Chapter 108: Hunting Part 7
Heya everybody. I hope you're all well and healthy.
Many thanks to Gadget30thAnniversery, Sakura0410 and Lilly The Omega Wolf for your reviews of the previous chapter. I'm glad that most of you like that Tai is now back and able to join in the action again. It means that I get to mix things up a little in some of the battles. Speaking of which, let's get on with this chapter …
"Agumon warp digivolve to Wargreymon!"
Tai watched as his partner emerged from the light of Digivolution before he flew out of the barrier around Imperialdramon. Wargreymon aimed straight for the Marinedevimon in the group that they'd picked out as their first targets of the day. Imperialdramon followed him in, diving down and preparing his attack as he lined up on another of the evil sea monsters.
"Terra Force!" Wargreymon formed a fireball between his hands before throwing it straight at the Marinedevimon on the right of the seven in the group. The attack struck the squid-like monster straight in its chest, making it roar in agony before it was vaporised.
"Positron Laser!" Imperialdramon's cannon fired the familiar blue and purple beam at the Marinedevimon on the left of their enemies. It cut straight through the monster's body, slicing it in two before the demonic creature turned to dust. The giant dragon kept his beam at full power as he arced around and cut through two more of their foes. Both Marinedevimon roared before they also shattered into data like their comrades before them.
"Static Force!" Silphymon formed a pink energy sphere in his palms before throwing it straight at one of the Scorpiomon amongst the Deep Ones. It screamed out as it was vaporised by the attack and an Octomon followed soon after as Silphymon continued his attack run. A few Scubamon and Ebidramon were next before the humanoid-bird Digimon flew back into the sky, taking evasive action as their foes tried to shoot at him and missed.
"Great Tornado!" Wargreymon placed his palms together and started spinning with enough speed to generate a tornado around his body before he dived straight at the remaining Marinedevimon. He pierced through the torso of the first of his targets before angling straight through the next one. The final Marinedevimon tried to block the attack with its tentacles but Wargreymon was too strong and turned it to dust as well.
Tai glanced down at the remaining foes within the group that they were attacking. It wasn't a weak platoon and there were still plenty of dangerous foes left. He watched as the Gesomon and Octomon fired their ink into the sky in Wargreymon's direction but they missed by some distance as the mega level Digimon flew up and away to safety.
As Imperialdramon dived down to begin another attack run, Tai could see all of the different evil monsters that made up the rest of their enemies and he noted that they should be easier for them to finish off now that the Marinedevimon had been defeated. The goggle-head watched Imperialdramon's beam cascade towards the centre of the group, exploding as it hit the ground and slicing through the evil monsters. They didn't have a chance as the giant dragon banked around whilst still firing his cannon to take out more.
Wargreymon turned his focus to the Scorpiomon within Dragomon's forces. He formed another fireball before throwing it straight at one of them that had just evaded Imperialdramon's attack. Silphymon teamed up with him, launching several energy spheres into the mass of monsters to thin out their numbers further. The aquatic Digimon were struck by the attacks and were vaporised instantly as Wargreymon and Silphymon followed up and took out several more Digimon around them.
The Chosen Digimon rained barrage after barrage down on their foes, creating massive explosions as each attack hit. The blasts rang out over the battlefield and debris was thrown high into the sky. The dust cloud blocked Tai's vision of what was going on as Silphymon, Wargreymon and Imperialdramon continued to bombard their enemies.
It wasn't long before the explosions and attacks stopped and the Chosen Digimon hovered in the sky. The dust slowly settled and exposed the craters and gouges cut into the ground where the evil monsters had once been. Tai couldn't see any signs of the bad guys that had once been there and he took that as a good indicator that they'd managed to wipe out that entire group.
Imperialdramon flew over to where they'd agreed to rendezvous with Wargreymon and Silphymon once the fight was over. Tai watched as his partner made his way there too, knowing that Wargreymon couldn't see them because they were being hidden by the barrier. Imperialdramon stopped, allowing his friends to fly inside the barrier around him before they de-digivolved to their rookie forms and landed on his back.
