Digimon Z Chapter 28

Foreword: Don't have a whole lot to say right now, so let's just move on.

The airship CYBER, piloted by number 2, followed the BOUNTY at a distance. 2 had stuck a tracer on the BOUNTY while Sting was trying to find out where his targets were. The BOUNTY landed at an abandoned factory, where Sting got off. 2 landed the CYBER and quietly followed Sting. Sting walked into a dark corridor. 2 powered up a blaster attached to his arm. He walked into the corridor, ready to start shooting. Suddenly, a net came form no where and wrapped around 2. He fell over and Sting walked out of the corridor. "Nice try," Sting said in his usual tone, "with the tracer. Too bad the BOUNTY's sensors can pick any tracer." "This net will not hold me long," said 2. "True," said Sting, "but I doubt even you can break free before this goes off." Sting pulled out a small time bomb. He tossed it on to 2 and left the factory. 2 examined the net. he looked at the bomb. It read fifty seconds. 2's armor was very strong, but not strong enough to handle the bomb at this range. Seeing no other options, he sent his memory to the other four. Then the bomb went off.

***

"This is very unfortunate," said 3. They had just received the transmission 2 sent upon his destruction. "We have underestimated Sting's resourcefulness," said 4. "Yes," said 5, "But now he believes that we are gone. Another confrontation should surprise him." "I'll go," said 3. "5 and myself shall develop a new plan to capture our targets," said 4.

