Disclaimer: Digimon is a franchise owned jointly by Toei Animation and Bandai, and conceptualized by Akiyoshi Hongo. Doctor Who is a property owned by the British Broadcasting Company created by Sydney Newman. The concept of Digimon: The Tamer is a fan fiction idea. Please support the official properties.
Author's Notes: Hey folks! Thanks again for all the reviews! This is the part where I should mention that the story will start having darker shades. It will still be a light hearted adventure about kids saving the world, but compared to the original - we will be going into some dark territory. As before, review responses are now handled directly through the review response system. Also one quick response to a guest review and we'll be on our way:
Guest: Because if I was involved in digimon's writing process, I would never give a happy ending. Most seasons would have bittersweet endings, like the original digidestined defeat Apocalymon but their digimon die in the process. Then when Adventure 02 rolls around, they really are left in the role of mentors for the new digidestined because their digimon are gone. Tamers would've ended with the kids pulled into the Digital World with their digimon. So yay, world's safe but now the kids will never go home because they're trapped in another world.
Well, that's all for now so enjoy the next chapter of the Tamer: A Digimon Adventure
The Tamer: A Digimon Adventure
Chapter 11: Dark Network Attack
"No," Andromon stated bluntly.
"You're choosing to die instead of choosing to live," Tamer argued.
"I am fulfilling the mission I have been assigned," Andromon said back.
"I was the one who gave you the mission, and the mission was to protect the digimon of this village."
"Mission parameters included protecting their homes."
"Their homes are already lost, what you should focus on is getting them out of here before Etemon decides to burn it to the ground!"
"You can lead us in a fight against them. You've fought armies before."
"Yes, we did," the Tamer pointed to himself and Agumon, "With an army. This. This is not army. This is a rag tag bunch of villagers, no offense, who are up against bigger numbers, and bigger enemies who fight for a living."
"We have to try."
"And we know what happened last time. Are you seriously saying that you want the digimon of this village to go the same way?" Tamer shouted out loud, giving Andromon pause. A spectacle had unfolded in front of them as soon as Tamer told Andromon they would have to leave the village. The two were arguing immediately do to differences in opinion of how to move forward, and the whole village had gathered around to watch them argue. The digidestined and their digimon partners stood behind Agumon, who had made himself a comfortable spot on the ground to watch. Sora especially paid close attention to the Tamer, examining every inch of his bruised and injured face. His face was definitely familiar - she just couldn't place where she'd seen it or why she knew it.
Tamer and Andromon continued their exchange, while Biyomon whispered to Agumon, "Is this normal?"
"Actually, this is kind of straight forward," Agumon replied, "Normally, he'd have some overly convoluted plan. Just talking like this is a nice change of pace."
"You almost sound relieved," Biyomon frowned.
"The normal way we do things tends to involve a lot more things blowing up," Agumon frowned.
"Like the manor?" Biyomon accused. Agumon shrugged, "That was an accident. The old manor had faulty pipes, Leomon cut one of them while he was swinging his sword around. None of us noticed that one of the pipes was a gas pipe. At least, not until I tried to use my pepper breath. Next thing I know, the Tamer is carrying me away from the wreckage."
"Oh," Biyomon cocked her head to the side.
"Andromon, I'm sorry. This village can't be saved," The Tamer said, "So save yourselves and get out while you can. Once Etemon attacks, this village will be lost."
"Why can't we stay and fight?" Andromon asked, "You two have managed the impossible before."
"Because…because it has to happen," the Tamer said sheepishly. The digimon began murmuring uncomfortably amongst themselves and Andromon was shaken. Even Agumon seemed surprised, shifting on the ground to pay better attention. The Tamer continued, "That's how it plays out. Koromon Village gets destroyed. The best we can hope for at this point is to make sure nobody dies. Honestly, it's more likely that we'll only save a few."
Andromon remained impassive but asked, "You're certain?"
"Very," Tamer answered sheepishly, "So please. Everyone has to go."
"How long do we have?" Andromon asked.
"Not very," the Tamer frowned, "How many exits?"
"We built five tunnels to sneak in and out of the village if we were ever attacked," Andromon frowned, "But they're not large enough for all of us to get out at once. It'll take time."
