Through the Valley of Shadow [Closed/Hyde]

[Yana Sekigawa]

SekiGawa Yana Unyielding Love TAG: Nicholas Hyde WORDS: 387 Health 100% Gatomon Champion NSp, VB Vaccine, Free Holy Beast Heaven's Knuckle 1 Turn : No Cool Down Pounce 1 turn : No Cool Down Lightning Claws 1 turn : 0-1 Cool down C.E. Hypnotism 1-2 turn : 1 Cool Down Move 5 Move 6 Move 7 Passive Holy halo - The Holy ring around Gatomon's Tail protects him against Virus digimon and their attacks. [Virus Resistance] Battle Synopsis ▪ ▪ ▪ 61% Experience until S.Mega610/1000 Posts

Yana had witnessed a lot in these past few days... Felt the kind of feelings she always wished she would never be forced into experiencing ever again. And the worst part of it all was how it was all related to the same group of people who attacked the digital world: The man who destroyed a good half of Terabyte city, the people who had attacked Triton with Skullgreymon, the Man that organized the tournament... The Seven were behind each and every one of these occurences. If that wasn't enough, she had also been helpless to do anything about their members having her and her friends at his mercy, and another one of them She had been weak and useless, "Why...", she muttered, gritting her teeth, "Why am so useless...? Rei-chan is obviously been manipulated and yet... There was nothing I could do about it!", she grunted to Ari, letting out her frustrations in a way she hardly ever did. Indeed, there was nothing she could have done. Crow, Daichi, Giygas, and Plutomon with his marks. If she had tried to stop that dreadful tournament, pull Rei away from their shady influence, then she would have to fight all of their minions, perhaps even Rei herself. Half of those people were undoubtedly being manipulated like her, in the end they were blameless. "...I can't forgive them, and yet... Going to war can't be the right thing to do...!", she ranted further to Ari, a tear welling up in her eyes They had been cursed in an attempted blackmail to join their cause. People had been killed for their entertainment... But no matter what, going to war over them, having to fight and kill others to get to Crow. Though she had been given power by Jupitermon and greed to help in his effort, Yana couldn't bring herself to accept that either. But then how could she ever stop them othersise?! Lost and confused, Yana sat alone at a remote part of Tecton city, few people and digimon paying attention to her, only her partner and the Naginata Jupitermon gave her to keep her company. She didn't know what had driven her to this place and she didn't care, not with in this conflicted state of mind. Even Ari looked at her sadly, not even sure what to say at this point...

MADE BY VEL OF GS + WW

[Nicholas Hyde]

Ah Tecton City, where a man could get stone stinking drunk and nobody would look twice at them. Granted, that could be said for a lot of places (with the possible exception of White Gold City. Damn stuck up angels). Hyde had picked a nice spot for himself, sitting back and drinking from his flask. Meanwhile, his partner, Sable, was sitting nearby, drinking a juice she had bought. It was almost kind of cute, watching the two. A nice, peaceful moment after everything they had gone through recently.

However, something would come to break this quiet little moment. A young girl and her gatomon. Granted, they weren't trying to break the moment, they were just sitting nearby in their own thoughts. But there was something about them, a melancholy around them that attracted Sable's attention. "Hey boss! Isn't that the girl from the cult fiasco?" Hyde glanced over, seeing the pair. That's right. The pair had been there when they fought cultists together. What were they doing here? And why so glum?

Putting the cap back on his flask, Hyde got to his feet and walked over, Sable following behind him. "Well, look what we have here. Looks like you got a raw deal or something."

Yana Sekigawa

[Yana Sekigawa]

SekiGawa Yana Unyielding Love TAG: Nicholas Hyde WORDS: 387 Health 100% Gatomon Champion NSp, VB Vaccine, Free Holy Beast Heaven's Knuckle 1 Turn : No Cool Down Pounce 1 turn : No Cool Down Lightning Claws 1 turn : 0-1 Cool down C.E. Hypnotism 1-2 turn : 1 Cool Down Move 5 Move 6 Move 7 Passive Holy halo - The Holy ring around Gatomon's Tail protects him against Virus digimon and their attacks. [Virus Resistance] Battle Synopsis ▪ ▪ ▪ 61% Experience until S.Mega610/1000 Posts

