August 2023 Drabble #1 (Patreon)

Jack/Beelzemon – Jack stumbles across his first not-so-nice Digimon...

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Jack has cautiously made his way through the portal that the scientists have opened. There’s a camera strapped to his chest and a communication line in his ear but both seem to become very static-y rather quickly.

The world that meets him on the other side is looking like a desert though he knows from two other forays into the Digiworld that there are a lot of different environments to be found here. It’s somewhat interesting to see their equivalent of a desert environment. It’s just odd enough with random telephone poles sticking out of the ground or some glitches in the air to make it Uncanny Valley.

He looks around slowly, searching for any nearby Digimon. The ones he has met so far have all been curious little things that had been all too eager to talk to him and figure him out – just like he had been trying to figure them out.

He’s got his pulse rifle in his arms but that is more for show than anything else. The weapon does not work in this other world.

The last thing he hears through his crackling earpiece is Gabriel’s distorted voice muttering ‘just be careful’ before it completely shuts off. But that’s alright. He does not feel like he’s in danger and he’s got a compass to point him back to the portal anytime.

So Jack starts moving.

.oOo.

It appears not all Digimon are friendly. Which, given that they are products of human technology, makes sense. He just wishes he had anything to fight his attacker with – anything at all. But the humanoid Digimon is tall and has claws and a tail that it has wrapped around Jack’s arms, crushing them to his sides.

He’s pulled close until his nose almost touches the odd half-mask the Digimon is wearing, its red eyes boring into him.

“Now lookee what we have here. You look… human.” The Digimon tilts his head to the side and Jack can hear him taking a few sniffs off his neck. “You smell human too. Been a while since I’ve seen one of you around here. Thought you didn’t have the guts.”

Jack struggles against the strangling hold of the Digimon’s tail but there is no way that he’ll be able to free himself. It’s like fighting against steel… and looking at the segmented tail of the thing, he might not be too far off there.

“You’re not begging for your life. That’s boring.”

Jack tries to grin but is sure that it’s more of a grimace than anything else. “Would it change the situation any if I did?” he asks, voice squeezed out of him.

The Digimon is quiet for a moment as if honestly thinking about that before crooning with satisfaction: “No.”

Jack watches as it reaches out for him, testing his clothes with those sharp claws. The fabric slides apart without any resistance.

“My name is Beelzemon,” the Digimon tells him, half ominous, half playfully. “And we’re going to have fun today.”