Chapter 28 - Mechanical Nightmare
"That's, um, wow. Heh heh. Big, big trouble…"
I put down my binoculars and thought for a moment.
*I told you…*
*You sure that's what's holding Azulongmon and the other sovereigns back?*
*As I said before, I'm quite sure about it*
*Yeah, yeah… kinda unbelievable though…*
*Agreed.*
*Any idea what happened to Elecmon?*
*No. He's either dead, captured of loose in the area.*
*That narrows it down.*
*Oh, shut up…*
*Well?*
*I'm thinking Grani. I'm guessing that jumping directly into the shaft of light isn't the brightest move.*
*Yes. Not unless you want to become a part of the barrier or be thrown to where the sovereigns are. I'm not sure which…*
*…But either is bad. Well, let's be realistic. There's no way I can do this alone.*
*You sure Takatomon?*
*Yeah BlackGuilmon, I'm sure. ChaosGallantmon is strong enough to take any one of them, maybe even up to three of them, but not all of them…*
*Takatomon! Agumon is coming!*
*Damn. Grani, go!*
*Where?*
*Anywhere!*
I got the mental equivalent of a sigh, and he shimmered out. And not a moment too soon, because then Tai crested the ridge. I waved him over, motioning for him to be quiet.
"What are you doing here?"
He frowned.
"Looking for you, you've been gone for a week, and you finally have school on Monday."
"Well, today is Saturday, so I've still got tomorrow to handle this."
"Handle what?"
I just pointed down at the large steel structure and handed him the binoculars.
"What the… That's not good. And this close to Primary Village too…"
"That is Primary Village Tai!"
"Crap."
"You think?"
I sighed and looked back down at Primary Village. Or what was left of it.
It was no longer a small space with eggs and soft colored blocks. Instead there were the steel walls of a fortress and at least ten Machinedramon manning the walls. There was also a shaft of pink light being emitted from the roof. From what Grani had said it was a machine making that light from the data naturally condensing over there that was holding Azulongmon and the other sovereigns back. They had only been able to push open a hole in the barrier big enough for him.
He sighed. He pulled out his D-Terminal and sent an e-mail. He waited a moment, then nodded.
"Well?"
"They're coming. I told them to give Primary Village a wide berth."
I nodded.
"Who all is out here?"
"Just me and the younger kids, unfortunately. Even worse, only Ken and Kari are close enough for us to wait on. That thing has to be torn down. Now. I'd love to call Matt, but he'd never make it in time."
I nodded. We didn't have to wait long for Kari and Ken, and they were just as shocked about the situation as we were. Tai grimaced.
"The only advantage we'll have is surprise, so we'll have to make it count. Let's go."
Digivolution_
Agumon Warp Digivolve to… WarGreymon!
Wormmon Digivolve to… Stingmon!
Gatomon Digivolve to… Angewomon!
BlackGuilmon Flash Digivolve to… BlackWarGrowlmon!
Then, like the fools we probably were, we charged over the ridge like idiots.
This will not go well…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a loud roaring noise that sounded a lot like some gigantic hell-beast howling at the moon as I cut through the trail in the forest.
Sovereigns, I love that sound.
The sound was coming from my trusty motorcycle, Behemoth, as we tore down the forest trail. All of the smart digimon got out of my way as I rode. The ones who weren't so smart, well…
I had a hard time dodging them.
But dodge them I did. Time was I wouldn't have bothered. Time was I would have actually aimed for them.
But two things changed all that.
One was my death. Being a part of someone else's data wasn't fun. Even if I wasn't able to remember it, the thought gave me the willies. Not fun.
The other thing was him.
Takato had changed everything, even before I had come here. He had believed in me. He had to have, otherwise he wouldn't have given me a second chance.
I have to admit that for a while, I felt a certain amount of resentment. I don't like to owe anything to anybody. No exceptions. It got bad when I ran away. For a long time I blamed him. Like somehow he would know exactly what would happen if he brought me back. When I first sensed him, I panicked. For an instant, no matter how small, I was sure he was there to finish me off.
When Puppetmon made me attack him, part of me didn't want to resist. Wanted to use the excuse to go for his throat. Wanted to pay him back for a thousand injustices. But it was in that first fight between us, when he was biomerged that I realized my mistake. I saw the pain in his eyes as he looked at me. I finally knew why, as we traded blows there, he had brought me back.
