Daichi: At this point, Sora has been captured, but everybody else is fine, for one reason or another.

Verity: We don't own this, we just like writing stuff.

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The Bakemon could come back soon, but for now, Suzie was taking the opportunity to relax. On their way there, apparently Tai and Kari had found some trashed vending machines with chips and soda still inside. Perfect.

Aruraumon looked up from her chips. "I'm surprised more Bakemon haven't appeared yet."

Tai shrugged. "They're probably just afraid of us. They know they can't stand up to us!"

"You just jinxed us."

"What do you mean?"

Gatomon sighed. "Well, besides the obvious crime of tempting fate, you also hurt their pride. If they kill us, I'm officially blaming you, gogglehead."

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"So, I think we got all of them." Joe looked out to the water for a few seconds. "I mean, I know there's a MegaSeadramon out there, so we should probably take care of that now that we have less to worry about." By which he presumably meant himself and Zudomon, because Grizzlymon wasn't the best swimmer in the world. "Where are you two going?" Or not.

"I have to take care of my little brother. And someone has to guard these people." Jun gestured to the small group of people hiding in the dilapidated buildings. A number of them had at least minor injuries, some were worse off.

Joe ended up going alone.

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Five more Bakemon attacked Suzie's group. Five more Bakemon were deleted mercilessly. Whatever Myotismon's henchmen were planning, they would need to factor that in. Of course, given that most intelligent planning removes Bakemon as a factor, that was entirely workable.

The least intelligent of the brought Ultimates, Mammothmon, had figured that out a long time ago. Still, he was dumb enough to attack a group where five out of seven could reach the Ultimate level, so what happened next really wouldn't need explaining in most circumstances, were it not for how unusually brilliant that this plan was. This plan didn't just assume that the Bakemon would be killed, it required it.

In any other circumstance, that would be really stupid, but because they were Bakemon, it worked. The first step of the plan was to prevent the DigiDestined from having a decent moment's rest. This was achieved by using Bakemon to swarm them. Of course, the Bakemon would be destroyed without an difficulties whatsoever. That was where the next part of the plan came it.

Mammothmon did not have the power to absorb data like Myotismon or Lopmon did. However, one commonly known fact about Bakemon was that they were good at one thing. Assimilation.

Unfortunately for Mammothmon, he didn't quite realize the implications. The data was attracted to him, just as he planned it to. It sank into his body, just as he planned it to.

His mind was swarmed by the consciousnesses of several Bakemon, just as he hadn't planned it to.

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Lopmon lifted an ear. "I think I hear something." A few minutes later, they found exactly what it was. Large and skeletal, the power it gave off was immense.

"Spiral Bone Crusher!" They scattered, and it quickly became clear that they'd need all of the power they could get.

"Agumon Digivolve to Greymon! Greymon Digivolve to MetalGreymon!"

"Aruraumon Digivolve to Youkomon! Youkomon Digivolve to BlackRapidmon!"

"Lopmon Digivolve to Turuiemon! Turuiemon Digivolve to Antylamon!"

"Gatomon Digivolve to Angewomon!"

"Palmon Digivolve to Togemon!"

Suzie knew perfectly well that they had little chance. She didn't have to scan the large elephant to realize it was out of her league. She'd seen exactly one of them before. Her fists clenched.

"This is bad." She tried not to show fear. She was the experienced one, she didn't need to be treated like a kid. Even if she was one.

"What is it?" It was a Virus, Undead, Mega Level.

"SkullMammothmon." She didn't know just how powerful of a Mega it was, or how it got there. She knew Myotismon wouldn't hire those Digivolved beyond his own Level, nobody did that. Not that she could recall, at least. Still, with two Champions and four Ultimates, they could at least do something.

Well, she certainly hoped so.

"What's the big deal? It's just another Digimon." Tai didn't quite grasp the situation. Angewomon did, however.

"Wizarmon, Togemon, stay away!" She warned. "This is far beyond your level." The two Champions backed away, Togemon maintaining her form just in case.

"What are you doing? We can win this!" Tai still didn't realize how dire the situation was. Suzie realized she'd have to fill him, and likely the others, in on how bad it was.

"Everyone... do you know how many Digivolution Levels there are?"

"Five?" Mimi suggested.

"Not quite. There are at least six, and that's only what I know of. Baby, In-Twaining, Rookie, Champion, Ultimate... and Mega. That is a Mega." She was rather proud of the fact that she wasn't panicking. "Megas are stwong. Thankfully, they are rare. Unfortunately, they are more than capable of destwoying everything." Still not quite panicking. Still uncertain of whether they could survive this.

Angewomon was knocked back by particularly powerful attack, Antylamon spent more time healing herself than inflicting damage, and MetalGreymon somehow kept missing. BlackRapidmon moved quickly, but didn't actually do much. Wizarmon and Togemon stood in front of the humans, making sure that no attacks could get through to them. They were backed against a wall, with no idea of what they could possibly do to stop it.

The situation was pressing, and it was no surprise that somebody broke under the pressure. Even less surprising that it was Mimi.

"No! I don't want to die here! I just want... I just want to go home! I never asked for any of this!" Togemon was hit by a Spiral Bone crusher, and seemed badly injured. "Togemon, get up! Come on, it'll be all right... It has to... Togemon, please get up!" Years later, the DigiDestined who shared the story would comment on how appropriate it was the Mimi's teardrop-shaped Crest was activated by her own tears.

Togemon picked herself up, and began to glow the same color as the radiant Crest that Mimi wore.

"Togemon Digivolve to Lillymon!" At this moment, Suzie remembered something she had almost forgotten.

"Lillymon might only be an Ultimate, but her skillset can keep others from moving! We can do this!" She still had her doubts, but she knew that dwelling on them would be a bad idea. After all, Antylamon only derived power from her positive emotions.

"If she can get SkullMammothmon to stay still, than maybe we could get at the Digicore. It seems to be guarding it, so it may be a weak point." Wizarmon commented.

Lillymon paid attention to that. "Flower Wreath!"

With SkullMammothmon's strength, it would be able to tear it apart in about a minute. Of course, SkullMammothmon had less than a minute left.

"Flower Cannon!" SkullMammothmon let off far more data than it should have. This was concerning.

Suzie wasn't sure why there was a SkullMammothmon there, or why it had given off so much data upon destruction, but at least they were safe, and the Digimon seemed to be able to sustain their higher forms for now. She had no clue what was going to happen next, so she'd take the extra security.

It just might have saved lives.

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Daichi: Soon enough, Suzie will meet Ryo for the... first time? Maybe? I'll be honest, the existences of Suzie and Ryo are highly paradoxical in nature and create a time loop both ways you can look at it.