The kids were on a roll. After the events on the field trip, on theyve been working the whole week in taking out tower after tower.
The only downside was that there was still no news about Greymon or Leomon, or any other friends from theirs that could be captured by the Emperor.
But the less towers he has, the less his control over them will last. And they had the help of the veterans' partners in different zones, both in Server and in File Island.
Everyone gathered in the computer room, after a long day of work. The older kids admiring as the map became more even between black squares and white ones. "Good job everyone," Tai said. "At this rate, the Emperor will lose his edge over the world."
Davis grinned and punch his palm into his fist. "Alright! He won't know what hit him!" He celebrated.
Killua, leaned on the wall and crossed his arms. "We can't get cocky now. He still has Greymon, Leomon and his two bodyguards to help him," He didn't wanted to sound pessimistic, but they had to take every fact in consideration.
"That's true, but for now you have to enjoy the victories we get over the brat," Matt said, leaning against a desk as he watched the job the kids and their friends have done.
Izzy turned around to face the younger kids. "Speaking of which, Yolei could you lend me your Digivice?" Izzy asked.
"Again?" The girl asked, taking out both objects; The red device and the mysterious PDA.
"Yeah, I still want to learn a bit about them, as well as to know what else this thing," He waved the rectangular object that holds the Digi-eggs, "Can do."
"Tomorrow I have practice, so I can't come," Tai informed them. "And Matt and Sora are also busy, not to mention Joe who is having his usual tests, so you guys will be on your own tomorrow."
Davis put his hands behind his back. "Don't worry about it, Tai! We can handle it."
Killua felt a shiver run down his spine as Davis said those words. 'I got a bad feeling... I just hope it's nothing.' He said, to reassure himself.
"HOW MANY OF THIS GUYS DO WE HAVE TO FIGHT?!" Killua exclaimed, as he punched a Guadromon to the ground and ripped the dark ring from his chest.
The next day, after their reunion in the computer room, everything started as normal. Zone with a Control Tower? Zone they were about to reclaim as theirs. This new zone was a city in a desert called the Metal City; A city surrounded by a dome and made entirely of chrome, its denizens being machine Digimon, Guardromon to be exact.
The problems were... Quite a few: Yolei wasn't with them since Izzy continue to analyze her Digivice and the PDA, so they were down a member. The Emperor learned from previous mistakes and instead of taking the citizens as prisoners he directly make them slaves, so now they had an entire city against them. And lastly, when they freed a Guardromon instead of helping them, they became static (As if they were turned off)
They had the disadvantage in numbers. Killua liked to think that he might continue with this for a while, but the others weren't faring any better.
"Missile Storm!" Pteramon launched his barrage of projectiles from his wings. The rings shattered when thet made impact on their chests, but for every one they freed, ten possessed ones appeared.
"Shooting Stars!" Pegasusmon flapped his wings various times to hit various opponents at once, but they just keep appearing from every corner or building.
"Fire Rocket!" Flamedramon tried to launched fire ball after fire ball in a constant barrage, but they never stopped. They had a mission: To capture the intruders or eliminating them.
Cody grimaced as they were being slowly cornered back to the edges of the city. "There's a lot of them... And they don't even seem to tire out."
"Advantages of being robots I suppose," T.K said. "Maybe we should retreat.
Davis turned to him. "But maybe we can fly all the way to the tower to take it out!" He said. "We came not that long ago, we haven't achieved anything!"
Killua landed behind the two. "T.K is right, their numbers are not slowing and even if we use Pteramon, Pegasusmon or Nefertimon they might shoot them down," He explained. "We'll have to fold it for now. And besides... I think we're running out of energy," He said turning to Flamedramon and Pteramon, both panting.
"Sorry, Davis," Flamedramon said. "I'm getting too hungry," He moaned before he started shrinking back, the Digi-egg of courage going back to the PDA on his pocket.
"Same here, sorry Cody," Pteramon said as he landed besides V-Mon, shrinking back as the red Digi-egg left his body.
Davis sighed reluctantly. "Okay, fine. Let's get out of here!"
On top of Nefertimon's back, Kari spoke. "Let's meet up with Yolei and the others, we'll come back here with reinforcers!" She said.
Better to run now to fight another day, the Digidestined all turned around and started running. With Kari shrinking Nefertimon back to Gatomon to save strength for a later assault.
They ran down the street and turned around the corner to reach the place where they came from, one of the many Digiports located in an alleyway. Cody was the first one to reach it, followed by Davis.
Killua was on the back, to make sure everyone makes it back to the human world. He made sure to be aware of his surroundings and that's when he saw a Guardromon on top of a building, pointing at the T.V. His eyes shrank and he dashed forward, just as T.K passed through it and Kari was in range of the explosion. "KARI!"
He reached her and yanked both her and Gatomon back, just as the missile impacted.
The explosion blow them back a bit. Gatomon bounced on the floor, while Kari landed on top of Killua. "Oww... You okay?"
