Oh God, You Again

[Maria Carver]

Maria's pride swelled at Isaac's agreement to go along with her plan. Ha! Bribery could sway anyone into doing anything! And already, Stella was unknowingly setting up the perfect way for Isaac to look bad. A scandalous affair with a famous model, a heartbroken Maria, a chance for Maria and Stella to bond over their mutual hatred once the "truth" sunk in... Oh, this was perfect!

Except Isaac had to open his big, dumb mouth and ruin the narrative that Maria was constructing in her head.

She squeezed Isaac's arm in her best impression of a death grip and turned to him again. She was half a second from demanding to know what he was doing when two thoughts crossed her mind. One, speaking up now would definitely ruin the illusion. Like it or not, Maria had to play along with Isaac's little story if she wanted this to work. Two... holy crap, Isaac was really getting into this. He even leaned in toward Maria as he spoke, eyes and voice both soft. Now, it was no secret that Maria thought highly of herself, but she wasn't an idiot. There was no way that Isaac would suddenly be legitimately tender toward her after their earlier bickering. There must have been something he really, really wanted Maria to buy him if he was pulling out all the stops like this. And what stops they were! Isaac wasn't just pretending—he was straight-up acting! Maria had to admit that he was good at it, too.

Just not out loud, of course.

"It's true," she said instead. "I know, it's silly, but there's just something about him." Maria took a page from Isaac's book in making lies from the truth. There was definitely "something" about Isaac, all right...

Maria's smile blossomed into something more excited and genuine as Isaac passed her the proverbial baton. He may have ruined Maria's chances to ruin his reputation, but now he'd given her a chance to have an actual conversation with Stella Morozova! She didn't even realize that Isaac was trying to mess with her with this.

"I would love to," Maria said. Yet before she could even get her chance, Stella, having put on some black gloves during their conversation, grabbed something out of mid-air.

---

"Ack—!" PetitMamon could only choke out that small sound as he was suddenly grabbed by the back of his neck. Eyes wide, he turned toward his assailant. That human lady? But... how?! How could she see him, let alone grab him like that?! For a moment, he squirmed in her grip, only to freeze at her threats.

Fortunately, she let go, leaving him flailing in mid-air until his wings were flapping properly again. She didn't even need to push him aside; he darted behind Maria and Isaac, only peering out to make sure she wasn't going to come after him or something. Luckily for him, she just kept sipping her coffee while her little Digimon partner crawled out of the bag it had been in. He narrowed his eyes at it with a pout. What made it so special that it could interact with people like that? It wasn't fair! He didn't dare say that out loud, though, not with that human still close by.

---

Maria, too, noticed that whatever Stella had caught seemed too big for a mosquito. Yet she couldn't actually see anything between Stella's gloved fingers. And the way she spoke of it was definitely not how Maria had envisioned a refined model speaking, to say the least. Squishing an annoying bug was one thing. Threatening to rip its wings off one by one? Kind of creepy. She squinted at a few colorful blocks that flickered in the air near Stella's hand. A hologram? What the heck was going on here?

Whatever it was, Maria was still determined to get on Stella's good side. Her eyes fell on the little white puff that had emerged from her bag. "Oh, what a cute little hologram!" she said, eager to change the subject. "Is it yours? I didn't see anything like it in the exhibits."

Stella Morozova

[Stella Morozova]

At this very moment Stella wasn't quite sure. It was Expo, right? So why she couldn't tell if it was a standup comedy or a mental breakdown happening in front of her eyes? Probably both.

"I doubt," Stella deadpan commented with a silent, judging expression listening to their explanation of how they met and came to be. No one said she will play along and nicely to that, while her sly and calm eyes glanced at them. Sure, that duo seemed smart enough to pull that idea out, they actually went with the lovey-dovey couple act... And she barely even dared them, only teasing and wanting to see their reactions. Somehow, Stella suspected that this performance wouldn't be long-lived. It could prove interesting and entertaining enough if it won't get tiresome along the way. A tiny, but daring smirk on her lips was a warning in itself, but they didn't know it yet. "Charming," an emotionless response to their sugary words. "And here I thought that most romantic thing you could do for someone would be to throw yourself into traffic..." she narrowed her eyes, pleased, resting her back on the chair.

And they said romance was dead, huh? Hilarious. El seemed to be in a weird daze, just keeping silent and looking at them, while the unlikely scene unfolded right there. She couldn't blame them, she had trouble herself wrapping her head around that atrocity too. Even so, the mood couldn't be better.

"It's not a secret that I dislike attention," Stella added with a soft sigh, a harder vowel danced in her statement. Any kind of attention... Hopefully, that would send the right message, but somehow they weren't retreating. Especially the girl. The blonde was too enthusiastic for her liking and despite holding Isaac's arm as her life depended on it, her eyes were focused somewhere else. Girly was so eager to take a half step closer, to stare at her, looking for every tiny movement or a glance that could prove that she has Stella's attention... Damn. She was desperate. "I'm so sorry to break it to you like that Isaac..." Stella said with a collected expression, when the blonde leaned closer, ready to talk her heart out about fashion. "But your new girlfriend seems to be more into me than you." She added a not-so-dramatic shrug. "I'm flattered, but I'm not interested."

