Warning for violence, harm to children, cursing, and dismemberment.
Chapter 10: Stronger Monster
After a minute of gathering up suitable things to defend themselves, the children went out to meet with their Digimon. After telling them the plan, they split up - some going down the path the Commandramons had come down, some going into the alley ways on either side. They'd meet up in the center of town, where they'd hopefully find someone to either help them or to help.
Keren, Sayo, Yuugo and their Digimon plus Tyrone were going down the street. Keren was still blushing over Yuugo calling them friends, somewhat wonder-struck. She hadn't had friends outside of her brother before. Even so, she thought it was a little soon to be called such. They'd only met today, after all. It wasn't a bad feeling to be called someone's friend, but... it was something she wasn't used to. Maybe he was just being nice to her. Even if it was, it didn't feel as odd as she had thought it would.
She cradled Dolce closer. Keren ultimately didn't mind. Dolce was a more comforting presence than her own mother (far more so, in fact), and Sayo and Yuugo definitely helped fill the void that her brother's absence had left. She still wished Koh was here, or she was back home with him - but it wasn't a terrible longing, not yet at least.
Tyrone was sticking close to the children, too, if for no other reason than to act as the body guard. He didn't smell very nice, like he had yet to bathe from a hard workout, but his confidence as he walked was oddly reassuring to Keren. If only she could be half that confident.
Yuugo peered over at Keren. "Breathe," he said softly. "We're going to be all right, but you don't want to trip, right?" He wasn't sure what she was still red over. Not that it wasn't cute and a bit amusing, but he didn't want her to burst or something. Especially with the likelihood of enemies still nearby. That wouldn't help them at all.
Sayo crept after Artemis. Falcor was towards the front, sniffing at the sides of buildings and rubbing against them. She'd think it was a giant signal that they were here if she wasn't getting the feeling it was simply because the lion cub had an itch. She was surprised the critter hadn't cut himself yet. Everything here was really sharp. Probably because most of it was run down and broken.
"Gotta wonder how the ruling party thinks this is a great idea," Artemis muttered sourly under her breath. "Yes, break one of the central hubs of the world to the point where it barely runs and expect them build back up again. Great idea. Great for world domination. It's never been done before and clearly works out all of the time."
Well, at least one of them could make sarcasm an art form.
"I think they figured that they can take the resources from similar hubs in the rest of the world to build it back up." Dolce answered Artemis, even if she hadn't been looking for one. "Build a nice big statue of both the Emperor and the conquering general in the square, too. Make it out of gold while they're at it. Either way, they don't consider our homes to be much of importance."
"Bah." Tyrone grumbled. "Stop talkin' this depressing nonsense. They want our land, is all there is to it. Best way to take what ya want, ya fight for it. Even if you have to destroy it first."
Keren flushed even more at Yuugo's words, trying not to pay attention to the Digimon's conversation. "O-okay." She murmured, looking down at her feet as they walked. She wished she didn't get so embarrassed so quickly... But she supposed it was better than being depressed about their situation, or the way these poor Digimon lived in such squalor.
Artemis snorted. "Yes, and that whole, and then what, question. What are they gonna do with it, will there be anyone after the end, blah blah, all of that? Gotta wonder, with the ruler of this army sitting pretty on his throne, if he's ever mentioned that."
"War is profitable." Sayo's voice was thoughtful when she interrupted. "I-It's how it seems in the books lately."
Artemis raised an eyebrow. "You sure you're a human kid?"
Sayo flushed. "Yes." What was that supposed to mean?
"Education is important," Yuugo singsonged. "If only to ignore those who dislike it."
"Like Arata-kun," Sayo mused.
"He hates standard education," Yuugo corrected and he smiled at Keren again, though she couldn't see it. "Doesn't like a lot of things really though." He glanced at Falcor. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Well, it feels good," Falcor said with a grin, rubbing against the wall ahead.
"Education anything like trainin'?" Tyrone asked the children, looking back at them. He noticed Keren seemed to become even more uncomfortable at the mention of this 'education' thing, which Dolce already seemed on top of, gently patting her partner's cheek. "'cause none of ya look like warriors. Ya sound smart though."
