I was going to start this part off with a joke about being wrong about it being longer than I had intended between these posts, but then it actually happened. The part about having IRL stuff get in the way is still true, of course, but I've gotta keep my bills paid before I get to the stuff I hope other people think is as cool and fun as I do.
As to this issue itself, I gotta say, I can really relate to Jorge's leg injury. I've had a few myself over the years. While none of them has been quite that bad on their own, but the damage has really added up, and that cumulative damage has not been done any favors for the excess weight I've got on me, either.
The host segment we'll be ending with this time goes into what I'd call “Yeah...” territory, which was not an uncommon thing for me, and perhaps most folks writing these things, back then. But I'll say more about that at the end so anyone willing to brave the screwball formatting can see what I mean first.
See you then.
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[jump]
[Double doors open to theater. Seating arrangement is same as before.] > >"Jorge, come in. Jorge, do you read me! Hello? Jorge." Ashley sighed in >frusteration as she looked up from her D-4. "Jorge won't answer his D-4." > >"Mari won't either," Eli said. > >"You don't think something happened to them, do you?" JESSE: Can't you guys just turn those things off if you'd like? RICK: I don't know, really. > >"We can track them vie their D-4," the Commander said. She sat at one of the >control consols and activated a mapping program. "That's strange, I'm not getting >anything." > >"What does that mean?" Eli asked. > >"Well it means one of three things happened: one, we're looking in the wrong area. JESSE and RICK:[Larry and Shemp] Yes, yes? >Two, the D-4's are destroyed, or three..." JESSE and RICK:[Larry and Shemp] Yes, yes? > >"Yeah," the two Digidefenders echoed. > >"Three, something is blocking the scanners from connecting with the D-4s." JESSE and RICK:[Larry and Shemp] No! > >"Is someone blocking us?" That was Ashley. > >"No, the computer would know if it was artificially created. No, it's more likely >the result of something natural. Either a rock, or a mountain or a cave." ELI: Or a thunderstorm. JORGE: Or a sunspot. > >"We should get over there," Ashley said. > >"Yes. I'll contact Rick and Chi. They'll join you en transit." JESSE: They can just dash on over. > >"Right. Digi-port open! Data-link to India!" > > >"Hey. Hey kid, you dead?" JESSE:[Jorge] Not quite! JORGE: And just then, I was tempted to work on resolving that. > A voice, a strange voice was >calling out to him. Who was it? With great difficulty, Jorge opened his eyes. >Mari was standing over him, gently shaking his shoulder. Was that concern in her >voice? No doubt if he asked her, she would deny it. > >Instead, he asked, "Mari? What happened? Where are we?" > >"The blast must've knocked us below ground. I was just revived myself." > >"What happened to the Digimon?" Mari held out Gotsumon's card. The fall must've >caused him to dedigivolve and turn back into his card form. Jorge placed the card >back into his case. > >"Come on, El Luchadore, let's find a way out of here." > >"Right." Jorge placed his weight on one leg and pulled himself up. No sooner >that he placed his other foot down, then his entire leg erupted in pain. > >"AAAHHHH!" Jorge cried. He fell down clutching his leg. > >"What's wrong?" Mari asked, startled by his yelp. > >"My leg... I can't move it." Jorge said with tears of pain streaming. Mari rolled up his >pant leg and pulled down his sock. The area around his calf was swollen and blue. > >"That doesn't look good," Mari commented. "It must be broken." ASHLEY: Broken? It looks like it's an inch from falling off! JESSE: Probably feels like it, too. > >"Now what do we do?" > >"I'm going to have to go get help." > >"But what about me?" > >"You're staying here. You can't get anywhere on that foot and I'm not about to >carry you." Mari was three years older than Jorge but was almost twice his >height. She could probably carry him, but of course, Mari had to protect her >reputation before helping others. JESSE: Plus, no point in making a bigger mess of the leg than necessary. > >"Don't worry, Roberto, I won't forget about you." > >"My name is Jorge," he said between gritted teeth. > >"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Waving her hand in dismissal, Mari ran off. Jorge >thought about his predicament. It's possible that Mari couldn't get to help in >time. Even if she did manage to get out of the cave, she would have to tranverse >the mountains into China. He was the only one of them with a D-Pilot. He would >have to rescue himself. RICK: Oh, sure. One cool toy and you think you're all that. JORGE: Well, what would you have done? > >Jorge rolled over onto his front. He began dragging himself by the hands in the same >direction as Mari. > > >Ashley materialized in the same place as Mari and Jorge did. JESSE: It must be a good beamdown location. > >"Penguinmon, digimerge!" Penguinmon stood before his Digidefender partner. > >"Ashley, what's the haps?" > >"We need to look for Mari and Jorge. Let's digivolve and take to the sky." > >"Fine by me." > >Ashley activated the digivolving function on her D-4. "Digivolve!" > >DIGIVOLUTION > >"Penguinmon, digivolve to... Saberdramon!" > >Ashley climbed onto Saberdramon's talon. They were about to take off when Eli >appeared along with Rick and Chi. JORGE: Well, everyone's showing up for this, aren't they? ASHLEY: We were worried