As weird as her behavior was, she did not care enough to have a second thought about it. Be it her words, sharp and cold, deadpan mocking, or irrational and unexplained motion that she did out of blue. Stella never felt the need to explain herself. Imp flew away, glaring at her with a mix of fear and grudge from the above of the girl's shoulder. Their eyes were aiming at her and Pafumon... Great. That was the last thing she needed, another Digimon wanting to devour someone smaller than them for the sake of... Whatever. It was getting irksome and annoying. And her little partner decided that it would be the best moment to wander around the table like it was the catwalk.

"Hologram?" Stella raised her eyebrow slowly, glancing at the white, round fluff on the table. At the same moment, Pafumon decided that the most reasonable thing to do was to softly walk up to El, looking at them with shiny eyes and... Furball suddenly opened their mouth, narrowing their eyes in a happy, trusting smile. Yes. They showed their signature move. The girl drank up the rest of her coffee, holding the empty cup in one hand, not impressed by the little stunt of her tiny partner.

"A!" Pafumon displayed his eagerness to eat with an open mouth, painfully obvious asking for some food. And because nothing at all, not even a small snack, was shared with them they repeated their plea with the "Aaa!" sound again, blinking and looking around confused. Usually, that worked on Rosina, so it should work on the others too, right? Pafumon's eyes started to water. "Uuu...," the ears dropped down a picture of misery and hunger right there between them all. Fucking unbelievable.

"... Enough." she sighed with a scolding note, grabbing that little beggar and placing it in front of her. Their sniffles already stopped. "I wish it was a hologram." Stella added silently while clicking her tongue, fishing out of her bag packages of fruit snacks for toddlers. If Pafumon was a hologram she wouldn't waste so much money on providing edibles for them... And wouldn't worry that they'd try swallowing her chapstick again. Hearing the plastic wrap rustling, Digimon jumped and opened their mouth with content. To their disappointment, all the snacks and candies were placed on the empty saucer, because Stella wasn't in the mood of hand-feeding the furball. Soon enough Pafumon started chewing, making little, happy noises as they munched on the sweets.

"Pay them no mind," she rested her elbow on the table, glancing to the side to check on the glitchy Digimon to make sure they were keeping their distance. "Anyway... Do I know you from somewhere?" Stella's eyes switched points of focus and looked at the girl. There was no curiosity in her voice, just a need to verify something. And she kinda wanted the conversation to follow the old path.

[Aahz]

There was more than one person at the tables nearest to the group that had someone, or several someomes, paying attention to the drama going on. Some were leaning across the tables they were at, eyes on the groupexcept for everytime one of the quartet looked up or around. Their mouths moved as they chattered with their tablemates about what they saw. A couple brave, or maybe just shameless, souls had turned right around in their seats to openly gawk at what looked like tasty drama. Phones were out, pictures snapped in a matter that their owners probably thought was on the sly except for a few tables where others stepped in and everywhere the tap-tap-tapping of fingers on screens. What else could the group really expect after shouting the name of one of the models that had just been on stage across the area? It was probably a good thing that they were mostly too far away to hear what was actually being said but this was definately going to make the rounds on social media!

And then the lights went out.

All at once with a suddeness that was disorientating. Light still reached in from the windows at one side of the cafeteria but nothing came from the doors leading out to the other parts of La Galleria and startled yelps and shrieks as people bumped into each other and objects in the sudden artificial night sounded. Voices could be heard mummering, more than one person wondering if this was part of some particular exhibit or if perhaps the combined power draw of the new technology had caused the localized black.

"Hey, my phone turned off!"
"Mine too!"
"No! I hadn't saved my article!"

There was more to it than just the lights dying and people finding their electronic devices had abruptly quit on them. The air itself felt different even aside from the sudden heaviness of fear and concern but this particular feeling was more of a crackle against the senses that the digimon in the group would particularly be sensitive to. Like the pressure before a storm cloud broke it would grate on their senses before abruptly it popped once, twice, and then the emergency lights were on and the world forever changed.

Yelling erupted from the rest of La Galleria, at first just the voice of a model Stella might recognize and then more and more as the crowd that had been watching that segment of the show joined in. Just barely under the sound of that cackling could be heard from the art section though the tone there was more outrage than panic. People in the cafeteria were beginning to stand from their seats and mill about, several looking frantic as they tried to contact anyone on their phones that had no signal. Some that were closer to the windows at the other side of the room were clustered around them and looked out and appeared nervous.

"Everyone please remain calm!" A Galleria employee called from near the door where a member of security was attempting to get a signal from his walkie talkie. "It appears to be just a minor power outage at this moment! If you have become injured please take a seat and raise your hand and we will bring a first aid kit to you!

(This is it, the Blackout is here! Something's happened in the digital spaces and now its leaking into the real world! At this point feel free to continue this thread either free-form as you had previously or it can become guided. Regardless the choice is yours: will you leave it to the officials to straighten things out or will you pitch in to help?)

[Isaac Sunderland]

Stella was being mildly irked by Isaac's mushyness. Maria seemed frazzled as the grand narrative she was cooking up in her head got shut down in glorious fashion. He was a maestro of chaos here, easily winning a war on three fronts. Was the best Stella had to offer in response really telling him to go play in traffic? His smirked turned upwards slightly. "You know, you might have a point. If I survive, then I can be cared for oh so tenderly. And if I die, well, they always say absence makes the heart grow fonder." Isaac remarked. "But theatrics like that are best saved for the stage, don't you think? So maybe if someone's looking to cast Romeo and Juliet But With Cars, I'll send them your info."

