DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the OCs in this story and my other stories (except where stated otherwise). Zach Strafer is the property of Fireblast123.
Thanks to Crazyeight for beta reading this chapter.
DIMENSIONS
Stratagems
By Blazing Chaos
CHAPTER 4
Alice McCoy
"CANDLE BURN!" Candlemon growled, his flame-like Digicore roaring up in anger as it became duplicated six times over, swarming around the three Candlemon.
Surprisingly, it worked, since the Artmon couldn't tell the difference between the real flame digi-cores and the fake flame digi-cores. Their cannons cocked, firing at three of the digi-cores, as Zach cast a thankful glance to his partner, giving one command.
"Run!" Zach yelled, as the pair of them raced under the still-confused Artmon, who quickly ganged up to take out the remaining three fake digi-cores, which burst into data over their heads. Zach leapt through the door, Candlemon in tow, as they burst out of the home. Three soldiers bustled past them, weapons drawn and prepared to take out Digimon.
"Attack!" one of them ordered, the bullets streaming past into the three Artmon, before exploding with an EMP charge. The Artmon, stunned, fell to the ground.
"Are you two alright?" another solider asked, Zach and Candlemon still staring on in shock at the scene. The body of Haru still lay against the now truly broken door, a puddle of blood rapidly growing underneath.
"The commander's dead," Zach noted, the soldiers looking in horror down to their dead comrade. One of them frowned, raising his radio to his mouth and beginning to talk sadly.
"This is Normal 2397 reporting Commander 294 Haru Kaede, deceased with honours," he noted, a frown passing between the three soldiers.
A trio of guns fired from below, the Artmon recovering as a large hole materialised through each of the soldiers.
Zach gripped his mouth in horror, feeling ready to be sick as the soldiers in horror looked to each other, and then down to their own injuries. The Artmon regained their ability to fly, taking to the air as they prepared to attack Zach.
Zach grabbed Candlemon, leaping aside and smashing through the panes of the exterior window, before the pair crashed to the grass below.
"Zach?!" Asuka asked, already on her feet and staring paralysed at the building, hearing horrifying noises from within.
"We have to run!" Zach answered, being silenced by the noise of Artmon crashing through glass panes behind. Zach gripped Asuka's stunned hand, before he pulled her away across the garden. She quickly recovered from her shock, following after quickly. Zach tightly gripped onto both the girl and his partner in his hands, as they raced through the now-open gate and into the street.
"They're gaining on us!" Asuka panicked. Zach detached himself from her, before gripping and lifting his D-Arc to his face. He let go of Candlemon's hand, before drawing a card into his freed hand and turning to face their pursuers, who approached them along the street.
"DIGI-MODIFY…Digivolution Activate!" he said in alarm, his D-Arc glowing as the light of digivolution enveloped his partner.
"That's something I'll never get to do again," Asuka mused.
D-I-G-I-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N
Candlemon Digivolve to…
Wizardmon!
Zach looked to his partner, the candle-like form replaced by the humanoid form clutching a wooden sceptre, and wearing a ragged blue cape, steeple hat and with a small face pointing out from a gap in it. Wizardmon looked up to their three approaching foes, a new determination in his eyes as he cast his sceptre to the sky.
"THUNDER BLASTER!" he summoned, an electrical orb screaming through the air towards an Artmon. With the click of a gun, the ball of electricity was intercepted by another of the Artmon, sending it crashing into the fence of a house.
"How are we going to fight these guys if they easily throw off our attacks like that?" Zach thought in alarm, glancing to his partner.
Wizardmon simply smirked in amusement, raising his sceptre again. "MAGICAL GAME!" he cast, suddenly splitting into a dozen copies of himself. The Artmon began to track their cannons, but were quickly confused by the sheer number of them.
"It's working," Zach noted.
"Of course," a dozen Wizardmon replied in tandem.
The Artmon quickly changed their tact, cannons beginning to fire at as many of the clones as they could, but every time they hit, Wizardmon simply created two copies in their place. Zach frantically searched his cards, hoping he'd find something that'd allow them to put a conclusive stop to the battle.
"THUNDER BLASTER!" three dozen Wizardmon yelled, an equal number of electrical balls screaming towards an Artmon, who was powerless to stop the real one as it collided with its form, and blew it into nothing but data. The data was quickly absorbed by its comrades, who, noting the direction the real attack had come from, turned their weapons, firing downwards.
That Wizardmon grinned as he was blown to smithereens.
"I'm faster than that!" he joked, the sceptres raised again. "Zach, power!" he asked, Zach gripping a card quickly.
"I don't have anything," Zach noted, cards fluttering to the ground as he searched for something worthwhile.
Asuka frowned, a thought occurring to her as she reached down to her skirt, to a card pouch tucked alongside her static D-Arc. She pulled it out, holding it out to Zach with a grim frown.