"Time that we don't have," the Tamer frowned, "Okay, we need a distraction. Agumon and I can handle that part. We're good at drawing attention. How long would you need to get everyone out?"
"About an hour with the size of the tunnels," a Koromon said. The Tamer turned to Agumon and nodded. Agumon returned the nod with an understanding smile, "I've got that much fight in me."
Tamer punched his hands together, "That's all I need buddy. Okay, everyone, pack what you can and get whatever supplies you can carry. You'll need to move fast and light."
"If you are fighting, I would like to join you," Andromon stated.
"No, no, go protect the digimon and make sure they get out safely," the Tamer urged, "Then protect them. Keep any of Etemon's digimon off them."
"But where are we supposed to go?" one of the Frigimon asked. The Tamer pointed away from the village, "Just north of here, go to ShogunGekomon's Palace. He owes us a favor and he shouldn't have any problems accommodating all the guests."
"You're pointing south," Agumon commented, prompting the Tamer to spin on his heels to correct himself. The other digimon continued to murmur amongst themselves, concerned about whether or not to go. One of the Gekomon added, "But, guys, ShogunGekomon's can't protect us. He's fallen into a deep sleep and has been that way for a long time."
"Then he definitely won't mind!" the Tamer insisted, "Come on! Go! We don't have a lot of time and we lost a lot of it sitting here talking."
The digimon all ran into their huts and started shoveling anything they could into bags. The Tamer broke away from the center and approached the digidestined, "Right then, you guys. How far can you digivolve?"
"What?" Gabumon shifted uneasily.
"You five are at the rookie level, and he's an in-training," the Tamer pointed at Tokomon, "So how far can you digivolve?"
"Well, they can all digivolve to their next form if that's what you're asking," Sora answered for them. The Tamer sighed, "Okay, with Agumon that means we have six champions."
"Didn't Elecmon talk about something like that?" Tentomon asked.
"That's right! He said Tokomon was an in-training form of Patamon, who was a rookie," Biyomon added. The Tamer and Agumon stared at them confounded. Tamer opened his mouth but Agumon spoke first, "Don't you guys know about digivolution levels?"
"Not really, we only just found out about them," Palmon replied sheepishly. Agumon rolled his eyes, "Okay, quick run down: All digimon start as eggs, then they're born as Fresh. After that, the digivolutions go In-Training, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate, Mega, and SuperMega. There are others, but those are the important ones. Each level is stronger than the last but, depending on the digimon, they can easily take on multiple digimon of the same level. See levels aren't really a measure of strength, more like a measure of where they are in their digivolution state."
"Going off what Etemon said, you guys killed Devimon," the Tamer added, "What level do you think he was at?"
"Well, based on what you guys said, I guess he was an ultimate," Izzy answered speculatively, already typing into his laptop, "I mean, our digimon are all rookies right now so that means they were at the champion level when they fought. But they couldn't even scratch him, which means he must have been an ultimate."
"Wrong! Devimon was a champion level digimon. Etemon is an ultimate," Agumon corrected him. The revelation hit them like a ton of bricks, and it was apparent on their faces. The Tamer added, "Do you see how screwed we are here?"
The digidestined and their partners looked between each other, still letting the fact sink in that Etemon was stronger than Devimon. It didn't seem at all possible. Devimon hounded them for days without their knowledge and manipulated scores of digimon to attack them. Meanwhile, Etemon was barely managing to get his own digimon to not laugh at him. How was he stronger than Devimon?
"So we can't fight them," the Tamer sprung up excitedly, "But we can outsmart them. You've probably noticed that they're not very bright."
"No kidding," Mimi chuckled, "We saw that holo-what's it. You were messing with Etemon pretty good."
"And weren't we fantastic?" the Tamer said proudly, putting his hands to his waist. Agumon cocked his head to the side, "Is that why you kept saying two hundred miles west?"
"Yeah."
"I thought you were having a stroke."
"I was being clever," Tamer defended himself. Agumon laughed, "Yeah, you were so clever that you didn't realize repeating the same thing over and over again would get Etemon to kick your face in."
"Are you two done? Because you just told an entire village that looked ready to fight to the death to give up," Gomamon protested, "And all you said was it had to happen? What does that mean? It has to happen."
