Seimei no Shan AO Chapter 004

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Seimei no Shan AO
Written by: SeiferA

Chapter 004: Airship Encounter! The Path To Become A Skyer!
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Inside a dark office, many figure heads wearing professional business suits sat around a large round table, with a lone circular monitor in the middle. As they sat, some of which twidling their thumbs, a large series of doors opened wide, revealing several individuals whom seemed like bodyguards around one particular individual.

The individual in particular wore what looked to be an old fashion top hat with a similar suit to the ones the other men were wearing. His facial features showed he was an older gentlemen with white side burns and a mustache that covered his entire mouth. His dark black eyes seemed rather neutral as he twirled around a large black cane for a bit before entering inside, using the cane as support.

“Gentlemen.”

“Sir Howard Chaplin.”, the entire group answered as they immediately got up. The man smiled as he waved his hand down, “Please, be seated.” He then took his seat in what looked to be a far bigger and much more regal seat, as a larger man in the crowd of bodyguards stood behind him.

“So let’s get right to business: Has the boy and his Digimon made movement yet?”

One of the men in the round table, wearing a bright red suit, nodded, his voice low and growly, “Yes sir. According to our intel, he has left Saint Nano and is currently on route to Capitol City. He is driving what looks to be a old automobile, and at their present rate, will arrive within the next week or two.”

Mr. Chaplin gave a slight chuckle, “Ah, that gives us just enough time. I must admit I’m rather pleased the boy decided to go on this silly journey of his. It makes our job a lot easier when we can strike when there’s little to no witnesses in the areas where the Pathways cross.”

The man nodded, “The information Raldo was able to provide to us was much useful, even though he was unable to retrieve the Digimon. As such, I have calculated the boy’s next expected location.”

“Oh?” Howard’s face grew with curiousity, “Do tell.”

“The boy currently possesses the rare Tri-Ark. However, from Raldo’s reports, the Tri-Ark looks to be incomplete; While it has the Z-Crystals from a Z-Ring and the outer shell and capabilities of a D-Ark, it does not have the components and capabilities of a Yokai Watch. We predict he and his friends will make a slight detour at a nearby mansion, where all sorts of usual monsters not classified by the normal monster groups are said to exist, alongside Yokai. My right hand man, Injaneno, is making his way there now.”

“And... the boy knows of this mansion? Will he travel there?”

“We have good intel suggesting this is his current destination.”

“Excuse me... Sir?”

The entire group of figureheads, including Howard, looked towards a brown haired man who clearly seemed to be a rookie as he seemed to fidget a bit, “Yes?”

“I’m... I’m a bit new here and I’ve only been briefed on the actual objective of this plan, but not the reasoning. Why is it so important we get this Digimon before Lord Yggdrasil does?”

The entire figureheads looked back to Mr. Chaplin, unsure if he was going to make any negative action, as he instead just chuckled, “Heh heh heh... Mr...Westward, was it?”

The man nodded as Howard continued, “The reasons why we need that Digimon... that Patamon, before Lord Yggdrasil gets him first... is quite simple really.”

He pressed a button nearby as the circular screen showed an outline of Patamon, “Look at the left and right arms of this creature and tell me what you see.”

“It... it looks to be 2 crystals, sir. One white and one black.”

“Precisely! You see, in order for our master plan to succeed, we need those crystals. According to the ancient text pads we obtained years ago, it was prophesied that a Patamon with black and white jewels would appear in Entra and cause the world to return to oneself. But it’s not the prophecy we’re concerned about; It’s the power from these jewels. They say they come from the ancient Nakama tribe.”

“The... Nakama tribe, sir? You surely don’t mean...”

“Yes. The very same tribe from the history books.” Mr. Chaplin got up from his seat as he paced around and spoke, “All of us in this room have worked long and hard to make it to where we’re at, and yet we’re so close to our end game goal. But we cannot make it to the very end until we obtain that last bit of power. This is why it’s vital we focus on obtaining that Digimon and taking away the very jewels that reside in his arms.”

