Chapter 5: Don't lose sight of who you are
In a forest with great trees, their crest of leaves covering the sky completely, cables with lamps coming from their trunks and webbing on their branches, providing light to the beaten path below, a lone figure walked.
It was a dragon-like Digimon with white armored skin, dark blue claws, gold eyes, and horns. He was wearing a red cloak with a hood that had goggles embedded in it. The Digimon was aimlessly walking down the road, looking down, he sighed, "Why did that have to happen? Master, what are you trying to teach me now?"
His master's words still ring on his mind.
"Hackmon, I see you are dedicating yourself to your training."
"Yes, Master!" He happily replied, but then his teacher said the word that would make him doubt himself and all he believed until now.
"Why?"
"W-What?"
"Why do you push yourself so much, why do you train for, why do you fight for?"
"I… I want to be a hero like you!"
"Hum, I see… You are still not ready" He said with an even tone.
"Ready for what?"
"It doesn't matter, your training is on hold for now."
"What! Why?!"
"Because you have to find the true reason that you fight, what you stand for, why you want to be a hero. You won't find the answer to it here."
Since then, he was on his own, and Hackmon was still no closer to finding his purpose.
"Do I even have one?" He muttered depressingly. Hackmon glanced up, to the various lights hanging high above, admiring the beautiful sight, before sighing once more, "Is not like the answer is going to fall from the sky."
At that moment he started to hear a buzz, before a voice shouted, "Lookout!" Hackmon's head snapped back up, and he saw something so weird he thought he was dreaming. Flying at him was an insect Digimon, it was bipedal with four arms. Its head was eyeless with black markings and a pair of long mandibles. It had a pair of large wings and a pair of elytra on its upper back. It was red in coloration with black muscles in the torso, arms, and legs. But the weirdest part? Riding on its head, was the Prince.
Hackmon knew how the Prince looked from his master, who was a close friend to Sir Hisashi, and he could see, even from that distance, that it was him, and he was coming right at him!
He quickly got out of the impact zone, not a second later, the airborne Digimon crashed on the ground, sending his passengers flying.
Izuku's training paid off, with a turn of his body, he righted himself, did an (accidental) front flip, and landed on his feet in front of a tree. Turning back, he exclaimed while putting his hands on his waist.
"That wasn't so bad!" When he finished speaking, Zubamon, in sword form, came flying, missing Izuku's head by five centimeters to his right and buried himself until all his blade was on the trunk, "Speak for yourself!"
Izuku turned his head to his now trapped partner, not at all bothered by what just happened, "Oh, here I'll help!" He grabbed Zubamon's handle, put his foot on the tree, and pulled his friend from his wooden prison.
"Freedom!" The golden weapon cried in triumph.
Izuku then saw Hackmon and asked, "Hey you okay… wait a second." Izuku then pulled his Digivice.
{Hackmon: Level Rookie, is a Mini Dragon Digimon. Its fur shines a cool white. Hackmon had encountered Gankoomon, who saw in it the makings of the thirteenth Royal Knight and decided to temper the Rookie Digimon with frequent, rigorous trials, in order to pass on its own title as a Royal Knight to Hackmon. Its unfettered and restraint-hating, adventure-loving way of life is probably due to Gankoomon's DNA. It chases after Gankoomon and faces the rigorous trials it imposes with an air of composure. It has a masterful sense of combat due to its lineage, and because of its training with its chaperones, the Sistermon sisters, it can more than hold its own in battle against its opponents even if they're an Ultimate. It specializes in close combat that capitalizes on its keenness. It follows its dreams of becoming a Royal Knight like Gankoomon as it fights through continuous battles.}
"Wow!" Izuku whispered with stars in his eyes, that was one of the coolest entries he ever saw.
Hackmon was embarrassed from his entry, more so with what happened between him and his master before, but before he could say anything, Izuku entered his Hero Fanboy mode and started to geek out about Hackmon. A loud bang interrupted the young Prince's tirade and brought their attention back to red Digimon.
Terriermon and Veemon were literally running circles around it while it raged, both dodging the reckless attacks. "Hey little bro, some help would be nice!"
"Oh, right!" Izuku took the moment to also analyze their enemy.
