And A Hunting We Shall Go [Open]

[shizubaya]

Placing a foot atop the wrought iron fence, Kurogane used the foothold to lift himself over the top with ease using his leg before dropping down on the other side for a smooth landing, barely bending his knees as his feet hit the ground. His expression one of calm boredom, the man glanced down and brushed off a bit of dirt from the front of his black clothing as his digimon partner, a bright mixture of pinks and reds and standing out in stark contrast to the human and the dark cemetary around them, also climbed over the fence behind Kurogane using only his legs, landing next to the human and moving forward to take the lead. In truth, Kurogane didn't mind at all - the only reason he was in the digital world at that moment was to help the creature achieve his goal of increasing his personal strength, so that in time the digimon would return the favor tenfold. It was the binding agreement between them, and understood well enough that very few words were needed between them - Arkadimon stood to gain much, much more while Kurogane lived, and as such the digimon was willing to take most of the risk by moving to point.

And risk there was, at least within this area, but it was a risk that was acceptable and perhaps even beneficial. Rumor had it that the area was crawling with a number of different ghost like digimon that lured their victims in with illusions and trickery before absorbing their data, and with any luck it would work in their favor - Kurogane's intelligence and attention to detail would hopefully be enough to prevent any illusions from stymying them, while Arkadimon's raw strength and agility would hopefully prove enough to allow easy absorbtion for anything that came for them. In short, the hunters would become the hunted, and Kurogane would be damned if he allowed himself to fall for such simple trickery as fancy pictures designed to lead them to slaughter. Besides, it had already proven to be worth it to come here - while he didn't quite understand it and that in itself worried him a bit, the place had a definate darkness to it that went far beyond mere appearances, and while it seemed to be paradoxical to Kurogane at least, that darkness steadied his mind, and made it significatly easier to push back the influence of his Spore. At least it felt like it, anyways, and as long as it felt like it was having an ironically positive influence, Kurogane was willing to stay there as long as Arkadimon needed him to. Taking a step forwards, Kurogane moved to follow his digimon through the graveyard.

[Wild Digimon]

DARKLIZARDMON
_{^{the WILD DIGIMON}}

[/sup][/center]
<sup><sub>No he was not a ghost, but even so the Darklizardmon could be here if he pleased; quite honestly the digimon wouldn't leave even if it was told to do so.

Quite frankly the champion believed he could go anywhere, having become rather cocky and egocentric since digivolving; not that he didn't have the right to be, he'd won a fight here and there. Even so he really could probably stand to be taken down a few pegs, lest he get himself into a situation from which him getting out of it with his life intact was impossible. These scenarios never came to mind of course with how the dark digimon held himself so highly, always expecting to win and always expecting nothing less than the best from himself. As a result from all of these aspects of Darklizardmon's personality, he didn't even think of being defeated or even being less than a match for the Arkadimon he saw alongside Kurogane as he peered at them around the corner of a mausoleum.

What on earth were these blasted graves and the space they took up for, digimon were never buried! The champion digimon snorted out a puff of smoke, faintly irritated with the uselessness of the place along with his being distracted... But honestly, couldn't the data that made up this area be used for something more... Well, useful?! Alright alright, enough is enough about this place and its uselessness; he had a fight to pick, unhindered by the fact that losing was not a thought nor an option for the champion digimon. All that remained was to go at this from a somewhat tactical angle, the dragon-like digimon's dark eyes scanning over the terrain and any cover it had to offer.

With a small nod a plan was decided and DarkLizardmon darted from his place behind the mausoleum, jaws agape as an attack was fired forth from between them. "DARK FLARE!" He called out, a wave of black flames spreading out from his body towards the pair at an alarming speed. The digimon wasn't any sort of sadist and wanted this done quickly, seeming to quite nearly ignore the human in favor of keeping every ounce of focus on Arkadimon... This digimon somehow seemed off, something about it nearly making the dragon digimon wonder if he should have gone in search of another opponent. Then again he never lost so what was the point in being gun shy when he'd undoubtedly be the winner, when he'd be the last one standing an absorbing his target's data.