A laugh was heard from the man as the whole group looked back at him, “Hahahaha! You’re... you’re kidding, right? The Nakama Tribe? That’s nothing more than a legend! Nothing’s ever been proven about it’s existence and the only ones who even believe in that nonsense are nut case left wings!  It’s about as real as any other crazy notion they make! Hahahaha, so seriously, what’s the reason behind getting this Digi--”

A large, thin series of blades suddenly popped up right on the newbie’s neck. He winced in pure terror.

“Mr. Westward... as you are new here, I will refrain from taking any... actions against you that would require cover ups. After all, I’ve had numerous cover ups already in place as is. But I will warn you only once.”

Howard’s eyes thinned as his pupils shrank, giving a slight smile:

“Do not make light of our goals...”

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Driving down the roads of the Pathway, Shinsei, Digistar, Patamon and Impmon were all enjoying the long ride inside the red Volkswagen. While Patamon and Impmon took a nap from the back seats, Shinsei and Digistar both relaxed as they continued to see various Digimon pop up from time to time in the outskirts of the road while Rose kept auto control. Shinsei in particular had both of his arms outside the open driver side window as he felt the wind breeze by his hair. It was a calming, relaxing moment with the puttering of the Volkswagen engine being the only added sound to the scene.

As Digistar gazed at the trees and hills similarly on her own window, albeit closed, Rose spoke out, “It’s 4:00PM, Shinsei. Should I give my hourly analysis?”

Shinsei gave a simple nod, “Yeah, sure.”

Rose’s avatar closed it’s eyes briefly as a loading bar popped up above it. Once it filled up, her eyes opened again as she reported, “Engine status is normal. Temperature is currently at acceptable levels. Cooling system also normal. Fuel consumption is still roughly at 24.4 MPG with approximately 1.3 gallons left in the tank. I would recommend we stop at the nearest gas station about 5 miles away which, according to my information, is also a very quaint diner.”

He smiled and nodded as he looked at a few Armadillo-esque creatures called “Armadimon” roll around together, “Sounds like a plan to me, Rose.” Rose’s avatar gave a nod in response. As Shinsei looked away from the sight, he turned his attention over to Digistar who was also gazing at the passing landscape.

He decided to speak out, “It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

Digistar nodded, “It’s funny... this is my first time traveling through the Pathways and I never thought there’d be so much... beauty behind it. And supposively there’s areas around Arvinity that has even more wonders than this.” She gave a light hearted chuckle, “Can’t deny that I’m a bit eager to see it.”

Shinsei smiled as he looked onwards to the road, “So Digistar... is there a specific reason why you want to keep getting promoted? I mean, it sounds like it’d be easier to just be a DATS Agent.”

Her eyes stayed focused as she explained, “I want to get to the highest rank in DATS: Head Commander.”

Shinsei raised an eyebrow with curiousity, “Head Commander? Really? What’s making you want to get that high up in rank?”

She gave a side glance to Shinsei before turning away, “It’s... well, it’s a dream of mine.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. That’s it.”

Shinsei leaned over a bit, “... you sure it isn’t something else?”

She turned around and gave a slight glare, “What do you mean?”

“I-I don’t mean nothing by it!” He exclaimed, waving his hands, “It’s just... wanting a role like that because it’s just your dream... I dunno but there’s gotta be more than that!” He regained himself as he continued, “Like with me for example: It’s my dream to become a great Skyer because I wanna be somebody, you know? Skyers are well known and recognized by Alters all around the world for their adventures and escapades! Plus its the most fun paying job out there! So there’s gotta be more with your reasoning right?”

Digistar did away with her glare as she now looked at Shinsei with neutral eyes. She thought in her head if she should really tell him the reasons why it’s her dream to become a Skyer. Why she was so frustrated when her new assignment would delay her from ranking up in DATS. And why she felt like she needed to reach to the highest rank as soon as possible.

“... It’s just my dream, ok?”

... but in her mind, she believed he’d never believe her reasons.

Shinsei sighed as he put his hands behind his head, “Ok, ok, I’m willing to leave it at that. But I still say there’s more to your story...”

As they continued on, Rose eventually spoke out, “Ok, taking the next exit! And... oh... wow.”

Before Shinsei, Digistar and Rose’s view was a gas station and diner. The diner had a mesh of a 50s/future mesh design, and the gas station itself was fairly large. However, what caught their attention was a large airship, roughly the size of a 2 story house and designed similar to a fish-esque design.

