Sorry for not updating in so long...
Chapter 49: Rules
"The destruction of Totemmon hasn't been totally to our disadvantage," the sub-major grinned.
"Why not?"
"We have studied the gold card you gave us, and we have found that it is not at all incompatible with your D-Gauntlet. However, your digi-clones cannot use it as they are."
"Can they be modified to be compatible?"
"Not the ones you have now, no. But we can generate new ones that are compatible. There are a number of drawbacks: you will not be able to modify the warp-digivolved clones, but the digivolution to mega will be more liberating than restricting. And the only thing that you'll be able to do with them is evolve them to mega."
"Have you completed the clones we need?"
"We have." Two clones stepped out of the shadows. One looked like a jellyfish covered in eye-like blotches, and the other looked like a bowling ball with bat's wings.
The Unnamed Figure frowned. "They sure don't look like much."
"In these forms, they aren't. In their mega forms, they will be."
******
Big Blue, Gary, Suezo, Sora, and Izzy were plodding along, looking for any hint so as to where the giantors were coming from. There were no people anywhere in the city, which made everything all the creepier.
"We've been walking for hours, and we haven't found one single giantor!" Suezo spat.
"I bet it's even worse for you, since you just have that one foot," Sora thought aloud.
"Not really…I'm used to using just one foot. But, anyway, they aren't coming after us. There's nothing out here. Can we please go back to base, now?"
Sora sighed. "Might as well…"
Izzy shook his head. "It's only a matter of time before we find the giantors…or, more to the point, before they find us. If we keep looking, we'll find one."
"If we keep looking, our digimon will be too exhausted to fight," Sora pointed out.
Setting his backpack on the ground, Izzy explained, "It's not our digimon who are supposed to fight. It's Big Blue and Suezo---" Izzy pulled out a pair of digi-eggs from his backpack. "Or should I say, 'Iceborg and Saw-grass'."
Sora sighed. "Okay…but I really think that Suezo's right…"
"What're you talking about, Sora?" Suezo asked. "I'm always right!"
Big Blue rolled his eyes at this exchange.
"I can't believe how conceited that guy is!" Gary muttered. At this, Big Blue stared at him blankly.
They kept walking, and, as Izzy had said, it was only a matter of time before they found a giantor.
"Quick, in here!" Sora whispered, motioning for them to join her inside an alleyway. They looked around the corner at the giantor, and saw that it wasn't alone---not by a long shot: it had another dozen or so following it.
"Yolei was right!" Suezo whispered. "They haven't used this much force all in one place, before, and they definitely haven't used it on something as every-day as patrol!"
"It is a disturbing sight," Big Blue agreed. "What are we to do? Shall we module-evolve and counterattack?"
Izzy shook his head. "That would be too risky. We only want to do that if we have to. What we really want to do is figure out where they're coming from. Gary, use Fearow to scout."
Gary really didn't like having to take orders, but he let Fearow out to look around for where the giantors were coming from.
While Fearow was gone, the giantors they had seen had left. "That's a relief," Sora sighed.
Biyomon let out a contented tweet as she stood up and stretched. "Finally! We can move!"
"It may yet be a poor idea to do so," Big Blue thought aloud.
"Why would you say that?" Biyomon asked.
"You had to ask, didn't you?" Suezo asked as slagsters came rolling in.
"Tentomon, digivolve to…Kabuterimon!" Kabuterimon took off into the air. "Let's get these things over with fast! Electro Shocker!"
Big Blue separated himself into pieces of rock and went flying at the slagsters. "Tornado!" The slagsters didn't last long in those conditions.
Sora shivered. "I wish that attack wasn't so cold!"
"It's cold attacks that really hurt slagsters," Izzy pointed out.
"At least that was all there was," Suezo sighed. "If there had been more…well, we'd probably be dead, now."
"I really wish you wouldn't say things like that," Sora said. "Even if it's true, it does us no good to think that way!"
"Caution would grant us some assistance, however," Big Blue thought aloud.
"Any particular reason why it would?" Kabuterimon asked.
"Will you stop that?!" Gary asked. "Gyarados, I choose you! See how many canis-tors you can knock out!"
"Vorre-tor-goludai, noh kreshnaiona djom…vorre-tor-ellis!" The canis-tors began fusing into their next highest stage.
"They're going to keep going and make their highest level!" Sora cried.
