GuyYouMetOnline

[QUOTE=Desbreko][color=#4b0082]I wouldn't say that; I've been in some really intense battles in RPGs, both with and without the ATB system. When you're up against something really strong and you're getting pounded, you're going to be trying your hardest to stay alive while also managing to do some damage, and that can get pretty intense. As a fan of RPGs, those sorts of fights where I'm just barely managing to hang on are just as intense as hard fights in action games. So, while you might not find them as memorable, others do. [/color] [color=#4b0082] A good example would be when I was fighting the end boss in Final Fantasy IX. I was only in the mid-60s for my party's levels, so I wasn't really underpowered, but I wasn't overpowered either; sort of an even match. But right off the bat, the boss killed my white mage (Garnet), so my main source of healing was suddenly gone. So then I'm left trying to fend off a ton of status effects while also trying to revive and keep Garnet alive long enough to heal the rest of my party, and it must have taken a good 20 minutes before I was able to get back on my feet. And during that whole time, I was on the edge of my seat, trying desperately to survive; a couple wrong moves, such as healing at the wrong time, could've meant my doom, but I hung on and managed to pull out as the victor. [i]That[/i] was an intense fight.[/quote] [/color]Obviously, you and I have different definitions of 'intense'. When I say 'intense', I mean that things are moving fast, and you don't have time to stop and think. RPG fights can be quite difficult, but you can always stop and think, plan out your next move. Just because you'll lose if you make a mistake doesn't mean that the fight is intense, just that it's hard. [color=#4b0082] [quote name='Desbreko]And you say skill isn't a factor in turn based battles, but then you go on to stay that strategy is. ... Well, what do you think good strategy comes from? You've got to be good at knowing what to do when, and predicting what you're going to need to do a few turns later, and that's skillful strategizing. An example of an [i]un[/i']skillful strategy would be to attack full force and not bother with healing, and in most RPGs, that definitely isn't going to work.[/quote] [/color]That's not unskillful, that's poor strategy. Strategy comes from knowledge, not skill. [color=#4b0082] [quote name='Desbreko']What you're saying is akin to saying that fighting games don't require any skill, they just require knowing what all the moves do and when to use them. The only difference is that fighting games are in real time, whereas RPGs are turnbased, but in both cases you're required to do the same things, just at different paces. The higher speed at which you're forced to make decisions in fighting games may add to the difficulty and required skill, yes, but that doesn't mean a lower speed will make an RPG require no skill at all. In the end, you're still required to make decisions on what to do when, and making good decisions requires skill.[/quote] [/color]Decisions are strategy. Execution of those decisions is skill. In RPGs, that execution is simply pushing a button or two. Not a lot of skill there. In fighting games, you need to push the right buttons in the right order and at the right speed, as well as time it so that you won't get hit. Plus, you need to be able to react fast and block, dodge, or counter your opponent. As you said, this all occurrs in real time, which means that you don't have much time to think. Now, I don't know much about fighters, because I don't like them that much. I normally play games like [i]Drakengard[/i], [i]Viewtiful Joe[/i/], and [i]Zone of the Enders[/i]. Action games, but not fighting games. But like fighters, you often don't have time to think in the games I like. There's no time to think, to plan a strategy. You have to act, not plan. That's skill.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='iggypopD]But, [Final Fantasy boss fights'] are always the funnest... [/quote] I don't see how that's possible. The Final Fantasy games are RPGs. RPG boss fights can [i]never[/i] be the most fun or the most memorable (not counting action-RPGs). Why? Because they aren't intense. Good boss fights need to be both hard and intense. In RPGs, there are only two things you need to win: preperation and strategy. Skill is not a factor, because RPGs are turn-based (yes, I'm well aware of the ATB system or whatever it's called in the Final Fantasy games, but it's still essentially turn-based. After an action, a charcter must wait for hir or her gauge to fill up in order to take another action. It's f-ing turn-based). all you need are powerful enough characters, large numbers of items, and knowledge of what the items and abillities of your characters do and when to use them. Preperation and strategy. Skill is irrelevant. For boss fights to be extremly fun and/or extremly memorable, they have to be intense and hard, but not impossibly hard. A perfect example is the second battle with Orbital Frame Nieth (piloted by Viola) in the original [i]Zone of the Enders[/i]. Nieth and your frame, Jehuty, are pretty evenly matched, and Viola is a skilled pilot. You have to be better, and you have to be quick, because so is Nieth, and if you don't act fast, you're dead. That's the kind of thing I want from boss fights: hard, intense, but doable if you're good enough.

NeoMagnadramon looked around. Something was wrong. She could feel it. [i]Something... a disturbance.[/i] She had questions. [i]What's causing it?[/i] [i]Where?[/i] And the most important one: [i]Why?[/i] She had no answers. [i]I must confer with the others, [/i]she thought. [i]If there is a threat, we must identify it. I can only hope that the others feel it, too.[/i] There was a location where the four Guardians met. It was at the ruins of what was probably a temple of some kind. NeoMagnadramon started for it, hoping that the other three Guardians would be there to meet her. Azufe rolled behind a large rock. Hawkmon was hidden somewhere, but he couldn't see where. Azufe had to get his Digivice back before Hawkmon would be of any use. Another human, Jaht, was crouched behind a different rock. The enemy also had his Digivice, meaning that Guilmon, Jaht's Digimon partner, also had to remain hidden until the Digivices were recovered from the enemy. The enemy was three Greymon and one MetalGreymon. Azufe held an X-31 model Explosive Machine Gun, or EMG. The weapon was just like a regular machine gun, except that it fired explosive rounds. Jaht had an SFGL (Spread-Fire Grenade Launcher), which fired five grenades at a time in an adjustable spread pattern. Azufe ran to where Jaht was hiding. "I'll get their attention, then you tear into them," he whispered to Jaht. Jaht nodded, and Azufe took off. He pointed hie gun at the enemy Digimon and held down the trigger as he ran. All four of them turned toward him to attack, giving Jaht the opening he needed to pop out of his hiding place and fire. Two of the Greymon were torn apart by the combined fire. The MetalGreymon was quite a bit more resiliant, and the remaining Greymon had to be dealt with carefully. It had the Digivices. Azufe set his gun to single shot mode to increase accuracy, took careful aim, and... everything went black. Azufe removed his interface headset. "I'll never cease to be amazed at how realistic this equipment can make things," he remarked to Jaht, who had also removed his headgear. "You're lucky it wasn't real," the EO (Equipment Operator), a man named Hank Freeman, said as he helped Hawkmon and Guilmon out of their interface equipment. "You forgot about the MetalGreymon, Azufe. You were about to get blown to pieces." "Well, I know what happens if you die in a simulation," Azufe replied. "You watch the rest of the exersize. That didn't happen. We were pulled out. The excersize was cut short. Why?" "You and Hawkmon are to report to Briefing Room Three," Hank told him. "Oh," Azufe said. Briefing Room Three was reserved for the most dangerous assignments. "Well, I'd better get going, then. See you later, Jaht. Hawkmon, let's go." -------------------------------------------------- OOC: DIR field agent people, your characters can be doing whatever, but then they're instructed to report to Briefing Room Three. Everyone else, read my PMs. And finally, have fun.