Shinsei immediately got excited as he leaned over the steering wheel, “Holy crap, holy crap, HOLY CRAP!!”

Rose’s avatar gave a dead pan expression as Patamon and Impmon began to wake up, “Shinsei... Language.”

“Rose, I’m sorry, BUT THATS A SKYER’S AIRSHIP! ON THE FREAKIN GROUND!! AT A FREAKIN DINER THAT WE’RE STOPPING AT!!!”

Patamon leaned over the seat, stretching his hind legs as he eyed the ship, “Doesn’t that look a bit smaller than the ones we’ve seen, Shinsei?”

“Does it matter!? Point is there’s a Skyer there!” He looked up in amazement, “I wonder who it is? Maybe it’s The Critic? Or maybe even The Nerd? Or what if it’s someone as big as Jack or Mark!?”

As Shinsei began to run down several more famous Skyers, Impmon leaned over to Digistar, “He’s a bit over obsessed with Skyers, isn’t he?” She only gave a slight embarassing smile and nod to Impmon.

**********************************************

As they entered inside the diner, Shinsei and the crew looked over the area; The floors were checkered black and white as there was a large steel serving bar with red seats placed next to it and several tables with similar seats littered about. Shinsei tried to see if he identified any big Skyers with the few Alters he saw in the diner...

“Huh... none of these are Skyers I recognize.” he remarked. Digistar spoke out, “Well if the ship is small, maybe it’s someone who just became a Skyer.”

An ear perked from one of the patrons in the diner as Impmon rolled his eyes, his hands on the back of his head, “Skyer or no Skyer, let’s just find a chair and eat already!”

Following Impmon’s complaints, the crew decided to take a seat at one of the open tables. A hovering robot took the orders from the group and as it left, a figure in a large black coat walked up to the group.

As they looked up to him, they could see that this figure was a large white polar bear with a black fedora hat and a red scarf with red gloves, giving a friendly smile, “Hey, so I couldn’t help but overhear you talking about finding a Skyer?”

Shinsei gave a nod, “Yeah, we saw an airship outside. You know who it belongs to?”

The bear gave a grin as he pointed at himself, “You’re looking at him! The name’s Bit Polar, Skyer Extraordinaire!”

Everyone looked at Bit Polar for a while before Patamon remarked, “You’re a Skyer?”

“Of course I am!”, Bit remarked, “Been flying all over the nation and just heading back home after going to a Skyer meet up.”

Shinsei gave a disappointed frown, “And here I was hoping someone big was piloting that thing like Mark or Jan... or heck even the Critic.”

Bit blinked for a bit at Shinsei, processing the comment before giving a hearty laugh, “HAHAHAHA, you serious dude!? None of those top class Skyers would pilot a small fry like I do! You wanna identify them, you’d have to look for the HUGE as all hell ships! And they rarely come to the surface levels except for specific occasions!”

Shinsei blinked, “Huh... never knew that.” He then composed himself as he continued, “Anyway, the name’s Shinsei Shan. This is my partner, Patamon, and my friends, Digistar and Impmon.”

“Cool! A pleasure meeting you all! Mind if I sit here?”

“By all means!” Shinsei exclaimed. Bit took his seat as he asked, “So why are you all looking for Skyers? Just trying to find celebrities I assume?”

Shinsei chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, “Well... kinda. The truth is I just graduated SnS Academy a few weeks ago and currently we’re on a trip to Capitol City.”

“Ah, sounds awesome!”

“Yeah. And though I got my job classification, I want to eventually become a Skyer with that classification.”

Bit smirked as he waggled his paw, “Ahhh, I getcha! And judging from the fact that you’re with 2 Digimon and a DATS Agent, I can only imagine you’re a Digimon Tamer, am I right?”

“K-Kinda...” Shinsei didn’t know if he should flat out say his classification considering the controversy surrounding the title. But the way he saw it, he’d have to get use to telling people to help shape it into a more positive light anyway, “I’m actually... a Xros Tamer.”

Bit Polar blinked, “Whoa dude, seriously?”

Shinsei waved his arms desperately, “B-But not in the bad way you’d imagine! I want to promote the idea that one can battle together with all monster types! Pokemon, Digimon, Yokai... any and all!”