And what a reason to Romeo and Juliet himself! His beloved was more interested in Stella than she was in him! Oh, the tragedy! Despite this, Isaac couldn't help but shift his smirk into a warm smile. "Can you blame her? She's simply starstruck, realizing the world she's bringing herself into," Isaac pointed out. "Oh, isn't she just adorable when she's all passionate like that? The way she just wouldn't stop talking about every little thing in the exhibits we passed . . . oh, once you get her started, you're in for a fantastic time~." Was that a veiled warning heading Stella's way? Or was it a veiled threat? Either way, now the presence was on Maria to perform!

Or, it would have been. Two big things promptly took the attention off of the duo's act. The first was a small puffball coming out of Stella's purse. It was cute and fluffy and looked like a hologram but wasn't a hologram and god fucking damnit it was a Digimon. Seriously? Another one of these? Sure, this one was all small and cute. But apparently they could turn into buff ladies and beat the shit out of people. It figured that someone as rough and tumble as Stella would have a buff lady in her pocket to hit people she didn't care about hitting herself. And with how little she cared about things like "people" or "attention" or "the law", that was probably a long list of people.

Needless to say, Isaac was wary as the potential violent buff lady approached El. However, El was a lot less perturbed. Probably because they weren't there for literally any of that mess. Instead, they just smiled a little, quickly slipping the Digimon a fry before Stella distracted it with a dog bowl full of fruit treats. It was almost like some kind of pet. Maybe if the weird buff cosplayer was a Digimon-human, this thing was just a Digimon-animal? Unless his first theory was right, and this was just some kind of sleep mode. Or maybe a baby. Shit, was Stella keeping a baby as a pet? Isaac was pretty sure that was illegal.

Before he could ponder on these words of "wisdom" more, the second of the two big distractions hit. Namely, the lights died. All of them. At once. Electronic exhibits fizzled out of existence. Patterns artificially added to articles of clothing gave way to the highbrow equivalent of a plain white t-shirt. Phone service dropped from omnipresent to completely dead. And people weren't happy. Some were frantic. Some were frustrated. Some were just plain nervous. Whatever the case, the murmured conversations built on each other to a fever pitch, smothering the entire venue in a crushing wall of barely audible noise.

La Galleria's employees tried to call attention to what was going on, but their voices barely rose above the murmurs of the crowd. Only the faint illumination of the emergency lighting cast itself over certain spots of the crowd, providing barely enough to highlight nearby exits. The windows at the gallery's end were dim and dusky; from his position, Isaac could see lights winking out all across the city. What the hell was happening here? What was going on? And damnit, why wouldn't this crowd just shut up already and let him think?

The employees here were too prim and proper, too hoity-toity. This was never going to get resolved with polite requests. No, someone who didn't have a customer service review hinging on their geniality needed to speak up. Isaac quickly hopped onto the table, cupping his hands around his mouth and taking in a deep, heavy breath. Speak with his diaphragm, not with his mouth. He could do this. Once fully primed and ready, he mustered up his loudest, most echoing "QUIET!"

He wasn't sure if it'd cut through the entire crowd, or if all the attention he'd get would be positive. But at least he could take advantage of his five minutes of fame to try and take control of the situation. "Look, our service is knocked out, and that sucks. Big time," he said. "But that doesn't mean we can't use 'em. If we can just get as many flashlights up as we can, maybe we can light a path through this place. Maybe we can even light up anyone that's injured or lost, so the staff can find them. Let's just do that now and get our bearings first. Then once we can see what the hell we're doing, we can get the panic out of our systems, okay?"

Maria Carver

[Maria Carver]

So Stella was going to play the doubt game after being the one to start all this, was she? Very well, then. Maria was going to make the most convincing fake girlfriend, even to someone like Isaac (hey, she finally had a name to put to his smarmy face), the world had ever seen. Stella would have to believe her then, and then who'd look like a fool?

Okay, maybe she was projecting a bit there, but that wasn't important!

If she hadn't been clinging to Isaac's arm like the adoring girlfriend she was supposed to be, she would have laughed at Stella's comment about traffic. Instead, she was stuck laughing at Isaac's response and saying, "Oh, isn't he a wit?" If "wit" meant "dramatic weirdo," sure...

At Stella's accusation that Maria was more interested in the model than her "boyfriend," Maria gasped dramatically, hand daintily over her mouth and everything. "Oh, goodness, you've got it all wrong! Like Isaac said, I'm simply passionate about fashion. Though I'm certainly not 'star-struck.'" She gave him a disapproving glance, then quickly shifted it back to her smile. "I bump shoulders with celebrities all the time, after all."

She watched the fuzzy creature from Stella's bag beg for food, then actually get a saucer of fruit snacks and eat them. Okay. Definitely not a hologram. It was cute, but Maria had never seen a creature like this before. "So... what is it?" she asked. El didn't seem bothered by it, even slipping it a fry to munch on, but Isaac seemed a bit more wary. Stella didn't seem to be a fan, either, even though the creature had been hiding out in her purse and she'd been the one to give it candy.

