Patreon Commissioned by Aleph
Continuing from the last part, Aleph and his friends have an encounter A-Ninetales, who is doubtful of Aleph's efforts of being a toony superhero. But he decided to test Aleph with a series of trials. Will Aleph pass them? And what about the gray, crimson-tipped tower in the distance?
Whew. This was a bit of an effort to write, especially since I was on a road trip with my dad to Arkansas and back. There were times when I had to write on a wooden board in a truck, trying not to drop stuff at every bump on the road. Heck, I did the final part of the story in a truck while developing a cold. =.|.=
I hope you guys enjoy it. =)
Aleph, Nero, and Stry belongs to Aleph
Virmir belongs to Virmir
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As Aleph, the anthro toony wolf, and two others walked through a forest, the bright sun shined down upon them. The wind breezed through his red with white floral shirt, with it fluttering as he held a wide smile. His blue jeans carried a Pokéball and a Digivice even as his pale blue fur fluffed up, the breeze being warmth. His tail, gray with a pale blue tip, wagged behind him even as he turned his yellow eyes all around, the trees tall all around and, in the distance, a gray tower with a crimson top stood.
From each side walked Nero the Lucario and Stry the Veemon, with Nero standing taller than Aleph and Stry shorter. Nero fanned himself with his flattened back hand-paw, sweat forming on his head. Meanwhile, Stry held both hand-paws behind his head, having a wide grin while wagging his crooked blue tail.
“Wonderful weather we’re having, isn’t it?” Stry said before he laughed for a bit. “I can live like this.”
“I can’t,” Nero said, unflattening his hand-paw with the white spike on the back popping out. “I’m more interested in colder environments. Although,” he turned to the sun, “this heat is a lot harsher even for a summertime.”
“Maf,” Aleph said while shrugging. “It is odd, isn’t it?” He pulled up his Digivice and, with a button press, it displayed a three-dimensional map. “Huh. This is Virmir’s territory.”
“Virmir?” Stry leaned his head closer to Aleph. “Who is he?”
“He is a fox mage, a powerful one, in fact.” Aleph turned to Nero, who raised one of his eyes. “He is also the one who blasted us two days ago.”
“He is THAT fox?!” Nero’s red eyes widened, shivering from the memory of that gray fox with a black cape blasting them to the sky for the ‘crime’ of maybe throwing a snowball at him. “We should get through as fast as possible.”
Aleph stuck his tongue out, having a goofy smile while Nero lowered his eyes. “You worry too much. Still,” Aleph turned a bit serious as he nodded, “you’re right. He hates crowds, and three is a crowd, more than ever when they came uncalled near his home.”
Stry nodded, his own red eyes on the crimson topped tower. “Then let’s get going.”
# # #
The three walked onwards for the next hour, coming across a swampy area within the forest. Stry blinked at the swamp, with droplets coming down from some trees, and Nero shrugged, his face blank. Aleph lifted his foot-paw forward, only to get grabbed by Nero and Stry, stopping him. So instead, they lead him around the swamp, even though it brought them closer to Virmir’s tower. Nero kept an eye on it as though some giant winged being would come out from it, but no one came. Soon, they went to the other side, and they sped up their pace.
“That was close,” Nero said, sighing. “Any closer and even I would’ve gone through that swamp.”
“Yeah,” Stry said, shuddering. “I didn’t like the smell of that place.”
“Maf, if you say so.” Aleph shrugged with a laugh, his ears wiggling and his eyes closed. “Still, the worse is over.”
Stry, upon hearing those words, slapped his own face while closing his eyes. A second later, the ground rumbled beneath them, and Nero groaned. Both Nero and Stry tugged their red bandannas even as Aleph’s ears straightened up. The three spun around, and, towering above the trees, a giant golden-white Pokémon was walking towards them.
“MAF!” Aleph hovered in the air for a moment, his body straight, before spinning and sprinting away from the massive Pokémon. Nero and Stry leaped out of the way, opposite of each other, and pressed their hand-paws over their heads. Yet, this giant Pokémon walked forward, following Aleph.
“He just HAD to tempt fate,” Stry said as he got up, and he ran over to Nero even as the giant flattened the trees along the way. “Are you OK?”
“Yeah,” Nero said even as the giant Pokémon’s tails swayed. He got up, watching as he tilted his head a bit. “I know him. I know who this giant is.”
Meanwhile, Aleph sprinted forward, lowering his back even as touching the ground became nonexistent. He darted around trees, which got knocked down or flattened by the giant’s paw. Finally, his feet-paws rubbed against some cobblestones, a river ahead of him, and he leaped from stone to stone. Yet, the giant only stepped over the river with ease, and before Aleph could get far, he slammed his paw on top of Aleph.
“HA!” The giant Pokémon said, laughing. “Caught you again, Aleph!”
The giant Pokémon lifted his paw with a flattened Aleph within the paw crater. His belly pressed flat against the ground, with one leg before the other, and his arms hung back. The giant Pokémon extended one of his claws before flipping Aleph over, with him flopped on the claw.
“Maaaaaaf,” Aleph said, his eyes spiraling and his muzzle pointed down. He shook his head a bit before he observed the giant Pokémon’s head, with a massive fluffy crest on top and a green bandanna around his neck. A badge with yellow stylized wings and a lime green A on the center was attached to the scarf. “A-Ninetales?!”
