The elastic ground of the Primary Village sunk under Riko's weight. He almost wanted to bounce his way through until he found the guardian of the village.

"So, how do we do this exactly?" Dargo asked

"Well, I guess we just get the guardian's attention, then ask if it's okay to pick Digitama."

Riko wondered if that was how it was done as they walked passed the building block pillars.

Brian and ToyAgumon both walked into the Primary Village. Brian had to cover his eyes from the blinding, childish colors. He felt his feet sink into the floor, realizing it was elastic. "Wow this place is.. What should I say.. Interesting."

He waited for a reply from his digital partner, or more of a comment but instead he felt a slight shifting in the ground. He looked back and saw his Digimon bouncing around. "What are you doing?"

ToyAgumon looked at Brian as he continued to bounce, "Bouncing." He said with a wide smile on his plastic face. Brian smacked his own forehead, "I know you're bouncing. But why? And ow.." He began to rub his forehead trying to sooth the small pain.

"Do I really have to explain why? What do you think? C'mon, I know you want to bounce too." Brian rolled his eyes, "Fine, if I jump with you can we please go on?" ToyAgumon gave multiple nods.

Brian gave a high jump to get himself started on his bounce. Shortly after he burst out laughing, "Hey, this is actually fun!" ToyAgumon joined his partner in laughing. "See, I told ya it's fun! C'mon let's bounce!" He went ahead of Brian, off to find the Digieggs.

Brian stopped bouncing by ToyAgumon's word. "Oh Lord, did he just say, 'Let's bounce'? That is so tacky. Hey wait up!" Brian yelled, as he bounced after his toy Digimon.

Riko glanced back and noticed two individuals coming up behind them. He thought it was funny that they decided to bounce on the very flexible ground they stood on. It was ironic to him because he'd just thought about doing the same thing.

One was humanoid while the other seemed to be a Digimon. Riko gave it a quick scan.

ToyAgumon
Type: Vaccine
Evolutionary Level: Child

He thought it be a good idea to introduce himself seeing as how they seemed to be here for the same purpose.

"Hello, there!" he said, "I'm Riko and this is Dargo. Are you guys here for a Digitama, too?"

Both stopped at the sound of a voice. They turned and saw another human along with a Digimon. "Oh, hello. I thought I was the only human in the area." Brian grabbed ToyAgumon's hand made of block and bounced over to the other tamer. "Yeah, we're here for a Digi-tama. I like to call them Digi-eggs though. But that's just me." Brian gave a warm small before holding hid D-Ban up at the tamer's partner.

Digimon: Gabumon
Type: Data
Evolution Stage: Rookie
Special Attack: Blue Blaster

Brian got down on his knee and gave a warm smile to the Gabumon. "Hello, Dargo. It's nice to meet you. I'm Brian and this is my Digimon partner aka my best friend: ToyAgumon." ToyAgumon began to blush from embarrassment. "Aww.. Stop. You're embarrassing me." ToyAgumon walked up to Gabumon putting out his block hand. "Yep, I'm ToyAgumon. Nice to meet ya. Hey! Wanna be friends?"

Brian stood back up and looked at the tamer, with a warm smile. "And I'm Brian.. Nice to meet ya Riko. Cool name by the way, almost sounds like Riku from Kingdom Hearts." Brian was a true Kingdom Hearts fan. He absolutely loves the game and the characters.

"Well, I'm Riko and this is Dargo." Riko said, introducing his partner. It'd been a while since they seen someone new. It wasn't everyday that the duo met someone who looked as friendly as Brian and ToyAgumon did, but he could never be too sure.

"Isn't this a great feeling?" He asked, "I mean, we're excited to raise a new member to our family. I think of Dargo as my brother, so it's great to give him someone to set an example for. Don't you think?"

Just then, Dargo felt a sense of failure and panic as he thought about the havoc that coul ensue with a new Digimon in the apartment.

What if I'm not a good role model? What happens if I let this one down?" With these thoughts, running through his head, Dargo looked around at Primary Village, dreading the guardian's approach.

Riko and Brian's peaceful scene was suddenly interupted when a blast of energy scorched the ground amidst their group. A glance toward the source would lead one to see a small, spherical digimon. He had thick mechanical armor, a wicked claw on his right hand, and a menacing cannon on his left. A curl of smoke poured forth from the cannon arm, further evidence (as if any were needed) that the attack had come from this Metal Mamemon.

