Miyako had ultimately come to the decision that it would be best for her to handle the matter of paying back her parents for all of this food after everything had been taken care of regarding the Digimon attacks. Besides, she somehow doubted that they were going to be pestering her about something like that when they weren't even in Odaiba anymore. The rest of her family had evacuated with the rest of the city, and Miyako was glad for that. She didn't want them to get hurt in the process of the Chosen Children fighting off the invaders, after all.
Ken was sitting on the floor in one of the aisles as he typed away on his laptop. He had run back to his apartment since it was relatively close to the store, and he grabbed the device since he decided that it would help them to have it at their disposal. Maki had left, after all, and that meant that they were going to have to use their own computer if they wanted to send the Digimon to the other side of the barrier.
The Digimon were all happily eating anything that they could get their hands on. Meiko leaned against the ending stand of an aisle as she looked on at Minomon, Poromon, and Meicoomon. For all of her regular maturity, Meicoomon seemed to truly love the sweet drinks that were in the store. She slurped one of them up greedily, suddenly seeming much younger than she actually was. Poromon was shoving his face into his usual selection of chips while Minomon softly nibbled on a chocolate bar.
"Bottomless voids just as ever," Miyako muttered under her breath with a shake of her head. It was hardly a surprise, but she still found it comforting to see that the Digimon were at least the same as ever in the face of unfortunate odds. It was a strange thing to take affection to, but Miyako wasn't about to stop it. After all, it gave her a temporary sense of peace, and she wasn't about to chase it off just because she was too greedy to accept it.
Meiko pulled her Digivice up so that she was staring at it somberly, and her black hair fell to form a curtain around her face. Meiko let out a gasp a moment later and held up the Digivice for the others to see even though it was impossible for them to make out the details due to the distance between them. Meicoomon perked up, but the Baby Digimon didn't even bother glancing away from their food.
Meiko didn't seem to mind in the slightest though, and she dashed towards the door of the store. When she arrived outside, she was immediately claimed by a strong gust of wind that sent her tresses flying in every direction. Both of her hands instinctively fell downwards to make sure that her shirt didn't start to stray from her torso, and a looming shadow came to settle beside her.
Miyako perked up and started to walk out of the store as well, and she let out a gasp when she saw AtlurKabuterimon standing in the center of the street with Koushiro sliding off his back. "Hey! Koushiro!" Miyako declared, waving one hand above her head even though she knew that Koushiro had already detected her presence. He waved back anyways, ever the polite boy that Miyako had grown up knowing.
"I'm glad that you're here," Koushiro confessed, offering the group a weak smile. "I was admittedly a bit worried about you all... When I saw that your signals were together, it was such a relief. I don't know for sure where the others are since I made a beeline for you as soon as I saw how close by you were."
"Beeline," Miyako snickered, taking this as a full chance to offer some levity to their dark and dreary situation. AtlurKabuterimon released a humored chuckle at her bug joke, though he didn't go any further than that. Miyako wasn't asking for anything more in the first place, so she allowed herself to take pride in the fact that she had managed to do something to at least make someone feel a bit better about what was happening around them.
"We're letting the Digimon stock up their energy before we set out again," Meiko explained, her voice still wavering from the anxiety that the day had brought. She swallowed dryly before reaching up to pull her hair back into its regular place. AtlurKabuterimon's landing had severely ruffled her tresses, and Meiko found herself wishing that she had a brush to smooth out the newly-formed tangles.
AtlurKabuterimon began to glow, and when the light faded away, Motimon was left in his place. The small pink Digimon hopped into Koushiro's arms. "I need some food after all that," Motimon commented. "If we run into another Digimon, I have to be ready to fight them off. Flying so much takes it out of me, especially here when everything is so stressful..."
"Come on in and join the party then," Miyako told him. She pivoted on her heel, and the rest of the group retreated into the convenience store after her. Once they were all inside, Miyako shut the door, giving one final glance outside just to make sure that there weren't any other Digimon in the area that could have caused problems by coming after them.
Ken was messing with his eyes when Miyako glanced over at him, and she could see a small pout on his lips as he retied his ponytail. Miyako snapped to herself before running over to the counter and opening a drawer. After some messing around with the contents of the container, which hadn't been organized in months at best, Miyako pulled out a small hairbrush that she and her sisters used if they had to adjust their hair while working their shifts. She tossed it to Meiko, and the other girl managed to catch it after some brief fumbling. Meiko offered Miyako a brief murmur of thanks before focusing on pushing the brush through her hair.
"We've still got a lot of work ahead of us," Koushiro said, though that much seemed obvious. He propped up his laptop on top of an aisle and started to type away, his eyes focusing with laser-like determination on the screen. His gaze scanned back and forth across the surface, and Miyako lost track of how quickly he was typing. Miyako liked to think that she was fast when it came to keyboarding, but Koushiro put her and Ken, his only other competition in terms of speed, to shame.
"We can do it... Right?" Meiko questioned. She winced when the brush caught on a particularly nasty tangle, and she started to work it out with her fingers after setting the brush aside. She pulled on a stubborn segment of hair strands before continuing to brush through her tresses.
"We're going to be fine," Miyako assured her. Even if it wasn't entirely true that Miyako was confident they were going to be fine, she was going to put up the illusion of everything being fine. It only felt right to her to try and make it seem as if she knew what they were doing. Meiko was the newcomer to the team, and Miyako felt like she had an obligation through seniority to try and cheer her up. This wasn't a great situation, this much was true, but that wasn't going to stop Miyako from attempting to keep a grasp on her confidence.