Just as Yana was there mulling in her thoughts, someone else had noticed and recognized her presence. She completely ignored the beeping from her digivice signalling another tamer's presence. In the end, when the lanky dark haired man approached her, she was completely caught by surprise: "Uh...?! Oh, hello...", she looked up, startled by being suddenly approached with didn't happen often. She eased up the moment she saw a familiar face, Hyde the drunken scientist, "Y-yeah, I guess you can say that..." She looked away at his words, not really knowing how to explain him how "A god asked her to fight a war" without being called crazy. Even if Hyde was last person who should ever call that to anyone, but it seemed like he defenitely knew a thing or two about wars. The problem was Yana didn't want to fight in a war, to kill like every soldier did... But she didn't want to let innocents die either... "H-how did you do it...? Deal with seeing all that death...?", she asked, with a lost look in her eyes. She was obviously mentioning the massacre scene from the mission, but Weiss was obviously included as well, even if Yana was too nice to mention that. If it were Yana, she'd have been completely and utterly broken. It was clear that the Russian girl was here looking for an answer, even if she probably didn't even know the question. But seeing how this man dealt with bloodshed in the way a war veteran might, his presence was somewhat reassuring. Maybe he could help her find out. "And you... How are you holding up...?", Ari would approach sable, talking to her with an empathetic look. She had just lost her brother, courtesy of the same crooked cop who had been loading digimon for his own sake on more than one occasion...

MADE BY VEL OF GS + WW

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[Nicholas Hyde]

Hyde's expression fell at Yana's words. Man, the girl must be in a rough patch right now, and something was telling him seeing those bodies during the cult incident wasn't it. He moved over and sat down beside her. "To be honest, it's just one of those things one gets used to. Or rather, gets jaded to after a while. I don't think anyone really gets used to death. Not unless they're a psychopath." he leaned back and took a gulp from his flask. "Of course, being around during one of the biggest wars in the digital world also helps, though I seriously doubt you would want that."

Meanwhile, Sable looked over at Ari, her question about her own well being bringing her mood down somewhat. "I'm...I'm doing alright. Hanging in there. Thankfully, Hyde and I had been busy setting up the Wild Cards and all that. Plus, Hyde's recovered for the most part from his injuries..." She glanced over, taking note of Hyde's mechanical arm, and also aware of the artificial voice box he had. Some scars would never truly heal.

Yana Sekigawa

[Yana Sekigawa]

SekiGawa Yana Unyielding Love TAG: Nicholas Hyde WORDS: 284 Health 100% Gatomon Champion NSp, VB Vaccine, Free Holy Beast Heaven's Knuckle 1 Turn : No Cool Down Pounce 1 turn : No Cool Down Lightning Claws 1 turn : 0-1 Cool down C.E. Hypnotism 1-2 turn : 1 Cool Down Move 5 Move 6 Move 7 Passive Holy halo - The Holy ring around Gatomon's Tail protects him against Virus digimon and their attacks. [Virus Resistance] Battle Synopsis ▪ ▪ ▪ 61% Experience until S.Mega610/1000 Posts

To his credit, Hyde quickly picked up something odd was going on with Yana, mirroring her sullemn expression and sitting down beside her, explaining how it wasn't even something any average person could get used to. Instead, they seemingly grew desensitized toward it, especially those that had been in big wars... She could understand that much, and she wagered that was part of the reason why he was always holding on to his flask. Yana was too young to drink, even if some of her classmates did it, she wasn't one to easily succumb to peer pressure. "Yeah... That's the thing. I have a feeling these Seven are gonna start a new war.", she explained, finally hinting to what was worrying her so, "...I don't wanna fight in a war... ", she gulped ominously, "...Killing people...", and then continued her explanation, "Even if I don't fight, they'll still be killing anybody in their way. And there's no way to stop them unless you start the war before them... And what would be the point of that?" There was clearly a poorly hidden anger in her expression as she looked down, half directed at her weakness but mostly directed towards the enemies who would be starting this war. Looking up at Hyde, she wondered what answer he'd have for this. Meanwhile, Ari cocked her head slightly as she talked to Sable, hearing how she was hanging in there was good enough for her, clearly Hyde had already patched up his injuries, the physical ones at least. It was a good queue to change the subject as she doubted Sable would want to dwell on it much further, "Wild Cards...? What's that?", she'd inquire with genuine curiosity

MADE BY VEL OF GS + WW

[Nicholas Hyde]

Ah, so that was what this was about. Hyde gave a small nod. "You'd be right. War's brewing on the horizon and there's nothing we can do about it. The Seven are back, the Olympians are gearing up for a fight. It's going to be that insanity all over again." he sighed as he sat back, "Just makes you wonder why they didn't just kill the Seven the first time. Save us from all this mess. Now, it's coming and we're all going to get swept up in it, whether we like it or not."

