LG

Going Viral: A Digimon RP

vi-ral

adjective

• relating to or involving an image, video, piece of information, etc., that is circulated rapidly and widely from one internet user to another.
• of the nature of, caused by, or relating to a virus or viruses.

noun

• an image, video, advertisement, etc., that is circulated rapidly on the internet.

Social media has had a momentous impact on our everyday lives. Whether we like it or not, some level of virtual interaction will impact us at some point. Depending on tweet, a photo, a TikTok or anything from that matter, all it takes is one fateful moment for something to viral. The concept of "going viral" is not prejudiced at all. There are influencers who get paid for a living to make digital content in order to make money and sustain their following. While every post on social media may not be a hit, more times than not, it produces a plethora of views and clicks. On the other hand, an ordinary person may not see as much engagement on their accounts. However, all it takes is the right moment and correct usage of the algorithm (intentional or not) for their own posts to reach the masses.

With connection to our entire world in the palm of our hands, no wonder there are so many apps that pique our interests. Social discussions, sharing photographs, trendy dance moves... if you name it, there is probably an app that you can tap to download. But what happens when an app you didn't download appears on your phone? Would you hold down your thumb on it and try to delete it? Or are you curious to learn more about it?

There is a unique bridge between our world and the Digital World that lives across the information superhighway. In recent years, the bridge has been destroyed, but with the progression of new technology, it has slowly rebuilt itself, allowing digital creatures known as Digimon to shift from one side to the other through certain devices (computers, televisions, laptops, phones). For select individuals, one of these creatures, known as Digimon, has biomerged into the real world for an unknown purpose through a new app that has downloaded onto their phone. The true purpose and functions of the app are currently unknown, but it frequently gives updates about their specific Digimon and other creatures as they emerge.

The "engagement and analytics" portion of this app isn't clearly explained, but what becomes clear is this: the more you associate with your Digimon, the more VIRAL you become... for better or worse.

"Going Viral" is a Digimon roleplay that has been created in the mold of Digimon Tamers (the third season of Digimon). Digimon aren't readily known of per se (no card game, video game or anything like that), but it relates to Tamers in that it occurs "our world." So there will be other social media apps/celebrities/influencers that are known of and about. As of right now, I'm keeping the deeper portions of the plot ambiguous for the sake of not wanting to spoil any and everything.

The plot will revolve around a group of individuals who are partnered with Digimon (some could be veteran Tamers/Hackers (not sure what I want to call them yet) while others could be brand new at the start of the roleplay. The Roleplay itself will be episodic and take place in different arcs depending on what is needed. Not all of the characters need to be together at once per se, but they are all working towards crossing paths at some point. Other Digimon (good and bad) will biomerge into the Real World and cause issues, mixed with your usual "slice of life" moments. Tamers/Hackers will also have the capability of battling each other depending on how things go.

My hope is to keep this RP on the relatively smaller end in terms of the number of players. I would like for this to be roughly no more than 3 to 6 people total as that will help me with managing the characters and the plot. If you are interested in this and if you have questions, let me know below. I'll be working on the IC thread over the next week or so.

Name Change

Yooo. Would like my name changed to "LG" if that's possible! Thanks!

Gee's Rangerverse

Rangers

Charlie Fox Green Crystal Ranger	A student at Angel Grove University and an intern with GENESIS, Charlie Fox is the go-to person on the team when it comes to all things Ranger tech.

Allies

The Dark Empire

Gee's Rangerverse

A storage space to expand upon the Rangerverse.

Rangers

Location: Downtown Food Truck Station
Interacting w/: Everyone

Somehow, in an effort to fight back against these random humanoids, Andre was realized that, unlike some of the other civilians that took off running for safety, he was still there along with a few other people. There were two more girls that arrived on the scene with one of them that was tending to the blonde that just got knocked over. Jackson wasn't too far from Andre when he got knocked over, so he went over to lend a hand, lifting up his curly haired companion. And then there was Ji-Su... who was content to just lay there after also getting her ass handed to her. Andre couldn't say that he didn't blame her for playing opossum. Maybe these guys would leave them alone if they all played dead.