“The one and only.” A-Ninetales’s sea-blue eyes shined in the light as he placed Aleph down. His badge and bandanna glowed, and he shrunk down in size, becoming his regular three foot seven. He extended his front right paw at Aleph, and a green sphere formed. He fired it at Aleph, and, a second later, he popped back to normal. “Sorry. I enjoy teasing you too much.”
“Maf, it’s no worries.” Aleph grinned from ear to ear as he ran to A-Ninetales and hugged him close. “It’s great to see you again.”
“It
is you!” Both Aleph and A-Ninetales turned to the side, where Nero and Stry walked between knocked down and flattened trees. Stry chuckled a bit before he patted A-Ninetales’s head. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Same with you, Stry,” A-Ninetales responded, raising his front right leg over Stry’s shoulder, pulling him into a hug. “I hope that you gave the card to Aleph, yes?” Stry nodded, and A-Ninetales grinned. “Good.” But Nero sighed, his head elsewhere. “Anything wrong, Nero?”
“Other than making lots of noises that can attract this Virmir?” Nero shook his head, the crimson-tipped tower in view between the woods. “I’m expecting him to come any minute now.”
But A-Ninetales let go of Stry before raising his front left paw up, a green sphere forming from it. He fired it out towards his destruction, its light pulsing out at the fallen and flattened trees. A second later, the trees unflattened themselves, and the knocked down trees raised themselves back up. Nero and Stry stood there, dumbfounded even as A-Ninetales snickered.
“A new trick I learned thanks to Glorfindel and his upgrade.” A-Ninetales rubbed his bandanna and badge. “In any case, I wouldn’t be too concerned over Virmir since he is most likely drawing right now. He loves to draw. In fact, I could take that entire tower with him off and take him to another location until he finishes for the day.”
Nero’s eyes lowered, his arms crossed. “You did something like that, didn’t you?”
“Me? Goodness, no.” A-Ninetales shook his head. “Saria did it as a prank. Took it, and him, to the tallest mountain within a hundred miles. Loudest frazz I ever heard.” Nero groaned, rubbing his face with both hand-paws as Aleph giggled and hugged A-Ninetales close, his hand-paws closed to the lime green A on A-Ninetales’s back. “We should catch up with what happened since we last met.”
“Maf, I agree.” Aleph patted A-Ninetales’s head before letting go of him. “You first. After all, you still haven’t explained to me about Faith and her macro training despite saying something about her twice.”
“Yeah. I was in a hurry both times.” A-Ninetales rubbed the back of his head, a sweat drop on his forehead. “To make the long story short, Faith the Vulpix, when making a wish from Jirachi, accidentally copied my edited Flash Fire and overridden her own. So, after smoothing out her destruction when she got huge, I tracked her down and took her in for training, even bringing a couple of her friends along.”
“Interesting. Did she also get the, er,” Nero said, struggling to find the right words. “You know, the—”
“No. Glorfindel checked her and didn’t find it,” A-Ninetales answered, and Nero sighed even as Stry’s right eye rose higher than the other. “But I decided to train her anyways in using her powers effectively. In fact, it’s been seventy-six days since we started training, with today and tomorrow a break day.”
“So, you decided to use the break as a way to meet up with Aleph, correct?” Nero asked, and A-Ninetales nodded. “How is she doing?”
“Very well. I imagine that, within four weeks, her training will be complete,” A-Ninetales replied, grinning with pride. “And then she and her friends will return home in peace, stronger and, hopefully, wiser than before.”
“We can always hope,” Stry said, rubbing A-Ninetales under his chin, with him murring in response. “As for us, we’re heading for a meeting spot so that we’ll start up a toony superhero team!”
“Yup! And all thanks to you.” Nero placed his right hand-paw against his chest, over the spike chest, and nodded. “After all, it was the stuff that you asked me to give to our friends that gave me the idea in the first place.”
A-Ninetales blinked, his ears twisting so that they faced opposite ends. “Huh. They were more for amusement. Still,” A-Ninetales chuckled for a moment, “that is an admirable goal. I approve. Although.” He turned to Aleph, who blinked at him. “Are you going to be a part of it?”
“Maf? Of course!” Aleph said, pressing against his hips. “Why shouldn’t I be?”
“I’m just worried,” A-Ninetales admitted, his ears folded down. “After all, a hero’s work is often unforgiving and unrewarding. Plus, while you have some good abilities, I have concern that your head won’t be fully focused.”
“What do you mean?” Stry asked, his crooked ear folded to the side.
“In a battle or rescue mission, you need to keep awareness of your opponent and your surroundings. One look away from a distraction can cost a life or lives, including your own.” A-Ninetales pressed against Aleph’s nose. “And I can’t count how many times you got flattened because you weren’t paying attention.”
“Maf, it isn’t easy.” Aleph’s ears lowered for a moment before they raised back up. “But I have my friends by my side! So even if I can’t be focused all the time, they can watch my back.”
“Yeah!” Stry went beside Aleph and hugged against his waist. “I’ll be your eyes!”
