Chapter Text
Kiyoshiro’s head was spinning.
Or was that the world?
They were fighting Witchmon-- not the same Witchmon from the incident on Halloween somehow. He’d heard Lady Jellymon speak of her dozens of older brothers and sisters, but seeing multiple of the same Digimon was still something a little odd to him. Of course, it seemed everything Digimon did was new to him.
Just like the first one, though, this Witchmon had gleefully thrown magic spells around, Or… whatever source of “magic” Digimon pulled from. She’d been transforming random objects and people into more of herself, an effort only slowed by the Wizardmon who had temporarily joined the ranks of the group.
It had become a chase, Hiro leading the charge across town. The group was grateful Digimon were more commonly known, there would be very little hiding a cackling woman flying across the city.
The last thing he remembered was one of the bolts of magic flying at him, with a mad cackle of “CHARACTER REVERSAL” from its user. Then Jellymon filled his vision, tanking the attack, and darkness swallowed him whole.
Which brought him to now, with consciousness slowly returning to the Dorm Leader. And with it, a wild headache.
“Darling?” A voice he knew very well prompted softly.
His eyes fluttered open, wincing at the light. It was brighter than he expected-- and something else. He had to force his eyes to stay open, barraged by an overwhelming amount of light, from everything, and everyone. He could see electricity.
After a few moments, he managed to focus on the person kneeling in front of him. From the size, he expected Hiro, or maybe Ruli.
It was Jellymon.
Was she always that big? No, no, she was barely the size of his arm.
“Are you okay..?” She spoke, half-whispering.
“I-I a-apologize, Lady J-Jellymon… I d-don’t think I…” He squeezed out the words, met with a voice he didn’t recognize. It sounded familiar, but much higher, like a… like a blend of…”
Kiyoshiro looked down at his hands. Instead of pale flesh from far too many energy-drink-powered evenings at his computer, they were white, marked with black digits that tensed and flexed at his command.
Lady Jellymon scrunched as Kiyoshiro screamed.
Looking up, he took stock of the presence of everyone else watching him as well as Lady Jellymon. Angoramon was holding his ears down, Hiro looked concerned, Ruli seemed torn between two different emotions, Wizardmon was looking frantically through a book, and Gammamon was as starry-eyed as ever. Or at least those were his guesses, viewing nervous systems light up like fireworks made it hard to really tell.
“W-what happened t-to me…?” He whimpered, looking around for an answer.
Hiro was the first to speak. “D-dorm leader, Wizardmon says because Jellymon was hit first, the spell… changed. Witchmon is on her way back to the Digital World, but the accidental modifications to the spell mean it’s harder to undo on you.”
“W-what kind of modification?”
“I-instead of making you another Witchmon, it-”
Gammamon laughed. “Mama Kiyo is Jelly!”
Hiro coughed. “I-it made you a Jellymon.”
The Wizardmon spoke up, talking in English, with some foreign accent. “I’m trying to find a counter-spell, but there’s very little on modified spells like this. I’ve spoken with Mummymon, and it may be quite some time before I’m able to restore you.”
Kiyoshiro began stuttering again, that new voice was so, so distracting. “S-so.. I-I’m stuck like this..?”
Hiro nodded slowly. “Just until we figure this out.”
“But I have Dorm Leader duties! I need to be a shining example of academic ac--” He stopped mid-word. That voice had no reason to be saying things like that. “I…” Some small tears began to form, the situation setting in.
He went to stand, and found his sense of stability thrown out the nearest window as he floated upwards like a lopsided balloon. The group as a whole watched him float up past their heads, before Lady Jellymon zoomed upwards, grabbing his hand and stabilizing him.
Staring into her eyes, he got the first good look at himself.
He was shaped like her. But his colors were different, muted, almost calm, compared to her boisterous pinks and magentas and blues. Whereas her tentacles framed her face like hair, his wrapped around his neck like a scarf.
Instead of the mixture of a leotard and armor, his body was almost entirely covered in a sort of poncho. Was diversity in Digimon like this natural? Or was it because of the strange circumstances? A human becoming a Digimon, and not just a shell like the Witchmon or the half-a-dozen possessions over their adventures?
It was about then Kiyo realized he’d been staring into her eyes, and so did she. Lady Jellymon’s face turned bright red, and he witnessed his own do the same in the reflection of her eyes. But, he couldn’t bring himself to look away. And staring at her, her hands clasping his, holding him from drifting away… The overwhelming electricity faded away, his vision returning to normal.
The jellyfish swallowed, pulling her darling close, then dragging him back down to eye level with everyone else.
Ruli seemed to have decided on an emotion, and he could tell the girl was barely holding in a squeal. Hiro spoke instead, thankfully. “We got permission for you to skip the next few days of school. The principal was understanding of our… diplomatic statuses.”
“S-so can I help find a cure?” Kiyo asked, his voice steadying for no reason whatsoever.
Wizardmon spoke again. “I’m afraid not. I apologize, Mr. Higashimitarai, but you almost drifted into the sky. I believe it in your best interest to lay low for a while, rest, and get used to the new body for the time being.”
“I don’t want to get used to this body! I want to be back to normal! I--”
Lady Jellymon was staring at him, poorly hiding some strange feeling of rejection.
“I… can rest. I’ll stay close to my dorm.” He gulped. “L-Lady Jellymon, would you help me… get used to this? Since I find myself s-sharing myself with you.”
It had been quite some time since he witnessed her eyes sparkle like that.
Maybe being a Jellymon wouldn’t be so bad?