JJRiddler, please change the name of attack #3. I'm sorry, but that just doesn't work for an attack name. Nuevoxetere, you need to finish your sign-up (as usual). I'll probably start this sometime tonight.

Valo began with a standard double-strike, one pole high and the other low. Ilthazar blocked both with his swords, sidestepped a kick from Valo, spun around, and did a double-strike of his own. Valo ducked the high sword and blocked the low one with one pole while swinging the other one at Ilthazar's head. Ilthazar ducked, spun, and atacked with both swords. Valo parried both and swun at Ilthazar. Ilthazar blocked in the classic 'swords-crossed standoff' manner. "Not bad, fuck-face," Valo said. "You are a rude one." "No shit." Valo broke off, spun, and attacked. He and Ilthazar alternated attacking and blocking/parrying. eventually, they crossed weapons and paused again. "You are quite skilled," Ilthazar remarked. "I don't suppose I could intrest you with a position in my force?" "Not even if pigs fly, hell freezes over, or you stop being the biggest shit-fucker in existence." "I have never met one as rude as you." "That would be because you'd kill them if they so much as said 'crap'." Valo spun a pole low, attempting to knock Ilthazar's legs out from under him. Ilthazar jumped over it, only to have Valo literally slam into him. Ilthazar attempted to drop to the ground and flip Valo over him, but Valo was one step ahead. He spun to the side and kicked Ilthazar. Ilthazar rolled to his feet, swords still in hand. Likewise, Valo still held his poles, but he nearly dropped them when he saw the back of Ilthazar's left hand. It had a square-shaped mark on it. "You have [i]got[/i] to be shiting me," Valo said. "Why would that be?" "It isn't. Or it is. It doesn't matter. Our relationship is unchanged. I don't care who you are, chicken-fucker. You're dead."

[color=indigo]"Ready the ballistae!" a man named Tago Ustath shouted. Tago was Tajath's counterpart at the palace. His job was to make sure that nobody was atcually able to force entry into the palace. Tago's men were well trained, and they were fast. They readied the ballistae, contraptions that shot what were essentially giant crossbow bolts. Tago waited as Malachant neared. Eventually, he shouted, "Light the bolts!" Torches were used to light the ballistae's bolts on fire. "Now!" Malachant watched the frantic preperations. [i]How can they possibly think that they have any chance of survival? they should be running. Why do they stand and fight? There is no logic to their actions, so why do they take those actions? I will never understand man's willingness to sacrifice himself.[/i] Malachant wasn't concerned about the bolts, even though they were burning. He simply beat his wings. The force of the gust he produced was enough to cancel their momentum and send them falling to the ground. Malachant countered the second wave of bolts, then began moving forward. Tago's men weren't bothering to light the bolts anymore. They were shooting as fast as they could in the hopes that at least one bolt would hit home. Malachant knew that the bolts couldn't harm him. He ignored them as he moved forward. None managed to penetrate his skin. Malachant tore the ballistae apart, and killed anyone who didn't run. When he was finished, he literally walked right through the outer wall of the palace. Many men were positioned between the wall and the palace itself. They died quickly. [i]I expected the Dogs to be here by now,[/i] Malachant thought. [i]Well, I'm not just going to wait around. I hope they don't expect to find the palace still standing when they arrive, because it won't be.[/i][/color]

No problems. I just want to make sure you realize that, while the later forms of the Digimon you've chosen for your characters are normally very powerful, in this RPG they're equal to the other partner Digimon's later forms (Also, I'm assuming you chose the Vaccine-type Cherubimon, a.k.a Kerpymon. If I'm wrong, please tell me). You're in. Venge, you're in, too. All right, we have plenty DIR agents. I need people to play as the other two Guardians before I can start this. For those of you who've already signed up, I encourage you to have a Guardian as a second character. Even you, Methuselah. I've decided allow playing as two Guardians (the 'only one Guardian rule' was intended to allow more people to play as Guardians, but the intrest in playing as them is less than I anticipated). And I need all four Guardians in order to start this RPG.

[color=indigo]On top of a small hill, Alexa turned around to look at the city. She easily spotted the gryphon that was Malachant. [i]I'm glad I'm on his side,[/i] she thought. She heard a noise behind her and spun around. "Tolana! What are you doing here?" "What I'm instructed to do," the woman named Tolana replied. "Malachant told me to meet him here. I was to come here as soon as he announced his return, and wait until he met me. I'm guessing that the creature in the city is him." "It's him," Alexa confirmed. "He's trying to draw the Dogs out." "I figured that. He told me that he had three plans to get to them. Obviously, this is one. I'm probably part of number two, but I don't know what number three is." "Well, I was number one, and this right now is number two, so you'd be the third." "What was your task?" Tolana asked. "I was supposed to follow old Jonathan when Malachant made his display earlier. He took his granddaughter, Aria, with him. I think she's one of the new Dogs. Unfortunatly, I lost them pretty quickly, though Malachant was pleased that I could mark Aria as one of the Dogs. Malachant's now trying to draw them out. He'll resort to his third plan if that doesn't work. Any idea what it is?" "Well," Tolana replied, "to be perfectly honest, no. I have absolutly no idea what it is."[/color]

I'm sorry if you feel like I'm being unreasonable. Of course, seeing as how everyone else I've RPed with hasn't even thought about doing what you tried, I don't think I'm being too unreasonable, especially since your bio did indeed present plot problems. See my PM for further details.

Swordmaster13, you're in. Ugamon, um... no. I mentioned nothing about events from the show, so it is assumed that the show has no relevance in this RPG, which it doesn't. And there is no other world with humans. As far as this RPG is concerned, there are only two worlds: the real world and the digital world. I don't know why you thought that the show's plot was relevant, because it never is unless specifically mentioned. Also, the whole other real world thing... um, as far as I know, that has [i]never[/i] been allowed. So no, you're not in.

