You know how the story goes. The hero suffers a terrible defeat. She sustains horrible injuries and loses her memories. She goes on a quest to find her past, and little by little, she unlocks her backstory, fully remembering the tale right before the ultimate battle. A shocking twist is revealed! A cinematic climax shocks the audience. This is the classic story of the hero with amnesia.
Apparently, Sara didn’t get the memo. Her memory came back with little more than a few days of rest and relaxation. David, Sara, and myself sat Dan down and began to explain everything. We even got our friend Blu to join us over video chat.
“There are multiple Digital Worlds. An infinite amount, actually. David and Grizzly are unique because they have the ability to travel between worlds. Each Digital World, while structurally similar, differs based on the interpretation of its inhabitants.” Blu shared her computer screen over David’s laptop as she explained the basics.
Sara, although still hopeful and childlike, somehow spoke with much more authority now that her brain fog had cleared. “I didn’t originally come from the world of Digimon Liberator. My home world was actually much different. We were mostly a primal world, untouched by humans. I only knew about humans through the information collected by our Elders. I served with several other Hexeblaumon as a peace keeping agency known as the Ice Knights.”
Dan nodded slowly. “Hexeblaumon is your fully evolved form, right?”
Sara smiled. “Correct. We spent most of our solving territory disputes between tribes of Digimon. That is until the Infestation began. We don’t know if it has a real name, but that’s the name we gave it. We don’t know if it’s some kind of illness or virus, but it corrupts Digimon, making them excessively aggressive. After a while, their bodies even begin to degrade.”
” I have read similar research cases before. Some information refers to it as Black Digitron, some as Digital Hazards, and a few as Chaos Energy.” David’s laptop lit up again, indicating Blu was speaking. ” There is a difference to what Sara is describing. Most of what I read involves Digimon going berserk. The Infestation’s actions seem to have a strategic purpose, not just random violence for violence’s sake.”
“One day, we noticed a high collection of Infested. Nearly all known members of the Infestation began converging into a singular area. My team and I were sent to do an intelligence mission. We were shocked to see the Infestation was actually swarming around a dimensional fissure.” Sara, the girl who didn’t even know who she was a week ago, was telling us everything without hesitation. ” I have never seen one in person before but I have heard about them from our Elders. They are portals between worlds. In an effort to keep them from spreading into an unsuspecting world, my team and I followed them through. More of them chased behind us. Mere moments after we were through, I noticed my commanding officer wasn’t beside me. I turned and watched in horror as he sealed the fissure behind us. That’s when I realized the truth. This wasn’t a fissure caused by the Infestation. The Elders caused it to dump to Infested into somebody else’s hands. My team wasn’t chosen to be recon. We were bait, to ensure nearly all of the Infestation followed us through the fissure. We were soon overwhelmed , leaving me unconscious. That’s where you all come in.“
“Infestation or not, Digimon cannot survive on their own in the world of Liberator. In an effort to stabilize their data, Digimon link themselves to cards. If the Infestation is to survive, they would have begun doing this. This means that they may be quiet now, but I fear they are simply adapting to the new environment.”. Blu sighed from across the Internet.
Sara, visibly upset, crawled into Dan’s lap. David thanked Blu for her help and closed the laptop. He took a deep breath before he spoke again.
“I don’t know what happened with the rest of her squad. We don’t even know if they survived, but Sara is certain the Infestation did. She wants to do anything she can to protect the world of Liberator. Obviously, we can’t turn a blind eye either! Grizzly and I have to help as much as we can. ”
I groaned. ” We don’t HAVE to do anything. David is insisting we help.“
” Anyways…” David continued. ” Is Sara is going to fight in Liberator, she’s going to need a deck. “
Sara glanced up at Dan. “I could go in Grizzly’s deck, but my data is coded as a blue card. All of the decks Grizzly uses are purple, black, and red. I don’t work with his strategy at all, and I would be a liability if you just shoved me into his deck. “
“Not only that.” David shrugged. ” It’s probably helpful for her to have a deck of her own. After all, she has much more experience fighting the Infestation than Grizzly and I do. Sara and I researched some decks, and we have a good idea for one that would work for her.”
