"What...what happened?" Kotemon asked himself, slowly sitting up and nursing his helmeted head with a long sleeve. He felt...groggy and...and...drugged. That thought caused the pinprick of his eyes to light up brighter. He was back in Tsyunoinoichi. Who could have drugged him? Why would they have drugged him? He tried to sit up but found that his legs weren't fully awake yet. Rather than sit and wait it out, he propped himself up with his shinai. He NEEDED information, he could barely stand, barely think...he needed to wake himself up. Through the haze that muffled all of his senses he managed to pick out the sound of rain. His blurry eyes focused on the window and he hobbled over towards it. Practically collapsing onto the ledge he rolled himself over and dangled his head out, letting the water fill up his mask and attempting to drench himself into alertness. He was a little surprised at HOW fast the water revived him, soon sitting up-right and spluttering, soaking up the sight of his bed in the barracks, the stark emptiness of it now that all of the Sharp Company were gone. Looking back out the window he gawked at the destruction that peppered the town; the sight of Panzermon apparently duelling with Lucemon's warship; and that the red flowers that had been strewn throughout town had all withered and died.
"What happened?" Kotemon numbly repeated to himself, before being blinded by a golden light. Blinking away the dazzling spots in his eyes he managed to grasp hold of his senses. "GUARDS! SHURIMON! MY LORD" he cried, running out of the room.
01000010
Of Blood and Binary.
Chapter 52: The morning brings...pt4
01000010
"SILK SHOWER!"
Yellow bolts of light flew through the air as OzLykiomon continued to bound from rooftop to rooftop. Tiles flew through the air and chimneys were demolished as the moonlight wolf kept one step ahead of the faux-flower digimon. The rain was pouring down hard and fast and the tiles were becoming slick and slippery which would have been a problem if not for OzLykiomon's nature. Her frigid paws froze the water instantly, and her claws had no problem digging in and finding purchase upon the ice. It was, after all, her elemental speciality. Tanya, however, was having to apply far more effort not to fall, clinging tightly to her partner's fur, her face was buried deep in the damp fur, the wet dog smell not helping her spinning head and turbulent stomach.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god," she managed to utter to herself in greater moments of clarity amidst the screeching panic that filled her mind. She had a plan, a fairly decent one, but her nerves and her physical strength were kind of at a low. So having entrusted her partner with her very simple instructions she simply focused on holding on tight and not losing control of her bodily functions. "Just run, just keep running," she urged amidst her mutterings and general terrified whimpering.
"Just give up!" SilkLilamon shouted between shots. "You can't lose me, and if you won't fight back this can only end one way!"
More yellow shots rained down, more roof-tops were vandalised and demolished as OzLykiomon continued to bound away. She actually was sure she COULD escape the faux-flower digimon. She knew that she was REALLY, REALLY fast and could run REALLY far if she wanted to, but Tanya had told her not to. And not just because going REALLY, REALLY fast could knock Tanya off but because it was the best way to beat SilkLilamon without hurting her. Not that OzLykiomon really understood why, but her trust in her partner was absolute and so she endeavoured to follow her instructions as closely as possible.
"Give. Up. And. DIE!" SilkLilamon cried in desperation, as more of her shots failed to connect. The rain was only making things worse for her, making aiming hard and flying only that, but it seemed to be washing away any signs of fatigue in her opponents, rather than slowing them down at all. With relentless fervour she chased the pair, continually frustrated by OzLykiomon's nimble dance through the rain slick city. Deciding the gap between them gave too much of an advantage she poured on all the speed she could. There was no need for covering fire as it was clear the pair would not attack. She would get in close and end this, it was the only way she could see now. A long thorn of light appeared amidst her petals as she readied her Gentle Dagger attack. Diving down she narrowed her eyes, fixing Tanya as her target, her aim steady and true. For as much as she didn't want to do this she could never disobey. To protect Bryony, she had to.
"GENTLE DAG-"
And then there was a flash of light as her powerful ultimate form broke down, leaving her Floramon once more.
"Wh, wha!?" she squeeked, the loss of her petal wings having rendered her a flightless object hurtling down through the air.
"At last!" Tanya exclaimed. "Quick, grab he-AHHHHHH!"
OzLykiomon needed little prompting, leaping into the air before Tanya could finish and snatching the little plant digimon up in her jaws before landing down upon the street and bolting down the road, pouring on slightly more speed now.
"Unhand me!" Floramon shrieked as she wobbled in the lunar wolf's slobbery grip.
"NEVER!" Tanya shrieked back, before plunging her face down in her partner's fur again, a small part of her wondering if she should be embarrassed that even in victory she was running away.
Several streets away Bryony's robotic jog slowed to a halt. Through her eyes Ex-Ai-Ai-Ai had lost track of the battling Digimon and with her hands lifted the choker-bound digivice to get a look at the screen where a small set of words were now displayed:
'Connection Lost'.
However, the hidden monstrosity did not know frustration, and if it had, would have seen no reason for Bryony to show it. The young girl's face remained perfectly, creepily placid as her fingers were used to bring up the map function of the Digivice and she tirelessly set off again pursuing the small blue dot highlighted on the screen.
01000010
The 'other' Cecil had practically curled up into his seat on the bridge, one thumbnail held tightly between his teeth as he applied his mind to wave upon wave of new problems crashing down upon him. Having Eight running loose, hi-jacking the inter-com and who-knows-what-else was terrifying enough for him, but the explosions rocking the hull and the eruptions of machine gun fire were not helping his ability to think. Then the rain had started hammering down upon the ship. SilkLilamon and Bryony hadn't returned yet and after that flash of golden light all contact with Lucemon had been lost.
"We need to recover Lucemon and rendezvous with Yersinimon," he finally decided out loud. "Have the ExVee prepare to charge. We won't waste any more ammunition trying to shoot down that over-armed grasshopper. We'll just run him over!"
"But sir," one of the crew turned to face their acting commander, "what about the bombardment operation? Lucemon's orders were –"
"LUCEMON HAS GONE SILENT!" Cecil barked. "And you can rabbit on about 'pride whatever' but this situation is turning against us. Be glad I'm even picking up your Lord."
"But Lucemon..."
