~Digimon: Paladins of the Boundary~

[Hydra of Ages]

Nuriel shook his head.

"I don't think it's an option to settle down here. Half of our castle is sticking out of the sky- humans shouldn't be able to see it, but it's still too dangerous to let alone. The Boundary looks sickly, and I don't even want to imagine what consequences this could have for the digital world if its stopped letting things over to the other side..."

he paced a little, silently wishing that he had wings he could stretch in order to get rid of the niggling feeling he was getting in his shoulders.

"Not to mention there are plenty of Rogues hiding out back here. Imagine what would happen if they learned we were at such a disadvantage- there'd be no end to the chaos! In fact, they probably know already- seeing our fortress half through the wall isn't exactly subtle."

Now he was starting to panic. The former angel rolled back and forth on his heels, taking deep breaths to calm himself. The digimon that were already here-

Wait. The [i]digimon already here.[/i]

"The Paladin Representatives!" he said with a broad smile. This explained so much! More, in fact, than he had needed to before- they'd probably know how to return them to their real forms too.

Paladin Representatives weren't well known by most of the order- in fact, only a handful of the top Paladin brass were given much regarding their activities. The idea was that, with rogue digimon disappearing so seamlessly into the human urban wilderness, the Paladins needed to follow suit in order to keep up- the Representatives were Paladins, generally unsuited for combat duty, who were assigned more or less permanent positions on the human world. They were equipped with devices that allowed them to appear human- [i]appear, [/i]or [i]become[/i]? Their newfound humanness was, in all likelihood, the secret cloaking technology usually reserved for Representatives coming into play!

Nuriel had to admit he'd never met a Representative before- they didn't come into play on a usual assignment, after all. Even so, he did recall off-hand that a couple of the representatives did live in Tokyo Zone- and in fact, he remembered the exact spot, having had it pointed out to him on an earlier occasion.

"I have an idea!" he exclaimed with a smile. "Shinjuku National Bank, that's our next destination!" he said with glee, pausing for a few seconds, then pivoting and turning in a direction. Tokyo was a large place, but he still reasonably knew his way around from the many, many times he'd flown above it.

[The Warden]

Godiva had been thinking to herself whilst waiting for Vamos to answer, and then came upon a new diabolical idea. 'Perhaps, witht he way Corbin is in, the Paladins could be in a very week state. We could wipe them out and be rid of those pests forever!' she cried triumphantly, raising her hands.

It had been a while since she had been this giddy, the last time was probably when Vamos and herself performed their first successful heist in the Human World. With a snap of her fingers her disguise melted away, showing the minimal difference between her disguise and her actual form. 'We'll take my broom, it's faster. And no, I won't remove your disguise. With your natural bulk you'll snap it like a twig'.

[fenrir]

Vamos muttered a curse under his breath. "I'm not [i]that[/i] heavy..." While Godiva's plan seemed like it could work, there was still the question of numbers. "My only worry is that we'll be outnumbered. They might have suffered a blow to their [i]castle[/i], but it isn't necessarily the same with the paladins themselves." Vamos sat awkwardly on the broom, clearly uncomfortable given his large stature. "We should at least scout though, that much I'll agree with. Let's just hope the paladins are weakened, or else it'll be a waste." It's troubling that the castle was... [i]Weakened[/i]. Good news for them, indeed, but troubling for their homeworld. An interesting predicament regardless, and certainly one they could profit from. Profit they will, not even necessarily in gold. ...Although that would be nice. No, Vamos wanted to profit from this in an entirely different manner.

A manner involving two axes and some faces.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

An explosion at Castle Corbin...that's all Arroc remembered as he awoke from where he laid. [color=#0000FF]"Ugh...my poor head is beating like a Dondokomon..."[/color] he groaned a bit as he sat up. He turned his head and saw the Boundary and half of Castle Corbin, same as everyone else. [color=#0000FF]"OK...am I still dreaming? Is their a Tapirmon hiding in the Castle making me dream this weird stuff?"[/color] he asked looking at the scenery that was around him. [color=#0000FF]"Cause if it is...I want to wake up now."[/color]

With Arroc being in awe of this, he didn't look down at himself....until now. As he looked down at himself, he freaked. His blue Chrome Digizoid was gone, only to be replaced by a light blue hoodie, a dark blue t-shirt with a huge blood red "v" on it, blue jeans and Clear Mind Blue Converse with small yellow "v"s on it.