Call him delusional, call him an incarnation of pride; he wasn't going to back down from this fight now that he had started it anyway.



played by Jinx
posts so far 1
bits £50
rewards transfer to... Rokuro</sub></sup>[/blockquote]

[shizubaya]

The moment Arkadimon stopped, body tensing, a smile akin to a slasher grin crossed Kurogane's face, his calm demeanor suddenly and subtly shifting into a much more predatory appearance. While nothing had changed as far as he could tell, Arkadimon was much more adept at sensing changes in his environment than any human or most animals would ever be - from what he'd seen so far, Kurogane was almost beginning to think that the creature had been designed rather than having randomly evolved like other digimon. It had so far proven to be the most perfect predator Kurogane had ever seen in both worlds, and if that weren't enough for him to trust his partner's senses, the thing was plenty intelligent in his own right to make reasonable judgement calls.... at least when he wasn't feeding. Even Kurogane couldn't get through to him then, and the man had long since begun to suspect that the digimon would've tried to absorb him as well during their first meeting had Kurogane not proven useful in the digimon's eyes, or whatever it used in place of them.

Placing his hands in his pockets, smile still on his face, Kurogane simply stood in place as Arkadimon slowly turned his head from side to side, searching for anything that would lead him to the disturbance he'd felt. It was there - Arkadimon didn't know what exactly it was, but the thing had his pulse racing, the urge to feed, to tear, to reduce whatever was there with them into absorbable trash data beginning to overwhelm him as a black haze began to thicken inside of his head. This was good - an opponent worth fighting. The meager Rookie level digimon never really proved to be a challenge, and the amount of data held within their digicores never enough to feed the hunger within him for long - this creature was bigger, he could feel it, and that was more than enough to draw his notice. It was close, and Arkadimon wouldn't let it escape - the hunger was almost unbearable now, and it took a fair degree of willpower to stop himself from attempting to absorb the human behind him, the very source of much of his strength.

The moment DarkLizardmon moved out from behind the mausoleum Kurogane and Arkadimon moved in unison, Kurogane catching sight of the creature in his peripheral vision while Arkadimon simply sensed it almost through raw instinct, every one of the beast's senses acutely aware of his surroundings as he moved with almost supernatural speed. As Kurogane moved to place one of the many tombstones between himself and the attack, crouching behind the rock as the flames swept past around him, Arkadimon darted in the opposite direction, letting one of the decrepit trees catch the brunt of the attack before bursting into flame and then disintigrating into trash data. Sorely irritated by the fact that he wouldn't be able to absorb even that data without exposing himself, Arkadimon darted forwards once again with speed few Rookie digimon could ever be expected to show, placing himself directly in front of DarkLizardmon, only a handful of feet away.

"Erase Sickle."

The only words Arkadimon had spoken that day, and he hoped not the last. As his mantis like forearms suddenly began to glow a crimson red, Arkadimon attempted to close the last few feet between him and his opponent, continuing to dart forwards as he brought his arms up and together in a scissor like motion aimed at the neck and head of his opponent - while incredibly effective, the attack erased data, which meant less left for him to absorb at the end of a hunt. Aim for the head, neck, spine, tendons, major leg muscles, or if possible, even bleed it out with a simple stab to what some digimon used as arteries - either way, end the fight as quickly as possible, with as little contact as possible. It left more data at the end of the fight, and more time to feed the bottomless black hole within himself that felt like it threatened to consume his very being.

[Wild Digimon]

DARKLIZARDMON
_{^{the WILD DIGIMON}}

[/sup][/center]

"Erase Sickle."

Hm... Well getting beheaded simply wouldn't work in his favor would it?

DarkLizardmon moved back from the attack quickly, the flames his body was composed of leaving little embers in the air as he moved. "You aren't one for talk are you?" He asked as the digimon came to stand a safe distance away, somehow seeming amused for whatever reason. In all honesty he preferred fighting with those who didn't care for banter, but he had to admit that it could always serve to make things more interesting somehow... Besides the really chatty ones always made such easy targets, given they didn't seem to have the brains to speak and move at the same time. The champion digimon had to be sure that he wouldn't fall into that category, and as a result quickly sent another attack in Arkadimon's direction.

