Chapter 45: Impressive Displays

"You mean that all we have to do is get touched by one of those stone-things, and then we get enough energy to do an Ultra Attack, chi?" Moochi asked.

"That's the way it worked for me," Hare answered. I was Firabbit, and Brock hit me with his fire stone. Then I feel a rush of energy and shoot two huge fireballs at Rainmyotismon…and boy, did that digi-clone earn it!"

Tiger snorted. "Was Renamon impressed?"

"I was too focused on the battle to glance over and check," Hare answered. "I bet you've never had that feeling," he taunted.

"I oughtta eat you…!"

"CHI!!" Moochi cut in. "I've heard enough of you two fighting, chi!" He ran away in an emotional wreck.

"What's the problem with him?" Suezo asked.

"Sensitive," was Golem's one-word answered. "But he's right…you two fight too much."

Tiger and Hare looked back at each other…and it was apparent that both of them were determined to win the fight over Renamon. But, since fighting each other wasn't an option…

******

"What do you mean 'I should come along'?" Renamon asked.

"What do you mean, 'What do you mean, "I should come along"?'?" Tiger and Hare asked in unison.

"What do you mean, 'What do you mean, "What do you mean 'I should come along'?"?'?"

"What do you---mean---" Hare could see where this was going. "What's keeping you from coming with us? This is a hunt for leftover obelaser spires and unfairy-ring factories; we need to destroy them all before we can get any leverage in this war."

"I'm not as much use to you since Rika lost the warp-digivolution card."

"Oh, but how many mega-level opponents do you see in a day?" Tiger asked. "And even if you do, we have a trick up ours sleeves for them."

"Like what?"

"You'll see."

A bead of sweat trickled down the back of Renamon's head as she realized that these two weren't taking "no" for an answer. She decided to get Rika and play along---hoping that they wouldn't find anything too terrible.

Of course, Yolei want their party to be even bigger: she made Ash and Tina tag along, too. This wasn't something Tiger and Hare had counted on, but they figured they could still keep the act together.

"So…where do we start looking for leftover spires?" Renamon asked.

"Over this-a-way," Hare pointed.

"Any particular reason that we're going that way?" Ash asked.

"No…none I can think of, anyway," Hare answered. It became obvious that he was lying as time progressed, and they finally came to what they were looking for: it was a park that was loaded down with obelasers. Why the Linonians had decided to fill a place so completely with the spires was beyond them, but one thing was for sure: destroying the obelasers would throw a monkey wrench into the Linonians' plans.

"Jackpot!" Hare shouted as they had to dodge a blast of the obelasers' Ota V'ver attack.

"If this is good, I'd hate to see bad!" Rika shouted. "How are we supposed to attack these if we can't digivolve?"

"We go a little ways outside their range and then module-evolve!" Hare answered.

"Why just module-evolve?"

"Remember the 'secret trick' we have up our sleeves?" Tiger asked.

Rika wasn't sure she wanted to know, and Renamon was even less sure: she knew that this was probably to impress her. She wasn't inclined towards being impressed, but she retreated with the rest of them to behind a building.

"Ready?" Hare asked, holding the digi-egg of friendship out to Tiger.

"Ready!" Tiger answered, holding the digi-egg of courage out to Hare.

"Hare, module-evolve to…Firabbit!"

"Tiger, module-evolve to…Thunderdog!"

"Pidgeot, I choose you!" Ash shouted, tossing out his biggest bird's pokéball.

"So…do we do anything?" Rika asked.

"It doesn't look like we do; no," Renamon answered.

"So we are just along for the ride?" Rika's mouth dropped open. "I can't believe we came along just because---" Rika's sentence trailed off as Firabbit dragged her away, towards the park.

Another blast flew out at them, and that was easy enough to dodge.

Ash shouted, "Pidgeot, use Mirror Move!" Pidgeot fired the beam right back at the tip of the obelaser, and it didn't stand the hit.

"Ash, quick! Hand me your fire stone!" Hare shouted.

"I don't have a fire stone!" Ash shouted. He pulled a white-and-yellow evolution stone out of his pocket. "I have this Thunder Stone, though!"

Pikachu snorted.

Ash chuckled. "I won't use it on you, Pikachu! I'll use it on Thunderdog!" Ash touched the stone to the advanced monster and took a step back.

"Static Warhead!" he shouted as some of his lightning combined into a huge missile that went flying into the field of spires. A row of spires toppled to the ground. "Again!" Thunderdog shouted. Ash threw the stone at Thunderdog, this time, and Thunderdog caught it. He fired again and again into the field, and before long, all the obelasers were toppled. "Nothing to it!" Thunderdog shouted happily.

He was wrong: a loud, "Qarosh Fla!" sounded from the field, and the obelasers rebuilt themselves.

"Don't you remember that you need to hit the tops of these spires to destroy them?" Renamon asked.

