At last, I can upload my next chapter. It's just been one thing after another lately, but I plan to make up for it by posting three, count 'em THREE chapters over the next three days. I've also got a surprise where my pics are being displayed. It should be up soon, and I hope you enjoy it. Now that that's out of the way, let's continue our little story. Last time, Tai and Matt were rushing back towards their friends with Ogremon, The other DigiDestined had been rescued by Wizardmon and Meramon, and Piximon had launched into a real knock-down, drag-out bout with Metaldracomon. And so, without further ado…
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Turn right at the next corner!" shouted Ogremon.
Ogremon and his two human companions were running down the hall at breakneck speed with Ogremon brining up the rear. A Tankmon was rapidly approaching from behind, and boy did he look mad. The three of them turned around the corner just as Tankmon fired, sending a shell sailing down the hall before crashing after nearly a hundred yards with an explosive impact.
"Keep running!" shouted Ogremon.
Neither Tai nor Matt had any interest in disobeying that order. They kept on running until Ogremon suddenly skidded to a halt. They turned to him, giving him a quizzical look.
"There's a door just around the corner on your left," said Ogremon. "You two go in there. I'll handle this guy."
"Whatever you say," said Tai.
The two humans followed Ogremon's instructions as Tankmon came barreling down the hall with his main weapon aimed directly at Ogremon. The green monster stood his ground though, ready to duke it out with Tankmon. Meanwhile, Tai and Matt had found their way into the room they had been directed to. In fact, it was a long hallway, and their friends were all there waiting for them.
"Tai!" shouted Agumon.
"You guys are alright!" cheered Gabumon.
"Perfect," said Wizardmon. "Now with those two here, we can finally mount a real attack."
"Wizardmon?" asked Tai.
"Yes, yes," said Meramon. "He's alive, get over it. We have precious little time to spare. We have to hurry."
"Hold it," said Matt. "I'm not going anywhere until I hear exactly what's going on."
"I should think it would be fairly obvious," said Wizardmon. "You don't honestly think that the virus could run an operation on this kind of scale without a few people noticing, do you? Andromon quickly realized the gravity of the situation, and he came here to act as a spy for us until we could get our forces organized. Unfortunately, the virus acted so quickly that we could only scrape together a small force. Still, we had to act when we did, or all would have been lost."
"Andromon is probably dead by now," Matt said coldly. "Trapped in a room with Geno, the Emperor, and Stormdramon isn't exactly the best way to stay alive."
"I see," muttered Meramon. "The loss of Andromon may prove devastating to our cause."
"Don't give up yet," said Wizardmon. "We still have the chief to take care of things."
"The chief?" asked the others all at once.
"Piximon," said Wizardmon. "One of the greatest digimon fighters of all time."
"Piximon…" said Mimi.
"Yes, Piximon," said Meramon. "But even he can't win this war on his own. He'll need you all to—"
At that moment, Ogremon landed heavily on his feet just outside the corridor. Tankmon came charging at him, but Ogremon pushed back with all his savage, brute strength. Both combatants were locked in an intense battle, both of them straining against each other. Tankmon's treads spun against the ground fruitlessly while Ogremon's sinewy arms bulged under the stresses, his veins swelling and his tendons creaking. He grunted loudly as Tankmon continued to make mechanical whirring noises. Upon seeing the two fighters, Keramon's mouth began to water.
"Food?" asked Keramon, looking up at Willis.
"Well… I guess so," said Willis, returning Keramon's glance. "Just make sure you only eat the one that's made of metal. Don't touch the big, scaly, green guy."