"Good job, Agumon." Tai gave his partner a high five before moving his focus to the rest of the group. "Good job, everyone. Where's that strong group of Digimon?"
Ken closed his eyes as everyone's gazes moved to him. The Digidestined patiently waited for their friend until he reopened his eyes and focused on Tai. "That group is starting to head in our direction, but they're still quite some distance away. There are other normal strength groups in this area heading our way too."
"Shall we attack those bad guys close to us or shall we go to a different area?" Noriko asked as she glanced between Tai and Ken. "Do we have time to ambush those that are nearby?"
"There are some groups to our south that are coming towards us," Ken suggested as he pointed in their direction. "We could ambush one of those."
Tai stroked his chin for a moment. "Will that source of dark energy that we think Metalseadramon might be part of get too close if we attack any more bad guys here?"
The violet-haired teen shook his head. "We've got plenty of time before they get too close. After all, we chose this area to start our ambushes in because we knew that they'd be some distance north of us and that it would take time for them to get here."
"What are we waiting for then?" Davis asked as he glanced between his two best friends. "Let's get on with it. The clock is ticking and we should take out as many bad guys as we can before we have to move on to another area."
Tai chuckled as he nodded. "Ok, let's go and get them."
Explosions continued to reverberate over the fields below as Tai watched Wargreymon and Silphymon rain attacks down onto another group of evil Digimon and Deep Ones. This was their four ambush of the day and they were in a different area to where they'd performed their first attacks. That powerful group of evil Digimon was still hunting them down and Tai had a feeling that it was Metalseadramon leading them once again.
Imperialdramon dived down and fired his beam one last time, cutting through the dust cloud around where the bad guys had been before everything went quiet. The air started clearing to reveal that the Digidestined had been victorious once more. The fields were covered by the smouldering blast marks from the Chosen Digimons' attacks, which were the only piece of remaining evidence that their enemies had once been there.
They turned and flew towards the selected meeting point where Imperialdramon stopped so that his friends could re-join them. Light surrounded Wargreymon and Silphymon before Agumon and Hawkmon landed on his back. With the group now back together, everyone's attention turned to Ken, including Tai's.
The raven-haired teen had his eyes closed before he reopened them and thought for a moment. "I think that we shouldn't perform another ambush in this area. That powerful group is getting too close."
"Is there anywhere else that we can go to perform more ambushes?" Davis asked as he glanced around them. "I want Metalseadramon to know that our little battle with him wasn't enough to scare us off."
"I suppose that we could head to the southern tip of the peninsular," Ken suggested as he pointed in the direction that he wanted them to fly in. "There are quite a few strong groups down there though, so I don't know how many ambushes we will be able to perform before we would have to head back to base. It would probably be only one or two."
Davis clenched his fist. "That's more than enough and it'll give us another place to get a reading on Dragomon's location. Right, Tai?"
"Yeah," the elder of the goggle-heads nodded in agreement. "Getting another reading and getting even one more ambush in is better than heading back to base right now."
Tai kept his eyes on the Marinedevimon below as Imperialdramon swooped down and fired his laser straight at his target. It cut through one of the squid-like monsters before striking the one behind it. Both roared in agony before they turned to dust and Imperialdramon flew back up into the air to avoid the ink being fired in his direction by the Octomon and Gesomon amongst the Deep Ones.
A couple of explosions echoed through the air as Wargreymon finished off the remaining two Marinedevimon, meaning that they'd managed to take out fifteen of the demonic beasts during this ambush. It was definitely the most powerful group of evil monsters that they'd attacked that day and, according to Ken, one of the strongest they'd come across. It seemed like the closer towards the coast and southern tip of the peninsular that they got, the more numerous and more powerful Dragomon's forces became.