"Not if Gyarados can help it! Gyarados, Hyper Beam!" Gyarados's attack sliced through the cougores and canis-tors easily, and, at first, it didn't look like they would be a problem. But, finally, one of the cougores broke through with one of its own attacks: "Garem Dar!"
Gyarados staggered: he'd been hit with the sonic attack, and he felt very sick to his stomach.
"Gyarados, return!"
"What do we do now?!" Sora asked.
"It's not what we do, it's what Megakabuterimon does!" Izzy pointed out.
"Kabuterimon, digivolve to…Megakabuterimon!" Megakabuterimon began firing lightning bolts into the fusing cougores before they finished their transformations into cybertooth. It was an easy battle---relatively. As Megakabuterimon regressed back to Tentomon, he said, "Maybe we should get back in the alley, out of sight?"
"Yeah, maybe," Sora agreed, picking up Biyomon and carrying her in. Sora yawned. "How long have we been out here?" she asked.
"A few hours. Why?"
"I feel tired enough to fall over and sleep, right here!"
"You might as well," Gary said. "For all we know, it'll be a few more hours until Fearow makes it back."
Sora spread out her poncho on the ground, lay down on it, and tried to go to sleep.
It was a few hours before Fearow came back, and, over the course of those four hours, it had begun to snow.
"Great," Izzy sighed, blowing into his cupped hands. "As if it weren't bad enough that we have to wait here…"
"Relax," Gary said. "There are other ways to keep warm here. Arcanine, I choose you!" The huge, fiery dog came out of his pokéball. "Arcanine, we always want to make a good impression on the ladies. So stand over Sora so your fur keeps her warm."
Suezo stared at this blankly. "That was…um…"
"Innovative," Izzy finished.
"Yeah…what he said."
"Hey, it works, right?"
"I guess," Suezo answered, pulling a blanket over his own head. "But I'm not sure what she'd think of it."
"We get to find out now," Izzy said as Fearow soared into sight.
"You think he's found anything?" Suezo asked.
"He wouldn't have come back if he hadn't," Gary answered.
Fearow landed on the pavement in the alleyway, and he made a lot of noise doing it. This woke Sora up, and she found herself face-to-face with a huge, red dog that she'd never seen before. A bead of sweat trickled down the back of her neck. Arcanine looked down and her and licked her face.
Sora went pale a screamed.
"Sora…?" Izzy asked.
"Relax," Gary said, calling Arcanine back. "That was one of ours."
Suezo nudged Big Blue. "So much for making a good impression on the ladies, huh?"
"Indeed," Big Blue agreed.
"So…now that we know where to look, what do we do?" Gary asked.
"Nothing," Izzy answered.
"What?! You had Fearow flying all across downtown for nothing?!"
"No, our goal was to find out where their factory is: not to destroy it---yet. Now we need to get back to base and pick out an assault party."
Gary sighed angrily. "Why can't anything get done around here?"
"Good question," Izzy retorted sarcastically. "Something just did get done, Gary!"
"I don't see how something can be called done when I haven't destroyed the factory, yet."
"You??" Izzy asked. "Why should you be the one to destroy it??"
"Hey, wouldn't it be fitting for me to demolish an evil factory like that?"
"How so?" Sora asked.
Gary chuckled in an almost patronizing way. "Oh, once you've seen me in action, you'll know what I'm talking about."
"Enough with your bloated ego, Gary...let's get back to base, already!"
Izzy peeked out the alleyway and looked to the right. "Looks clear." He stepped out a little ways.
WHAM! Izzy felt the earthquake of the giantor's footstep before he heard it, and it sent a zing up his spine. He whirled around, and stared with a dropped jaw at the giantor.
"I believe now would be an ideal opportunity for the module-evolution, Mr. Izumi," Big Blue said.
"That's Professor Izumi," Izzy spat, tossing them the digi-eggs of persistence and sincerity. "I didn't study for eight years straight just to be called Mr.!"
"Suezo, module-evolve to…Saw-grass!"
"Big Blue, module-evolve to…Iceborg!"
"Gary, use your evolution stones on them!" Izzy shouted.
"Aw, we won't need an ultra attack to handle these things!"
"Gary, have you ever even confronted a giantor before?" Sora asked.
"No. But I expect this little confrontation to be short. Jolteon, Exeggutor, I choose you!"
"Gary, this is crazy! Those things have the power of a mega digimon; we need your stones for the advanced monsters to do their ultra attacks!"
