For some reason, I've always really loved both MetalSeadramon and Machinedramon. And for some reason, I really love shipping them together, too...definitely one of the more unusual ships, I'll admit, but still one of my favorites! This fic isn't all about the pairing, though - in fact, the romance aspect won't come up until later chapters - so I hope that my story will have something to offer you even if you're not into this couple. Cover artwork is by the artist h-r on deviantart. Now, on with the fic!

I have to admit, I was actually kind of glad that the DigiDestined were putting up a real fight. Usually, I could delete anyone who stood in my path without breaking a sweat, but these guys weren't giving up so easily. It was about time I had some decent competition; the hunt is always more exciting when the prey puts up a fight.

Still, I couldn't figure out why they even bothered to challenge me in the first place. Maybe they had a death wish or something? They didn't seem to be the brightest of opponents, that's for sure. For example, after I'd chased them into a shallow channel, WarGreymon got the idea to strike at my mouth with those claw-things on his hands. There was one little problem with his strategy, though: he was about a mile away from me when he started charging! That moron actually thought I wouldn't see him heading straight towards my face! He must've been pretty surprised when I caught him between my jaws instead.

Dumb or not, WarGreymon was definitely no weakling. My teeth can crush solid rock into gravel, but WarGreymon had enough strength to keep me from clamping my mouth down. Impressive. Still, I knew it was only a matter of time before he got tired. His grip was weakening with each passing second, and the moment he slipped up, it would be over, once and for all.

WHAM!

Just as I was about to add Wargreymon's name to the list of dead punks who thought they could stand in my way, I felt something slam into my side, knocking the wind right out of me. Coughing as I tried to catch my breath, I ended up giving WarGreymon a chance to escape from between my jaws.

As I turned my head to see what had struck me, I was greeted with a very unwelcome sight. There he was, treading water before me: Whamon, the perpetual thorn in my flipper. I could feel my blood begin to boil as I stared him down. I was this close to killing WarGreymon! This close! I couldn't contain my rage any longer. That scumbag had fucked with me for the last time!

Digimon have some pretty interesting attacks; believe me, I know. Back when the Dark Masters were taking over, I must've seen a million of 'em in our battles against the Harmonious Ones and the armies they rallied against us. Still, I wouldn't trade my suit of armor - and the helmet with built-in energy cannon that comes with it - for all of the attacks in the world.

"River of Power!" I shouted, aiming my head towards Whamon. An energy beam shot straight out from the cannon and into the whale, and it didn't stop there; it blasted right through him and exploded out of his other side. Bulls-eye! So long, pal.

Apparently, this got WarGreymon all angry and shit. I don't know why he was so worked up, though. I mean, what the hell did he expect? Whamon attacked me! If WarGreymon had wanted his buddy to live, he should've told him to mind his own damn business.

Now WarGreymon was charging at me again. I figured I'd give my jaws a rest this time, so instead of trying to catch him, I went with a different tactic.

"River of Power!"

WarGreymon was quickly engulfed in a beam of energy. I began to grin, but stopped almost immediately; he wasn't even hurt! He just kept on rushing forward like nothing had happened! What the hell was going on? He should've been deleted in a flash! How was he blocking the attack? How was he able to keep moving through the beam, getting closer and closer, with those claws pointed straight towards me...

All of a sudden, an excruciating, white-hot sensation surged through me from head to tail. I could hear myself starting to roar in agony, but the roar quickly turned into a sickening, gurgling wheeze as I felt my lungs get shredded to ribbons. In an instant, my strength was completely gone, leaving my limp body to collapse into the shallow waters of the channel. An iron-tasting liquid began to flood into my mouth: blood. My blood. Ocean waves gently lapped against me as the agonizing pain throughout my body turned into numbness.

What had just happened? I'd been defeated...me, of all digimon, defeated! How could that be possible? I was MetalSeadramon, the king of the sea! I was invincible! I was a Dark Master, and some lowly punk had blocked my attack and drilled right through me!

I couldn't believe it. Me...dying...this was not how things were supposed to turn out. I hated Whamon for distracting me, I hated WarGreymon for dealing the fatal blow, and for once, I even hated myself. How could I have slipped up like that and let myself get beaten? It just wasn't right. It shouldn't have ended that way. I wanted a second chance - a chance to go back and prove that I was stronger than a bunch of weakling kids and their digimon - but there was nothing I could do.

As everything started to go dark, I felt - just barely - the sensation of one last wave as it washed over me. Then I felt nothing at all.

Eventually, I started to feel like I had strength again: at least, enough strength to open my eyes. I quickly realized that there wasn't anything around me worth seeing, though. I saw nothing but white light and open space, extending forever in every direction. Wherever the hell I was, it sure was a dumb, boring place.

I turned my head around and took a quick glance at my body; everything looked completely intact. No one would've guessed that I had been drilled through by a Wargreymon...fucking WarGreymon, that piece of shit!

As the fight between me and him played out in my memory, I could feel the rage swelling up inside me again. I wanted to blast something to smithereens like I usually did whenever I got really pissed off, but there wasn't anything in sight for me to destroy. Man, I hated that place! I was getting angrier and angrier by the second, and so you can imagine that I wasn't in a particularly good mood when a voice suddenly began to ring out across the empty space.

"Greetings, MetalSeadramon."

"Where are you?" I yelled back, spoiling for a fight. No one appeared. Was this guy mocking me? I'd show him!

"River of Power!"

That was usually all it took to start charging the energy cannon on my helmet, but now, nothing was happening at all.

"River of Power!" I shouted in frustration. "Work, dammit! River of Power!"

"Do you not understand the concept of deletion?" asked the voice. "You've been converted into raw data; you no longer have a physical form. What you see as your 'body' is nothing more than an intangible projection of your data: a hologram, if you will. Attacks are impossible in such a state. I daresay your usual strategy of unbridled aggression is quite useless now."

"And just who the hell are you, anyway?"

"Me? Why, I'm the one who'll be determining whether or not you're worthy of reconfiguration!"

Wait, I had to be judged before I could be reborn? That sucked! Jeez, the Digital World was really out to get me. And why me? It's not like I'd done anything wrong, right?

Thanks to Zero Slash One for providing me with some canonical information about the whole "judging of deleted digimon" concept. Next chapter coming soon!