"We have a gym class," Yuugo said after a moment. "And health, to make sure we're eating right and taking care of ourselves. Most of our education is focused on improving our minds instead. We have after school activities like kendo or track or martial arts, and those are required on some level, but that depends on how you learn or who from."
"My-my mama," Sayo murmured. "She's taught me how to fight a bit."
"Mostly how to duck." Yuugo's voice came out softly scathing. Sayo patted his hand in placation, but didn't disagree.
"Oh." Tyrone blinked. He saw Artemis actually give a look of concern to her partner, even if it only seemed slight. He didn't know what kept that girl from speaking her mind though, as she said nothing. Tyrone was about to ask what might have been a massively insensitive question, when suddenly something flittered across his senses.
He noticed that Falcor had paused as well. Of course he would, they were probably the best trained child levels there. Dolce and Artemis froze as well after they did. "Tykes, ya might need to hide." Tyrone advised lowly, after a few seconds. "Or get ready ta run."
Artemis glanced at her fellow Digimon. "Make a cover for them." Her ears slowly started to vibrate. Falcor moved very carefully underneath a broken window.
Yuugo, making an executive decision of supreme foolishness (Sayo would probably tell you he has a habit of making these), moved Keren and Sayo in front of him to hide under a particularly harmless pile of tattered fabric and wood. Sayo tugged him after but he darted off, looking for a different place to hide.
Something crashed down from the roofs of the buildings around them, however, landing right in Yuugo's path and snatching him up. There was a curse as the Digimon all turned to this, freezing as a knife was held against the boy's vulnerable neck, his back pinned against an armored chest. A wretched chuckle came from the man-sized, bipedal armored drake who stared at them all through a mono-eyed set of high tech combat goggles, a grin on its snout.
"Well well well, look what we have here." He all but purred. "A bunch of lost children who have no idea what dangers await them. Breaks my heart it does, seeing you all wandering almost into the thick of battle. How's about I escort all of you to a far more fitting place for children to be...?"
"Let him go. Now." Dolce demanded, fluttering a little higher and glaring down at him.
"Oh, now why would I do that? Poor boy looks like he could use a bit of a break from walking." The newcomer's mono-eye focused on her for a second. Yuugo resisted the instinct to try and squirm free, feeling the knife dangerously close to the back of his neck. He knew it would take a bit of pressure to push the blade through his spine and into his windpipe, and it wasn't hard to figure that was just what this guy would do in an instant. He just had to pray the other two didn't come out. Or get dragged out.
Falcor had stiffened, his big blue eyes going cold with fear and anger, more of the latter, as usually he didn't know how to be afraid. He dropped onto the ground, looking for all the world like he was prepared to nap. Instead, however, he could, and would, pounce. Artemis grimaced, but she couldn't risk her ears. If she could just get one good shot in…
Sayo froze, the glint of the knife making her think of somewhere else entirely. Her best friend's gasps of air abruptly jolted her back into the present and she squirmed. If she ran out, she would just be another target, just like always. But... She placed a hand on Keren's shoulder, mostly to ground herself.
Keren all but latched onto Sayo's arm, to keep herself grounded as well. One of the only people in her entire life outside of her brother that had been nice to her was in trouble and she was sitting there being useless. She didn't care if it would hurt her, she wanted - needed to go out there and help him. She had to do something, but what? Sayo was the only thing keeping her from giving their position away, as she bit her lip in fear and frustration.
Their unique position allowed them to see Tyrone slowly moving behind the armored, mono-eyed man drake. The goblin was being remarkably stealthy for someone who had been so loud earlier.
"In fact... I'm reasonably sure that if I drop the boy here and now, you'd all take the chance to pounce, wouldn't you?" The creature continued its gloating, genuinely unawares. "I can't have that. Not when I can easily make all four of you peacefully surrender arms and come with me to a delightful little area where all your needs will be met in due time."
"Before or after you brainwash us in that prison camp to be your willing slaves?" Dolce asked hotly. She was keeping his attention on her, Artemis and Falcor, since they were the most distressed looking. She, too, saw Tyrone's strategy and was doing all she could to make sure it worked.
"Maybe a little of both, if you give us a reason to treat you well." The Sealsdramon's mono-eye focused on her again, smirking lightly. "A fiery little peach like you must evolve into something quite fetching. I'm sure we can get some use out of that." Dolce scowled at him in return.