"DARK BLAST!"

The dragon digimon opened his mouth to fire a black stream of flames at his opponent, having the idea of turning his head a little to spread the attack out some in case Arkadimon moved in that direction. In addition to this he decided to move in case the rookie decided to attack while he stood still, remembering the digimon's speed when he had been approached. Still the notion of losing was found nowhere within the champion's mind, remaining undaunted by any shows of agility since he wasn't exactly slow on his feet either. Darklizardmon rarely attacked those who were a lower level than him out of fairness, but this one seemed to stand out somehow... It wasn't any run of the mill digimon and he supposed that was what had drawn him into starting a fight in the first place.

He was interested in this odd-looking and unfamiliar digimon, it had nothing to do with its rank as a digimon partner.

Honestly Darklizardmon was quite obviously ignoring the human's presence for now, and it would stay like this until attention was needed towards Kurogane. For now though the human was not considered a threat and therefore not in need of having an eye kept on him, but the dragon digimon was aware that a time might come where he was... Of course, he hoped that the time would never come. He had picked a fight with the digimon, not the human; hopefully this one wasn't sentimental or anything else that might lead to Kurogane trying to 'fight alongside his digimon' or some nonsense like that. A human might be good for a fight with another human, but when it came to a human fighting a digimon it was clear that the victor would undoubtedly be the digimon.

This may have just been an opinion or something that Darklizardmon considered a fact, but either way it was probably true in most, if not all, cases.




^{_{played by Jinx
posts so far 2
bits £100
rewards transfer to... Rokuro}}[/blockquote]

[shizubaya]

Rising to his feet after the initial wave of black flames had passed overhead, Kurogane began placing a hand on the tombstone only to immediately regret doing so as it made a short hissing sound before his hand instinctively flew away from the scorched rock. Interesting that it had not disappeared like the tree had when hit, but all the better for him. Calmly shaking the stinging sensation away from his hand, Kurogane patted his clothing down again as he directed his attention towards the fight, placing both hands in his pockets once he was finished. A champion level digimon from the looks of it, and one with a Virus attribute if his guess was correct - not that the second bit of trivia really affected things. Even if attributes did prove to have purpose in battle, which he suspected they didn't, it wouldn't matter because Arkadimon had none. No weaknesses for the Champion to exploit, no immediately apparent flaws, and the lizard was within Arkadimon's kill zone - with any luck this would be over within the next few moments unless the beast proved to be more resourceful than he appeared, but even if that wasn't the case they would still benefit from the fight. Arkadimon learned at an astonishing rate, and every encounter they'd had resulted in him becoming faster, stronger, and above all more efficient. Bored expression on his face, Kurogane merely waited on the sidelines, prepared to use the tombstone for cover if the need arose once again.

Ignoring the dark digimon's words, which in fact failed to register at all, Arkadimon dimly noted that his attack had proven too slow, and wondering in a small corner of his mind why his opponent was bothering to talk before that thought, too, was swallowed up by the all consuming hunger as instinct once again flooded forth, taking control as what existed of Arkadimon's mind retreated once again to a place where it could avoid the hunger that clawed at him from within. Maintaining his initial usage of Erase Sickle simply because there was no immediate point to stopping and then reusing it again, Arkadimon dropped down into a frog like crouch as his opponent took a breath and announced his next attack, and as the other digimon released a stream of black flame from his mouth at where he'd once been, Arkadimon leaped forward from his crouch in very insect like motion, the powerful legs that had allowed such quick movement before launching him forward in a pink blur underneath the stream of flame and hidden from DarkLizardmon's view by the digimon's own attack. As Arkadimon shot forwards, skimming the ground by mere centimeters, he kept his glowing red sickle like arms in front of him, this time aiming for his opponent's legs with the intention of cutting clear through them and removing the other digimon's ability to walk. While his rational mind was irritated by the loss of data that would result from that action if successful, his other self did not care - it was hungry, and wanted to feed now, and Arkadimon would not deny it this time.