{Kuwagamon: Level Champion, is an Insectoid Digimon. It is armed with gigantic pincers on its head. Like Kabuterimon, it has combat abilities that far exceed those of similar species that inhabit File Island. It is protected by its tenacious power and sturdy shell, and in particular, as the power of its pincers is super-powerful, once it clamps an enemy, it will squeeze until the opponent's life is extinguished. There is a perfect rivalry between it and the Vaccine-attribute Kabuterimon, and there is only "Conflict" between them.}
"Another one with a fated rival thing, please people, be more original will ya!" Terriermon said, ducking to escape the pincers of his adversary, he didn't want to test the log veracity about the things.
"He's the one we are after?" Veemon asked while punching Kuwagamon's knee, making it stumble.
"Dunno." Terriermon shrugged.
"Heads up!" Ludomon, who had landed on a branch and was waiting for his chance, shouted after jumping from his position, right above Kuwagamon. "Wall Rake!" He fell shields first on the insect Digimon head, the impact sending it crashing to the ground.
Ludomon landed on his feet, raising his hands, he got a high five from Veemon and Terriermon. From the distance, he heard Zubamon shouting "Show off!" While laughing.
The three victorious combatants reunited with the rest of the group, and Hackmon couldn't stop himself to think.
'Isn't that how it is supposed to happen? helping each other, helping others, why couldn't it be like that for me too?' He questioned silently.
"Hey, who's that?" Veemon asked while pointing to Hackmon.
"This is Hackmon, from what his entry said, he wants to be a hero like us!" Izuku was still hyped from the log.
"Cool! But hey was that the prick we are after?" Terriermon said while pointing a thumb above his shoulder to the unconscious Kuwagamon.
"I don't know, Piximon-sensei said the locals would tell us our target." Izuku shrugged.
Zubamon transformed back to his normal form in a flash of light, "Then what are we waiting for, let's go!" The others nodded and started to walk too.
"Wait!" Hackmon shouted, finally getting a hold of himself after all the chaos that just occured, "What are you all doing here? And what is that about a target?!"
Izuku turned to him, making the others stop too, "We are here on a mission for Piximon-sensei, he received a call for help from a village not far from here." Izuku started, before Zubamon interrupted, "So he sent his best students to solve the problem!" He proudly said.
"We are his students for like, a month." Veemon said with a roll of his eyes at his friend's antics.
"Doesn't change the fact that we are still the best!" Zubamon countered.
"Yeah say that to Dinohyumon." Now was Terriermon who rolled his eyes, making the others laugh.
"Why?" Hackmon's question cut on the merry atmosfere, "Why are you going to help them?"
Izuku tilted his head in confusion and then answered with another question, "Why not?" Those simple two words pierced through all of Hackmon's doubts, but Izuku wasn't finished, with a tone like it was obvious he said, "You don't need a reason to help people, you do it because it's right." The others nodded, agreeing with him, not noticing the turmoil on Hackmon's mind.
'Is it that simple?'
He didn't know, but he had a way to find out, "Hey! Let me go with you!"
"Sure!" Izuku promptly agreed with a smile, "The more the merrier!"
"Hey let's go already!" Zubamon shouted impatiently before starting to walk. They all trade a glance before shrugging and following his lead.
"That's it?" Veemon asked the others, not expecting what he was seeing. They arrived in the village, it was a small group of huts and even some houses carved directly on the trees, a small river flowing in the middle of it, carving the village in two sides with a bridge connecting the two halves. The place was nice, but it was completely empty, not a soul in sight.
"Maybe they're hiding?" Ludomon offered his input, "They asked for help, right?"
"Yeah, let's knock on someone's door and see if they're home-" Terriermon was interrupted by a cry, from above them, two Digimons fell, blocking their path, another came from the river, surrounding the group.
"Stop right there!" One of the ones ahead of the group shouted, he was a beast-like Digimon with purple fur on most of his body. He had two large legs and two arms, each of which had three black claws, as well as a large, vulpine tail. The fur on his chest, paws, snout, and the end of his tail was white. He had two pointed ears with black stripes and two very small black wings. On his brow was a triangular red gem, similar to an old-style interface.
The one at his side roared at them, he was a dragon-like Digimon, he had a white belly and lower jaw while his head, back and tail were a greenish-blue. He was biped, with three clawed digits in his muscular arms and feet. Two small, red bat wings were on his back, matching his horns, which branched in two flat tips.
The one behind them was about to say something when he saw Izuku, "Wait!" He cried, getting the attention of them all. He was a white, furry sea lion with no nose and long ears, purple markings, an orange-red mane, large claws, a short tail like a Sea otter, and a W-shaped mouth with two pointed teeth popping out. He pointed at Izuku with one of his fins, "It's the Prince!"