[i]All right,[/i] Valo thought, [i]things are getting strange. Better go with it. Qustion possibility later.[/i] [Angelus, it's time for a dive.] [Kai,] Valo sent, [angelus and I are doing a dive maneuver. we'll be coming in from above, and we'll be coming in fast. Keep Plejalta busy for us.] Angelus flew up, positioned herself correctly, and dove. As he did with Zeddrick, Valo lept off Angelus. Angelus flew under Plejalta as Valo slammed into Ilthazar, knocking him off. The two fell onto Angelus, who flew very low and dumped hem on the ground before returning to the battle with Plejalta. Valo rolled away from Ilthazar and stood up. Ilthazar did the same. "You might want to take that armor off," Valo said. "One can't move worth a damn in that. Sure, it's harder to get through a suit like that, but it's easy to stun you long enough to get it off, and I can still break your neck." "In a one-on-one fight, you are most certainly correct," Ilthazar agreed. "So, why did you tell me? right now, you have an advantage. Why would you give it up?" "Because I want to see you. I want to be able to see your face when I kill you." "Confident, I see. Well, very well. You are right. I am at a disadvantage in this suit." With that, Ilthazar removed the armor. "Of course, I assume that both of us are wearing chain-mail armor." Valo nodded. "Of course. It provides some protection, and it doesn't impare movement. Now, I do not know what powers you have, if any. But let's ignore them. I want this to be decided by weapon skill." "Foolish, but very well. Youj are at a disadvantage, though, because I have never lost." Valo laughed. "I know this. If you had, you'd be dead." He drew his poles, and Ilthazar drew twin swords. "Now, King Fuck-tard, are you ready? Let's do this." ---------------------------------------- OOC: Again, if I screwed anything up, please tell me, and I'll edit.

Methuselah and Ohkami, you're in. JoyKaiba, you have everything that's absolutly required, and you're in, but you can add a bio and/or personallity if you want too.