It was hard to keep up that confident, social attitude when she was still giving the critter wary glances, but Maria still tried to answer Stella's final question with all the charm she could muster: "Oh, I'm flattered you recognize me! We go to the same school, though we're in different grades."

Something else caught Maria's eye: the flash of a phone camera in her direction. It was only then that she realized just how many eyes were on her little group. Some were whispering amongst themselves, and others had their phones shamelessly pointed at the group to take pics. Maria felt herself pale a bit. Oh no. What if this got out on social media? What if people from school saw her clinging onto Isaac's arm like some lovesick fool?! No, no, it was fine, she could salvage this, she could still stage a dramatic breakup that made her look like the poor, innocent misled girl...

And then, with a suddenness that made Maria dizzy, everything went dark. For a moment, she thought she had fainted, but the confused murmuring and then shouting of the crowd confirmed that she hadn't stooped to that level of dramatics, thank goodness. She instinctively took her phone from her purse, only to find that it wouldn't turn on. From the sound of it, other people were having the same problem, too. Actually, maybe that was a good thing. Maybe this fiasco wouldn't get spread across social media, after all.

But before Maria could spend too long pondering the pros and cons of this unusual situation, she felt something she could only describe as tingly. It was similar to static electricity, except instead of a shock, it was more like a pervasive feeling in the air and on her skin. Was her hair standing up? She ran a hand through it to check.

---

Another (mostly unseen) party was having a much rougher time of it. Where Maria felt the slight tingle of electricity, PetitMamon felt a crackle grating on his senses. He flinched inwards and let out a strained groan through gritted teeth as the sensation pressed down on him from all sides. For a moment, he felt like he was going to explode. And he thought he had when he felt the two pops! But then dimmer lights came on in the room, and people started screaming. Yay, he wasn't dead! But what the hell was going on?!

He hadn't realized it just yet, but the blackout had made his still-glitchy form more visible to other humans, though he still looked more like a broken hologram than a fully realized Digimon.

---

"Huh? What are you—?!" Maria started as Isaac broke away from her and got on the table. Then, his yell for quiet echoed across the room. Maria's heart sank. What was this idiot doing?! Well, as it turned out, he was actually trying to get people to calm the heck down. Wow, who would have thought he'd actually put his big mouth to good use for once? Still, she scowled at his suggestion.

"My phone isn't work—" Again, Maria found herself interrupted, though this time by herself when she looked at her phone and saw that it had somehow turned back on. No signal, though. "How the heck...?" she mumbled. Whatever. She tapped her phone's flashlight on (because she was going to do that anyway, not because Isaac said to) and shone it around her. And then she yelped in surprise at the pixelated weirdness that was right behind her.

"Gah!" it cried out, covering its face. "Hey, watch the eyes!" Its voice was distorted, almost like it was speaking from underwater.

"How is a hologram still working?" Maria asked. It looked like some kind of little devil, but the details were obscured by the glitchy squares that jumped around its form. Maybe "working" wasn't quite the right word for it, but the fact that it was visible at all right now was weird.

The "hologram" peeked out from behind its arms. "Wait. You can see me?"

Stella Morozova

[Stella Morozova]

That surely was enough made-up info about their relationship to give her insight into what to aim for. Though listening to that chirping with the knowledge of it being utter bullshit was both hilarious and a little tiring. Like an entertaining show where the plot twist was obvious. On the other hand, the fact that Stella was screwing with them without full devotion to her mean deed, but rather from pure boredom... Well, it might have made it even worse. What would she be able to do with sufficient effort, who knew?

"If that's what your life's ambition boils down to be," that was a fitting follow-up to Isaac's silly remark she just heard. The game seemed to be stretching the more ridiculous it became, but Stella did have some fun. Not too much though, a moderate amount - the bomb did not drop yet. Hearing a redundant response to her comment and then another long explanation of how cute the Twintails was, she halfheartedly raised her hand. "You're doing that thing again," she let out a sigh fueled by unconcerned reflection. Slightly tilting her head, Stella run fingers through her hair, putting blonde strands in their place. "The one thing that I like to call overestimating how much I care about things." A short wave of her gloved hand was enough to sum it up anyway. "But you do you," the calm and neutral tone switched to a sarcastically reassuring one like she was giving Isaac a piece of life advice.

Aha, spot on. Well, that was funny... A twinkle of dangerous amusement appeared in her eyes when Twintails got offended by her words, and the mention of other celebrities was a cherry on top. People who don't care about social status and how others view them, rarely pull the card 'Famous and very important friends' - so the blondie in front of her was betting on that. Like that would impress Stella... More likely that created the opposite effect. Hell, she avoided her colleagues for a fucking reason, staying away from the posh and so-called high life.

"Damn, I hope so," Stella smirked a little when the girl tried to prove her wrong with that dramatic acting. Riiight. That's why she called her fucking name out loud the moment she saw her in the cafeteria. Totally and obviously not star-struck and absolutely not interested in her person. At all. All those celebrities would back her up on that, but the short dissatisfied look and another plastic smile told her enough. Stella chuckled, crossing her legs and leaning to the side a bit. "Don't be so offended, as I said, I'm not interested anyway. I'm only attracted to pretty girls." And after that deadpan revelation, she rotated the empty cup between her fingers and shrugged. Pafumon was sitting unbothered and content, devouring an unholy amount of fruity snacks and little biscuits. That was a good question, what Digimon was exactly..? "It's a nuisance," the girl stated without batting an eye. And the subject moved on. No doubt that Twintails was focused on such pesky things as social activities if she was attending her school. Private education institution means more peace and selection of students... Though at the same time it meant that any fool with parents rich enough could get in. "Maybe," Stella straightened her back on the chair, not one bit emotionally reactive to what she heard, "I don't even know who's in my class," she added honestly, not finding it weird. She didn't come to school to pay attention to other students for fucks sake.