[color=#0000FF]"W-What the hell!?"[/color] he exclaimed, looking at himself. Arroc, still believing this was a dream, began to pinch his arm. Unfortunately...he found out it was very real. [color=#0000FF]"What...what happened? Why am I not a VictoryDramon anymore?"[/color] Arroc asked as he started walking away from the small field he awoke in.

This had never happened to anyone...not once in the records the Paladins had in Castle Corbin. So the fact that this happened came as a complete shock to him.

[color=#0000FF][i]W-Where is Nuriel and the others? A-Are they dead...? [/i][/color]he thought, walking towards the city that he had spotted. [color=#0000FF][i]Oh dear Azulongmon...please let them be alright. [/i][/color]Arroc could only hope his fellow Paladins were still alive.

[~ Dākunaitomon ~]

"Shinjuku National Bank? (Hm I wonder...I've heard about the Shinjuku zone from my underlings while I worked as a mob boss.) Ill follow you Nuriel seems you ought to know your way around here. Another thing though... Where is Arroc? It appears he is in the same predicament as hiargon...(sorry if misspelled)" Sama'el walked towards one of his companions, and asked "Say what exactly is human behavior? I believe we would need to know this..." He eavesdropped on a Japanese individual's conversation and began speaking again "Look at these civilians and thier vocal dialect. Is this how all humans speak? I'm sorry, I haven't studied my human behavior books. All I was doing was learning castle procedures and well frankly we don't need it anymore." As Sama'el finished his sentence he looked again toward the massive ruin of his home. "Sigh anyways..."

[Blackstone Dresden]

[color=red]Meggi promptly face palmed and let out a frustrated sigh, "Ya know, for a bunch of Paladins, we're a bit thick, aren't we?" She asked rhetorically, unaware that there was now an extra person in the group, a man with black dreadlocks dressed in an all blue soccer uniform.[/color]

[color=blue]"Well then." The new person said, making himself known to the others, "Allow me to thin you out, Paladins."[/color]

((Apps for the following characters forthcoming. For now, just know [color=gold]Ryu[/color] = Ryudamon/Goldramon and [color=orange][color=#a52a2a][color=orange]Victor[/color][/color] [/color]= Agumon/VictoryGreymon))

[color=orange]"More importantly..." Victor said, sitting up and dusting himself off, evidently not caring that he's human, "Where's the rest of our squad?" He pointed over to a third human gazing into the water and shaking himself before looking back in and repeating the process. "Based on the way that guy's losing his goddamned mind right now, I'd hazard a guess to say that we've found Goldramon."[/color]

[color=gold]"Losing my goddamned mind?!" Goldramon asked, "I have legs! I haven't had legs since I was a Hisyaryumon! Of course I'm losing my mind!"[/color]

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Arroc stopped in his tracks, as he heard someone's voice. He turned and saw two other humans, though oddly enough...by the voices, Arroc knew them. Turning around, he smiled and chuckled. [color=#000080]"Well Victor, for Ryu being a Hisyaryumon for so long...of course he'd be losing his mind." [/color]These two, Victor and Ryu, were best friends back at Corbin. Victor, Arroc remembered was a VictoryGreymon...they always fought since they were both almost the same type of Digimon. The second, Ryu, was his Goldramon friend, though he usually kept to himself.

[color=#000080]"Ryu, Victor...we need to get moving. If we stay right here for too long, we might be spotted by whoever knocked us on this side of the Boundary." [/color]Arroc said, smiling as he motioned to his two friends. [color=#000080]"Hopefully we'll be able to find the other Paladins in that city down there."[/color]

[DeathSDelano]

[font=courier new,courier,monospace]Still wondering aimlessly, Hiargon continued sightseeing the human world while "attempting to locate his comrade. "Wow, there is so much stuff in this place compared to the place I was raised" he said with a joyous look on his face. "Wonder, what the others think of this place, but than again they would probably try to remain hidden" Hiargon said quietly to himself. As he walked, Hiargon hummed alittle tone that he learned from his elder brother long ago hoping that one of his comrades would recognize the tone[/font].