The polar bear grabbed his hat and scratched his head, “That... sounds pretty freakin hard, if not impossible.”

“It isn’t.” Digistar spoke out as she leaned forward, “I mean, I thought it was a pretty crazy task too when Shinsei first told me his goal for a job classification. But when he eventually showed me that he got his Primarina to co-exist and even play together with Patamon, I admit, I was kinda surprised!”

Impmon sulked, “Stupid seal never wants to play any fun games with me, though.”

Patamon gave a dead pan look to Impmon, “That’s because you keep trying to play pranks with Majestic.”

“That’s what I mean when I say ‘fun’! Jeez, you two really need to learn to update your vocabulary in the fun department!”

Shinsei soon interjected as the crew received their food, “POINT IS we got a system down now, so it’s just a matter of meeting more Pokemon, Digimon and even Yokai and seeing how far we can go with competitive battles and even just general events that bring these creatures together.”

Bit gave a light chuckle as the group began to eat, “So... what? Whats the end game goal with all of this then? You wanna unite Pokemon and Digimon together or something crazy like that?”

Shinsei stopped munching on his burger. The teen was a bit surprised with how close to the mark Bit was, even though he was being sarcastic. But he didn’t have the nerves to tell him that his throw away assumption was actually right, “... maybe. But I just want to ultimately promote to everyone one thing with one slogan:”

“A slogan?”

Shinsei nodded as he got up from his seat and proclaimed:

“Pokemon? Digimon? Yokai? There’s no need to choose a side! In the end, all 3 share one thing: To befriend and battle alongside with us.”

“Hmmm...” Bit thought for a while as Shinsei took his seat and resumed eating, “Not too bad! I gotta admit, a short slogan like that is pretty good and gets to the point! But it’s gonna take more than just a speech and going to monster-related events and competitions to convince the airship coordinators to give you an airship!”

Shinsei blinked a bit, “What do you mean? I thought being a graduate from SnS Academy would be enough credential.”

“Well, yeah, that HELPS, there’s no denying THAT! But airship coordinators will cut maybe... 20%? 30% off the price of an airship with that? Trust me kid, I found out the hard way.”

Digistar paused drinking from her cup, “You mean you’re an SnS Academy graduate too?”

“Heh! Naturally!” Bit posed as he showed the S patch logo on his back, “Graduate of SnS Academy in Port Hew. And despite my great scores in my grades, the price on the airship only dropped down to 280,000 bits!”

Shinsei nearly choked on his burger, “S-S-SERIOUSLY!? 280K!? For THAT small thing!”

Bit nodded, arms crossed, “Mm-hmm! And you don’t wanna imagine how much the biggest airships cost.”

“How in the heck did you even manage to afford that ship then??”

“Well... doing payment plans helps immensely. But since you’re barely looking into getting into the world of Skyers, I’ll give you a bit of advice.”

He smirked once he realized his sentence, “... get it? Bit? Because I’m a polar bear named Bit. And...” He then saw everyone’s dead panned expression towards his way, “... jeez, tough crowd.”

He cleared his throat as he explained, “First off! Forget about getting an airship. At least immediately unless you’re willing to do constant monthly payment plans. You’re honestly better off building enough credentials with the Airship Coordinators until your approval rating with them is at 100% so you can get it for free. Or at least close to that. Thats how the big guys like Mark and Ego did it. Second! The best way to get creditials is by getting a high rep level.”

Shinsei blinked, “Rep level?”

Bit Polar stopped in his tracks, staring at Shinsei, “Y-You don’t know what a rep level is?”

“... should I know?”

“Uh... yeah!? You should!” Bit exclaimed as he brought out his Key Tool, “Dude, it’s on your SnS App! Under your classification statistics!”

Shinsei looked at his own Key Tool as he brought up the app and brought up the appropriate statistics showing a full body model of himself with dozens of bits of info on himself. Lo and behold, as he kept looking, he eventually found it, “Ah I see it now? I’m... at a Total Rep Level of... 1,316?”

Bit raised an eyebrow with a surprised expression, “1,316? And you said you just barely started? Wow, that’s not bad! Mine is 2,940, but that’s from 2 years of building up that rep! If you wanna see how much rep a Skyer has, you can look them up in the app too. Try to find Mark to see what I mean.”