Everything happened so quickly. Stelle didn't bother to look at people pointing their phones in their direction, nor she was going to show any more concern towards anyone or anything today... But the cafeteria was shrouded in darkness so suddenly, even she felt the uneasiness. Everything went black, even the newest holographs disappeared like a popped soap bubble. Sitting still in her place Stella heard a little surprised coo that surely was made by Pafumon and lots of louder, annoyed, and irritating comments all around them. She could only respond to that with another click of her tongue - her phone was out of service too. And Rosina was out there, where things seemed to be more hectic than in the cafeteria. The dim light of the screen outlined the fluff sitting before her on the table, the side of her purse, and the plates. Another day and another issue. She didn't like it, because every bloody time something unexpected happened, it meant always one thing. Trouble.

Of course, it would lead to a series of unpleasant events. Isaac suddenly hopped on the table, scaring Pafumon who hid behind her bag in the process, and stood there for a second. And then the jackass shouted, not going easy on her already tired-of-this-bullshit-self... As the echo grew weaker, there was an abrupt sound of a porcelain breaking and crushed pieces falling to the table with a shrilling clatter. Stella still held the empty cup in her hand. Emphasis on held.

"Could you repeat that louder?" the girl clicked her tongue, "I don't think I quite caught that one," Stella snarked in between Isaac's one-word performance and his volunteer job of sharing some advice to the crowd. "You must have wanted to feel taller, that's why you climbed here." No way she'd miss a chance to burn him a little, but she couldn't relate to his inner need of taking charge here. Why bother? She shook her hand to get rid of the drops of liquid and porcelain dust on her glove. She should pay for that damn cup... No matter. Despite how those people around were dressed and behaving, when something dangerous would happen, they would run for their own safety first. She wasn't going to trust a crowd of strangers to behave and not make her life more difficult. Every one of them here was on their own, with very few examples going against that principle. And when it comes to the difficulties... Twintails's startled yelp caught her attention. Or rather the thing her flashlight was pointing at. "Fucking great, mosquito materialized." Stella rubbed her temple. Does Universe like playing the game of fucking up her peaceful evenings that much? Narrowing her eyes the girl glared at the Digimon in question. "Listen, if you're going to try bothering me or the little one again, I swear I won't stop at ripping your wings only." The threatening note in her voice dropped heavy. "I'll go for the limbs next. You have been warned."

Shaking her head, Stella shifted her focus to Pafumon, who again, bristled and let out of their mouth a soft, whining coo. Yet, they weren't looking at the weird-impish creature, they seemed to simply be in a distress, worried to the point of tears. The girl narrowed her eyes, rolling up the sleeve to activate the Digivice - automatically it loaded the small holograph with area scan, and as she thought, the greyish background was adorned with a few pulsing signals. More Digimon. There goes her fucking peaceful coffee break. Turning off the screen, she pulled down her sleeve, standing up. Good thing she came prepared. Shoes on, gloves all set, jacket... Stella grabbed her clothing from the back of her chair, shaking it off briefly and putting it on. Universe wanted her to try out that gear sooner than she'd like, but she was grateful she wasn't barehanded here. Zipping the jacket up the girl adjusted the collar and edges. Her phone wasn't dead but was undoubtedly out of service - at least the flashlight worked.

"Sela?" A white ball of fluff cried in worry, looking up at her with teary eyes. Stella glanced at Pafumon for a brief moment, and then, without any hesitation, she picked them up and placed them inside her bag. Then she closed it, trapping Digimon inside. Half a second later muffled sounds of objection and indignation came from inside the black purse, that started trembling when the furball was wriggling inside.

"Here," she practically shoved her handbag into El's arms. It vibrated a bit as Pafumon was going full-hamster-wheel inside, possibly spinning around and calling out to her. "It's for their own safety." Stella so did not want to repeat the scenario from that one time... And to be honest, despite how it made El feel, they were the top choice for a nanny among people present. "Don't you dare open it," a bit of pressure or her last statement was to emphasize that she specifically doesn't want to see Pafumon floating around the darkness in La Galleria. On the mercy on the feral Digimon...

Or whatever the hell appeared here.

"I don't want to be a killjoy, but you need to leave." Pulling the strip on her glove she warned them with a tepidly composed voice. No use getting into details, even with glitchy Digimon floating next to their heads. The more people would be around, the number of casualties could only rise. Fuck, how could she fight in that circumstances? That's why she hated crowded places. "Go and take the furball with you." She couldn't risk Pafumon's safety, nor she was going to drag anyone with her. They would only get in her way... Something uneasy took a grip of her consciousness. Tips of her black fingers started to turn white from frost, but who would have noticed that? Maybe it was the irritation kicking in, or the fact that Stella was pissed off at whatever creatures appeared to mess up with her downtime. There was no clue where Rosina was and if those wretched things mess with her work outfits... "I don't want you here. And I don't need your weak-ass one-kick constitution help either," she looked at them all before briefly sneering exclusively at Isaac and gracefully turned around. "Bye."

