Intrigued, Minako looked around the big and colorful room in which she, Artemis and Chaos had appeared.
They were standing directly in front of a very long counter, like in a bar, and the shelves behind that counter were filled with all kinds of colorful beverages. On the other side of the room, there was an enormous TV screen, giving the room the impression of being a movie theater.
In various corners, many tables, sofas, armchairs and stools were placed, on which all kinds of people were sitting, drinking and talking to each other. Various persons seemed to prefer to stay by themselves, as some of them were leaning at the wall, peering over to the assembled groups suspiciously. Other groups were busy playing billiard, or arm-wrestling.
Minako was amazed at the many different people in this room... Many humans, a few beings that seemed to be aliens or mutants, even a few creatures that looked more like animals, and one or two persons she could not identify because every part of their bodies was concealed within whatever they were wearing, may it be a cloak or a futuristic battle suit.
"Welcome to my little bar," Chaos said with pride. "In here, all of the participants can relax, converse with each other and watch the battles in which they don't take part on that big screen you can see over there... Also, over there you can see various exits, leading to sleeping chambers for everyone who wants to take a short - or long - nap. By the way, the bathroom is that way!"
"Those guys are all here to fight in your tournament?" Minako asked in awe. "Looks like an Anime convention to me..."
Chaos grinned as he realized just how close the blonde girl had come to the truth... "Well, those are only half of the warriors... That half that will fight for me. The other half will be quartered by my friend and rival, Q."
"Q? You don't mean the omnipotent alien guy from Star Trek, do you?"
"Ah, yes..." the floating cat sighed. "It's always the same... Q's little pranks made him famous, while I only appear in one single episode of a kid's cartoon..."
"Well, you certainly look like it," Artemis grumbled. He still had not forgiven Chaos for turning him into a sock-puppet.
"Well, have fun, try making new friends... I have to take care of some... official matters. The first fight won't start after you all had one good night's sleep... See you later!"
And he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Just a few seconds later, his floating head appeared next to Artemis. "I always loved that special effect," he chuckled... and disappeared again.
"Great..." Artemis groaned. "You're the champion for a moronic, floating cat..."
"One of the champions, don't forget," Minako said. "And may I remind you that my advisor is an annoying know-it-all cat?"
She began walking towards the tables, looking around the room. "Well, even for a mad cat, he sure has style..."
Minako felt uneasy when getting too close to the strange-looking individuals within the room, so she decided to approach a table at which some normal-looking girls were sitting and chatting.
The girls turned their attention towards Minako, as she stood next to them.
"Hi there!" a cheerful, pink-haired girl greeted her. "You also fighting in the tournament?"
A younger, brown-haired girl that was accompanied by a weird, bipedal cat, giggled. "Now, that was a stupid question, Nene... After all, we're all here to fight, right?"
"Uh, not quite," her feline companion pointed out. "You know we will fight together, because I clearly couldn't digivolve by myself... as Chaos explained to us, we're a 'special case of a tag-team."
Nene nodded. "Yeah, he told me something similar... He said every fighter is allowed to take one friend or similar ally along, to accompany the 'main champion'... but not to fight at his or her side. I'm here to support my friend Priss... she's sitting over there... but I'm not allowed to fight with her, I can give her good advice, though... and cheer her on."
Minako nodded. "Yeah, you could say the same thing about my little feline friend here..."
"Who's little?" Artemis grumbled.
"Well, nice to have you aboard," the third girl sitting at the table smiled. "I'm Ukyo Kuonji, trained in Okonomiyaki Martial Arts."
"Nice to meet you," Minako replied. "I'm Minako Aino... and this is Artemis."
"Hi," the younger girl said. "I'm Kari and this is Gatomon, my Digimon partner."
"And I'm Nene Romanova," the pink-haired girl introduced herself. "I'm a member of the Knight Saber Mercenary Group."
Minako sat down next to them, while Artemis hopped up on the backrest of the sofa Kari was sitting on... and placed his furry self right next to Gatomon.
"Say, have you been to Juuban before? I could swear I've seen you before..."
Gatomon just snorted. "That has to be the most cliché pick-up-line ever..."
Artemis smirked. "Well, forgive me for trying... but you're just too cute!"
The Digimon smirked back. "Flattery won't help you either."
"So, um..." Minako looked at the faces of the different girls sitting in front of her. "Are you all from Japan as well?"
"Kari and I are, sugar," Ukyo explained. "Although I believe we're from a different reality, as that flying cat had explained..."
"I am from Megatokyo..." Nene told her new friends. "From what I heard, you could say it could be a possible future for the Tokyo you know... Still weird to meet people from the past, or..." Her gaze wandered over Gatomon and Artemis. "Talking cats... no offense!"
"None taken," the white-furred felines chorused.
"Have you also just arrived here?" Minako asked.
"I've been here for half an hour," Ukyo explained. "And from what Nene and Kari told me, they have been waiting for an even longer time..."
"Yeah, when Priss and I came here, the room was almost empty," Nene nodded. "But little by little, all of those guys you can see have been assembled, brought here by Chaos..."
"And have you... um..." Minako looked over to a creature that looked like a big, yellow ball with a tail, a big mouth, and most prominently, a single, enormous eye. "Have you already talked to some of the more... eccentric fellows?"
"Well, most of them aren't that bad," Gatomon explained. "Suezo over there seems to get excited easily, but is actually a decent guy... Although, I would be careful around some of the other fellows around here..." She inconspicuously gestured to a dark-skinned man who was wearing a dark fighting gi and a pearl necklace.
Minako shivered when looking at that guy... somehow, a sinister aura seemed to surround him.
"They call him 'Akuma'..." Kari whispered. "I would stay clear of him... he's supposed to be one of the strongest fighters from his home reality... and Chaos told me he's not one of the nicest guys..."
Minako gulped. "Well, in that case I'm really glad he's on our side..."
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(Posted Thu, 16 Nov 2006 13:25)
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