Shinsei nodded as he looked up the app while trying to finish his food. After a while, his eyes opened wide, “31,567,388!?!?”He looked back at Bit, “But... how!?”

The Polar Bear chuckled, “Well, part of it is the fame obviously. But how rep is measured is by one’s actions in their job classification as well as what they do off work for others. It’s why it pays off to be an SnS Soldier because of all the stuff you’re provided to do off that classification. Essentially, the more you do, the more chances you get to get recognized and for the EOG system that measures all of this to tally it up. You get a high enough rep level, specifically in the Y Category, and you’re airship costs will drop down drastically.”

“Man, all of this sounds like a lot of work to build up to...” Shinsei remarked dejectedly.

“Don’t worry about it, Shinsei!” Patamon suddenly chimed in, looking away from his snack over to his Tamer, “We’re just beginning our adventure, aren’t we? I’m sure if we do enough Pokemon, Digimon and Yokai events, along with SnS related missions, it’ll be enough to build that rep level!”

Shinsei’s brown eyes looked to Patamon before he smiled and rubbed the Digimon’s head, “Yeah, you’re right, buddy. I guess it’ll all come naturally.”

Bit gave a look of concern, “Yeah, I just hope that calling yourself a Xros Tamer isn’t going to get more heat on your than praise.”

As the group finished their food, the Polar Bear suddenly thought, “Oh! By the way, you got a weapon for yourself, right?”

Shinsei gave another confused look, “A... weapon?”

“... don’t tell me you’re planning on being an SnS Soldier with just your fists.”

The boy gave a shrug, “It’s been working out so far! Besides, my partners are my weapons.”

Shaking his head, Bit spoke out, “Oh nonononononono, dude, you NEED a weapon! Again, trust me, I know! Some missions may end up being more dangerous than you think and YOU need to find a way to defend yourself in case something stupid happens.” He got up as he waved his hand, “Come on, I’m gonna help you out.”

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As the group stepped out of the diner and towards the airship, Shinsei felt butterflies in his stomach. For far too long, he’s gazed and looked at airships in awe, but since they rarely, if at all, ever touch down in the major cities and towns, he never had a chance to get up close with one.

Without doing any sort of action, the bay door on the lower end of the airship opened up, revealing a small garage with a door. Shinsei stopped by the tip of the entrance as Bit turned around to Shinsei, “Uh... You ok?”

“Huh?” Shinsei looked to Bit and nodded, “Y-yeah, I’m fine. It’s just... I never stepped inside an airship before.”

“Oh... Well, it’s nothing really special. Besides, it’s not like I’m gonna kidnap you all or something!”

Shinsei gave a light chuckle, then breathed in as he took his step inside...

“RAWR!!!”

“GAH!!!” Shinsei flailed and nearly fell on the airship’s floor, leaning on the wall as everyone except Bit gave a bit of confusion. A light hearted chuckle could be heard as a monitor popped up in mid air, showing a 32-bit chibi avatar of Bit Polar’s airship, “Sorry Bit, I couldn’t help myself.”

Bit gave a grin and chuckled a bit too, “You gotta forgive her. She’s kind of the rowdy and crazy type.”

The avatar showed a proud expression, “It’s not like I can help what I’ve been programmed with! Anyway Bit, who are these new people?”

He extended out his hand and explained as Shinsei regained himself, “This here’s Shinsei, Digistar, Patamon and Impmon. Guys, I want you all to meet Nicole, AI of the USS Broken.”

Nicole gave a dead pan side glance towards Bit, “Do you HAVE to announce me with the official title of this ship? It’s embarrassing every single time you do that!”

“Well you ARE broken.”

“Correction: My physical body and all my functions aren’t at full capacity. My heart and soul, which lies in my programming, is not!”

“And that’s why you’re broken.”

Silence fell between the two for a brief moment before Nicole gave a glare, “... do you want me to leave you stranded here for several days? I wouldn’t mind having a vacation in this place, you know...”

Bit blinked a bit before sighing, waving his paw in a mock bow, “Fine, fine, I’m sorry o’ mighty and powerful Nicole of the name of the ship I shall not mention ever again in front of new and old friends to avoid embarrassing you further.”

