Chapter 23
"Welcome valued patrons," greeted the Bokomon shop owner. "I'm Jarvis and how may I help you out today?"
"We're here to get geared up now that we're Rank Three," explained Flint. "So take us to the big, bad weapons of awesomeness."
"Yeah!" agreed Rex with newfound excitement. "I've been itching for something lethal."
"Very good," nodded Jarvis. "Just need you all to fill out a few forms then we can get started." He may have said a few, but they had even more paperwork to do than what Iggy had for them. They all looked at it with tons of dread that it even brought Dan, Jack, and Fonz back to their senses.
"I don't want to do anymore writing," cried Rex. "My hand is cramping at the thought of it."
"If you want to get a weapon you have to fill out the forms," replied Fonz. He then help out another a card he had in hand and showed it to Jarvis. "Of course if you have already filled out the forms once you don't have to do it again."
"Of course Mr. Fonz," said Jarvis. "Will you need any help?"
"I'll be fine," Fonz told him. "I just need something a step or two above a bow."
"Mind if I join you?" asked Dan.
"Wait," said Jack. "You have a one of those cards too?" asked Jack feeling rather envious that they didn't have to do all this work.
"I just think I'll pass of getting a weapon," explained Dan. "I've got the brute strength to fight, but I don't think I'm the warrior type. However, I'll need a new backpack for our future adventures."
"Guess that just leaves us," stated Flint as their two friends continued into the store. "Guess we better get started."
As much as Flint tried to stay in positive spirits about all the paperwork they had to go through occasional moans of distaste. Rex and Jack were no better, trying to get through it as fast they could. It was almost an hour later before they finally got the last page signed.
"Finally done," panted Jack. "Never want to do that again."
"Very good," said Jarvis taking up their papers. "Once this stuff gets filed you'll get your weapon licenses too. But for now let's get you all scanned."
"Scanned?" asked the three of them curiously. They quickly became excited when they saw the hi-tech machine before them. "What's this thing?"
"In order to help find your aptitude for weapon types this device will save a lot of time," answered Jarvis. "So who's first?"
"Leader's first," stated Flint really excited to try it out. He jumped on and let the machine scan him. Jarvis pressed a few buttons to start it up and he felt a warm sensation as a ring scanned his body from his feet to his head occasionally dipping before rising back up again. When it finished a screen nearby showed the results with a hexagonal status graph.
"So what's that mean?" asked Rex curiously looking it over.
"It shows which weapons Flint will have a strong affinity towards," Jarvis told them. "He has pretty good ratings. High in most of the categories, but he's almost maxed out on quick weapons and close ranged." Jarvis then pressed a button showing a display of Flint's body colored in differently all over. "And it appears weapons for your hands or arms will be the most efficient."
"Sounds good," said Flint. "Alright Rex, you're next."
Eagerly, Rex jumped up and was almost too excited to stand still as the ring scanned him. As his results came on screen, they all looked at it curiously. "Alright," cried Rex with excitement. "When do I get my really cool sword of invincibility?"
"Looks more like you'd prefer a shield," commented Jarvis. "According to this you are extremely high in affinity for defense."
"Who's the meat shield now?" cackled Jack hearing this.
"Well the best offense is a good defense, right?" whimpered Rex.
"Well let's see where it would be most effective," Jarvis stated hitting a button to check it out. "Seems like you're head is the best place."
"Well we could have told you that," commented Flint. "Though I supposed it would be the best to give him some protection up there. It can't be good for him to keep ramming into stuff head on with it."
"Whatever," Jack laughed. "My turn." He got on the platform and started the process anew. The scanner didn't spend as much time on him as the other two and when the results came back they were blank. "What is this?"
"Uh, apparently you aren't equipped for any of the weapons here," stated Jarvis plain and simple.
"What?!?" exclaimed Jack feeling his world crumble around him. "What kind of piece of junk machine is this?" As he gasped in anger, Flint and Rex were trying to keep from laughing at his outburst.
"Well just because you aren't fit to wield regular weapons," explained Jarvis. "It doesn't mean you won't be able to find anything. There's a section just for your type as well so you'll certainly find something you like. But let's start you." He looked down at some of the papers before looking back up. "Uh, Flint right. Follow me now everyone."