"Hey, you punks," he shouted, "what are you doing in this village? Are you here to steal eggs? Or, are here to smash eggs? Answer me now!"

"WHOA! Who the heck is shooting at us!" Dargo said, finally getting a glimpse at the armored warrior. He raised his paws as he readied himself for a fight, although he wasn't in the mood for one.

MetalMamemon
Type: Data
Evolutionary Level: Perfect

"Damn." Riko said to himself as he scanned the newcomer. Hosility was one thing he didn't want to run into today, but he decided to take the high road, raising his arms to show that he meant no harm.

"Uh, hi. My name is Riko, this is my partner, Dargo, Brian, and his partner ToyAgumon." He introduced the whole group, "We aren't here to steal or smash anything for that matter. Are you the guardian of this village? We wish to speak with you."

Dargo kept his paw raised to protect his partner.

"Dargo," Riko whispered, "Drop your paws. We're not here to fight and right now, we need to gain his trust. Stand down."

Dargo was about to protest, but he dropped his paws instead, sighing as he raised his arms to copy Riko.

Brian was surprised by the mechanical Digimon's attack. He listened to Riko as he introduced the entire group. When he had the chance he held up the D-Ban up towards the Digimon.

Digimon: MetalMamemon
Type: Data
Evolution Stage: Ultimate
Special Attack: Metal Smirk Bomb

"Hm.. Interesting. I had a different idea of what the guardian would look like but.. Looks are deceiving.." Brian walked up to MetalMamemon with a warm smile on his face. He kneeled down trying to make eye contact. "Brian be careful.. I'm not sure he's.."

Brian looked back his partner, "Don't worry.." He turned his attention back to MetalMamemon and examined the little Digimon's body. "Wow, that's pretty cool armor.. The armor works well with you. So are you the guardian of this village? And if so, Riko and I are here for the same reason.. We both have come for a Digi-tama."

"Are you the guardian of this village? We wish to speak with you."

Metal Mamemon relaxed his cannon, just a little bit. "Yeah, I'm an assistant guardian, but I'm in charge today. This is a stressful job, and the main guardian needs a break sometimes."

Things seemed to be going well for the visitors, the cranky and oft-suspicious Metal Mamemon was about to grant them an audience. Then Brian got in the ball-like digimon's face, and everything went wrong for the visitors.

"Get out of my face," the substitute guardian practically yelled, his cannon flying up to point right between the human's eyes. "I knew you were here to steal eggs! Your flattery will get you nowhere, I have no tolerance for thieves. Leave, now!"

The situation was bad, to be sure, but the tamers would do best if they kept cool. Metal Mamemon had an... aggresive approach to his job, but he was mostly a reasonable creature. If they calmed him down and explained themselves to him, they would not only get out safely, but obtain what they sought as well.

Brian fell over backwards landing on his rear. He looked up at the MetalMamemon confused and a bit terrified. "I'm sorry, I didnt mean to invade your space.. I was just admiring your armor." A sad look fell upon his face, "And we're not thieves.. I came here to look for another friend for my Digimon partner and myself.. Please you have to believe me." He pleaded in a calm and respectful tone.

ToyAgumon began to shake with fear, "Please don't hurt him! He doesn't mean any harm!" ToyAgumon ran up beside his human partner and began helping him up. Brian softly shook off ToyAgumon, "I'm ok.. Please MetalMamemon, forgive me if I got too far into your personal space. I really didn't mean anything by it."

"Okay...okay. Brian, I think it'd be best if we kept our distance. I've got better things to do today than die." Riko advised, keeping his hands raised as a sign of piece "Excuse me, MetalMamemon? I understand that you take the safeguarding of this place very seriously. I know that us coming here on such short notice doesn't make us look good, but we are nothing more than your guests today."

Riko continued to look him in the eyes out of respect.

"I promise you, we are only here for Digitama, but we're not here to steal them. We waited for you so that we may have a fair pick. Please, if you do not believe me, tell us what can we do to prove that we are not thieves."

Metal Mamemon moved his cannon between his four potential targets several times, before finally settling down. "Okay then," he said, "I'll let you prove yourselves."

