack. "No! Hold up!" Eiffel ordered. Asuramon glanced at him with raised eyebrows, but only for a fraction of a second as he dodged a powerful blow from Anubismon. "Then what?" he asked angrily, swiping ineffectively at the mega with the Moon Blade. Eiffel continued punching buttons on his digivice without listening. "Power up! Elemental slab! Water!" Asuramon's eyes widened. What the hell was Eiffel thinking? These two elements would cancel themselves out! Another power, different by its very nature, began to flow into him. He tensed slightly as he shoved Anubismon away, expecting the surge to clash and have adverse effect. Nothing happened. The two powers... He could feel they complemented each others, reinforced each others. He exchanged a smug look with his partner, earning a confused one from is opponent. [i]Opposite attracts,[/I] Eiffel mentally summed up his thought process. Asuramon raised both arms above his head. A small blue sphere formed around the moon blade. Anubismon snorted. He obviously expected his opponent to make a weak water attack. Then a flame appeared in the middle of the ball. Anubismon's eye widened. "Wha...?" "Unity moon!" Asuramon attacked He poured all the power he still had available in the lone attack. He knew it would leave him greatly weakened, but the attack was also a guaranteed hit on the flabbergasted mega. The beam of blue and red energy crashed through Anubismon's defenses and threw him to the ground, where he flopped down and was engulfed in a bright light. When it subsided, the only thing left was a dog-like creature sprawled on the ground of the cave. Itss fur was a creamy shade, with magenta ears and tail. A Labramon. It opened a bleary eyes and immediately jumped to its feet, snarling loudly at Eiffel and the now devolved Patamon. Eiffel took a step back, but Patamon didn't move "So, what are you going to do with me now?" it asked defensively. "Me? Nothing," Eiffel said. The dog digimon looked at him disbelievingly. "What?" Eiffel mocked. "You seriously expect us to delete you?" "I'm helpless now. I can't digivolve, and Kalika is not going to came tumbling to help me. I'm at your mercy. What are you gonna do now?" he paused. "You know you want it," he taunted them. Eiffel and Patamon raised their eyebrows in a perfect duo. "That's true," Eiffel admitted with a sigh. "And that's exactly why I won't. It would put me at the same level as her." He walked toward the larger battle at the entrance of the cave. Labramon jumped out of the human's way as if he'd been a leper. "Battle are to be fought first. Winning or losing is just a side effect," Eiffel commented as he walked away. Labramon snorted, then slinked away. He had to find Kalika now. She was there. Right in front of him. Practically defenceless as humans are. Now was his chance. He charged and swiped at the woman, fury empowering him. All he earned for his efforts was a hit to the side of the head form the twisted piece of metal she was holding. He knew that feeling. Adrenaline allowed him to ignore the pain. He roared again and launched a Pyro Sphere, which she merely side-stepped. Just like in the time. They were fighting again, mere feet from each other. But today, Guilmon was intent on hurting her. Just as much as she'd hurt him, even though he doubted that would be possible. Which didn't mean he would not try his hardest. He had rage and strength. [i]She[/I]'d made him this strong. He charged again and she again hit him across the head, managing to use his momentum against him. Guilmon slid aside and found himself backed against the cave's wall. "I see you still haven't managed to get any grip on your temper," she commented coldly. That's when a smaller yellow and blue silhouette dropped next to him with a grunt. "I'm there!" Gabumon said. Guilmon turned sharply at him. He stared down Gabumon with narrowed eyes causing the rookie in every sense of the term to take a step back, trip over his own feet and fall on his ass. "Stay out of it!" Guilmon snarled. "But. I. But." Gabumon stammered helplessly. "This is [i]my[/I] fight," the other reptile growled as he turned back toward Kalika. "Oh my..." the woman laughed derisively. "A Gabumon? Oh my, I should really be afraid, now, should I?" she mocked, faking a terrified look. Guilmon roared. A cry that expressed raw anger, pain and revenge. Gabumon knew that whatever she'd done to his companion of fortune, it was something that must have been truly horrible. Guilmon tackled the woman and they rolled around on the ground. "We fought, we travelled, we discovered together. I trusted you. I thought we made an unbeatable team." Guilmon growled. "Yeah, and so?" she retorted, kneeing him in the side without apparent effect. "And one day, you vanished. Without a word. Without so much as an excuse, as an explanation. Without even a goodbye," his voice tightened. The digimon snapped his head back and headbutted her, catching her head between his forehead and the floor. She groaned in pain, her vision momentarily blinded. "I had better things to do. Things that did not, fortunately, involved your hotheaded smoothscale stupidity," she snarled back. She somehow managed to roll on top him and hit him in the throat with her elbow. Gabumon winced in sympathy. Guilmon punched her hard in the side in return. A single tear rolled down the side of his face. "I would have died for you back then," he said bitterly. "Would just have made one less useless