She nodded and looked up, realizing the position of how they've landed. She scrambled off him with a slight blush. "Y-yeah, I think so... But..." She trailed off watching the smoking TV.
Gatomon saw what happened and scowled. "We're trapped."
"Ugh!" Yolei grunted as her friends came out of the computer and landed on top of her. "Guys, give me a heads up next time!" She said.
"Sorry, we were kind of in a hurry!" Davis said, sitting up and straightening his goggles. "Those guys were more prepared than we thought..." He was still sullen on the fact that they failed to take out the tower, just in the mission when Tai placed his faith on them.
T.K winced as he sat up and looked at his two friends... Hold up, that wasn't right! He looked around frantically as he realized two of them were missing. "Guys? Were are Kari and Killua?"
The two boys sat up and realized the two of them were missing. Cody's eyes shifted to the computer and the realization struck him. "No way... They're still there!" He said, looking at the gate.
Everyone gasped. Two of them have been trapped in a city full of enemies. And if they couldn't get out, then something must've happened to the gate, so they had not a direct entry back to the city.
Killua hold his breath as he peeked behind a wall to see the Guardromon's on the city passing by without any worry in the world, not in the organized way they had done it when they spotted them.
He once again cursed their carelessness. The city's alarm went off the moment they stepped on it and the Guardromon came from everywhere before they could try and reach the tower.
"It seems they think everyone left, or that you and I died in the explosion," Killua said, noticing the robots' behavior.
"Way to bring up the mood, buddy," Gatomon deadpanned.
Killua just rolled his eyes at her and turned to Kari. She was fiddling with the PDA thing with a serious expression. "What're you doing?" He asked.
"Seeing if this thing can help us," She muttered. "I mean, aside from storing the eggs it has to have something..." She blinked. "Else? Look at this!"
They turned to her and watched the PDA's screen. There was a contact list with the symbols of the elements of their friends. Courage, Hope, and Love were online, will Knowledge was off. "It's like a messenger of some kind... How could Izzy miss this?!" Killua asked.
"Doesn't matter!" Kari said, smiling brightly. "This means we can contact our friends to tell them we're okay."
Killua smiled back at her enthusiasm. She smashed the keys on her device, selecting to send the message to all of them just in case, so they won't worry.
Killua and Gatomon moved back to peek by the wall. "Listen, if we have a fight you guys stay behind and I'll handle it," Killua said.
The two look at them. "Why? We can still fight!" Gatomon said.
Killua looked down at her with a quirked eyebrow. "Are you sure you aren't hungry?" He asked.
She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a growl coming from her stomach. She blushed and grumbled. "Okay, I am."
Killua smirked at her slight embarrassment. "Then save your strength for now," He said, then grew serious again. "With Nefertimon we can have a better chance at escaping, but it would call the enemy's attention and they'll shoot us down, thanks to their advantage in numbers."
"So we lay low?" Kari asked.
"Yeah," He nodded and smiled. "For now leave it to me when we have to fight." He was nervous. The situation was bad, but he wanted to put on a strong front for the girl's sake. He was the one in charge, as they all decided he was to be the leader, so he supposed he needed to look like everything was fine... He guessed. Besides if something happens to her, he wouldn't be able to look at her family, with whom he lived with, in the eyes.
Kari and Gatomon smiled back. Kari put her faith in the boy's hand. He was like a hero, even after all this years... Or months, she supposed when it comes to him. Anyway, it was nice to see he hasn't changed and was still a good leader, just like during the Dark Masters incident. But it also make her feel bad, it was like they always dumped all the heavy lifting to him. She wished she could do more, but in this case the only thing they could both do was try to escape this area in one piece.
"No good," Yolei muttered as she typed quickly in the computer. "It had to have been destroyed, I can access to the port in the city."
Davis crossed his arms and scowled. He was angry at the whole direction. The girl of his dreams was trapped in a city full of mechanical monsters... And Killua too he guessed, but he could take care of himself. But sweet innocent Kari needed his help!
He turned to see the blonde at his side. T.K was worried as well, if not even more. Killua and Kari were both long time friends and they were in Emperor territory, if they did do something then the Emperor will, he had eyes everywhere with those rings.
Davis was ignorant to his own worries and decided to antagonize him. "Hey, T.L! Kari was right behind you right?"
T.K turned to him. "Umm, yeah? So was Killua."
"Nevermind that!" Davis said. "Why didn't you payed more attention to what was happening behind you! You could have help them!"
Cody got between the two. "Enough Davis! What did you want T.K to do?!"
"Shut up! What do you know? You're just a kid!" Davis snapped.
"What I know it's that you're been unfair!" Cody said, growling at being called a kid.
T.K placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Cody, thanks... You're right Davis, I should have looked out behind since they were the last ones," He admitted, regret clear on his eyes. "Even if Killua could take care of them, I should've looked out for them."