"Forget it, nerd! I have a better way to finish them! Exeggutor, use Confusion!" The giantors felt the effects of the attack and staggered backwards. One of them even got confused and began attacking the others. A couple of the others trashed the confused one, but the rest focused their attacks on Exeggutor and Jolteon.
"First of all, nobody calls me nerd, and second---"
"First of all, we need to take care of those giantors, and your pokémon just can't cut it!" Sora cried. "You're making a mistake!"
Gary almost seemed to patronize Sora again as he said, "You'll see that these giantors are nothing to worry about. Jolteon, use Pin Missile!" A barrage of white spikes flew out at one of the giantors, and it did little more than stain its chest armor with black ash marks.
"Gary, you're completely insane! Call back your pokémon, and use your evolution stones on Saw-grass and Iceborg now!!" Izzy insisted.
Gary pushed Izzy down. "Will you shut up?"
Izzy's jaw dropped. He knew that he'd have to have Yolei flog him, later…assuming that they were going to survive this encounter.
"Exeggutor, use confusion again!"
"Is he crazy?!" Saw-grass asked.
"He is conceited to the point of a bent worldview," Iceborg answered, "And bent worldviews equate to insanity. So yes."
"That logic doesn't surprise me…so what can we do without the ultra attacks?"
"Not a great deal. Rime Cannon!" A bolt of icy energy flew out of Iceborg's chest and smacked a giantor. It didn't do much damage.
"I see what you mean," Saw-grass admitted. "And I bet his pokémon aren't going to fare any better."
"They will not. I foresee a swift end to his pride and his submitting to Professor Izumi's jurisdiction."
"That'll be the day!" Gary and Saw-grass said at the same time. "Exeggutor, use barrage attack!" This hailstorm of yellow blobs of energy did just as little damage as his previous attacks.
The giantors had been humored enough: "Yon YoNon Gazrii!" They fired huge streams of flame at Gary's pokémon, and neither withstood the attack.
"Exeggutor, Jolteon, return! Arcanine, Gyarados, I choose you!"
"Gary…!" Sora couldn't put her frustration with Gary into words.
"You'll see. Arcanine, Gyarados, dragon rage!" Two twisters flew out at the giantors and combined into a single cyclone. The cyclone flew into the giantors, and knocked one over into another. That damaged them, but they were still alive.
"Yon YoNon Gazrii!" they shouted again, and Arcanine and Gyarados were back in their pokéballs fast.
"Now do you believe us that you've got to use the stones?" Saw-grass asked.
"…All right, fine! Do things the hard way!" Gary hurled his stones at the two advanced monsters.
As the leaf stone hit Saw-grass, his eye glowed with green energy. "Retina Beam!" he shouted as a green blast of light sliced through a few of the giantor's chests.
Iceborg caught the moon stone in his huge, boxing-gloved fist. He felt energy surge through his body, and he separated himself into several pieces, getting ready to do an ultra tornado attack. "Arctic Typhoon!" he shouted, hurling an unbelievable blast of ice and wind at the giantors. Between the two attacks, the giantors didn't last.
******
Gary had to stop and wonder how he'd gotten into this situation. It really was the kind of situation that needed reflection upon: he was shorn of his shirt, had his hands tied to the wall, and was getting his back whipped. He had never been in so much pain before in his life, and he wondered whether or not it would be a good idea to have his cheerleader squad come in and cheer him up with one of their chants.
Yolei wasn't done with just the whipping: she was going to dress the wounds she'd just given him, too…with Epsom salts! Gary yowled in pain. "What is the point of all this?!"
"You just about got yourself and six other people killed, today. We can't afford that, and you need to be taught the lesson that you can't risk other people's lives, just for the sake of your own pride!"
Gary snorted. "I don't need to listen to any of this, you know---"
"Yes, you do! Let's think about this: out there, there are menace machines that really want to eat you alive. Your pokémon might be nothing to sneer at---"
"They're a lot more than that---"
"Stop interrupting me unless you want another whipping! Your pokémon might be good, but they're no match for giantors. This latest confrontation proves that. So you're stuck with us. And this organization works this way: everybody pulls some weight. Everybody has to listen to orders; everybody has to follow the rules. If they don't, there are problems for someone else: that's why we make the rules to begin with. I know that you only care about yourself and what you can get out of this, but if you don't put something in, we're not letting you get anything out. Now, get to your quarters and get some rest. You'll need it for those wounds to heal."
Those words stuck in Gary's mind: "everybody has to follow the rules." He didn't like the sound of that. He wondered if there wasn't something better out there than "rules"…