[stormecho]

Avari might not have found anything unusual about the graveyard, other than that BlackGabumon enjoyed the scenery - if not for the blast of flames in the distance. She had never seen black fire before, but... she was hardly going to question such a sight in the Digital World. "What is it?" she asked, remembering the terse rumours BlackGabumon had relayed to her - a place of ghosts and spirits that would happily prey upon the weak. She didn't particularly want to fight anything, but her partner had previously been able to protect her - she was confident enough in his abilities.

He did not seem to share that confidence, staring in the direction of the spurt of fire as if trying to decide what had caused it. "It is a fight. A Champion and..." He growled, the sound low and surprisingly vicious. "I do not know what it is."

Well, that was delightfully vague. Not a good sign either - he had always tried to be accurate when he reported something happening nearby, and for him to be... uneasy? Angry? while not able to identify a Digimon.... She took it as a warning. "Just two wild Digimon, then?"

"No. The... other has a human partner." He sounded odd, voice rasping - not angry, but intent. She had only seen him like this once before, and he had relaxed moments later. He turned reddish eyes on her, and she started - weren't they usually amber? "They are dangerous." She almost wanted to say that this verdict was out of character - he had not said anything before when they had met other human and Digimon pairs. But... she did not intend to push her luck.

"We'll leave soon, then," she assured him, idly wondering if BlackGabumon could even climb the fence if it came to a quicker route of escape.

[Wild Digimon]

DARKLIZARDMON
_{^{the WILD DIGIMON}}

[/sup][/center]
<sup><sub>Oh this one was smart, he'd underestimated his opponent just a bit hadn't he?

DarkLizardmon gave a snarled curse as he realized Arkadimon was going for his legs, knowing that it was all over if his ability to move around was taken from him... For the first time since this began, the thought of losing just barely registered it his mind. He certainly wasn't going to let it be easy though if that was what fate had in mind for the young digimon, the flames his body seemed to be composed of flaring up in an almost angry or irritated way before he managed to just barely leap away from the attack. The champion supposed that there was no room for messing around or going easy with this one, as he had so egotistically figured he could; hopefully his pride wouldn't be the cause of his death. Not that the dragon digimon even thought of dying, because to him losing meant more just him having to turn around and run... The fact that his current opponent was ruthless enough to cut him down and absorb him for some reason just didn't come to mind.

A little odd given the fact that defeating and absorbing the other's data was the whole point, even he had absorbed data after winning.

Immediately after dodging the dragon called out his Dark Flare attack, causing another wave of black flames to spread out from his body. All he could hope for was that it would hit Arkadimon and cause some damage, or at least serve as a distraction so that he could try to get in a direct hit with his claws... However close combat didn't really seem like a good idea in this fight, lest he lose his arms. This fight was very slowly starting to seem more and more like a mistake on his part, but he couldn't allow himself to run just yet when it was still so early in the fight; he still had a chance to win, didn't he? So far he didn't really have a reason not to think he didn't, given he hadn't taken any damage just yet and he knew that he was a level above his opponent.

His species may not be among the strongest of the Champion level, but by no means did that mean he was weak.

Darklizardmon couldn't and wouldn't allow himself to seem weak, to lose so easily if that was really where this was going to go. Of course he didn't want to lose, no one ever wanted to lose; running was so cowardly too, and he absolutely hated the idea of doing so. If he were even thinking about the fact he could be defeated to the point of deletion and maybe even having his data absorbed he'd undoubtedly be all for the idea of running... No one wanted to be absorbed right? Because that meant you wouldn't be coming back. There would be no being reconfigured and becoming a digitama again, and there would be no being reborn back at the Village of Beginnings.