The evil Digimon and Deep Ones were in fields and on the beach between the hills to their north and sea to their south. There were towns either side of them and Tai guessed that this might have been some kind of meeting point for those coming onto land. It would make sense given that this was the closest land to where Dragomon was hiding out in the ocean. Depending on how this ambush turned out, Tai considered making it a regular spot for them to attack because he realised that it might limit how many bad guys could get onto land in this area.
More blasts reverberated through the sky as Wargreymon, Silphymon and Imperialdramon started focusing on the dark Digimon amongst the mass of black bodies that were the Deep Ones. Fireballs, spheres of energy and laser beams cascaded down on their foes, wiping out several of them with each attack. The Chosen watched on from Imperialdramon's back as their Digimon started thinning out the numbers in the group below.
Tai frowned as he continued to stare at the hoard of evil creatures swarming in the fields and on the beaches. It was definitely a large group and it was taking longer to deal with them than he'd originally thought. It was something that worried the young man because he knew that they were against the clock. They'd only managed to take out the Marinedevimon and some of the other Digimon so far but there were a lot more bad guys left to finish off.
"How far away is Metalseadramon?" The goggle-head asked as he glanced at Ken. "Or should I say, that powerful group that we think he might be part of."
Ken waited as Imperialdramon fired his beam, cutting straight through the middle of their foes and taking out a swathe of them in one go. The explosion threw dust and debris into the air as the giant dragon banked around and continued his attack. He flew back up into the sky to avoid their enemies' retaliation and prepared for his next run.
"They're coming towards us rather quickly," the raven-haired teen replied now that his ears weren't ringing from his partner's attack. "We've got enough time to keep battling this group but we'll have to call it a day after this."
Tai nodded. "Understood. We should try and get this over with as quickly as possible then just in case."
The Chosen Digimon continued to rain attacks down on the evil monsters below while avoiding anything launched back in their direction. Some of their foes were running back towards the ocean but Imperialdramon wasn't going to let them get away. He arced around and lined up to strafe along the beach before diving down. He powered up his laser before taking aim and firing his beam.
Imperialdramon's attack exploded on impact, vaporising anything in its path and throwing sand up into the sky. He cut along the beach and angled his beam to stop their foes from escaping back into the ocean. Tai glanced behind them and noticed the giant gouge where the beach once was that flooded with water while Imperialdramon continued his attack.
"Thunder Javelin!" A bolt of electricity flew in front of Imperialdramon, forcing him to end his attack and dive down before swooping upwards. Several more bolts streaked across the sky, travelling straight for the other Chosen Digimon. Wargreymon and Silphymon turned in time and managed to take evasive action to avoid being struck.
Tai turned to his right and he held his breath because he could see several serpent-like creatures towering out of the water that were staring in their direction. He let out a long sigh as he realised that it wasn't Metalseadramon and he noticed what these Digimon were. However, that didn't make him feel any better as several more marine monsters broke through the surface and started firing lightning in the Chosen Digimons' directions.
The jagged blade protruding from their foreheads and the golden armour covering their heads broke through the water's surface as several more of them rose out of the ocean. It was followed by their red back and white stomach as they took aim once more. The Megaseadramon opened their mouths, exposing their sharp serrated teeth that could easily rip through any flesh, as they roared before firing lightning from the blades on their heads again. "Thunder Javelin!"
"Ice Blast!" Icy breath spewed forth from the mouths of the Seadramon as their yellow heads broke through the waves. Their blue and white bodies towered over the sea as they took up positions between their ultimate level brethren.
The attacks cascaded towards Wargreymon and Silphymon, making them swerve and dive to avoid being hit. They flew back up into the sky before arcing around and taking aim. Wargreymon threw a sphere of fire straight at a Megaseadramon, striking it square on its head and vaporising it. Silphymon launched a ball of energy at one of the Seadramon, hitting it right on its body and making it roar in agony before it turned to data.
The two Chosen Digimon dodged the retaliation from the Seadramon and other marine Digimon before firing another salvo of attacks down on the Megaseadramon and their champion level brothers. They scored several direct hits, thinning out their numbers briefly before several more broke through the waves to replace their fallen comrades. They fired back once more, forcing the Chosen to evade and fly further up into the air.