"Here. Use it," she noted, Zach giving her a concerned look, before nodding and grasping the card.
"DIGI-MODIFY…Power Activate!" he called, Wizardmon grinning widely as he felt energy and strength gather in his sceptre. The Artmon continued to fire on, desperate to find the real Wizardmon.
Suddenly, the clones vanished, and the Artmon were confronted by a sole smirking Wizardmon, who raised his sparking sceptre.
"THUNDER…" he began, the Artmon preparing their guns to intercept the attack once again.
Wizardmon suddenly leapt forward, instead smashing his sceptre against one Artmon and striking it into the other, both electrocuted in the process. They burst into data, Zach cheering, Wizardmon smirking and landing on the ground, and Asuka beginning to panic as she looked to the sky.
"Don't celebrate too soon!" she warned, pointing a finger to a dozen Artmon now making a bee line for them.
Whilst Zach's grin quickly turned to a worried frown, Wizardmon didn't stop smirking, as his sceptre glowed, charging with energy as it sparked and hissed.
"ELECTRO SQUALL!" he yelled, a huge wide bolt of lightning streaking towards the gathered Artmon, which quickly melted away into data.
Silence began to fall as the Artmon seemed to cease, Wizardmon and Asuka glancing to Zach. "Now what?" Asuka asked, voicing their question.
"Um…" Zach glanced to the demolished wall, to the gate of the Nonaka household where he knew bodies of valiant soldiers lay, and to the sky, swarms of Artmon heading to and fro overhead. "Now…we run?" Zach asked, Asuka and Wizardmon nodding as they turned, picking up the pace as they raced along the alleyway.
"But where to?" Asuka asked, pondering where on earth they could possibly escape such a global threat.
"No idea," Zach answered.
"So what on earth do you have planned then?" Asuka asked, gripping Zach's arm and bringing them both to a stop in the shelter and shadow of an abandoned café. Zach glanced back curiously, grinning.
"I'm just hoping that we find something, that's all," he answered. "Somewhere, there's got to be something safe," he added.
"We need a plan," Asuka decided, with a frown. Wizardmon glanced up quickly, noting a few Artmon passing by nearby them, and lifting his sceptre.
"Wizardmon, in here," Zach ordered, Wizardmon frowning before following the two humans into the café. Asuka, Zach and Wizardmon paused once inside, quietly closing the door and keeping completely silent as they pressed their backs against it. With a quiet whirr, half a dozen Artmon flew by outside, but once gone, all that could be heard was a sigh of relief.
"That was a close one," Asuka noted.
"I could've taken them," Wizardmon boasted. Asuka cast a warning glare at the magical Digimon.
"At the risk of attracting a thousand more Artmon," she noted.
"Easy," Wizardmon insisted. Asuka groaned, glancing around the room, and noting that Zach had moved. He now stood, his hand on the side of a bowl of rice on a table. A frown had replaced his usual grin as he glanced over the other items of that particular meal; a glass of water and a small pastry. A chair lay abandoned on the floor below, as Zach pondered the fate of its previous occupant.
"Cold," he noted. Asuka frowned and nodded upon hearing the news, before glancing around at the small café. Half a dozen other tables were in a similar situation, and the lights were beginning to flicker off; a sign that the power stations and facilities around Tokyo had gone into shutdown. Finally, the café burst into darkness, a deep sigh passing between the two humans and the Digimon.
"Our world is falling apart," Asuka noted sadly. "And we don't even have anywhere to go," she added.
"Well, there is one good thing," Zach added, stepping over to the refrigerator as it started to whir down. He opened it, turning to Asuka and grinning. "We've got plenty of food," he added, gesturing to the amply stocked fridge.
"I suppose that's something," Asuka added glumly, as Zach removed his backpack and placed it onto the counter. He unzipped it, gesturing for the three to begin packing.
"We'll need stuff that's long lasting," Zach noted, Asuka nodding in response as a series of rice balls were loaded into the red and black bag. Zach momentarily pondered on his suitcase, now probably lying in the middle of a street. "Ah well," Zach sighed, noting that he had a few electrical gadgets and items for use on the plane in his rucksack. Perhaps they could prove useful at some point?
At least his games console would provide entertainment. Well, up until the battery ran out.
"What about food that needs to be cooked?" Asuka asked, pausing and glancing to the black haired boy. He grinned, an idea coming to him.
"Pack it. Candlemon can roast it if we need to," he said enthusiastically. Asuka nodded, continuing to pack the food into the bag as much as she could. "So long as he doesn't burn it," she muttered.
"I heard that," Zach noted with a grin. "And yeah, he probably will," he added. Asuka smiled weakly, nodding before taking off her own backpack and putting it down onto the counter.