"Get up, Ji-Su," Andre quipped in the heat of the moment, reaching down to pull up the third member of their trio shortly after giving Jackson some support as well. With the five of them struggling to their feet and facing an incoming group of Bechats, it appeared that all hope was lost. Now, the attention of the creatures was solely on them with carnage in background. Stirred up fires and clouds of smoke shrouded the battlefield, but Andre was determined to at least survive. They had tried to fight for so long that they may as well go down swinging. "What should we do here guys?" he asked, including to the newcomers Mila and Hana.

Schwooooom!

Emerging from the thick smoke were five crystals, each with its own respective color. The crystals seemed to work together in ricocheting off the group of Bechats, stirring up a mini explosion and sending them back before flying in the direction of the group of five people who showed enough bravery to fend off the threat as best as they could.

Moments later, Charlie emerged from the smoke, scorched backpack in hand from where the Power Crystals zipped out of it. "No way..." she mumbled, stopping in place to see the Red Power Crystal floating in front of Jackson, the Yellow Power Crystal floating in front of Andre, the Green Power Crystal floating in front of Mila, the Blue Power Crystals floating in front of Ji-Su and the Pink Power Crystal Floating in front of Hana. "We... I... found the Rangers?" she said to herself, a bit louder.

By now, the Bechats had recovered from the attack via the Power Crystals, but they were a bit more skeptical about this new threat.

"The Power Crystals have chosen you five," Charlie said loudly to get the attention of the group. "There's no turning back from this point if you choose to accept it."

Andre furrowed his brows as he listened to Charlie and then proceeded to turn his head to the floating and glowing Yellow Power Crystal in front of him. "Hey... if I fought these things without whatever this is, I'll take my chances..." Reaching out with his left hand, Andre grasped the Crystal causing it to instantly phase with his body. An overwhelming energy coursed through his veins as a bright yellow light warped around his left write before dulling out to reveal an intricate new device on it. "What the..." he murmured, lifting his hand to observe what appeared to be... a touch screen watch?

"That... is your Power Morpher. It allows you to access the Morphin Grid to transform into a Power Ranger," Charlie replied, somewhat proudly since she had worked on this project for so long with Dr. O. To see the fruits of their labor in real time was... satisfying.

Rangers

Location: Downtown Food Truck Station
Interacting w/: @Metanoia @Hey Im Jordan @Fabricant451 @Akayaofthemoon

“Yo, is the quesadilla truck here? I wanna get a triple threat.” Ji-Su suggested, looking at the long lines winding from the different trucks. “You’d think shrimp, steak, and chicken would be kinda wild if you stuffed it all in one quesadilla, but I hear it’s pretty fire!” Ji-Su was getting herself a little excited as she talked about one of her main passions in life: food.

At her question about the quesadilla truck, Jackson let out a loud “hmm” noise as he looked around. “I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s here somewhere.” When she mentioned the combo, Jackson could literally picture it and knew he just had to have that triple threat. “I need that in my belly right now! And I got like..50 bucks to spend. Not sure how much y’all do, but I think I can take care of us all. I told Dre not to worry, but if not, then he can cover the rest--” Jackson let himself glance over at Andre, a somewhat mischievous grin on his face as he nudged Andre, “--right, buddy?”

Scoffing and waving off Jackson, Andre replied, "Pffft... I don't get paid until Thursday. You're paying for all of us, Jack." Of course, he had some money in his pocket in case he needed to cover the rest of it. Food trucks originally started off cheap in terms of pricing, but their popularity at events like this one, especially on New Year's Eve, allowed owners to increase their prices exponentially. People had to eat and the convenience of proximity was going to be even more of a motivator for people like the three of them to spend money. "Let's get in line before they run out of it though. We got about.. fifteen minutes before the countdown."