"I want to know too," Izzy pressed curiously, continuing to type away, "Because right now, it doesn't look like there's any reason for it to fall besides the fact that you're refusing to do anything to save it."
"I'm not refusing to save it," the Tamer said, "It's more like I can't save it. As in, hey look there's an army over there with really powerful digimon and we may as well lay down and die if we think fighting them head on is a good idea."
"That didn't answer his question," Matt pointed out matter of factly, "What does it mean when you say Koromon Village has to be destroyed?"
"Are you going to keep asking questions or are we going to get ready to buy time for the villagers to escape?" Agumon asked angrily, "You have a plan, right?"
"Not at all," the Tamer smiled a toothy grin through his bloodied face. Mimi's voice hinted discouragement when she asked, "You two make this up as you go along, don't you?"
"Oh yeah. But we look good doing it," Agumon replied excitedly. The Tamer paced back and forth in front of them, rubbing his chin and quietly mumbling to himself incoherently before finally stating, "Okay! I figure that Etemon will probably tell his digimon to focus on us. As in all of us, together. Agumon and I will be just outside the wall to try and hold the stronger ones there. We'll hold them back for a little bit, but you guys will have to keep them from actually getting across it. They will get past the wall though, it's just a question of time. Once they do, you guys fall back. Don't just give them the ground though, go back slowly inch by inch. Until you're on the other side of the village with your backs to the wall. We still have to buy the villagers time to escape."
"Won't that trap us?" Mimi asked.
Agumon pointed at Biyomon and Tentomon, "They can fly. Just fly out of there."
"What about you guys?" Gomamon looked at the two suspiciously, "You kind of disappear from this plan once we're inside the wall."
"We're the distraction," the Tamer said again, "If Etemon's busy worrying about us, he won't be paying any attention to what you're doing. Which you don't want because his singing is bad."
"Well how bad can it be? Matt likes to sing in the shower and it's annoyingly bad," TK added, to the amusement of everyone present. Matt's expression had turned beet red and he buried his hand into his little brother's scalp to perform an intense noogie. TK squeaked and stopped talking, as Agumon went on, "Your ears will bleed if you hear it. Listen too long and you go deaf. Also, depending on the digimon, it can regress you back to an in-training. That's why we'll be out there distracting them."
"So do you all understand the plan?" the Tamer asked seriously, "Because we only get one shot at this and there's no time to practice."
"Keep them at the wall until they get to it, and then let them push us through the village until we get to the other side. Then fly out," Sora repeated. The Tamer nodded approvingly, "Well, at least your leader got it."
"She's not actually our leader," Tentomon pointed out. The Tamer looked between the bug digimon, then to Sora, "Oh? Who is?"
"We don't have one," Joe folded his arms, "We just kind of go by vote. So I think that makes it democratic."
Their discussion ended when another earthquake rattled the ground, with enough force to bring them to their knees. The spotlight from before reappeared to reflect an image of Etemon off a column of smoke, and the sound of microphone feedback echoed through the air. With a gruff tone, Etemon stated, "Now ya'll listen up! I will not be made a fool of, ya hear? Uh huh! Before, I was thinking of letting a few of you live. But now, I'm gonna let you guys have it! Get em boys!"
"Let's go, Agumon!" Tamer shouted out.
"I'm with you all the way!" Agumon's claws came together like two fists.
"Come on!" the Tamer shouted to the rest of their group. He and Agumon led the charge for the wall, hearing the thunderous march of feet from the other side. They passed hundreds of screaming digimon running the opposite direction with whatever they could carry in their hands. Some wished them luck while others lamented their fortunes, simply wanting for everything to end. A few picked up their make shift weapons to help but Tamer and Agumon insisted they leave. They emerged on the other side of the wall and saw Etemon's digimon marching for the wall. In front were the smaller rabbit like digimon occasionally interspersed with groups of larger Tyrannomon. The Tyrannomon stopped short of the wall and breathed balls of fire at it, "Blaze Blast!"
The fireballs roared overhead and impacted along the wall, blasting holes and setting it ablaze. The fire spread quickly along the wall, panicked screams echoing from within the village itself. The rabbit like Gazimon dropped to all fours and hurried their pace, charging straight across the open field.