Immiedeitly Stella started maneuvering between the tables. Her flashlight quickly got swallowed by darkness, when she reached the nearest corridor that would guide her towards the hall where the catwalk was.

[Aahz]

The noise had quieted for the employee but soon swelled again. Panic, anger, fear. All in response to the situation the patrons of the Galleria had found themselves in. Some of the more aggressive patrons began to crowd the employees by the door. The security guard stopped meddling with his walkie-talkie to step between them and the employee, his mouth opening to speak. Tensions were on the rise.

"QUIET!"

The swell of sound stilled and the room listened. There were a couple who were too busy comforting a child or checking on their group members to listen but then they were already calm. As for the ones who were restless or frightened or fearful? His words reached them although not everyone would heed his words so calmly. Still flashlights on the phones were engaged and people began to calm, the employee shooting a thankful look in his direction.

"Yes! La Galleria takes the safety of our patrons seriously and we will begin evacuation protocols if the situation calls for it! It has only been a couple minutes though, let's give the lights a little more time for the lights to come back up." They spoke more boldly now, their voice firmer as some of the panic was lanced out of the room by the newfound strength people had when they realized the means to light the dark themselves. Such a simple change for such a boon to the psychological state of so many. "For safety's sake I ask you all to stay put while we sort things out."

"The entire city is dark! It looks like a brownout." Soemone from by the window yelled. Those who had been too angry before to take stock of their surroundings now paused, many heads swivelling to the windows. The security guard and employee exchanged a glance and then the security guard stepped out into the hall.

"Wow," A low voice drawled in a tone meant to carry. It came from a surpisingly young man with white hair. He sat with some other college aged students and it was obvious he was taking his cue from Isaac. "Trust Lumen City to host a major event without making sure the city grid can keep up!"

There was some stilted laughter and more muttered comments but the atmosphere had loosened enough that it seemed the employee had much more control of the crowd. Most people were actually listening now.

"Wait, ma'am ple- ah, nevermind." Stella would manage to slip by the employee at the door, not without being noticed but more that the employee took one look at her face and shrank back against the doorframe to stay out of her way. There were a few clusters here and there in the hallways. A group or two closer to the cafeteria who had heard the employee's words making their way into the relative safety of the crowd. The guard was attempting to force his way through the throng of people in the area, many of whom were nervously moving away from the stage that still stood.

The wide beams of light caught on a model was still stuck in place. Sewing pins as long as her arm were speared into the stage in a wide circle around here. In front and all around her bounced a pale blue doll with floating limbs that plucked fabric and trimming out of thin air. There was a flurry of movement around the model's torso, and it was obvious her outfit was still undergoing significant modification from the original design. The model's face was pale even under her make up, no doubt the large needle flashing around her face and being stabbed in her general direction while the clothes were altered with her still wearing them was altered.

"Ohohoho! Don't fret my dear model, I'll make you the most gorgeous and fearsome one here! Only two arms, imagine." The doll's voice was high pitched and thin, with a strangly crackly quality to it as if was coming from bad speaker or headset. Around the stage there were several mutterings from the crowd. Theories abounded, people torn between helping the poor model from what some were calling a hologram gone rogue and others debating if she really needed help or if this was perhaps another layer of flair for the show. A skit or advertisement to sell the strange doll that worked at a feverish, inhuman pace.

[Isaac Sunderland]

"Takes a short guy to know when to stand tall," Isaac said, answering both ladies' questions in one fell swoop. He spread his arms slightly, as if trying to call attention to the room that had fallen into a settled quiet at his little shout. "See? Now at least we can hear ourselves think."

"Wait, since when have you been the thinking type?" El asked. Isaac nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound. El had been so quiet today that he damn near forgot they were around!

Normally, that kind of diss would shut anyone up. But it only brought the smirk back on Isaac's face. "Never said that, now did I?" he asked. "But I still wanted some peace and quiet. Before all this panicking burned the dang place down." Sure enough, things were actually settled down for the time being. Now maybe he could actually focus. Which wasn't thinking, dangit. Focus was more . . . instinctual. Less words. More doing. Yeah. Totally a difference. He was gonna keep his rep one way or another, dangit!

An odd, underwater-sounding creature was a natural first thing to notice when in such a state of deep focus. Maria had snagged something weird with her flashlight. It seemed like a hologram at first glance, but that first glance barely lasted. First of all, it was all broken up and digitized, as if the hologram was barely functioning. Second of all, it could actually talk. Speaker systems associated with holograms were fairly common, but usually they came from a source. A base that the hologram projected out of, for example. Or a mic hidden in an attendee's pocket. Even if there was anything like that around here, the hookup would've been fried like every other digital signal around these parts. And it reacted way too perfectly to his date's snippiness to be some programmed routine. No, this had to be a being. Some sort of monster, made of digital data and signals.

Wait. Was this why they were called Digimon? God. Fucking. Damnit.