They all followed behind Jarvis, Jack moving the slowest, dragging his feet. He was incredibly envious as they passed by tons of sharp, pointy, and deadly weapons, most of which were bigger than he was. When they finally stopped Flint looked on in awe at the variety of weapons before him, but that made it only all the harder for him to decide.
"What should I try first?" he asked himself before trying a few weapons out. Some fit on top of his claws, but he didn't think it made sense for him since it made holding things more cumbersome. He took a quick fancy to the bladed weapons that he fitted further down his arm. Still he had to find the one that felt the most comfortable. He needed something no too heavy and wouldn't get in the way when he wasn't in the middle of a fight. As he was looking he spotting something that spotted his curiosity. It was a metal band that slipped easily onto his arm, but he wondered why it was there if it didn't have a blade attached to it.
"Find something you like?" asked Jarvis.
"Well, I was looking at this, but it doesn't have a blade or anything on it," replied Flint.
"That's a unique item in out collection," Jarvis said. "It has a blade in it, but it remained retracted while not in use. When your pulse increases from battle it will come out with a swing of your arm."
Listening to his instructions, Flint focused his mind to imagine himself in the midst of a fierce battle. He could feel his heart rate quicken in the intensity and when he felt the time was right swung his arm and a fin blade protruded out. He didn't have to look at it or take a moment to consider. He had found his perfect weapon.
"I'll take it," he answered holding him arm up in triumph.
"Then that means it is my turn," stated Rex excitedly pulling at Jarvis and Flint's arms. Let's get a move on."
"And lucky me is last," grumbled Jack doubting he'd get anything as cool as they would get.
Jarvis brought them to an aisle that was filled with a vast assortment of head armor and Rex quickly tried one thing after another on. The first issue he had was finding something the fit his head comfortably and the next was finding something that he liked. He tied his bandana around his neck since it would just be covered by whatever he chose. After several pieces of head gear Rex was still unsure what he wanted.
"How about this?" suggested Flint picking out a green helmet that had a blue mark on the forehead similar to the Crest of Friendship on it. "This looks like a good fit, though it would need a few modifications to fit your ears and the horn on your nose."
Rex was struggling to take of a helmet that got stuck tight to his head and covering over his mouth. Jack quickly helped him pry his head free so he could fill his lungs with lifesaving oxygen. "Let me see," panted Rex. Taking it from Flint is looked it over quickly liking the coloring and shape of it. The material was made of some space age plastic that was pretty flexible, but seemed to be durable at the same time. He gave it a try on and except for his ears getting cramped and his horn getting in the way it was perfect. "If I can get it fitted for me this is just the thing I need."
"I'll take care of that right away," stated Jarvis, taking the helmet and walking off. While they awaited his return, the Renamon from earlier approached them. At first she pretended to be merely browsing, then looked at them like she was surprised to see them.
"Aren't you the new members that showed up today at the guild?" she asked with a smile on her face. She strutted over walking in a flirty manner that would tempt anyone who knew what they had before them. Jack seemed easily smitten with her, though Flint and Rex seemed more interested in their near gear. "I'm in a guild too and I suppose now would be as good a time as any to meet you."
"Hi there," greeted Flint. "We're Team Matrix. I'm Flint."
"Flint?" she repeated with a smile. "What a coincidence. My name is Ember. Like a match made in heaven."
She moved in a little closer hoping her attempts would grab his attention more. She expected him to swoon, but instead he laughed. "A match, Flint and Ember," he chuckled. "That's a pretty good joke."
"Heh, yeah," agreed Rex. "I'm Rex."
"And I'm yours babe," drooled Jack. Ember did her best to ignore Jack as he swooned over her and hugged at her leg; out of those three she figured Jack had the least influence on their team.
"Um, right," she said changing her tactics. "Buying weapons I see. Guess you are an offensive team then. Just shows how brave and strong you all are."
"Well are there any other kinds of teams?" asked Flint curiously.
"All sorts," she explained. "You probably never considered it since you only just reached Rank Three, but with so much more available to you now teams try and find the most profitable job they can do whether it be scouting, handling fragment problems, or something else. In this way, the teams support one another."
"That's really awesome," stated Rex happily. "What does your team do?"
"Us," she replied pausing for a moment. "My team doesn't have much luck out in the field, but we have some good combat experience. We usually spar with new members to show them how things work here. Speaking of which, we have an opening tomorrow if you'd like to take it. There's just one condition we have to tell you."