Yes, I know this is my third try at a Digimon RPG in less than a month. My last two didn't do so well. This one's going to be a good bit different than my previous two, however. Oh, some of the stuff at the beginning here will quite likely give you a false impression about this RPG, so please read the entire post before passing judgement. It's a lot, but bear with it. [i][i][b]Record set 5-A, record 23, Chipher archive. Copy of inscription originally found on set of five tablets of unknown origin and age. Translated to English. Translated inscription is as follows:[/b][/i] [i]There seems to be an endless suply of threats to our world. Believe it or not, it was even more dangerous in the distant past. Around 10,000 years ago, the threts were at their most frequent and their most dangerous.[/i] [i]Many thought it was just fortunate timing, but I do not believe in that type of coincedence. I do not believe that their appearance was a coincidence. What it actually was, however, is a mystery.[/i] [i]What's not a mystery is what happened. Our world faced the greatest threat it ever has. A Digimon of great power had appeared. There was no indication of a coming danger. One day there was nothing, and on the next day, he appeared. He wasted no time, either. He quickly destroyed some of the most powerful Digimon in existance. He semed unstoppable. His name was Mekratrimon.[/i] [i]Mekratrimon's appearance is best described using another Digimon, Mephistomon, as a base. His basic body structure was similar to Mephistomon's, even though he looked nothing like Mephistomon. For one thing, he was a good deal larger. He was mostly black, but there was some red, too, mainly on his arms and legs. His hands had very sharp claws.[/i] [i]Mekratrimon's face was nothing like Mephistomon's. It had no snout, for one thing. Basically, Mekratrimon's face was really nasty-looking, as opposed to Mephistomon's not-so-nasty face. Mekratrimon's wings were large and colered black like most of his body.[/i] [i]Mekratrimon was fast, both in the air and on the ground. He was very physically strong, and tough as hell. He was also the most powerful Digimon our world has ever seen, and there didn't seem to be anything that could be done to stop him. So where did the challengers come from?[/i] [i]Nobody knows where they came from, or what they were. There are even arguements about how many there were. Like Mekratrimon, they suddenly appeared one day. They called themselves the Elemental Guardians. As the name implies, each one represented an element. There were definatly four representing the four main elements: fire, water, earth, and air. How many others there were is unknown.[/i] [i]Individually, the Elemental Guardians were no match for Mekratrimon, but together, they were able to defeat him. This left them very weak, however, and they knew that they would not live much longer. So they chose four young Digimon. They gathered their power together and divided it among the young Digimon. The Elemental Guardians were never seen again.[/i] [i]The idea was that the young Digimon, who named themselves the Guardians, would be able to locate and destroy any who would threaten our world, which they did very well. When one of them was about to pass away, he or she would choose a [/i][i]Digimon to take his or her place, and would transfer his or her power to that Digimon before passing on. The Guardians, named for the Elemental Guardians who created them, still exist today.[/i] [b][i][b]End record.[/b][/i] [i][b]Record set 2-B, record 15, Recall archive. Brief summary of contact history between humans and Digimon, and of current research procedure:[/b][/i] [/b][i]On April 1st, 2012, a government-employed AI research team that will remain anonymous accidentally discovered what, twenty-one days later, they confirmed as a parellel universe. They all signed non-disclosure agreements and went back to AI research as a specially-chosen team followed up on the discovery.[/i] [i]On December 23, 2012, the research team discovered a way to send objects and people to the parelell universe and, presumable, bring them back. Millitary recon probes were sent and renturned several times, followed by cows and monkeys.[/i] [i]Finally, the process was deemed safe enough to send humans across.[/i] [i]On February 3rd, 2013, a seven-man team of millitary survival experts was sent across. They were supposed to stay for five days, but contact was lost on the third. A larger and better-armed team was sent across to figure out what happened.[/i] [i]The second group found the only two survivors from the first group. The group didn't believe the pair's accounts of a 'monster', but soon experianced the truth for themselves. Fortunatly, they encountered a nicer creature than the first group did. This creature identified itself as Jijimon.[/i] [i]Jijimon believed what he was told about the humans being from another world. He has seen some of the cows and monkeys that were sent as test subjects, and he knew that the digital world, as he called it, had no cows or monkeys.[/i] [i]Jijimon explained the basics of the digital world to the team members (see record set 3-C, record 1, Active archive), who were ready to believe almost anything after what they'd seen. All of that information has been confirmed.[/i] [i]After two more trips, with an average survival rate of 78% for all four expeditions, the top-secret Digital Institute of Research, or DIR, was established. Construction of the top-secret facility, to be located underground in a remote area of the Nevada desert (chosen because of Area 51. If anything happened, unlikely but possible, it be associated with Area 51, not DIR), was completed on March 6th, 2014. The facility contains residencies for all researchers and digital world field agents, as well as the most advanced computer network in the world.[/i] [i]On December 25th, 2014, DIR researchers created the Digital Enhancement Device, or Digivice, as the field agents call it. The Digivice can be set to perfectly complement a specific Digimon (Rookie-level only), and once set, can not be changed. The Digivice can then be used to trigger the Digivolution process in that Digimon. Currently, Digivices are capable of boosting Digimon to the Ultimate level, and the DIR researchers are hard at work trying to modify it to allow Mega-level digivolution. All field agents have Digivices and partner Digimon. New agents are taken to the digital world to find willing Rookie-level Digimon to set their Digivices to.[/i] [i]Field agents are in charge of aquiring what the researchers need. This might be a piece of information, or they might need to find on object. Occasionally, they are required to capture a Digimon. All captured Digimon are released when no longer needed by the researchers. This procedure has been in effect since the creation of the Digivice, and seeing as how it works, it's not likely to change anytime soon.[/i] [b][i]End record.[/i][/b] [/i]All right, that takes care of that part. Oh, in case you didn't figure it out, the archives are compiled by humans at DIR. Also, the date this RPG starts on is March 2nd, 2018 Now, remember in the 'history lesson' part, when I mentioned the Guardians? Well, as I said, there are four of them, and I'll allow people to sign up as them. Here they are (Note: pictures of the first two are attached. My computer screwed up whenever I tried to get a picture of NeoMetalGarurumon, and NeoPhoenixmon is a Digimon I made up)(EDIT: My computer's glitching whenever I try to attach pictures, so just use the site that the link for NeoMetalGarurumon's appearance gets you to): NeoMagnadramon: See attachment for appearance. NeoMegidramon (Note: although Megidramon wasn't exactly nice in the show, the Guardian NeoMegidramon is not a bad guy. None of the Guardians have any chance of going bad. If they did, they wouldn't be Guardians): See attachment for appearance. NeoMetalGarurumon(NMG for short): Try this site for appearance: [color=#0000ff][url="http://ca.geocites.com/digi_josied/digidexE.html"]http://ca.geocites.com/digi_josied/digidexE.html[/url][/color] NeoPhoenixmon: Slightly larger than Phoenixmon (for Phoenixmon's appearence, try the same site), with a significantly larger wingspan. Mostly red in color, with some orange on the wings. Some notes if you decide to sign up as a Guardian: 1: All four Guardians are Mega-level Digimon. 2: The Guardians are much more powerful than most Mega-level Digimon, but they aren't invincible. They can be hurt, and they can be killed. 3: Because I know this is something many of you are worried about, yes, I do have ways to put the Guardians on equal footing with DIR field agents. See the DIR field agent part below for an idea of what. 4: If you are a Guardian, I will be sending you many PMs over the course of the RPG. See, the Guardians are important to the plot, and at times, I'll need them to do certain things. So, be aware that there are actions I will require the Guardians to take at various points throughout the RPG. Now for the human part. DIR field agents are the humans with Digimon partners. They are well trained, both in battle tactics using their Digimon partners, and in more conventional weapons. The weapons used by DIR field agents are state-of-the-art, usually explosive-based (and include machine guns and shotguns that fire explosive rounds, semi-automatic grenade launchers, and portable mini-rocket launchers, amon others), and very effective on most Digimon. DIR agents also have access to the very latest in pretty much everything, from vehicles to communication devices (comms) to cameras. One can't choose to become a DIR agent, because one doesn't know that DIR even exists. The road to becoming a DIR agent starts with a government evaluation of every little detail that is known about a person, from age to if the person is married or not to what job the person has to how many baseball games the person has attended. If the person is seen as a likely DIR agent, the person is approached by DIR recruiters, who give no indication as to what they want. All that they say to the person is that he or she has bee selected, and must make a choice: leave any loved ones and accept a position when all the person knows is that it will be dangerous and top-secret, or decline. It's a mark of success for the personallity eval system that very, very few ever decline. After accepting, the person is put through a series of tests. This normally takes about a week. Everything is tested: blood, fertility, reflex, physical strength, lung capacity, bladder capacity, everything. After that comes another week, this time of the most detained background checks possible, done by multipe people. This is to insure the person's trustworthyness. Those that fail the tests are returned to their previous lives. If a person passes the tests, he or she is taken to DIR. First, the person gets a history lesson about the discovery of the digital world and the history of DIR. Next, the person is taught the basics of the digital world (digivolution levels, vaccine-data-virus, that sort of thing). Digivice usage is next. After that, the person is taken into the digital world by veteran agents to find a Digimon partner. After getting a Digimon partner, the training begins. Agents are trained to use all sorts of weapons. They're drilled on combat strategies. They and their Digimon partners most do all kinds of combat scenarios, from fully-equiped to without weapons, and sometimes even without a digivice.They are trained in both solo and group tactics. They are taught survival skills. They are put through rigorous fitness programs. After all the training, they're finally ready to be put to work. Because of the rigorous training program, even the newest agents are very skilled. Some notes for those who sign up as humans: 1: At the start of the RPG, your digivice can only get your Digimon partner to Ultimate. This is because of limitations in the digivice design. DIR researchers are hard at work figuring out how to fix this. 2: Only one Digimon partner per agent. 3: Agents are incredibly well-trained, but they are still human, and do still make occasional mistakes. They're not perfect, even if they are the best-trained people in either world. 4: In case you didn't pick it up, the main factors that put DIR agents on equal footing with the Guardians are training and firepower. Some of their weapons are quite effective against even the Guardians. If you want to sign up as a non-Guardian Digimon or a human who isn't a DIR agent, PM me. Sign-up time. Here's the DIR agent sign-up: Name: Age: 18-30, please. If you want to be younger than 18, PM me (these are trained agents, not randomly selected kids. they're normally not taken when they're below 18). Gender: Appearance: Bio: Optional. I find that having a set bio limits character development potential. If you choose to have it, remember to include the DIA recruitment process. Personallity: Optional for the same reason that bio is. However, I recommend that you at least put something to give others an idea of how your character acts. It can be detainle, or just a couple sentences Digimon: Rookie form. I'd like it if you didn't use made-up Digimon, but I'll allow it. Appearance and attacks are required for made-up Digimon. Digivolution Chain: Rookie to Mega. Again, appearance and attacks are required for made-up Digimon. Here's the Guardian sign-up: Name: Which Guardian are you? Choose one of these: NeoMagnadramon (taken my Takuya (me)), NeoMegidramon, NeoMetalGarurumon, and NeoPhoenixmon. Gender: NeoMegidramon and NeoMetalGarurumon are male. NeoMagnadramon is female. For NeoPhoenixmon, you can choose. Attacks: You get to make these up, but be sure that they're consistant with the Guardian you choose (NeoMegidramon and Phoenixmon will never have water- or ice-based attacks, for example). Don't make thim too powerful, though (use my sign-up as a guide). Max of five. Bio: Optional for the same reason as the DIR agent bio. If you decide to have a bio, you must include the circumstances that led to you becoming a Guardian, including the name of the Guardian you replaced (must be 'Neo-something-mon'. You can make up a Neo digimon by making minor changes to an existing Digimon, as I did for NeoPhoenixmon. Oh, if you see a Digimon named 'Something-mon X', that's the same as 'Neo-something-mon'). You must also send it to me via PM for my approval before posting it here. Personallity: Again, this is optional but reccommended. If you decide to have it, remember that the Guardians are carefully chosen, and have no chance of 'going bad'. I'll allow you to have two characters, but you can't be two Guardians. You can be two humans, though. Oh, and I reserve the right not to accept you. Do't worry, I'm not too strict. I'll check any other RPGs you've been in, and from those and your sign-up, I'll decide if you're in or not. Again, don't worry, because I'm not too strict. I'm playing as two characters, and here are my sign-ups: Guardian sign-up: Name: NeoMagnadramon Gender: Female Attacks: Holy Flare: A blast of white flame from her mouth. Divine Rage: A series of white energy balls fired from her hands. Most effective against a group of enemies, or a fast-moving opponent, because of their spread effect. Righteous Charge: A close-range attack. She spins holy energy around her body as she charges her opponent. Angel's Wings: A shockwave-type energy blast fired from her wings. Like Diviine Rage, it works best against groups or fast-moving opponents. Heaven's Fury: A very powerful white energy beam fired from her mouth. Some splash damage, and a duration of a couple seconds. Personallity: Aware of her superiority to most Digimon, but not arrogant. She knows it as a fact, but she's not overly cocky, and she doesn't ever tell other Digimon that she's superior. It's like the sun being in the sky; she knows it's a fact, but she doesn't really think about it. She's absolutly merciless in combat, and she enjoys it, but she knows when to fight and when not to, and she's not overly eagar to do battle. DIR agent sign-up: Name: Azufe Kanajath Age: 26 Gender: Male Appearance: A very tall man at about 6 ft. 5 in. Very fit, as are all DIR agents, and naturally thin. He has short, black hair, and brown eyes. He has a scar on his left ankle, one on his left knee, and another on his right elbow. He usually wears shorts and a t-shirt with a smart-*** remark written on it. Personallity: He's very into his job as a DIR agent. Sure, it's dangerous, but he has fun with it. He doesn't take huge risks, though, and he's not cocky. He just loves his job. He's a very fast thinker, and has a good mind for strategy. He's also very determined, and very critical of those who give up. He's one of the best agents DIR has. When not on a mission, Azufe can usually be found in one of three places: in the workout area practicing, in his quarters reading sci-fi books (with the occasional fantasy novel thrown in), or in the rec center playing video games. He has a tendancy to screw around, but when he has an assignment, he's very focused. He's also a bit of a smart-***. Digimon: Hawkmon Digivolution Chain: Hawkmon-Aquilamon-Sylphimon-AincientIrismon There. I think that's everything. If you have any questions, PM me.