He reached his claw hand into a nook in the back side of his armor, and pulled it out holding two small chips. "You may not be the thieves, but there have been one or two hanging around here lately. I always manage to scare them away, but I remain unaware of their identities. If you can catch the real thief or thieves, I'll accept that as proof of your innocence, and let you take ONE egg each."

He threw the chips on the ground in front of him, "these chips contain a map with the locations of three digimon who live near the village, they are the prime suspects. I would go check them out myself, but I can't leave right now, I have to guard the village. You can go about checking on them any way you wish, but be prepared, because if they feel that you're accusing them, they may react aggresively."

Brian was embarrassed by his own actions. He must have seen like a complete fool to Riko and Dargo. ToyAgumon walked over to the chips and looked down at them. He picked them up and examined them. "We'll find these thieves for you. It shouldn't be a problem. Right, Brian?" He looked up his partner.

Brian didn't make any eye contact with his Digimon. "Yeah." He agreed, not really showing his emotions. "Can you excuse us for one second?" ToyAgumon asked, politely as he grabbed Brian by the hand and dragged him off a bit away from the group. "What's wrong?"

Brian looked down at his partner, giving a clueless expression. "What do you mean?"

"Brian, I know you better then that.. Now what's wrong?" Brian shook his head in disagreement. "Nothing is wrong, I.." He didn't finish his sentence when he saw the look on his partner's face. "Fine, I made a complete fool out of myself. Going up the guardian of this village and complementing him on his armor. I mean who does that? Well besides me.. And I'm sure that boy Riko and his partner Dargo, are thinking the same thing."

ToyAgumon gently held onto Brian's hand, "Yes that was weird, but that's what I like about you. You're rare to me, you're a great friend, you really make me laugh alot and I enjoy being around you. And if this Riko and Dargo don't like you for it, then ya know what? Their loss. Now are you up for this challenge?"

A huge smile came to Brian's face. "Thanks.. Alright let's find these thieves." The two walked over to Riko and Dargo. "Okay, so what are we doing? Are we going as a group? Or are we splitting up?"

ToyAgumon frowned at the idea of splitting up. "Do we have to split up? I mean, what happens if the two thieves happen to be together and that group gets their butts whooped. I think we should probably stay together. Besides we just met, I think I speak for the both of us. But we would like to get to know you guys a bit more."

Riko picked up one of the chips, thinking about their task. He looked down at Dargo and he knew his partner was ready for the task.

"What do you think?" He asked

"Let go for it." Dargo responded, "I could use a good work out."

They smiled at each other and looked to Brian.

"I think it'd be better if we went together. Who knows what's out there?" Riko was being realistic about this. He didn't expect to have to bend over backwards to get a Digitama, but he was willing. Whatever he needed to do to earn it was fine with him, and he was always open to gaining potential allies in the process. He turned to MetalMamemon.

"We'll take care of it for you." he said, turning back to Brian, "Where should we start first?"

Brian shrugged at Riko's question. "Um, I don't really know my way around here all that well." He looked down at the ground, a bit ashamed. "Sorry." The entire time he's been in the digital world, he's been to only five areas. "Why don't you choose?" He said with a warm smile.

"This is gonna be so much fun! Tag-team! We'll kick butt Dargo!" ToyAgumon jumped up and down in excitement.

A thought popped into Brian's head that kinda bothered him. But he felt it was best to keep it to himself until they were else where. "So where to then?" Brian asked.

Metal Mamemon nodded at the decision of the humans to get straight to work. "Good luck, I'll be waiting here for your results. Oh, and I think the chips I gave you should be compatible with your tamer gadgets. Also, I'd recomend checking out the one in the south last, he's a rather beligerant fellow, and if he's not the thief you don't want to mess with him."

The spherical digimon marched off to see to some crying newborns. One could tell he was still keeping track of the humans out of a corner of his eye though. This wasn't the end of the world, he was just keeping up the suspicion that ultimately made him good at his job. All the tamers had to worry about was taking a look at their maps and plotting a course of action.

Plugging the chip into his D-Ban, he activated a virtual map of the facility. Blinking red dots appeared on seperate locations of the map, indicating the locations of the three Digimon MetalMamemon mentioned.