Koushiro frowned as he let out a small gasp. "It seems to me like the group of Digimon signals that was bunched together near the data bureau's building has finally dispersed," he murmured to himself. "I wonder what could have caused that... Daisuke and Mimi are in that area. I'm willing to bet that they had something to do with it."
"We'll see them soon enough, I'm sure," Ken said, not looking up from his typing away on his own laptop. "They can tell us everything that's happening then... For now, we have to focus on sending as many Digimon back to the Digital World as we can. If we head in their direction, then..."
"The Digimon attacks will only spread, and that will make things harder and more annoying for us. Yeah, yeah, I know," Miyako muttered to herself. Her hands appeared on either side of her head to massage at her temples. How long had she been suffering from this headache? Did it even matter?
"We should take a bit of food before we leave," Meiko suggested. She handed the brush back to Miyako, who shoved it back into its drawer of a home without anything resembling care. "There has to be a bag around here that we can use to carry a few extra supplies while we're out... We don't want the Digimon to be weakened while we're out there fighting. They have to be able to replenish their energy if we're in a tough spot."
"Good point," Miyako agreed. She returned to her place behind the counter and started feeling around for a reusable bag that her family occasionally used to take groceries back to their own apartment. When her grasp finally found it, she pulled the container out and held it up triumphantly before passing it to Meiko. "Don't let the Digimon get their hands on whatever you get for now though. They'll eat it before we have the chance to keep it for later."
"Hey!" Poromon cried out. He had finished his bag of chips and flew over to Miyako, but halfway through the journey, he shifted back to Hawkmon. Miyako gladly caught him, not at all surprised by his shift of size. Another pair of flashes of light from throughout the store told her that both Minomon and Motimon were back to their Child forms as well. Even if there were no immediate threats in the store, they were going to have to leave the building behind eventually to fight the Digimon that were roaming the city. Locking themselves in would do nothing to help the situation, after all, and Miyako was fully aware of such a fact.
"If everyone's prepared, we have other business to attend to," Meicoomon declared. She jumped nimbly up a pair of opposing aisles before settling on top of one of the displays alongside Meiko. Her partner brushed one careful hand down her head, and Meicoomon offered her a small purr in response but otherwise did her best to remain focused on the situation at hand.
"I hate that you're right," Miyako whispered with a nervous chuckle. Part of her wanted to ask Koushiro or Ken just how many Digimon there were in the city, but she decided that it was only going to annoy or upset her, so she forced herself away from the subject. "Alright then. If there are no other objections, it's time to go out and see what the rest of the city has in store for us."
The next few moments consisted of the group pulling together the last of their supplies. Laptops were shut, and a final few snacks were shoved into the bag that Meiko was holding. She slung it over her shoulder once she was finished before letting out a sigh and offering the rest of the group a shaky smile.
They moved to the door as one after that, and when they were out on the street, all four of the Chosen Children shared a single glance. Three Digivices rose into the air, and light began to burst forth from the screens of the items. Hawkmon, Tentomon, and Wormmon started glowing a moment later while Meicoomon sunk into a stance that told everyone loud and clear that she was ready for combat as well. They couldn't afford to waste any more time. After all, the rest of the city was waiting for them whether they were ready to face its challenges or not.
Atsuo, Daisuke, and Mimi had been watching Hiraku play around on his laptop for what felt like the past hour, though in actuality, it had only been a few short minutes. Hiraku's typing was rapid in pace, and it was clear that he had a strong grasp on what it was that he was doing even if it was a mystery to everyone else in the area. Atsuo blinked blankly as he watched Hiraku work, and Daisuke stared from afar with his hands tucked up behind his head. Mimi was looking at her Digivice, still thriving on the high that came from Rosemon's new evolution. Rosemon and Paildramon were both standing nearby and watching silently as well.
Hiraku had requested that the group stop temporarily after they left behind the scene of the battle against Aegisdramon. He said that there was something that he wanted to do, and the rest of the group had allowed him the chance to settle down and try to pull off whatever it was that he was concentrated on. His focus was so incredible that he barely seemed to notice the rest of the world, as if it was merely an afterthought in comparison to what he was doing on his computer.
Mimi was on the verge of asking what it was that had Hiraku so distracted when the man suddenly let out a gasp of joy, and he hit his enter key with immense force. "That should do it!" he proclaimed. Atsuo raised an eyebrow. Despite being close with Hiraku in terms of time, he seemed to be just as clueless as the rest of the group was.
"What were you even doing?" Atsuo questioned. "I've never been any good with technology, and I swear that you're such a wizard with it that not even the smartest people can figure out what it is that you're doing half the time." Mimi found herself thinking about Koushiro when Atsuo phrased it that way, and she remembered the time that she had stood in a temple alongside Koushiro for what felt like a century as he typed away on his computer. It felt like a lifetime ago then. Back in the days of black gears and only seven children, things had been simpler, but Mimi wouldn't have traded the present away for the world due to all of the gifts of love that it had given to her.
"I was working on a program that would let everyone see where the Digimon are in the city," Hiraku replied. "They're going to be able to track the Digimon through their D-Terminals. I just sent out the code, and it should be arriving soon. That way, everyone in the group will be able to see if there are Digimon near them without having to focus only on trial and error. It's too dangerous for most Digimon to fly at this point, so this is a much safer alternative that allows us to cover a lot of ground in a shorter span of time and at less risk."