Jaht and Hawkmon moved up to the front of the group as Gammamon got the rock out of her mouth. "Clouding up," Hawkmon said. "They don't look like rain clouds, though." "Is that a problem?" Jaht asked. "Well, in this world, it's very rare to get clouds that aren't rain clouds, but it's nothing to worry about." "Well, then why did you bring it up?" "I was just making note of it." Jaht was about to respond, but Hawkmon held up his hand. "Quiet. I think I hear something." Everyone listened. they all heard it. The noise was getting louder, and it was coming from behind them. "Hawkmon, fly up and take a look," Jaht ordered. "We've got a serious problem," Hawkmon said when he returned. "a large group of the dinosaur-type Digimon is coming this way. It's mainly Tyrannomon, but there are a few greymon in there as wel. There's no way in hell we can take as many of them as there are, but I don't think they're coming for us. they seem very disorganized. the word 'stampede' comes to mind." "Any clue what's causing it?" Jaht asked. "No, but that really doesn't matter right now. we have to move, and now. oh, and to make matters worse, I saw Hade and Rock. They're behind us, and I don't think they know what's coming their way." "Neither do Angel and Storm ahead of us," Jaht added. "We need to do something. I know they didn't want to come with us, but we should at least give them a warning about what's coming. Hawkmon and I will get Hade and Rock. We can move faster in the air than any of you can on the ground. you all move forward. trigger a Digivolution. Most of our Digimon's Champion forms can carry us, and they can move much faster than we can. for those that can't carry you too well, such as Gammamon's Champion form, just hitch a ride on someone else's Digimon. Move as fast as you can. warn Storm and Angel, but don't force them to do anything. What they do is they're choice. There's no time to waste. Hawkmon, let's do it." Jaht triggered Hawkmon's digivolution to Aquilamon. He climbed on aquilamon's back, and the Digimon took off. He quickly spotted Hade and rock. the stampede was almost on top of them. Aquilamon dove down toward them, attempting to warn them before it was too late. ------------------------------------------- OOC: I thought I'd try a different kind of action. We're not fighting here, we're running. Oh, just one thing. You can have the stampede wind down if you want to (just let it go on for several posts first), but let me end it. I plan to add something more to the plot when I end it.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's thought up a perfectly good RPG but screwed up on one or two important points. I was thinking about that, and I started wondering what the most important parts of an RPG are? What should you focus on when making an RPG? Oh, a note: this thread is focusing on the Adventure Inn posts. I want to know what you think the most important parts of the introductory post (where you give the backstory and have the sign-up form). One thing that I think is important is to offor potential participants a variety of choices when choosing their characters. For example, let people choose race (for example, in a fantasy-type RPG, you might want to allow people to be humans, elves, dawrfs, or other races). If you're allowing magic, give multiple choices as to what kind of powers people have. A perfect example of both is in an RPG I tried not too long ago, Release. I allowed people choose from four races, humans being one of them, and the other three being ones I made up. One race had element-based powers (only a couple of the people who signed up weren't that race, which tells me that element-based powers are bery popular), and the other three could all have magical powers. People could choose areas of magic that their characters knew (healing magic, defensive magic, offensive magic, etc.). I screwed up that RPG plot-wise a couple pages into the actual RPG, though, so people stopped posting. So plot is also important. In my oppinion, the single most important thing is the title of your RPG. Not the plot, not what kind of RPG it is, but the title. People's first impressions of RPGs come from the titles of those RPGs. I'm not even going to look at an RPG titled 'Street Life', because what that title indicates (modern day setting, reality-based) is not the kind of thing I like in an RPG. I personally prefer fantasy, so I'll probably check out an RPG titled 'Demonic Rising'. I might not sign up, but I'll take a look at the RPG. That's why title matters, in my oppinion. Well, that's my two cent's worth. I'd like to hear what you think.