He wanted me to have what he could not.
I remembered how the other tamers had all reacted to the very sound of his name. How I had teased Jeri by sneaking up on her and saying it when Leomon wasn't around to shield her.
Takato and BlackGuilmon had been forced to leave everything behind the way I had, and had still found the compassion to try to save a lost soul.
A sobering experience, to say the least.
I screeched to a halt on a hill top.
Pineapple head…
I could sense his data in the distance, along with more of the Digidestined digimon. And a lot of other high density data clusters too.
I swore under my breath and kicked Behemoth back into gear. That was a tremendous amount of data, even in the digital world.
That boy's gotten himself into trouble again.
Then a though came to me and I grinned.
Innocent digimon might be off the deleting and loading list, but the others are fair game…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I cried silently as I cradled Wormmon in my arms. This had all gone horribly wrong. I had gotten separated from the others, not that it was that hard given the strength of the foe, but still. I hadn't taken long for the two Machinedramon in front of me to make short work of Stingmon.
Stingmon had actually been doing okay against just one, being so fast that not even the mega could land a hit, and doing a lot of damage in countless minor scores himself. But then a second one had come, and that was it.
"Sorry Wormmon. For a lot of things."
The damaged Machinedramon charged his cannons in preparation to strike, when a loud roar echoed through the air. Both Machinedramon looked up. The damaged one turned suddenly and tried to run, but was too slow. I was too shocked for even coherent thoughts as a large motorcycle slammed down through its torso, deleting him. I recognized the digimon on top.
Beezlemon…
Beezlemon calmly loaded the data of the fallen Machinedramon while surveying the other carefully. The two stared at each other like and old west showdown.
"GIGA-"
"DOUBLE IMPACT!"
While Machinedramon had to wait a second for his cannons to charge, Beezlemon just snapped his hands down to his holsters and his guns came up blazing. Machinedramon looked something like a cheese sculpture before disintegrating. Beezlemon calmly got off his bike and strolled over into the cloud, pulling the data in, like this was something he did everyday. I suppressed a shudder as he looked back at me.
"Where'd the others go?"
I pointed.
"Inside…"
He nodded.
"Stay out here and try to get some more help."
He snapped his fingers then, and addressed the motorcycle.
"Behemoth! Guard them!"
The bike revved up, sounding like some cross between a growl and a roar, and swerved over and positioned itself between the fortress and us. I smiled half heartedly, which was pretty good given the repeated heart attacks I had just received, and got out my D-Terminal to determine where Davis and the others were.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I looked down at the sheet in front of me blankly. This was a test, but I couldn't concentrate.
Not that I studied for it anyways…
The others would find that shocking to say the least. 'Old Reliable' Joe Kido, failing a test. Not studying for a test.
The thing I think they'd find the most strange is that I'm not panicking right now.
Which was true. I wasn't panicking. But that was because I was barely even aware of where I was. The only reason I was in the room was habit. I glanced over to the right and slightly behind me at the empty seat.
The one Carmela used to be in…
That threw me even lower. Carmela hadn't even been to class since that day. I'd gone to her apartment, only to find it empty. My world was slowly caving in around my ears and I didn't have any idea of how to stop it.
I gave up even pretending to take the test then. I couldn't even pretend to know what it was on, much less know the information in my current emotional state. I think I fell asleep then. All I know is that the next thing I remember is the teacher waking me up. Thankfully all of the other students had left already.
"Joe, is there something wrong?"
I sighed and glanced around, once more lingering on Carmela's desk.
"Nothing I can put into words, sir."
He sighed.
"Try to snap out of it Joe…"
"Yes, sir."
I bowed and left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angewoman was down, and WarGreymon and BlackWarGrowlmon were tiring. I looked over at Takato, who was sweating almost as much as his digimon, but refocused on the current task at hand, eliminating the last three Machinedramon. Kari was behind us with an unconscious Gatomon, checking her D-Terminal.
"Guys! Ken's okay! He was saved by-"
"Beezlemon!"
She looked up, as I did at the sound of Takato's voice. In the doorway, his tail waving lazily, guns in his hands, was Beezlemon. He grinned.