Winning meant more than maintaining pride, it meant maintaining one's life... Somewhere in his mind, Darklizardmon had to know that.


played by Jinx
posts so far 3
bits £150
rewards transfer to... Rokuro</sub></sup>[/blockquote]

[shizubaya]

Missing his swipe at the other digimon's legs as DarkLizardmon leapt back again, Arkadimon landed on all fours as the crimson glow seeping from his bladed arms disappeared, his usage of Erase Sickle fading. Unwilling to be caught standing still, the pink and red digimon began moving again without pause, not even bothering to stand as he instead turned to the side and began to scurry with alarming quickness in a disturbingly insectile fashion. Moving in a circular pattern, Arkadimon attempted to reach a flanking position before attempting another strike, his body beginning to shudder in a subtle manner from both the still growing, unimaginable hunger that continued to claw at him from his core and from the ecstatic, euphoric feeling that his thinking mind felt from simply facing a worthy opponent, savoring the feeling that would come with the meal waiting for him after the fight. Unable to bear it any longer as his unthinking animal side once again drove his conscious self back, Arkadimon suddenly pivoted in place and launched himself at DarkLizardmon just as he had before, at the exact same moment that the other dark digimon announced a third attack, a wall of black flame roiling out from his body. Only being driven by unthinking hunger by that point, Arkadimon made no attempt the change course, simply raising his arms again in a scissor pattern as he had before.

"Erase Sickle."

Arms glowing red once more, Arkadimon continued forwards to place himself within a mere meter of the other digimon - and then the flames hit. As Arkadimon's thinking self was jarred back by the pain of the burning sensation spreading across his body, noting that it would only be capable of surviving another one or two hits from such an attack before his body instantly lost cohesion, his body continued forwards through the flames, bursting through the other side of the burning wall less than a meter from DarkLizardmon's left side. Still silent and seemingly unfeeling despite the mild burns now covering his body, Arkadimon followed through with his forward momentum, rasing one glowing arm for a clear cut to the beast's shoulder or neck and swinging his other one, hopefully unnoticed if the creature panicked again, towards the lower leg, the last part of the body to move if it attempted to leap outside of his range again.

Kurogane, seeing the play, scowled. It was happening again - while Arkadimon was strong and fast for a Rookie and brutally ruthless to top things off, it came at a price. If fights dragged on too long, the thing's animalistic tendencies and instincts would begin to completely take over, robbing it of its ability to think logically during fights and in turn costing the digimon one of his greatest weapons. He'd start attacking recklessly, without concern for his physical well being - had it been one of Kurogane's human partners or subordinates, he would have simply left the fool to his fate. What use was a tool that would needlessly risk himself, and by extension, other resources? Unfortunately, he could not afford to take such a stance with Arkadimon - as mentally flawed as the creature was, its strength was not something Kurogane could afford to lose. Unfortunately, he was also powerless at the moment to do anything more than stand by and watch - if he attempted to intervene in any way shape, or form, DarkLizardmon would be the least of his problems. Clenching his fists in his pockets, Kurogane remained behind the tombstone and remained the stoic observer, with the only trace of emotion being the irritated frown now marring his normally calm face.

[stormecho]

Avari watched the signs of the fight - a spurt of crimson light, and then black flames again. It certainly seemed volatile, but despite BlackGabumon's warning her away, he seemed almost fixated on it.

"It would be useful for you to get a look at his partner, if you don't know what it is," she said quietly, trying to catch his attention. He had never refused an order of hers, but she couldn't believe that he would always be so obedient - it felt strange to try to ensure that he would obey her, but he had never expressed just how loyal he was to her.

Even if he had told her, she wouldn't have believed him.

For once, she could easily read him when he looked at her - surprised, and then vaguely suspicious, head tilting carefully as if he could smell her intentions. In the end, though he just nodded, turning back and quietly padding towards the scene - though the route he took was meandering, curving around so hopefully neither of the combatants noticed them.

The Champion looked faintly reptilian, but it was covered in oddly coloured fire, and trying to fight off what had to be a Rookie. It looked... she couldn't tell what it looked like, other than dangerous. It had blades on all four limbs, and must have been the source of the red light from earlier - its arms were glowing now with residual energy. BlackGabumon growled again. "You don't recognise it? she asked, now studying what had to be the Digimon's partner. He looked... average, with long hair for a man, but nothing striking.

"No." With that, he stopped - still more than a few metres away from the fight, and closer to the human than the combatants.

Avari saw no way of simply leaving without making noise and maybe drawing the attention of either of the Digimon - best to just watch and wait until the battle was finished, and then take her leave.