Sayo managed to smile at Keren, shaking her head silently. Yuugo would be all right. She just hoped everyone else would be. She kept one eye on Tyrone, if only to see if he could get away with this. Then she could get their friend safe. Now, that harming her was irrelevant in her mind. Harm was an occupational hazard.
Artemis scowled. "I'm pretty sure I have a better shot at that than you bucko," she said with a sneer. "Get near her like that and I will curse any organs like that off and more. And that's not even going into what will happen if you and your man-posse touch me." She didn't even seem to notice Tyrone was moving, but then, she wouldn't. She was more focused on the two hidden kids.
Sealsdramon chuckled, still not noticing Tyrone creep up on him - the goggles really weren't helping him in this case. "Well now, feisty aren't you? You'll be another peach we'll have to-"
Tyrone kicked the back of his knee, sending him to his knees and jostling Yuugo from his grip. After that, seeing Yuugo out of harm's way, Tyrone let out a loud roar as he brought his club hard down on Sealsdramon's back and forced him to the rest of the way to the ground, cracking the road under him. Sealsdramon gagged as the air left him.
"GET BACK TO THE OTHERS, YA LUMP!" Tyrone barked at Yuugo, who was sitting there staring at him. He drew his club back and brought it down at Sealsdramon's back, but the Champion was already rolling away and jumping to his feet, hopping up to cling to a wall - out of his reach, for the moment. But there were several long range fighters here, so he was hopping from that perch when a cloud of purple mist was fired at him by Dolce.
Yuugo nodded, hurriedly scampering away to the hiding place, eyes wide. Sayo barely restrained herself from pulling him into a hug and instead resorted to pulling him next to them, crouched and watching. Falcor, free of his problems, leaped from the side, intent on putting the soldier off balance.
Artemis scowled in amusement, sending wave after wave of bubbles towards the other Digimon. If he wanted to run, she could play with that, thank you very much.
Sealsdramon, despite being caught by surprise by Tyrone before, was proving competent however. He sliced through Artemis bubbles with his knife and jumped away from Falcor's leap, danced by Tyrone and kicked him in the face when he came in to smack Sealsdramon with his club and rolled away from Dolce's next cloud of poison. He tumbled forward in another roll, coming to a stop in front of Artemis to bring his foot down in an axe kick on her head.
Artemis grunted at the weight, making to duck and avoid the brunt of the blow. "Heavy... must be all of the rocks in your brain..." She moved to get away, grimacing in pain. Falcor managed a quick spin and jumped for Sealsdramon's balancing leg.
Sayo looked around and winced. There was nothing she could use, but somehow, they needed to throw him off-balance again. He won't hesitate with a hostage now. They had gotten one good hit on him. And he wasn't a bully who would stop once you did that. He was a killer. They had to give him no reason to try killing them again. But... how?
Sealsdramon let out a curse when Falcor took him down and clung to his leg. However, the man-drake wasn't finished, far from it. He slammed Falcor hard onto the ground after lifting his leg into the air and flipped back into his feet. He ran up another wall to get way from a ball of force Dolce spat at him and jumped at her, spiking her down into the ground.
Keren tried to keep herself from screaming as she watched, tightening her grip on Sayo and now Yuugo so she didn't race out to check on the injured hamster.
Sayo winced at the strength of Keren's grip. "Don't," she whispered.
Dolce managed to stand and run out of the way when Sealsdramon came back down, but nothing stopped her from flying when he bolted after her and kicked her like she was a football. A fireball slammed into Sealsdramon's face and completely shattered his goggles, making the man-drake stumble with a cry, covering his eyes.
Tyrone looked really pleased with himself for that one, forming another Goblin Strike in his hand.
Artemis darted between Dolce and Sealsdramon, firing a ball of water right into his face. "Falcor, get her out of the way!" It was a testament to how not happy he was that Falcor immediately obeyed, running to gently lift the injured hamster and scurry away. "Tyrone, are you gonna stand there and pose or keep fighting?" The rabbit adjusted her stance, claws turning purple. "You're mister big, tough, and training from sun to sun, so prove it!" She aimed for the dragon's stomach, intent on slicing in and ruining his bloodstream.
