Chapter 124: Countdown Part 4
Heya readers. I hope all of you are well and having a good time.
Many thanks to Gadget30thAnniversery, Lilly The Omega Wolf and Magic713 for your reviews of the previous chapter. I'm glad that you liked the calmer moments as we continue building up towards the next big battle in this story.
Also, Honter11, thanks for the review but you've posted it for the wrong story. This is The Wave of Darkness and not my other story, Mimi's Mistletoe Mischief, that you mentioned.
And here's this month's chapter :D
"Tai," Kari called out to her brother before he could head back to his room. She hadn't been able to speak to him earlier because his group had left on their patrols before she and TK had returned to the base after their shopping trip. "Have you got a minute?"
The wild-haired teen paused and turned to face his sister. Noriko stopped too as Kari and TK made their way over to the other couple. "Sure, Kari. What's up?"
"Well, first, Mum says hi," she replied with a smile before moving on to what she'd discussed with Yuuko earlier. "She also asked if we all wanted to go and have dinner with her before the battle against Dragomon. Mum said to get you, Noriko, Matt, Sora, and, of course, our Digimon to come for one big meal. She wants to wish us luck and make sure we've eaten well before we put our plans into action."
A chuckle left Tai's lips as he rubbed the back of his head. "Of course she'd want to do something like that."
"Are we able to have a meal with them then?" She asked her brother with her hope lacing her tone. "I think it would be nice for everyone to have the chance to see their families again before we try to reclaim Tokyo."
"That kind of thing would be great," Mimi interrupted as she bounced over to them. "It would be really good to have a meal with Mama and Papa again. It would be good to have Izzy there too, and we could see his parents another night or something like that."
"I'd like to do something like that too," Davis added as he joined his friends standing in the doorway of the Digidestineds' office. "It's been too long since I've seen my family."
"You'll get to meet Keiko's parents too if you join her," Yolei pointed out with a smirk. "I bet you'll be more nervous about that than the battle."
A laugh escaped Davis' lips before he took his girlfriend's hand in his. "You bet. After all, I've got to make a good first impression."
"I think it would be a good morale boost," Joe added from across the office. "It will get us in the right frame of mind for the battle. It'll also help as a bit of stress relief too because it has been quite some time since we've had a break."
"It would be nice to see my mum and dad again," Noriko added her thoughts as she looked Tai in the eyes. "I'd like it if you could come along too for a meal with them."
"I guess that some of us will have to arrange multiple meals." Izzy rubbed his chin as he glanced at Mimi. "A lot of us aren't lucky enough to have our partner's parents in the same place as our own parents."
Davis sighed before a grin spread across his lips. "That is rather tricky, but it's an excuse for us to have two meals instead. We'll double that morale boost that Joe mentioned and be even more rested."
"That's not quite how it works." Yolei shook her head as she rubbed her temples. "But you're right that those of us in a relationship would have to go to two meals, and I'd like that."
"That's fine," Tai finally gave his opinion and smiled as he glanced around his friends. "I agree with Joe's point about it being good for us and, personally, I'd like to see my parents again. It'll be good to sit down and have dinner with them before we reclaim Tokyo. I'd like to have dinner with Noriko's parents too."
"Thanks Tai." Kari gave her brother a smile, which he replied to with a nod. She glanced at TK and noticed that he seemed just as happy as she was that they were going to be able to have this meal. "I'll let Mum know and we'll get something arranged."
TK watched from Megakabuterimon's hand as the giant bug and the Digidestined with him waited at the rendezvous point. The other Chosen Digimon were ambushing the largest group of Deep Ones and evil Digimon that they'd found that day but it still wasn't anything like the strength and sizes that they'd battled before Daemon attacked Dragomon. They were making quick work of everything and had already taken out five other platoons of bad guys since they began after lunch.
Magnaangemon's Gate of Destiny pulled in the Deep Ones as the other Chosen Digimon took out the marine monsters in between the shadowy amphibians. Explosions threw dust into the air as attacks rained down on their targets before everything fell silent. The last few Deep Ones were sucked into the Gate of Destiny before the gold doors shut and it disappeared. The Chosen Digimon flew over to the Digidestined and devolved to their normal forms as they landed next to their partners.
"That was rather easy," Mimi mused aloud as she glanced around the city. "Dragomon still isn't sending out as many patrols as he was before."
"Yeah, it was." TK nodded before he checked what his extra sense was telling him. "It's not like there are any areas around here that have more bad guys in either."
"The area we cleared yesterday doesn't have any groups of Deep Ones or evil Digimon in at all," Kari added as she shared a glance with her husband. "Dragomon isn't even sending forces to reoccupy most of the areas we've cleared over the past few days and, like we did earlier, we can clear out the few groups he's sent in rather easily."
When they'd left the base, both TK and Kari had sensed that the area of Tokyo where they'd performed their ambushes after returning from having lunch with their mothers was still empty. They'd even checked it out before going on to clear out the few groups that had re-entered the areas where the Digidestined had defeated all of the bad guys in since Dragomon battled Daemon. It meant that they were slowly regaining control over parts of the city without even having to put their plans into action.