about you. > >"We were about to search from the sky," Ashley informed them. > >"Let me get Mekanorimon out and we'll come with you," Eli said. "Hagurumon, >digimerge!" > >DIGIVOLUTION > >"Hagurumon, digivolve to... Mekanorimon!" ELI:[durring digivolution sequence] It looks cool, but it somehow gets old fast. JESSE:[durring digivolution sequence] You guys don't actually see any of this when you actually do it, do you? RICK:[durring digivolution sequence] No. The Digimon just sorta start glowing and geting bigger and stuff, really. > Eli climbed into Mekanorimon's cockpit. > >"Wait for me," Chi said as she climbed into the cockpit next to Eli. > JESSE: Aren't you guys a little young for that? ELI: Oh, be quiet! >"Rick, you can come with us," Ashley offered. > >"Thanks," Rick said climbing onto Saberdramon's other talon. RICK:[singing to tune of "Ghetto Superstar"] Fly away with me, to another place... ASHLEY: You're worse than Mr. Tacky Shirt over there, Rick. > Saberdramon and >Mekanorimon took off. > JESSE: You know, I think I'm starting to read a bit much into this. ELI: How so? JESSE: I keep seeing cute couples. > >Mari had been walking for about ten minutes. She was getting annoyed at these >caves. She was beginning to wonder if she was walking in the wrong direction. >Suddenly she heard a small scuffle. She quickly ran around a corner and braced >her back against the wall. It sounded like someone groaning and scraping >something along the dirt. Finally, the scuffling stopped and silence echoed >through the cavern. Mari took a risk and peeked around the corner. > >It was Jorge. Somehow he managed to get this far with only the use of one leg before >he passed out. JORGE: But then, you can only scrape off so much skin before you do. > >"Kid's got more spunk than I thought," Mari said to herself. > > >Footsteps penetrated Jorge's subconscious. With effort, he pulled himself into an awake >state. Mari had one of his arms draped across both of her shoulders and one of her arms >was around his waist like a soldier escorting a wounded comrade across the battlefield. > RICK:[hums a line of "Yankee Doodle"] >"What?... How long was I out." > >"About ten minutes. I've been dragging you for the past nine." > >"Oh... Thank you, sorry for the trouble." > >"Well if you want to thank me, you can get your dino friend to carry us the rest of the >way. You're heavy for a kid." > >"Dino friend?... Oh, Monochromon. Right, I forgot. ASHLEY: I would think it would be hard *not* to forget after dragging yourself through a half kilometer of rubble. RICK: Not to mention with that kind of pain. > Gotsumon, digimerge!" The card glowed for a brief second then went back to its original form. > >"What happened?" Mari asked. > >"I guess Gotsumon hasn't recovered enough power to digimerge," Jorge figured. > >"Looks like I'll just have to take care of this. Floramon, digimerge!" Just like >Gotsumon's, Floramon's card flashed for a moment then returned to normal. > >"They must still need to recover their energy from that attack," Jorge figured. JESSE: Are you sure it was the attack that did it and not nearly being crushed to death in a landslide? JORGE: OK, and after the landslide, too. > "They >won't digimerge until then." > >"Looks like we're walking. Come on, Pablo." > >"My name is Jorge." > >"Whatever." > JESSE: Well, what say we take one last break before the end? ELI: Good idea. [All exit theater] [Lobby] JESSE: You know, I'd have to say the series official pairings are beginning to at least form up.
RICK: Why do you say that? JESSE: Well, I'd definately call this adventure a "bonding experience" for Jorge and Mari. JORGE: Hey, I hadn't thought of it like that. ASHLEY: But then, you *did* save each others' lives... ELI: And I think we may be looking at another pairing. RICK: Really? Where? JESSE: Well, look who you're standing next to. [RICK and ASHLEY look at each other for a second and then step apart a little bit] RICK: Did that just happen? ASHLEY: I don't know... JORGE: Aw, come on! You two make a cute pair. ELI: Yeah. RICK: Anyway... Jorge and Mari, huh? JORGE: Well, she *has* started to lighten up some. At least to me. ASHLEY: I suppose so. JESSE: I think my capacity to take things too far may be kicking in on this one, though. ELI: How come? JESSE: Well, there are five guys on the team, right? RICK: Yeah. And? JESSE: That means there are only three girls. ASHLEY: That would be right. ELI: I think I see where you're going with this. JORGE: It's actually kinda wierd. RICK: Gross is more like it. JESSE: I think I'd better just stop with this line of thought. RICK: Yeah, us too. ASHLEY: Let's just get back to the movie.
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Like I was saying at the beginning, that last host segment was at least bordering on the not-so-great. I've always tried to be at least a little bit self-aware about that sort of thing, to the point that I'll even have my characters acknowlege what's going on when it fits. It might not have been the best look ever back then, and I suspect having an additional twenty years on it doesn't help.
As for the posting schedule, I'm hoping to have the next part of this done in a more timely fashion, but as this one has proved, that's still in flux. As always, no promises, because my real-life concerns need to come first. If all goes to plan, the next part of this will be up next Saturday, but as we've seen, thing happen that cause delays.
At any rate, see you with something along the way, hopefully before the next one of these comes out.