"Don't take that tone with me, rabbit!" Tyrone growled, throwing the fireball as well. It impacted with Sealsdramon's chest and sent him stumbling back even more, opening him up for Artemis second attack. Sealsdramon growled as his armor hissed, the poison potent enough to also be acid. He kicked Artemis right in the face to send her away and give him space. Seeing Tyrone beginning to summon another fireball, Sealsdramon decided 'screw it' and threw his knife.
Tyrone looked down in surprised when the weapon sank into his chest, blade first. He distantly heard a cry from all three human children, as well as a protest from Falcor and the other Digimon. His attack fizzled as Sealsdramon raced over and punched him in the face twice after grabbing him by the tunic, then took his legs out from under him by swiping his knee. Sealsdramon withdrew the knife from Tyrone's chest mid-fall and slammed him into the ground by the throat before stabbing him three more times in the chest. He was about to slice Tyrone's throat open for a coup de grâce but a ball of force slammed into his face and sent him careening into a wall.
Keren bolted from their hiding place, even though Sayo and Yuugo tried to stop her. The girl knelt by the bleeding goblin's side as he struggled to breathe, barely able to stay conscious. Dolce managed to flutter over to her side. Keren was trying to do what she could to staunch the bleeding, taking things out of her pack like a dress shirt and press it to Tyrone's wounds, barely able to keep herself from weeping.
"Should have dodged, you fool." Dolce managed to get out, her deadpan tone broken from sounding so tired and injured, not to mention upset for some reason.
Artemis swore and Falcor made himself get back up again, rushing for Sealsdramon's neck while he was still down. He thought he was seeing red. He thought he was actually kind of angry. So he had to do something with that, or he wouldn't get anywhere.
Sealsdramon lifted his arm just in time to block Falcor's jaws from closing in on his neck. The armor protected his flesh too, so all he did was growl as he worked to make the cub let go or throw him off, bashing the cub's head with his fist to make him do the first.
Falcor just sank his teeth in even further and swung his claws at Sealsdramon's other arm. Falcor could be as stubborn as a Mammothmon when he felt like it and for Tyrone's sake, this was one of those times. He tasted blood, but that didn't stop him any.
Artemis moved between them. "Girl, get back in your hiding place! You want him to have fought for nothing?"
Sayo froze in complete horror. Then her ears caught the clatter of the knife as it hit the ground. She bolted from the hiding spot before she could stop herself, rushing to grab it. She nearly dropped it, the slick handle wet with blood and heavier than she had expected it. But she lifted it up in both hands. He would have to get it back, and even if he could kill them without it, it would take longer. Surely, someone would notice they had taken too long. She tried to remember what her father had said, when they were very young and nearly robbed.
'Remember, slice at the limbs, and stab at the torso. That's the only way to use a knife to protect yourself. Don't go for the neck, not unless you think you can kill them.'
She highly doubted any of them could kill anyone.
"Oh god, you're stupid too," Artemis muttered.
Keren shook her head, still trying to stop the bleeding as she cried furiously. She was useless otherwise, what good could she do other than try and give the goblin immediate medical attention so there was a chance they could save him. Dolce looked at her in concern, before trying to help as well, wincing at the blood that just kept seeping through the fabric of the shirt.
Tyrone looked up at her in confusion, wondering why she was so upset. He hadn't really spoken with her, he didn't know her. He wasn't her friend. Why was she crying over him? Why didn't she stay hidden? He'd failed. Despite being the best trained warrior here, he'd still messed up and gotten himself like this, despite his boasting. He deserved his fate. Why was she doing this?
Sayo finally made her way over to them. "M-Move your hands," she instructed. She knew that would seem counterproductive but his wounds, bad ones, she knew like the lines of her palms. She gently pulled Keren's fingers away, the knife carefully resting next to her knee. She reached into her pack and began to fold the next fabric more tightly and looked sympathetically at Tyrone. "S-Sorry," she said, and pressed down hard. Keren had been doing well, but she and Dolce weren't putting enough pressure. Keren was shaking too hard.
She looked up at Keren. "M-My bag," she said, vaguely gesturing to her back. "There are first aid items in it. Get the dressing and tape out. Th-then, well..." She had to hope they could be fast enough. "Tyrone, c-can you feel if the k-knife went all the way through?" She had never seen it, and her father had never mentioned it, but these were different weapons.
