We are finally going to see what is happening on Rika's side of things! Woohoo! I've been keeping busy on my end as well as a little stressed but writing makes me feel better. So I won't keep you for long, I just want to thank everyone supporting this series and hope you enjoy!
-X-
December 21: Frozen Palace 3rd Floor – 10:03 AM
Davis wondered if this was how Yolei felt whenever he went charging headfirst into precarious situations without a plan. It wasn't like he couldn't understand how Ryo was feeling, if any of his own teammates had been abducted, he'd be pulling his hair out too. But if they acted too rash then worse things could happen to the hostage than they already have.
"Rika!" Ryo gasped.
Davis looked up at the older boy who had paused at the top of the steps. So he quickly went up the stairs two at a time to see the female Tamer standing in the middle of a massive ballroom with her back turned to them. She looked to be perfectly fine although there were some strange black stripes running along her arms and legs.
Ryo broke off into a run towards her before anyone could stop him. It was obviously a trap, no matter how one looked at it.
Rika turned around a second before Ryo had reached her. Once he was a foot in front of her face, he received a foot to his face, causing him to fall onto his butt and slide across the frozen floor. Davis knelt down and stopped him from tumbling down the flight of stairs.
"IceDevimon! What have you done to my partner?" Renamon shouted into the room.
"Davis," said Veemon shakily.
His partner nodded. "I know."
Around Rika's neck was a glowing Dark Ring and the black stripes that had been on her limbs were actually Dark Spirals. This meant that she was under somebody's control. But who would've thought that those things could work on humans as well.
Just then, a chilling laughter reached their ears and the room temperature seemed to drop several degrees as a figure rose out of the floor and behind Rika, his wings wrapped around the girl like she was his possession. "I believe you have all met my wonderfully cold partner, Rika Nonaka."
"Bastard," Ryo glared. "Let go of Rika!"
"Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that," IceDevimon chuckled. "But maybe we can negotiate a trade."
"A trade?" Ryo frowned.
"You… your partner… and Veemon," IceDevimon clarified. It obviously didn't sound very appealing to them. "That is all that I require and I will gladly release Rika from the control of these wretched devices. What do you say?"
"I say you're out of your mind," Davis stated.
"We'll just have to take her back by force," Ryo agreed.
IceDevimon's unnerving smile never changed. "Funny… I was thinking of taking what I want by force as well." He placed one of his claws on top of his captive's head. The fallen angel then tilted the girl's head upward so that he could look into her eyes. "Would you be a dear and handle this, Rika?"
The boys figured that he would try to use Rika as his human shield, knowing that they wouldn't be willing to hurt her. So their plan was to get their partners to try and attack while Renamon goes to pluck Rika out of his grasp, making them home free to fight however they want. But it wasn't going to be that easy.
Rika pulled out her D-Power and a green card which she slid through it. For one mortifying moment, they thought that IceDevimon would merge with her which would've made their entire plan a bust. But instead, Renamon suddenly burst into data and reconfigured around her Tamer, becoming Sakuyamon except with Dark Spirals on the same areas as they were on Rika.
"Uh-oh," Veemon muttered.
"The floor is yours," IceDevimon chuckled.
Sakuyamon wasted no time. "Spirit Strike!"
"Digi-Modify! Matrix Digivolution Activate!" "Monodramon Matrix Digivolve to… Cyberdramon!"
"Golden Armor Energize!" "Veemon Golden Armor Digivolve to… Magnamon!"
Ryo quickly used a defensive card to protect them from them from Sakuyamon's attack. But as soon as the smoke from the blast cleared, she was suddenly there in front of them, using her staff as a melee weapon. The bio-merged Digimon wasn't even out to destroy the Digimon though, she was after the humans which kept their partners much more occupied than necessary.
"Sakuyamon! Stop this!" Ryo called out to her.
"We're your friends!" Davis added. "We're trying to save you!"
Of course she wasn't listening though. To make things worse, Rika from the inside was using her modify cards at breakneck speed, it was hard to tell what kind of upgrades she was giving herself at one time. She used a Doppelganger card to create a fake which occupied the Digimon before using a Hyper Speed card to get past them and behind the boys.
The teenagers ducked under when they swung their staves and they quickly rolled out of the way, thanking their athleticism for their reflexes. But they came to the realization that Rika had the right idea, instead of fighting the foe that was directly in front of them, they should target the one behind the scenes. If Ryo and Davis were taken out, their partners would lose most of their direction. The same should apply to IceDevimon who is controlling Sakuyamon via the Dark Spiral.
"Magnamon will keep her busy!" said Davis.