"Stick to the plan," Agumon instructed, "And we'll probably all make it out alive."
"Probably?" TK asked.
"Well yeah, this is a battle," Agumon replied unapologetically, "Not everyone gets out alive. But don't worry about that. If you're going to go down, make sure they don't ever forget it!"
The confidence the two exuded was remarkable despite the odds present before them. The digidestined pointed their digivices at their partners, watching the digivices come to life and their partners transform into their champion levels.
"Biyomon! Digivolve to! Birdramon!"
"Gabumon! Digivolve to! Garurumon!"
"Palmon! Digivolve to! Togemon!"
"Gomamon! Digivolve to! Ikakumon!"
"Tentomon! Digivolve to! Kabuterimon!"
Birdramon and Kabuterimon took the air while the rest of them stayed behind wall. Matt especially made sure TK and Tokomon were a good distance behind them for their own safety. They watched both Agumon and the Tamer walk past the wall with held breath. The Tamer had a digivice, so why wasn't he using it to digivolve Agumon? How could they so casually march towards the oncoming horde? With all of the Gazimon charging towards them, Agumon would definitely have to be at a stronger level to even compete. Even worse was that he went out there with Agumon unarmed. Instead, he adjusted the goggles over his eyes and cracked his knuckles.
"Okay, I agree with Ikakumon now. He's crazy going out there," Joe stated, "What exactly does he think he's doing?"
"If he's not careful, he's going to get hurt," TK stated.
"Shouldn't we help them?" Mimi asked while the Gazimon drew closer to the pair, only thirty yards away, then twenty, and then ten. When they were feet away, the lead Gazimon leapt into the air at Agumon with his claws out stretched, "Eat this!"
Agumon stepped backwards so that the Gazimon's claw dug into the ground, then Tamer ran and kicked it in the head so hard that it bounced away and crashed against a rock.
"Which one?" Izzy remarked in surprise. The pair's teamwork didn't deter the other Gazimon from continuing their charge. The digidestined were surprised at how easy the two made it look. They ducked, weaved, and moved through the attacking Gazimon effortlessly. They also worked in tandem, one who distract and the other would attack. Even though they were well outnumbered, the efficiency of their movements let the duo fight on even footing with the Gazimon. However, they couldn't get them all and many of the Gazimon rushed past the pair for the wall.
"Okay guys! We have to keep them here! Birdramon!" Sora called out to her partner.
"Kabuterimon!" Izzy said at the exact same time. The two flying digimon sprayed a flurry of fire and electricity from the sky onto the attacking Gazimon. Many of the Gazimon screamed as they came aflame or were shocked, comically running around to put out the flames or convulsing as if they were dancing. But that didn't get all of them. The ones who got through were now at the wall and it was Garurumon who met them first. He charged out and used his claws to mangle any Gazimon who tried to push through. Any who snuck past were quickly knocked out by Togemon and Ikakumon.
They were doing a good job so far, keeping the Gazimon from getting past the wall. Every time they tried to push forward, their digimon pushed them back. After about five minutes, Etemon's voice roared out, "Hey! What's going on up there! Pick up the pace and get into that village already! Tyrannomon! Show off the fireworks! Uh huh!"
The Tyrannomon began marching towards the wall and the Gazimon moved out of their way to let the massive digimon through. The first one reached the Tamer and smashed away at the ground. The Tamer moved back and forth between each swing of the arms. Several of the Gazimon tried to attack the distracted Tamer but he moved through them as well as he moved through Tyrannomon's flails. Agumon ran to Tamer's side, but rather than help him, Agumon jumped onto one of the Gazimon and used it like a trampoline to bounce into the air towards Tyrannomon.
Tamer raised his digivice skyward and it screamed to life. Tamer shouted, "Go Agumon!"
"Agumon! Digivolve to! Greymon!"
Agumon vanished in a bright light, replaced by a larger orange dinosaur with blue stripes running down the length of its back and wearing a large brown skull with horns over its head. Greymon crashed straight into the Tyrannomon, pinning it to the ground and using both arms to keep it there. Fire crackled inside Greymon's mouth and he growled, "Nova Blast!"