"Having large clear areas like that will make reclaiming Tokyo much easier than if those places were still full of Deep Ones. We won't have to worry about them hiding in buildings to avoid us and things like that," Izzy commented as he stared at a map of the city on his laptop. "It might also give us a safe staging point to bring our Digimon friends to Earth from the Digital World."
"Anything that makes it easier for us to reclaim Tokyo is a good thing," Matt replied as he gazed out over the rooftops. "We'll need safe areas and this can be one large one if we can keep it free of bad guys between now and when we put our plans into action."
TK nodded. "That's true and I think that there are a few more areas that we can probably easily clear the Deep Ones out from so that we have a few more safe zones."
"Where should be go for our next ambush?" Megakabuterimon asked as he took to the air. "Shall we keep making this clear area even bigger?"
TK closed his eyes and focused on his extra sense for a moment. He could sense all of the groups of bad guys around them even if they weren't as strong as they had been. The blonde teen reopened is eyes and glanced at Kari before they both gazed eastwards.
"Head in that direction and we'll come across a few groups of Deep Ones and Evil Digimon." TK pointed to where he and Kari had sensed the strongest dark energy. "If we beat them, we'll make the area we've cleared out even larger."
Megakabuterimon nodded before he set off towards their next target. "Got it."
"Is anyone else worried about what Dragomon and Metalseadramon are up to?" Sora spoke up as she glanced around at the others. "Metalseadramon hasn't been on any patrols since that battle with Daemon, Lilithmon and Skullsatamon. I thought that he would have come back by now and it's rather worrying that he hasn't."
"Maybe Daemon's friends and Imperialdramon hurt Metalseadramon worse that we realised?" Hiroshi replied with a hopeful hint in his tone. "They did do a lot of damage to him. It should make it easier for us to beat him and get revenge for what he did, right?"
"In theory, he should be weaker." Izzy nodded before pausing for a moment. "However, if he's resting and recovering from any injuries that he might have, it will mean he'll be regaining his strength and be stronger for when we're ready to put our plans into action."
"It means that staying out of our reach is probably the sensible thing for Metalseadramon to do right now," Kari sighed as she glanced southwards towards where she could sense the dark energy coming from Dragomon. "If he is hurt from that fight, he would be easier for us to beat. We might be able to hunt him down and defeat him if he was on his normal patrols. Although, that's easier said than done if he's got his usual entourage."
"Could he be plotting something though?" Mimi asked before she sighed too. "You know what Metalseadramon is like. He's rather cunning and could be setting up something for us. He's set traps for us several times in the past."
Sora nodded. "That's what I'm worried about too. I keep thinking that he's up to something."
"Unfortunately, the only way for us to know that is to wait," Matt bemoaned as he placed his hands on his hips. "If Metalseadramon is hiding and plotting something in the depths of the ocean, there's nothing that we can do to get to him and stop him."
"Yeah." TK frowned as he nodded. "I just hope we're able to counter whatever his plan is. Every time Metalseadramon has done something like this, he's pulled off some kind of attack that puts us on the backfoot."
Tai watched as Wargreymon and Silphymon rained attacks down on the small group of Deep Ones that they'd found to ambush in Chiba. The Chosen's attacks added to the gouges and craters already littering the landscape following the clash between Daemon's army and Dragomon's forces. Dragomon had finally sent a few patrols back into this area but they were very weak and no threat to the Digidestined.
"That was too easy," Davis commented as Wargreymon finished off the last of the Deep Ones. "I think we should head back to the barrier again. We know there are a lot of bad guys there."
"We will do," Tai replied as his partner and Silphymon made their way over to Imperialdramon. They returned to their rookie forms as they landed on their friend's back. "We came out here to make sure that Dragomon wasn't building up his forces in this area again and to get a few readings so that we can triangulate his position."
"I wonder if Dragomon had gathered the Deep Ones and his Digimon here because he was expecting Daemon's attack?" Noriko asked nobody in particular. "Could he have been waiting for Daemon and setting a trap for him?"
"I guess that's possible." Yolei adjusted her glasses before running her hand through her long hair. "Although, I doubt we'll ever be able to find out."
"The Megadramon did say that Dragomon was sending forces to try and reclaim the Dark Ocean from Daemon," Cody added his thoughts. "Maybe Dragomon found something out from that and sent his forces here because of it."
"Whatever the reason is, there aren't many bad guys here now," Davis huffed as he glanced around. "It was crawling with them and there were lots of ripe pickings, but now there's nothing."
"Part of that is because a lot were defeated," Ken pointed out to his friend as he gestured to the battle-scarred land below them. "We took out a huge chunk of those bad guys when Imperialdramon used his Mega Crusher on them too."
The younger of the goggle-heads chuckled. "Good point. We did take out a lot of them ourselves at the end when Daemon had left."
"I wonder …" Tai trialled off as he processed the thought running through his mind at that moment. "I wonder if Metalseadramon was patrolling this area like he was because he knew that both us and Daemon might be here."