***

"Nova Blast!" Tai launched a fireball at a bounty hunter. It was only a day since the Digi-Destined finally got out of the jungle when a bunch of bounty hunters attacked them. They seemed to come in teams and this was the fourth. This team had only two. They didn't even introduce themselves. They just attacked. Unsuccessfully. The one Tai was fighting was blue with a long neck and had the head of an ant-eater. The fireball caught him in the chest, disintegrating the armor. The hunter struggled to his feet, but a ki blast dealt with that. A short, fat, red bounty hunter who looked like to balls stacked on each other jumped at Matt. "Mega Beam!" Thanks to Pixiemon's training, Matt could pull this attack off with less than a second needed for charging and it didn't drain all of his energy anymore. The blast struck the hunter, vaporizing him. "Mega Beam?" questioned Tai, "Wasn't that just a tad overkill?" "I wanted to make it quick," Matt answered. "It's pretty obvious why Sting was considered the best," said Sora, "He's the only one who actually put up a fight." "I see some buildings up ahead," interrupted Izzy. He pointed to where he was looking. It looked like a small town. "Maybe we can rest there," said Mimi, hopeful. "Well," said Tai, "It'd be nice to see some civilization again." They walked over to the town. When they got there, it seemed empty. "Where'd everyone go?" asked TK. "I wish I knew, bro," answered Matt. Then a bunch of figures darted out from behind the buildings. Instantly, they surrounded the Digi-Destined. They each had a black uniform and scouters. The uniforms were straight black except on the front where there was a small picture of shield with two swords crossing behind it. They also had a grey belt with different objects, most likely weapons, attached. Most noticible was the blasters they pointed at the Digi-Destined. The big blasters. Tai remembered a few bounty hunters using these weapons. Tai thought, "Stay behind me, TK," Matt ordered. TK did as he was told. "What have we got here?" one guy asked. He looked like a werelizard. "Looks like intruders to me," another answered. A werebird. "I'll bet they're Brigaderssss," hissed a weresnake. "Check their power levels, Birdmon" ordered the were-lizard. The werebird called Birdmon activated his scouter. Tai didn't worry too much. Tai ordered telepathically. "They all register at 5, Lizardmon" Birdmon reported. "I think they-re hiding their powerssss," hissed the weresnake. "Well, Snakemon," said Lizardmon, "I'll have to check." He threw a ki blast Tai. Tai deflected it with his hand. "It jumped," reported Birdmon. "How much?" questioned Lizardmon. "The number went up to, whoa!" Birdmon's eyes widened, "55,000!" "Only a Brigader could be that strong," said Lizardmon. He turned his attention to the Digi-Destined. "Who's the leader here?" "I am," said Tai. He stepped foreward. Lizardmon looked at Tai. "Tell us what we want to know, and we might show some mercy," instructed Lizardmon, "Why did Viral send you here?" "Who?" Tai was confused. "Don't play dumb with me!" Lizardmon snapped, "If you value your life, tell me why Viral sent you here!" "I don't even who this Viral is! What makes you so sure we work for him?!" "I know you work for Viral, because only his soldiers can become that strong! Anyone who doesn't work for him, is killed if they reach even 20,000. You're over double that! So don't play dumb with me, Brigader scum!" "That's enough," a gruff voice said. Another figure walked out on crutches. He looked like a werelion. As he got in front the other guys, Tai noticed he only had one leg. His leg seemed to be cut off at the knee. "But sir Leomon," Lizardmon said, "They're Brigaders. How else could they be so strong?" "They're not part of the Virus Brigade," Leomon said, "Their ki is too light to be considered an enemy." "Very well sir," answered Lizardmon. He turned to other soldiers. "Lay down your arms!" he commanded before walking off. "What was all that about?" asked Tai. "My army is just a bit paranoid," Leomon answered, "Anyway, I'm Leomon. A champion-level (A/N: At least I think he's a champion. Doesn't seem strong enough to be an ultimate.) digimon capable of a powerful attack called Fist of the Beast King. At least I was. Before my, ah, injury." Leomon pointed to his missing leg. "Lose it in battle?" asked Tai. "Nope," answered Leomon, "I was torchered. By a ruthless digimon named Scorchermon. He did a method called the hundred points of pain which is a hundred extremely painful techniques he does to a victim. At point thirty, I was struggling too much and my leg was severed. Then I was rescued. I could've used a healing berry to undo it, but they can only undo damage done in the last twenty-four hours, so we couldn't find any in time." "That sounds terrible," said Sora. "'Terrible' doesn't begin to describe it," Leomon answered, "The few who actually lived all one hundred were begging Scorchermon to kill them. Now I'm in charge this group. We're called the Guardians." "I take it you're enemies of this 'Viral' character?" Tai asked. "Yes," asnwered Leomon, "We're actually the strongest group opposing the Virus Brigade. Yet our numbers are so low. We'd get more, but most digimon are too afraid of the Brigade to stand up to it and if we get much bigger, a network set up by Etomon will reveal us. Then the Virus Brigade would be on us in no time. If we could get rid of Etomon's network, we could operate more freely, but Etomon is too strong. All the digimon that were strong to try fight him were killed by Viral." "Who's Viral?" Tai asked. "You're not from around here, are you?" Leo said. Tai shook his head. "Well," Leomon answered, "Viral is terrorist who showed up a couple years ago. He united every Virus-type digimon to form the Virus Brigade and started a war of conquest. In just a couple months, the Brigade had already proved to be force to be reckoned with. It wasn't too long before every army of Vaccine-types that could oppose him were wiped out. The most powerful digimon in the Digital World, with power levels in the millions, couldn't last five minutes in a battle Viral. He's the most powerful being in the digital world. He's also the most evil." "Would that be why Lizardmon seems so determined to get rid of anyone working for Viral?" "Not entirely. Lizardmon has a personal score in this. He was from a small town called Trinit. Some members of our team were hiding there, since Trinit is backwater enough, that hardly ever goes there. Viral caught on, and now, Trinit is just a smoking crater in the ground. Lizardmon, more than anything, wants to see Viral go down, but no one is strong enough. It would take decades of training for any of our power levels to get high enough. But enough about us. Who are you?" Tai told Leomon the whole story. "Trained by Pixiemon?" Leomon seemed impressed, "That explains your power levels. And you were the ones who beat Chaos? That is impressive." "Don't forget about our run-in with Sting," Matt told Tai. "Right, right," Tai answered and then told Leomon about their encounter with Sting. "You actually escaped Sting? That's first. No one ever escapes Sting. He'll be back." "I doubt it," said Tai, "I blasted him pretty good." "Don't be too sure about that," Leomon warned, "Sting took heavy hits before and kept on going. You better be careful next time you see him, because he'll be better prepared. Sting has a success rating of a hundred percent." Before Tai could respond, Birdmon came running up. "Sir!" he said, "We have a problem! It's Metalshockromon!" "Quickly!" Leomon commanded, "We have to hide!" "Who's Metalshockromon?!" Tai asked while he and the others followed Leomon. "Metalshockromon is an Ultimate-level digimon whose armor can withstand just about any kind of attack and has a reflective coating to prevent a blaster. He's probably even stronger than you are," Leomon answered, "We'll stay in this building. Everyone keep your power levels down. He relies on a scouter. But he is strong. Very strong. And fast." Metalshockromon approached the town. "I know someone's hiding here!" he called out, "So give yourself up already!" He looked just like Shockromon, but he was silver. He looked like he was made of aluminum. "Don't try hiding from me! My new toy here is glowing and that means you're here!" He held up a small object. "What is that?" Tai whispered. "A crest," Leomon whispered back, "that the Brigade stole. These crests supposedly glow when they're near the person they belong to. They can give a huge increase in power level and that's why the Brigade stole them. I think that one represents courage." "Hey Tai," Matt whispered, "Doesn't that like the crests Pixiemon told us about?" "Yeah, it does," Tai answered, "and Knifemon kept calling me Warrior of Courage...I think that crest is mine." Tai got up. "What are doing?" Leomon hissed, "He'll find you." "He'll find me anyway," Tai answered, "If that's the crest of courage, then it's mine. I'm going to get from that guy."

Afterword: Once again, I stop when a fight's about break out. Annoying, huh? Now I've introduced the Guardians. And with names like Lizardmon, Birdmon, and Snakemon, it's just dead obvious that names aren't exactly my strong point. Next time, on Digimon Z: The battle between Tai and Metalshockromon begins and 3 ambushes the BOUNTY with the CYBER.