The flames cooked Tyrannomon alive and it screamed helplessly as it disintegrated. The other Tyrannomon stopped their advance to watch Greymon rise up to face them. Some of the Gazimon had stopped to stare in awe and began backing away. The digidestined were just as surprised, the Tamer and Greymon were already showing themselves to be impressive fighters. Killing the Tyrannomon in the manner they did reeked of some kind of untapped ferocity that they hadn't seen before. Neither the Tamer nor Greymon seemed troubled by it either. The Tyrannomon was helpless, incapable of fighting back but they killed it in the most painful way possible.
"What are you all doing? It's one digimon! Kill it!" Etemon shouted at his lackeys. They hesitated, no one wanted to be next. A lone Gazimon shouted an obscenity and charged first, reinvigorating the other digimon back into charging. Greymon took a step back and breathed another ball of fire at the charging Gazimon, "Nova Blast!"
The Gazimon screamed while it was incinerated from the flames, but the other digimon kept charging. Greymon brushed his tail along the ground to throw the Gazimon around and scooped up the Tamer with one of his large claws, resting the boy on his head. The two then started running. Not away or towards the enemy, but parallel to the wall so that some of the charging digimon changed direction to follow. At the wall, the digidestined and their partners saw the pair running. Mimi shrieked, "What are they doing? Are they abandoning us?"
"It looks like it, yeah," Joe frowned defeatedly.
Greymon changed direction while running and soon turned on his pursuers. Greymon charged straight towards them with a loud roar. The pursuing Gazimon and Tyrannomon ran straight at him ready to fight until the very last second when Greymon darted to the side and ran past them. They could hear the Tamer laughing at the Gazimon and Tyrannomon - clearly stupefied by what just happened. They turned to chase after them, angrily shouting, "Get back here!"
"What's the matter? Tired?" Greymon taunted happily, rushing back. It didn't take the digidestined long to realize that the pair were just running around to tire out their pursuers. They couldn't dwell on it as their own problems got worse. The Gazimon were still trying to get through the wall but now seemed to realize that there were more than one gaping hole in it. They split up to try and get through to the other side. The five of them together could easily hold them back from funneling through one hole. But there were more entrances than there were of them. So their digimon found themselves juggling between the many entrances in the wall trying desperately to keep the Gazimon out. Birdramon and Kabuterimon took the most since they could easily fly back and forth. Ikakumon was too slow to watch more than one, which left Garurumon and Togemon to hold the rest of them. Matt readied his knife to protect them if any got past their digimon. He was roughly the same size as the Gazimon, but they were better fighters.
"Come on! What are you all doing? Catch those idiots already! There's only two of em! Ya'll are making us look bad!" Etemon groaned to his subordinates. The pair of them continued to run back and forth through the attacking digimon who helplessly pursued.
"We're trying!" one of the Gazimon shouted, "He's not making it easy!"
"That's it! I'll give them a few bars of my latest hit! CONCERT CRUSH!" Etemon smirked, adjusting his guitar and strumming the strings. He ran his fingers along the strings with such passion and speed to produce a fevered rock melody. The music was beautiful to listen to at first. Then Sora started getting nauseous. She noticed Joe already collapsing on the ground, throwing up the food they'd eaten earlier. Mimi looked ready to do the same, while Izzy and Matt appeared uneasy. Their digimon slowed down, still fighting but with less energy than they did before. It didn't take long for some of the Gazimon to start grouping around them, trying to take advantage of their weakened state. Too weak to continue, their digimon were forced to give the Gazimon some ground so that they could catch their breath. The kids did the same, staying behind their digimon to avoid the fighting.
Far behind the wall, they could no longer see what was going on beyond it, except for the image of Etemon still strumming his guitar. He continued playing skillfully, "Yeah! How do you like my new piece? I'm thinking of workin' in some lyrics! Maybe release it as a single for the screaming fans! Hey, what do you two think you're doing to m-"
His voice cut off and the image continued speaking without words. The music died as well, and Etemon furiously stamped his feet on the ground. The nausea passed and their digimon were reinvigorated. However, the Tyrannomon were already formed along the wall, tearing it apart piece by piece for more of the Gazimon to run in. In the center, a single Tyrannomon screamed as he came aflame and turned to data. Greymon appeared behind him and cleared the wall in a single leap, landing atop some unsuspecting Gazimon and crushing them under foot.