But Nero shook his head. “A-Ninetales isn’t wrong. Besides, we can’t both keep an eye on Aleph while saving a life, fighting an enemy, or both.” A-Ninetales nodded at Nero. “What do you suggest, former teacher of mine?”
A-Ninetales rubbed the back of his right ear. “I need to get back to training Faith before tomorrow ends. So I can’t train Aleph like how I train you, Nero. Still,” he lowered his paw before he grinned, “I can give Aleph a series of trials.”
“Woah!” Aleph’s eyes turned into stars for a second before hugging A-Ninetales. “That sounds like a great idea!” He stopped hugging before he tilted his head. “What kind of trials were you thinking about?”
A-Ninetales winked, getting up before waking out, with three of his tails gesturing for the others to follow. The three turned to each other, confused, but they nodded before following him. They walked for a few minutes before A-Ninetales stopped and turned around, with one of his tails pointing at a tree.
“The first trial is this,” A-Ninetales explained, with Nero and Stry standing behind Aleph, who rubbed his chin. “You are to hit that tree as hard as you can.”
“Maf?” Aleph’s ears folded down to his shoulders, his eyes wide. He clenched his hand-paws, breathing in as his ears pointed upwards. He ran towards the tree, swinging his fist. It emitted a thwack but left no damage, with Aleph pulling his swollen and red fist back. “Maaaaaaaaaf.”
Stry leaned back, laughing even as Nero lowered his arms down, eyes wide. Aleph shook his swollen fist around, the swelling going away with each shake. He soon sighed once the swelling went down, and he raised his hand-paws and shrugged, sticking his tongue out.
A-Ninetales rubbed his face for a moment, and he said between teeth. “You
do remember you have Aura, right?”
Aleph blinked and gulped, his ears folded back. “Y-yeah. I just misunderstood.” His hand-paws then emitted blue flame-like energy before he clenched them once more. He swung his fist at the tree, with splinters flying out from the fist-sized hole. He pulled his fist back, unharmed. “How was that?”
“Better.” A-Ninetales pointed one of his tails at Aleph’s Digivice. “Next, try the same with your Digimon form.”
“Right!”
Aleph pulled out a card, grinning wide as he slid the card through the Digivice. It emitted a bright light, with white cubes coming out and flying around and over him. They soon fused into him, his form changing with him shrinking even as his ears grew longer. His aloha shirt folded upwards into a red bandanna even as brown fingerless gloves formed around his swelling hand-paws, with long claws growing from them and his feet-paws. Soon, his blue jeans shrank into brown shorts, with two straps hanging on the side, while a sword and scabbard formed behind him, attached against his back with a brown belt.
“Maf!” Aleph crouched low, black around his angled eyes as he stared at the damaged tree, his fist pulled back. He punched the tree below the last punch, with splinters flying out, larger yet just as deep. He giggled, an idea forming in his head, and unsheathed his sword. He thrust its diamond point at it, with it going as far as the hilt into the tree before he pulled it back. He then slashed across the tree, with little resistance from the tree before it fell down on top of him, squishing him flat. “MAF!”
Stry lowered his arms against his feet-paws, his eyes wide even as Nero leaned back in laugher and A-Ninetales sighed. He generated a green orb and pressed it against the tree, with it flying onto the trunk, repaired with even the holes healed. Aleph lay there, his eyes spiraling before A-Ninetales formed another green sphere and pushed it against his body, with him popping back into shape.
Aleph shook his head, getting back up as he groaned. “Maf, I didn’t think that one through at all.”
“You’re telling us?’ Stry shook his head even as Nero patted it, not bothering to hide his amused grin.
“Interesting,” A-Ninetales said as Aleph pressed his Digivice’s button, turning back to his usual wolf self. “You seemed to flatten even faster than before. Though it might be my imagination.” Aleph shrugged, rubbing the back of his head while sticking his tongue out. “Now then, there’s one last form I like to see you test out.”
“Maf? Right!” Aleph pressed his hand-paws together, having a wide grin. Then, he grew in size at once, his muscles bulging out. Buttons popped out from his aloha shirt, with his chest widening even as his abs expanded. His neck thickened along with his arms and legs, becoming as thick as tree trunks, and he held a cocking grin. He flexed, standing at six feet. “AH-HA!”
Aleph stomped towards the tree, the ground shaking as he grinned even more expansive. He twisted his torso around, tightening his fist before he swung forward. He punched the tree, ripping it off the ground, leaving a large hole as leaves ripped off the branches. It soon burst into flames, flying into the horizon.
Aleph gave a hearty laugh, slapping his hand-paws against his hips. “NOTHING CAN STOP ME!” His body vibrated before he shrunk in size, his muscles shrinking to nonexistence and buttons reforming on his aloha shirt, even buttoning themselves back together. He blushed, rubbing the back of his head. “Whew. That was awesome, wouldn’t you say?”
“I can’t disagree,” A-Ninetales said, chuckling before turning back. “Now, what do you— Um? Stry?” He tilted his head. “Anything wrong?”
Stry froze in place, his eyes even wider with wrinkles around them even as his hand-paws pressed against the ground. Nero blinked, waving his own hand-paw in front of him, but Stry returned no reaction. He then shrugged, his expression black even as Aleph gave Stry a sheepish grin.
