Still not proud of the action here. I never am, lol.
Gatomon tried to not get involved alongside the group with every Champion-leveled Digimon they came across. At first, it was only serving to anger her further as they struggled to accept and then win each battle, only to end up with ties or knock outs on their end. If they were taking too long on a single Digimon or they were in danger of getting deleted, she would intervene and get rid of them with ease so they could move on.
It was only after Tuskmon was able to get a couple of victories that morale slowly climbed, and even Chuumon was able to land hits (once forced into a battle). While still a little peeved, she was steadily loosening up and even shouting tips. She wouldn't praise them if they succeeded, she would instead reward them with stronger Digimon she scouted herself. It never earned her respect from the soldiers, but they followed orders with few grumblings here and there.
Phantomon found it typical of Gatomon to stand by the sidelines buffering and sharpening her claws while her troops were put in harm's way. There was no way she would let them die on her, she was fully aware of the consequences, yet she was unsympathetic in insulting them and telling them to "shake it off" after a losing fight. Her way of training, he had come to realize watching her, was reminiscent of Myotismon's personal training, although not an exact imitation.
He hated to admit it, but she would make an excellent colonel, if not general.
Slinking a slight ways away, the specter noticed there was an undisturbed nest of Flymon in the vicinity. No one was blind to it, everyone knew this was their territory, yet none of them had gone after one. Not even Gatomon was encouraging or forcing someone like Tuskmon to go after them, and she had shot a glance over a couple of times. It wasn't that the Insectoid Digimon were dangerous, one could put up a good fight on its own, but they were resilient, nasty creatures when together. And they were known to team up if they caught wind of at least a single member of their nest fighting to the point even a strong Ultimate would have trouble. Myotismon probably would like a swarm for his army, but if he didn't even trust his strongest would succeed recruiting them, there was no point in risking it.
A Cheshire grin spread from behind his hood.
"High Jumping Kick!"
Chuumon screamed and scurried away to dive behind a trembling Sukamon, though he poked his head out to throw a Cheese Bomb. It exploded colliding with the beak, but because it did no damage, the Kiwimon only laughed until it coughed from the smell. "Alright, Sukamon, go for it!" he squeaked.
The Mutant Digimon only shook his head. "It's still your fight!" he countered.
"But we're a team! There's no 'I' in team!"
"But there is in 'shit'."
"You're going to be in deep shit if you don't get off your ass and fight!" Gatomon hollered from where she sat.
"Sheesh, it's only a Kiwimon," Vegiemon snorted, oblivious to her glare as he picked his teeth. "It's no stronger than any of us. We could recruit one, sure Lord Myotismon would—ack!"
He was yanked by her from where he was reclining on the ground by his plumage. "Then you do it, wiseass!" she snapped, and flung him toward the flightless Digimon, knocking them both to the ground.
Everyone started laughing until Gizamon was smacked in the mouth by her tail when she moved to sit back down on a stump. Woodmon, still cracking a smile, elbowed Tuskmon and said out loud, "I think Vegiemon won that round."
"Hey, no, I was still fighting!" the pink mouse complained, leering between the two.
"Should've taken that opportunity to throw another Cheese Bomb."
"No, he shouldn't have used Sukamon as a meat shield," Gatomon grunted, still buffering her claws. "He's gonna have to learn to be independent and not rely on his buddy all the time. If he wants to run and hide, whatever, just duck behind a log or something."
The group gave each other puzzling looks, sensing hypocrisy to her statement. "But everyone does it, ma'am," Gizamon boldly spoke up. "It's a part of survival—"
Her fist smashed through the wood, a reaction that startled everyone (even the dizzied Kiwimon who then escaped in the confusion). She was shaking and breathing heavily, a vein throbbing in her temple. "Only the weak and cowardly use others as shields!" she exclaimed, baring her fangs. "That is not what I'm training you scumbags for! You may only care about saving your own hides, but I never want to see such a dirty trick used in actual combat! But you would still do it, wouldn't you?!"
While the others scowled, Sukamon and Chuumon looked genuinely horrified at her accusation. "Sukamon and I have been pals forever!" the Rookie shouted, laying a hand on his companion's front. "We've done everything together, and though we've fought, never have we stabbed each other in the back!"
The yellow sludge nodded sternly, eyes hardening. "All I've ever done to Chuumon is be his launchpad each time we fight enemies!"
"Yeah, I'm the strongest of the bunch, and—" Pausing, the mouse turned to look at him. "Wait a minute, you used me?!"
"I still came back to get you!" he yelled back, crossing his arms.
"You son of a bitch!" And the pair proceeded to pounce and throw punches at each other.
It was then there came a loud buzzing, bringing everyone to a halt to cover their ears (or whatever counted for ears). Looking over, they spotted a Flymon flying in their direction, though it was hard to tell what it was going to do. Gatomon, having tried to ignore their nest several meters away, didn't want to risk chasing it off and hoped it was going to pass by. However, she had a feeling they were too loud and disturbed them, and the appearance of one was cue to go elsewhere.