"May as well take as much as we can," she noted. "Particularly if we have to discard a bag for some reason," she added.
"Good idea," Zach answered, as the fridge was finished off with. Well, anything that wouldn't rot as soon as it warmed up at least.
Asuka paused, a thought occurring to her. "Does this count as stealing?" she asked, raising an eyebrow to Zach.
"No idea. I thought that it was every man for himself at the moment," he answered, shrugging.
"Suppose so," Asuka answered, not entirely convinced by the morals of it all. What if the owners came back, and needed the food?
"Although, that does give me an idea," Zach added, turning and stepping over to a bag by a fallen chair, its owner having deserted it in a hurry in order to escape. Asuka tilted her head in questioning when he began to root through the bag, before he pulled out a cell phone. He glanced at it, deciding whether it would be useful, before shrugging and placing it into his pocket.
"Are you just stealing more things?" she asked, hands on hips as she looked down at him with bewildered eyes.
"Not stealing," he said, grinning. "Just, putting to better use," he added, pulling out a wallet and taking out all the yen inside, before placing it into his pants. Despite the complete collapse of order in Japan, probably the world too, some people could only be bought it seemed.
"Hmm…anything we particularly need?" Asuka asked, as Zach pulled out a pack of Aspirin. He glanced at it periodically, pondering something.
"Medical supplies I suppose…maybe this place has a First Aid box or something?" he asked. Asuka nodded in agreement.
"I'll check in the kitchen," she noted, stepping past him and out a doorway.
Zach paused, glancing up to his partner who currently stood near the door. The wizard was clearly using all of his restraint to prevent himself bursting out and firing willy-nilly at every passing Artmon.
"Wizardmon, are the Artmon doing anything?"
"Huh?" Wizardmon asked, glancing back to his Tamer. "Like what?"
"I don't know. Some sort of pattern or something?"
"Doesn't look like it. They do seem to be patrolling though every so often," he answered.
"Count then," Asuka noted, stepping back into the room with a green First Aid box in her hands. Zach and Wizardmon glanced to her enquiringly, prompting her to elaborate. "See if they're regular. Maybe we can exploit the pattern if they go by at the same intervals?" she suggested.
"Okay then," Wizardmon answered, waiting as he stared out the window. The two humans stayed deadly quiet; for fear that they would attract the Artmon's attention. All their previous talking couldn't have helped.
Asuka frowned as she sat on one of the few remaining upright chairs. She glanced to the black haired boy and his partner, engrossed in the life or death game they were currently involved in.
"Maybe if she had survived, we could be helping out? We can't even fly now, and none of Candlemon's evolutions are that fast," she thought, sighing at the memory of her now deceased Hawkmon.
"There," Zach noted, seeing a passing Artmon and prompting Wizardmon to begin counting.
"One, two, three, four, five, six…"
"And what if we get separated? I would be killed instantly without a partner to even give me a hope of protection," she added.
"…nineteen, twenty, twenty-one…"
Asuka unclipped her D-Arc, glancing over its static-filled screen. She wanted to cry…
"…twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one…"
..But, try as she might, no tears came to her eyes. She was beyond tears, now she was just trying to survive, clinging onto a boy she had only met by chance a couple of hours prior, and his berserk partner. Indeed, given the circumstances, Asuka could think of a hundred other Tamer and Digimon pairs she would prefer to be stuck with, not least one of the Angels. But, it seemed they were gone, taken down by whoever their Lord and Master was.
"…fifty, fifty-one…"
How had he taken over so easily anyway? No-one even seemed to put up any resistance, or even have the time to consider doing so. Were the Artmon really that powerful?
"…sixty…"
"There," Zach said triumphantly, as another set of Artmon joined the first. "Keep counting, see if they're at regular intervals," he ordered, Wizardmon nodding.
"…seventy, seventy-one…"
"What are we expecting anyway?" Asuka pondered. "If he really has the world under his power, where can we run to? No-one will be able to fight back, they'd just be killed. Even the main Tamers and Angels sound like they're incapacitated. I suppose if Zach manages to find a few other Tamers, they could start to build a resistance, but the overlord guy will just go for them first of all to avoid that happening."
"…ninety, ninety-one, ninety-two…"
She sighed, running her hands through her deep blue hair. How could everything change so quickly, and without any warning? One moment, they were living their lives as normal, the next, they're running for their lives from someone who took over the world in a few minutes flat. Things weren't meant to happen that fast in reality; that was the realm of science fiction and comic books.
"...one one one, one one two, one one three, one one four…"
Asuka kept her eyes peeled on the window, eagerly hoping they had learned an important secret. It could save their lives if it were true.
"…one hundred and twenty," Wizardmon said.
"There," Zach said simultaneously, a silent cheer passing between he and his partner as Zach pumped his fist.