Um, it's not starting. There wasn't enough interest (only two people signed up), so I had to abandon it.

[color=indigo]If humans could be counted on to do one thing, it was to overestimate their chance of victory against an enemy they had no chance of defeating. Malachant never ceased to be amazed by man's ability to fool himself. The soldiers in this city were no exception. Because the castle was located in this city-in the center of it, to be exact-there was always a large standing force. These skilled warriors had repelled many attacks in the past, but they had always been up against human armies. Malachant knew that they stood no chance against him. Nevertheless, they were all coming out to face him, with the exception of the best of the best, King David's personal Guard. They never left the King's side, but litterally the entire rest of the force was coming at Malachant. Malachant would have laughed, but his gryphon form was incapable of laughter, or anything even remotely resembling human speech. True, he could project a human 'voice' if he so desired, but here, he didn't. he was laughing internally, however. [i]Idiots![/i] he thought. [i]They think they can win. I am continuously amazed by man's ability to fool himself.[/i] "All right, men! I don't know what that thing is, but it's our job to bring it down!" The man's name was Tajath Azufe, and he was in charge of the force in the city. The King's Guard answered only to King David, but everyone else answered to Tajath. "We know a few target points," Tajath continued. His commanders relayed his words to those men who were too far away to hear him. "The eyes are obvious. Blind the creature, and we'll be better able to fight it. Be careful, as it's likely to go insane when blinded. Archers, the eyes are your target. Aim for the mouth whenever it's open, but otherwise, focus on the eyes. "Everyone else, we're not going to be able to reach the head. We'll go for the legs. If we can immobilize the creature, we can let it starve to death if nothing else. Of course, there are the wings to worry about. I have trouble believing that a creature of that size can fly at all, much less get into the air without a running start, but we can't take any chances. After we take out the legs, we'll focus on the wings. If nothing else, we can toss our swords at them, fill them so full of holes that they're no use at all. Yes, it's likely that the creature will fall onto its side when we take out the legs, but it might be able to get itself upright again. That's extremly unlikely, but when dealing with the unknown, you have to treat even the most improbable scenarios as possible. Now then, any questions? Good. Let's do this." Malachant watched as the knights and archers positioned themselves. The archers fired as one. Malachant simply closed his eyes. He had paid special attention to the lids when designing his gryphon form, because the eyes were an obvious target. Arrows couldn't penetrate the lids, and tended to bounce off or break on impact. The archers gave up after a few volleys. The knights moved in, but they also prooved unable to do anything. They weren't using as much strategy as they should have been, because they thought they were fighting a wild animal, which Malachant was anything but. They were approaching from only one direction, so Malachant didn't have to worry about a multi-pronged attack. Malachant beat his wings. The force of the gust from his wings, while insufficient to knock any of the knights over at their distance, did throw them off balance, and caused many to lose hold of their swords. The swords flew backwards, and many became stuck in the heads of other knights. Malachant ripped the front walls off of the two houses on either side of him, and threw them at the knights. He tossed the roofs next, followed by the side walls. By the time he was done throwing walls, not many were left. Of those that were, most broke and ran. Only about twenty remained, led by Tajath. Malachant met their charge, and literally tore them apart, while recieving no damage in return. He had indeed made his eyelids particularly tough, but his intire body was much, much more effective than any armor. Swords were more likely to break then to get through his skin, which was, in effect, a very, very, very tough hide. Magic was the only thing Malachant had to worry about when in gryphon form, and only he and the Dogs posessed what could be called magic. And he knew that the new Dogs didn't stand much of a chance to him, due mainly to inexperience. That's why he was acting immedeatly to draw them out, to prevent them from gaining experiance and making his job harder. ------------------------------------------------------ OOC: Ohkami, I'm assuming that the Dogs have technology that would inform them of Malachant's progress toward the castle. If they don't than they probably have other means of obtaining information. Either way, they'll probably be learning of Malachant's actions about now.[/color]

When they reached the castle, Valo wasted no time. He gathered every Rider together, except for brielle and Heero, who weren't back yet. vanilla would deliver her catch in a few minutes. First, there was business to take care off. "We have a problem," Valo told everyone. He indicated Zeddrick. "That man caused it. Zeddrick revealed his presence to the enemy Riders that our squad just encountered. true, he convinced them to retreat, but that's worse than not doing so. we're about to lose our advantage. Ilthazar will know that we have Zeddrick, and assume that we have Branit, too, which we did until Zeddrick killed him. He'll know that we know about his breeding program. He'll plan based on the knowledge of our knowledge. there's only one way to get around this, and that's to move before he can prepart. that means that we leave as soon as Brielle and Heero get back." "Are you insane?" Zeddrick exclaimed. "Do you know what's coming?" "Some sort of super-soldier, if you're to be believed," Valo said. "But don't worry. You'll be staying here, along with a couple others to keep an eye on you. You can't be trusted, Zeddrick. you've prooved that multiple times." Zeddrick opened his mouth to reply but valo held up his hand. "Quiet! I need to concentrate! We're about to get a message from a sentry beacon." Valo had noticed that a sentry beacon was lit. The beacons all had large wood piles, which were lit to send a message. the message was sent by taking a large piece of wood and blocking the recipient's view of the fire. By blocking and unblocking for specific amounts of time, a message could be sent (OOC: think Morse Code with fire). Valo knew the timing, and therefore could interpret the message. [i]Incomming toward palace. One dragon with rider. Extremly large.[/i] Valo turned back to Zeddrick. "You and I both know that Plejalta wasn't among the forces we just encountered. Well, we have an extremly large dragon coming this way. It has to be Plejalta." "Then you're all dead. You aren't powerful enough to kill Plejalta." "Power isn't all that matters. Everyone, prepare for battle! Someone tell the soldiers to prepare in case these super-soldiers are real and on their way." he faced Zeddrick again. "Who is the rider?" "Does it matter?" "It might. Who is he?" Pause. "Last chance, Zeddrick. Who is Plejalta's rider?" Zedrick locked eyes with Valo. "Ilthazar." --------------------------------- OOC: Didn't screw anything up there, did I? Amgoddess, tell me if I did, and I'll edit.