“Right. I never showed him my toon star form.” Aleph rubbed the back of his head, sweat drops forming. “So, how did I do?”
“Not bad,” A-Ninetales answered, tossing an acorn into the hole before following it up with a green orb. “Still, this is only half the trial.”
“Maf?” Aleph tilted his head even as the hold folded into itself until it was filled with dirt. “I thought that it’s to show how strong I am, right?”
“Sort of. Strength isn’t everything,” A-Ninetales explained, a sprout growing out from the ground, extending taller. “A person can lift a building with only a finger can still lose a battle if they cannot use that strength effectively.” He winked at Aleph as the tree bark formed on the growing tree. “The second half of the trial is a mock battle, just to show you what I mean.”
“Maf?” Aleph blinked while the growing tree behind A-Ninetales extended countless branches, with even more leaves on each one. “Sure?”
“Very good.” A-Ninetales stood up, his back arched and his limbs spread out. The tree stopped growing by then, even taller than the last. “Let’s begin.”
Aleph gulped, but his hand-paws glowed blue in a flame-like effect before he ran towards A-Ninetales. He swung his fists, but A-Ninetales leaned side to side, even ducking, away from the attack. Aleph jumped back, holding his hand-paws back as a blue sphere formed between them. He tossed it towards A-Ninetales, but he jumped over, with the Aura Sphere zooming out until it exploded.
Aleph grunted, humming before he pressed his hand-paws together. His muscles and body grew and expanded, turning into his toon star form, and he grinned wide. He leaped over to A-Ninetales, the air breaking from the force and with his fist swung back. A-Ninetales’s body glowed gold and, just as Aleph contacted his nose, he disappeared. Aleph felt a tug on his tail, with A-Ninetales’s jaws clenched tight around it, and he blinked. Soon, A-Ninetales swung Aleph around, smashing him into trees until he shrank down to his standard form. By that point, A-Ninetales let go, with Aleph flung against the newly grown tree, his face and torso dug in deep.
“Maaaaaaf,” Aleph said through the bark, his limbs forward. Nero leaned against Stry, still frozen in place while he laughed and swayed his tail. A-Ninetales rubbed the back of his head, half-blushing, before biting onto Aleph’s tail and pulling him out. Aleph flopped onto the ground, his eyes spiraling. “Sorry for eating all the ice cream again.”
Stry gasped, his movements throwing Nero off from him. “What did Aleph do?!”
“Calm down,” Nero said, A-Ninetales sitting beside Aleph. “That was Aleph’s toon star form. It came as a surprise when I saw it too.”
“Oh.” Stry sighed, shaking his head before glancing at Nero. “Did you lean on me?”
“Maybe?” Nero said in a playful tone, and Stry lowered his eyelids at him.
Aleph shook his head, shaking the bark and spirals away. “Maf?” A-Ninetales chuckled a bit, patting Aleph’s headfur. “How did you do that?”
“A trick I learned while traveling,” A-Ninetales answered, pulling him back up. “Not as powerful as your toon star form, though. Yet, you see how limited your power can be if used without skill or knowledge.”
“Yes,” Aleph admitted, shaking his limbs which cracked. “Are we done?”
“Not yet.” A-Ninetales winked. “You still need to demonstrate your Alephmon form.”
“Right!” Aleph pulled out a card and, with a scan and a flash, turned into his Alephmon form. He pulled out his sword, grinning. “Ready?”
“Always.”
Aleph swung his sword at A-Ninetales, who ducked under the blade. Aleph grunted and turned downward, but A-Ninetales stepped out of the way. It pierced through the ground, and Aleph lifted himself up and swung his feet-paws at A-Ninetales. But he leaped back, and Aleph landed, pulling the sword off the ground. He turned it over his head and thrust it down, yet A-Ninetales stepped out of the way, with the blade slicing through a tree trunk like warm butter. Aleph grinned, swinging his fist at A-Ninetales, stopping it just an inch away from his nose.
“Very good. That’s enough,” A-Ninetales said, and Aleph sighed while sheaving the sword back and, with a button press, turned to his normal self. “Now then, let me give you my thoughts.”
“Maf.” Aleph rubbed the back of his head, blushing. “That was pretty bad on my part.”
“You just need practice.” A-Ninetales reached to Aleph’s nose and booped it. “And I had to be good, considering what I sometimes fight against.” Aleph nodded and petted A-Ninetales. “Thanks. Here are my thoughts.
“For your standard form, it’s the weakest even with Aura boosting your strength.” A-Ninetales nosed Aleph’s arm, who giggled. “That isn’t to say that it doesn’t have it uses. Rather, you should use it differently.”
“How so?” Aleph tilted his head while rubbing his chin.
“You need to be sneaky where, instead of fighting head-on, you should be stealthy and attack in their blind spot.” A-Ninetales stepped behind Aleph and poked the back of his knee. “It should be simple to do with Aura ‘seeing’ your surroundings far more than regular eyes. Even knowing which way the other is going is a plus.”
Aleph nodded, though he tapped the tip of his chin. “Wouldn’t that be unfair? I thought part of being a hero is having honor or something like that.”