Keramon smiled voraciously, lunging forward with his tentacles flailing about him. Tankmon swatted Ogremon away and turned his head just in time to see Keramon's approach. The lumbering monster moved out of the way just in time to avoid a full-on head-butt from Keramon. Keramon quickly recovered and turned to attack Tankmon once again, only to be met with a hail of gunfire from his arm-mounted machine guns. Keramon dodged left and right, but was inevitably struck a few times, forcing him to back off. While Tankmon was distracted, Ogremon brought his bone club smashing down on his back, leaving a huge dent in his plated armor. This really only served to infuriate Tankmon even more. He turned both of his arm guns on Ogremon and began to fire. He topped the assault off with a blast from his nose gun. Ogremon was thrown back against the far wall, bruised and battered but still alive. Not wanting to be caught off guard again, Tankmon swiveled back to Keramon, only to find that the Rookie wasn't even there. His eyes dodged back and forth, seeking his prey. But slowly, they came to rest on his nose, where Keramon lay. With his tentacles thoroughly wrapped around Tankmon's nose gun, Keramon opened his grinning mouth wide and fired his Bug Blaster directly into Tankmon's eyes. One after another, the pulsating spheres of red light pounded Tankmon in the face, sending up dust and debris and causing the mechanical monster to flail about wildly. Keramon dropped to the ground and eyed Tankmon's stomach. Keramon, with that same crazy smile he always had, latched onto Tankmon's chest plate with his mouth. One swift bite later, Tankmon found a small hole in his stomach, and Keramon was gulping down the metal plate as metal shavings splintered off from his vicious, animalistic eating style. Once he finished with his appetizer, Keramon dove into the wound headfirst and the rest of his body slithering in behind him, looking for the main course.
"Whoa…" said Willis.
Tankmon remained motionless for a moment, a look of shock frozen on his face. But then he completely lost control of his body. His arms flailed about and his treads jerked back and forth. His upper body shook violently until he slumped forward and shut down. The DigiDestined then watched as his data destabilized and broke apart, only to be sucked up by Keramon as though he were slurping down a really long noodle. Once he had ingested all of Tankmon's data, Keramon let out a satisfied belch. He looked like he was about to say something, but suddenly his eyes grew wide. His body began to shake and glow.
"Keramon?" asked Willis. "Are you okay?"
"This doesn't look good!" said Yolei. "I told you that guy was bad news!"
"Heh, heh, heh…" chuckled Keramon. "Keramon, digivolve to… Kurisarimon!"
With a bright flash of light, Keramon digivolved to his Champion form. He floated there in the air, tentacles swishing about, projecting from his super-dense exoskeleton.
"Wow…" said Willis. "He digivolved."
"I think we've just found a valuable ally," said Meramon.
"Definitely," said Wizardmon. "If all he needs to digivolve is to eat some data, then I'd say Geno has set up a nice, big buffet for him. Now we've got an ace up our sleeve."
"We haven't got the time to just hang around here," warned Meramon.
"You are correct," said Wizardmon, reaching into his cloak and pulling out a pair of old digivices. "Tai, Matt; I believe these belong to you."
"What do you want us to do with these?" asked Tai.
"Simple," said Wizardmon. "You two need to go face Geno, or at least keep him busy. Those were the only two digivices I was able to secure, so the rest of us will retrieve the others, and we might as well pick up that DigiEgg while we're at it."
"Uh, I really don't like the sound of that," said Tai. "I really, really, really think it would be a bad idea to send just the two of us up against that guy. There's no way we can beat him! Before I was kinda' lost in the moment, but now that I stop to think about it, wouldn't it just be a lot safer to just get out of here as quickly as we can?"
"I'll go," said Matt. "I need to pay him back for the way he treated me. Just don't stick me with Tai. I can handle it on my own."
"What's with you two?" asked TK.
"It's their crests," said Wizardmon. "They haven't yet recovered from what the virus did to them. Still, they're the best shot we have at distracting Geno."
"But are you sure?" asked Davis. "Can we actually send them into battle like this?"
"We don't have a choice," said Wizardmon. "Agumon! Gabumon! Watch over your partners. They'll need your help now more than ever."
"Right," said Agumon and Gabumon.
"Tai, I know you're scared," said Kari. "Just do this for me. You can do it, I know you can."
"Well, I guess," Tai said hesitantly. "But you'd better come help out as soon as you can."
"Matt?" asked TK. "I know it'll be hard, but you've got to work with Tai on this one."
"Fine," huffed Matt. "Just tell him not to get in my way."
"So are we ready?" asked Meramon.
"Good to go," said Gabumon.
"More food?" asked Kurisarimon, his voice a little more sane than it had been previously.
"You got it," said Willis.
"Count me in," said Ogremon as he stood up and wiped the blood from his face.
"Then let's head out!" said Gomamon.