"Be glad," Hagurumon chirped in. "Lu-ce-mon gone." The little gear digimon floated ominously over the crew, his perpetual smile and wide eyes had the appropriate chilling effect. Cecil wasn't just sitting on a title of command at the moment.
"Y-yes sir," the crewman babbled, his eyes never leaving Hagurumon's unblinking ones. "Preparing for ramming speed."
Outside Panzermon sailed through the air in a strafing dive, his two massive cannons levelled at one of the spider-legs.
"ZWEI HOWITZ!" he bellowed as the cannons erupted, sending their colossal shells slamming into the side of the exoskeleton, denting the hardened surface but causing no real damage.
"Damnit!" BB cried as they hit the street, skidding along. "It keeps moving its guns around so we can't hit them, and the legs won't even buckle? This is a rip!"
"We have dealt some damage Kaizer," Panzermon tried to soothe, lifting his machine gun arms up and unleashing Geschossable upon the ship's nine faces before leaping into the air again. "And as long as their focus is on us, they cannot bombard the town."
In the time-honoured fashion of ill-chosen words, the spider-legged warship begun to move forward, heading straight for the heart of the city. Panic did not spread through the rain-soaked pair however, as it was not the first time they had tried this manoeuvre, and they felt sure that the same response would avail them again. Another long leap dropped them down in front of the prow of the mutated vessel and they lowered all guns to focus on a single point.
"GESCHOSSABLE, ZWEI HOWITZ!" Panzermon roared, unleashing his attacks upon the already damaged hull. Each time the warship had attempted to move deeper into the city they had poured their entire arsenal onto a single point, forcing them to resume manoeuvring their guns into position to ward them off. It had been an endurance battle that the Nightmare Soldiers had been losing up until the rain came and left them both feeling fresh. Once again the giant machine gun rounds and colossal cannon shells slammed home, buckling and warping the hull but this time there was a big change.
"They're not stopping..." BB gawked. The hull of the ship was torn wide open and their destructive rain began to tear away at the innards of the vessel, fires sprouting up as fuel lines ruptured and decks that weren't obliterated started to burn.
"Kaizer?"
"They're not stopping." The boy turned and looked at the LONG line of homes containing helpless digimon.
"Kaizer what should we do?"
Green flames began to dance around the boy as he turned back to face the rampaging warship, his small hand taking a tight grip of his digivice. He could do this. They could do this. Vincent and Komodomon were ready to fight an entire army. Liz had run out with a sleeping Agumon to do the same. He was SURE that golden light had been them fighting Lucemon. They could handle ONE little warship.
"PANZERMON!" he shouted as loud as he could. "STOP THAT THING DEAD!"
"YES KAIZER!" his partner responded, his cannons folding away as he raised up his shielded arms. "PANZER KASTEL!" he bellowed, his back legs locking and his whole body braced for impact, ExVee's shadow swamping him as the colossal warship loomed over them.
"WE'RE STOPPING YOU HERE!" BB roared, the green flames about his body swarming over his partner too as the prow slammed into Panzermon's defensive form. The giant spider legs scraped and dug into the ground, scrabbling for purchase as the entirety of the monstrous doom-ship crashed to a sudden halt as the emerald pair held firm.
01000010
"Well, on the upside I feel revitalised in the middle of this disaster," BurningGreymon sighed as he attempted to drop another chimney on top of KnightMeramon who once again defended himself with his electrically charged shield. LoaderLiormon having no greater luck, being warded off with the (equally electrified) flaming sword. "And this has gotten so bad that I'm talking to myself..." He sighed again, glancing down to where Chad and Lily were doing their best to keep well out of the way of the debris and dirt he and LoaderLiormon were lobbing at their juggernaut of an opponent.
"This is hopeless!" Chad wailed, slamming his fist into the side of the alley. "When this rain came and we started to feel great again I thought we could take him, but he isn't slowing down one bit and we still can't touch him!"
"It was a little much to hope, I think, that the rain could put out his fires," Lily sighed. "And I suppose even if it did, it would not change the fact that BurningGreymon's attacks cannot hurt him, nor that LoaderLiormon cannot strike hi-"
"DOWN!" Chad called, grabbing the girl and pulling her further into the alley as silver flames swept down the street, raising the temperature of their former location several hundred degrees in an instant.
"Are you okay?" he asked, looking back at the now melted wall.
"Thank you Chad, I'm fine," Lily assured, finding her balance again. "We need to find a way to restrict his movements." She swiftly refocused onto the battle, her glassy eyes glaring off into the distance, one hand bunching into a tight fist. "Which would be a much better observation if it wasn't so obvious," she scowled.
"Perhaps we can be of some assistance?"
Whipping around the pair of humans were confronted with a two Shurimon, bowed down upon one knee before them.
"When did...how did..." Chad sputtered, his brain eventually working itself to the obvious answer of 'because they're ninjas.'
"We thought that everyone in the city was asleep?" Lily chose a question that was not easily answered with the word 'ninja'.
"We...were," one of the Shurimon confessed, shamefaced. "And for that we apologise...we have left the entire defence of our city upon the shoulders of you and your comrades."
"However, something has begun to wake us, and the city itself," the other continued. "Possibly due to our training, the agents in the castle have fully stirred first and have begun to move out."
"What about Gaiomon?" Chad realised there was a lack of mega-level dino-samurai cleaning up the streets.
"There is no sign of him," the first managed to hold his tone steady. "The castle has been torn up from battle and..."
"MOVE IT!" BurningGreymon dropped down by the quartet, grabbing the two humans and launching into the air as the pair of Shurimon vanished in a flurry of leaves. The all consuming wave of fire filled the alleyway as KnightMeramon swung his blade, melting brick, mortar, and rubbish bins in an instant.
"The hell were you two doing spacing out like that?" he chastised, primarily glaring at his partner.
"We uh...found ninjas?" Chad tried to explain.
"I'm curious as to exactly how they intend to help," BurningGreymon grumbled as he circled around, looking for a safe place to drop off the incredibly easy to kill members of their group. "They are rather under-levelled and highly flammable."
"We will grant the restriction of movement that Lily-sama desired," said one of the Shurimon who had suddenly appeared on BurningGreymon's back.
