Chapter 8: Under and Out
"Y-y-y-y-you know, I wish that th-th-th-there was s-s-s-some way to k-k-keep warm up he-e-e-ere!" Ash sid through chattering teeth.
"Y-y-you said it!" Davis answered.
"Oh, my heroes!" Tina muttered. (She wasn't cold at all.) "Would you say it's cold enough to keep this food good?"
"Tina, th-there's snow on the ground!" Davis shot back.
"…Okay, that'll be cold enough. Let's get going back, already. Ikudramon, you can carry all of us back?"
"That I can. All you have to do is climb on---"
"Howling laser!" Impostrogarurumon's attack struck Ikudramon, and she regressed back to Youngdramon.
"Hey, where are your manners?!" Youngdramon spat, rubbing her back.
"Not you again!" Stingmon complained as The Unnamed Figure made his presence known.
"Yes, me again!" he shot back. "…And I thought we had done away with you! Oh, well…I'll fix this problem! It's time you met another of my new friends. Maggotmon?" Maggotmon was an exact color inverse of Wormmon: Wormmon was green and black, while Maggotmon was red and white. "And now," The Unnamed Figure continued, "Digi-modify! Digivolution, activate!"
"Maggotmon, digivolve to…Pestilimon!" Pestilimon looked like a giant centipede with long, pincer-like legs.
"Time to finish the rest of you off! Digi-modify! DNA digivolution, activate!"
"Impostrogarurumon!"
"Pestilimon!"
"DNA digivolve to…Eindramon!" Eindramon looked like Paildramon, but with his colors completely different. There was yellow where there had been blue on Paildramon, and red where there had been green. Like Maggotmon was to Wormmon, he was like a color inverse of Paildramon.
"You do realize that two can play at that game, right?" Exveemon asked.
"Let's do it!" Ken shouted. He and Davis clapped their digivices together.
"Exveemon!"
"Stingmon!"
"DNA digivolve to…Paildramon!"
"We're not done yet!" The Unnamed Figure shouted.
"Eindramon, mode-change to…stealth mode!" Eindramon became invisible, making the battle very interesting.
"I can do that, too!" Paildramon shouted back. "Paildramon, mode-change to…stealth mode!"
"This is the weirdest battle I've ever seen! …Or, more to the point, not seen!" Hare thought aloud. All they could see were random shots flying this way and that: both digimon were shooting blind.
"This is bad," Ash said. "This reminds me of that battle with Morty…hey, wait a minute! Noctowl! I choose you!" Noctowl jumped out of Ash's pokéball. "Noctowl, there are two big flying digimon in a fight, but we can't see where either one is. Fill this whole place with Confusion so that we can see them!" Noctowl spread a light blue glow around, and they could tell from the shadows where Paildramon and Eindramon were…although it was impossible to tell which was which: the attack showed shadows, not color, and color was about the only thing that could distinguish the two ultimates. They could only tell which was which when one of the two digimon fired, because Eindramon's shots were rusty-orange while Paildramon's were blue. There wasn't very much at all that the people on the ground could do except watch, and they could barely do that. It was the weirdest fight ever, where brains mattered more than brawn.
Finally, there was the indentation of Paildramon's (or Eindramon's) body in the snow. Which one had the upper hand, nobody knew.
"Fine then!" The Unnamed Figure shouted. "Digi-modify! Strength, activate!"
The figure on the ground rolled out from under the figure on top, and an invisible spike stabbed the ground where he (or it?) had been a moment before.
"Desperado Blaster!" A cloud of snow flew up into the air as one of the two figures smacked the ground. In a flash of light, two digimon appeared: Ewemon and Maggotmon.
"Now! We need to destroy those two things fast, or he'll get a chance to use them again!" Davis shouted to Paildramon.
"Not so fast! Digi-modify! Digivolution, activate!"
"Darkpatamon, digivolve to…Avatarmon!"
"Digi-modify! Counter-crest digivolution, activate!"
"Avatarmon, digivolve to…Venomavatarmon!" Venomavatarmon looked like Magnaangemon, but it had longer arms and wings, and the undersides of its wings were covered with little circles of metal. It spread its wings and shouted, "Pyrus Rings!" and each circle glowed and fired a blue ring of flame out blindly as it ran towards the two fallen rookie digi-clones and picked them up. It ran back to The Unnamed Figure, picked him up, and flew away with him.