"Who are those guys?" Veemon whispered to Izuku, who was already fidgeting with his Digivice.
{Dorumon: Level Rookie, is an Animal Digimon and carrier of the X-Antibody. Because it has an old-style interface on its brow, it is presumed to be an experimental "Prototype Digimon" from before Digimon were discovered. The personality of natural Combat Species Digimon manifests particularly strongly within it, so its combat instinct is high, and it often barks and snaps at everything, but it seems that it was tamed by someone it once bit. The data that is said to have been hidden within the deepest parts of its DigiCore during an experiment is the potent life-force data of the legendary beast, the "Dragon", and it is said it has the potential to grow into a mighty Digimon.}
{Dracomon: Level Rookie, is a Dragon Digimon. It is an ancient, pure-blooded Dragon Digimon that is said to be the "Progenitor" of all Dramon-type Digimon. It possesses physical ability to a degree that could not be imagined from its small build, and both its power and its quick wits are top class among Rookie Digimon. Although its personality is ferocious, Dracomon can show its gentle side only to the others it has recognized. It has wings, but it is unable to fly because they are not sufficiently developed. Also, it has a nature whose primary trait is wanting to collect "shiny things", with an especially strange attachment to gems and metals, and it eats and assimilates its favorite things. Amongst the scales that cover Dracomon's whole body, there is one scale that is called the "Gekirin". If it is touched there, Dracomon loses its mind to an excess of anger, and indiscriminately fires its "Great Strike".}
{Gomamon: Level Rookie, is a Sea Animal Digimon. It has become able to move on land, and is covered in temperature-maintaining fur. The short, white fur that covers its body gets longer as it grows, and furthermore, it's said that it turns brown when it grows up. Its personality is a naughty-boy type that fiddles with everything it sees. The red fur growing along its back from the top of its head moves according to Gomamon's emotions, and when it gets angry, the fur bristles. Gomamon's claws are strong enough to easily break through solid ice, so you'll have a painful experience if you take it lightly.}
"Why does everyone here have a cool entry?" Ludomon asked, genuinely curious.
"Guys!" Gomamon's loud voice got their attention, he had run by the group and was now talking to Dorumon and Dracomon, "We are saved!"
"You sure it's him," Dorumon asked, unimpressed by their supposed 'saviors'.
"Yeah! They don't look like much." Dracomon too wasn't convinced.
Izuku approached and tried to act diplomatic, "Hi, we are sent here by Piximon-sensei, he said this village needed help."
Before his friends could say anything, Gomamon answered, "Yeah, we asked for help, this village only had In-Training level Digimon beside us, so we had to protect the village, but some Kuwagamon showed up and started to attack, everybody left since then, well except from us."
"That's horrible!" Izuku was crestfallen, those Digimon had to abandon their homes and flee, he wouldn't let that stand, "Don't worry, we'll help!"
"And how do you plan to fight Champions?" Dorumon asked, annoyed by how Izuku seemed to not realize the gravity of the situation.
"The same way we took the one we already beat, together!" Veemon, who they didn't realize was at their side, along with the others, exclaimed, receiving various words of agreement.
"Wait! You already beat one of them?!" Dracomon couldn't believe it, he and his friends barely could keep up with one of the beetles, and they fought one and won?!
"Yup, if we work together, we can beat the others too, so what do you say? Let's save this village!" Izuku is successful in hyping the others, all but one.
"What's the point, there's no one here anymore?" Hackmon's doubts once again crept to the surface.
"Exactly, if we drive them off, then the Digimon will come back, even if we don't be here to see it. Being a hero is about helping people any way you can, even if no one knows, even if you don't see it happen, if you do everything you can, you can smile and call yourself a hero!" Izuku's speech touched all of them, and gave Hackmon his answer, he would be the hero he wanted, he would make his decisions without regret and stand by them.
The three natives were having similar thoughts, they failed to protect their home the first time, but they wouldn't accept that lying down. Even if they had to try a thousand times, they would free the village from its invaders.
"Count us in!" Dorumon didn't look back, knowing his friends were nodding.
"Me too!" Hackmon said with renewed vigor.
Izuku looked at all of them, smiling he nodded, "Let's do this!"
"Yeah!" They shouted in unison.
"So, what's the plan?" Terriermon asked his little bro. Izuku started to mutter too fast for them to follow, after a minute he stopped, "I know what we have to do." His smile promised them it was a plan that would be so crazy, it might just work, just the way they liked.