"One minute isn't long," Asuka noted, collecting the First Aid Kit and placing it into her bag, before progressing to close it.
"It's long enough," Zach added. "And at least it's regular."
"Hopefully the same interval applies to them all," Wizardmon added. "Or we've got problems."
"He must have billions of Artmon out there if he can monitor the whole world so frequently," Asuka noted, partly in awe and partly in horror.
"I'd say that he is monitoring Tokyo closely in order to take out the survivors," Wizardmon mooted, Zach gathering his things as Asuka placed her bag onto her back. They joined Wizardmon near the door, anticipating when the Artmon would pass by again.
"Ready?" Zach asked his partner, and human companion.
"Never will be," Asuka said nervously.
A blur passed the window as the Artmon patrol repeated itself. Zach quietly opened the door once they were gone, glancing about before ushering on his allies to follow. Asuka and Wizardmon nodded, making quick progress before ducking into a narrow, dark, brick-sided alleyway.
No-one spoke as they heard the nearby whirring of Artmon emanating from the other end.
As the sound softened, fading away, they crept along, making slow progress before poking their heads around the end.
They ducked back quickly, as another set of Artmon crossed the first, no communication made between them as they parted ways.
"There are so many of them," Asuka whispered.
"I can take them," Wizardmon boasted quietly. Zach gestured for them to keep quiet before peeking again.
Suddenly, the wall above them exploded. Zach stumbled backwards, Asuka and Wizardmon staring on in shock. Zach was transfixed periodically, staring at the Artmon that had so quickly seen him. Thankfully it was too quick for the machine Digimon to aim, but no doubt it wouldn't miss next time.
"Run!" Zach yelled, the three turning on their heels and pacing down the alleyway, it seeming even more claustrophobic and dark than before. Another laser blast collided with the wall behind Asuka's head. She gripped her heart, feeling it race.
Suddenly, another swarm of Artmon swept into the other end of the alleyway. Sheer panic displayed on the faces of the children, as they about-faced to see their rapidly approaching other foes.
Wizardmon raised his sceptre. "ELECTRO SQUALL!" he called, a bolt of lighting striking the first Artmon they had encountered. Electricity reverberated to two more Artmon that had joined it from that direction, clearing the path as Wizardmon grinned widely, glad that his plan had worked. Their metal surfaces conducted electricity, and arced across to anything else nearby. But he had used up the last of his energy, and he felt himself barely able to hold onto his form any longer.
The teenagers and the wizard Digimon made no delay in pursuing this new escape route, pacing down the alleyway as it was blitzed by a dozen lasers, bricks collapsing and dust chucked up everywhere.
They raced into the centre of a street, Zach pausing as he noticed his partner stop, his data fazing.
"Wizardmon, you okay?" he asked, breathing quickly and his voice one of alarm. Suddenly, Wizardmon vanished, Candlemon standing in the same spot.
"What do we do now?" Asuka asked, glancing around in horror as swarms of Artmon approached from every direction. Both ends of the street, the alleyway they had come from, even from above, all surrounding them.
Asuka, Zach and Candlemon closed their eyes, breathing in deeply as they awaited the end.
"Erase," said a new voice, calm and collected, in an American accent. Zach, Candlemon and Asuka opened their eyes. Even the Artmon turned to face the source; perhaps knowing that an unknown variable could spell disaster for their stratagem.
The sound of wind chimes rang as a wave emanated from a weapon, effortlessly warping through reality. Upon encountering an Artmon, the wave swirled, the Artmon being warped into nothing. Zach and Asuka stared on in amazement, their enemies dispatched with ease. Silence fell, a calm yet sudden silence, as they turned to face a girl. Her blond hair was tightened by two black hairbands at either side of her head, a dour and glum look to her matured face. Below, she wore all black, but unlike Zach, hers was clearly to demonstrate her social standing. Her gothic Lolita outfit was gently wafted by the wind, and Zach would've made a guess that the girl was around nineteen. In her hand, a small, but seemingly out-of-this-world weapon was held, a steam-punk style to it. A long thick red barrel ended in a large brass plate, three glowing brass prongs protracted from the end. However, their glowing vanishing quickly, and it was evident that this was the weapon that had just saved their lives.
"Are you okay?" the girl asked, her voice mature but somehow holding a deep sorrow to it.
"I think so," Asuka noted, as the girl wandered towards them.
"Who are you?" Zach asked, his eyebrows rose at their saviour, albeit an oddly dressed one (even though she was wearing clothing rather akin to his own).
She frowned deeply, an odd thing for someone to do when giving their name.
"Alice McCoy."
TO BE CONTINUED…
Heh, and there's your answer. There are a few things odd about Alice though. Very odd.
Anyhow, thanks for reading, and the next chapter will be up soon, with one clue to tease you until then:
"Feather."
Until next time…