"Sounds good to me," said Flint with excitements. Ember smiled back seeing that she found what caught Flint and Rex's attention and made it all the easier to gain their cooperation. "But what's the condition?"
"Nothing too critical," she explained. "We do it in a series of one-on-one matches between our members. The DigiPad your team has, it has a battle feature so you can issue challenges with other teams with stakes on both sides. What we do is make a little wager. If you win the training session is free, but if we win then we earn a meager fee for our services."
"Sounds fair," replied Rex. "And your team must be strong or you wouldn't make any money from it."
"Very true," chucked Ember. "My team only has five members on it and those two others that were with you at the guild facility were your only other members then we'd be nice and even. It would be especially interesting since you'd have a whole guy team while mine is composed entirely of women. I hope that your team doesn't have any issues with hitting girls."
"No way!" exclaimed Flint.
"If we learned anything," added Rex. "Women can be the strongest warriors in the world and more terrifying than the most grotesque monsters one can imagine." This was not the first time she had brought that subject up and that was the first time she got an answer like that. She had no idea that they had lived with someone as frighteningly strong as Bertha the Pixiemon. Still, she found it was very interesting and grinned a bit in anticipation to see what they were made of.
"Then I take that you won't have any issues then," she said as she took out her DigiPad and tapped a few buttons on it. Then Flint felt his own vibrate and took it out. "I just sent you a battle request. It has all the details for our fight. You just need to accept it and we'll be able to do our training match."
In his excitement, Flint quickly accepted it, finding no need to read the details right away. "The fight is on," he told her. "Just get ready to lose because we're a lot stronger than we look."
"Just try not to rough us up too much," she said as she took her leave. She was relieved as she left since Jarvis was just returning and she didn't need him blabbing her reputation to them. Off she went to tell the rest of her team about the chumps she met and the scam she suckered them into.
"Wow," swooned Jack. "What woman."
"I know," agreed Flint. "I could just tell she was strong. Wonder what team she's on." He took a look on the DigiPad. "It says her team is 'The Three Killers.' Kind of a strange name don't you think."
"Yeah," agreed Rex. "I mean the Killers part sounds cool, but why three? They have five members after all."
"Well maybe they started out with three and got more members later on," suggested Flint. "They probably just never bothered to fix then name or something."
"Sorry I took so long," apologized Jarvis as he returned with Dan and Fonz in tow. "I needed to give these two a bit of help on my way back."
"Take a look at our new stuff," stated Dan showing off his new backpack. It was a lot bigger than the last one with more compartments. It had orange on the top green on the back and sky blue on the front and was made of a much more durable material than the last. It was already strapped onto Dan with a five piece buckle set. Fonz was also sporting something new on his wrist where he used to have his bow. Now it was replaced by what appeared to be a small jet engine.
"What's that you got there?" asked Flint. "I thought you preferred bows."
"After out little encounter with that liquid metal creature I realize I've been getting a bit laid back fighting," he explained. "Dan might think he can get by with just brute strength and that's cool so I can respect that, but I need a little more finesse and when I saw this baby I knew we were meant to be."
"Well how does that think work?" asked Rex looking at it with excitement.
"I'll show you," replied Fonz. "I just need a target." He looked around to see if there was a testing range, but he found a more interesting target in Jack daydreaming about Ember. "What's with him?"
"I think he's just being 'Jack' weird," commented Rex.
"Well I have just the thing to bring him back to reality," replied Fonz. He plucked a wad of hair from his thunderstorm afro and stuffed it into his cannon. He aimed it at Jack and simply by tightening the muscles in his arm fired it. A glowing ball of static electricity fired out and sent a surprisingly big surge right through Jack. It was likely this new weapon made even greater use of his fro abilities than his bow did.
"What happened?" groaned Jack stunned from that shocking experience.
"Anyway we've also got you guys some new stuff," added Dan. "For Flint, here's a hoodie." He handed it over and let Flint try it on. "You look good in blue and it even has the Crest of Courage on it. Appropriate it I do say so myself."
"Thanks," said Flint trying it on. "Just what I need for our adventures as a Rank Three team."
"We also got Jack some new gloves and a bandana," commented Fonz looking at Jack. He was still twitching from the shock. "We'll give them to him later."
"What about me?" asked Rex anxiously.