[Ignis avis]

"[color=#b22222]What do you mean "Thin out"?" [/color]Roran said reaching casually for his blade before remembering where he was, and what form he was in. "[color=#b22222]And how do you know what we are?[/color]" He eyes the man over, and couldn't recognize any part of him, but then again he barely recognized the paladins in their human states.

"[color=#b22222]Whoever you are, you know of us. That means you are a digimon[/color]." he reasoned out. "[color=#b22222]And because you are not a knight I recognize that means that you are probably a rogue.[/color]" At that moment Roran looked around. There were few humans around, if none at all, and that put him into a sense of unease. If they were attacked in these forms, they would be weakened tremoundously, and could posibly be defeated. It also meant that they had no witnesses, so the digital world wasn't in risk of being discovered if they did fight.

[Blackstone Dresden]

[color=orange]"Yes, boss." Victor said, nodding and dragging Ryu away from his reflection, "Come on, man, we've gotta get out of here. Half of Corbin just got trashed and we're on the wrong side of the Boundary. We need to just get out of here before people notice. Hopefully the other squad's not getting in too much trouble..."[/color]

[color=blue]You still haven't noticed, have you?" The soccer player asked, smirking, "You're not exactly in fighting shape right now. I'd hazard a guess and say that you're all Rookie level. Children." His smirked grew and he held up a yellow soccer ball, one of the pentagons being emblazoned with a symbol vaguely resembling the logo of the Paladins, save for a small number of visible modifications, "I, on the other hand, am a Perfect Level. It would be in your best interests to not try attacking me."[/color]

[Hydra of Ages]

Nuriel felt his throat tighten when the Rogue showed off his Symbol.

A number of things ran through his mind at that point, none of them pleasant given that this intruder obviously bode them ill will. The Rogue was in human form, meaning that whatever power had been granted them obviously wasn't unique to the Paladins on a whole. Some -or at least one- of the Rogues had it as well.

Not only that, they evidently managed to keep most of their power, while the Paladins were rendered only slightly above helpless. Perfect level wouldn't be significant if this was a routine mission -indeed, all of the Paladins were capable of defeating far greater than that, even Meggi, who was a Perfect herself. As of now, however... well, it spelled danger. A Perfect-level rogue was something more than a common scoundrel or thief accidentally crossing the boundary, it was someone with an agenda. An agenda that didn't bear well for them in any case.

Nuriel took a step forward. It pained him to take the initiative, but for the moment he seemed to be elected their unofficial leader- so it was his duty to stand first in the line of fire.

"Identify yourself," he said in his gruffest voice (which was vaguely squeaky). "You bear one of our symbols, yet I've never heard of you. I am High Paladin Nuriel- this battalion is, for the moment, my responsibility. Any quarrel you have with them, you have with me."

His words were carefully chosen. He flicked his eyes quickly over to Meggi to see if she had gotten the message between his words- '[i]Leave it to me to distract him, the rest of you escape',[/i] but back before he got an answer.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

[quote name='Blackstone Dresden' timestamp='1321690909' post='5652248']
[color=orange]"Yes, boss." Victor said, nodding and dragging Ryu away from his reflection, "Come on, man, we've gotta get out of here. Half of Corbin just got trashed and we're on the wrong side of the Boundary. We need to just get out of here before people notice. Hopefully the other squad's not getting in too much trouble..."[/color]
[/quote]

Arroc nodded a bit, but chuckled some what.[color=#0000FF] "But remember who we're talking about. If its Nuriel leading the rest of the Paladins...trouble always seems to come to them."[/color] he said, Victor and Ryu following him. What he said was true though, whenever Nuriel would take command of a small group of the Paladins, trouble always seemed to follow. The main trouble he thought back on, was that group of rampaging Mammothmon. And unfortunately, Arroc was present in that squad...it wasn't a very pleasant sight. [color=#0000FF][i]Now...I remember my father saying that there were other Digimon here... [/i][/color]he thought, as they entered the city. [color=#0000FF][i]Question is...how the hell do we find the ones that are on OUR side?[/i][/color]

[Blackstone Dresden]

[color=blue]"Oh, that's rich. An tiny little Osmeymon's going to go up against me." The mysterious intruder said, chuckling, "Yes, High Paladin Nuriel, I've heard of you. And you, Meggi the Flamedramon, and Sama'el, and Roran, and... Oh, where's Hiargon run off to?" He noted that the sole female among the Paladins was slowly ushering out the others, "Not so fast, Meggi. You're all staying right here until Hiargon figures it out."[/color]