"There's a possibility of it." Joe nodded. "Although, the only way we could find out if that is the case would be to send Gomamon down into the depths of the ocean to ask him, and I don't think that's going to happen."
"Not a chance," Gomamon huffed and folded his flippers. "Besides, you'd have to join me and nobody wants to see you in a skin-tight wetsuit, Joe."
Tai laughed along with the other Digidestined before he glanced out over the side of Imperialdramon. They really had done a number on this area and he knew that it would never be the same. The young man hoped that their next major battle wouldn't do as much collateral damage because, if it did, they might accidentally take out half of Tokyo in the process. What would be the point in liberating the city if there was nothing left of it?
The goggle-head pushed those thoughts aside for the moment because he knew that they had a task to do now. "Let's get on with our patrol. The longer we spend talking here, the longer it will take for us to get to the edge of the barrier. Let's get one more reading on Dragomon's location and ambush one more group of bad guys here before we head over to the barrier and target our enemies there."
Explosions echoed through the air as Davis watched from the back of Imperialdramon. Wargreymon and Silphymon were bombarding a large group of bad guys guarding the edge of the barrier against the army troops that were no doubt on the other side. More blasts reverberated as several more attacks struck their targets, throwing dust into the sky as several evil Digimon and plenty of Deep Ones were taken out.
Davis held on tightly as Imperialdramon lined up on several Marinedevimon that were making their way over to this area. The cannon on his partner's back lit up before he released his main attack. "Positron Laser!"
The beam cascaded towards the first of the three gigantic humanoid squids coming for their friends. It exploded on contact before slicing straight through the Marinedevimon's thick rubbery skin. It roared in pain before shattering into data, allowing Imperialdramon to arc his path and fire at the next foe in line. He took that out too before finishing off the third one and heading back to support his friends.
"Nice one, Imperialdramon," Davis cheered as he patted his partner. "Now let's take out some of the other bad guys on the ground."
"Roger." The giant dragon nodded before diving down and lining up his next attack. A group of Scorpiomon were in his sights and he fired his laser as soon as he had the perfect angle. The beam vaporised them instantly before it hit the ground, creating a large blast that threw more debris and Deep Ones up into the air.
Imperialdramon kept his attack going as he arced around, wiping out several Gesomon and Scubamon in the process. He left a large gouge where Deep Ones once were before swooping back up into the sky and preparing another run. The Digidestined had decided to allow Imperialdramon to help out Silphymon and Wargreymon so that they could inflict more damage on the bad guys guarding this area. Davis was glad that his partner could join in and that they were attacking here because he felt like this was the place that they could do the most damage now that the numbers of bad guys was lower everywhere else.
"Dragomon definitely seems to be replacing his forces here with new groups," Noriko pointed out as Imperialdramon attacked another section of the line next to the fog barrier. "He's moved more bad guys into this area again to replace those that we defeated yesterday."
"He certainly has," Ken confirmed with a nod. "I can sense that the levels of dark energy coming from this area are similar to what they were yesterday, so Dragomon is sending fresh troops in overnight to replace those that we take out."
"It's the opposite of what he's doing in the city and in Chiba," Keiko commented as she glanced around the others. "I guess he's wanting to reinforce the areas on the edge of the barrier the most."
"It makes sense." Davis nodded as he and the others held on. He paused for a moment to let Imperialdramon swoop down and take out another part of Dragomon's forces' frontlines. "The Self Defence Force are on the opposite side of the barrier in case Dragomon sends the Deep Ones to try and take control of more of Japan. Dragomon's probably worried as well about the army trying to push in and regain control of these areas as the barrier shrinks, so he's put the Deep Ones here to stop that."
"Yeah, it makes more sense for him to do that," Tai confirmed what his fellow goggle-head had said. "It makes less sense for him to boost his troops in the city and other areas he's occupied because all that does is present us with easier opportunities for ambushes. It looks like Dragomon now has rather limited resources and he's having to be more careful how he uses them."
"He's still got a lot of Deep Ones out in the ocean though," Ken pointed out. "The only time he's brought a lot of them close to the land was when Daemon attacked. Even then, that wasn't all of those that he's been keeping in reserve. To be honest, I'm surprised that he's not sent more of them to boost his forces in the city."
"Dragomon is scared that we'll just beat them all," Davis huffed before clenching his first. "He knows they don't have a chance, so he's not sending them to reenforce his current patrols in the city and surrounding areas."
"I hope that's the case," Cody sighed as the group held on again while Imperialdramon performed another attack run. "I'm starting to think that he might be planning something else now that he hasn't used them."
Hopefully, I've managed to show in the second scene of this chapter that Metalseadramon has really gotten into the Digidestineds' minds and they're always concerned about him. Given everything that Metalseadramon did in the first Adventure season and everything he's done in this story, I think the Chosen would be worried about him at all times because he's been coming up with new ways to fight back against them.
What do you think to the Digidestined clearing out whole areas of Tokyo before their plans have even started? Do you think that they can maintain these areas or do you think that the bad guys will get them back?
Please can you give me some feedback on these things and this chapter as a whole by posting a review? :D
Take care :D