Jaht, however, didn't think any less of Brice. In fact, he believed that Brice knew exactly what he was talking about. He was just talking about the wrong thing, which he considered a perfectly natural mistake. the world they were in didn't seem too much like reality, so it was easy to think of it as fantasy, rather than the reality it was. "You read a lot of fantasy novels, don't you?" Jaht said. "If we were in one of those, you'd be the best guy to have around. But this isn't a story. This is actually happening. stop thinking story and start thinking reality, all right? I mean, if there was a truely evil person somewhere back in our world, and you were in the area where that person resided, would you expect the place to be evil-looking? Would you expect any unnatural darkness? Any unnatural anything?" 'No," Brice answered. "I wouldn't." "Then why do you expect to find those things here? I can understand if you're a bit confused about how this place is possible-I know I am-but the bottom line is that it is possible, and it is real. therefore, think of it a real. Don't apply things you get from books or whereever. Sure, there may be some similarities, but don't assume that there are any that you haven't actually seen. I know it may seem strange, but this world is probably more like ours than it is like the worlds in fantasy novels." Gammamon got Rock #3 out, but it was promptly replaced by Rock #4. "We don't need your input," Jaht said. He turned back to Brice. "Anyways, this world will have its own rules, its own standards. Those standards can not be taken from novels. We need to figure them out on our own, from things we find in this world, not htings from ours."

[color=indigo]Malachant's new beast form was based off of a creature from stories and legends, just as his other two were. Dragons were very common in legends, but the giant Roc birds were not quite as common. His new form was based off of a creature that fell somewhere between those two in terms of familiarity, the gryphon.[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]Malachant's gryphon form was different from the gryphons in the stories. It was much larger than gryphons were portrayed as. In the stories, gryphons were normally taller than humans, but not by much. Malachant's gryphon form was several times the hight of a human, and proportioned accordingly. Also, gryphons didn't have hands, but the forepaws of Malachant's gryphon form were quite suitable for grabbing things. And while gryphons were never portrayed as physically weak, Malachant's gryphon form was incredibly strong. Durable, too. It was indeed something of a masterpiece. Could it be defeated? Of course. Would that be easy? No. It would be extremly difficult for even the combined Dogs, and pretty impossible for everyone else.[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]Malachant knew that it wouldn't take very long for the Dogs to learn of his presence, but he still wanted to start right away. The sooner he got their attention, the less they'd learn before facing him. The old ones would tell them the basics no matter what, but Malachant didn't want them knowing anything besides that. He would start now, rampaging through the capital city and making his way toward the castle.[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]Malachant climed up to see over the wall of the now-roofless burnt-out house. He decided on a path toward the castle. It would get him there soon, but not too soon. He wanted the castle to be identified as his destination, but he would be destroying everything in his path. He chose a path that he estimated would get him there just as the Dogs arrived. He flipped over the wall and changed to gryphon form before he hit the ground.[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]The farmers loaded their goods into wagons for transport to the market square. As usual, they met before entering the city. The entire families helped with the market end of things, just as they all helped with the growing end.[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]It was a twelve-year-old boy who saw him first. Someone was in an old burnt house, looking over the wall. He pointed the man out to the others. As they watched, he flipped over the wall. Before they could react, the man was gone. In his place was a huge creature. Many of them recognized the shape as that of the legendary gryphon, but much, much larger than gryphons were said to be. All were shocked. Several of the older ones fainted.[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]Malachant noticed the farmer caravan. [i]The first victims,[/i] he thought. He tore the front wall off of the burnt-out house and threw it at the caravan. Nowhere near all of them died-it was a rather large caravan-and those that survived ran. The ones that were still concious, that is. Malachant didn't spare them.[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]Malachant followed a rather simple rule: he destroyed what was in his way, and killed whoever didn't run. He chased after nobody, but he ignored nobody who remained in his path. In this manner, he made his way toward the castle, quickly enough so that it was definate that his target was the castle, but slowly enough to allow the new Dogs the time they needed to get there.[/color]

?We need to get moving,? Jaht said. ?If we stay close enough to our loners, we should be able to come together as a group if needed. Besides, there?s no point in standing around here. If at some point you decide you?d rather go it alone, just go.? With that, he started walking, with the rest of the group close behind. ?Direct, as always,? Hawkmon remarked to Jaht as the group walked alongside the stream. ?Direct is effective,? Jaht replied. ?On a more relevant note, I think we?re starting to get an idea of the negative points of everyone here. Angel and Storm appear very mistrusting, for example. As for Hade, well, he seems to see us as playing bodyguard for Magnadramon.? ?I?m wondering how many stories of the Chosen Rock told him,? Hawkmon said. ?In all of tem, it?s this world that needs protecting, not an individual Digimon.? ?Let?s leave the whole saving the world thing out for now,? Jaht responded. ?I?m not comfortable with that. Anyways, I don?t know about most of the others, but I have a pretty good guess about Brice. How confident would you feel if everything you did got trashed? Not very good, that?s for sure. My guess is that Brice has confidence issues, even if he does know that Gammamon is full of shit.? Jaht and Hawkmon fell back into the group. Sure enough, Gammamon was being a pain again. This time, she was critisizing everyone's performance durring the battle. "Shove it," Jaht said. "Nobody else collapsed mid-battle like you did." "The collapse was a fake-out. I was trying to-" Rock number 3 lodged itself in her mouth. "You're a good shot," Brice told Jaht. "I don't see how you can possibly stand her. Jesus, she's full of shit. I'm just hoping we never go anywhere where I can't find a rock."

[color=indigo]Her name was Alexa, and she was a spy. Her job was to track Jonathan, and she had failed. But she knew better than to be afraid. Her boss knew that killing off one's subordinates only deprived one of aid. She had no reason to fear him. He would be dissapointed, yes, but not angry. After all, he had failed to locate the stronghold, although he knew it wasn't extreamly far from the castle.[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]He was waiting for her in a burnt-down house on the outskirts of the city. "Report."[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]"Jonathan took his granddaughter and ran. I lost track of them rather quickly."[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]"As I expected you would," the man replied. "But you have provided me with a very useful piece of information. To lose you, Jonathan would have had to use the secrets he and the rest of his group of Dogs had. I doubt that he would have revealed any of them to even his granddaughter unless she was one of the new group. Of course, that is of no value at the current moment, but it will be extremly usefull in the future. If the girl Aria is one of the new Dogs, then I'l know the group by her presence. I, like most everyone, know her face quite well. That is another advantage I have. They will assume that I escaped recently, when I have been out for several months, which is exactly as I intended. Not even those who faced me before should be able to figure it out. See, they will assume that I would have acted immedeatly, as I always have in the past. That is the advantage of knowing you can fail multiple times. You can plant false knolwedge through your actions, even if those actions will result in failiure, because you know that you will have another opportunity. I've stacked the deck for this round. Stacked it durring previous rounds in a way that they'll never figure out."[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]Alexa knew that it was best to let him speak, no matter how long he went for. He never said anything that diddn't matter in some way, and one could often learn things by listening when he kept on and on. She also knew when he was finished, and he was. "What happens next?" she asked.[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]"I can't get to them, so they must come to me. I'll have to draw them out. Of course, the former Dogs will recognise my old powers. Fortunatly, I've had plenty of time to develop new skills. In particular, I've been working on a new beast form. It's quite a masterpiece, if I do say so myself. I've been waiting for an opportunity to give it a real test. Using it also has the advantage of allowing me to keep my appearance a secret. The old Dogs won't know that I now look nothing like I did when they fought me, but to draw the new Dogs out, I'll need to put on a show that will clearly identify me to them, just by the raw power required for what I'd be required to do. But by using my new beast form, my appearance will be kept a secret, even though they will know that the beast is actually me. They'll see the beast, but if they don't see me in human form, they won't recognise me at a later time."[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]"Do I have a role in this?" Alexa asked.[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]"No. Return to headquarters. Wait for me there."[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo]"Understond, Malachant." She left.[/color] [color=indigo] [/color] [color=indigo][i]Time to get this started,[/i] Malachant thought. [i]The sonner, the better. Now is the best, so now it is.[/i][/color]