[color=orange]"Boss, didn't you tell us about the Paladin Representatives?" Victor asked Arroc, catching up to him and then summarily dropping Ryu, who at this point was moving more or less under his own power anyway, "Wasn't one of them a Ganemon stationed at a bank somewhere around here? Seems like he's the guy we'd talk to first, he'd at least be able to get us a couple bucks to blow on new clothes if nothing else." He gestured down at his own clothes, which were similar in appearance to Arroc's but orange and lacking the V-decals. "We kinda stand out in this form, especially if someone knows what our real selves look like."[/color]

[Super Chaos Sonic]

[quote name='Blackstone Dresden' timestamp='1321779666' post='5654596']
[color=orange]"Boss, didn't you tell us about the Paladin Representatives?" Victor asked Arroc, catching up to him and then summarily dropping Ryu, who at this point was moving more or less under his own power anyway, "Wasn't one of them a Ganemon stationed at a bank somewhere around here? Seems like he's the guy we'd talk to first, he'd at least be able to get us a couple bucks to blow on new clothes if nothing else." He gestured down at his own clothes, which were similar in appearance to Arroc's but orange and lacking the V-decals. "We kinda stand out in this form, especially if someone knows what our real selves look like."[/color]
[/quote]

Arroc snapped and nodded. [color=#0000FF]"A Ganemon...at a bank, good thinking Victor." [/color]he said chuckling, as they headed towards the city square. They had now come to a problem...where was the Ganemon and the bank he was stationed at. [color=#0000FF][i]Damn...can't seem to remember where the hell this Representative was and how to get there... [/i][/color]he thought, sighing. [color=#0000FF]"Victor, Ryu...we need to gather information to try and find this bank. I know its risky, but there is no other choice. Cause its not like we can just see codes of data like we could back on Corbin. Apparently in these new bodies, we can't do much of anything..." [/color]He shook his head and looked back at his squad. [color=#0000FF]"Unless you two have a better idea..."[/color]

[~ Dākunaitomon ~]

"Arroc I have an idea... If I am to somehow convert to my original form which is that of a small strangely colored puppy. It is most recognizable with the humans. Since well I doubt the humans will not notice a small dragon walking around." He turned to his fellow paladins. "Sorry but most of you are really strange fellows if you look at it from a human perspective."

He then turned to the three dragon type paladins who had just abruptly introduced themselves. "Hi there I'm... Sam as a human name. As it turns out my mega form is also a dragon... The dragon god of death. How? Well it's simple really I basically happened to meet a Shinigami or death god and he passed on his powers to me. So I suggest you let me join you lest you Incur my wrath. You did after all insult my friend. Justice must not be obstructed."

[The Warden]

'And I'm Minnie Driver darling' Godiva retorted before opening the door and getting back on the broom.

It rocketed it off at breakneck speeds, and despite this, she still sat side saddle and was doing an extremelly good job and keeping absolutely standstill on it. 'It would be best, that when we engage the paladins for oyur to evolve to perfect. If the Paladins are in any ways weakened, then your will be able to expertly pummel them without fear of retaliation' she explained, before slowing down her broom and started performing recconaisance.

The humans had such meagre levels of power, it would easy to distinguish the Paladins from the humans, no matter what forms they took. It was so handy that their symbols practically lit them up like christmas trees.

[Hydra of Ages]

In a high stress situation, Nuriel tended to default back to the coldly logical. It was a flaw, he knew- it was just a way to avoid responsibility for himself by creating a by-the-book mask that he could blame for anything that may have gone wrong- but like always of course, when it came to that point, he had stopped caring anyways. Paladins faced dangerous circumstance all the time, but optimally, they were well-equipped, in familiar terrain, able to rely on their own individual skills and well-informed. Here, they had half of a castle, in the middle of the human realm, were herded together like sheep and completely out of their element. The odds were stacked against them, and unlike the Royal Knights, they tended to avoid overly dangerous missions when possible. This was an unexplored sector.

This interloper had access to Paladin technology, was far stronger than they at the moment, and seemed to want them to stay still for a while. The only thing preferable to capture by an enemy was death- there was always a chance Yggdrasil would see fit to reconstruct you, after all, or the cycle of Samsara would allow you enough of your memory that your reincarnation wouldn't be a complete death of the original, while capture put you at the mercy of an enemy rather than their God- but in the human world, there wasn't a digital safety net for them to fall into. If they died, they truly died.