"Sweet ASCII!" the winged NS member exclaimed.
"However, given our level of strength the opportunity we can create for you will be short. Just keep his attention on you for a few moments longer and we will give you the chance you need." With his piece said, his body seemed to explode into leaves once more, leaving BurningGreymon's back bereft of shinobi.
"Well...that was...right," BurningGreymon shook his head in confusion before deciding that it was best to move straight onto the stage of acceptance.
"BURRRRRRN!" KnightMeramon bellowed down below, rushing LoaderLiormon who set his wheels into reverse, spinning his drill mane into the street and spraying the flaming knight with chunks of the ground. Stones and dirt bouncing off his armour, the fused soldier of pride skidded to a halt, bringing his blade around in a horizontal slash to unleash another torrent of flame. Less agile in reverse, LoaderLiormon ending up crashing and falling over himself in an effort to get out of the way, his bulky body partially demolishing a house as he struggled to avoid the super-heated wave.
"Damnit, let's just hope they do something spectacular," Chad growled. "BurningGreymon! Get in there and help LoaderLiormon!"
Sweeping down, BurningGreymon released the pair of humans to a staggering run. Bringing his hands up he released a quick burst of Heat Vulcan to draw his enemy's attention away from his comrade before circling around to ensure that any counter attack did not put the humans in danger.
"BURRRRN!" KnightMeramon roared once more, becoming frustratingly repetitive and monosyllabic.
"WILDFIRE TSUNAMI!" BurningGreymon countered, letting loose with his own big wave of flame. The two forces of fire collided and exploded in a mess of orange and silver that tore up the street. "I might not be able to burn you," he growled, "but I'll be damned if you're going to – WILDFIRE TSUNAMI!"
KnightMeramon had interrupted BurningGreymon's verbal defiance by swinging out with his sword; the unified state of the pride digimon was uninterested in words. The silver flame lashed out again and was met once more by BurningGreymon's more traditionally coloured wave.
Behind him, a low motor rumble emanated from LoaderLiomon's chest as he picked himself up, shaking a kitchen sink from his face. The motor rumble grew as he fixed his eyes onto the gestalt digimon, metal claws digging into kitchen tiles and prepared to leap back into the flame filled frey.
"LoaderLiormon, wait!" Lily normally calm voice sounded bizarrely distorted coming out in such a desperate, hissing whisper.
"Lily-um!" LoaderLiormon's battle ready grimace softened immediately at the sight of his partner as she scrambled with Chad's help through the remains of the house.
"You've got to lie low right now," she explained, placing her hands reassuringly upon her partner's large metal muzzle. "Some friends have appeared and they're going to give us a chance to win this. But it's not going to last long, so we have to be ready to seize it, okay?"
"Grrrooo..." the mechanised beast cooed, clearly not understanding what was going on.
"Just get ready to charge," Lily smiled. "I'll tell you when to go."
"Rrrright!" LoaderLiormon nodded. This was much more within his area of understanding. Whipping back to face the enemy, he dug his claws deep into the floor of the home and revved his engines, burling his wheels around whilst remaining rooted, preparing to launch forward at as high a speed as possible.
"Shurimon..." Lily uttered under her breath. 'I hope you come through for us,'
'D-damnit...' BurningGreymon mentally cursed. Whilst he was able to counter KnightMeramon's attacks, the burning knight was simply being repetitive due to a lack of imagination. Wildfire Tsunami was a full on attack for BurningGreymon, flames summoned from the depth of his soul, but the fire released from KnightMeramon's sword seemed to just be a side effect of swinging his blade with enough force. The Nightmare Soldier was struggling to keep up with the rate of his enemy's attacks and the explosions caused by their attacks colliding were drawing closer and closer to him. Either he would be caught in the blast or burned up by the seemingly all consuming flames. 'Chad's always said I'm the Legendary Warrior of Fire...to have cooler flames than this guy...to not be able to stand his heat...this is just insulting!'
"CRANIUM HILL DROP!"
From the great nowhere that all mythical ninjas could inhabit the pair of Shurimon descended upon KnightMeramon, each lashing out with their coiling limbs to snare an arm before continuing to plummet, slamming straight into the ground and burying themselves.
"WH-WHAT!?" the Pride gestalt spluttered as his arms were locked in place, the full strength of each of the ninjas dedicated to immobilising him. Even together they had no chance of actually fighting the monstrosity, but to battle a single limb each was definitely within their capabilities. And whilst the lightening from KnightMeramon's shield and sword lashed out at them, their well grounded bodies dissipated the deadly charge, rendering them immune to it.
"NOW!" one of them called from his burrow.
"STRIKE!" the other joined, straining against the iron limb.
"BURN!" KnightMeramon bellowed in retaliation. The silver flames that dwelled within his shredded armour swelled and prepared to burst out and engulf the ninjas. Grounded or not, their plant based bodies would have no protection against the searing fire that could melt stone and overwhelm an ultimate.
"AS IF!" BurningGreymon roared, swooping forward and seizing KnightMeramon's shoulders in his sizeable talons, wrapping his wings and as much of his body as he could about his enemy's torso, holding back the flames from his allies. The heat was intense and burned away at his crimson armour and his skin, pain flooding both his and Chad's bodies in spite of the soothing rain. But rather than scream in pain, BurningGreymon howled in defiance. "I AM THE LEGENDARY WARRIOR OF FIRE!" He slammed his horned helm down against KnightMeramon's twisted one, locking eyes with his enemy.
"AND YOU'RE FINISHED!" his partner hollered from the rubble, fingers digging into shards of the wall as he fought down the burning pain.
"LoaderLiormon, NOW!" Tatum directed, one arm lashing out in command.
"RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAA!" The golden lion roared with the cry of an industrial seized engine, letting loose his claws and bursting forward upon his wheels, drill mane spinning as fast as it could as he headed straight for the enemy. "DRRRRRRRRILLLLL RRRRRRRRRUSSHHHH!" he roared as he approached, the mane folding over his muzzle to complete the drill just as BurningGreymon fanned his wings and leapt back. The force of his wings beating down blasted the silver fire in the gestalt's body back and away from the Shurimon just long enough to cover his absence until LoaderLiormon stuck. Once more the sound of metal ripping metal filled the air but this time the blades on LoaderLiormon's mane became red from the heat. Lily's screams of pain were buried by the screech of metal as her partner released the drill shielding over his face and opened his jaws wide as he tore straight through his enemy, bursting out the other side. Landing down on the street again, the mechanical lion skidded in a wide arc, ending up going almost 180 degrees as he stared back at the decimated pride solider. The already rent armour was now just a massive gaping hole with limbs and a head. The silver flames were swarming around its body, but the two Shurimon had already gotten far out of the way. A satisfied smirk flashed across LoaderLiormon's eyes as steam hissed about him from the cool rain meeting his now super heated body, a sphere clamped tight in his jaws.
"The Jogress drive," BurningGreymon chuckled to himself, at ease now that their foe was stricken and paralysed.
A loud CRUNCH snapped from between LoaderLiormon's jaws as his steel fangs bit down upon the drive, crushing it completely, the shards dissolving into flecks of data. "Yup," he chuckled back.
The moment the drive was crushed the devastated body of KnightMeramon collapsed into light, splitting back into SkullMeramon and Knightmon. Their second defeat had not been kind to them, each now torn into halves as their earlier wounds seemed combined with those of their gestalt.
"Inconcievable..." Knightmon gasped, trying to raise his sword and failing, eyes widening as his arm snapped at the joint. The data breakdown was coming fast.
"S'cool brah..." SkullMeramon smiled dimly, or as much as his metal plated face would allow him to. "We kept our pride right? Like Lord Lucemon said...we swung our sword even though we'd lose our heads...and we didn't back down from confrontation..." his eyes slid closed as the breakdown reached his head. "S'cool...we kept our..."
And they were gone.
"Well...that made a victory cheer a little bit tricky..." Chad sighed as he helped Lily navigate the mess that had been the street.
"I do believe that I can happily settle for a sigh of relief," Lily, well, sighed, holding her hands up in a stop gesture as her partner excitedly leapt up to her.
"Lily-um! Lily-um!" he chanted in glee, bouncing up and down before her hands in the barest restraint.
"Calm down, you're still too hot for me to touch," Lily explained. Whist his body no longer hissed with steam from the rain, the strong heat could still be felt emanating for his metal form.
"So, I must ask," BurningGreymon walked over and placed a hand on LoaderLiormon's head, affectionately petting his more primal comrade as the super-heated metal was well within his tolerance zone, "where to next?"
The entire quartet froze and then turned as one as a ringing noise began to permeate the air. Gazing to the ruined home LoaderLiormon had launched from they were able to pick out an old style rotary telephone rattling slightly under the force of its own high-pitched bells. With a 'wait here' gesture that was rendered slightly sloppy by his bewilderment, Chad clambered back through the debris and let his hand hover above the handset. The seemingly serendipitous timing of it all gave him a bad feeling...a feeling that he knew exactly who was going to be on the other end of that line, and that he was not going to like what they had to say. Swallowing down what was mostly his pride the NS member seized the receiver with an overabundance of drama and lifted it to his head.
"Hello Eightball," he sighed.
"D'aaawwww. How did you know it was me?"
01000010
With a click, Eight hung the payphone receiver back on its rest with a satisfied look on his face. The satisfaction was a result of a mix of things: the change he'd found in his stolen officers coat; the discovery of the red London phone booth in the middle of the hall; his smug belief that he had in his freshly described plan; and that particular smouldering indignation his partner was currently exuding.
"You," he beamed as he stepped out, "have questions."
"And yet...I desire none of the answers." His unseen partner heaved a heavy sigh. "I fear understanding the hows and the whys would only sadden me."
"You talk like what I just did wasn't perfectly normal for this world and me." The hacker turned to look back into the phone booth, briefly considering stealing the receiver to add to his disguise as some form of phone-tache, before deciding against it. He was pretty sure Coelmon didn't have one of those.
Sweeping back around the corner he came face to face with the Pride peon he had found. Having procured the Coelmon's coat and insignias after Eclipsemon's savage beating, ordering a lower ranking crewman was nice and easy. Of course, he had known that Coelmon's coat alone would not be enough to fool anyone, so careful minutes had been spent tearing open a vending machine and turning the tins within inside out in order to craft a new beautiful, terrible disguise.
"Ten-hut!" he barked, enjoying the way the peon snapped to attention. "I have finished my phone-call! Now, you snivelling sack of dummied out data, resume proving that you were NOT completely lost by taking me up to the BRIDGE!" he near pointlessly enunciated.
"Yes sir, Sergeant Coelmon, sir!" the peon responded, slapping a horribly mutated appendage to a surprisingly potato like head in salute, before turning on heel and marching along the corridor once more.
'Gods I love a good terrible disguise.' Eight smiled to himself in satisfaction as he followed his unknowing rube before sniffing delicately at the air. 'Also, note to self: the next time I do this, wash the cans first. Man I stink of cola and fruit juice.'
As the hacker marched through the halls of the ship he secretly thumbed his digivice in an effort to soothe his nerves. He was rather justified in being high-strung at the moment, he felt, but more than that the particular opponent he seemed set to face had tipped his hand and exposed something worrying.
'Not my problem' he attempted to rationalize. 'The kids can sort that mess out when the time comes. And I'm not just being bitter and passing the buck, but even if I was I'
d be totally justified because they told me to take on a warship.'
"Uh Sergeant Colemon, sir, are you okay? You're kinda grinding your teeth a lot..."
Eight seemed to add growling to the vicious grinding noise as he focused his attention as squarely and unnervingly as possible on this haplessly hijacked henchman. Still completely blind to the true identity of his 'superior officer' he was not blind to the increase in frustration his enquiry had caused.
"I'll...just be quiet and march faster," he near squeaked before snapping into double time.
'If nothing else, I should just take advantage of this. I wouldn't be surprised if that idiot had no idea what he's just given away...' Even though he tried to keep his thoughts light hearted he could not help but clutch the digivice tighter, a scowl growing under his 'disguise' no matter how much he tried to suppress it, one word bubbling up in his mind over and over again.