When Ari questioned Sable in what the Wild Cards were, Hyde smiled. "The Wild Cards are a little mercenary company I'm putting together," he explained, "Soldiers for hire, I reason, since we're going to get dragged into this fighting anyway, we may as well get paid for it," he chuckled and took a gulp of his flask before turning to Yana. "The way I see it, you have two options. Either A, pick a side and fight, or B. try to avoid it and enviably get dragged in to the fight, regardless of what you want." He smiled. "Or, you can do like me and pick C. Jump on in, but on your own terms. Fight only because you want to, and HOW you want to."

Yana Sekigawa

[Yana Sekigawa]

SekiGawa Yana Unyielding Love TAG: Nicholas Hyde WORDS: 196 Health 100% Gatomon Champion NSp, VB Vaccine, Free Holy Beast Heaven's Knuckle 1 Turn : No Cool Down Pounce 1 turn : No Cool Down Lightning Claws 1 turn : 0-1 Cool down C.E. Hypnotism 1-2 turn : 1 Cool Down Move 5 Move 6 Move 7 Passive Holy halo - The Holy ring around Gatomon's Tail protects him against Virus digimon and their attacks. [Virus Resistance] Battle Synopsis ▪ ▪ ▪ 61% Experience until S.Mega610/1000 Posts

She hated herself for what she said next, but even then she said it anyway... But no matter how much she might hate herself for it, the worst part was how that feeling didn't go away: "You're right... They're the only ones who should die. Why do others have to lose their lives because of them?!", she gritted her teeth, clenching ehr fists with poorly hidden anger. Hell, she wasn't really trying to hide it any longer. When Hyde started talking about the Wild Cards however, yana couldn't help but smile and nod, "I can understand that. But I'd much rather be given power before the fight so I can use it there.", she gripped her Naginata a bit tighter, and even with the blade slightly sunk into the ground, it let off a few menacing sparks. "If you're gonna fight anyway, might as well do it before people start dying...", she muttered sullemly, "If only there was a way to stop all of this before it began... Maybe then innocents wouldn't have to die...", she looked up into the sky, frowining slightly, "But these Seven don't look like the type that can be reasoned with..."

MADE BY VEL OF GS + WW

[Nicholas Hyde]

Hyde gave a small shrug as he sat back. "Really though, are the Olympians much better? Sure, they beat the Seven, but only just sealed them up, and even now are only acting after one of their own bites it. Seems almost insulting to those who died in the conflict. In the end, these wars are just about two groups fighting for control over the Digital World, and that's it. We all get dragged into their fights."

He looked up at the sky, "You know, it's kind of funny. I almost get killed by a member of DATS, one of the supposed 'good guys', and I wake up in a hospital controlled by the Shin Sekai. They saved my life, put my face back together. Heck, even when a group of pissed off digimon tried to ice me, one of their own even went out of her way to help me out. Without being asked." He stared off into the clouds. "You know, it's stuff like that that really makes you wonder about the whole 'good versus evil' deal. In the end, there's no real difference. What's good is only beneficial for you, while evil is detrimental."

When Yana spoke about stopping them before the war began, Hyde glanced down at her. "A risky thing to be thinking. Sometimes yeah, it works out. Other times, it causes more problems then it solves. I'm not saying don't bother. Just, be careful."

Yana Sekigawa

[Yana Sekigawa]

SekiGawa Yana Unyielding Love TAG: Nicholas Hyde WORDS: 329 Health 100% Gatomon Champion NSp, VB Vaccine, Free Holy Beast Heaven's Knuckle 1 Turn : No Cool Down Pounce 1 turn : No Cool Down Lightning Claws 1 turn : 0-1 Cool down C.E. Hypnotism 1-2 turn : 1 Cool Down Move 5 Move 6 Move 7 Passive Holy halo - The Holy ring around Gatomon's Tail protects him against Virus digimon and their attacks. [Virus Resistance] Battle Synopsis ▪ ▪ ▪ 61% Experience until S.Mega610/1000 Posts