This wouldn't be the only one, either. Stella quickly stuffed her own Digimon in a bag, its own worried protests falling on deaf ears. Unlike the demon and the thug lady, the poor thing couldn't even talk. El was given custody of it, which they promptly used to start humming to the poor thing. "Hey, hey. It's okay," El said, giving the bag a gentle rock back and forth. "She'll be back. I'm sure of it. And we'll bee keeping an eye out on you until then, okay?"

Not everyone took Stella's exit so gracefully. Isaac rolled his eyes. Did she even know he'd fought with a Digimon before and gave it a whole lot of trouble? Ah, who cared, anyway? If she wanted to run off and make a mess of everything, that was her problem. He had an El, a duo of Digimon, and a fake girlfriend to look after. "Yeah, yeah. Try not to pick a fight with half the damn place while you're gone, will ya?" he said.

As she darted off, Isaac turned to the girl he had arrived here with. "So, uh. Hell of a date, huh?" he asked. "Nothing like a brownout and a bunch of panic to really set a mood. And now you've got a +1 too." He turned to the Digimon, shooting it an easygoing wave. "Welcome to the club, mosquito. Don't sweat Stella too much. She threatens everyone like that. You the one that caused this whole mess? Or are you just around for the ride like the rest of us?"

El didn't really pay the Digimon much mind. Instead, they tilted their head somewhat curiously as the white haired college kid took some time to snark. "I don't know. Something tells me the event's just beginning," they said. "But whatever event's happening, Lumen's not the one hosting it anymore.

Do any of you see something . . . strange?"

Maria Carver

[Maria Carver]

Sheesh, Stella was one tough nut to crack. Maria knew that the model had an aura of not giving a crap, but experiencing it in person was something else, especially when combined with her snark. Honestly, Maria could have taken more than a few cues if she wanted to up her own image.

That thought was immediately thrown out the window at Stella's comment about only liking pretty girls. "Excuse me?!" Maria's expression morphed from shock into a scowl. Never mind, Stella Morozova could go suck an egg for all she cared. She wished she'd been the one to make the "wanting to feel taller" joke just to get a leg up.

Someone she was liking more and more was El, though. The kid seemed like the quiet, unassuming type, but they had some good snark behind their innocent-sounding voice. Even better was that said snark was being aimed at Isaac. Despite her position as Isaac's fake girlfriend (a position that was rapidly becoming less and less important), she quipped, "So you admit you don't think?" Ahh, that made her feel a bit better.

At Stella's threats, PetitMamon held up his hands in self-defensive surrender. "Hey, I was just looking! I wasn't gonna touch it!" Maria was just glad it wasn't her on the other end of Stella's threats. Speaking of, the model stood and, after some harsh words, began to walk away like a woman on a mission

"Hey!" Maria called after Stella. "Just what is going on here?" She may not have liked Stella as of two minutes ago, but the model seemed to know what these creatures were, and Maria wanted answers. But Stella was quickly swallowed up by the crowd, leaving Maria in both the literal and metaphorical dark.

Maria let out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose at Isaac's date comments. The worst part of all this? Isaac had done as she'd asked. A little too well, actually. So Maria still owed him one "whatever you want." She just hoped he'd forget about it with everything else going on.

Meanwhile, with the one threatening dismemberment gone, PetitMamon let himself relax. "Ha, I wish!" he replied to Isaac's questions. "Everyone running around and freaking out just 'cause it got a little dark? That's hilarious!" But then he remembered something that made him indignant: "And I'm not 'mosquito'! I'm PetitMamon, disciple of the great Lord Daemon!" Okay, he was more like a servant in the castle, but these humans didn't need to know that! His pride was already wounded enough!

"I was not freaking out," Maria grumbled with a pout.

"Well, you weren't," PetitMamon said. "But that face you're making sure is funny." He laughed at Maria's blush.

"Oh, like you weren't just cowering 'cause some chick said she was gonna rip your wings off!"

"She totally could have! No human's ever been able to actually touch me before!"

Their little argument was interrupted by the white-haired boy's snark and El's reaction to it. What was this about the event just starting? Great, now El was speaking weird, too. Isaac must have rubbed off on them. At El's question, Maria raised a brow and gestured to PetitMamon. "You mean besides the weird devil thing? Or the fluffball in the bag there?"

Stella Morozova

[Stella Morozova]

Without paying much attention to the people she left behind, Stella was on her way where the locator guided her. Slipping by the employees and the Expo guards wasn't as hard... They all were focused on taking control of the growing commotion. If the little darkness was able to flip this place upside down she wouldn't dare imagine what would happen when they would face a serious issue. Seriously... Losing their shit like that? Ew, people.

Following the familiar path, the girl took a sharp turn towards the hall where the fashion show took place and was met with an unexpected sight. The place was still crowded, but not as much as at the beginning. The announcer was gone as well as most of the models and staff from the agency, not to mention that visitors of La Galleria must have left the hall when the blackout happened... Though the eyes of every person that was still standing here were fixed on the stage. That was scenery to behold. Despite the darkness, one of the heavy-duty lamps above the catwalk was still working, enlighting what was happening on the platform. A model was frozen in place, and who could blame her, when a handful of finger-thick needles were floating around her? And what the fuck was that thing looking like a mix of a voodoo doll and the latest Barbie? The needle theme was too emphasized there and the creature had more similarities with a scarecrow rather than a doll. It reminded Stella of a failed craft and sewing project they were doing in school when she was eleven. Kids' hands made bulbously and uncomely things and everything pointed to one of them coming to live and traveling here from Saint Petersburg... Fucking great. Now, what exactly was that thing..?