"There's one good piece of news," Rika answered. "They can't stop digivolution if they're busy rebuilding themselves! Digi-modify! Digivolution, activate!"

"Renamon, digivolve to…Rufusmon!"

"And now, if I can do this again and quick enough…Digi-modify! Matrix Digivolution, activate!"

"Rufusmon, digivolve to…Cyberrufusmon!" Cyberrufusmon flew above the rebuilding spires. "Laser UZI!" she shouted, letting fly dozens of blasts of energy. Each time an obelaser point was hit, another obelaser went down.

"This is taking too long…Digi---"

"Wait!" Ash shouted. "Have her shoot at Pidgeot, and tell her to aim to miss. It'll let him use Mirror Move and help her!"

"You heard him, Cyberrufusmon!"

"Laser UZI!" The warning shots of blue sparks went flying past Pidgeot, and Pidgeot memorized the attack.

"Now, Mirror Move, Pidgeot!" The two fighters began to furiously attack the obelasers, and it wasn't long before they all fell.

"Okay! I'd say that's enough fighting for one day," Firabbit sighed.

"And you didn't even launch a special attack!" Cyberrufusmon spat as she regressed back to Renamon.

"Maybe not, but---"

"Yon YoNon Gazrii!" A purple wave of energy flew at them and splashed the pavement with destruction. It narrowly missed them.

"Ooo, some more fighting for one day!" Thunderdog observed. "Static Warhead!" he shouted again, setting his foot on the Thunder Stone. A missile of electricity flew out at the giantor and knocked it into scrap metal. "That wasn't so hard!" he smiled.

"It will be," a voice that they all knew and hated said. "And those two girls will be a great addition to my collection!"

Tina snorted. "What's the matter with you? You never win, and you're always like this: all you want to do is womanize! Why?"

"Because it's fun," he answered.

Over the course of the next second, Tina wondered how such a seemingly-nice person can turn out to really be such a horrible ogre as this Unnamed Figure. But she cast the thought aside as she realized what was about to be necessary.

"Digi-modify! Digivolution, activate!"

"Darkpatamon, digivolve to…Avatarmon!"

"Pangolimon, digivolve to…Glyptodomon!"

"Digi-modify! DNA digivolution, activate!"

"Glyptodomon!"

"Avatarmon!"

"DNA digivolve to…Shakkoumon!"

Two more giantors stepped in and flanked Shakkoumon. The three huge menaces towered over the heroes, but, fortunately, size meant a lot less than firepower.

Unfortunately, these enemies had both: they combined their attacks and targeted the heroes, trying to destroy them in one fell swoop: "Yon YoNon Gazrii!"

"Harmonious Spirit!"

The blue-and purple mess flew at them, but Thunderdog fired back at the blast and cancelled it out. "You won't defeat us that easily!" Thunderdog spat.

"Hmm…you're right…so… Digi-modify! Counter-crest digivolution, activate!"

"Shakkoumon, mega-digivolve to…Totemmon! Destructor Beam!"

Thunderdog dodged the shot, and it was so narrow that it didn't hit anyone else. But it cut a hole in the ground that extended all the way down to the storm sewers. "Whoa…this guy isn't the best opponent to pick…but neither am I! Static Warhead!"

The missile flew at Totemmon, and was about to hit it in the mouth, when it returned fire: "Destructor Beam!" The missile evaporated, and Thunderdog took a direct hit and regressed back to a weary and immobile Tiger.

Ash picked up the Thunder Stone. "You made a mistake, using that powerful an attack! Pidgeot, did you get a good look at how that thing did that?"

"Pidg-oooo!"

"Then Mirror Move!" Pidgeot exhausted himself doing this, but he returned fire at Totemmon and sliced it down the middle. It became a swell pair of hair-pipes for any potential skateboarders, and was just as alive most half-pipes.

"Pidgeot, return!" Ash shouted, seeing that his friend was now too exhausted, even to fly.

The Unnamed Figure snarled in disgust. "Another faulty digi-clone! I have to admit that your Pidgeot was really impressive, but you've worn him out, and now there's nothing standing between you and these praze-ator-arliitu!"

"We still are!" Youngdramon shouted, looking up at The Unnamed Figure.

"You?! HA! I'll fragment your data, and I'll enslave your human friend for the rest of her life!"

"I'm in on this, too!" Ash said.

"Pi-ka! Pikachu snarled. He wanted revenge for when The Unnamed Figure had killed him as Thunderbard.

"Be my guest. Your head will look great, stuffed and mounted on my wall---"

"Youngdramon, digivolve to…Ikudramon!"

"Ho-hum…"

"Ikudramon, digivolve to…Hydramon!"

"…You know, you're beginning to irritate me. Sick 'em, boys!" he shouted to the giantors.

"Yon YoNon Gazrii!" The purple waves of flame flew at Ash and Tina…