“Honor isn’t unique to heroes,” A-Ninetales explained, tossing a green orb at the ground, with all the fallen and damaged trees healed. “And it’s rare when everyone is fair in a fight. You will likely face foes who will use any underhanded moves they can make to win. So, it’s best to have a similar mindset, even if there are lines you will never cross.”
Aleph tilted his head, sticking his tongue out a bit, but he nodded.
“For your toon star form,” A-Ninetales continued, winking, “it’s a powerful form. But unfocused and with little time to use it. So, for now, I suggest that you use it only when you need a powerful attack, which will take your opponent down.
“As for your Alephmon form, it’s in the middle between your other forms, not super powerful, but still powerful in its own right. Yet, its advantage over your toon star form is that there isn’t a set time limit, so you should use it for a prolonged battle. Makes sense?”
“Maf, I guess,” Aleph said with a doubtful nod.
“In any case, here is the second trial.” A-Ninetales smirked as his badge and bandanna glowed. Then, he grew in size at once, Aleph blinking and stepping back from him. Trees got pushed back from his growing form, though he twisted himself to not tear them off. Within thirty seconds, he grew so large that even the tallest tree could only reach up to his chest. Aleph leaned back, his eyes wide, even as A-Ninetales grinned. “Try to avoid getting stomped again. Ready?”
Yet, without waiting for a response, A-Ninetales lifted up his paw and lowered it on top of Aleph. Aleph yipped before spinning around and sprinting away. The ground shattered upon impact, with Aleph stumbling from the earth shaking before running even faster. A-Ninetales chuckled before following Aleph, avoiding the trees.
Aleph’s fur puffed up as he ran, his feet-paws not even touching the ground. He went around several trees, panting, but A-Ninetales walked over them, his tails brushing against the leaves. Several branches scratched Aleph’s cheek, his ears flattened back, and he kept on running.
But then he came across another river, with its current running fast. Yet, rather than stopping, he instead kept on running. His paw pads got wet from the water, yet he managed to leap out before he got half of his feet-paw deep in. He ‘ran’ on the water from one end to another. Yet, by the time he got to the other end, he rammed against A-Ninetales’s paw, with him standing on both ends.
Aleph yipped and sprinted down the stream, and A-Ninetales smirked as he jumped fully to the other side and followed. By the time A-Ninetales continued his walk, Nero and Stry reached the river, with Stry blinking in horror even as Nero laughed. They followed from the other side of the river, with Stry stumbling from the cobblestone.
Aleph panted, sprinting onwards until he slammed against A-Ninetales’s paw once more, with A-Ninetales looking down on him. He yipped and ran away from the river, his tail puffed up, only to crash against a tree. He stumbled back towards the river, shaking his head before A-Ninetales’s paw slammed on top of him.
“MAF!”
Water seeped around A-Ninetales’s paw before he lifted it up, holding a flattened Aleph like a coin. He soon placed him down and emitted a green orb from his paw, hitting him with it. Aleph then popped back to normal, and he shook the water off his clothes and fur. “Maaaaaaf.”
“Got you again, Aleph,” A-Ninetales said as his badge and bandanna glowed, and he shrank back to normal. “And you did OK, though there is a lot of room for improvement.”
Aleph sighed and flopped on his back. “It seems you always win whenever we play this game.”
“I have plenty of practice.” A-Ninetales lifted Aleph’s head off the ground. “Your issue here is that you aren’t using your Aura. If you were, you would’ve known where you were heading, even sense where I’ll be.”
“Yeah.” Aleph rolled himself up. “It’s just that whenever you appear all big and stompy, the only thing I can think of is running as fast as possible.”
“Which is a big weakness.” A-Ninetales pointed one of his tails at Aleph. “You need to be aware of your surroundings and use the tools that you have. If you aren’t, you’ll find yourself making huge mistakes. Always be aware.”
Aleph nodded. “I’ll do my best to keep that in mind.” He then rubbed his left ear, his eyes shifting away. “You must think that I wouldn’t be a good toony hero, right?”
“I admit that I do worry about you,” A-Ninetales admitted, nosing Aleph’s side. “Though I also admit that I’m more worried about your doubts. Did anything happen?”
“Maf.” Aleph turned away, with Nero and Stry getting across the river. “I thought that I would do well as a toony superhero, especially since I have a toon star form. But then, yesterday, I fought a massive Luxray. Even with that form, I lost. In fact, they did far more in stopping it.”
A-Ninetales nodded. “Ah.” He paused, with Nero and Stry shaking the water off of them and squeezing their bandannas. “Being a hero isn’t just being the strongest, fastest, or even the smartest. It’s the will to go on fighting even when the odds are against you.” He rubbed his Explorer’s badge. “What abilities you have, whether it’s Aura, Digital Monster form, or even a god-like form, are tools to help you. They don’t make you a hero any more than my macro abilities make me one. It’s to fight on, even when there is no end in sight. Besides,” A-Ninetales set his paw on Aleph’s shoulder, “one of the best abilities, if not the best, is to have friends fighting alongside you, no matter what.”
Aleph remained silent for a few seconds, with Nero and Stry walking to his side, with one patting his shoulder and the other holding his hand-paw. Finally, a small smile came to Aleph’s face, and he laughed, getting up and hugging both Nero and Stry. The two grinned and hugged back, wagging their tails.