"Thought this was your fault Takato."
"Oh shut up. BlackWarGrowlmon…"
"RADIATION EDGE!"
"DARKNESS CLAW!"
BlackWarGrowlmon's attack held the Machinedramon in place while Beezlemon's destroyed it. BlackWarGrowlmon sank to one knee, panting.
That leaves just tw…
"TERRA DESTROYER!"
Make that one more.
Unfortunately, this drained the last of Wargreymon's stamina, and he dedigivolved all the way back to Koromon.
"Sorry, Tai…"
I smiled down at the bundle in my arms.
"You did fine buddy. You did just fine."
The last Machinedramon looked around carefully.
DIGI-MODIFY! Recharge Activate!
BlackWarGrowlmon grinned then, and straightened back to his full height. Takato nodded to Beezlemon and the two digimon began closing on the mega. Then it grinned.
"GIGA CANNON!"
The floor underneath the two buckled and cracked, spilling down into the room below. Amazingly, BlackWarGrowlmon recovered using his jets. Takato and I ran for the hole, looking down.
About twenty feet down from us Beezlemon hung on to a bent pipe, overlooking a pool of condensing data, being actively sucked into the 'beam machine'. He looked up at us, his three red eyes, fairly annoyed.
"Well, this sucks…"
Takato looked up and over at his digimon, to call him to Beezlemon's rescue, but BlackWarGrowlmon was too busy defending us from the last Machinedramon to help.
Ken's outside, Gatomon's unconscious, and Koromon couldn't make it to rookie if he tried right now…
Beezlemon spoke again, calling Takato's attention back to where he was. The pipe he was holding on to began to crack.
"Well, it's been fun Takato."
Tears formed in Takato's eyes as he looked down into the hole.
"Damn it Beezlemon! You're not gonna die!"
The pipe bent some more, the crack growing wider. Beezlemon grinned.
"Aw, is Takato gettin' all choked up? Seriously though. Takato… thanks for giving me a chance."
And then the pipe snapped completely, sending him down into the data stream, where instead of him loading the data, it loaded him.
Takato screamed.
"That's, um, wow. Heh heh. Big, big trouble…"
I put down my binoculars and thought for a moment.
*I told you…*
*You sure that's what's holding Azulongmon and the other sovereigns back?*
*As I said before, I'm quite sure about it*
*Yeah, yeah… kinda unbelievable though…*
*Agreed.*
*Any idea what happened to Elecmon?*
*No. He's either dead, captured of loose in the area.*
*That narrows it down.*
*Oh, shut up…*
*Well?*
*I'm thinking Grani. I'm guessing that jumping directly into the shaft of light isn't the brightest move.*
*Yes. Not unless you want to become a part of the barrier or be thrown to where the sovereigns are. I'm not sure which…*
*…But either is bad. Well, let's be realistic. There's no way I can do this alone.*
*You sure Takatomon?*
*Yeah BlackGuilmon, I'm sure. ChaosGallantmon is strong enough to take any one of them, maybe even up to three of them, but not all of them…*
*Takatomon! Agumon is coming!*
*Damn. Grani, go!*
*Where?*
*Anywhere!*
I got the mental equivalent of a sigh, and he shimmered out. And not a moment too soon, because then Tai crested the ridge. I waved him over, motioning for him to be quiet.
"What are you doing here?"
He frowned.
"Looking for you, you've been gone for a week, and you finally have school on Monday."
"Well, today is Saturday, so I've still got tomorrow to handle this."
"Handle what?"
I just pointed down at the large steel structure and handed him the binoculars.
"What the… That's not good. And this close to Primary Village too…"
"That is Primary Village Tai!"
"Crap."
"You think?"
I sighed and looked back down at Primary Village. Or what was left of it.
It was no longer a small space with eggs and soft colored blocks. Instead there were the steel walls of a fortress and at least ten Machinedramon manning the walls. There was also a shaft of pink light being emitted from the roof. From what Grani had said it was a machine making that light from the data naturally condensing over there that was holding Azulongmon and the other sovereigns back. They had only been able to push open a hole in the barrier big enough for him.
He sighed. He pulled out his D-Terminal and sent an e-mail. He waited a moment, then nodded.