"Oh," Mimi said simply. As if on cue, her D-Terminal let out a sharp beeping sound, and she shoved her hand into her pocket before pulling it out. The same radar map that was on Hiraku's laptop screen showed up on the screen of her D-Terminal, and Mimi allowed herself to take that as a positive note. They were going to need this if they were going to stop the Digimon in a timely manner. As it was, wandering around the city wasn't really getting them much of anywhere.
"Let's go and see what we can do then. It seems like there are a few signals nearby," Daisuke suggested. He had his D-Terminal in his hands as well, and he shut the device before glancing up to Paildramon. He seemed to understand that Hiraku was going to be their navigator until after they were forced to split up for the time being. It simply seemed to fit his past behavior, and it wasn't as if Hiraku was burdened with the concept of combat compared to Mimi, Daisuke, or their Digimon.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Atsuo agreed. He rolled his head, and the muscles seemed to come to life with the action. All of his time in the building hadn't done much for the sake of his abilities to run about, and that was one skill that he was going to need if they were going to find a way to come out of this successfully. "Let's go to the closest Digimon and see what we can do from there. I think it would be our best option from here, yeah?"
"Of course," Hiraku agreed with a nod. He typed in a few commands onto his laptop's keyboard before he gestured for the rest of the group to follow him. "Come with me. Could one of you send out a message to the rest of the Chosen Children that the radar should be functional on their D-Terminals now? I sent an email earlier, but I guess it was too much for me to ask of them... It's not like they would be able to access something like that easily right now given the circumstances, and I only have Koushiro's number by phone."
Mimi nodded as she shoved her D-Terminal away. "I'm on it!" she proclaimed proudly. She was able to type out the explanation quickly, keeping it as to the point as possible. At the very end, she tacked on a hope that everyone was still safe. Mimi tried to not think about how anxious this whole situation made her with everyone scattered across the city with Digimon going after them. She wouldn't be able to push herself back into action if she got too caught up in her own concern.
Once Mimi had tucked her phone away, she looked up to the others in the group. Hiraku was ready once again for them to keep moving, and the group began to keep to the shadows in preparation for their travel through the city. A shadow passed overhead, and Mimi looked over to Rosemon. Hiraku nodded, and both Rosemon and Paildramon burst into the skies, ready to take on the Digimon. They had to start somewhere as far as eliminating the enemy Digimon went, and this seemed like as good a place as any other.
Yamato almost didn't notice the way that his phone buzzed at his side. He frowned to himself and pulled it out of his pocket as soon as he sensed that something had changed. The group had found a home on the streets of Odaiba when they saw one too many flying Digimon streak by, and they decided that the element of surprise was going to be more important than fast travel. Yamato had to admit that this was relieving to him, as it was much easier for him to stomach slinking through the shadows than streaking above the city on top of MetalGarurumon's back. The day's events already made him feel nauseous enough to think about, and he didn't want to make that any worse than was absolutely necessary.
"What in the..." Yamato murmured, his inquiry trailing off as soon as he realized what the message meant. It was a sign that somebody else in the group was safe. Mimi's message sent relief crashing against him like a tidal wave, and he could feel the eyes of both Taichi and Sora over his shoulder a moment later. Yamato figured that they had neglected to notice that their own phones had likely gone off with the same notification, though he decided that it didn't matter when push came to shove. They were getting the message, and that was what they had to focus on first and foremost.
"Our D-Terminals should have a radar system now that will let us see where the Digimon of Odaiba are," Yamato explained. He smiled softly at the wish from Mimi that they were safe, and he found himself typing out a quick response to say that he, Taichi, and Sora were all fine. He knew that there wasn't much time for anything else, so he allowed that to be the last thing that he said before he shoved his phone back into its home in his pocket.
Sora was faster than both of the boys when it came to pulling out her D-Terminal. Daigo watched them from afar, not wanting to breach their small circle but still clearly listening to what was taking place. "It's true," Sora said, holding up her D-Tector. "I can see a map of the entire city, and it has signals for all of the Digimon and our Digivices. It seems like, at least for the most part, all of the members of our group are together. I don't think that I can see any signals of teammates that are wandering around on their own right now, so I'm going to count that as a blessing."
"That's good to hear," Taichi said with a heavy sigh. "Traveling alone at a time like this could very easily end poorly, and I don't know what we would do if we were split up even further than we are now. For the time being though, I think we should focus on taking out any nearby Digimon that we can. That's going to make everything easier for us in the long term."
"We have three Ultimate Digimon with us, so that's going to make most of the fights much easier than they otherwise would have been," Yamato pointed out. "If all goes well, we might be able to work through our segment of the city on the faster side, and then we could meet up with other members of the team. I know that I would be more than happy to see another friendly face after all of this."
"I agree," Sora said, letting out a little exhale of her own. "You know... Wandering around the city when it's like this... It feels eerie. There aren't any people to be seen, and it's kind of unnerving. Everybody's been evacuated, and it's weird to see only us and Digimon around here."
"It reminds me of Mugendramon's city," Taichi confessed after a beat of silence. "I would prefer to not think about Mugendramon's city, if I'm being honest, but that's the best comparison that I can think of. It's weird to see all of these streets so empty after we got used to seeing them full of life throughout the past ten years."
Yamato hummed his agreement softly before letting out a sigh. "This situation isn't going to resolve itself on its own. There are two Digimon near us, and we should take one of them out before we go to fight the other one. Everyone will be able to come back sooner if we take out the Digimon now, so we might as well get to it," he pointed out.