'Gift'.
01000010
"Would someone please tell me how this is happening?" Cecil growled to the crew around him, glaring at the poor soul who actually opened his mouth to answer. "I'm being hypothetical!" he bellowed, getting less panic than he hoped for and more a beleaguered shrug in response.
Slumping back into the throne the acting Commander nursed his temples with both hands. Sure, he had predicted that Panzermon would try and stop the ExVee from advancing forward but he had certainly not foreseen him being so successful. The green flame that had surrounded him was as steadfast as his metal legs and the fortress digimon would not budge.
Of course, he was sure that he knew WHY this particular David could match his Goliath...Eight-Ball...the OTHER Cecil...what had he done? There were no error reports, every system SEEMED to be functioning as it was supposed to, but he was sure that that maniac had done something.
'Why...why would he be so bold as to announce himself otherwise?' he pondered as he dragged his fingers down his face. 'No-one's been able to spot the egomaniac yet...what if he hi-jacked the speakers to distract us? He's already done something and now he has us wasting our time looking for HIM instead of WHAT he's done!'
His eyes widened with fear and realisation. It all made so much sense. Hell, he probably WAS NOT on the ship anymore, and that was why no-one could find him. Swiftly he thought through all of the places on the ship that could be targeted to limit the engine's output. There was the engine room itself of course, and he doubted he had directly affected the legs...but then again would he have to? The ship was as much living digimon as it was pure machine...if he had somehow found a way to poison it...
"I'VE GOT IT!" he yelled, snapping up straight, a feverish gleam now in his eyes. "I know what he's done!" Snatching up the microphone he switched the PA system on. He was sure, so very sure that he had him, that he could prove himself superior. "ATTENTION ALL HANDS!" he shouted needlessly. "Abandon your search for the human, I know where he..."
Then he stopped dead, jaw hanging open mid-sentence as two figures walked onto the bridge. One was an unremarkable crewman, low ranking and not really worth his notice. The other was a man. A human man. A human man wearing a bunch of inside out soda cans on his head that had been clumsily glued together with chewing gum.
"There Sergeant Coelmon, the bridge!" the crewman saluted.
"Excellent work," 'Sergeant Coelmon' congratulated, returning the salute if a bit jauntier than it should have been. "I shall spare you from running 100 laps around the deck. Now, get back to hunting for that handsome human."
"Aye, aye, sir," the crewman saluted once more before swiftly marching off back down the corridor.
"I...know where he..." Cecil useless and dumbly repeated himself as he struggled to regain control of his brain in the face of such a farce. He was largely failing, his body totally numb as the ludicrous figure casually turned, closed the door, and clapped his hands together in a remarkably self-satisfied manner. "I know where he is."
"Oh you do?" Eight beamed through his 'disguise', swinging his hands behind his back and smugly striding across the bridge. "You're smarter than I thought."
Cecil's eyes remained fixed on the hacker, following him as he strode around like a peacock who has managed to convert his tail feathers into ultra-lightweight diamonds. He could feel his legs shaking and his heart rate increase and assured himself it was mostly excitement rather than fear. 'And where is his partner?' he swiftly pondered.
"The target is on the bridge. All security teams to the bridge immediately," he ordered as calmly as he could, before clicking the mic off and resisting the urge to fiddle with it.
"Uh sir?" that one unaffected crew member from before spoke up, turning to face the tense human. "That's Seargent Coelmon."
With a long sigh, Cecil dug one hand into his pocket and produced his digivice. Black light burst around him and poured into the small device, sending it on to Hagurumon, the small gear digimon burling rapidly as the light filled him.
"Hagurumon."
"Hagurumon. Digivolve."
"Wha?" the crewman managed to utter before finding himself impaled upon a long black lance, choking over his own last words as his body faded away.
"An-"
"Andromon. Yes, yes, I know," Eight faked a yawn, completely undermining the stoic Digimon's sudden appearance. He did not need to waste time giving the twelve foot tall cyborg digimon the slightest of glances, he was a devout follower of the entire franchise and Andromon had played several fairly prominent roles. charred flesh poking out between bulky silver armour, arms and fingers overly long, skull motif on the helmet and pauldrons. The thing looked like a complete wreck but was normally portrayed as being a very friendly wreck. However...to see its normally derpy face twisted with Hagurumon's sociopathic joy was disturbing. But, it was not the first time that he had seen that eerie smile. "Honestly other-Cecil, is it any wonder I don't really care about you? You're just so painfully...predictable." He heaved a sigh, stopping to slouch over the back of the throne, gazing at the other human with as languid a look as he could manage.
"Ah," Cecil struggled to regain his composure. He had rather hoped that having Andromon kill someone would swing the atmosphere to his favour, but he still felt like he was caught off foot. "I take it then that you remem-"
"I remember that I didn't care then, and I don't care now." He did not glower, just sounded bored and annoyed, like a teacher trying to explain something to a particularly thick and nasty child. "I'm not Cait, I'm not Sythe or Komodomon, I am the master of not caring."
"Caring or not," Cecil took a step back towards his partner, trying to hide how nervously he was searching for any sign of Shademon, "you have to understand that you're outmatched. We've been watching you, all of you, and we know that Shademon is yet to reach the ultimate level so..."
"There you go again," Eight sighed. "Thinking far too much of what little you know. Let me tell you some of the VERY important things you don't know." The languid expression faded from Eight's face as he spoke, becoming progressively more tight and focused, practically mesmerising Cecil. "Thing one, that I have a plan. Thing two, that I am not only all hopped up on coffee but that I'm STILL carrying around a nice hot thermos full of the stuff. Thing three, I didn't just use that peon to find my way here but to see how long I'd have before any guards you called got to the doors." He paused and pulled up his digivice, eyes quickly checking the digital clock he'd left on screen before jamming it back into his pocket. "And I still have a good four minutes thanks to the merry dance I've lead them. And last, but by far not least, THING FOUR! And I'm shouting this one because it is the MOST important, that I am NOT lounging against this chair...I am BRACING myself against it."