Elsewhere, the sounds of battle rang loud and clear. The pounding noise of metal striking metal reverberated throughout the dank hallways. Two highly skilled opponents were locked in a seemingly endless battle for their lives. Metaldracomon's claw pierced the ground where Piximon had stood just a moment before. Piximon reappeared behind the vile behemoth and made a powerful swing with his spear, only to have it blocked at the last second by Metaldracomon's free claw. With Piximon momentarily stunned, Metaldracomon dragged his other claw from the ground and slammed it into Piximon from the side. Piximon was knocked to the ground, bounced once, did a perfect flip, and landed on his feet in a fighting stance. Metaldracomon wasted no time charging swiftly and determinedly. He sliced at the tiny Piximon, but the nimble little Ultimate dodged back a few steps. Metaldracomon took another rapid step forward and sliced in with the other claw, but Piximon dodged again in the same manner. This continued a few more times with Metaldracomon slicing, Piximon dodging, and Metaldracomon coming in again. Finally, once Metaldracomon had Piximon up against the wall, he made one last thrust with his left claw, but Piximon dodged, bounced off the wall, and did a flip over Metaldracomon's head. The instant Piximon landed, Metaldracomon slammed his powerful tail into the ground where Piximon landed, but Piximon rolled out of the way just in time and got off to a running start. Metaldracomon spun around and fired his Mecha Claw at Piximon. Piximon sensed the approaching attack, and he quickly turned on his heel and dodged under the pointed blades at the tip of Metaldracomon's claw. He then proceeded to grab the heavy chain of the claw and he gave it a hearty pull. Metaldracomon was so caught off guard by this that he couldn't resist the force of Piximon's maneuver and was pulled through the air at an alarming rate. Once Metaldracomon was in close enough, Piximon booted the beast in the chin, putting a sudden stop to his flight. Piximon backed it up with a potent punch to the stomach before ramming the full strength of his body into Metaldracomon's chest. Metaldracomon was thrown back and skidded along the ground. Shakily, he reopened his eyes and retracted his claw.
"I must say, I'm impressed," said Metaldracomon. "Your reputation is certainly well earned."
"I'm just getting warmed up," said Piximon, cracking a smile.
"Well I hope you're all stretched then," said Metaldracomon. "Because I'm ready to get down to the real fight."
"I'm ready any time you are."
Metaldracomon leaped to his feet. Moving with practically obscene speed, he charged at Piximon, his claws ready to tear him to shreds. Piximon leaped into the air and easily countered, deflecting every blow with his spear. Their movements were utterly graceful, and the speed with which they moved made the whole scene like a blur. Dodging, slicing, blocking… it was like a ballet. Every move was flawless. They moved around the room rapidly as they dueled, and that was really what this had become. It was a duel. With every blow their movements grew quicker. Every blow they threw at each other was either deflected or dodged. Piximon's small size and incredible agility was a huge advantage for him, but Metaldracomon's sheer power and unnatural speed also served him well. Piximon's moves consisted largely of spins and flips. He dodged one claw, spun around and hit the other with his spear, and then spun around again in the other direction to block a blow from the first. When the second claw attacked again he did a back flip into the air, but Metaldracomon performed a rapid spin of his own, lashing out at Piximon with his tail once again. Piximon was just barely able to dodge the attack, but he did it nonetheless. Once he landed, Piximon forcefully extended his free hand at Metaldracomon and yelled, sending ripples of some unseen energy through the air. Metaldracomon was knocked back momentarily, but he swiftly retaliated by sweeping the ground with his foot. Piximon jumped into the air, but Metaldracomon finished his sweep in came in with a kick at Piximon from where he still sat on the ground. Piximon backed out of the way and Metaldracomon finished his second spin, standing up as he did so and thrusting his right claw at Piximon. Piximon grabbed onto the claw and used it to pull himself forward, throwing his feet into Metaldracomon's impenetrable gut. Metaldracomon was stunned, but not out. He swiftly elbowed Piximon in the top of the skull and punted him across the room. Piximon caught himself though, landing softly on the opposite wall and just staying there, glaring at Metaldracomon. Both combatants were breathing rapidly and sweat had begun to bead on their skin.
"Pretty impressive, kid," said Piximon. "It's a shame Gennai couldn't see you. You're in rare form today."
"Enough of this!" shouted Metaldracomon. "I'm THROUGH playing around with you! It's time to DIE!"
The crosshairs in Metaldracomon's right eye glowed as they locked in on Piximon. Metaldracomon swung his right arm into position, shaking from the struggle. The large red jewel on his chest was glowing brightly.
"GIGA FLARE!!!"