Nuriel took stock of their surroundings. They were in an alleyway, not terribly far away from a parkway. They were drawing a couple confused glances from across the way, but nobody was interested enough to investigate- they all had their own lives to run, after all. Nuriel couldn't help but feel a couple apprehensive prickles in his scalp at the thought he was actually being seen by human eyes- that went against his internal training.

But... wait. He shouldn't be [i]that [/i]weirded out, should he? He was still upholding the prime directive -by looking like a human himself- so why did he feel like his stomach was sinking constantly? And, he noted, there was a sort of... lurch. Almost imperceptible, every time a human slowed their walking speed to spare a glance their way. Every time they were acknowledged.

[i]...those weirdos? Don't get too close, or they mi...[/i]
[i]...Gangbangers, obviously. This city really has g...[/i]
[i]...want that shirt. Look at that cool design- maybe he'd let me buy it?...[/i]

Ah, that was it. His brain still throbbed a little- it was unfamiliar and rough, like grasping the edges of broken glass, but he felt it from the corner of his mind. Not data, but similar- far less filtered, more free. Prickly and strangely shaped, he could only comprehend small sections- but he knew at this point that what he was sensing was the fabled Spiritual Energy, the power that formed the basis for Data of his world. It seemed that whatever minute connection was formed whenever a human noticed them was enough to send the energy- small fragments and amounts, of course, but in its raw state, it was still potent.

Perhaps even... intoxicating. Nuriel had heard stories of Rogues going mad, eating the emotions of humans as subsistence and gaining ridiculous power from it- indeed, he had put down several digimon matching that description himself. Did this happen to them too? Perhaps it had taken longer, given that they wouldn't have had human forms like himself and would scarcely be able to affect the human realm, but over time, had they too, sensed the same bonds?

The nature of his human transformation became more obvious the more he thought about it. The Boundary's breaking had sealed off the line of data from Corbin that fed the Paladins through their missions in the human world, and with injuries as severe as their own most likely were, had set them into the most efficient shape for energy conservation. If Nuriel could grasp, somehow force the rugged energy into his own body, he might be able to recover a fragment of his previous strength...

Naturally, every bit of that idea went against the very tenants of Paladin ideology.

But it WAS the most logical solution...

Nuriel grasped, both with his head and his mind, and lit on bright golden fire. It burned his skin- but he felt it. Surging power, several times more potent than data- clanging painfully within his systems, but successfully bouncing through them, lighting a fire in his belly unlike any he had ever known...

[Blackstone Dresden]

As soon as Nuriel started absorbing spiritual energy, Victor and Ryu's heads immediately snapped towards the other Paladins, however far away they may have been.

[color=orange]"Boss, do you feel that?" Victor asked, not quite sure what to make of the sudden power, "I... I've never felt anything like that before in my life."[/color]

[color=gold]Ryu just nodded, "It's bad..." He said, reverting back to his usual quiet self, a stark contrast from the nervous wreck he was before, "Cover's gonna get blown..."[/color]

[color=orange]"Oh stop being such a Fanglongmon damned pessimist!" Victor said, extrapolating his compatriots six words into volumes, "It's not like one of the Paladins is stupid enough to try absorbing Spiritual Energy or anything! It's probably whoever destroyed half of Corbin though."[/color]

[color=blue]"Well, well, well, one of the Paladins is stupid enough to try absorbing Spiritual Energy." The mysterious Digimon said, tossing his soccer ball into the air and letting its gold light rain down upon him, landing and bouncing twice before Digimon caught it under his shoe, now revealed as a Footmon, "I was planning on taking you one on one to show you how outclassed you are, but I suppose I'll just let the Spiritual Energy fry your data instead. Maybe after you're knocked on your ass you'll learn."[/color]

[The Warden]

Godiva felt a sudden chill to the air, it was the same feeling she had gotten when she came into contact with the Spiritual Energy of a human. Course, she had learned her lesson from that little addiction, but she knew the feeling of ii being siphoned. 'There's something up in the air, you feel it Vamos? A Digimon is absorbing SPiritual Energy from somewhere, I think I can pinpoint it' she reported and altered her flight path.