Sora's expression softened as Yamato spoke. She knew that his words were primarily forged out of concern for the rest of the team, and even though his tone was barbed, it was because he cared for everyone. Yamato was a highly empathetic person, much more than his quiet nature would have let on at first glance, and Sora knew how easily influenced he could be by the emotions that he scarcely showed to the world.
Sora allowed one hand to come down on his shoulder, and Yamato glanced over at her. She smiled gently and nodded. Yamato allowed himself to release the tension in his posture before righting himself once again. "Alright. Let's get going," he declared firmly. The rest of the group nodded their agreement, and it wasn't long after that before they had set off for their next destination. There were Digimon to be defeated and sent back to the Digital World, and it wasn't as if they had all day to stand about and wait for the issues to resolve themselves.
By the time that Kaya had finished patching up Takeru's injury, Jou felt like there was so much nervous energy building up inside of him that he was about to burst. When Kaya brushed her hands off and prepared to face the rest of the city, Jou let out a hefty sigh, unaware of the weight that had appeared in his chest until it was too late. "I guess that we should focus on traveling through the city again now," Jou commented softly.
"We're pretty close to the water, aren't we?" Hikari questioned. "We could always travel around in the sea to see if there's anything that we can find. There have to be a few Digimon out there keeping up the perimeter. I can't imagine that all of the Digimon are close to the center of the city."
Jou nodded. He had to admit that Hikaru had a strong point, and since all of their Digimon could fly save for Zudomon who was able to swim, they would be able to take care of any enemies that were that far away. Other groups would have struggled, but they were bound to have a simpler time. Zudomon fought best in the ocean anyways, so there wasn't a reason to protest. They were close enough to take care of it, so they might as well jump on the concept.
"Okay," Chisane said softly. She glanced up to Kaya before looking to Jou. She seemed to be deliberately avoiding making eye contact with any other members of the group, now that Jou thought about it, and he found himself wondering why that could be. "Could we come with you? I know that we can't fight, but maybe we can find other ways to help you out in all of this."
"Of course," Takeru assured her. Chisane suddenly seemed to get even more tense, but she did what she could to banish the nerves by offering a shaky smile with no particular target. Once again, Chisane's anxiety regarding Takeru, Iori, and Hikari seemed glaringly obvious, and Jou frowned to himself at the idea. Why was it that Chisane felt so nervous around them? She didn't know them at all, so there was no reason for her to be so unsettled around them. There had to be something deeper going on to explain this odd behavior on her part, but Jou didn't even know where to start when it came to pushing the subject and getting answers out of her.
"Let's go on and take care of this then," Kaya declared, taking the attention away from Chisane in the blink of an eye. Jou couldn't help but think that it was likely deliberate since Kaya could pick up on how nervous Chisane was. Of course she would see it. Chisane and Kaya had spent years together to merit their strong connection of trust and care, so it was only natural that Kaya would do what she could to defend her companion from any situation that would make her upset. The reason behind the sudden tension remained a mystery, and Jou could only hope that he figured it out sooner rather than later. If it was important, it would come up at some point anyways, right?
The Chosen Children all mounted their partners with that call to action, and Chisane and Kaya joined Jou on Zudomon's head. They figured that it would be for the best to keep his arms open in case a fight did break out, and Jou was glad that they had come to such a silent agreement. The last thing that he wanted to do was cause an issue for the rest of the group because he accidentally acted in a way that would deteriorate his partner's ability to fight.
As the group made their way out onto the water, Jou found himself remembering an instance from the past where the city had been under attack. When he closed his eyes, Jou remembered the blast that had sent him, Takeru, and their partners flying into the water without any sense of ceremony or grace. He recalled how cold the water had been despite the warmth of the crisp summer air, and he remembered the way that Takeru's shaking hands had felt beneath his.
Times had changed greatly in those six years, and Jou was fully aware of such a fact. Even so, he found himself glancing over to Takeru out of mere instinct. Takeru had received lessons on swimming since then, and the same applied to Jou. Neither one of them had wanted to repeat an event that could have so easily ended worse than it did, and the rest of the group agreed to it readily, not wanting to be placed in a situation where either one of them could be lost.
Zudomon was in the water before Jou knew it, and he let out a small sigh as the familiar scent of the sea hit his nose. It was something that he used to ground himself against the whirring inside of his own mind that seemed to be eager to push him closer to the edge of a breakdown. For a breathless moment, nothing mattered but the smell of the ocean below. Chisane's odd behavior, Kaya's defensive nature, and memories of the past were secondary by comparison, and for those few seconds, Jou felt like he was almost at peace.
Of course, as per the situation, that all came crashing down a moment later. There was a figure moving across the surface of the water, and Jou frowned to himself when he realized that it was a Digimon. He didn't like the taste of nostalgia that appeared on his tongue. It tasted less like beautiful reminiscence and more like the memory of water entering his lungs as the torrents pulled him deeper beneath the surface of the water. He looked over to Takeru based on pure instinct, hating the way that his heart skipped a beat even though such fears of drowning had been made futile since those times six years prior.
"What Digimon is that?" Chisane asked, her voice shaking with a notable degree of panic. When Jou's eyes found her once again, he could see that she was clinging tightly to Kaya's hand, almost as if she felt that the other woman was the one thing keeping her from completely falling apart. Jou frowned to himself and forced himself to look away, knowing that the situation at hand was much more important than any strange behavior that may or may not be worrying him regarding Chisane and Kaya.