No one noticed I took the phone until I scoffed at the price tags on the Hexeblaumon cards. “How come her boss monster cards cost more than mine were? It’s rigged, I tell you! These prices must be fake!”
“Most of the cards are completely affordable. It’s just this single card that is expensive. Sara feels connected to it, and all the decks I see online use three or four copies of it” David sighed as he took his phone back. “I didn’t want to spend so much money on cards after I just completed my Wicked God deck, but I suppose I don’t have a choice.”
Sara chirped hopefully and cheerfully. “It might take a little longer, but maybe we can try trading for them?”
“I cashed in all my cards to finish up what I needed for Grizzly. I’m afraid I don’t have any cards to offer anyone in a trade” David was getting that frown he gets when he worries.
“Don’t you get booster packs from tournaments? You can use those to trade!” Sara was acting pretty smart for the new girl.
“That’s a horrible plan. The Kid isn’t that good. He’d probably only get like one pack a tournament. It’s going to take forever. And the sooner we figure out what your deal is the sooner I get you out of my hair.” I smirked.
“Seriously, Grizzly? Knock it off.” David rolled his eyes. “But he does have a point. It would take a while to try to build it that way, I suppose I can buy a few boosters to get a jump start on trades… I’ll just have to be careful.”
Later that day he went to the store. I knew David was hesitant. Dan did too. Heck, even Sara could tell and she just met the guy. It may not seem like a big deal to most people, but the Kid never could be trusted around booster packs. It’s almost like he turns into an addicted gambler. One time he spent all my pizza money on a bunch of weird Egyptian anime cards. But, to be fair, he did build my most recent deck without overspending. Even though not a lot of people trade these days, David also liked the idea of having a small set just in case. He decided to buy five booster packs. His plan was to maybe be lucky enough to pull one of the cards he needed. Whatever he got from the boosters that he didn’t need he would use for trading. It was a decent plan. BUT! David pulled a Textured BeelStarmon (X-Antibody)! At the time of posting, it is valued at almost 400 cold, crisp, American dollars.
Dan was setting up dinner when David got home. “I have a friend who offered to buy it as soon as he found out I pulled it. He didn’t pay full price, but he offered cash. It beats trying to sell it online. Even at the reduced value, I can use the money to buy all the cards Sara needs for her deck. I got a few more boosters for my trade binder . Not too many extra boosters, though; I wanted to pay off what we spent for the original packs. Essentially, we got everything for free!” David was really pleased.
“Or… or…hear me out. ” I reached for his cell phone. ” We don’t use the leftover money to break even. We keep buying boosters, selling the cards, and go for broke! We can make hundreds, even thousands! You’re on a hot streak! Gimmie the phone and I’ll get an Uber. We can make it back to the card store before it closes.”
“Really dude?” David half chuckled and half scolded. “You’re the one who made me promise to stay on a budget this time. I got lucky, and I’m getting out while I’m ahead. I am not going down the path of spending all my money. Besides, I didn’t get anything good from the other boosters, so I called it quits. We don’t need to spend cash on cards we don’t need.”
“But we do need cards! We need ShineGreymon: Ruin Mode for my Wicked God Deck. Oh, and a DeathXmon for my Machinedramon Deck! And if Sara plans to win anything with that silly little deck of hers, she is going to need an Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode Ace. “
David didn’t even respond to me. He didn’t like the plan in the first place, and it was clear I wasn’t going to get him to spend any more. I guess I’m proud of him. He stuck to the plan, didn’t lose control, and even ended up getting his investment back. After dinner he and Sara sat down to order the cards for her deck. He didn’t even look at the other cards I mentioned. He may actually have a chance of surviving this card game.
But, for the record, if we ever find anything good for trade, I call dibs.
Now, if you’ll excuse me….
I’m going to go get the dinner left overs before Dan and David get into it.
Grizzly.
DedicatedGazi 