The clear night sky of the Digital World had been choked out with smoke. Hundreds of small villages were burning, as the Northern Army pushed south in their biggest offensive campaign in over six thousand years. Millions of Digimon were involved, and despite the fact that the Southern Alliance vastly outnumbered the Northern, they were getting beaten back at an incredible pace.

Especially along the "Mered" line - an axis of larger villages that sat at the crossroads of some of the largest trade highways in the Empire. The Northern Army was advancing very quickly here - and once they broke through the defensive barriers, more than half of the Southern Kingdom would be exposed to their forces, defenseless.

Close to one of these villages - on the opposite side of a sheer cliff drop - was a small mountain. Covering the top of the mountain was a thick forest, and perched on the edge of the forest was a large, blue, Dragon Digimon.

The ExVeemon looked out over the burning village, vaguely wondering why they had targeted this village. It lay on the far outskirts of the Mered Line, and there was no real reason for it's destruction.

But the army's assault was not his concern. He got to his feet and stretched his wings. He had been sent here to track down and kill one of the last remaining Shifters. This would be the last opportunity, in a very long time, to disguise a killing as a casualty of war.

With a massive beat of his wings, he took to the sky, and headed towards the village. Acrid smoke quickly filled his nostrils, and he was forced to take shallower breaths.

He looked down as he flew over the village. On his first pass, he was lucky. He saw a thin, white form running in between the burning houses, as if looking for something. Whatever it was, it must have been very important - this village was due to be overrun in about three minutes.

The assassin dropped altitude, heading straight for the white figure, who had exited into the main highway, where it was still relatively clear. Then his target stopped, and stooped to the ground.

"Excellent!" the ExVeemon thought, his muscles tensing in anticipation of the kill. It would be quick and painful, and then it would be over. He held his claws ready to plow into the Digimon, folded back his wings...

...and hit the ground with a tremendous crash as the target sidestepped. He slid along for a few feet before he came to a stop, and he heard a metallic device fall to the ground a short distance away.

"Here it is!" his target called, stooping and picking up the device. The assassin looked over as his intended target calmly pocketed the device, then gave him a glaring look.

"You should be more careful, you know - eighty-gig iPods are rare these days!"

The assassin growled and jumped to his feet, claws and wings ready. He assumed the attack position, directly facing his opponent, narrowing his eyes to get a better look.

Directly facing him was a Flamedramon, but far removed from any Flamedramon that had existed before. This one was pure white, with black lines tattooed at seemingly random points on the body. They all looked tribal, and they all had a slightly dyspeptic shade of grey. Jorcy was truly one of a kind.

Jorcy looked at the assassin – and snickered. "Man, you are tense."

The ExVeemon blinked, and before he could come up with a witty retort, a white Flamedramon claw plowed into his chest, sending him sprawling back over the ground.

"First rule," Jorcy called. The ExVeemon looked up from his fallen position.

"Never blink," he said. The ExVeemon snarled, got to his feet, and charged forward.

To his surprise, Jorcy just stood there. He brought up his claw, and with all his might, swiped at where Jorcy's head shouldbe.

He looked up, just in time to see a white blur come down from the skies. He barely managed to dodge the attack, and when he looked back - just a split second later - the impact crater was all he could see.

Then the impact crater moved closer with alarming speed, as he was shoved into the ground. He couldn't regain his balance, and he smacked into it. Hard.

He heard a small 'poof' in front of him, and managed to look up. Jorcy was standing there, busy fiddling with his iPod. He did something to it, then closed his eyes as he listened. With a smile, he pocketed the iPod - that's when he saw the white wires running from his utility harness to where his ears would be.

"Music?" he asked, now baffled beyond all sane measure.

Jorcy grinned. "Daft Punk's finest."

The grin infuriated the assassin, who jumped off the ground, readying himself again. He wouldn't let this arrogant mutant get the better of him.

The assassin ran straight for him. No more pose or strategy - he just wanted to kick this mongrel's ass. What he wasn't expecting, was what happened next.

Jorcy started singing. And more than that, he was singing to a beat. It threw the assassin off just long enough to realize that he was looking at where Jorcy hadbeen.

"Harder," came a voice, as a massive kick from behind flung him into the sky.
"Better," he heard from his left, as a full body blow sent him back towards the ground.
"Faster," came a voice from his right, as he was kicked towards the cliff overhang.
"Stronger!" he heard from above, and a massive weight suddenly fell upon him.

The assassin plowed into the ground, the momentum from the last kick carrying him almost a hundred feet, as he carved a massive furrow into the ground. Standing on top of him, riding him with remarkable disdain, was Jorcy, calmly inspecting his claws.

When they came to a stop, Jorcy hopped off and turned around. The assassin just stayed down. Jorcy grinned again, as he stepped towards the edge of the cliff.

He heard a dragging noise behind him, as the exhausted and battered assassin pulled himself off the ground. Jorcy spun, ready for the next attack.

Instead, he was greeted by an ExVeemon that looked like he had been hit by a freight goods train traveling to San Francisco at one hundred miles per hour, that was met by a train traveling in the opposite direction at one hundred and twenty miles per hour.

On the same track.

"Why won't you just die?!" the assassin asked.

Jorcy cocked his head, in the most annoying way any Digimon had ever done it.

"Die?"

"Yes, die."

"As in, d-i-e?"

"Yes!"

"As in, stop living?"

"YES DAMMIT!"

The assassin charged for Jorcy, throwing his weight at empty space as Jorcy neatly sidestepped. The assassin went over the edge silently, too irritated at the offending Digimon to care about the fact that he couldn't fly anymore, and it was a six-thousand foot drop to the valley floor.

Jorcy rewound the currently playing song - "Big Fun" - and took off into the night at a leisurely run.

This story started out as a parodical response to Jared Head's The Silent Project, but it soon evolved into something much more. It's basically it's own story...

Enjoy the rest!