"That would be Dianamon," came the response of Shakkoumon a moment later, his voice deep and rumbling in its echoing nature. "She isn't a Digimon that you want to mess with, but if we have to fight against her, then we aren't going to have much of a choice in getting away. We'll just have to do what we can to stay out of the line of fire."
"That's going to be easier said than done, of course," Angewomon frowned to herself. She glanced around before swooping down to the edge of the coast and setting down Hikari. The other flying Digimon followed suit, placing their partners away from the water so that there wasn't the chance of them being caught up in the line of fire. Angewomon and HolyAngemon doubled back to pick up Jou, Chisane, and Kaya since they were much faster than Shakkoumon, and Jou found himself adjusting to the sensation of solid ground even though he hadn't even been on Zudomon's head for all that long as they traveled towards the water.
"She's an Ultimate level Digimon," HolyAngemon declared, and Jou winced to himself. He knew that much was coming, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. Of course Dianamon was at the Ultimate level. He couldn't imagine anything else being the case. It wasn't going to be easy for the group to fight against her, but they didn't have much of a choice in the matter. If she was causing problems and doing what she could to harm the people of Odaiba, then she was going to have to go down.
"Let's do what we can," Angewomon said next. "Even if she's an Ultimate level, all we have to do is hit the data patch. If we can get lucky, then it won't be difficult for us to do what we have to and then move on to concentrate on freeing the rest of the city from the clutches of these Digimon."
"I hope that you're right," Hikari murmured, fidgeting with her hands nervously. She steeled herself a moment later before waving, one arm stretched tall and proud above her head. "You can do this! We believe in you! Everything is going to be fine!"
Jou could tell based on the way that Hikari's words were structured and spoken that she was saying all of this in part to try and convince herself. He smiled and nodded along with her, wanting to persuade himself of the illusion that they were going to be fine in much the same way. Pessimism wasn't going to get them anywhere, and he was fully aware of such a fact. Even if the world felt like it was crashing down around them, they had to try and stand tall and proud. That was what it had meant to be a Chosen Child for years as far as Jou was concerned, and he wasn't about to let such a legacy down after all that time had passed.
"Let's go and see what we can do about her then!" Zudomon proclaimed. His hammer gleamed brightly in the midday sunshine, and he raised it to the skies as a way of showing that he was ready for the battle at hand. Jou nodded to himself, proud at the sight of his partner so determined for what was to come. He was hoping with everything he had that this was going to go well. Hope was all that they had as far as Jou was concerned, and he was going to make sure that he gave everything that he had at his disposal to make sure that Zudomon knew that he believed in him.
The four Digimon were off towards Dianamon after that, and Jou found himself looking back to the rest of the group. Concern was notable on all of their faces, but Takeru did what he could to remain positive. Such behavior was simply in his nature, something that Jou had learned a long time ago. "They're going to be fine," Takeru assured everyone. His words seemed to be the cure that all of them needed, as the tension in the air seemed to start bleeding away with that simple sentence. The one exception to this rule was Chisane, who remained just as upset and nervous as ever before. Jou figured that this was par for the course. Chisane had been rather open with her odd behavior around Takeru and Iori, and it wasn't all that surprising that hearing Takeru speak made her feel agitated and jittery.
Angewomon was the first one to attack, and Jou watched her from afar. The smaller Digimon were merely streaks of light against the blue skies overhead, and when their weapons made contact with Dianamon's armor, the sound seemed to echo and clap for miles. Jou could hear the sound even over the gentle static of the water nearby lapping at the shore. The salty smell of the sea only made the fight seem more real in his eyes, and Jou couldn't tell if he hated that more or liked the fact that he was being given the chance to accept that what was happening was actually real. Given the day that he had been having, a chance to ground himself was oddly appealing. Everything felt like a storm that he couldn't escape, but at least he knew that he was still alive. Sometimes, that was the most that a person could ask for.
The momentary victory that came from Angewomon's attack making contact was ultimately cut off when Dianamon turned in her direction. With one single motion, a new strike burst forth, and it knocked Angewomon off kilter. Her previous course of flight was disturbed in the blink of an eye, and Jou heard Hikari gasp in surprise from beside him.
Shakkoumon was quick to follow up on Dianamon's attack though, making sure to take advantage of the weak spot that Dianamon had left in her defenses. The blast that he released from his midsection was large and powerful, sending another echoing clap of a sound throughout the area. Dianamon was knocked to the side, but it wasn't long before she corrected herself. The element of surprise had granted Shakkoumon the chance to do such damage, but the fact remained that the attack was too weak to keep Dianamon down for too particularly long.
HolyAngemon was busy helping Angewomon to return to flight, and the latter of the two Digimon was leaning against him heavily as she tried to straighten out her wings once again. Dianamon saw what was happening and sent another attack in their direction, and even when the pair of angels swerved downwards to keep from being hit, Dianamon could see that there was a crack in their armor. Her attack missed, but the spray of the ocean was enough to distract both Angewomon and HolyAngemon enough for Dianamon to unleash another blast. This time, the two angels were hit, and if not for Zudomon throwing out a hand to keep them from spiraling into the sea, they would have been tossed around like rag dolls under the influence of the current below.
Zudomon sent them off into flight once more while Shakkoumon kept Dianamon distracted. Zudomon raised his hammer before unleashing an electric strike in Dianamon's direction. She was hit hard by it because Shakkoumon was keeping her attention elsewhere, but as soon as Dianamon was hit, her posture changed significantly. Her thirst for revenge was as clear as could be, and she shot through the air towards Zudomon soon afterwards. All it took was a single attack for Zudomon to nearly fall backwards into the water completely. He barely managed to steady himself before he disappeared beneath the waves.