"Well?"
"They're coming. I told them to give Primary Village a wide berth."
I nodded.
"Who all is out here?"
"Just me and the younger kids, unfortunately. Even worse, only Ken and Kari are close enough for us to wait on. That thing has to be torn down. Now. I'd love to call Matt, but he'd never make it in time."
I nodded. We didn't have to wait long for Kari and Ken, and they were just as shocked about the situation as we were. Tai grimaced.
"The only advantage we'll have is surprise, so we'll have to make it count. Let's go."
Digivolution_
Agumon Warp Digivolve to… WarGreymon!
Wormmon Digivolve to… Stingmon!
Gatomon Digivolve to… Angewomon!
BlackGuilmon Flash Digivolve to… BlackWarGrowlmon!
Then, like the fools we probably were, we charged over the ridge like idiots.
This will not go well…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a loud roaring noise that sounded a lot like some gigantic hell-beast howling at the moon as I cut through the trail in the forest.
Sovereigns, I love that sound.
The sound was coming from my trusty motorcycle, Behemoth, as we tore down the forest trail. All of the smart digimon got out of my way as I rode. The ones who weren't so smart, well…
I had a hard time dodging them.
But dodge them I did. Time was I wouldn't have bothered. Time was I would have actually aimed for them.
But two things changed all that.
One was my death. Being a part of someone else's data wasn't fun. Even if I wasn't able to remember it, the thought gave me the willies. Not fun.
The other thing was him.
Takato had changed everything, even before I had come here. He had believed in me. He had to have, otherwise he wouldn't have given me a second chance.
I have to admit that for a while, I felt a certain amount of resentment. I don't like to owe anything to anybody. No exceptions. It got bad when I ran away. For a long time I blamed him. Like somehow he would know exactly what would happen if he brought me back. When I first sensed him, I panicked. For an instant, no matter how small, I was sure he was there to finish me off.
When Puppetmon made me attack him, part of me didn't want to resist. Wanted to use the excuse to go for his throat. Wanted to pay him back for a thousand injustices. But it was in that first fight between us, when he was biomerged that I realized my mistake. I saw the pain in his eyes as he looked at me. I finally knew why, as we traded blows there, he had brought me back.
He wanted me to have what he could not.
I remembered how the other tamers had all reacted to the very sound of his name. How I had teased Jeri by sneaking up on her and saying it when Leomon wasn't around to shield her.
Takato and BlackGuilmon had been forced to leave everything behind the way I had, and had still found the compassion to try to save a lost soul.
A sobering experience, to say the least.
I screeched to a halt on a hill top.
Pineapple head…
I could sense his data in the distance, along with more of the Digidestined digimon. And a lot of other high density data clusters too.
I swore under my breath and kicked Behemoth back into gear. That was a tremendous amount of data, even in the digital world.
That boy's gotten himself into trouble again.
Then a though came to me and I grinned.
Innocent digimon might be off the deleting and loading list, but the others are fair game…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I cried silently as I cradled Wormmon in my arms. This had all gone horribly wrong. I had gotten separated from the others, not that it was that hard given the strength of the foe, but still. I hadn't taken long for the two Machinedramon in front of me to make short work of Stingmon.
Stingmon had actually been doing okay against just one, being so fast that not even the mega could land a hit, and doing a lot of damage in countless minor scores himself. But then a second one had come, and that was it.
"Sorry Wormmon. For a lot of things."
The damaged Machinedramon charged his cannons in preparation to strike, when a loud roar echoed through the air. Both Machinedramon looked up. The damaged one turned suddenly and tried to run, but was too slow. I was too shocked for even coherent thoughts as a large motorcycle slammed down through its torso, deleting him. I recognized the digimon on top.
Beezlemon…
Beezlemon calmly loaded the data of the fallen Machinedramon while surveying the other carefully. The two stared at each other like and old west showdown.
"GIGA-"
"DOUBLE IMPACT!"
While Machinedramon had to wait a second for his cannons to charge, Beezlemon just snapped his hands down to his holsters and his guns came up blazing. Machinedramon looked something like a cheese sculpture before disintegrating. Beezlemon calmly got off his bike and strolled over into the cloud, pulling the data in, like this was something he did everyday. I suppressed a shudder as he looked back at me.