"We got you some fresh sandals," Fonz told him. "We figured after all the running around you've been doing it was time for a fresh pair." Fonz held them out for Rex who gazed at them with eyes of joy. With excitement he tossed off his old pair. It was then the rest of his team recalled never seeing him take them off too often when he got them and the horrible mix of sandal and foot odor filled the air.
"If you change your mind about that helmet thing," gagged Flint. "You could always use food odor as a weapon. Nothing could survive that."
"It's not that bad is it?" asked Rex to the others, but Dan and Fonz were looking green even after they covered their mouths. "Never mind." He grumbled and slipped the new ones on. They were a mix of blue and green so they matched with his bandana and helmet nicely. They were also shaped to allow more of a spring to his step. He jogged around a bit finding his strides were a good deal longer than before. While he was distracted, Jarvis bagged Rex's old sandals.
"I'll consider cutting the price in half for all your stuff if you trade these things in," he stated. "You'd be surprised how big the market is for weapons of great oddity."
"Please," begged Dan rushing him to get them out of sight before Rex returned.
"These are great!" exclaimed Rex rushing back. He stopped fast showing how good traction his sandals had. "Now wasn't I forgetting something?"
"No!" they all shouted full of fear.
"No. I know I am," he stated. "Now I remember. Where's my helmet?"
"Over here," Jarvis answered handing it to him. "How's it fit?"
Rex tried it on. He smiled and responded, "Fits like a glove." The horn on his nose poked out through a hole made on the face of the helmet and his ears easily made their way out the back of it. Looking around for a mirror, the Veemon couldn't help but want to admire himself. "I look cool. Just like a masked wrestler or a super hero."
"When you get all worked up like that," commented Fonz. "You look more like a monkey who just got a banana."
"You insult me," retorted Rex trying to sound heroic. "I am the Masked Desperado. I defend truth and justice by wresting it out with villains and evildoers. Now show yourself fiendish scum."
"Is Rex doing something stupid again?" asked Jack nearly back on his feet. "This I got to see."
"My first opponent appears before me," cried Rex tackling Jack to the ground and pulling on his arm. "Prepared to be vanquished with the power of a mega suplex."
"What a time for the feeling to come back to me," groaned Jack. Doing all he could to wedge Rex off of him proved futile as he just grabbed him on another arm or leg. With the last of his strength he thought up another way to get him out of this mess. He reached for Flint's hand and slapped it. "Tag, you're in, pal."
"Hmm?" asked Flint to busy watching Rex bend Jack into a pretzel. "What did you say?"
"A new foe has appeared!" cried Rex as he jumped off Jack and tackled Flint. "The Mask Desperado shall always prevail." Flint struggled back, proving to be a more formidable match for Rex as they fumbled in the middle of the aisle to pin the other. Jack smirked and watched the battle continue.
"Are they always like that?" asked Jarvis.
"Usually," replied Dan feeling a bit embarrassed as other shoppers stared at them.
"I hate to ask, but who's the leader of your team?" he added.
"Him," answered Fonz pointing at Flint as he was trying to get Rex with his own foot. "You've just caught us at a weird time."
"Any way to get them to stop before they break something?" Jarvis questioned.
"Did they get all their shopping done?" stated Fonz.
"No, we still had one more stop to make," Jarvis began to say.
"Then what are we waiting for?" cried Flint rushing past Dan, Fonz, and Jarvis, dragging Jack behind him.
"Let's get going!" exclaimed Rex doing the same.
"You guys are more excited for this than I am!" complained Jack.
After running around without knowing where to go, Flint and Rex returned to the others so that Jarvis could lead them to where Jack would get his weapon of choice. The poor Impmon looked extremely winded after being dragged around like a ragdoll. The only thing that could have made him feel better than getting to bed and sleeping all this off was getting a really cool weapon that he could use to take his revenge on them. Still, he didn't expect very much from his test results, but he was even disappointed with low standards.
"This stuff is just toys!" he complained looking at the shelves with things like yo-yos, jacks, fake packs of gum, and stuffed animals. He picked up a teddy bear and gave it a squeeze and it answered with "I love you." Jack just shuddered and groaned with distaste. "Oh, this is just great."
"I'll say," agreed Flint playing with some of the toys along with Rex.
"I can't remember the last time we played with the toys in our room," stated Rex. He then gasped in shock. "I just remembered. I forgot my favorite bouncy ball when we left Zip City. We have to go get it."