As the trio banded together in the line, thankfully it began to move as quickly as they got into the line. Apparently, making your favorite Mexican dish wasn't so difficult to do in an efficient amount of time. The three of them were standing side by side as the guy at the front called them up to place their order. Three "All-in-Ones" was supposed to be the move, but there was a sudden disruption that caused everyone in line to turn their heads in the direction behind them. A woman's siren-like scream alerted the other citizens that something crazy had just happened, followed by a small explosion from a few buildings back off the coast. A faint orange light indicated fire as thick smoke ascended upward towards the dark sky. What the hell was going on?

The moment Andre turned his attention towards the food truck, his eyes looked forward and then lifted upward to the numerous amount of beige-colored creatures that wielded lances with what appeared to be steel claws at the ends of them standing on top of each of the food trucks. The crowd behind the trio dispersed into all sorts of directions as one of the humanoids lifted the weapon and slammed it against the top of the food truck, ripping it open and stirring up another fire from the cooking area.

"I guess no quesadillas for us..." Andre humored, taking a step back to protect himself, but wondering what exactly was going on and who the hell these creatures were. Another explosion from behind them had people running from the streets and back onto the concert area, seemingly being trapped between the two areas with no where to go.

By now, there were dozens of the Bechats as they were called, climbing over the destroyed row of food trucks and gaining slowly on any and every person here with a pulse. Lances were pointed dangerously in the direction of the trio as Andre backed away slowly, holding his hands up.

"Look, bruh... I'm just here because I wanted a quesadilla, yo. If you got beef with somebody else, then take that up with them. Not us." Andre's words were futile; in fact, they only proved to upset the Bechat that was facing him as the other took their own turn of individually going for Ji-Su and Jackson.

Across the way, the concert had been overrun by Bechats as well with the group of them lining up, Lances extended to push the crowd back towards where the food truck area was. It wasn't long before Hana and Mila were clumped together in a crowd of people that were being cornered by the weapon-holding warriors. One person was brave enough to charge at the creature full-on, but was swept at the feet and lifted up off the ground by scooping the claw portion of the lance before being tossed airborne across the way with a thud on impact. Whether or not the people wanted to get away, it was going to be a fight.

"Y'all are really about to get my shoes dirty huh?" Andre quipped nervously, jumping up when a Bechat tried to sweep his legs. Seeing an opening, he quickly grabbed at the handle and tried to overpower it, pulling it upward and applying pressure to try and make it stumbled backwards. Instead, he was kneed in the gut, which dropped his face enough to receive a thwack in the jaw with the butt of the weapon. Andre's body tussled backwards as he stumbled into the sand, coughing for a moment to catch his breath as a minor stream of blood poured down from a scratch on his cheek. "Shit... that hurt..." he mumbled, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand and seeing the blood. "And now I'm bleeding... well this is embarrassing..."

Rangers

Location: In an Uber
Interacting w/: None

"Just six months into this internship and I'm gonna be fired... ugh..." Charlie mumbled to herself as she settled into the backseat of her Uber.

Adjusting her glasses on her face, Charlie lifted a dainty hand to massage her forehead, hoping to alleviate the ensuing headache. Today had been a long day. Really, every day had been long ever since the GENESIS lab assistants managed to concentrate the energy captured from the Morphin Grid into five crystalized forms. Elizabeth Thorne, Charlie's boss, made it a point that they needed to locate five users for these new powers, but she was resistant in locating people outside of the trust of GENESIS. Several attempts to partner the Power Crystals with GENESIS representatives were met with complete and utter failure or a dangerous physical reaction that got swept under the rug. You couldn't sue GENESIS for something you signed up for.