Turning up the Digivice, Stella gazed at the screen for a moment. Dressmon? It wasn't hard to figure out by name and actions what that Digimon was aiming for, but capabilities were another thing. Hopefully, she could think of something before her agency would shut down due to some tragic accident or death at the Expo... She wasn't eager to look for another workplace. And, perhaps she was itching to punch something..? Maybe. Dressmon was invested in making an eye-catching outfit for the poor, pale model, and wasn't looking around, so here's that. Stella needed to take it under control without making a fuss, but with that crowd staring that could prove challenging. Quietly standing on the side she crossed her arms on her chest, examining her surroundings for anything that could hint potential solution. Then she looked at the model's face and ever so slightly dark blue eyes widened in surprise.

"That bitch," Stella uttered under her breath. Monique? What that shrew was doing there? They were all on a break after their shifts, contracts stated that underage models can work only a certain amount of hours a day. If she was here, that means she either cheated somehow or convinced the staff to let her work way overtime... To get more exposure most likely. What's good in working herself to the bone if she's going to be out of it for days? Well... Maybe Stella shouldn't think this way, sometimes she showed workaholic tendencies too. The issue was that Monique was getting more hours behind their backs. Anyway... Looking at that dumb, pale, and distressed face was quite satisfying. Does Stella have to intervene here? It's not like Dressmon would kill her here, right? The more she stood there, the more involved the Digimon was in making the costume, and time was running. A deep sigh raised her chest. She didn't know what calamity could take place here and it was better to prevent it from happening now rather than tackle the consequences later. Fixing her gloves and adjusting the stripes Stella frowned lightly. Oh, perhaps this would be interesting... Or knowing her luck, fucking annoying.

Pafumon was out of her hair, safely and forcibly tucked inside her bag. Keeping them near during the potential fight wasn't the smartest idea. Without second thoughts about the well-being of the furball, it would be much easier to tackle the issue, but... Stella looked at her radar again. The positioning system and the locator worked just fine, and the Dressmon wasn't the only Digimon here. All of them could create trouble and Rosina was still somewhere in the building. Well, knowing her grandmother, she was able to take care of herself, but Stella hated the thought of her evening being ruined. And her employment being threatened. The screens on the holographic display were changing as she was looking over her options. Something useful. Something...

Digismoke. That would do. The darkness worked to her advantage here - Stella looked at the little screen on her bracelet loading the smoke. Was that even physically possible? Questioning it now when she was an owner of strength-enhancing boots and gloves seemed kinda pointless. Well, data worked in wonderful ways... Now it was time to make use of it. The stroll started. Walking slowly, quietly near the walls around the hall, little by little, Stella was leaving a trail of kaleidoscopic smoke. She made a tour around the hall while the cloud started to expand, creating a curtain in the colors of the rainbow. It worked like a charm and perhaps a bit too quickly - smoke covered everything all around the stage. First people who noticed started to make a ruckus, alerting the others. A commotion started to happen... Again. Stage, as the elevated platform placed in the center, wasn't exactly affected, but the smoke obstructed the curious eyes of anyone looking at it. That wasn't the ideal solution but was still doable.

"Is this gas?" standing amidst the smoke and making her way toward the stage, Stella asked loudly. Just to inflame the anxiety going on... Yup, she probably was creating hell. She smirked a little with satisfaction, but it was for their own good. If things would get violent it's better to avoid casualties as much as possible. And it's hard fighting while looking out for passersby.

"Now," jumping high towards the platform, Stella stood straight, dusting her clothes from the smoke. Multicolored clouds surrounded them, hopefully obstructing the vision enough for the remaining people to see them... Fixing her hair she looked at Monique and Dressmon, not stopping herself from giving the two judgmental looks. "Most gorgeous? I may have good eyesight but that doesn't mean that I see your fucking point. No matter what she wears, she's average at best," that wasn't exactly a part of the plan, but the model could have a piece of her mind anyway. Stella snorted with scorn... But she was here to save Monique so the ends justify the means. Fearlessly Stella walked towards them, stopping somewhere near Dressmon. She put her arms around herself while staring at Digimon carefully. "If you want to doll up someone who became a model by sucking up to superiors instead of working hard... You're doing her a favor but you're also mocking the rest of us. Is that what you want?"

It wasn't a lie. Most of the models knew that Monique was the boss's favorite only because she was a toady. The one shamelessly praising the manager, agreeing to everything and kindly informing them about every mildly displeased comment she heard. Who would have thought that it would save her today? If she had a drop of common sense, she'd know that it could be an opportunity to slip away from Dressmon's hands, so she should keep quiet. If the creature was serious about fashion and modeling, that could work. And Stella was also checking if Digimon could be reasoned with... She was prepared for a fight if things would turn uglier than Monique's dumbfounded face.

Meanwhile, Pafumon was wriggling in the bag. A lot. The purse trembled in El's hands because the little bean was turning around and pushing at the zip and fabric, whining with the voice of someone pitifully wronged. After two or three - or eight - lamenting noises, Digimon went quiet. Occasional loud sniffle could be heard from the bag, but besides that, Pafumon was silent. Suspiciously so.