“Maf, thanks,” Aleph said, nuzzling against Nero’s chest while patting Stry’s head. Both laughed and hugged Aleph tighter in response. Then, he turned to A-Ninetales, who smiled at him. “And you’re right about me not being aware as I like. So, how do I get better at that? Is it another trial?”
A-Ninetales opened his mouth to speak, only for a thooming sound coming from behind. The ground shook, with water splashing up the river, and all blinked in response. A-Ninetales turned around, with trees crashing down and a giant clawed paw, very light gray, smashed through.
“TREES!” A deep yet thunderous voice said, and Nero’s eyes widened. “It’s bad enough that I have unwelcome guests in my territory! But you make SO MUCH NOISES! You’re ruining my productivity!”
More trees crashed down, with a couple going into the river, even as a dragon, feral in shape and towering at thirteen feet from the shoulder, stepped in. The river splashed against his gray fur covering much of his body, with a bit of a belly covered in light gray scales. His neck, covered in gray fur, stretched out from his body, and he looked down upon the group, with light gray fur around the muzzle and above the scales. His tail, as long as his body and with black fur on top, slammed against trees with the dark green spiky tip. His wings, green and scaly, spread out even as dark green spikes go from the base of his head, down his spine, to near his tail tip. His ears, black with a pair of concrete gray horns between them, folded back as his silver eyes glared at them.
“You never told us that he could turn into a dragon!” Nero took a step back, his eyes wide.
“Yeah,” Stry said, shaking his head. “He looks like he can EAT us.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it. Too much, that is,” A-Ninetales said, and Nero and Stry lowered their eyes at him. “Virmir prefers to eat veggies, even as a dragon.”
“Even so,” Nero said, his fur standing up even as Virmir stepped towards them, his antennae-hair fluttering in the wind, “there’s no way we can fight him!”
“Hmm.” A-Ninetales rubbed his chin for a few seconds, and a foxy grin formed on his face. “Say, Aleph?” Aleph turned to him, his knees shaking. “Consider this your third trial. I’m sure you can defeat him if you remember what I suggested.”
“I can?” Aleph blinked at A-Ninetales, his ears folded as far down as his shoulder. “But—”
“This is no time to doubt yourself,” A-Ninetales said, ignoring both Nero’s and Stry’s outraged expression. “I believe in you.”
“Maf.” Aleph sweated a bit even as Virmir inhaled, with smoke coming from his nose. But he nodded, his knees still shaking but having a confident grin. “I will. Nero. Stry.” The two turned to him. “Let me face this on my own.”
They opened their mouths, only for Virmir’s cheeks to fill up, with bits of flames coming from his nose. They then nodded, turned around, and ran with grave doubts in their expressions. But A-Ninetales patted Aleph’s shoulder before running off.
“Good luck,” A-Ninetales said, disappearing into the forest.
Aleph gulped, his throat bulging out, but he clenched his fist tight and steadied himself. Virmir opened his mouth, firing a massive beam of flames towards Aleph. He leaped out of the way, with the beam impacting the ground and exploding, shockwaves emitting from it and black smoke billowing up like a mushroom. Aleph crashed against a tree, with it knocked down from the force, but he shook his shoulder a bit before getting up.
“Blast!” Virmir growled a bit before turning to Aleph, his right eye raised. “You think you can defeat me?”
“Yeah!” Aleph replied, extending his arm up, though he added to himself, “I hope so, maf.”
Virmir snorted, with bits of flames coming out of his nose. “Sounds like I shouldn’t have used a potion to turn into a dragon after all if it’s just you. But, it’ll just take me one minute. And once I’m done with you, I’ll deal with your friends if they’re nearby, and I’ll teach you all NOT to come in my territory!”
Virmir inhaled, and Aleph’s fur stuck up. But he controlled his breathing and closed his eyes, with them glowing a bit as they shut. He leaped to the side and, a second later, Virmir fired out flames, burning through the trees. Aleph kept running, sensing the Aura of Virmir’s placement along with every tree, and an idea formed in his head.
Virmir growled before stomping towards Aleph. “Tree-blasted! Get back here! You’re wasting my minute!”
A white glow came from behind a tree, and Virmir smirked. He inhaled once more, only for the tree to be sliced in half, hovering in the air. It then got tossed into Virmir’s open mouth, with bits of flames coming from the side along with a stream of fire from his nose. He hacked and coughed, spitting the half-burnt tree out.
“Gah!” Virmir shook his head, and a blur of light blue appeared, leaping towards his muzzle. In his Alephmon form, Aleph punched his nose, and Virmir’s head shivered from the force. Aleph grabbed onto his snout with his other hand to climb on top, and, with a leap, he landed on Virmir’s back. “Stop that!”
“Maf!” Aleph responded, his eyes shining. He ran to Virmir’s shoulders by the time he folded his wings back and rolled. But Aleph leaped off halfway into the roll, with Virmir laying on his back with only his spikes in the ground. Aleph flipped a bit before falling down, punching Virmir’s neck. “Take that!”
Virmir gagged and coughed, smoke coming from his mouth. He shook his head, Aleph stumbling back from the shaking, and he glared at him. He rolled himself up onto his hind legs, with Aleph sliding off, and he fell forward. Aleph ran between his legs, and Virmir flopped with a crash, with trees falling around him.