Artemis sighed and her ears started to ripple again. She went to go help Falcor. Someone had to or this guy would finish the job.
Sealsdramon roared in pain and reached down to Falcor's throat, wrapping his hand around it in a choking grip. He felt Falcor lessen his grip as he tried to breathe, so Sealsdramon tore the cub off of him and rolled them over, bashing his fist repeatedly into the struggling cub's face. He reached out and snatched Artemis out of the air and began to bash her repeatedly into the wall, snarling. He was done with this now. No more mercy.
Keren, the wreck she was, went through Sayo's bag as instructed, trying not to make a mess with her blood covered hands. She got the dressing out as well as the tape, her shaking getting even worse at the loud, rattling sound Tyrone gave.
"Think..." The goblin gurgled for a moment as he tried to speak before he tilted his head to the side and hacked out mucus and blood. He managed to speak when he tried a second time, though his voice was weak, "T-think that bloke... Got a lung... Not sure... What else…"
Falcor coughed for air as Artemis snarled pain. He crouched, gathering energy into his winded limbs. Artemis groaned and her claws scrabbled at flesh, aiming to poison, to cripple, to get him off-
A piece of glass went arcing through the air, striking Sealsdramon in the shoulder and shattering harmlessly. Sealsdramon's eyes were practically glowing with his hatred as he slowly turned to look back at Yuugo. The boy shook, but he threw another. Then he darted back into the gloom of the alley, aiming to find another place to throw from.
Sayo grimaced. "Blood in the lungs..." There was very little she could do about that. She smiled at Keren and went to take the items. As she did, she caught sight of the battle and flinched. "You and Dolce... go help them. It's okay." She moved the blood soaked shirt away and with another fabric started wiping. "I... I can take care of this. We, we need to stop him." She began to dress the wound, breathing slowly to keep the panic from bursting out.
Keren looked at Sayo for a moment, still shaking. After glancing at Dolce and seeing her nod, she nodded as well and turned - only to see Yuugo run into the alleyway with Sealsdramon right on his heel. She opened her mouth, her eyes widening. Dolce vibrated in absolute rage beside her.
"No, no, no. You've already taken someone from me." The hamster whispered harshly, not knowing the girls and Tyrone heard her. Her deadpan façade was a mere memory now. "You've nearly done so a second time, with all of them. I will not... I will not allow you to take anyone else! NEVER AGAIN!"
With that shout, something happened to Keren as well. She let out a scream, for Yuugo to wait, for Sealsdramon to stop. As it happened, their feelings connected and... Well. That was enough for the Digivice to activate its Digi-Entelechy. A glow came from the silvery blue device's screen and hit Dolce with a ray of light. When it was over she was... Different.
She was as tall as a fully grown human woman and looked a lot like one, too. If not for her longer than normal arms and larger than normal hands with fingers that looked more like claws. She wore a red dress that looked like it restricted movement with her legs, violet boots, wore a red, long brimmed witch's hat and wore purple lipstick. Green eyes glared at the alleyway Yuugo and Sealsdramon disappeared into and she snapped her fingers. A broom appeared in a flash near her hand, and she grabbed it and sat firmly on it. It began to levitate like Jijimon's paw cane did and she flew off after them, blades of wind forming around her as she did.
"W-what was-" Tyrone's baffled question was cut off from him hacking up more blood.
Sayo broke from her shock and gave another firm press to Tyrone's wound. "Stop that!" She looked very stern then looked up at Keren. "You should go after her. I don't, well..." She smiled a bit. "Don't think I'll be much help, but she'll protect you." Of that, she was sure.
Falcor didn't even pay attention, forcing his tired body up and going after them. They wouldn't take what was his. They wouldn't get away with what they'd done.
Keren looked at Sayo once more before she nodded. "O-okay. I will." She stood shakily and began to run after the four before her. She hoped she didn't get in the way and that she wasn't too late. Tyrone, meanwhile, merely groaned and looked like he was in a lot of pain and wished he wasn't.
Yuugo skirted in another sharp turn, rolling into a small space and scrambling away. In retrospect this was dangerous and stupid but it was better than letting his partner get turned into wall paste thank you.