"Where'd the others go?"
I pointed.
"Inside…"
He nodded.
"Stay out here and try to get some more help."
He snapped his fingers then, and addressed the motorcycle.
"Behemoth! Guard them!"
The bike revved up, sounding like some cross between a growl and a roar, and swerved over and positioned itself between the fortress and us. I smiled half heartedly, which was pretty good given the repeated heart attacks I had just received, and got out my D-Terminal to determine where Davis and the others were.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I looked down at the sheet in front of me blankly. This was a test, but I couldn't concentrate.
Not that I studied for it anyways…
The others would find that shocking to say the least. 'Old Reliable' Joe Kido, failing a test. Not studying for a test.
The thing I think they'd find the most strange is that I'm not panicking right now.
Which was true. I wasn't panicking. But that was because I was barely even aware of where I was. The only reason I was in the room was habit. I glanced over to the right and slightly behind me at the empty seat.
The one Carmela used to be in…
That threw me even lower. Carmela hadn't even been to class since that day. I'd gone to her apartment, only to find it empty. My world was slowly caving in around my ears and I didn't have any idea of how to stop it.
I gave up even pretending to take the test then. I couldn't even pretend to know what it was on, much less know the information in my current emotional state. I think I fell asleep then. All I know is that the next thing I remember is the teacher waking me up. Thankfully all of the other students had left already.
"Joe, is there something wrong?"
I sighed and glanced around, once more lingering on Carmela's desk.
"Nothing I can put into words, sir."
He sighed.
"Try to snap out of it Joe…"
"Yes, sir."
I bowed and left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angewoman was down, and WarGreymon and BlackWarGrowlmon were tiring. I looked over at Takato, who was sweating almost as much as his digimon, but refocused on the current task at hand, eliminating the last three Machinedramon. Kari was behind us with an unconscious Gatomon, checking her D-Terminal.
"Guys! Ken's okay! He was saved by-"
"Beezlemon!"
She looked up, as I did at the sound of Takato's voice. In the doorway, his tail waving lazily, guns in his hands, was Beezlemon. He grinned.
"Thought this was your fault Takato."
"Oh shut up. BlackWarGrowlmon…"
"RADIATION EDGE!"
"DARKNESS CLAW!"
BlackWarGrowlmon's attack held the Machinedramon in place while Beezlemon's destroyed it. BlackWarGrowlmon sank to one knee, panting.
That leaves just tw…
"TERRA DESTROYER!"
Make that one more.
Unfortunately, this drained the last of Wargreymon's stamina, and he dedigivolved all the way back to Koromon.
"Sorry, Tai…"
I smiled down at the bundle in my arms.
"You did fine buddy. You did just fine."
The last Machinedramon looked around carefully.
DIGI-MODIFY! Recharge Activate!
BlackWarGrowlmon grinned then, and straightened back to his full height. Takato nodded to Beezlemon and the two digimon began closing on the mega. Then it grinned.
"GIGA CANNON!"
The floor underneath the two buckled and cracked, spilling down into the room below. Amazingly, BlackWarGrowlmon recovered using his jets. Takato and I ran for the hole, looking down.
About twenty feet down from us Beezlemon hung on to a bent pipe, overlooking a pool of condensing data, being actively sucked into the 'beam machine'. He looked up at us, his three red eyes, fairly annoyed.
"Well, this sucks…"
Takato looked up and over at his digimon, to call him to Beezlemon's rescue, but BlackWarGrowlmon was too busy defending us from the last Machinedramon to help.
Ken's outside, Gatomon's unconscious, and Koromon couldn't make it to rookie if he tried right now…
Beezlemon spoke again, calling Takato's attention back to where he was. The pipe he was holding on to began to crack.
"Well, it's been fun Takato."
Tears formed in Takato's eyes as he looked down into the hole.
"Damn it Beezlemon! You're not gonna die!"
The pipe bent some more, the crack growing wider. Beezlemon grinned.
"Aw, is Takato gettin' all choked up? Seriously though. Takato… thanks for giving me a chance."
And then the pipe snapped completely, sending him down into the data stream, where instead of him loading the data, it loaded him.
Takato screamed.