Seeing his demeanor, Davis anger started vanishing. "W-well... I was the first one to get to the portal, I should have make sure everyone gathered before jumping."
"As I should have," Cody said. "None of us could have predicted the gate could've been destroyed," He said.
Despite his words, T.K still felt partially responsible for his friends' safety. Maybe if he had looked back...
His thoughts were interrupted by beeping noises coming from his, Davis' and Cody's pockets. They fished out the PDAs and opened them, a message in them. "Hold up! This things got emails? That's so cool!"
"More importantly, this is from Kari!" T.K said, recognizing the symbol of the Light.
We're okay. We'll try to find a way to go out of the city.
-Kari.
They sighed in relief when they read the message. Glad to know that their friends were safe. T.K however didn't want to leave them by themselves, he wanted to help!
"Excuse me, Yolei," He said, pushing the girl away from the screen as he started to roam through the Digiport's map. "If we can't get to the city, then let's use the closest one... Here!" He said, getting his D-3 out. "Let's go, Patamon!"
"Okay!" The flying Digimon nodded as the two were absorbed.
Davis scowled and rolled up his sleeves in a typical way of showing his strong attitude. "We'll not let him get all the action! Let's do this Demiveemon!"
The small blue Digimon jumped on his shoulder and nodded. "All the way with you, Davith!" The two were sucked in.
Yolei puffef her cheeks and got up. "I'm going to get my Digivice! I missed enough adventures already!"
"Hold it!" Cody said. "It's getting late and they're all in the Digital World! Their families will get worried sick and then we might get busted!" He explained. "We have to tell Tai and Matt first, then you can go for your Digivice."
Yolei blinked and smiled sheepishly. "I-I knew that! I'm the oldest of the group! Hehehehehe... You don't believe me don't ya?"
"Not one bit."
"Worth a shot."
Why is the Digital World so full of deserts and arid areas? Was one of the many questions Davis Motomiya asked himself at the moment. The other was: Why did he came with stupid T.C to rescue Kari? He could do it alone.
Why not voice it? He smiled as a plan started crafting into his mind. "Say, T.P-"
"T.K."
"-the two of us don't have to be here to save Kari-
"-And Killua."
"-So how about this?" He dug into his pocket, while T.K stared at him in mild annoyance for the boy's constant slip us about both his name, and their leader's situation. Davis was blissfully oblivious about it as he took a coin out. "How about this? Heads you stay, tails I stay. Sounds about right, right?"
"I don't think that's s good idea-"
"-Too late, flipping it now!" The goggle boy said as he threw the coin into the air and catched it. "Oh, would you look at that! Tails!" He said with a wide grin.
T.K noticed how Davis was pretty certain Davis already knew what was going to come out, so he took the coin away from him and examine it. "Nice try, Davis, but this coin has tails in both sides," He said as he smirked accusingly at the boy, who only took a step back while smiling nervously. "You can get one from Yolei's family's market."
Davis just laughed nervously.
T.K gave him the coin back and smiled. "C'mon Davis, it's better if the two of us work together to get them back."
Davis sighed in resignation. He could never get a win over him or the albino, right?
The two resumed their trek to the city, while Patamon and V-Mon watched them. "What was Davis doing?" Patamon asked.
"I don't know, he gets like that sometimes..." V-Mon said, shrugging.
"Lighting Palms!" Killua planted his palms on two Guardromon that found them in the narrow alleyway where they've been hiding. The lighting coursed the metallic body before the ring cracked and fell to the ground, the Guardromon just stood there, completly immobile.
Killua knocked on his head. "Somebody home?" No answer coming from the machine. "Figures."
"I don't think there's any more TV for us to use as portals, in this area," Gatomon said, peeking around a corner.
"So the only thing we can do is reach the dome to get out of here," Kari said, looking at the barrier in the horizon of the city.
A set of heavy footsteps was heard behind them, when they turned they saw three Guardromon staring at them with their cold, red eyes. Two of them fired at the group, aiming at the two females. Killua leaped over and blocked the attack with his body, his Ten protecting him from the blow. "Damn, more of them?!"
"Killua, look that one-" Kari tried to warn.
Too late though. The last Guardromon fired his missiles upwards and they exploded like a flare. An alarm ran all across the city and the Guardromon with them all started to repeat the word 'intruders' over and over again.
"Damnit, we've been spotted!" Killua said, teeth clenching as their situation worsened ten times over.
Kari got her Digivice out. "I got us cover, we have to escape!" She said. "Digimental Up!"
"Gatomon Armor Digivolves to... Nefertimon! The Angel of light!"
The two humans climbed ther back, after she shot the Guardromon that found them with her Nile Jewels, and they flew up over the heads of their enemies and the top of the many buildings in the city.
The Guardromon all started firing at them, Nefertimon either avoiding it or shooting the missiles down before they could damage them, only grazing her skin or passing by harmlessly. She growled beneath her mask as she flew to the edges of the city. "Damnit this is complicated!" She said.