[Wild Digimon]

DARKLIZARDMON
_{^{the WILD DIGIMON}}

[/sup][/center]
<sup><sub>His eyes followed Arkadimon without fail, knowing that not keeping track of his opponent might mean his defeat... Nevermind death, he really didn't want to think about death or to a lesser extent even having to run away. Darklizardmon, despite his fighting abilities and his level, was actually a rather young digimon; only through tireless training and making himself stronger did he manage to get to this stage. He didn't have a partner and he hadn't been born for any specific reason or person, so he had to give himself a reason for being like so many other digimon had before him and were... And all that remained for him was to try and make himself as strong as possible. Running would not do that for him and dying certainly wouldn't either, so he would not tolerate either option for himself.

He found himself very surprised as his opponent seemed to turn towards the flames, eyes widening just a touch as he realized the rookie intended to brave through the flames in an attempt to get an attack in. Darklizardmon was not entirely sure if he saw this as a very stupid move, or somehow a stroke of tactical genius... Though quite honestly he didn't have the mind to really think about that right now, given that his opponent was coming at him quite quickly. Instinctively the champion digimon leapt back from the dark digimon's claws as he caught the red glow, something about it just making him feel like no matter what he could not allow himself to be touched by them. Despite his quick movements however his leg was cut into a bit by the sickle aimed for his leg, the attack causing much more pain than he believed it should as some of the data from what was most likely his ankle simply vanished.

At this point it was decided that jumpy though the flames had been risky, but at the same time a smart move given that it had finally earned the rookie a landed attack.

"DARK FLARE!" He called out once more, his voice sounding a little shaken but otherwise he seemed to be trying to keep his voice firm and calm. Even as he landed on his feet and quite nearly stumbled with the inadequate amount of data holding his lower leg together he wanted to seem strong still, the black flames that spread out in a wave from his body came out as strong as they had before. The flames over his skin flaring up as he repeated to himself mentally that he would not allow himself to lose this fight and he would make it out of this stronger, staying focused on the fight as opposed to the pain in his leg. It was hard to do given just how much pain there was but he forced himself to manage, keeping every ounce of his focus on Arkadimon; he knew that he had to stay focused if he wanted to survive this so he didn't look anywhere other than where the rookie was.

As a result he hadn't even completely registered the fact that Avari and her digimon were nearby, just feeling a faint bothersome tinge of paranoia; what if it was another opponent? He could not fight another digimon alongside the sickle-armed digimon, he at least knew that much.


played by Jinx
posts so far 4
bits £200
rewards transfer to... Rokuro</sub></sup>[/blockquote]

[shizubaya]

As Arkadimon's Erase Sickle cut through DarkLizardmon's lower leg, erasing much of the data keeping it strong enough for easy movement, the animal mind controlling Arkadimon's body went ecstatic with the anticipation of its next meal, forcing the conscious mind into near non existance in the deepest recesses of the creature's mind. Whatever attempts made by the Champion level digimon to hide his injury were made in vain, the hunter's instinct in Arkadimon zeroing in on the spot and immediately moving to take full advantage. As DarkLizardmon took another step back, to his credit maintaining his stance despite the injury, Arkadimon likewise quickly moved to attempt to circle around on the digimon's injured side with the goal of both avoiding the Virus's next attack while leaving him open for another one of Arkadimon's own. Keeping in close as he moved, Arkadimon brought up an arm once more, swinging it around in a stabbing motion towards the back of the larger digimon's head with the intent of burying the bladed tip in it.

"Erase Sickle."

Kurogane, having not moved from his spot, looked away from the fight as he let his gaze wander. It was not that he had any aversion to witnessing death - what was the point of looking away from such a thing? - but rather out of boredom. While perfectly reasonable given their opponent, the fight had dragged out much longer than the ones Arkadimon had previously fought against other Rookies. Hopefully the prize within the Champion digimon's data would be worth the effort and wait, but Kurogane still found it difficult to wait on Arkadimon to digivolve - once he did fights such as this one would be much, much easier, but until then, such waits would be necessary. As he began looking around, though, Kurogane suddenly noticed another human there, of all things. The first possibility to enter Kurogane's mind was that it may have been one of the rumored Bakemon he'd come in search of, at least until he saw the digimon standing next to her. Yes, he'd heard of Bakemon imitating humans, but not of them being able to imitate other species of digimon. That alone was enough to get his attention, the darkly dressed man turning his head to stare straight at her, his expression one of neutral curiosity.