"Okay. Well, he said to stay away from the one to the south, so I think we should start with the one to the west. That's the one we're closest to." Riko suggested, "Listen, we all need to keep our yes open and watch each other's back. This might get ugly. We should get going though. We don't wanna keep him waiting."

Riko turned to the west and headed in that direction. Dargo, however walked with ToyAgumon.

"So...what do you grow into?" He asked, curious about his digivolution stages, "I can go to Veedramon and my armor is pretty cool, too. It's Raidramon."

Brian gave a warm smile to Riko, "Don't worry, I got your back. I haven't been around other people in a while. So sorry if I seem weird." He gave a small chuckle.

ToyAgumon looked over at Gabumon, a little saddend. "I.. Haven't reached the next level yet.. So you've gone to the next level and also armor evolution? What's it like? Are still yourself when you digivolve?"

Brian looked back at the two Digimon and looked back at Riko, "Seems like our Digimon are getting along okay. So where are you from in the real world? Tell me a bit about yourself."

"Actually, yeah. You're still yourself, but your body changes and you get stronger." Dargo explained his experience, "You're totally in control, but you have to be careful to save your energy. I'm working on trying to stay as Veedramon for a long time without getting tired."

Ahead of the Digimon, Riko and Brian held a conversation of their own.

Home? I haven't thought about home in a while. Riko said to himself, "Jersey. I'm from New Jersey. I always hated it there, though. There was nothing to do and I really didn't have many friends. I wanted to write when I graduated high school, but I doubt I'll ever be back home again, though."

Riko laughed off his sadness and diverted attention away from himself.

"What about you?"

Brian wondered why Riko didn't want to go back home. But thought it would be best to leave it alone.. Brian looked up at the sky as he continued walking alongside Riko.

"Well, I'm from Miami, Florida. I tell ya, that place was always moving day and night. Uh.. I was home schooled since third grade, since my mom became disabled. But don't worry, being home schooled hasn't effected my social skills.

Let's see what else? I enjoy drawing Anime and hanging out with friends. And when I graduate from high school I plan on going to study acting. I'm not really sure when I'll be going home. But it won't be for a while. So have you made many friends here?"

ToyAgumon was very interested in digivolving. "So how do you really digivolve? Is there a certain way of doing it? Or does it just happen?" The toy Digimon had many questions about digivolving.

"Well, it all depends on what the situation is. I think I just got to that point and then digivolved." Dargo said, smiling as he walked, "Hey, maybe you can do it now, but you need to concentrate."

It was nice to talk to someone else besides Riko. Obviously, Riko was his best friend, but it was very rare that he got to have a normal talk without someone trying to kill them.

Riko, on the other hand, was finding it hard to come up with an answer for Brian.

"Well, Dargo back there is my only real friend here." Riko cringed at the thought, "We've made some acquaintances, but that's it. I guess it's-"

Suddenly, Riko's D-Ban chimed, indicating they had reached the fight point listed on the map.

"Remember, keep your eyes open." Riko said, keeping one hand on his card holder and the other on his knife.

ToyAgumon looked at Dargo, "You really think so? Okay I'll try!" ToyAgumon closed his eyes and clutched his hands. "ToyAgumon digivolve to.. ToyAgumon?! Aw, it didn't work. Lemme try again, I'm not putting enough energy into it."

His body began to tighten up as he tried to gather energy. "I feel it! I think I'm about to digivolve! ToyAgumon digivolve to..." His sentence was cut off by a small sound. ToyAgumon's face turned beat red from embarrassment. He then gave a sigh, "Well I felt something, but it wasn't me digivolving.. Sorry." He said with soft voice.

"Well, Dargo back there is my only real friend here." Riko cringed at the thought, "We've made some acquaintances, but that's it. I guess it's-"

Suddenly, Riko's D-Ban chimed, indicating they had reached the fight point listed on the map. Brian wanted to comfort Riko, cause it seemed to have bother him. But it seemed the conversation would have to wait till later.

"Remember, keep your eyes open."

Brian reached for his card pack, getting ready to draw cards. He quickly examined the area with his eyes. I don't see anything. Could this Digimon be hiding? ToyAgumon had heard the beeping coming from Dargo's D-Ban and knew it wasn't something good. "Are we here?"

