DIGIMON APEX
Wogan May - Digimon and related concepts © Toei Animations
Chapter 1: Breach
"Squad J-2, status report."
"Situation normal, sir," Amy said, checking her watch. "Patrol on schedule."
"Copy that."
Amy sighed and fidgeted with her hair. Tonight, like most nights, was boring. Insanely boring. She found herself almost wishing for a catastrophe of some sort - anything to get her out of this SUV. Instead, she was slowly circling the greater Hokkaido metropolitan area, watching for rip readings.
Jim, her squad partner, was asleep in the passenger seat, his hand resting on the digivice in his belt. She toyed with the idea of startling him awake, but dismissed it just as quickly - they were professionals, after all.
She reached for the radio, paging the base.
"Regional Command, go ahead."
"Damnit, Alex, is this really necessary?"
Alex couldn't help but grin. Ever since his transfer to this division, he had always said that the security measures were not only too stringent, but far too taxing on the ground staff. For the most part, his comments had been ignored by the higher-ups, and he wouldn't be surprised if other regional commanders felt the same way.
"Come, now, Amy, you know the rules. IHDRC regulations clearly state..."
"Yeah, yeah, I know about the regulations."
"How's James?"
"Asleep," she replied, sounding mildly irritated.
"Well, your shift is almost up. Make one last run through the southern suburbs, then return to base."
"Yes, sir."
Alex looked up at the situation monitors. Nothing had changed - the APEX repulsion grid was functioning, and there had been only four rips tonight - all with zero transfer. Tonight had been quieter than most, and something about that bothered him.
The door to the control room opened, and a uniformed operator stepped through. She looked as tired as everyone else in the complex, but the daytime shift people would only arrive in three hours. Recent IHDRC funding cuts had made it that much harder to maintain a presence, and had been a bigger strain on everybody.
Suddenly, an alarm sounded, and one of the situation monitors turned red - a rip was forming.
"That's odd," Alex said. "Jennifer, that region was stable?"
"It was, sir."
"Ok, we have a possible breach. Bring APEX up to speed."
"Yes, sir."
"Squad J-2, priority alert, we've picked up a potential breach. Sending location data now."
Amy mouthed a 'Yes!' and air punched before shaking Jim awake.
"Yes, I'm ... what, wh.. Amy?"
"Potential breach, Jim."
Jim suddenly became alert, and his hands flew to the controls.
"Ok, getting location data - relative grid reference D17."
"J-2 to control, rerouting to intercept."
"Copy that, J-2. Get there asap - the rip isn't stabilizing."
"Sir, APEX reports that the rip is approaching full breach density."
"Anything on the payload so far?"
"Nothing, sir."
"Ok ... J-2, this is control, we have a confirmed full breach, no intel on payload."
"Copy that."
Amy shot a brief look at Jim, smiling a little as she put the SUV into gear. One sharp turn later, and they were in the grid area.
"Rip tracker online. And … crap, it's a big one."
Amy looked over at Jim's monitor. A large blue cloud over a stretch of road, in the next block over. She put her foot down, sending the SUV into a controlled spin.
"Jesus, Amy, watch what you're doing!"
"We've got J-2 on screen, they're approaching point zero."
"I hope it's docile. Control to J-2, you are authorized for full suppression measures. Bring it home."
The SUV slid, neatly, into the road. Ahead, there was nothing visible, but the street lights were dimming slightly under the strain of the forming rip. Amy rolled the SUV towards the kerb, put it in park, and jumped out. The night air was cold - and silent.
She grabbed her digivice, aiming it at the rip as tiny threads of lighting began pouring out of the center, ionizing the air around it.
"Estimated mass ... woah, ok, it's a big one."
James stopped next to her, checking the readings from his digivice - they were the same. He looked at her, and nodded.
"Charge!"
Light poured out of their digivices, enveloping their bodies. In unison, they held their digivices forward.
"Level one Formshift ... Execute!"
They disappeared into the light, disintegrating in the sheer power of the Formshift, as the digivices themselves remained frozen in mid-air. The clouds grew, taking on new shapes. Within moments, it cleared, revealing two towering, reptilian creatures.
Amy grabbed her digivice and attached it to her forearm, moving to the left. Jim moved to the right, closer to the rip, which was now beginning to surge with energy. In only a few moments, it would reach full breach, and a digimon would come through. This part always made Jim a little nervous.
The rip exploded, sending a shockwave out into the night. The bright light cleared just as quickly, and something was taking shape in the heart of the rip.
"Identification ... Oh, great, type two Guilmon."
"Three's the charm!" Jim yelled back.
The rip collapsed, and the street lights flickered back on. In its place, a crouching, dark blue mass. Jim glanced at Amy before taking a small step towards it. Usually, they were too frightened to realise what was happening to them, and subduing them was a simple matter.
Suddenly, it poked its head out, looking quizzically at Jim. Jim wondered if his digimon form would do anything to calm the creature. But then he saw his talons, slowly extending.
"Oh, great," he whispered. A split second later, the Guilmon was charging towards him, screaming, claws extended. Jim managed to deflect his claws, but the full body contact sent him sprawling. He slammed into the wall of one of the houses, cracking it and shattering a window.
The Guilmon, still moving forward, crashed into a tree. The branches took out a second story window, and somewhere, a dog had started barking.
"Just great," Jim said to himself, lurching forward. The Guilmon shook itself free from the branches, spun, and charged on Jim again. This time, Jim managed to lock arms with the creature, and tried wrestling it to the ground. He nearly succeeded when a sweeping kick came out of nowhere, flinging him towards the front door.
The impact tore the door clear off its hinges, and sent the fragments flying into the hallway beyond. The Guilmon charged again, and Jim threw up his legs. He caught the digimon on the chest, sending it sprawling back towards the road. As he pulled himself up, he heard a noise behind him, and spun.
A shadow, human, moving across the wall. The occupants were awake. Jim snarled, and spun, facing the Guilmon. This was now officially the messiest cleanup he had ever conducted. Jim charged the Guilmon, knocking it into the street.
Before the Guilmon even touched ground, Amy hit it with a power uppercut, sending it flying. Then she aimed her left arm at the ground in front of her.
"Aperture!"
A beam fired out from the digivice, striking the ground and spreading out, creating a glowing circle. As the Guilmon fell towards it, the circle suddenly cleared, and she could see the floor of a holding cell though the aperture, as if looking through a hole in the ceiling.
The Guilmon fell through, slamming into the floor of the holding cell, and the cell flooded with blue light as the containment field activated. Amy pressed something on her digivice, and the aperture closed.
"Well, that was fun," she said, as her body evaporated into light, condensing into her human form. She looked up the road - lights were turning on, and a few dogs were going at it loudly. She was surprised that a house alarm hadn't gone off already.
"Come on, we'd better get going," she said, jogging towards the SUV. Jim shifted back into human form and followed her, occasionally glancing back at the house they had just wrecked. Was he seen? He couldn't be sure.
They clambered into the vehicle, and Amy started the engine. By the time people were stepping out of their front doors, the SUV had already turned the corner and disappeared into the night.