[stormecho]

Another low growl from BlackGabumon as the other Rookie landed a hit, cleanly slicing away the data from its opponent's leg without any hesitation or difficulty. She wasn't sure if the sound was approval or anger or fear, and he didn't explain it; he just stared.

The show of strength was a little disconcerting, and she could easily imagine such power turned on them. However, the Rookie seemed preoccupied, and though his partner turned to look at them, he had not done anything yet.

This didn't need to end in a fight - that was good. She had no idea how BlackGabumon ranked against others - he had successfully chased off those equal to his level before, but they had all been wild - and no real wish to be forced into finding out. Besides, his reaction showed that this was... not normal, and that ensured she didn't wish to stay for long.

The other human was looking at her, but she could not fall back on her most used lie as of late - there would be no way to justify it. Such a person would never come here, and never watch the fight so idly. It was almost a struggle to shift - she had grown too dependent on it, clearly - but once she did, she could return the look before turning away to study the battle. She made no moves to come closer - that would just attract attention, and was potentially quite dangerous.

"We will leave when it is over?" BlackGabumon asked, not even bothering to look at her at this point.

"Yes."

If the man was curious, she could hardly stop him from approaching her - but the conversation would also ease her more surely into the lie. She hadn't used this one in a long time - in the real world, it never held up as well as the more open ones.

She didn't have to worry about that here.

[Wild Digimon]

DARKLIZARDMON
_{^{the WILD DIGIMON}}

[/sup][/center]
<sup><sub>He may be injured, but he would not allow himself to be taken down so easily.

As a result DarkLizardmon turned as quickly as he could with his injury and simultaneously tried to move back from Arkadimon, a sort of desperation finally sinking into him. How on earth had that attack done that, how had he just completely evaporated the data that made up his leg like it was nothing? He should have been more careful, he should have gone into this less full of himself and expecting to win... Maybe he shouldn't have gotten himself into this at all. It was too late for that now though and he was stuck in this now, at least he was pretty sure he was; how could he run away with his leg the way it was now?

He could try but it wasn't like he'd be able to get very far, he already knew that running would not end well for him if he could even get himself to try it. For now the only choice the dragon digimon could really see at the moment was to fight... Or die perhaps but he wasn't about to allow himself to lay down and die, just because things were starting to look rather bleak for him and his chances of survival seemed to be dropping some. "DARK FLARE!" He yelled out, hoping that the black flames that rolled out from his body would do something to damage Arkadimon enough for him to get away or to just drive him off temporarily. At this close of a range he had to figure that the attack would do more damage than it might usually, and remembering how the rookie digimon had already been burnt by a previous attack... Maybe he had a chance at this after all.

Maybe he was just getting his hopes up though and he really didn't have a shot at this, and as he tripped a little upon landing from jumping away from his enemy his hopes plummeted. He was damaged in a rather important area considering he needed to stay mobile if he was to have a shot at winning this fight, and tripping like this gave Arkadimon another chance to cut away more of his data if he couldn't get himself out of the way in time. Darklizardmon gave a little snarl of irritation towards himself as he struggled to regain his footing and move back again in an attempt to keep his position in a state of constant change. If he wasn't so immersed in the dire situation he might of realized the fact that his egotistical mindset was starting to fade a little and be taken over by one more survival oriented, no longer thinking he will come out of this and instead just praying that he would.