"You don't say," Killua hissed, looking down at the possessed Digimon.
Kari's expression hardened a bit as she stared at the edge of the city. "It's not that far away! We can make it!"
Nefertimon nodded and continued on the her way. Only hoping that it would be enough for them to escape.
The events of that day didn't went unnoticed by the Emperor. He chuckled as he watched the spectacle of what the girl in pink and the Anomaly were going through. He sometimes marveled at his own brilliance; The Digidestined always outplayed him because of their numbers, so he decided that he would have the advantage this time. The moment they set foot in the area, he was the one to blare the alarm all over to alert the Guardromon.
He leaned back on his chair and watched the show. "I'm just amazing..." He chuckled.
Wormmon crawled behind him with a worried expression. "Umm, Ken? Shouldn't you be going home?"
The Emperor tensed and gave the worm a sideway glare. "Do not call me by that name!" He hissed quietly.
Wormmon flinched and lowered his head. "I'm sorry, your majesty!" He apologized while closing his eyes to avoid any abuse his partner might decide to unleash.
The heavy footsteps of the other guard on the Emperor's side were heard, Blademon entering the room with his trusted cloak continuing to hide his features. "Master, do you need me to go to chase them?" He asked. 'Say yes, Goddammit!'
"Nah," He answered, a frown covering his features. "As annoying as he is, Wormmon had a point I have to go to the Human World to keep appearences," He waved his hand and his roster of slaved Digimon appeared. "I'd normally send a General to them, but I need to keep the two I still have under lock and key so..." He pressed a button and the image of his chosen Digimon appeared. "This one shall do."
Wormmon gasped, and even Blademon seemed surprised by his decision. "M-master! Don't you think that's too much just for two of them?" Wormmon asked.
The Emperor smiled wickedly and just waited for his marionette to do the job. "I'll get you my dear, and your little kitty too," He chuckled at his own reference as he watched the spectacle before he had to return.
Blademon turned and left while grunting. 'That Digimon might hurt the girl, but I highly doubt it would even faze Zoldyck.'
In front of the I-Market, Cody was talking through a phone boot while Yolei stacked some snacks so their Digimon could regain their energy to go help in the battle, she would have to go to Izzy's house to take her Digivice back.
His father stared at her with a raised eyebrow. "Remind me again why do you need theses?" He asked.
"Late night study session," She lied through her teeth, but didn't have any other choice.
Meanwhile, Cody was explaining the situation to Tai. He just explained to Matt, telling him the reason why T.K was going to be late, and his own family using the same excuse as Yolei -- Late night study session. And now he was nervously retelling the events of that day to him. "I'm sorry it came to this, Tai."
"Don't worry about it, Cody," He said on the other side. "You guys are not at fault here, I'll meet with you guys in the lab." He said before hanging up.
Cody sighed, that went better than expected. Yolei came out of the market with a bag full of snacks. "How'd it go?" She asked.
"My family believed the thing about the study session, and Tai and Matt have been informed of the situation," He said. "Now the only thing left is for you to go get your Digivice."
She handed him the bag. "Go and feed our partners, they'll need the strength," She said and took off running. "I'll meet with you there!" She said.
Tai sighed as he hung up the phone. This was bad, undoubtedly bad. His sister was trapped in a Emperor-controlled city with no Digiport whatsoever. The only good thing is that Killua was with them and that Davis and T.K went for them.
His mom turned to see him. "Is everything alright?"
He flinched, but was quick to think of something. "Uh, yeah. Kari just called saying she has a late night study session, Killua is with her. You know he likes to go to the school to not get all claustrophobic in here," He said. "I'll go check on them, we'll be back before dinner." He said quickly before bolting out of the apartment.
By the time he was in the streets, Matt had already arrived. "Cody told me what happened," He said. "You okay, man?" He asked.
"I will be," Tai answered. "I'm going to the computer room with the others. No way I'm leaving them alone on this one."
Matt wanted to make a comment on the brother complex, but appreciated his life enough to not do so. "Got it," He said. "Then I guess I have to go to Davis' family."
"Please do," Tai said before turning down and going to the school again. "I'll keep you updated in what happens!"
"Sure!" He waved at him. He stood there before realizing something. "Ah shit, I was supposed to cook tonight. Well this shouldn't take long," He said before going to the building where the Motomiya lived in.
Davis and T.K peeked over a sand dune at the door that lead to the city. "There it is," T.K said.
"There's a guard," Davis pointed out at a lone Guardromon making patrols around the gate. "If we just charge it might alert his friends, better to snipe him out," He turned to his trustworthy partner. "Ready, pal?"
"Always!"
"Wait!" Patamon said, turning to T.K. "T.K I wanna try something."
The blonde tilted his head, curious as to what his partner meant. "What is it?" He asked.
Patamon looked around with a big smile. "There's no Control Towers around here aside from the one in the city!" He was excited, he could use that form again!