“Can’t you STOP moving?!” Virmir demanded, turning his neck around. But Aleph grinned before running deeper into the forest. Virmir growled, getting back up and stomping towards there. “You’ve wasted two minutes of my time! I have projects to do!”
Virmir stomped onwards, knocking down trees as he gritted his teeth. But then trees zoomed to the sky, each with a clean cut on the bottom. They then fell on top of Virmir, grunting with each impact. He turned up for a second, and a tree fell into his mouth, rubbing against his neck. He gagged, chomping an end out before spitting out some wood. He shook his head as he entered a clearing, where Aleph stood at one end, and several tree trunks stood between them. Aleph waved, sheaving his sword.
“You are becoming a pest!” Virmir clenched against a trunk until it burst. Aleph pressed his Digivice, and he glowed for a second. He returned to normal when he stopped glowing, and pressed his palms together. Virmir blinked before he snorted. “Giving up?”
“Nope,” Aleph answered, his grin widening. Then, at once, his body grew with muscles. Each one bulged out, thickening with his aloha shirt’s buttons popping off against his chest and abs. Soon, he stood, flexing at six feet tall, and Virmir blinked. “I’M JUST GETTING STARTED!”
Aleph, the toony star, leaped high, his arms over his head. Virmir inhaled, his open mouth glowing, before firing a jet of flames at him. It impacted Aleph, but not even the stretched-out pants or buttonless aloha shirt got singed. Aleph threw his fists down, hitting Virmir’s head. The force knocked Virmir’s head to the ground, the earth shattering all around him and trees falling within fifty feet.
Aleph landed behind Virmir, a broad grin on his face even as Virmir’s eyes turned into spirals. He then shrunk in size, with light gray fur replacing the scales. He groaned, wings, spikes, and horns receding to nothing as his claws shrunk. His stance became anthro even as his tail became shorter, with the green point replaced with black fur, encompassing the tip and the top half of his tail. Finally, Virmir lifted his head, back to his standard gray fox form.
Aleph gave out a hearty laugh before he shrank down to normal, with the aloha shirt’s buttons restored. “Maf? I did it!”
“No.” Virmir shook the dirt off his fur. “You just wasted my time by being a pest.” He stood up, glaring at Aleph before extending his hand-paw forward, and an orange and yellow fireball formed. “But now,” Virmir’s eyes narrowed as the ground shook beneath him, “it’s time that you—”
A golden-white paw landed on top of Virmir, cracking the ground underneath as the fireball dissipated. Aleph grinned wide, waving to the hundred feet tall A-Ninetales, with Nero and Stry sitting on his shoulders. He lifted his paw up, with Virmir flattened in a pawprint shape.
“Frazz,” Virmir moaned, spirals returning to his eyes.
“I’m glad that you win,” A-Ninetales said, grinning along with Nero and Stry.
“I didn’t think it was possible, but you did it,” Nero said, rubbing his head appendages.
“Yeah! You kicked his tail hard!” Stry lifted his fist high.
“Maf, thanks,” Aleph said, sticking his tongue out and rubbing his ears. “Shall we leave? I don’t want to fight Virmir again.”
“I doubt Virmir will be a concern for a while,” A-Ninetales said with a wink. “Still, if that is your fear, I will take you elsewhere.”
He extended his paw to Aleph, who grinned wide before hopping on. He lifted him up to his head, and Aleph landed on it just in front of the fur-crest. Nero and Stry climbed up A-Ninetales’s head, getting to Aleph before hugging him close. Aleph blushed before hugging back, and A-Ninetales walked.
Virmir grumbled, glaring at the sky. “To think that I was beaten by him. What a waste of my time. Still, it can’t get worse, especially once Lucile finds me.”
A sizeable green orb came from above, landing beside Virmir, and a green wave emitted. Holes got filled up at once, and new trees replaced destroyed ones. Virmir’s stomach groaned, and his eyes widened, his head sprouting upwards. His fingers wiggled, and they extended into branched as his feet-paws dug into the ground, stretching into roots.
“Ohhhhhhhh frazz,” Virmir said, his mouth full of tree branches.
# # #
A-Ninetales walked onwards, careful not to hit any trees along the way, with even his tails avoiding them. Aleph leaned himself forward, a grin on his face even as Nero and Stry held him back. Finally, the trees thinned out, exiting the forest and into a plain with the crimson-tipped tower out of sight. Nero’s ears wiggled, and he turned back for a moment as though he heard something.
Soon, they came to a clearing, and A-Ninetales lowered down. The others nodded and hopped off, with Aleph’s arms up high. He closed his eyes for a moment, laughing, even as Nero patted his headfur and Stry rubbed his back. Then, they turned around, with A-Ninetales still huge and having an odd grin on his face.
“Thank you, A-Ninetales!” Aleph said, hugging A-Ninetales’s nose. “Now, we can both rest easy that I’ll do well.”
“Indeed. However,” A-Ninetales pushed both Nero and Stry back, with Stry blinking even as Nero snickered, “There’s still one last trial you must do.”
“Maf?” Aleph blinked, tilting his head while rubbing his chin. “What is the last trial?’