Following the trail up in the air, she could smell the rich Spiritual Energy. It was so intoxicating and probably the only use Humans really had, besides refining their pretty gemstones and putting them into such lovely placeholders. 'Yes, yeeeessss, I can feel it now, the scent is much stronger here' I think it would be best if we went incognito for hunting them down'.

Not even waiting for Vamos to answer, Godiva began to set her broom down in a vacant alley and with a twist of magic, she had donned her human disguise once more. 'They're close, I feel it' she whilst walking out of the alleyway.

[DeathSDelano]

[font=courier new,courier,monospace]Hiargon sensed a strange force radiating behind him. "What is this feeling? It feels familiar" Hiargon said as he turned around looking around to figure out what is going on. "Better go find out what this feeling is" Hiargon said as he started to walk towards source of the energy, "This gonna be some walk to get to where i am going. Hopefully it doesn't fade away before i can get over there." Hiargon said as he ran as fast as he could togethers the source of energy.[/font]

[font=courier new,courier,monospace]__________________________[/font]

[font=comic sans ms,cursive]"Hmm seems like things are about to get interesting around here" Tunizr said sitting on a crate in an alley not to far from the paladins. *insert evil chuckle*"...Wonder how many others will get attracted to the energy, and how many will fight" Tunizr said with a devilish smirk on his face. "If needed I may get to make it an appearance sooner than expected."[/font]

[Super Chaos Sonic]

[quote name='Blackstone Dresden' timestamp='1322388400' post='5669159']
[color=orange]"Boss, do you feel that?" Victor asked, not quite sure what to make of the sudden power, "I... I've never felt anything like that before in my life."[/color]

[color=gold]Ryu just nodded, "It's bad..." He said, reverting back to his usual quiet self, a stark contrast from the nervous wreck he was before, "Cover's gonna get blown..."[/color]

[color=orange]"Oh stop being such a Fanglongmon damned pessimist!" Victor said, extrapolating his compatriots six words into volumes, "It's not like one of the Paladins is stupid enough to try absorbing Spiritual Energy or anything! It's probably whoever destroyed half of Corbin though."[/color]
[/quote]

Arroc felt the sudden power increase, odd that he was now feeling powers of other Digimon now though. He glanced at Victor and nodded. [color=#0000FF]"Yeah...I feel it Victor. I haven't felt a power strong like that before either. Might say it's even higher than us Paladins..." [/color]Arroc was unsure about where this power came from, but he knew that if the other Paladins felt this energy...they would, if they weren't already there, would head towards it. [color=#0000FF]"Victor, Ryu...we're going towards that power...the Paladins will probably be there soon." [/color]he said, running towards the power, with his squad behind him.

[Ignis avis]

Roran watched as things progressed. If Nuriel could finish what he started that would mean it would be possible for the others to regain their normal forms. It would also mean that there would be more to learn than what he would have believed at first.

"How did you overcome this? Wouldn't you be just as affected as us?" He asked the footmon who had not given them a formal name yet. If the rogue could digivolve he must still have a link to data, or be able to use the energy that was known to corrupt many of the rogues who tried to harness it.

[Hydra of Ages]

Nuriel gritted his teeth as the rain of power attempted to destroy his systems. The light pouring from his systems wasn't just the excess energy- it was part of his own source coding, being burnt off as it tried to filter the overly raw power. The sheer force of will required for him to simply stay corporeal was mammoth- but, as he quickly found, he couldn't stop. His system was starved for power, famished- it kept greedily grabbing every little bit it could pull from the air- even if it was only a tiny quantity.

A very small crowd had started to gather at the side of the street opposite the alleyway. No more than four, maybe five humans... but giving him their undivided attention. Simply being [i]noticed, [/i]thought about... it pelted him with Spiritual Energy. Voices babbled around in his head, incomprehensible and loud- it became impossible to feel himself think. He tried to rationalize, but it was impossible- feral energy was tearing through his systems, consuming him part by part, ripping him apart-

His paladin symbol suddenly glowed like the sun, and Nuriel gasped loudly as if he'd been suddenly doused with water. The coolness was shocking- and, looking at the growing [i]aurora borealis[/i] that was appearing around him, he could see the source. His paladin symbol was twitching, glowing- overloaded as it was with energy. He reached out slowly to it, and got shocked in the process.