The avatar gave a nod, “That’s better.”

The group was a bit intrigued by the personality of this AI. Prior to this program, the only other one they had interacted with so far was with Rose, so going from a personality like Rose to something like Nicole’s was a bit surprising to say the least. However, the one who was the most amazed was Shinsei as he looked closer to the screen, “This... this is pretty cool! I didn’t even know airships supported AI programming!”

“Of course they do!” Nicole quipped, “An airship requires far more functions to multitask than an automobile, so it makes sense it’s mandatory for ALL airships to have one. Even if it’s a primitive AI with voice only.” She then gave a smirk, “Unfortunately for Bit here, like all airships, my programming is hard wired into this ship.”

“Though I could still change the name of the actual ship, so HA to that!”

As Nicole gave yet another glare to Bit, Digistar asked, “And you don’t need a seperate Key Tool to store your programming in like with vehicles?”

Nicole looked back, “Nope! All integrated within the ship itself.”

They’ve only entered inside what looked to be the entrance/garage inside the airship and already Shinsei was majorly impressed with the set up. Bit waved over to the group, “Come on, I’ll show you to the bridge.”

As they all climbed up a ladder, they eventually found themselves inside a small room, with a console at the very front and a large window screen which wrapped around the entire room, showcasing every direction of what could be seen outside. As they all stepped in, Nicole’s avatar popped up on the front portion of the screen as Bit spoke, “Nicole, bring out the extra weapons collection.”

Several data cubes suddenly formed and dissipated, revealing two rows of various small weapons. The weapons themselves were of various shapes and types, but most being small. Bit explained, “These are pretty much the extra weapons I’ve picked up along my journeys. I could sell all of these if I want to but really they’d only get me enough bits to buy something from a vending machine, so it’s better to just give em to a new acquaintance.” He then gestured towards the row to Shinsei, “Take your pick.”

Shinsei walked up towards the row and examined the weapons.  As he inspected some of the weapons, he began to ponder what weapon would even work best for him. Through his offensive and defensive classes, he learned all types of offensive and defensive capabilities, and that included with a variety of weapons. But when Shinsei decided to be a Xros Tamer, he felt having his partners was enough, so as such, he never gave a final decision on what weapons he would focus on.

After a bit of thinking, he chose a specific sword and pulled it off from the rack.

“Ah, the feathered edge!” Bit remarked, “Truthfully I just got that not too long ago but I only used it once. I think that’ll work out well for you!”

He examined the blade carefully, noting how there was an open triangle gap in between. He gave a satisfactory nod, “It’s perfect. Thanks Bit!”

“Sure thing!” Bit smiled, “All I ask in return for this is that we exchange sub info through our Key Tools. Doing that as is will help increase our own rep levels. Last bit of advice I can give to you is anytime you do a mission or anything at all with any Alters, you exchange sub info. The more you do and meet with people, the higher your rep will grow.” He gave a determined fist pump as he continued, “Getting a high rep level is a challenge and some will tell you it’s impossible. But the key to becoming a Skyer and getting your name up there is to never give up! Never let the small numbers make you think you’ll never make it. Never think you can’t do it. Because with a goal like that, Shinsei, I’m sure you’ll get there!”

Shinsei felt rather inspired by Bit Polar’s inspirational speech as he raised his chest and nodded, “Thanks Bit!”

As both of them gave a proper fist bump, Digistar, Impmon and Patamon looked on, noting that while they weren’t exactly in the same boat as Shinsei in terms of focusing on becoming a popular skyer, they could feel the excitement from his expression.

********************************************

As the USS Broken flew upwards towards the sky, occasionally twitching sideways from the occasional jet propulsion hiccup or two, Shinsei and everyone gave a hearty farewell towards Bit until he was nearly a speck in the horizon. Shinsei raised his fists to his chest and grinned in excitement, “Man, I’m so pumped now! Skyers are so awesome; Even the not as well known ones like Bit!”

Digistar nodded, “Yeah. Still though, he did a lot of confident talking for someone who only has around 1,000 points above you in rep level.”