"So much for taking them out," Paildramon lamented.
"Let's just get back to the others. I don't think he'll be attacking again," Davis yelled.
******
"Interesting information, agent."
"It's not a good thing at all that they're back. Let me tell you: they're getting smarter every day."
"Hmm…you have had the most experience with them. What's your recommendation?"
"You need to up the capacity of my D-Gauntlet. I've only been able to digivolve two or three of my digimon at a time. We need to take that number up!"
"As of now, our scientists deem that impossible. You would need a digivice 0.88 cubic meters in volume to achieve six simultaneous digivolutions, with the kind of capacity you're suggesting."
The Unnamed Figure growled. "There has to be some way!"
"There is another option our scientists have found: we have more data from the obtained artifact that should prove…useful."
"I see…"
"There are two parts to this data. One part will only take a few days to implement. The other will more time. But we would need your D-Gauntlet to enact part one."
"So I'd get a vacation?"
"No. You would use our spare D-Gauntlet. It has no connection to our digi-clones, but it does have the ability to control ator for you."
"Hmm. There's one other idea I have: they never saw my face, thanks to that big cloak you gave me. Is there any chance that you'd be able to…use me as a spy, or a mole?"
"That is a question I will consider further."
******
Starmie jumped out of the water with a net full of fish dragging behind it. It has a bright, contented shine to it, and it let out a loud noise to let Misty know it was back.
Cody walked up to them. "That looks like a pretty good catch, but it's not much to go around for forty people. I think you'd better go back for another trip."
Starmie let out a surprised noise, and then collapsed, and its ruby began to blink. Misty called it back into its pokéball. "I'm afraid Starmie is a little too tired to go back for another trip."
Cody sighed. "The digimon take priority. Next come the sick people, and then the children."
"Can't one of us go up to the surface and look for some food in one of the stores, or something?"
"You probably won't find anything fresh."
"Uh…me?"
"Didn't you just volunteer?"
"Well, I didn't exactly mean me going up there, but…" Misty sighed. "It's one way to get out of this place."
"You shouldn't go alone," T.K. cautioned.
"I'll go with her," Tracy offered.
Misty looked at him with a confused expression.
"Okay. See you later."
"We hope," Misty answered. She and Tracy climbed the long ladder up the manhole, and Misty stopped when she reached the top. "Hold on a second, hand me Merrill's pokéball."
"What for?"
"I want to have him listen for menace machines."
"Okay."
Merrill listened closely, and he heard something. He motioned for them to go back down.
"Well, that was quick," Cody thought aloud.
"There were menace machines up at the top. We're going to try again in a few minutes."
"Good choice. All we need is to be discovered, right now."
******
"Why are you stopping, Sablemon?" Rika asked.
"Just taking a short break."
"Should I use my stamina card?"
"No, don't give me any more modifications. The less energy I use, the shorter it will take for me to recover afterwards." Sablemon stood there for a while, and then she picked up the boxcar again and began carrying it further. She stopped in front of an alleyway and slid the boxcar into the alley. "Everybody off!" she said.
"This is where we're stopping?"
"It's as good a place as any," Sablemon answered as she regressed back to Renamon. Panting, she added, "Now, let's get inside before we're seen."
******
"Hear anything, Merrill?"
Merrill waved his hand for silence. He paused, and gave Tracy and Misty a thumb's up.
"Great. Then you can stop weighing down my shoulder," Misty thought aloud. Tracy called Merrill back. Misty pressed against the manhole cover, but it wouldn't budge. "Huh? Ungh!" Misty grunted as she tried to get the cover loose.
"What's the matter?"
"The cover…won't…come up at all!"
"Let me try."
"For us to change places on this ladder, we'd both have to go all the way back down, switch at the bottom, and then climb all the way back up."
"If we can't get the cover open, then we'll just be going back down to the bottom, anyway," Tracy pointed out.
Tracy and Misty switched places, but Tracy couldn't get the cover to budge, either. Wiping sweat off his forehead, he said, "It must really be jammed shut. I have an idea, though."
"What's that?"
"We'll need to climb down a little ways for it to work. Scizor, I choose you!" Scizor clamped onto the ladder with his lobster-like claws. "Scizor, use your Metal claw to cut through the manhole cover!" An orange glow shone down from the manhole as Scizor began cutting through. But something strange happened as they cut through…