Sealsdramon stopped where he saw the boy turn, looking around. His eyes were damaged from taking a fireball and a blast of salt water to the face, making his vision somewhat blurry. He looked around, snarling as he sniffed the air. He detected Yuugo's scent easily, but decided to let the boy have a false sense of security for a moment and moved on from directly in front of the boy's hiding spot, throwing some things down further into the alley to mask his continued presence. Then he waited.
When the boy poked his head out to see if Sealsdramon had moved on, the man-drake grabbed the boy by the hair and dragged him out the rest of the way and roughly shoved him up against the wally. Sealsdramon wore a cruel grin as he leaned in, glaring into Yuugo's fearful eyes with his angry ones.
"You fucked up again, boy," He spat. "I was going to let you and your friends go, but I now? Now I won't mind seeing what your brains look like before you become data!"
The man-drake pulled his fist back, about to pound Yuugo's face into the wall... But a gloved, claw-like hand wrapped around his forearm and stopped him before it could race forward. Both he and Yuugo stared at each other for a moment before looking over.
Dolce's new face was giving Sealsdramon a glare so harsh that if looks could kill, he'd be ashes under her assault. "No. No you won't. You never will." She hissed, swiping with her other hand. A blade made of shimmering wind cut through the air to Sealsdramon's arm, holding Yuugo against the wall. It then cut through his armor, his flesh and then his bone, severing that arm completely at the elbow, sending a spray of blood all over the three of them.
Sealsdramon squealed in pain, stumbling away from them both. Dolce walked forward to him, balls of water forming in the air and battering against him, sending him stumbling back more away from Yuugo.
Yuugo didn't exactly try to stay close to him at that point. He scrambled away from Dolce and Sealsdramon, making to hide again. She had just cut off that thing's arm. And he couldn't calm her down either. He wasn't her partner. He bolted away from the severed appendage, muffling a noise of fear. In the back of his mind, he was kind of hoping the others were having a better run for cover than this.
Dolce raised her arm and another blade of air sliced forth and cut off Sealsdramon's other arm. The poor man-drake screamed again, blood fountaining from his new wound. Another blade of wind cut off his legs just at his thighs, sending him crashing to the floor. The Digimon could only writhe ineffectually on the ground, trying to get away, but Dolce's foot landing on his chest and pinning him down made him stop. His whimpers and quiet pleas to spare his life were like music to her ears.
She glared down at him, forming another blade of wind to finish him off with, but tiny arms wrapping around her waist made her pause. She looked behind her, surprised to see Keren burying her face into her back and trembling as she latched onto her.
"D-don't do it." The blonde haired girl whispered. "P-please, d-don't."
"He was going to do the same to all of us, little one." Dolce said, her voice deeper and more mature sounding than her previous form. Instead of sounding like a girl about Keren's age, she sounded like a woman, she sounded almost like Keren's mom. "He hurt Tyrone. He hurt Falcor and Artemis. He was about to do the same to Yuugo. He planned to do worse to us girls. You can't tell me to give mercy to a monster like this. Especially not when he's part of the force attacking this CITY!"
Keren shook her head furiously. "B-but you made him helpless!" She cried. "He's... He's only a torso now, he won't be able to live without assistance now! If... If you want revenge for what he did, for what he was part of, for what he was going to do... I-if revenge is more important than not b-becoming a monster j-just like him... Then g-giving him mercy n-now is the best revenge y-you'll ever get!"
Dolce was blown away by the forcefulness in the girl's voice, in her words, in her actions. She was trying to pull Dolce away from her would be victim now. After a moment, Dolce let her. Keren's words made sense... Letting him live now would be the worst indignity he could ever suffer. If he even survived. The attacking army could decide to just dump him somewhere and let the wild take care of this problem.
Falcor watched this exchange, then exhaled heavily and trotted away from the fallen Digimon. No way he could rip him limb from limb now, he supposed. Not that he could have. He trotted up to Yuugo, smelling fear and blood and possibly guilt. He was never sure about that last one.
He went over and started to lick at the boy's face and hair. Yuugo flinched at first but slowly relaxed, letting the cub clean him off as best as he could. Wasn't going to happen like this again, Falcor decided, even as much as his mind wanted to just sleep. He would do better next time. He would.