Patamon, whom flapped on top of Shinsei’s head, remarked, “Maybe that’s how he feels about his own ambitions too. In a way, maybe he sees you as a rival, Shinsei! A friendly rival, but... you know.”

“At least you’re more prepared for the adventures ahead, kid.” Impmon remarked. He then looked to Digistar, “Why didn’t you ask for a weapon yourself, Digistar?”

“DATS Agents aren’t allowed to wield our own weapons unless we’re SnS Soldiers.” Digistar remarked, looking to Impmon, “Besides, weapons are pointless when your Digimon can evolve to a high level.”

Impmon crossed his arms and smirked with pride, “Yeah... I guess you’re right.”

Rose’s engine putted along as she approached the group, “So you all ready to go? We still got a few dozen more miles to hit before we arrive near Lavar Peak.”

The group nodded as they boarded inside the Volkswagen. Before Shinsei got inside, however, he looked towards his car, then upwards towards the sky, thinking about one particular thing that happened before they left the USS Broken...

********************************

“Huh. Now that’s something you don’t see every day.”

Shinsei looked over to Bit, “What?”

“That old Beetle down over there at the station.”

“Oh, that’s our vehicle! Her name is--”

Bit exclaimed, “DUDE, SERIOUSLY!? And it’s in THAT great of a condition!?”

The teen’s brown eyes blinked, “Well... um... yeah...”

Bit grabbed Shinsei by the shoulder and shook him, “Do you realize how many bits you could get for a car in that condition!? You could EASILY buy an airship far better than mine!”

Shinsei began to stammer, “I-I-I-But I--”

Bit released Shinsei from his grip as he continued, “I mean, yeah, it won’t end up being as massive or amazing as some of the big Skyers out there but man, you could easily have something that could get you where you want and probably at good speeds too! You could get a head start on your journey as a Skyer easily with that!”

“Bit, I--”

“Look, lets do this!” Bit began as he brought up his console’s screens, “I know a dude who knows another dude who knows some dudette in a dude ranch where they’re all dudes that buys and sells classic vehicles like that. If you can give me a few minutes, I could easily hook you up and--”

“He’s not interested, Bit!”

Bit stopped briefly as he looked over to Patamon, whom had a stern expression.

“Not interested?” He laughed, “Come on, that car is an easy one way ticket to the airship life! Having an airship is EASILY better than driving ANY car, let alone an old relic like that!”

“He’s right, Bit.”

Now Bit was looking at Shinsei, whom gave a smile, “I appreciate the offer and help... but I’ll never sell Rose.”

“Rose?”

He nodded, “Thats the name of that Beetle. She’s been with my family for as far back as I can remember. And while I would love to have an airship right now, I’m not going to let go of someone whom me and my grandma...” He looked over to Patamon, “... as well as my partner here consider a friend and a loyal companion.” Shinsei looked back, “She may be old and her speeds likely cause delays to our travels. But I wouldn’t take this trip with any other vehicle or mode of transportation than Rose.”

The Polar Bear seemed slightly confused, but after processing it a bit, he asked once more, “Are you absolutely sure?”

“Yeah. I rather earn my airship through my own hard work anyway.”

Bit smiled and nodded, “Alright... While it seems a bit silly to make a decision like that in some ways... in another, I get what you mean. I can respect that man.”

****************************************

Shinsei patted the roof of the old Volkswagen as he looked back towards it, “Hey Rose... thanks for being our partner in this journey.”

Rose’s avatar showed a bit of confusion briefly before she smiled, “You’re welcome, Shinsei. I just hope I won’t cause you all too much trouble in this long trip. Truthfully, I’m a bit nervous.”

Shinsei shook his head, “No, you won’t be any trouble. We’ll tackle any obstacles together.”

As Shinsei sat inside and closed the door, the bug’s engine revved up a bit before driving off, back onto the Pathway.

With their encounter with Bit Polar and learning about the world of Skyers, Shinsei now had a clearer picture on how to obtain his dream of becoming the biggest Skyer in Entra. And while the goal did indeed sound impossible, the passion he obtained on this day brought him to the conclusion to never give up and to focus on his job classification as a Xros Tamer.

He and his friends would continue to journey onwards with not much additional fanfare, until several days later...

TO BE CONTINUED