It had saved them... somehow. That cinched it- Paladin Symbols simply didn't have that ability. Not normal ones, anyway. Whatever he was wearing at the moment, it wasn't the same gift he'd been given by Yggdrasil. It was something-

"Entirely different," he whispered.

As if it recognized his command, the paladin symbol exploded into light, then reformed- no longer as the feathers that marked him before, but a strange metal bit engraved with his feathers. It was similar to his paladin symbol, he noted, but there were marked changes- most importantly, the symbol of Yggdrasil had been replaced with an unfamiliar starburst.

And as he looked at it, the center of the starburst was glowing- the innermost circle had a slight shine to it, and he knew it was storing Spiritual Energy.

Something came to mind. He wasn't sure what it is.

He raised his hands, and the symbol levitated with them- until it was in the center of his hands. He took a deep breath, then opened them.

"Soul Evolution Release." he commanded, eyes hard. The symbol twisted before him, turned, and then the starburst exploded once more- the light from the center shining backward and consuming him in it.

The Spiritual Energy was harsh as before, but for whatever reason... he could take it. It was as if his skin had been numbed, or his stamina had been increased, but channeled through his Symbol -he couldn't rightly call it a Paladin Symbol any longer- it became bearable, if not pleasant.

It was unlike any evolution he had ever experienced before. He shattered the cocoon of light with a gesture, and walked out- he wasn't IceAngemon, but he wasn't unlike it either. If anything, he felt like his usual Child form- but... not weak, not vulnerable. An air of animistic power radiated from him- a power source he hadn't felt before.

He was a youth once more, though older than usual. He wore a helmet resembling a falcon of some sort, also colored blue, arranged so it shaded his eyes from view but kept the rest of his face visible- and behind it descended long, delicate blue hair that he left unbound. His formerly white vestigages had been enhanced by azure leather padding, fletched with long blue feathers, and a few black war lines had been drawn across them. Most notable was his scabbard- instead of the thin rapier-holder it had been before, a conical gourd of water sat upon his back, filled to the brim with clear water- and atop the goard descended a bird, possibly a falcon or an owl, formed seemingly of living ice. It cocked its head once, twice, then fluttered down onto his outstretched left hand.

With his right hand, he reached backward and pulled at the top of his gouard- the water having instantly froze at his touch, he removed a massive six foot lance of ice, sharpened to a vicious point. He took an experimental swipe with it, nodding satisfactorily.

"SoulOskeymon," he said after a second, agreeing with the transformation.

[Blackstone Dresden]

[color=blue]"Goal." The Footmon said, smiling at Nuriel, the gesture warm and in no way antagonistic, "I'm assuming that hurt like all Hell though, but I guess it's to be expected." He shrugged and started playing with his soccer ball as he spoke, "I honestly didn't expect you to succeed right off the bat, but my, my, you're full of surprises." He tossed the soccer ball up and looked around at the gathering humans, slipping into the ancient language of the Digital World, spoken now only by Paladins and the Royal Knights, "You just had to draw a crowd though, didn't you? Probably why you're not passed out half dead, though, so points for ingenuity. Should probably start explaining what now, unless you feel like being belligerent, in which case I've got a few free minutes to kick your ass before I meet up with my team again."[/color]

[~ Dākunaitomon ~]

"Impossible! Nuriel you've... You've succeeded In regaining your rookie form... Now the question is how do we do that? And how do you revert to your human form? If that happens to the majority of us we won't exactly be gifted with having a humanoid for a rookie."

Still awed by the transformation Sama'el pondered to himself "[i]I am death incarnate yet I am trapped in this insignificant body? Unable to fight? How pitiful. Metalphantomon would be disappointed indeed.[/i]

He pondered something if he had inherited all the powers from Metalphantomon why hadn't he obtained the X-Antibody? He had reasearched Metalphantomon's statistics and found he was a carrier of the strange program. Perhaps it was within the confines of his RAM. Awaiting to be released from it's confines. Or perhaps it was what made Metalphantomon weak in the first place...

"Impossible!" he said aloud. He hoped his comrades hadn't heard. "Well now Nuriel now that your done changing your wardrobe.... Uh..." Sama'el thought quickly and said subtly to the audience "Wonderful Magic Trick!!!" turning to his paladins he motioned to leave.