"Thanks," Ryo nodded. "Digi-Modify! Magical Game: Teleport Acti-!"
One of the two Sakuyamon quickly pulled out a sealing tag and threw it at Ryo's D-Power. "Fox Card!" It emitted a soft glow for a moment before vanishing. And to their surprise, the card did nothing for Cyberdramon whatsoever.
"Fox Card seals the power of her opponents," Cyberdramon growled, ducking under the doppelganger's high-heeled kick. "It must've sealed the power of the D-Power."
"You mean I can't use modify cards?!" Ryo blanched. "Man… Has Rika been holding back on me this entire time? Or was I always just lucky?"
Both Sakuyamon took to the air but before Magnamon or Cyberdramon could follow either one in flight, they both dropped down. One shot down like lightning from the sky while the other was coated in hot flames but they both landed heavy drop kicks on their enemies, sending them straight into the floor where they left deep cracks. "Thunder Kick!" "Flaming Fox!"
"The other thing about Sakuyamon is that she has a heck of a lot of moves," Magnamon groaned.
"We can't hold back just because she's our friend," Davis said. "Rika is more powerful than either one of us so our best course of action has to be knocking her out and then going after IceDevimon. If not, we're both screwed."
Ryo didn't fancy the idea of hurting his fellow Tamer but he knew that the former goggle-head was right in this case. Besides, Rika wouldn't have wanted to destroy them. If she could tell them her true thoughts at that moment, he was sure it would be something along the lines of "Don't be such a wuss, fight like a Tamer should!" Yeah, that was probably exactly what she'd say to him.
"You heard him Cyberdramon!" Ryo called out.
"Got it!" Cyberdramon growled. "Desolation Claw!"
"Sorry about this, Sakuyamon!" Magnamon nodded. "Magna Blast!"
The two used their signature attacks, known for demolishing mountains, at the twin Sakuyamon. The problem was, they were facing two of them who crossed their staffs and used their Crystal Barrier move which created a spherical field, twice its normal power, which shielded her perfectly.
"How can she have double the power from before?" Davis inquired.
"She doesn't," Ryo answered. "It's a risky move on her part but when you create a doppelganger using that card, your power is actually halved. But Sakuyamon is using twice the amount of energy as normal to compensate for it. The only good thing about that is that when she combines back into one, she'll have used up a ton of her energy."
As Ryo said, once the Doppelganger card wore off, Sakuyamon was breathing heavily and looking worse for wear. But before the boys could try to attack her again, Rika used her Meditate card which rejuvenated Sakuyamon, much to their dismay.
"Right… She can still use modify cards when you can't," Davis murmured.
"Which means she's not only at the Royal Knight level but she can give herself a variety of upgrades…," Ryo added.
"And since she is the former Digimon Queen, she knows…"
"About a million advanced tactics and combinations."
"..."
"..."
"We are so screwed."
Sakuyamon raised her staff and shot out a massive flaming fox. "Fox Drive!"
If the attack made contact with them, they were guaranteed to take damage and possibly even deletion in Cyberdramon's case. So Magnamon quickly got in front of him and used his Aura Barrier attack to protect them from the hot flames.
"We'll have to go back to our original plan," Davis stated as he tried to keep himself from being blinded by the bright lights reflecting off the ice. "Magnamon will keep her busy while Cyberdramon takes a head-on assault against IceDevimon."
"She's too strong. She can easily prevent Cyberdramon from getting past her," Ryo argued.
Davis bit his lower lip. He had been hoping that it wouldn't come to this but they didn't have much of a choice at the moment. "Magnamon can easily balance things out if he uses his strongest attack. Hopefully, Sakuyamon will use her Crystal Barrier to protect herself and in that moment, Cyberdramon confronts IceDevimon."
It did sound rather risky. If Sakuyamon chose not to protect herself and instead, protect her master, she would end up taking the hit at full force. But Rika was smart and Renamon was even smarter, so they would probably use the Crystal Barrier to their benefit. Well, that was the belief anyway.
"Go for it," Ryo nodded.
Davis had to say, it felt kind of good being the tactician for once. He always followed everyone else's plans or charged in head first. Formulating an actual strategy felt like a good experience. Though at the same time, he really wanted to bust his way past Rika and take on IceDevimon himself.
"Magnamon, use that!" Davis shouted.
Magnamon brushed himself off now that Sakuyamon's attack was done trying to roast him. "That? Are you sure?" He didn't wait for a response as Sakuyamon suddenly gained a ton of speed and was approaching them with the intent of stabbing with the end of her staff. But from his peripheral vision, he saw his partner nod. "Here goes! Shining Gold Solar Storm!"