"I see!" T.K realized and took his Digivice out. "Let's do this!"
Patamon nodded and a green light covered the entire area.
"Patamon Digivolves to... Angemon!"
The big figure of an angel stood in the dunes over the two boys. T.K was smiling while Davis was trying to remember how to close his jaw back. "It's good to have you back, Angemon!" T.K said with a thumbs up.
Angemon smiled at his partner with a nod and turned to where the Guardromon was. He dashed at him while twirling his staff, before the robot had a chance to react he slammed the weapon on his chest and destroyed the ring. "All clear!"
"Nice!" T.K said.
Meanwhile, both Davis and V-Mon were trying to find the right words. "A-a-a-a-angemon?!"
"THAT WAS SO COOL!" V-Mon cheered.
"C'mon!" T.K said, snapping the two out of their trance.
They ran into the city with Angemon leading them. Everything seemed so perfect, but was ruined when Angemon started glowing and reverting back. He landed on T.K's arms and pouted. "I hate those towers."
"At least you had your chance to shine!" T.K said.
"NOW HANG ON!" Davis said. "What was that?!"
T.K blinked and his mouth turned into an O. Right, Davis and the others haven't seen normal evolution, since the friends they freed were either to weak to evolve at the moment, or stayed in that form after being freed. "That was normal Digivolution. Tai and the others could do it to if it wasn't for the towers."
"Tai too?!" Davis exclaimed. "But, wait... Kari too?!"
"Well, Gatomon is already a Champion," Patamon mused. "But there was a time where she could be Angewomon!"
"A-Angemon and A-Angewomon?!" He asked in horror. Imagining the two of them working in tandem. First the combined attack in their armored form, now this?!
"Yup! We make a good team!" Patamon nodded.
Davis couldn't take it. He grabbed V-Mon by the shoulders. "You can evolve too, can you?!"
"I-I mean!"
"C'mon buddy! I know you can!" He said shaking him. "Ultra Angemon, Mega Angemon. Horn thunder maximun mega alpha Angemon!"
"Davis! Let goooo!" V-Mon pleaded.
The two veterans just tilted their heads at the display.
Dear lord in the heavens why? Why this?
Were the thoughts on Matt's head as he was face to face with Jun Motomiya. His number one crazy fan, Davis older sister, and the one who opened the door.
He steeled himself. "Y-you see, your brother is busy with my brother in a late night study session..." He said, repeating the lie they agreed on. "S-so he won't be back that soon..."
He was getting unnerved, the girl was just smiling at him knowingly. As if she knew something and he didn't. "Matt... You can't never play poker you know?"
"E-eh?"
"My brother would never stay late for a study session. If you tell me it's for a soccer game or a movie I'd believe it," She said. "But don't worry I won't pry or tell my parents... In exchange for a date!" She said, closing the door.
Matt processed what just happened and his head dropped. The things he did for the team, seriously.
Yolei huffed as she sat down in the chair, while her partner and Upamon scarfed down the food. Cody was outside waiting for Tai to arrive. She went to Izzy's home and asked for her Digivice and mysterious PDA, telling him that she was short on tine and it was an emergency.
He seemed he wanted to say something, but she took off running before he could talk. "I'll make it up for him later."
The door opened and Cody entered, Tai on toe. "We're here!"
"Let's get going!"
The screen came to life and the silhouette of his slave appeared. "Master, I've arrived to the city." The voice of the silhouette was cold and monotone.
The Emperor smirked. "Good, leave no survivors. Capture Zoldyck and bringing him to me."
"Understood," The Digimon said as the screen died down.
"Digimental Up!" Both T.K and Davis said as they summoned their Digi-eggs.
"V-Mon Armor Digivolves to... Flamedramon! The Courageous Fire!"
"Patamon Armor Digivolves to... Pegasusmon! The Flying Hope!"
Everything went south almost immediately as they ran through the city. They already knew this was going to be a blind chase, they're only clew being the radar on the Digivice, but there wasn't other choice aside from it and they hoped they will have a clean path. It wasn't the case... Hence why they were forced to evolve and face against a new horde of Guardromon.
"Fire Rocket!" Flamedramon launched the missiles and hit their chests, paralyzing them with the destruction of their rings.
Pegasusmon flew above them with T.K on his back. His forehead started shining with a green color and was shot in a beam of energy. "Force Beam!" He yelled as he launchef the attack to the horde, freeing and paralyzing more of the mechanic Digimon.
T.K checked his Digivice with a frown. "They're close..." He said, watching the pink dot.
Flamedramon leaped over the paralyzed Digimon. "C'mon Davis!"
The boy was huffing as he tried to keep the pace with the others. "C'mon! I can't fly! And I don't have super strong legs!"
Flamedramon sighed and leaped to his partner's side. "Then hang on tight!" He said.
Davis didn't say anything and clung to his side. The armored Digimon jumped high to keep up with Pegasusmon. Davis let out a yell, both a mix of fair and excitement. As they soared across the streets of the metallic city, he caught a white blur flying past some buildings. "I caught... OH COME ON!"