"How's that?" Tamer shouted, hopping off his head and landing softly on the ground beside them. He signaled to Sora and she nodded, "Okay, time for the next part of the plan!"
"Right back away slowly," Birdramon repeated. She came in close and swiped the ground as she flew by with her talons, knocking aside the Gazimon that were already in the village. Kabuterimon and Togemon covered the area in front of them with a mix of electricity and needles shocking the attacking digimon, leaving Garurumon and Ikakumon free to pick off those who made it past.
Eventually, the Tyrannomon broke through the wall and began their rampage through Koromon Village. Some of the Gazimon started rushing into nearby tents and houses, taking what they wanted and destroying everything else. Then the unexpected happen.
A small group of Gekomon, Otamamon, and Frigimon appeared to help fight back. The Frigimon in the lead shouted, "This is our home! Get out of here!"
"Alright!" Izzy cheered, "It looks like the cavalry's arrived!"
"Yeah! Go get them!" TK shouted his support. The Gekomon and Otamamon charged in first against the Gazimon, holding their make shift spears and clubs. Their arms gave them longer reach and more striking power, so their victory was apparent. Until the Gazimon started tearing through them with ease, "Out of our way!"
The Gekomon swung their clubs and waved their spears with all their might, but they were not fighters. The Gazimon moved through their attacks and killed them with ease. A few of the Gekomon emitted a large, mechanical noise from the trombones around their heads that momentarily paralyzed the Gazimon, but it didn't deter the Tyrannomon from stepping on them - killing them all. A Frigimon punched the larger Tyrannomon in the leg and covered it in ice, "Sub Zero Ice Punch!"
The Tyrannomon's leg was frozen in place, so he crashed his claw onto Frigimon from above. The Frigimon turned to a cloud of data beneath the claw, unable to utter a noise before he died. The digidestined hearts sank as they watched each and every single one of the digimon who came to help perish. Mimi especially shrieked, "No! Stop! Stop it!"
Matt covered his little brother's eyes. In turn, TK covered Tokomon's eyes while Matt instructed, "Don't look TK!"
"What the hell are they doing!? What the HELL are you doing!? I told you to get out of here!" the Tamer shouted at them, "Get out of here! While you still have a chance!"
"This is our home! We can't just give it up without a fight!" one of the Otamamon said, "Wrapping Bubble!"
Blasts of water sprayed forth and knocked a Gazimon out cold. For his effort, the Otamamon was killed by another Gazimon. Sora's mouth hung wide open as she watched the digimon of Koromon Village fighting to protect everything they had. And nothing they did mattered, because for every small win there was a major defeat. She tried to call out to her partner, tell her to help. But watching the villagers fall die in battle made her reminded her of Angemon's own defeat. She recalled how some digimon didn't survive the process of reformatting - some simply died. Angemon was far stronger than her partner. What were Birdramon's odds of coming back with her memories? Or of coming back at all?
She looked at the others for some clue on what to do, but could see they were all just as lost. Especially TK, who managed to sneak a peek through Matt's hands only to wish he hadn't. He was hugging Tokomon tighter than ever and had gone completely pale with fear. Even though she hadn't said a thing, Birdramon landed between the two groups to separate them. With a flap of her wings, flames erupted around the attacking Gazimon and they ran around in screaming as they burned. One tripped just feet away from Birdramon and she readied to crush him in her talons. Sora saw Birdramon ready to commit the act and screamed, "Stop!"
Birdramon stopped short and the burning digimon scampered away in terror. The fiery bird looked at Sora quizzically, unsure of why Sora stopped her but their attention was returned to a Gazimon howling in agony. They looked to see the Tamer pinning the Gazimon to the ground and striking it repeatedly. Hit after hit, punch after punch, the Gazimon screaming the entire time. There was a fiery intensity in the Tamer's eyes, a pure malevolence they never expected to see. A few Gazimon came running to his aid but Greymon stood in their path. It took one roar to scare them off.
"What are you doing?" Joe screamed, grabbing a hold of the Tamer and trying to pull him off the now silent Gazimon, "Stop it!"