Imperialdramon banked around and decided to take advantage of the distraction that his friends were creating. He lined up his attack before powering up his laser and diving down. The giant dragon fired his beam, slicing straight through the ocean and several of the sea serpents harassing his comrades.
Bolts of lightning suddenly flashed by them and Imperialdramon roared as one struck his side. He winced in pain as he quickly ended his attack run and flew back up into the sky to avoid the return fire that was being sent in his direction. Tai guessed that the Megaseadramon had used Imperialdramon's beam to figure out where they were and the sea monsters were just aiming in their general direction. It wasn't a precision attack but the goggle-head knew that it was something that they still needed to be careful of.
"That was a close one," Davis sighed. "I think that we might have a real problem on our hands here."
Cody nodded. "Yeah, I agree. We might need to think about retreating because these Megaseadramon have turned the tide in the favour of Dragomon's forces."
"Imperialdramon, focus only on the Digimon and Deep Ones on the land for the moment," Ken yelled to his partner. "Keep your distance from the Megaseadramon and Seadramon. Leave them for Wargreymon and Silphymon to handle."
"Roger that," he nodded before arcing around and diving towards the mass of Deep Ones once again. He fired his beam, slicing straight through the centre of the evil monsters gathered in the field. The explosion echoed over the battlefield once again before another bolt of lightning crackled past them, just missing Imperialdramon's left wing. He quickly veered off, avoiding all of the other attacks coming in his direction.
Tai pursed his lips and he heard Davis growl in frustration. He knew that this was very bad and that the situation could definitely take a turn for the worse very quickly. If one of their Digimon were badly hit then they'd have a lot of problems getting to them with both the land and sea swarming with evil monsters. All of that didn't take into account that Metalseadramon was closing in on them too, and the Megaseadramon were definitely slowing them down and stopping them from making their planned quick ambush.
"How close is Metalseadramon?" Tai glanced in Ken's direction once more as he held Noriko's hand a little tighter than before. "Do we have time to deal with these bad guys and escape before he gets here?"
Ken shut his eyes for a moment before reopening them and focusing on their leader. "I'm not sure that we'll have enough time to beat all of them and escape safely. He's getting closer and closer."
"Then we need to put our escape plans into place," Joe announced as he readjusted his glasses. "We shouldn't risk staying here if we might end up fighting Metalseadramon again. We don't want a repeat of what happened last time."
Tai gritted his teeth before he sighed. "I agree. Let's get Wargreymon and Silphymon, and then we should head back to base. I don't want to have to battle all of these bad guys and Metalseadramon at the same time. Reinforcements could also come from the ocean at any moment too."
He hated the idea of having to retreat like this, especially when this was his first patrol after getting his cast removed. Tai wanted to make a statement to Metalseadramon and Dragomon that the Digidestined were still able to fight them and were still going to drive them out of Tokyo despite what Metalseadramon had been doing recently. He wanted to show that they weren't afraid of them and were still willing to push them back.
However, Tai also knew the risks that were involved with staying and finishing this fight. This was a war and it wasn't worth putting a lot on the line to win just one battle. He knew that it would be better to leave to make sure that everyone was safe and that they could come back and perform more ambushes again tomorrow. A tactical retreat now would be the best option for them when it came to winning overall.
"Imperialdramon, let's get Silphymon and Wargreymon," Davis instructed as he patted his partner's back. "Then let's get out of here."
"Understood," the giant dragon nodded before he changed his flight path, making his way over towards the others and calling out to them. "Silphymon, Wargreymon, change of plans. We're heading back now."
He flew towards Silphymon first but it was easier said than done. The humanoid bird was corkscrewing and looping over several bolts of lightning from the Megaseadramon, making it hard for Imperialdramon to get close. It was easy for the small and nibble Silphymon to avoid them, but a giant dragon would struggle and the Digidestined knew that.