"Everyone in position?" Izuku asked from his hiding spot, using a program called 'Communicator' that created a small green circle that hovered over their ears and worked like earpieces but way cooler in their opinion, what made Veemon say they were on a spy movie and suggesting codenames, but the idea ended getting shot by the lack of time to come with any.
Receiving confirmation from the others, Izuku prepared himself. His plan was a simple one, Gomamon would attract the Kuwagamons to the bridge, where they would drop a net made from the cables from the trees, taking the insect Digimons out of the sky where they had the advantage. Gomamon would then escape by the river, and all would attack the enemies together.
Simple, effective, and crazy, at least that was how Terriermon described it.
"They're coming!" Hackmon, who was hidden in the tree branches along the others, was the first to see the invaders, three Kuwagamons, one he recognized from the scuffle from earlier, were flying in the village's direction.
"Gomamon, start to bait them, guys, wait for my signal!" Izuku said while looking out from the window of the house he was hiding. He had to time it right, or the plan wouldn't work, even if one escaped the net, they would fail.
Gomamon started to launch attacks at the Kuwagamons, "Water shot!" The water stream wasn't strong enough to reach the flying foes, but it got their attention.
The beetles dived, heading pincers first to their new prey. They were in a triangle formation, closing in fast.
Izuku waited, holding his breath, he couldn't miss. They were coming closer, fast but ever so slowly, the boy could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He knew when the best moment would be, but the closeness of it all still weighed on him, he couldn't miss, wouldn't miss!
"Now!" His shout was accompanied by the sound of cables snapping, claws and teeth parting the rubber, and gravity did the rest. The net fell on the bugs Digimon, which in turn started to fall to the ground.
Gomamon jumped in the river, using the current he quickly made his escape. Surfacing at a safe distance, he was just in time to see the three Kuwagamons crash on the ground.
Izuku left his hiding spot and started to run at the vulnerable enemies, putting his finger on the green disc over his ear, he started to give orders, "Zubamon, Ludomon, with me! Dracmon and Dorumon, help Gomamon out! The rest, focus on one Kuwagamon!"
Zubamon heard his part and was quick to throw himself from the branch he was on, free falling with a warcry, he aimed himself at Izuku's path.
Ludomon saw that and facepalmed, "That blockhead!" Resigning himself, he followed his friend's lead against his better judgment, screaming while plummeting to the earth below.
Izuku saw his partners all jumping down, some to him and others aiming at the still struggling red beetles. Calculating his trusted weapons trajectory, he crouched, and with all the power a normal human wouldn't possess, he jumped. Leaving the cracked floor behind, the young Prince soared through the air, extending his hands as he grabbed his friends in the exact moment they transformed. In the apex of his bound, Izuku angled himself and nosedived at the Kuwakamons, who were starting to tear through the entanglement of cables trapping them.
Izuku hit his target shield first, driving it face-first on the floor. He landed on his feet and started to hack and slash, the sound of his companions' attacks unfolding and striking true reached his ears, they couldn't let them get up, they had to keep them on the ground, "Guy's with everything we got! Everyone, together!" His Digivice lit up, a program he didn't know, but activated in instinct and emotion alone, activating.
{ACTIVATING PROGRAM}
{FRIENDSHIP}
Izuku and all the Digimon on his side were covered by an icy-blue aura, their breath making clouds of chilly condensation. They all traded a glance before smiling and moving, attacks started to fly, a blizzard of cold power causing every hit to freeze a part of the Kuwagamons, flames turning blue and cold, slashes and smashes causing frost to creep over the forms of the attackers and attacked, but unlike Izuku and his team who weren't bothered by it, their enemies started to slow down.
After the tempest of destruction, the river below the bridge had fully frozen over, and above it, an ice statue of three Kuwagamons bonded by frosty cables was all that remained from the village scourge.
The young boy and Digimons were left panting while the blue aura dissipated, they all looked at each other for a moment before they started to cheer, "We won!" They said while celebrating. They all ended in a group hug, laughing while saying how cool it was when Izuku Digivice vibrated.
Izuku stiffened, his face paling. Pulling it from his pocket, he saw that the Team window had double the Digimon listed in it compared to last time. He turned to his old companions, who are also pale, and asked with a cracking voice, "You think mom's gonna be mad?"
While the unknowing newbies of the Izuku Digimon team tilted their heads in confusion, the other members traded glances before dropping their heads while a depressed aura emanated from them.
Izuku looked at his Digivice again and muttered with a blank face.
"We're doomed."
This one took a while but it's finally here! you know the script, I made it, Silverbits made it readable.
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