As he caught sight or his friends, he felt like exploding. Killua and Kari were both on Nefertimon's back. The problem? KILLUA WAS HUGGING KARI ON THE WAIST! A tiny part of him that still clung to logic tried to tell him it was to keep balance, but the rest of him was filled with jealousy to even care.
Speaking of the three -- formerly -- missing Digidestined. They were doing what they could to dodge the missiles launched at them. Killua shooting lighting bolts to detonate them mid-air, but he was running low on energy. And he didn't want to risk leave Kari and Nefertimon alone and charge to the Guardromon hand to hand because the latter was low on energy, barely keeping the Armor Evolution.
With so many missiles and so little counters, eventually some of them exploded close to them. Nefertimon was thrown out of balance and that allowed another missile to impact her, causing her to plummet to the ground. "AAAAAH!" Her passengers screamed.
She started shrinking, causing Kari to let go and for her and Killua to fall a bit away from her. Killua, acting on instinct, wrapped his arms around her and twisted his body so he would take the fall. His Ten protecting his body from damage. He look at her. "Are you okay?"
Kari nodded, still a bit shaken. "Y-yeah... Thanks," She said, she was blushing a bit at the position, but didn't thought much of it. Her head whipped back as she heard footsteps; dozens of Guardromon behind her.
Killua clicked his teeth and let go, putting himself between the two. "Get running," He said, sharpening his nails.
"And you?" She asked, sitting up.
"I can take them on, just need to break their rings and buy you time," He said, eyeing them. "Gatomon can't fight anymore, neither in this form or as Nefertimon so you have to run!"
Kari gritted her teeth. Not liking the idea of leaving him behind. Or to have to be protected in this case. Before she could protest, Killua had dashed to the army. He slashed at their rings without any problem, passing by the first wave of enemies without a problem, while she stayed there.
Gatomon walked to her and grabbed her arm. "Let's go."
Kari was still staring at the army Killua was fighting. "But..."
"Kari!" Davis' voice called as both he and T.K joined arrived to the rescue.
Relief filled her body. She turned to them with a smile. "Davis, T.K! You came!"
Davis got a smug look at this. "Haha! She said my name first!"
T.K just smiled, not knowing how to take that statement. "Well... Congrats?" He said. He turned and saw a Guardromon coming his way. Pegasusmon turned around to clear the way.
"Needle Rain!" His hair was shot to the mechanical Digimon, the ring breaking and causing him to freeze in the spot.
Davis grabbed Kari's hand, savoring the moment while he could. "Let's go!' He said.
Kari looked back, seeing as Killua continued fighting a swarm of Guardromon. "But Killua..."
"Go!" The Hunter said, slashing another ring and causing it to break. "I'll catch up!"
"But..."
"You heard the man!" Davis said, pulling her hand. "Let's go!"
Reluctantly, Kari followed. She had to believe their leader could pull through the army of Digimon. Yet it's not like they made it that far away, a Digimon blocked their path, forcing Davis to bit back a curse. "Another one?!"
Kari's eyes lightened in recognition. "Andromon!" She gasped and smiled a little.
The cyborg Digimon stood in front of them. His face showing no emotions and just staring at the two with his red eyes. That's when Kari realized with horror that he was also sporting a Dark Ring on his neck. "No... Andromon..."
"My master, The Digimon Emperor, had requested the destruction of the Digidestined, and the capture of the child known as Killua Zoldyck," Andromon droned. His voice more robotic than what Kari remembered.
Killua broke another ring, the Guardromon coming at him were becoming less and less as he free them. He glanced at his friends through a gap between two of them and his eyes widened. "Andromon?!"
Kari stepped forward. Tired of having seen innocent Digimon possessed, now it was more personal; it was a friend. Up until now she never confronted her friends when they were possessed, this was a first. And she wanted to try and talk him out of whatever the Emperor put him in. "Please, Andromon. You seriously don't recognize us?"
Davis, having no connection with the cyborg, took the usual approach. "aWhat're you doing, Kari?" He turned to his partner. "Flamedramon!"
"I got this!" Flamedramon leaped up and was covered in flames. "Fire Lariat!"
Andromon saw the incoming Digimon and raised his hand. It started spinning and was covered in a brighr light. "Light Sword!"
The cutting energy impacted against Flamedramon. The attack proving to be stronger than him, it hit him hard and forced him to regress back to V-Mon.
"V-Mon!" Davis ran and caught his partner in arms. "You okay?"
"No..." He said, wincing from the pain. "That was stronger than anything we've faced until now!"
Killua pushed a Guardromon back as he sae his friends being attacked by Andromon. 'They won't be able to beat him!' He was about to go to their rescue when more Guardromon surrounded him. "Damnit, there's not end to you guys?!" He growled.