"Get off me!" the Tamer shoved him back and returned to landing blows on the Gazimon. Joe tried again with Izzy and Matt, and they were finally able to pull him off. But it was too late to save the Gazimon, it's body disappearing to clouds of data. It took all three of them to hold the Tamer back but he was still trying to get back at the body.
"It's over! It's dead!" Matt shouted at him.
"Stop it!" Izzy roared. Tamer only cooled down when the sound of Etemon's voice echoed out, "Alright! Took a minute but looks like our sound is back! Now how about I play you fine folks a nice lullaby to put you to sleep. Uh huh!"
"Tamer! We have to go!" Greymon said to his partner. The Tamer shook his head in refusal, "Not yet, we need to hold out a little longer!"
"We're out of time!" Greymon said, "He's using the Dark Network!"
"Digivolve! You have to go to Ultimate! We need to buy more time!" Tamer shouted at Greymon. Greymon shook his head, "You know I can't."
"DO IT!" Tamer reached into the collar of his jacket and retrieved a necklace. Upon the necklace was a tag adorned with an orange symbol of the sun. He pointed it at Greymon and roared again, "I COMMAND YOU TO DIGIVOLVE!"
"I CAN'T!"
Tamer and Greymon stared at each other angrily against the backdrop of the now burning Koromon Village. After a few tense moments where it seemed like the two would turn on each other, Tamer relented, "Okay, we'll go. Cut them off! Slow them down!"
Greymon faced back against Etemon's digimon and breathed a wall of fire to separate them. The Gazimon stopped in their tracks but the Tyrannomon readily advanced through it. One solid hit was all it took from Greymon to knock one back before he regressed back to Agumon. Matt was the first to call him out on this, "What are you doing? The village is still under attack!"
"And we've run out of time!" Agumon said, grabbing a hold of Tamer and guiding him away, "There's nothing else we can do! Now we have to get out of here before it's too late!"
"But wait! Why are we leaving?" Izzy asked, "What's a Dark Network?"
Their answer came when Etemon strummed his guitar and the earth beneath their feet shook violently. The ground gave way to reveal a web of thick black cables rising from the ground. The web rose high above their heads so that they hovered over the village like clouds. They stopped about fifty feet above and fixed themselves there, crackling with electricity and smoke. Agumon pointed at it, "That's a Dark Network!"
"We have to go!" the Tamer shouted, "Garurumon! Ikakumon! Togemon! Change back!"
"Why?" Garurumon asked. The Tamer rolled his eyes, "Because Birdramon and Kabuterimon can't carry us out! if you stay like that"
"We're abandoning the village?" Joe asked.
"It was too late for the village before we got here," Agumon argued, "And we'l do the same way if we don't leave! Now let's go!"
Etemon strummed his guitar again and the wires hissed with electricity. Garurumon, Ikakumon, and Togemon changed back into their rookie forms without hesitation. Kabuterimon used his hands to carry as many as he could while everyone else rode on Birdramon's back. They flew low to the ground, high enough to avoid hitting any of the digimon below but low enough to not get caught in the web of cables. They could see many villagers below, scrambling in every direction screaming as various Gazimon and Tyrannomon chased them down. A few tried to fight back to little success. The whole time, Mimi looked away with her face buried into Palmon while Matt continued to keep TK's eyes closed. But it didn't silence their screams and it just barely drowned out the strumming of Etemon's guitar. With every note, a bolt of black electricity blasted from the wires and destroyed something on the ground below. A tent. A building. A digimon. The ground. It didn't matter. Everything blasted by one of the bolts disappeared, whether it worked for Etemon or not.
"Keep going!" Tamer instructed, "Don't stop! Just keep flying!"
"But the villagers!" Joe pleaded, "Their homes! Everything's being destroyed!"
"I know!" Tamer said back, "And we're next if we don't keep moving!"
Kabuterimon and Birdramon flew faster, trying to avoid every blast and bolt that came their way. It didn't take long for them to pass over the wall on the other side of the village. They chanced a glance down and saw the villagers looking up in shock, almost in disbelief that they would be abandoned like this. Some called out for help, others sank to their knees and wailed. Only Tamer and Agumon didn't look down, as if not looking would mean they weren't leaving these digimon to their fates.