Jou resisted the urge to let out a whimper from between his gritted teeth. He knew that Zudomon was going to be fine, but his paranoia and anxiety remained in spite of this. Everything felt like it was falling apart. Why did it have to happen this way? Dianamon was clearly intent on causing as many issues for the group as possible until she could be defeated. Jou trusted their Digimon to take care of her as soon as they possibly could, but that didn't do much to lessen the influence that his anxiety had on him. For just a moment, he wished that he could have the breathlessness of relief back, but somehow, he doubted that he would be able to take advantage of such an opportunity anytime soon. As long as Dianamon had something to say about it, he was going to be on edge for a while, and Jou absolutely hated that.
All things considered, Taichi had to confess that his circle of the city was going rather well. He, Yamato, Sora, and Daigo had accomplished quite a bit even in such a short span of time, and they were able to defeat many Digimon along the way. Even with the dark data patches increasing the power of their foes significantly, having three Ultimate Digimon team up on a single foe made the battles much easier than they would have been otherwise. They had fallen into a steady rhythm of encountering a foe, defeating them by striking at the data patch, and sending them back to the Digital World. Daigo had found his place in the group quickly, and Taichi was glad to be able to rely on someone who, while mostly unexperienced with matters of combat with Digimon, still knew what he was doing.
"This isn't the end of the battle yet, you know," Daigo commented as the group landed after defeating another enemy Digimon. They had taken to the skies to defeat their foe after cornering them alone, and with said Digimon already back in the Digital World, they were free to stop for at least a few brief moments. "We've still got a lot of work ahead of us. There were so many Digimon that were sent over here that there must have been a cause. Something must have been behind all of this, and we have to figure out what that is."
"In other words, even after we send all of these Digimon back to the Digital World, we're still going to have to go back there for ourselves," Yamato concluded "We can't let any other Digimon break through the barrier between worlds, so that's our only option. After we've saved the people of Odaiba from invading Digimon, we have to go and figure out what the root of the issue is."
"Our enemies have gotten away with this for too long," MetalGarurumon agreed from his place curled around Yamato. His partner nodded his agreement, and Yamato prepared to climb aboard his partner's back once again in preparation for what was to come. It was hardly a comfortable fit given the weapons mounted to MetalGarurumon's body, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
"All of this must have been planned," Sora concluded. "There's no way that the enemy would have just decided randomly to send so many Digimon over here. They've been building up to this for a while, and if I had to guess, I would say that they were hoping all of the Digimon were going to overwhelm us due to the sheer factor of numbers being on their side."
"Unfortunately for them, we're already down to having only seventeen Digimon left," Taichi declared. He was looking down at his D-Terminal, observing the radar with a critical eye as he tallied up the signals. "We'll do what we have to in order to send the rest of the Digimon back to the other side. We've been doing what we can up to this point, and we'll have to keep on with that. It isn't as if we have much of a choice if we want to keep everyone in Odaiba, and the rest of Tokyo for that matter, safe."
"I don't know when everything fell apart like this, but we have to do what we can to stop it. If that means going to the Digital World again even after all of this is over, then so be it," Sora proclaimed. She let out a small breath, thinking briefly of her mother. It was going to be a while before any of them were given the chance to go back home to spend time with their families. The situation at hand was simply too dire for them to be spared the moment, and that was the fact of the matter. Sora knew that she was going to reunite with her mother sooner or later the same way that Taichi and Yamato knew they would find their own families again, but that didn't lessen the impact of the sudden yearning for normalcy that seemed to hit all of them with the force of an impact with a brick wall.
Daigo cleared his throat a moment later. "Well, if we're finished here, then we should go on and make that number go down even lower than seventeen. Your group has the most powerful Digimon that there are three Ultimates here, and there's no guarantee that any of the others have had such luck with an evolution," he announced. "We can't afford to stay around here any longer than we have to, so let's go on and see what the rest of the city has in store for us."
Taichi was glad for the distraction that came with Daigo's proclamation. After all, Daigo was right, and longing for what they were no longer able to have wasn't going to help any of them. They were going to be able to return to their normal lives soon enough, but for the time being, they had more important matters to focus on. Everything was going to be fine. They had it under control, and the rest of the group would be able to handle their own matters as well.
As the group prepared for setting off once again, Taichi shut his D-Terminal. He knew where they were going, and that was all that mattered. The rest of the group would be able to put in work on their own terms to start stopping the Digimon. Everything would come together soon enough. If they worked together, Odaiba would be saved, and that was what mattered the most. Dreams of peace could wait just a few hours longer.
Maki found them by chance.
Meiko, Koushiro, Miyako, Ken, and their partners had been sliding through the shadows of the city with as much speed as they could manage without being spotted by the traveling Digimon overhead. The flying Digimon had started going higher into the sky to make it easier to see from a distance, and that meant that most of them missed out on seeing AtlurKabuterimon. Meiko wasn't objecting to their lack of foresight. She was glad that they hadn't been dragged into any other bouts of combat. She didn't know if she was going to be able to handle it anymore. The day had already proven itself to be too much for her, and all that she wanted to do was collapse onto her bed and pull the covers up until the rest of the world just went away.