“Your final trial is this.” A-Ninetales pushed Aleph off his nose before he sat up. Then, at once, A-Ninetales positioned his front paws to face each other, with Aleph at the middle. He then slammed his paws together, Aleph yipping in response. When he pulled his paws away, Aleph stood flattened, each eye at the opposite side, flattened sideways. “You must stay still for twenty-four hours without moving. If you move an inch, you will fail.” Aleph blinked. “You have shown power and speed. Now, show your control.”
Aleph nodded a bit, and A-Ninetales shrunk in size until he became his regular size again. Nero and Stry walked to Aleph’s side, with Stry having an eye on A-Ninetales, but Aleph smiled at them without turning. So they nodded and went over to A-Ninetales, standing by his side as they watched Aleph.
The hours counted down, with Aleph sweating flat droplets from the sun. Wrinkled formed under his eyes, and he grunted, his fingers becoming stiff. But he refused to even wiggle them, instead remaining still.
A-Ninetales poked his badge a few times, with Nero turning to him. But A-Ninetales winked at him, and Nero nodded with an anxious expression. Stry went over and patted Nero’s back, who smiled and rubbed his head in return.
The hours passed by, and the sun went down into the horizon. Finally, the moon came up, its reflective light shining down on the land. Aleph sighed, the area becoming colder with even a bit of mist forming. But he grinned, his confidence unwavering.
But then the clouds covered the sky.
He blinked, the dark clouds gathering out of nowhere, and a rumble came from above. A second later, the ground shook, and he gulped. A-Ninetales sat ahead, an odd grin on his face even as Stry looked at the sudden storm. Rain poured down, crashing against Aleph’s flat body. Aleph thought that it was OK for a moment until a big droplet hit against his muzzle. It bent, but Aleph fought back, pushing his flat muzzle back to its original position.
It was then a massive paw landed near Aleph. He blinked, steadying himself as the shadowy being’s step shook the earth for many miles. It stopped, lifting up its staff that’s just as tall, and lightning struck it. It then spread out its massive wings, with mighty wings coming from it. Aleph gritted his teeth, keeping himself still and planted on the ground. The being walked once more, swaying its tail that ended in a fur turf, and one last blast of wind hit Aleph. But he grunted, remaining where he stood while the shadowy being faded into the horizon.
The area calmed down with the sky clearing up with each passing hour. The rain stopped, and Aleph sighed, with the sun coming up, shining down. He grinned, the sun inching higher to the sky, and flat sweats appeared all over his body. He felt like a noodle, standing still while waiting for the final hour to end.
Soon, A-Ninetales got up and booped Aleph’s nose. “You did well. You almost fell against Glaurung’s storm, yet you still stand. You passed.”
Aleph grinned wide, jumping up high. “Maf! I did it!” He blinked, moving his flat arms in front of himself, turning as he wished with minor issues. “Huh?”
“That trial you did was something I had to do when training with A-Ninetales,” Nero explained, and his hand-paw flattened on its own. “That and other trials is why I have so much control over my body, flattening and folding myself however I wish.”
“THAT’S what you did that allowed you to fold into a paper airplane!” Stry asked in a loud voice, his arms way back, and Nero nodded. He lowered his arms so that his hand-paws touched the ground, eyes wide as Nero chuckled. “That’s nuts.”
A-Ninetales smirked before holding up his paw, and a green orb formed on it. He tossed it over to Aleph, who popped back into his unflattened state. Aleph grinned wide, pulling A-Ninetales into a hug.
“Thank you once again, buddy!” Aleph said, tail wagging fast. “Will you travel with us some more?”
“I cannot,” A-Ninetales admitted, hugging back while patting Aleph’s back. “I still need to train Faith, and the break time is almost over.”
Aleph’s ears lowered for a moment before he smiled, rubbing his muzzle against A-Ninetales. He chuckled before nuzzling Aleph back, and they let go of each other. He went over to Nero, who hugged him close while rubbing above the green A on his back for a few seconds. Finally, he approached Stry, who patted his own neck for a moment before shrugging and hugging him tightly, with A-Ninetales patting his head.
A-Ninetales smiled, letting go of Stry before stepping away. “Until we meet again, old friends.”
A-Ninetales pressed his badge, which glowed green. Soon, white light engulfed him, and, below him, four lines formed around him in a shape of a four-point diamond. A spiral then spread out from underneath him, four in number, spinning until they crossed with each of the four diamond’s corners. A second later, it faded, and A-Ninetales disappeared.
Aleph, Nero, and Stry waved at him as he disappeared, and Stry sighed. But Aleph grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into a hug. Stry blinked before hugging back, both of their tails wagging. Nero laughed, spreading both arms around them, and picked them both up in a hug. Then, after a bit, he put them down while rubbing the back of his head.
“Shall we?” Aleph asked, his tail wagging.
“Sure,” Nero said with a smile. “In fact, I think A-Ninetales took a few days off from our travels.”
Aleph extended his hand-paw up in a fist, a grin on his face. “Let’s go and start our toony superhero group!”
Aleph ran forward with the wind fluttering against his aloha shirt, and Nero and Stry laughed. They followed Aleph, catching up to him, each one a grin on their face. Though the journey would still be long, Aleph felt that things would be alright.