Tai held his breath as he realised that this might take more time than he'd originally thought it would. They were already cutting it closer than he'd have liked and this was only delaying them more. Was this some part of Metalseadramon's plan or was it just that the Megaseadramon were inadvertently slowing them down?
"Great Tornado!" Wargreymon roared out the name of his attack as he dived down, spinning his body as he did so. He aimed straight for the Megaseadramon and Seadramon that were targeting Silphymon. The attack tore through them, making the marine monsters scream in agony before they were turned to dust.
Imperialdramon took his opening, quickly flying alongside Silphymon so that he could re-join them. As soon as the humanoid-bird was within the barrier around Imperialdramon, he glanced over his shoulder and flew towards the giant dragon. Light surrounded his body before he reverted back to Hawkmon and landed.
"I've got bad news," Ken caught everyone's attention. "Metalseadramon has sped up. I think that he's left his support behind and is coming towards us much quicker."
"Shit." Davis clenched his fists as he glanced around. "We really need to hurry up."
Tai's gaze moved to his partner and he watched as the mega Digimon dodged several attacks before throwing a fireball back at one of the Megaseadramon. It vaporised the sea monster and another Seadramon behind it as the attack struck both of them. Wargreymon continued fighting as Imperialdramon banked around to try to pick him up too.
"Positron Laser!" The giant dragon fired at some of the Megaseadramon and Seadramon harassing his friend, slicing through the serpents as he dived down to help out and make their escape easier. The evil Digimon shattered into data as Imperialdramon continued his attack, wiping out several more of their foes. "Wargreymon, let's go!"
Tai could hear the crackle of electricity flying just past them as Imperialdramon continued to fire his beam so that Wargreymon knew where he was. Several more attacks just missed him as he weaved around and moved from target to target so that he wasn't flying in a straight line. He hit monster after monster, turning each of them to dust as his friend broke off from his own fight and flew over to him.
Imperialdramon roared as lightning struck him on his leg and another on his side, just missing where the Digidestined were. All of the bad guys had changed their focus now and were making it much harder for the giant dragon to collect his friend so that they could escape. He kept his beam firing and took out even more opponents as he continued to evade their retaliatory attacks.
Tai held his breath as another bolt flew over their heads before Wargreymon finally made it inside the barrier around the Digidestined. He quickly made his way over to Imperialdramon's back, prompting his friend to stop his attack. Light engulfed Wargreymon's body and he landed on his comrade before Imperialdramon started his evasive maneuverers once more. A loud sigh escaped Tai's lips as he and the others held on as tightly as they could while Imperialdramon did his best to avoid everything coming his way.
"Let's get out of here!" Tai yelled as Imperialdramon was hit again. "Let's get back to base."
Imperialdramon quickly swooped up into the air to get away from all of the bolts of lightning, jets of ink and columns of icy breath that were being fired in his direction by all of Dragomon's forces. The attacks began missing completely as the giant dragon flew away, leaving his foes to shoot aimlessly now that he'd escaped from them. He went high into the sky and near to the base of the clouds that formed the barrier encapsulating Tokyo so that the Digidestined were far away from any potential danger.
Tai let out another loud sigh as he glanced down to the ground below. It had been a close one and he knew it. If Metalseadramon had been quicker, things could have turned out horribly for the Digidestined and they would have probably found themselves completely encircled by Dragomon's forces. Tai pursed his lips and continued to stare at the ground as he wondered how long it would take until they'd be caught out in this kind of situation and things would turn out much worse.
So, that didn't quite go as Tai would have liked and the Digidestined tried to bite off more than they could chew. Did anyone expect Tai's first patrol after returning to action to end up with him and Davis having to retreat like this?
It was kind of nice to include the Megaseadramon and Seadramon in that battle because I don't get to include them normally. Most of the fights occur over land and they can't fly like Metalseadramon can. They offer up a new dynamic to the battle and can make things more interesting. Did you expect that the Megaseadramon and Seadramon would make it so difficult for them?
Please can you let me know your thoughts on these things and this chapter as a whole by posting a review? :D