Meiko was beyond unfocused by the time that Maki's voice reached her ears. She was barely concentrating on anything beyond putting one foot in front of the other, but Maki's voice still managed to cut through the haze. Meiko was at the tail end of the group as the others looked at their D-Terminals. Meiko still didn't have one due to the recent upsetting circumstances keeping that from happening, but that didn't matter much to her. She was glad to let the others take the lead since it meant that she could at least try to put some distance between herself and the situation at hand.
Maki snapped the bubble that she had come to float in though, and Meiko let out a gasp before turning her head over her shoulder to see who it was that was calling her name. Maki appeared soon afterwards, one hand frantically waving above her head. Meiko gasped, and the other members of the group stopped to see what it was that had pulled Meiko's attention away from their cautious travels of Odaiba.
These few moments where the group was stopped gave Maki the chance to catch up with them, and when she was finally even with them, she let out a heavy sigh. She was much more physically inclined than Meiko would have expected, and she barely even seemed winded by having to do so much running to catch up with them. "I'm glad to see that you're still doing alright now," Maki told them. She returned to her full height after just a few moments of catching her breath, and she was back to being the picture of elegance and grace that Meiko had come to recognize her as.
"How did the evacuation go?" Ken questioned, his eyes wide. He seemed to be just as surprised to see her as any other member of the group. JewelBeemon nodded from Ken's side, a sign that he was just as curious as his partner was on this matter.
"Everybody's out of the city now," Maki replied. "We managed to help the people that were still around here to escape. They should be on their way far from here by now, and that means that all that remains is to get rid of the Digimon that are roaming this part of the city. I'm sure that you'll be able to take care of that when your fighting force is combined with the other Chosen Children, yes?"
"We've already been making a bit of progress," Koushiro assured her. "We were able to defeat a few Digimon that happened to come after us before sending them back to the Digital World. It wasn't exactly easy due to the discrepancy in power, but we should be able to handle the enemies as long as we use the element of surprise to our advantage when we attack."
"I'm glad to hear that you know what you're doing then," Maki said, letting out a small sigh. "It's good to know that you're just as refined in your skills as we had heard previously. I knew that you were experienced given what you've done in past circumstances, but this is still a relief to see. After all, this... This is hardly a situation any of us wanted to find ourselves in."
Meiko nodded her agreement, finding that she was struggling to speak. What she wanted to say was that calling this a dreadful situation was an understatement, and Meiko knew that she was going to remember this day as one of her worst for the rest of her life. She thought that she would have time to prepare for her first big battle, and yet, there was a war unfolding around her, and she sure as hell wasn't ready for it. Was there a way to even be ready for something like this? Meiko doubted it, if she was being honest. She could tell herself all that she wanted that she was going to find a way to be read if the battle came at a later point, but she knew that it wasn't true. Meiko just didn't think that she was cut out for this, and every single breath that she took with rattling lungs seemed to make it clear that the rest of the universe agreed.
Maki, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice that Meiko was so nervous. Instead, she simply cleared her throat and looked ahead. "I want to come with you from here on out. I know that the city is in chaos at the moment, and I can help you with the knowledge that I have from the data bureau," she said. Meiko could tell that there was likely more to Maki's desire to travel with them than she was willing to let on, but she chose to not say anything openly on the matter. She didn't want to expose Maki when she was hiding every fear that threatened to burst forth at a moment's notice. Somehow, it felt like a betrayal, though Meiko struggled to articulate exactly why that was. To be fair, she was struggling to articulate everything in that instant. Talking was an impossible task that she simply wasn't up for yet, and while Meiko would warm up to the idea again later on, she didn't want to push it for the time being.
"Okay," Ken agreed with a simple nod. Meiko could tell that this was because he had picked up on much the same thing that she had: Maki had already made up her mind about coming with them, and there wasn't anything that any of them could say to keep her from tagging along. She was going to make sure that she helped out in her own way, and nobody was going to get in her way.
"We should be able to defeat another Digimon soon. I can tell that we're getting close to one of our foes," Miyako said as she started to walk forwards once again. A shadow swept through the overhead skies, and she grinned to herself as she glanced over to Silphymon. "Bingo! Alright, everyone! You know what to do! Let's make sure that we can take care of this before that Digimon sees what we're up to!"
The speed with which the rest of the Digimon blasted off into combat was impressive. Meiko couldn't see the Digimon that they were fighting, but she decided at the end of the day that she didn't really want to. Meicoomon remained by her side, seeming to accept that there was little she would be able to do in combat. When they were going up against Ultimate Digimon, the chances of an Adult like Meicoomon doing any real damage were slim to none. At least the Perfect Digimon would be able to put up something of a fight thanks to their years of experience and higher levels of natural strength.
"You're worried that I can't evolve."
Hearing Meicoomon's voice immediately snapped Meiko out of her thoughts, and her head whipped down to her partner. Meicoomon was watching her carefully, eyes as observant as ever. Meiko let out a shaky sigh, closing her eyes. "Yeah... I guess that I am," she confessed. Meiko knew deep down that the others had been given much more experience over their years of fighting against Digimon across the two worlds, but it still seemed worrisome to her. She and Meicoomon had been together for years by that point, and yet, nothing had changed within Meicoomon as far as evolution was concerned. Evolution occurred when the human partner was in danger, and that was something Meiko had become sure of since meeting the rest of the Chosen Children, but it didn't do much to help her nerves on the matter. The recent situation should have been enough to help Meicoomon evolve, right? The entire city was under siege, and they were certainly in danger. How could they fight back and truly give it their all if they were unable to reach the Perfect level, much less the Ultimate stage?