At this point though, he knew that his chances probably weren't all that high unfortunately.


played by Jinx
posts so far 5
bits £250
rewards transfer to... Rokuro</sub></sup>[/blockquote]

[shizubaya]

As DarkLizardmon stumbled away from Arkadimon in a desperate attempt to avoid the Bewitching Beast's follow-up attack to the blow that he'd managed to land before, the unthinking hunger inside of the Rookie began to be misplaced as impatient irritation and anger joined it. This was taking too long - he was burning inside, and all he wanted was to dull that fire with data, be it from the digimon in front of him or from somewhere else, but he'd already wounded his prey and been wounded by it in turn. Like it or not he was already committed, and even his animal side understood that much, and he moved with the Virus as it dodged, Arkadimon's attack missing but the small abomination easily keeping pace and keeping close to his target. It was for that reason that he didn't even attempt to dodge when DarkLizardmon began preparing another attack, one so obvious that even in his unthinking state Arkadimon recognized what was about to happen. As the other digimon moved back and stumbled Arkadimon saw his chance, even as the Virus announced the name of the same attack that had caused Arkadimon so much pain before - still, the predator saw his chance when the beast stumbled, and that was the only thing he could hold in his mind.

"Erase Sickle."

Just as the beast finished speaking, the black flames from his body rising like before, Arkadimon lunged, sickle arms glowing red once more as he moved to impale the larger digimon's chest on both blades while he was off balance and beginning his own attack, the perfect opening - Arkadimon no longer cared about a clean kill, he just wanted it over. As the black flames began rolling outward from DarkLizardmon's body and began to lick at Arkadimon's extended arms with excruciating pain, the smaller digimon kept pressing forwards, hoping his own attack would land before the Virus could finish his own attack - while Arkadimon was much faster and much more agile, his thinking mind wasn't sure how many more hits like that he could take before his own body lost cohesion.

As Arkadimon moved in for what would hopefully be a fatal blow, Kurogane merely stood in place and continued to stare down the other pair with the same apathetic expression he'd been wearing when they arrived. While he'd long since noticed that the digimon, a BlackGabumon if he wasn't mistaken, seemed to be particularly interested in the fight between Arkadimon and DarkLizardmon, the human girl merely seemed to be unsure of what to do gathering from her stance, as well as how she kept glancing between the fight and her partner.

"If it's a piece of him that you want, you'd best forget about it. He probably won't be in the best of shape after the fight, but it'd still be a bad idea. Otherwise I'd suggest using this opportunity to pass by now, while he's still focused on the Champion over there. I can't honestly say I have any control over him, and I'm not really interested in making small talk at the moment." Kurogane said, calling out to them rather than bothering to move, both out of pride and an attempt to avoid attracted Arkadimon's attention - he neither wanted to distract his partner from the fight, nor end up as a possible target in its attempts to sate its hunger. Whatever those two were doing out here didn't really concern him, and as long as they didn't get in his way he didn't particularly care what they did. He wasn't lying when he said he didn't have complete - or any - control over Arkadimon, and while the beast might be satisfied after absorbing the Champion, he didn't want to take the chance that he would still be hungry. Under normal circumstances Kurogane didn't believe for a moment that a run of the mill Rookie would be a match for his partner, but said partner had already taken quite a beating from his current opponent, and it would be rather pointless to risk all of their progress on something that would amount to little more than a morsel in comparison.

[stormecho]

She had seen BlackGabumon fight, and he had been always silent, combining efficiency and a ruthless drive to kill what was in his way. This Digimon... wasn't like that. The ruthlessness was familiar, but where BlackGabumon was angry, or at least determined, this one was... cold. Almost clinical about it, or...

Mechanical, maybe? Digimon were made of data, but none of them really seemed to act as if they were programmed. Except for this one. The only thing it had said was its attack, which it repeated over and over like a looping record. The contrast with the more lively Digimon she had met was striking.

"What is he? Neither of us have seen anything like him before," she replied, ignoring the other's suggestion to leave. He hadn't done any of the usual social niceties, which she was glad of, and she would take his advice - but only once she had her answer. Perhaps that would motivate BlackGabumon to leave, given how engrossed he was in the battle that seemed to be reaching its end.

It would be a good idea to leave before it ended and the other's partner was done feasting on his prey. Somehow, she suspected they wouldn't get the chance.

"We'll be on our way soon enough. I have no intention of fighting." That should be enough of an assurance. The other didn't seem inclined to sic his partner on them, so if they just went past him, it would likely be a safe enough journey to a way out of the graveyard.

Beside her, BlackGabumon finally looked away, red gaze darting from Digimon to human, and then eventually to his own partner.

"Yes... I need the name."