"It would appear that the Crystals will only bond with people that they trust with this immense power," Dr. Ogden had told her a few weeks ago. "I'm not sure a person of a business mindset will understand the emotional connection of that. Charlie... This is your new assignment: locate five worthy people to possess these Power Crystals. For some reason... I have a good feeling."

Weeks later and Charlie was still trying to find the five worthy people to wield the Crystals. She would be lying if she said that she didn't try one of the colorful Crystals on herself, but that only resulted in a nasty burn mark on her hand that was still recovering based on the tightly taped up hand that she had. Whenever she or the other lab assistants that were actually getting paid worked with these Crystals, they had to wear protective gear. It was worth a shot.

The Uber was directed to take her to her apartment, but there appeared to be a situation going on at the four-way intersection. Several cop cars were closing off a section of the area with a hefty amount of smoke and remnants of fire building up from a considerable distance away. The straight away path was the quickest way to get to Charlie's apartment, but there was no way of getting there.

"I'll just get out and walk. Don't worry: I'll leave you a five-star review," Charlie said with a hint of impatience in her tone. Straightening up her olive green bomber jacket over her body and pulling down the beanie over her ears, Charlie walked down the sidewalk towards the area to see if she could at least make it past the officers, but now they were bringing out the police tape.

"Ma'am, we're gonna need you to stay on this side of the street," one of the officers informed, holding out his hand as the other officers continue stretching out the tape.

Furrowing her brows, Charlie stopped short of crossing the tape, gesturing to the other side of the street. "But the only way to my apartment is literally down this street."

"Kid... what are you, 18? Can you even afford an apartment in this economy?" the officer said with a chuckle. "Listen, we're in the middle of a potentially dangerous situation and just wanna keep you and the other Angel Grove citizens safe. Do yourself a favor and go enjoy the New Years Eve festivities, alright?"

Clinching the bag over her shoulder, Charlie winced from the pressure of her bandaged hand. If there was one thing that she hated it was being referred to as a kid. She didn't spend most of her teenage years at Angel Grove University studying various STEM-based subjects to be disrespected like this. Hell, she hadn't been a kid in years.

"Fuck you," she mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes before turning on her heels to head down the narrow street that led towards the shore where there was music being played. The officer had said something moments after her departure, but Charlie disregarded it. Glancing down at her watch, she noticed that it was about 15 minutes until midnight. She was exhausted and wanted to sleep, not socialize with drunk people. "It won't hurt to find something to eat until this gets cleared out..."

As she walked, Charlie was unaware that the Crystals that were lightly clanging in her bag from the slightest of movements were feebly beginning to glow as she headed towards the crowd of people. The way that her backpack was slightly zipped opened allowed anyone from behind and on the left side of her to see that there was something inside glowing a multitude of colors.

Rangers

@metanoia as Jackson Drake, Red Crystal Ranger
@OGSG as Andre Avery, Yellow Crystal Ranger
@Fabricant451 as Mila Doehring, Green Crystal Ranger
@Hey Im Jordan as Ji-Su Kang, Blue Crystal Ranger
@Akayaofthemoon as Hana Song, Pink Crystal Ranger

---

Episode 1 - Happy New Year

---

With the year coming to a close, several Angel Grove University students are linking up downtown to celebrate New Years Eve. Celebrations primarily consist of hanging out on the strip, grabbing a few drinks, and listening to some live music. Needless to say, it is extremely crowded in downtown Angel Grove.

Right off the shore there's a concert stage going on with various local acts coming up to perform different sets. Along the side are a row of food trucks, boasting multiple cuisine options. Having already taken off work ahead of time, Andre is meeting up with Ji-Su and Jackson, two of his classmates from a class in a previous semester, to grab a bite at the food truck area seeing as how Ji-Su (surprisingly) didn't bring any snacks with her and Jackson doesn't have any extra pizzas from his job.