"It's a bit out of our way," commented Flint. "Besides we didn't forget it. We had to run off in the middle of the night so we wouldn't be sent arrested."
"Well promise me that if we ever get the chance to get back there that you'd make sure to get it," said Rex.
"You got it," agreed Flint.
"If you two are done being emotional," gagged Jack. "How about keeping quiet so I can figure out what in this pile of junk will be of any use to me?"
Jack walked around a bit from one end of the aisle to the other in hopes of finding something perfect for him. At first it seemed like a hopeless endeavor, but he gained some hope when he reached the shelf with prankster gadgets from joy buzzers to exploding candy. It was hardly as expensive as the real weapons in the store, but it meant he could stock up on a lot of it.
"All these things would be perfect for me," commented Jack. "But I can't pack a lot in my gloves." He turned to look at Dan. "And I'm not much of a backpack guy."
"Let me think for a moment," said Jarvis as he scratched his nose. He tapped his foot a bit and then continued. "I got just the thing. Wait here just one second." He rushed off and returned while Jack continued to look through more of the prank stuff. "I think this should suit you just fine." He handed Jack a small pouch with a smiley face similar to the one Jack had on his belly.
"Uh, what is this supposed to be?" asked Jack looking inside it. It was small and didn't seem any bigger than it appeared to be.
"That's a happy sack," explained Jarvis.
"A what?" replied Jack feeling a mix between confusion, curiosity, and disturbed.
"It is a storage device that can hold a lot of stuff," he commented. "You put the stuff in and when you need something, just think of it and try and pull it out. Works every time."
Jack did as he was instructed and tossed a bunch of stuff in the bag. He looked inside and found there was nothing inside, but as he thought of a shocker ring and reached inside he found himself pulling one out. He tried it a few more times and it was always right.
"That's so awesome!" exclaimed Rex rushing in to get a closer look with Flint in tow.
"Naturally," gloated Jack. "Did you expect anything less from me?"
"Kind of," admitted Flint. "But it looks like we're all set so let's buy this stuff."
"Alright," agreed Jack as he filled the happy sack up with some more stuff and followed everyone to the register.
Jarvis rang them each up and they all paid with the RAM they earned from their past missions. Flint, Jack, and Rex were eager to rush outside with their new gear to really put it to the test, but besides their clothes, only Fonz got his weapon.
"What's going on?" complained Flint. "Where's our stuff?"
"There's a forty-eight hour waiting time while your information is processed," answered Jarvis. "When it is up you can grab your gear here."
"That's not fair!" cried Rex.
"Just be a little patient," stated Dan. "We've got more work to do anyway and two days will pass in the blink of an eye."
"Yeah," agreed Fonz. "We need to get a place to stay and look around town. We problem won't be ready to head out on another adventure until we're settled in. That will probably take at least a week and anyway, I want to discuss a few things with you guys since things get a bit more complex from here on out."
"If you insist," moaned Flint as they made their way out.
"Have a nice day," waved Jarvis as they left his store.
"Iggy suggested Server Oasis," Dan said. "So let's start there for a place to stay."
"It should be open by now," commented Fonz.
"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Rex. "Let's get going!"
"Yeah!" agreed Flint as the two ran off ahead of the others.
"Do they even know the right way?" asked Jack.
"Nope," answered Dan.
Angel arrived at the guild facility with Rich carrying her bags behind her. They had finally arrived and needed to prepare for the upcoming concert. In the shadows were the hooded figures watching them silently.
"We're a little behind schedule," the Patamon told Angel. "But we'll get the concert hall ready for your big show tonight."
"Uh, huh," replied Angel her thoughts on a different matter. "Do you think he'll be watching?"
"Well we did our research thoroughly and there is no doubt that he'll attend. After all, this whole concert is centered on him."
"But we haven't seen him yet," she told him. "Are you sure?"
"We just arrived. I'm sure the second he realizes that he'll be delighted and come for you."
"Alright then. Let's go to my dressing room."
One of the hooded figures started to move forward, but another stopped it. "She has arrived so let's go get her."
"No. Too many witnesses and we cannot allow ourselves to draw too much attention."
"The concert will be the best chance. We'll be able to create a panic and take her in the confusion."
"She'll likely have protection. We should keep an eye for earlier opportunities too."
"No resistance will stop us. And once we have her, our master will have all he desires."