Pegasusmon flew near them and let T.K climb him down. "Davis! Kari!"
Pegasusmon meanwhile, tried to face the Ultimate. "Shooting Stars!" He flapped his wings and shoot the star shaped attack.
Andromon didn't even flinched as the attacks impacted against his body. He just lifted his hand and used his signature attack. "Light Sword!"
Pegasusmon flew out of the attack's range, but the enegy changed directions and impacted on his back. "Ugh!" He grunted as he regressed back to Patamon and fell down to his partner's arms. "Figures an Ultimate will be too strong."
"Ultimate, what is that?!" Davis asked, feeling genuinely scared of this opponent.
Andromon started walking slowly towards them. Kari gulped and walked forward. "Andromon, c'mon snap out of it!"
"Kari don't get close to him!" T.K said. "We're not even sure it's the same Andromon!"
"I do!" She said, stubbornly. "I know it is him!"
T.K walked to her to try and convince her. "Even if he is, he is under the Ring's control! You can't reach him by words!"
"We don't know that!" Kari said. "We never tried!"
Killua has had enough of the Guardromon! He kicked the last one down and turned to them, running to catch up with them. "Why are you still here?! Run!"
"He's right! Let's get out of here!" Davis said, holding his partner.
Andromon's eyes settled on the top of Davis' head. His database recognizing the objects... They weren't quite the same, but he recognized them and remind him of... Someone?
Killua dashed and tried to slash the collar on his neck, but Andromon was fast enough to block it and prevent his connection with his master to be cut. Killua clicked his teeth and kicked him away. He was still standing, skidding across the street.
Killua turned to his friends. "Now's the chance! Run!" He said.
Taking advantage of his distraction, Andromon launched his attack. "Light Sword!"
Killua turned as he heard the attack, he crossed his arms and focused to make his Ten stronger to protect himself. The attack whoever was blocked by a bunch of missiles.
"Hey, that was-" T.K said in recognition. Everyone turned to see their last two teammates arriving to the battle.
"Here we come to save the day!" FlyBeemon and Yolei sang, the latter puffing his chest.
Pteramon was flying over Andromon's head. "And we are so full of energy!"
Andromon looked at the two Digimon, his data regarding them as nothing more than nuisances.
Pteramon aimed and fired. "Missile Storm!"
All of his missiles impacted, yet none of them even scratched the Ultimate. Pteramon's jaw dropped and he retreated a bit. "I-I didn't saw that coming... How do we beat him?!"
"Kari!" Tai yelled as he saw his sister, save and sound, Cody following him to join his friends. "Are you okay?!"
"Tai, look it's Andromon!" Kari said, pointing at their possessed friend.
Tai's eyes widened and walked forward. "Andromon? Is that you?"
Killua frowned. "Not you too!" He said, walking to his side. "He can't hear you!"
Andromon's vision centered on Tai. The boy himself was still trying to reason with him despite Killua's words. "Andromon, c'mon! It's me, Tai Kamiya!"
The words make him search in his database. There was a human, a younger human, but they could grow with time. They were the same. How did he know him? How did he recognized that name?! "Tai..." He mumbled, his Dark Ring sparking.
He started growling and he charged a them. Killua acted fast and grabbed Tai to leap back, the others also moved back, except for Kari, who stood there with a conflicted expression. "Kari!"
Andromon stopped in front of her. The girl had clear fear in her eyes, yet she didn't retreated back from him. She stared at him with a determined stare, some would called it a stubborn one. The cyborg grabbed her by the arms and lifted her.
"Kari!" All of her friends called for her.
The girl looked down at Andromon, trapped on his grip. Her friends couldn't attack out of fear of him hurting her. "Andromon... You seriously don't recognize us?"
The cyborg didn't answered.
"You helped us defeat the Dark Masters... You sacrifice yourself for us... We took a picture to remember that day..." She was saddened at the reality that all of those events could be easily forgotten because of a single object. Tears of sadness and powerlessness fell from her eyes to his face..
His scanners looked at the girl and he found yet another human that matched. Why were his targets on his system from a time before he knew them? And why did they make them feel... nostalgic?
Kari's Digivice fell from her hand and landed on the floor. Liberating a bright light on it. Everyone shielded their eyes as the light engulfed Andromon.
Tai recognized that light. 'Of course... Just like when we used them against the Dark Gears!' He thought.
Andromon's mind pieced the puzzle together. He wasn't the Emperor's servant! He was the ally of the Digidestined! He helped defeat the Dark Masters and he took a picture with them after the battle ended. "I remember..." He said, putting the girl down. "This thing... It controls me... No more!" Andromon gripped the Dark Ring and tore it apart.
"Holy shit... It worked," Killua mumbled, seeing that reasoning with a controlled by the Emperor actually had a positive effect.
Kari was beaming at seeing him free. "Andromon!"