Finally for a change, Mila doesn't have her nose in a history book and is enjoying the concert with a new acquaintance she met not too long ago, Hana. Hana is new to Angel Grove and is hoping that attending the New Year's festivities is a perfect opportunity to break out of her shell. What better person to assist in doing that than a cheerful person like Mila?

The evening was supposed to be a fun, relaxing environment... but what happens once there's a terrible explosion on the stage and random creatures begin to harass civilians?

---

Location: Downtown Food Truck Station
Interacting w/: @Metanoia & @Hey Im Jordan

Andre was just thankful to be able to get out of the house.

The GENESIS Warehouse job that he had been working for a little over two years was beginning to take a toll on him. The pay was great, the benefits were even greater, but the work hours were long and exhausting. A student at Angel Grove University, Andre was studying to become a teacher which was a little bit more than he bargained for. Having to complete practicum hours during the day with classes filled with 30+ students and then going into the warehouse at night was a challenge... but he made it happen. On top of looking after his two younger sisters Ava and Nyla, Andre was beginning to wonder where the hell did this capability of carrying such a heavy burden came from? He had to give himself some credit, but that didn't stop him from feeling fatigued at times.

Fortunately for him, in preparation for the New Year's Eve festivities, Andre had a few days to himself where he slept and rested at his apartment prior to December 31st. The holidays were just about rapping up and he was in need of some time to hang out with his friends. He, Ji-Su and Jackson had grown into a bit of an unlikely trio of sorts, each of the three coming from different backgrounds but somehow managing to make things work amongst them. Before this arrangement, Andre hadn't made any friends at AGU due to his work schedule, but the way fate would have it, he stumbled upon a daredevil pizza guy and a perpetual snacker. And here he was, the warehouse worker. Again, an odd grouping... but they made it work.

Andre was the first of the three to arrive at the food truck area, lingering towards the back of the crowd and occasionally checking his phone to provide them with his location. The great thing about Angel Grove was that it was never too cold during the winter time, but cool enough to dress comfortable. He was sporting a dark wash denim jacket with mustard colored crewneck underneath and tan chinos that tapered down into a pair of Pollen Jordan 1s.

I swear you two would be late to your own funeral.

Andre

Which reminds me: Ji-Su, what sort of bags of chips do you want at your grave, yo?

Andre

A few short moments later after his message to their group chat, Andre was pleased to see that the two of them finally showed up. Dapping up Jackson and then giving Ji-Su a fist bump, Andre nodded his head in the direction of the naturally forming line at the nearest food truck, leading the trio towards it.

"I dunno if it's just me, but I feel like it's way more crowded this year than last year," Andre quipped, lifting a brow as he surveyed the area. There was a dramatic increase in incoming students now that he thought about it, but never did he think the numbers would rise like this. Not that he was on campus anyway, but it was a clear sign that something positive was going on in Angel Grove and at the local university. Maybe he would consider taking more in-person classes now. As the line slowly began to move, from behind them there were blaring police sirens followed by duo cop cars zooming down the street, honking their horns to encourage people to get out of the way. "More people, more problems I guess..." Andre huffed, looking from Jackson to Ji-Su. There had also been a weird uptick in crime and just... strange things happening. Minor explosions, an increase in unidentifiable homicides... it was weird. But it was Angel Grove.

Rangers

Alright, first wanna say that this decision was definitely a hard one and I appreciate everyone that filled out a CS! If you didn't make it, I just want to say that there may be an opportunity for you in the future! The goal of this RP is to create a "Rangers-Verse" so you may see more teams in the future!

That being said, here is the lineup!

Red Crystal Ranger - @metanoia
Yellow Crystal Ranger - @OGSG
Green Crystal Ranger - @Fabricant451
Blue Crystal Ranger - @Hey Im Jordan
Pink Crystal Ranger - @Akayaofthemoon

If you've been accepted, post your CS in the OOC! I'll send you all a link to the Discord as soon as I finish up the video!

Again thanks to everyone who applied!

Rangers

It’s the final countdown!