He commented how the Olympus weren't much better, and she shook her head. No way, she wasn't the Olympus' biggest fan, but they were the lesser of two evils by far: "I didn't even know the Olympus existed until the Seven came along clamoring for their death, killing everyone to get their attention. I'd much rather see a ruler who nobody is sure even exists than ones who would raze cities and organize death matches to amuse themselves.", Yana would interject with a tinge of hateful disgust at the last part, "If you have to kill innocents in your quest for power, then you deserve to die during that quest, the sooner the better..." That said, talking down the Seven was a bad idea, Yana knew it, and Hyde confirmed it. She had seen what they were capable of, no way she'd ever consider them to care the slightest about her life. She was surprised to hear they had put him back together, didn't figure they were the types to help others: "I don't doubt there are good people among them, they even seduced one of my friends to their side... They have likely been decieved into thinking that killing in the name of the Shin Sekai is good. People with a strong inner darkness the Seven can easily manipulate.", she looked down sadly at the thought of Rei-chan, "...It's genius really... If they attack cities and the Olympus do nothing, people will think the Olympus are just as bad. But if they attack a city and the Olympus try to stop it, the cataclysmic battle would make the Olympus be seen as even worse. In the meantime, all the Shin Sekai are doing doing is keeping all those civilians as hostages, killing them at their heart's content." Hyde warned her she was playing a dangerous game, to which Yana shook her head and smiled softly: "I know, I'm not actually planning to talking to them... These are the kind of people who would kill you for their entertainment, let along for disagreeing with their methods."

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MADE BY VEL OF GS + WW

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[Nicholas Hyde]

Hyde remained quiet as Yana responded. Seemed like she understood that it wasn't just a straight up 'good versus evil' kind of deal. But still, she seemed to be right on the money about the Shin Sekai. "Yeah, well, when you have as much power and followers as those guys, no matter how you look, people can't really do anything to stop you. The real difference between the Olympians and the Shin Sekai, is that the latter aren't afraid to put you in the ground. So yeah, talking to them wont exactly get you far, unless it's something they want to hear."

He fell quiet for a moment before leaning forward. "Listen, if you want to try and take on the Seven, go for it. Lord knows there are people want to do the same thing. Most likely gathering together to do just that. All i'm saying, is be careful. Don't go do anything stupid just because it's 'right'. Take some time and think about it first."

Yana Sekigawa

[Yana Sekigawa]

SekiGawa Yana Unyielding Love TAG: Nicholas Hyde WORDS: 176 Health 100% Gatomon Champion NSp, VB Vaccine, Free Holy Beast Heaven's Knuckle 1 Turn : No Cool Down Pounce 1 turn : No Cool Down Lightning Claws 1 turn : 0-1 Cool down C.E. Hypnotism 1-2 turn : 1 Cool Down Move 5 Move 6 Move 7 Passive Holy halo - The Holy ring around Gatomon's Tail protects him against Virus digimon and their attacks. [Virus Resistance] Battle Synopsis ▪ ▪ ▪ 61% Experience until S.Mega610/1000 Posts

She nodded at his comment, Hyde too had made a good assessment. The Seven and their Shin Seikai weren't the least bit concerned about those standing between them and their ambition. All that mattered was their ultimate goal... Yana sighed, an unpleasant feeling of hopelessness building up inside her, "So, there's nothing we can do then...", she muttered hopelessly. But as Hyde leaned over, something didn't feel as useless... The way he talked about how more people wanted the same as she did brought her back to the meeting with Jupitermon, how the Gods of the digital world themselves believed they were in the right. Indeed, the gods weren't paragons... But compared to the Seven, they were Saints! "B-but... How?! An open battle with the Seven would kill thousands!", she'd interject, visibly startled by the possibility of attacking and being the cause of the very thing she wanted to avoid. In the meantime, Ari had taken to sit down in front of the two humans, believing Hyde was doing a better job at reassuring her partner.

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MADE BY VEL OF GS + WW

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[Nicholas Hyde]

Hyde took another swig of his drink, rising up to his feet. "Well then, don't get into an open fight with them. These guys have an army backing them, and you can bet they're not afraid to use it. So, your best bet is to go around and get at them directly. And I don't mean run up in their faces and challenge them head on. Guys like that, they've got stuff planned for events like that. No, your best bet is getting those guys when they're not ready. When they're having a meal, taking a nap, taking a dump, anywhere they're not expecting someone to jump them. Honestly, if you're aiming to take these guys out, that's probably your best bet. Once they're gone, the rest of their organization will fall apart, either through them leaving, or infighting." Hyde gave another shrug. "Again, just a thought. Though going all ninja on them would be tricky too. Unfortunately there's no easy way around this."