Andromon dedicated them a gentle smile and a nod. He turned around and glared at the tower. "That is the cause of all the problems in this city..." His chest plate opened. "Missiles Go!" A twin pair of missiles was shot, having the power to travel through all the city and impacting against the tower. It came crumbling down without a problem.
All around the city, the Guardromon all stopped working. The Dark Rings breaking and leaving them in a deactivated state. Their systems having been overloaded by the ring's Dark Energy.
Presentations between the new kids and the android were made and they all walked around the city. The kids watching the immobile Digimon with a bit of sorry. Fearing that they might not move again. "Are the Guardromon going to be okay?" Kark asked.
Killua winced. "I hope giving them a few shocks didn't damaged them a lot..." He mumblef.
"They're armors are strong, they can take it," Andromon said as he got close to one of the Champions. "They will move again once I reset their systems to a state previous to the rings. Once I do I'll add a programming so they can defend the city in case the Emperor wants to attack back." As he spoke, from his fingers various wires entered the Guardromon and started to modify his systems. A moment later the Champion started moving with a fist pump.
The cyborg turned. "Once again I'm in your debt. I'll take care of this zone, thank you Digidestined."
Everyone just smiled bashfully. Another day, another victory. They were still on a roll.
When they came back, it was to find an scowling Izzy sitting on a chair. Yolei blinked. "Izzy what're you doing here?" She asked.
The boy lifted a finger to his lips and shushed them. "Outside."
Just like he said, he didn't spoke until they were outside. He just kept his scowl and arms crossed the whole way.
Once outside he gave an explanation. "Matt text me and explained everything! Yolei you went to my house for your Digivice and couldn't you take five minutes to explain?" He asked.
"Sorry..." The girl said.
"And what's worst all of you entered and left no one to watch over!" He said. "What if a janitor entered and turned off the computer?!"
All of the members of the rescue party looked away in shame. Finding themselves guilty of their carelessness. Killua for his part stored what Izzy said, they'll have to test what would happen... Maybe the same thing that happened to them while trying to access the destroyed port in the city.
Questions for later.
Tai for his part tried to calm his friend down. "Okay, Izzy we got it. But be honest... You wanted to come, right?"
Izzy turned, not dignifying that with an answer. "Same goes for you!" He said and took a deep breath. "That aside... I finally have received the full analysis on the new Digivices. I received the help from a friend in America."
"America...?" Killua rolled the word on his tongue. "That's the continent where Mimi lives now, right?"
"She's actually the one who present us!" Izzy said with a smile. "The thing is that he discovered the three main functions of the new Digivices!" To emphasize, the kids got the new model out. "Digitize, detect, and discover. Those are the main functions of the new models, so I decided to dub them the D-3 models."
'Originality wasn't on your side, huh buddy?' Killua thought, his lips twitching upwards.
"Aside from that, there's a lot more information that needs to be share and studied," Izzy said. "For example what can detect and discover as well as-"
GOAAAAAAR*
A loud grumble coming from the Digidestined and the Hunter interrupted Izzy before he went on a full technological rant. "Davith, I'm hungry~!" Demiveemon whined.
"Me too, buddy..." Davis chuckled.
"Tomorrow, Izzy," Tai said, clapping his back. "Tomorrow you can give us all the techno explanation."
Izzy sighed. "Fine okay."
Killua smiled in relief. "Good, cause I'm starving. Tai, do you know what your mom might have for dinner?"
Tai shrugged. "She is doing something kind of normal this time. A stew with red peppers."
All color drained from Killua's face. He loathed thoses! In Whale Island he got in an argument with Miss Mito because he didn't wanted to eat them! And now he'll have to suck it up and do it to avoid it with Miss Kamiya!
"I have a question..." He mumbled and looked up to the night sky. "For God... WHY?!" He exploded.
"You came really late home tonight, Matt," Hiroaki remarked as he sat on the living room.
"Late study session..." He grumbled.
He was still fuming over the fact that he was forced into a date with his crazy fan because he had to cover for Davis. 'You owe me kids! You owe me big time!' He grumbled.
"Uh, Matt... Something is burning."
"Ah? Oh shit!"
Ignoring again his ignorant mother's call for dinner, Ken Ichijouji glared at his screen. The events of Metal City replaying in his mind. "My Dark Ring wasn't enough to control an Ultimate... And the Digivices used their light to break them."
He took out a notebook and started scribbling new ideas to improve his weapons. This could not happen again, and with his towers now as objectives to be taken down, he needed to counter thay weakness.
'I can't lose anymore time in this place... As of tomorrow, this place will be unnecessary for me.' He decided. He had a job to do, a destiny! And this hindrance of a world wasn't to to stop him.
Evil Preview~
(Next Time on Hunter X Zero X Two)
"After an intense soccer game, the Digidestined go again to do their duty!"
"The Emperor however isn't planning on letting them go. He captures them all, except for Killua, and challenges him to a fight. Revealing his unique abilities."
"Next time on Hunter X Zero X Two: Emperor vs Killua."
"Don't miss it."