"DARK NETWORK!" Etemon's voice boomed. There was a bright flash and a sound of thunder, followed by a shockwave so powerful it knocked their two flying digimon out of the sky. They slid along the ground, stopping just shy of the forest with their entire group scattered around them. The impact was enough to knock out both Birdramon and Kabuterimon, turning them back into rookies who lay unconscious. Sora and Izzy tended to their partners first, making sure they were okay but it was the sight behind them that left them mortified. Koromon Village was gone, replaced by a single large column of black smoke rising high into the air. TK was able to catch a glimpse before Matt could cover his eyes, and the shock of the sight had him welling up into tears. Mimi screamed but the others just stood there in mortified silence.
Agumon stated that the Tamer's usual plans tended to involve things blowing up. They didn't expect this. He'd said it'd have to happen, that their focus was to save as many as they could. They'd thought after Angemon's battle with Devimon that they'd be better able to handle something like this. It was a mistake to think that way and the weight of the idea crushed harder than it had before. There was always the chance the digimon who'd died would reformat at Primary Village. At least, that's what they hoped.
The silence and horror of the moment was broken only when the Tamer dusted himself off and readjusted his goggles over his head, "Come on. We have to keep moving."
When nobody reacted, he said again, "We have to go."
"I can't," Mimi mumbled, "I can't do this! Not like this! I don't want to!"
"Fine, stay and die," the Tamer said, "We're not sticking around for Etemon to catch up."
"We're not going anywhere," Gabumon countered, "The whole village. It's gone."
"Yeah, that's what we said would happen," Agumon said, "Not everyone was going to make it out alive. We bought as much time as we could and saved who could be saved. There wasn't anything else we could do."
"You guys are acting like this isn't a big deal! The whole village! All those digimon! They're just…gone," Gomamon accused, "And you guys don't seem to care. And that Gazimon! All those digimon that you killed! Those villagers looked up to you guys and you…you act like you don't care!"
"Don't you dare go there," Tamer said between grit teeth. He had the same look he had when he killed the Gazimon, a terrifying rage that left them too scared to act. There was a tense moment of silence before Sora finally stepped in, "Cool off. Both of you. Now is not the time to be fighting."
Gomamon backed away first, and the Tamer turned away from them. He patted his hair down and adjusted his hood over his face, "We should leave. Now. Before Etemon sends in the rest of his digimon to look for survivors."
"Where are we going to go?" Gabumon asked, "Are we going to join the survivors at ShogunGekomon's palace?"
"No, Etemon won't care about those guys if we're not with them," Agumon said, "We have to go away from them."
"Where else can we go?" Izzy asked, helping Tentomon back up to his feet. Tamer frowned, "To see an old friend. He might be able to help."
Tamer and Agumon marched ahead of them. The group all looked at each other. Mimi was still dumbstruck by the destruction of the village, staring slack jawed in its direction. Palmon nudged her a few times and tried to snap her out of it. Mimi seemed unable to respond, though.
"What do you guys think?" Sora ask, "Should we go with them?"
"They seem to know what's going on better than any of us do," Joe said in their favor.
"Yeah, but they also said that they make it up as they go along," Palmon said, "And we…well, look."
She pointed to the smoldering remains of Koromon Village.
"They said they're getting help. Devimon was strong but he never did anything like that," Tokomon spoke sheepishly, "To be honest, I think sticking with them would be less dangerous than being without them."
"I hate it, but I agree," Gomamon frowned, "I still think they're completely insane, though."
"I think we all feel that way," Sora stated. She looked up and saw that the pair were now some distance away and still walking. The pair either weren't aware that they were leaving them behind, or they didn't care. Without skipping a beat or looking back Tamer shouted, "Are you guys coming or not?"
"What a jerk," Matt frowned.
"Let's go," Sora said, helping Biyomon to stand. It took both Matt and Joe to help Mimi up so that she could walk, still in shock at the sight they'd witnessed. The digidestined and their digimon chased after the Tamer and Agumon. They continued marching on into the wilderness, leaving behind the ruins of Koromon Village. Nobody looked back at the grim reminder of their failure.
Author's Notes: That's all for tonight, dear readers! My next update will be in one week on Friday, January 15th. If you loved it, let me know in the reviews section and I'll be sure to respond in a day or two. I also welcome constructive criticism. See you next week!