"It'll happen when the time is right. Besides, we're both still new to this," Meicoomon reminded her, ever the voice of reason. "You've spoken with Mimi about this in the past, haven't you? I want you to repeat to me what it was that she told you during that conversation for your own sake."
Meiko sighed once again, allowing her mind to be cast back to the discussion in question. "She said that it took a long time for Patamon to evolve each time. No matter what evolutionary level was coming next, it took a long time, and when he finally did reach the next level, he was incredibly powerful," she said.
"Exactly," Meicoomon told her with a pointed nod. "That's what I mean. Everything is going to be fine. It was normal for the other members of the group, and it's going to be alright for us as well. That's a promise. We're doing what we can, and we aren't as experienced as they are. We've been giving it our all this whole time, and that's the most important part in my eyes. Would you agree with that?"
"Yeah," Meiko forced herself to say even though she wasn't completely convinced by her own response. Apparently, Meicoomon wasn't persuaded either, as she tilted her head with a light glare forming in her green eyes, a sign that she wanted Meiko to say it again and mean it this time. "We are new to this, and we're giving it what we can until we can find a way to do more."
"Precisely," Meicoomon replied. "We're going to make sure that we continue giving it as much effort as we can. When the time is right, I'll evolve. They've been fighting against Digimon for years, so it's only natural that they're better at this than we are. That doesn't make us inherently worse. We've had to start from a different place in our journey, and that's all there is to it. Everything is going to be fine."
"Thank you," Meiko whispered. She hadn't realized just how much she needed to hear those words until after they had already been spoken. Meicoomon gave her a small nod before turning her attention back up to the skies overhead. Meiko followed suit. The details of the battle were too distant to see, but Meiko could tell that there was a violent clash taking place. The echoing clap of attacks making contact with one another reached Meiko's ears, and she found herself shuddering involuntarily. She still wasn't cut out for this, but Meicoomon was right in saying that she had to try. She was going to put in as much effort as possible for the time being. That was the least that she could do both for herself and the rest of her team.
"These things take time, you know."
Meiko glanced up to Maki when she heard the voice of the older woman, shock painted on her face. "Everything takes a bit of time, and that isn't a bad thing. All of them needed time to get as far as they've gotten, and that's not a bad thing. You need time to develop your skills, and there isn't anything wrong with that. Trust me when I say that they value you as part of this team. I can see it in their eyes... They care about you, and that's a promise," she assured Meiko.
"I... Thank you," Meiko murmured, uncertain of how else she was meant to respond to something like that. Maki's eyes made it clear that there was something more that she wanted to say, but she was holding back for some reason or another. Meiko found herself staring for a long moment, desperate to try and find answers but not wanting to push Maki too hard in case she accidentally struck a nerve.
Meiko wasn't the only one who noticed it though, and when she looked down to Meicoomon once again, she could see that her partner was also watching Maki critically, almost as if she was searching for a final clue that would allow everything to slide into place. In the end, she didn't seem to find anything of note, and Meicoomon looked away. Meiko's vision seemed to pulse at the corners, and for a brief moment, she was convinced that she was going to completely collapse. Meicoomon's eyes seemed to flash red for a split second, but Meiko was convinced that it was just her mind playing tricks on her. The day had been stressful enough as it was, and that was the only reason for all of this.
Even so, Maki's arm came out to support Meiko, and the woman's eyes narrowed as she steadied Meiko fully. "Are you alright? Can you still hear me?" Maki asked. When Meiko nodded, Maki let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear that. Don't drop out on us now, alright? We've still got a lot of work ahead of us, and we want you to be able to help us out the whole way through. Everything is going to be fine."
Meiko nodded as the world came back into focus. Her body seemed to ache for a moment before slipping back under her control, and she let out a sigh. "I-I think that I'm just tired... Today has been really stressful for me, and I think that the exhaustion and constant activity is finally starting to get to me," Meiko confessed.
"Alright," Maki said in response, humming under her breath. It was clear that she wasn't completely buying the excuse, and if Meiko was being honest, she wasn't either. Nothing like that had happened before, and she absolutely hated it. Meicoomon's gaze was concerned and confused, notably lacking in traces of crimson light. In other words, everything was fine. Meiko was just tired after the messy day that she had been having, and as soon as she was given the chance to rest, she would be fine once again. Everything was going to be okay. It just had to be.
Act two really has been lots of fun to write, and this chapter is acting as an interlude of sorts between big battles. After all, things have been pretty hectic within this story lately, so it's time for a little bit of a breather before everything goes back to being really, really bad (assuming that it ever stopped being that awful).
This chapter is, as such, mostly smaller character interactions to help prevent fatigue from constant combat. I know that I get tired reading about constant fight scenes since I like character interactions a ton, so that's where this chapter comes from. Are there a few very important details sprinkled in throughout this? Most certainly. Am I going to tell you what they are? Absolutely not. What would be the fun in that? You'll have to see what becomes relevant when the time is right. As you can see, I am just the worst when it comes to this sort of thing.
The one thing I am going to mention is the little snapshot at the end with Meiko. That sure was strange, huh? Let's just say that I have a few cards up my sleeve still. It'll be a while before anything on that is revealed (since we're only on chapter twenty-one out of eighty at this point), but there's something coming there. The specifics are my little secret though since that's just how I am.
Next week, we're going to keep pressing on with act two, and there's going to be a nice highlight on what's going on with Jou, Zudomon, and Dianamon. Until then, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. As always, I appreciate any and all feedback. Have a nice day, everyone!
-Digital