"Everyone, stand down!" she ordered, getting to her feet.
Not caring which one he wanted to doom, Phantomon made his move with the nearest one. "Death Sentence," he whispered through his grin, and a beam shot out of the glowing eyeball pendant to strike the Digimon in the back.
Woodmon briefly struggled as he lost all will in his body and raised his larger limbs. "Branch Drill!"
The arms stretched in a flash to snatch the passing Flymon, and it shrieked as its energy was sapped away. The other henchmen gaped, and the feline jumped over to stop him. "I said 'stand down', soldier!" she snapped, swinging her leg to kick him out of the way.
The Vegetation Digimon remained sturdy as he swung back to knock her away, though she dodged and rolled out of reach. Chuumon called out, "You got a death wish?! Do as she says!"
The Insectoid Digimon was then deleted, but the buzzing hadn't faded, and was growing louder. Everyone except Gatomon and Woodmon started to back up, ready to make their escape. She bared her teeth and spun around to belt the sentient trunk square between the eyes. "You impudent jackass, do you realize what you just did?!"
It was that moment she noticed something in his gaze. While she never cared enough about all of the Digimon in the castle, she always knew something was amiss just at a glance at their face, mainly the eyes. There was no sign of acknowledgement that she could see; he didn't even flinch, almost as if he was unconscious, or lifeless.
Without a word, he trudged past and aimed at the approaching swarm. Even the way he moved was clunky like he had forgotten how to walk, and his voice when he called out his Branch Drill attack was as wooden as the rest of him. But what bothered her the most was just how stoic he was going up against Digimon even she didn't want to wrangle without planning ahead. Others would say they were "inner depths" or that he was "brave", though she knew better it was neither of those.
"How...?" she breathed out, puzzled.
"Branch Drill!" He snatched up two more as the Flymon in the front raised their abdomens.
"Brown Stingers!"
Woodmon didn't even groan as he was struck with the barrage, a few puncturing completely through his back. Still on his feet, he dissolved outward from each stinger before completely disappearing. Gatomon stared in disbelief, feeling her figure start to tremble.
"What just happened?" Gizamon muttered, slowly backing away.
"Would that count as self-deletion?" Vegiemon asked hesitantly.
"Who cares, I'm not staying to find out!" And Sukamon turned tail to run, his small companion clinging tight with a squeak.
Snapping out of her shock, Gatomon snarled over her shoulder, "I didn't give you any orders!" Extending her claws, she leapt out into the open to draw attention to herself. "Cowards," she spat to no one, and smacked the nearest out of the air.
Now surrounded by Flymon, she dodged another wave of attacks and stuck to close-combat as much as possible. She would use them to jump on in circles, attempting to trick them into shooting each other, or to keep them from landing any hits. One swooped down for her when she was in mid-jump, and she sunk her claws into its side to take it down, using the head to launch herself forward for another. Although she hit her target, there were two out of her reach that immediately began releasing poison powder from their wings.
"Blink Breeze!"
A sudden air current like that of a cyclone blasted by, clearing the dust and sucking in the Flymon to blow them far off into the trees. It had barely missed her as she fell back and wheeled around for the source, blinking in surprise to see Wizardmon standing there. The moment their eyes met, he hurried over.
"Are you alright?"
She smacked him with her tail when he was in range. "What are you doing here?!" she hissed. "Why the hell aren't you out there training?!"
While slightly stunned, he bowed his head in apology. "I was on my way, ma'am, but something came up."
There was movement inside of his cloak that he pulled back to reveal a bound and gagged DemiDevimon. The remaining henchmen, still taking shelter, muttered amongst themselves at the sight. "What's going on?!" she exclaimed, her fur bristling. "Why is he out here?!"
"He's refused to talk, but he wasn't up to any good."
"You shouldn't be here right now!"
His agreeing with her took her aback. "I may have been left to get there on my own, I just have no excuse. But that is not the point right now—Thunder Ball!" And from his hand, he shot a glowing sphere into the Flymon she had knocked down that had lifted its abdomen to shoot its stinger.
Gatomon scarcely flinched from the shriek as it disintegrated, still keeping her eyes on him. "I thought I told you not to use magic," she huffed, her tail swaying.
Wizardmon smiled a little. "And I remember you saying it was to not use magic to return. In fact, now that I think about it, I've completed your objective."
DemiDevimon (still muffled) cackled when the reddened feline sunk her fist into the mage's lower abdomen, only to be hurt as well when he was dropped. The Champion's knees trembled and he coughed, but his smile never faded.
"At least you're okay," he whispered, looking up from beneath his hat.
Still flustered, Gatomon turned around to glare at the other soldiers. "Detain him," she ordered before walking past them.
Still in the shadows, Phantomon let out a huff, albeit he wasn't surprised by it. "One of the birds escaped after all."