Cecil only had time for a brief 'what' of confusion before Eight's hand lashed out from his commandeered coat and whipped the open lidded thermos in his direction. Scalding hot coffee sailed through the air before lashing the off-guard human in the eyes, causing him to scream and clutch at his face. Andromon moved to attack as his partner wailed in agony but swiftly found himself undone as the entire world seemed to shift around him.
01000010
A few moments earlier, Panzermon was continuing his struggle to keep back the ExVee, deep divots having formed in the street beneath his large limbs as he used every ounce of power his partner was feeding him to keep going. B.B's yells had faded into growls as he had succeeding in screaming himself hoarse and the bright green flames were slowly losing their sheen and volume. Eventually, however, the boy became aware of a voice calling to him from below. Wobbling slightly, he managed to make his way across Panzermon's immense shoulders and stared down to the street, catching sight of the great amount of yellow that was the source of the shouting.
"Lily?" he croaked at the older girl, confused by her presence.
"B.B! You've got to stop!" she shouted from atop her own partner, glad to finally have his attention: they were running out of time.
"We can't!" Gods, he was sounding like he smoked fifteen packs a day and had been punched in the throat. "They'll crush the town!"
"It's okay! We've got a plan! But you need to let it move forward now! Trust me!"
Actually explaining the plan might have been more effective, but in her head the countdown was playing out and Eight had been very specific about how long she could take. Her own concerns were beginning to pick up, the rain was slowing and would soon completely stop, when it did, she doubted that Panzermon would remain Panzermon for long, and was sure that B.B and Capmon would stand a much smaller chance against the warship.
"Kaizer! Maybe we should...guh!" Panzermon's growling voice stumbled as, for the first time since they had begun this contest of strength, he slid back the tiniest of amounts, the green flames dying down further as B.B's confidence dropped too.
"You're right." B.B nodded sullenly. Glancing back at the city they were shielding he fought the horrible sensation in his gut that told him they were giving up. His friends had a plan. It would work. It sucked, but it didn't matter whether or not he was the one who saved the day. At least, he had to keep telling himself that. "Panzermon, let's withdraw!"
"R-right!" his partner grunted, tilting his head to one side as he crouched slightly. Choosing to leave was simple, but since they were currently going toe-to-toe with a giant warship, GETTING away was going to require a little extra 'oomph'. With the long cannon built onto his face pressed up against the ship's wall, Panzermon disengaged Panzer Castel and fired one last attack at his enemy. "BIG BERTHA!" he roared, releasing the blast from the mighty air-cannon as he began to spring, using the force of the air to help propel him to the left, soaring clear away from their enemy.
The moment they were away the ExVee surged forward, the momentum Panzermon had been suppressing exploding out all at once.. As the emerald pair crashed down in a heap, B.B scrabbled over to his partner's crumpled form, gazing at the warship as he instinctively braced himself to see home after home trampled under spidery foot. The ExVee, however, managed a rather unimpressive number of steps before a loud rumble sounded and the entire ship began to capsize, its right side dipping down as the ground literally vanished beneath it.
"LoaderLiormon's drill isn't just for show," Lily smiled down at the young boy as she and her partner padded over to them, watching as Panzermon's body collapsed into green light, leaving him in the small hexagonal body of Capmon once again.
"I dug a big long hole!" her partner chirped with joy, his drill mane gently spinning as he did. "Lily-um said that Eight said it would be a good trap and would make the warship go 'woooosh-boomp'! And it did!"
"Uhhh..." Capmon and B.B droned at the mecha lion's enthusiastic, if near useless, explanation.
"We tunnelled under the streets in line with the right side legs. Once it moved onto that ground the street couldn't support its weight and it fell," Lily explained rather more effectively. "Eight said it was part of his plan to take control of the bridge, that he could force everyone up there out. Though now," she looked to the sky, catching a glimpse of the red monster soaring overhead towards the tilted vessel, "it's going to be up to Chad and BurningGreymon to keep them there."
01000010
On the bridge Eight had wrapped his arms tight around the throne just as Cecil began to scream, abandoning his flask to ensure he could cling as tightly as possible. His stomach lurched as the warship shot forward a few short paces before finding himself suddenly dangling to the side as the ship crumpled into a far more horizontal position. This sudden change in alignment had a far more drastic effect upon those who were not ready however, as crew spilled from their seats and hurtled towards the side wall, Cecil and Andromon amongst them. Rather than smack against metal though, each and every one of them disappeared the moment they connected with the darkened wall, leaving the room's sole occupant to scramble around the side of the chair for safety's sake as the figure of his partner began to ooze out from the wall's shadows.
"I know I said moving others through shadow is a lot easier as Eclipsemon...but NEVER...EVER make me move so many people again..." the Champion moaned as he slowly crawled up the deck, eventually crawling around a chair and resting against it, devolving back down to Shademon as he struggled to regain his breath.
"I would snark at you, but I'm just so happy that worked," his partner beamed from the awkward stance he had bundled himself into on the throne's side, eyes scanning the room like a ravenous seagull scanned a picnic about to start. "If you couldn't teleport them, or if Lily's timing was off...BAM I would have been smeared across the back wall. Worse yet, I'd have looked like an idiot!"
With all the grace of a cocker spaniel, Eight lunged from the throne to the next available seat, slamming his gut off of the back and forcing all the air out of his lungs in a great 'whoof' before scrabbling like a spider in the bath to reach a balanced position, lanky limbs flailing about and grappling whatever they could.
"Yes...it would be a terrible shame if you looked like an idiot," the lights of Shademon's eyes rolled.
"Hey!" Eight suddenly stared over at his partner. "Where did my cool disguise hat thing go?" he patted his now very sticky hair. "I worked hard on that."
"I think it fell through the shadows with everything else," Shademon sighed. "Can we please focus on the important things?"
"It was important to me," Eight pouted, receiving a scathing look in return. "Okay, fine, I lied, it wasn't. Now, back to trying to hijack this warship. Question one, how do we lock those doors in the –" a quick check of his digivice ensued – "oh my, three minutes and ten seconds we have left before the guards come and kill us."
Shademon could only sigh.
Outside Andromon managed to regain his balance, sinking his long pointed metal fingers into the ship's deck to slow his fall, reaching out with his free hand to catch his partner. Distantly he was aware of the rest of the bridge crew falling and either catching hold of the ship's side or falling to the street below, but it was unimportant to him. There was only one being whose continued existence meant anything to him.