Meanwhile, Sable and plopped herself down beside Ari, watching the little discussion going on in front of them.

Yana Sekigawa

[Yana Sekigawa]

SekiGawa Yana Unyielding Love TAG: Nicholas Hyde WORDS: 248 Health 100% Gatomon Champion NSp, VB Vaccine, Free Holy Beast Heaven's Knuckle 1 Turn : No Cool Down Pounce 1 turn : No Cool Down Lightning Claws 1 turn : 0-1 Cool down C.E. Hypnotism 1-2 turn : 1 Cool Down Move 5 Move 6 Move 7 Passive Holy halo - The Holy ring around Gatomon's Tail protects him against Virus digimon and their attacks. [Virus Resistance] Battle Synopsis ▪ ▪ ▪ 61% Experience until S.Mega610/1000 Posts

His first words earned him a mix of understanding yet confusion. She truly agreed that going into an open battle was a bad idea, both counter productive and dangerous. But if that wasn't an option, how could they do it? Of course, his following words were met with a grim, almost fearful suggested. No matter how she looked it, what he was suggesting was something Yana could never have considered: "Y-you mean l-like...", she gulped, the very word as the only potentially feasible plan sent a visible shiver down her spine, "...Assassination...?" The idea brought back unpleasant memories from her youth when those bad men came by her house to harass her father, striking fear into both her hearts and her parents. Fear that such harm might come to them drove Yana and her mother to part with her father, leave to Japan where the little girl might live in peace. And Assassination was exactly the thing mafia people would do. Yana wanted to question if she wasn't what bad people do... But she didn't. "A few days ago I'd have asked you if that wasn't what bad people do... But now I'm starting to think that even worse people start wars.", she cocked her head down sullemly, a huge conflict between two different sides to her own morals. Killing was bad... But letting others kill was no better, "I just... Don't know anymore... Can killing really be the only way? The only right thing left to do?"

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MADE BY VEL OF GS + WW

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[Nicholas Hyde]

Assassination. That was the right word for it. Hyde gave a small nod as Yana seemed to mull it all over. He could tell the girl didn't have a murderous bone in her body. But with all that had happened to her, to everyone in the digital world right now, he could see it was all starting to wear on her. Then came the big question. Was killing the only right thing left to do? Hyde gave a small sigh as he took a sip of his flask. Never in a million years would Hyde consider himself a killer. Sure, he had fought people in the past, but never went out of his way to kill them. He could really imagine himself killing anyone...except for Jeremiah. And that just seemed to open up the flood gates. The idea of killing people didn't appeal to him, but it didn't repulse him either. "Sometimes it is," he said finally, looking down at the smaller girl, "Sometimes there are people you just need to put in the ground."

Yana Sekigawa

[Yana Sekigawa]

SekiGawa Yana Unyielding Love TAG: Nicholas Hyde WORDS: 192 Health 100% Gatomon Champion NSp, VB Vaccine, Free Holy Beast Heaven's Knuckle 1 Turn : No Cool Down Pounce 1 turn : No Cool Down Lightning Claws 1 turn : 0-1 Cool down C.E. Hypnotism 1-2 turn : 1 Cool Down Move 5 Move 6 Move 7 Passive Holy halo - The Holy ring around Gatomon's Tail protects him against Virus digimon and their attacks. [Virus Resistance] Battle Synopsis ▪ ▪ ▪ 61% Experience until S.Mega610/1000 Posts

Even the war veteran wasn't completely at ease with this word, Yana's eyes followed his flask as he promptly sighed and took another gulp. It was a nigh infallible tell when dealing with drinkers like himself, and unsurprisingly it was Hyde who unwittingly had taught her about that. It was enough fot her to tell that even a soldier as he may have been, he was certainly not an assassin, with Yana being far less so. His words, however, those came as no surprise: "Yeah... I guess...", she could imagine how he must have felt like to see one of his partners being loaded, if somebody did that to Ari - God forgive her - but Yana couldn't even imagine what she'd be willing to do in such case... She looked down for a while longer, before turning to Hyde a bit more, "C-can I call you...? When the time comes to do something...", she'd ask, fidgeting slightly, not really knowing who else she might be able to talk about these things. Indeed Haru was a fine option, she was smart and they were close... But she wasn't much more experienced on these topics...

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MADE BY VEL OF GS + WW

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