I have to mention [i]The One[/i], starring Jet Li. That fight scene at the end was just awesome. We've got two super-fighters, both played by Jet Li (I think. I'm not quite sure how they did that fight), ducking it out with incredible martial arts moves. And it lasts for a long time, too. I also have to mention a scene near the end of Equilibrium, where the main character (I forget his name) enters a large room filled with soldiers (or cops, or whatever they're supposed to be). He tosses two full clips into the room, then pulls out his two guns and starts shooting. When he empties his clips, he does a quick reload. He' been alking through the room this whole time, and when he empties his second pari of clips, he's by the clips he threw. he ejects the empty clips, rolls, and brings his guns down perfectly on the full clips. More shooting, then he kicks a dead soldier's gun up and empties it into the reamining soldiers. Just awesome.

Kerry voted to give Bush the authority, but he didn't agree with how Bush used it, as he made clear in the first debate. Clear to those with brains (which is synonemous(sp?) with 'people who aren't going to vote for Bush'), at least. Yes, that's right. If you actuallly support Bush, I don't see how you can possibly know anything. Bush himself is an idiot, and yes, I mean an actual, literal idiot. I was quoted in the [i]Arizona Daily Star[/i] calling him an idiot, and he is. There's no point in explaing why I know (not think, know. He [i]is[/i] an idiot) he's an idiot, because if you're capable of understanding the explination, than you already know what I'm going to say (mentioning everything moronic that he's done, which is [i]everything[/i] he's done). Yes, I have a strong oppinion. How strong? Well, let me put it this way: everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Oppinions are never wrong (unless it's an oppinion that contradicts fact), pretty much by definition. Unless you oppinion is that Bush is a better President than a rock would be, that is. Then you're wrong.

Digmon fired a Gold Rush at Aquilamon. Aquilamon took off and countered with Blast Rings. His attack connected, but Digmon didn't appear to be hurt too badly. Aquilamon flew down and attacked with Grand Horn. Digmon, displaying expert timing, fired a Gold Rush downwards. The force of the blast propelled him upwards, over Aquilamon's head and onto his back. Aquilamon spun around, trying to shake Digmon off. The latter drilled right into Aquilamon's back. Auilamon lost control and went smashing into the ground. Digmon was flung off of his back and into the side of the hill. Aquilamon fired Blast Rings, and Digmon fired Gold Rush. Both attacks hit their targets. Aquilamon devolved to Hawkmon. Digmon tried to get up, but couldn't. Jaht walked over to him, but made sure to stand at a safe distance. "Didn't do quite so well, did you?" he said. Digmon attempted to lunge at Jaht, but ended up falling flat on his face. Jaht noticed a mark on the back of Digmon's neck that did not look like it was supposed to be there. The mark looked like a square rotated 45 degrees with a plus sign inside it. "What is that mark?" Jaht asked. Digmon laughed. "You think I'm going to tell you? I'm afraid that you won't get anything out of me." Jaht watched as the mark faded out. When it dissapeared, Digmon said, "I like to go out with a bang." Most people wouldn't have moved. Jaht wasn't most people. He was smart, he was a fast thinker, and he didn't hesitate. He also took things litarally most of the time, and that saved his life. He ran, thinking Digmon would use an attack that caused an explosion. He was partly right. Is was Digmon himself that exploded. Jaht was far enough away when it happened to avoid serious injury, but the force of the blast did knock his feet out from under him.He picked himself up off the ground. "My ass hurts." "What happened?" Hawkmon asked. "Well, Digmon just exploded. Aside from that, I have no clue. Digimon don't normally explode, do they?" "No," Hawkmon said. "We don't explode." "Well, Digmon did. Right after the mark on the back of his neck dissapeared. The two events are quite likely related. So, my main question is: what the hell was that mark?" "I don't know. We should ask Magnadramon." "Agreed. Let's head back under." Renamon led the group into the huge central chamber, where Magnadramon was waiting for them. Even Angel and Labramon came without any encouragement, although it was easy to see that they intended to leave as soon as they could. 'Very good," Magnadramon said. "You did well." "Let's get on with this, shall we?" Jaht was as impatient as ever. "First of all, that Digmon was definatly part of the group. In fact, I think he was quite possibly the actual leader, with Kabuterimon just appearing to be the leader to throw people off. It worked pretty well, actually. But Digmon came with a couple mysteries. First, he was taken out partway through the battle. I saw it happen. But a few seconds later, he showed up again. And after Aquilamon took him down, I saw a mark on the back of his neck. It faded out, and Digmon exploded a few seconds later. The mark was obviously connected to the explosion, and posibly to Digmon reapearing, as well." "Please discribe this mark." "It was pretty simple, actually. Take a square, rotate it 45 degrees, and put a plus sign inside it." "I've seen a mark like that before," Renamon said. "It was in Goldramon's dwelling, when I went to investigate why he wasn't being seen anymore. It was on the ground in the middle of his central chamber." "Then that should be your first destination," Magnadramon said to the Chosen. "Goldramon's lair is due east of here, about two day's journey on foot. Do not worry about food or water. You will be following a stream for the entirty of your journey, and there are plenty of edible fruits, berries, and plants along the way." "Well, let's get a move on," Jaht said. "No use sitting around here all day. Let's go." Jaht led the group outside. Guessing what would happen next, he looked at Angel. "Decision time. Either you stay with the group, or you leave. If you leave, you'll probably die pretty quickly. If more than one Champion attacks you at once, you're history. Also, in every one of the legends, which Hawkmon has told me every one of, the Chosen can't return to the real world until their task is completed. So, make your choice. That goes for everyone here. Are you with Hawkmon and I, or not?"