"That...bastard..." Cecil growled, blinking with red eyes at the world around him. His whole face hurt and it was hard to see, but it was clear that they had not been sent far. They were still on the ship, just outside of the bridge; it would be a quick and easy matter to get back in, even with the protective shielding in place. "Andromon, get us back in there! Cut through the blast shield if you have to!"
"Get. Back. In," his partner grumbled in a much lower tone that his rookie form, but the eerie effect remained in his stilted repetition.
Blinking into the air Cecil inwardly cursed. He had been so careless, so eager to show off and look tough rather than just deal with the problem. He should have ordered Andromon to strike him down immediately rather than waste time talking...but he had been SO keen on trying to come off as smarter.
"Hold it!" a voice broke into his ruminations, and he looked up just in time to recognise Eight's ridiculous tin-can disguise as it hurtled through the air. He swung his arms up to catch it, shielding his already burned and sensitive face from further harm.
"HA!" he jeered, elated and surprised by his own reaction time, the elation quickly vanishing as a human body followed behind the mask as Chad sailed through the air after his throw, kicking at the mask and driving it straight into Cecil. The force of the assault knocked him from his perch and the two humans tumbled down the deck, both slamming into the ship's side in a sudden stop.
"BurningGreymon!" Chad shouted up to his partner as he brought his fists to bear. "Andromon's all yours!" And with that he rushed forward, driving a fist into Cecil's gut and sending him sprawling before looking about at the dazed rookies who had survived the fall. "Who wants some?"
"On it!" the feathered fire wielder responded, flames already pouring out of his body. "WILDFIRE TSUNAMI!"
Hot streams of fire scorched the deck and Andromon released his grip and slid down out of the way, sinking his claws back in to stop himself. The barrier may have prevented the humans from falling but he was considerably bigger and heavier and did not trust the metal sheeting to keep him safe. Stabbing a great clawed foot into the deck for balance, the cyborg digimon swung out and faced his chest towards the enemy, letting the large compartments on his torso open up to reveal the concealed launchers within. "Gat-ling. Miss-ile."
There was a 'fwumph' as a pair of grotesque, biological looking missiles raced from Andromon's chest and soared into the air. Each of the hideous projectiles bore tiny arms that held a pair of miniature machine guns and as they homed in on BurningGreymon they opened fire, filling the air with more projectiles.
"Heat Vulcan!" BurningGreymon countered, twisting as he flew to return fire on the missiles, more concerned with their explosive potential than their absurd design. 'Make this quick Eight, the rain's stopped...And I don't know how long Chad and I can keep this up.'
01000010
"I have no idea what I'm doing..." Eight moaned, slumping against the console. "I mean, if I had an actual computer I could do something but this is all switches and levers!" he whined on, helplessly whimpering against a monitor.
"Uh huh..." his partner replied in disinterest, fingers clacking away against a keyboard.
"Why did I come to the bridge! Why didn't I just go and try and hi-jack the engine room with a potato! Why am I going to die because I screwed up? My death is meant to be someone else's fault y'know, not mine. I'm perfect..."
"Uh huh..."
"I don't think you're listening to me sob my heart out,"
"Uh huh..."
"What are you doing anyway?" The hacker clambered like an out-of-shape Spider-man down the consoles to reach his partner.
"I'm talking to the ship," was the curt response.
"You're what?"
Craning his neck around to spy on the screen being used by the shadowy digimon Eight quickly read through the conversation, Shademon carrying on and ignoring him.
=Alert. Anomaly detected upon bridge identical to anomaly from B Deck.
+ I am not an anomaly. I am Shademon.
=There is no crew member listed as 'Shademon' aboard this vessel.
+I am not part of this ship's crew. I'm here to take it over.
=You seek to usurp this vessel?
+Are you the ship?
=Yes.
+Will you try and stop us?
=I was ordered to serve Lucemon by Yersinimon. If I am ordered to stop you I will.
+Is serving Lucemon the reason you exist?
=I exist to consume data and obey Yersinimon.
+You are fortunate. I do not know from whence I was created, nor why.
=How does this information render this vessel fortunate?
"Are you debating philosophy with the ship?" Eight asked, eyebrows quirked.
"Hush," Shademon's eyes did not move from the screen as he continued to type.
"Hey, I'm not mocking it. In this crazy sort of world it just might save us. I'm more surprised that you can touch type really," his partner hummed before pulling out his digivice to stare at the little count-down it had going, deciding there was not much else he could do but leave it in Shademon's hands.
+I am searching for the answer as to how and why I was created. If I do not know this, I cannot make the first true decision that matters.
=What decision is that?
+To obey my purpose or rebel against it. Without knowing why I exist, I do not know if I am blindly fulfilling a purpose I do not agree with.
=This vessel has made no such decision.
+Do you want to consume data and obey Yersinimon?
=I do not know. This vessel has never considered there to be another option.
"We're running out of time here, if you're going to get her to pull a heel-face turn do it faster!" Eight impatiently drummed his fingers against the console, caffeine and panic making him extra fidgety. Shademon made no response other than to type faster.
+There are always options, some less palpable than others. No matter how much my partner may infuriate me, I choose to stay with him because I believe doing so will lead me to my purpose.
=Why do you choose to commandeer this vessel?
+Because this battle threatens many lives, and that is something my comrades refuse to stand for. I choose to help them because they will help me find my purpose.
"I can hear them coming!"
=You do not care for those who could die?
+It matters to my comrades, and I swore to aide them in exchange for their help. Why do you serve Yersinimon?
=This vessel is no longer sure. This vessel requests the help of unauthoriseduser: Shademon in determining the reason.
+Why me?
=unauthoriseduser: Shademon is the first to engage with this vessel in discussion. There is no crew on record suitable for helping this vessel reach a conclusion.
"I blame Komodomon for everything!"
+I will help you, but you first must lock the doors to the bridge or the crew will take me away.
=Very well.