The boys, along with their partner digimon, had arrived at a rough old hut, made of mud and grass. The dome shaped structure had a couple of windows installed in it, but these were just frames, no glass was present in them. What looked like an old-fashioned TV antena sprouted from the roof. A big tank of water, with splotches of rust on its outside, stood a couple feet away, connected to the house by a pipe. The last point of interest about this structure was the thick wooden door, and the bright green flag hanging beside it.

There was no immediate sign of any digimon, but if one stayed quiet and listened carefully, they might hear something that sounded like snoring. A peek through the window to investigate the noise would allow one to see a large brown mass, shifting in his sleep.

They came to a stop as Riko's D-Ban chimed. They were in front of a hut, but no one seemed to be around.

"This is where it says the first one is." Riko said, "Wait. Do you hear that?"

Dargo perked his floppy ears up, listening to the sound Riko referred to.

"Sounds like snoring." Dargo replied.

Riko crept closer to the hut and peered through one of the windows to see a large brown Digimon sprawled out, but peacefully sleeping. He crept back, trying not to make any loud noises.

"There's someone in there." Riko reported, looking at Brian, "I think you and I should go talk to him. You two should hang back, but stay visible to him so it doesn't automatically look like we're hiding something. What do you think?"

Dargo agreed silently and left the rest up to Brian and ToyAgumon.

Brian agreed with a nod. "Right. Okay, ToyAgumon. You stay back here with Dargo."

"Are you sure it's safe?" ToyAgumon asked.

"Not sure, but we'll find out. Just keep your guard up. And listen for anything strange."

((ooc: Sorry for short post.))

OOC: Don't worry about it. This one's gonna be short, too.

IC: Now that they were all in agreement, Riko and Brian made their way to the door. Knocking lightly, he thought that wouldn't do. Knocking harder, Riko took a step back.

As Riko knocked harder on the door that stood before him, cranky grumbling could be heard from within the house. After a moment of miscelanious shuffling noises, the door cracked open tentatively. The digimon who lived within the house was revealed to be some odd mixture of a snowman and a teddy bear, except made out of mud.

The Tsuchidarumon looked down at his visitors through the plain black orbs that were his eyes. Despite lacking a visible mouth, he spoke to his visitors. "Yes, hello little humans, what can I do for you today?"

Tsuchidarumon towered over them, making Riko swallow hard before he spoke.

"Hello. My name is Riko and this is Brian. Those are our Digimon companions, Dargo and ToyAgumon." He tried to make the introduction as short as possible, chosing his words carefully, "We are on a mission from Primary Village. Apparently, the guardian there believes that there is a Digitama thief who lives somewhere close to the village. We were wondering if you knew anything or had any clue as to who it is."

Riko kept his face kind, trying to hide his anxiety.

"Any information you might have would help us out greatly." He said finally

Tsuchidarumon listened carefully to Riko's explanation of his mission. Once he finished, the mud digimon smiled jovially. "Welcome boys! Warriors from the village are always welcome in my home. Come in, come in, take a seat and I'll see if I know anything you can use."

As Tsuchidarumon stepped away from the door, it became possible to see the inside of his home in its entirety. The single room was simply furnished, with a table at its center. Four chairs encircled the table, each large enough to support the girth of the resident. Off to one side was a straw mat that the mudman apparently slept on. To the other side, there was a small kitchenette, with a sink, a refrigerator and a simple stove.

Tsuchidarumon took a seat on one of his chairs and emphatically beckoned for the humans and their partners to join him.

"Thank you." Riko smiled at Brian and waved their partners in. The inside of the hut looked cozy, but Riko didn't want to get too comfortable. When had been raised only to sit when it was offered by the host. He never understood why his parents where so strict about that, but he followed it anyway.

Dargo wasn't sure about this. He knew they were on a mission, but he wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of hunting a theiving Digimon. Even with both Digimon and their tamers present, he was skeptical about that being enough.

"We appreciate you inviting us in." Riko said, as polite as he could be.

((Thread temporarily closed until me and Barren have worked out how to deal with a grave mistake I made at his expense.

Explaination will come very shortly - keep ypur eye on General Discussion.

Ryuha, please, please trust me on this and don't unlock the topic 'til I say it's okay. I'm only doing this because I'd hate to see you three churn out more posts only to have those go to waste when the thread has to be deleted. Sadly, that's what's quite likely to happen. As I said: I'll explain as soon as I possibly can.))