lump of data," she snarled back as the digimon rolled on top again. "True. You're not worth dying for," he said. Gabumon looked on in wonderment as the other rookie turned around and, hauling the full-grown woman over his shoulder, threw her against the wall. His maw opened as his throat flared up. "Guilmon! NO!" a man's voice came over. Both digimon as well as Kalika looked over. Eiffel would not let him do it. As much as she had earned it. As much as he hated her himself, he would not let Guilmon hurt his old partner like that. Not as long as Guilmon would accept to treat Eiffel as a friend, at least. He placed a hand on Guilmon's shoulder. "She's not worth it," he said. "She is. She was worth [I]everything[/I]. She was worth dying for. But I was only worth betraying," Guilmon said. "She's not, and never will," Eiffel insisted. He gave the digimon an insistant pull and began to turn around. Slowly, reluctantly, Guilmon followed. Kalika got up and dusted herself. "Do it," she demanded. Eiffel and the digimons froze. "I am worth it. I was worth fighting and I lost. That makes me worth destroying too, right?" she said confidently. "You should never give up on people just because of a loss. Much less yourself," he told her without looking at her. "You'll be there again, and we'll fight again. We might win, or we might lose, but we'll fight again. Because that's what all of this is about, right? Fighting. As long as the fight is worth it, the opponent doesn't matter." He paused. "Today, I found out why I'm here. Have you?" Kalika sneered. She walked up behind him, intent on going away in the most scornful way she could, but Eiffel didn't let her. When she came up behind him, he whirled around, arm drawn back, and punched her in the jaw, throwing her to the ground. He sighed, rubbing his knuckles as he walked away from the woman. "Damn, that felt good, he muttered." Then he sighed. "That went too well," he added for himself. "Something really bad should happen about now..."[/COLOR] [I]OOC: Wow, I didn't think it would turn out so well.[/I][/SIZE]

[COLOR=DimGray][SIZE=1]Kiva had been right. There hadn't been much action in their position, save for the occasional rear attack from a few wild ones, but the bulk on the force had already plowed through them and even this Phelesmon that Piddomon was battling was hardly a threat. Eiffel wanted to wait for the right time to evolve his partner to Asuramon. His current position and allies might not have rendered him an obvious threat, but Asuramon's skill and Guilmon's own strength would prove the downfall of an unprepared enemy. He wasn't sure how Gabumon took to the whole thing. He'd seen him battle with a DemiDevimon earlier, and Guilmon had barely saved his ass from a group of Bakemon before Piddomon intervened. Gabumon was now looking around warily as the combined forces of good approached the lair of the evil digimon. "This is what battle is like," the player commented to the lizard. "Violence, pain, blood, struggle for survival." Gabumon shuddered slightly at these words. Despite all his bragging and actually having some skills, he wasn't programmed for this, Eiffel could tell. "It's what makes us truly alive," Guilmon added. Eiffel nodded at that. Guilmon's eyes tightened as they entered the cave. Battle broke between the defenders there and the incoming combined forces. Guilmon had smelled something. And that something did [i]not[/I] make him happy. "She's here..." he growled. His tone lowered and the growl became more feral as the digimon looked around. Eiffel knew who Guilmon was referring too. She would try to... "Who's there?" Gabumon asked. Eiffel palmed his forehead. The prospect of Kalika's presence had made him almost forget about the rookie. The small group was huddled next to one of the hallways for the moment. "An old acquaintance of ours," he answered. It was kinda ironic that they would be the one meeting an old enemy here after what happened earlier. Of course, considering Kalika's character, it was hardly surprising at all she'd be hanging around. Guilmon's sniffing became more insistent. They followed him until they reached a 3-meters tall blue humanoid dog with copper-colored wings. It looked down at the four of them in utter contempt. "Guilmon, that is [i]not[/I] Kalika," Eiffel commented, taking a step back. "It's definitely her partner, though. The smell doesn't lie," Guilmon retorted. "Indeed I am, and I will not disappointed her," the mega-level Anubismon said. [i]Oh shit...[/I] There was no formal thinking. Eiffel reflexively pressed the digivolution button. [i]Piddomon, digivolve to... Asuramon![/I] Anubismon never lost his arrogant look. he waited patiently for the champion to complete his evolution, then casually pointed his arm at him. "Amemit," he said. The ring around his wrist glowed and sent a wave of dark energy in the form of large jaws forward. Asuramon barely dodged and punched the mega in the face. Anubismon barely flinched. Eiffel turned around to prevent any foolish actions from the rookies, but Gabumon had vanished, and while this wasn't exactly surprising, Guilmon's disappearance was worrisome. [i]He's not thinking of...? Oh damn![/I] Eiffel thought. Then Asuramon crashed next to him, and he didn't get to ponder on it any longer. "Activate item! Moon blades!" The two sickle-shaped weapons appeared in Asuramon's hands. The ultimate-level smirked. The fight was almost balanced now.[/SIZE][/COLOR]