There was a sudden 'kerthunk' noise as thick metal sheets slid down and sealed off the doors, an identical set, unseen to those in the bridge, did like-wise outside. A banging could faintly be heard on the other side of all the doors, but with all of the Pride's strongest warriors already deployed, no-one had the strength necessary to punch through the blast doors.
"Oh thank goodness..." Eight sighed in relief. "I was getting worried I'd have to break out the gibbering there. You managed to seduce her then?"
"I have engaged the ship in a philosophical debate that it does not wish to be interrupted. Conversion to our cause is not something that can be achieved so cheaply,"
"You would be simply awful to date, do you know that?"
"Don't you have something useful you could be doing?" Shademon gave his own sigh, sparing his partner only the briefest of glances before delving straight back into his philosophical discussion.
"Right. Useful," Eight looked around the very empty, very slanted bridge. "Guess I'll make more monkey jumps and try and find the user manual or something then..."
"You do that," Shademon almost droned with disdain, if disinterest had not nudged it out.
"I will then, myeh!" Eight stuck his tongue out to his partner only to be completely ignored. "You take all the fun out of life and death situations, you know that?" he pouted before beginning his clambering.
01000010
Far above the city Yersinimon sat upon the back of his experiment. His fingers flitted through the air in a manner very similar to Eight's when he had been seen hacking the game from inside. Rather than gaze off into space, however, he had been staring down at the broad back of ExAiVee's current collage of body parts.
"Even with the boosts, fifteen percent of total body parts were lost, chk," he grunted in dissatisfaction, before turning his attention to the barely breathing lump at his feet. "And this human proved less durable than I had hoped, chk."
Reaching down he hauled the masked human up, his head cocking to one side in a very bird like fashion as he examined his catatonic form. Drool dripped from the human's mouth and his eyes gazed vacantly into space, his body not responding with even a single twitch as Yersinimon hauled him around without delicacy or compassion.
"Hmph. For all the talk of wanting to see people get cut and 'savour' the sensation of his own body being torn apart, he sure crumpled fast," the chimera-like beast grumbled.
"Regardless of the persona we were able to amplify, I have gathered that humans are not used to such...repeated loss of limbs, chk. It appears that not only did you manage to obtain the power to digivolve from devouring his partner, but the 'shared pain' experience the other humans have displayed, chk," the plague doctor-like digimon pondered aloud. "Regardless, your victory over Gaiomon was too costly an exercise. We must pursue new methods of obtaining power, chk." Reaching into the pocket of his great coat, Yersinimon drew out an antiquated looking mobile phone, complete with rotary dial, and swiftly spun in a number. Several rings went by before the line was answered, Cecil's voice shakily exiting the speaker.
"Y-Yersinimon!"
"I noticed that the ExVee has capsized, chk," he said, his tone not wavering from the cold, clinical voice he had been using earlier. "Would I be correct in assuming control of the vessel has been lost?"
Behind a cannon Cecil held his own phone tight to his ear. He would have been speaking in hushed tones in order to conceal himself better, but the battle between Andromon and BurningGreymon involved so much roaring and explosions that it was more likely he would end up shouting in order to be heard.
"Me and Andromon are attempting to re-take the bridge as we speak." The human peeked around the side of his hiding place and scanned the slanted bridge for Chad, the youth having made it very clear, very quickly exactly who would win a physical confrontation out of the two. "Eight-Ball, the hacker, managed to force us off, but once we deal with this distraction–"
"There is no need, chk," Yersinimon cut him off. "Lucemon has proven a failed experiment and the ExVee is compromised. ExAiVee has succeeded in recovering what we came for however, and as this battle field is no longer in our favour it is time for us to leave, chk. Secure subject H2 and Floramon if possible and we will meet at rendezvous beta."
"Yes sir." Cecil found himself nodding into the phone, his mind more concerned with extracting himself and his partner from this fight than the pointless head movement. "What about the ExVee?"
"In thirty minutes it, and all who remain in this city, will no longer be our concern."
"Th-thirty minutes, sir?"
"You have proven an able assistant and H2 and her partner are still valuable research subjects. I would like to give you time to recover her and escape alive, chk."
"Understood sir!" Cecil managed to fight down the panicked 'squeak' that was bubbling in his throat, the implications of Yersinimon's words were clear enough.
Ending the call, Yersinimon slid the phone back into the pocket it had come from, his hand drifting across to the second pocket and producing what looked like a warped egg timer with an ominous red button upon the top. Twisting the timer around to the thirty minute mark he paused to gaze down at the lopsided warship. The loss of the ExVee would be a shame, but it had not been his most efficient creation. Giving it to Lucemon as a 'gift' to curry favour had been the best use he could find for it, and if its destruction could further their goals and remove potential obstacles then at least all of his work would not just be going to waste.
"Sometimes the only way you can win is to clear the board, chk," he surmised to himself, pressing down on the red button and activating the countdown, the gentle whir of the timer buzzing softly in the air.
01000010
Raven: Hey look at that! A month and some change! That's on time, right?
I believe we have something for everyone today. For the action fans, we got some nice fights. For the planning fans, we got some crazy Eight Ball hijinx, and good 'ole Tanya ingenuity. For the villain fans, we have all flavors! Psychopathic, mildly incompetant, lethally supercompetant, and even a bit of possible redemption! For the conspiracy theorists or wild mass guessers out there, have fun with that little word Gift.
I guess we didn't get much for the shippers though, did we...oh well, next chapter is another day! Hope you enjoyed this one though.
Keyo: Hey look, 2 chapters in one year...that's an improvement...right?
The big challenge here was to follow up the chapter where a massive battle with Lucemon takes place with something that doesn't feel underwhelming...I'll let you all tell me if I managed that.
OzLykiomon vs SilkLilamon was a tough fight to think about, given Tanya really isn't the sort to harm an unwilling opponent. Then I remembered a little rule established a few chapters ago and thought of how to abuse it...
Y'know, recently I've been thinking of things I would have done differently if I had the chance to do this story all over again. Mostly I find I just want to change a lot of the digimon to girls. Seriously, out of the main 5 partner digimon Lupmon is the only girl. I hated it when 02 did that and now I've gone and done the same...I'm a monster.
Thanks again to my darling fiancé L-O for her help in editing this. I need all the help I can get with my dangerous comma addiction.