The entire room was suddenly enveloped in an intense golden light though they could hear what sounded to be hundreds of missiles launching themselves out at the same target, meaning Sakuyamon. Despite the whistling of the artillery, they could hear the magic-user cast her Crystal Barrier attack which protected her while Cyberdramon zipped past and straight towards IceDevimon.
"Desolation-!"
"Too slow!"
When the light faded away, they could see that Cyberdramon was in the pose he normally would be in right before unleashing his signature attack but he was encased in ice. To make things worse, Sakuyamon had only suffered minimal damage and she still had alarming speed which allowed her to get right in front of Maganamon. She roundhouse kicked him across the face before using the momentum to get her staff pointed at his chest for a point blank Spirit Strike.
"Magnamon!" Davis called out as he returned to being Veemon.
"Whoever said women were weak has never faced Sakuyamon…," Veemon groaned.
Davis tried to grab his partner but Sakuyamon used a western lariat against his throat, causing him to fall over while she scooped up the bipedal dragon in her arms. Ryo tried to help out his own partner when IceDevimon froze the boy so that he couldn't move any part of his body.
"C-C-Cyb-b-b-berdram-m-mon," Ryo shivered.
IceDevimon laughed as a portal opened up behind him, leading to who knows where. The fallen angel slid the ice sculpture of Cyberdramon through the hole in the air before picking up Ryo by the arm. Sakuyamon soon followed behind him with the blue Rookie still in her grasp.
"Wait!" Davis coughed. "Let them go!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that," IceDevimon grinned.
Davis grinded his teeth in anger but then his eyes were drawn over to Sakuyamon, he noticed that her eyes suddenly changed from dull to full of life. Not only that, but she started shaking her head ever so slightly like she was in a dream and she was just waking up. Did that mean she was no longer under the influence of the Dark Spiral?
"Save Ryo!" Davis called out impulsively.
Sakuyamon's eyes snapped open wide as she threw Veemon towards his partner and then tried to land a spin kick on IceDevimon. But the frozen demon quickly erected an ice shield between himself and the bio-merged Digimon, barely protecting himself as evident by the crack Sakuyamon's heel made.
IceDevimon frowned. "Tch, those useless buffoons couldn't even protect the Control Spire they were so proud of. No matter, I suppose two out of three targets is good enough." With that, he walked right through the portal.
"Come back!" Sakuyamon yelled. But the gate had already closed. "...What… have I done?"
Davis rubbed his aching throat as he helped Veemon to his feet. He watched Sakuyamon turn back to Renamon and Rika, both looking rather lost with themselves which shouldn't have been a surprise. Still though, he had to wonder why IceDevimon left Rika behind when he wanted her to be his Tamer. And why didn't he just go for Ryo and Monodramon in the first place rather than kidnapping Rika as a middleman? There was clearly more to this story than he had yet to hear but at the moment, they needed to get out of there.
"Rika, can you stand?" he called out.
The Tamer responded with a tiny nod before getting helped up by her partner. However, she fell back down to the floor when the entire palace started quaking. They heard what sounded to be an echoing beeping sound, similar to that belonging to bombs in action movies. To bombs?!
Everyone from the lower floors had already evacuated through the hole that Minervamon had made earlier since the beeping had started a while ago. They had been silently praying for the others to get out of there in time but those hopes were blown away along with the castle in an ear-shattering explosion.
"No…," Kari whispered before falling to her knees.
"Damn it!" Kouji shouted into the air in frustration.
"Wait, look!" JP called out, pointing at something in the air.
They all turned to watch Sakuyamon, Davis, and Veemon float down from inside the Mega Digimon's Crystal Barrier. The group would've cheered for their safe return if they hadn't noticed a different Tamer missing this time around.
"What happened to Ryo?" Kari asked when they landed.
"...He was taken by IceDevimon," Rika replied. "And it's all my fault." Before Kari could ask anything more, the redhead noticed Nene praying in front of a small memorial that she had made. "What happened to Nene?"
"It's… a long story," said Kari.
Their reunion did get one Tamer bigger when Kenta showed up with a Gomamon in his arms and a Cherrymon by his side. After he was filled in about what was happening, he told them about what he had learned and the fact that he had been the one to destroy the Control Spire. Now that they knew that the Dark Spirals could even control humans and several could even control Mega Digimon, they had to be more careful than ever.
December 21: Tokyo Bay - 10:20 AM
Strangely enough, unlike the army that attacked Sapporo, there was barely any damage done to the city at large. The fishermen and other workers along the docks were only stuck in a trance and chanting some sort of catchy jig. If it hadn't been for the frequency that Izzy let out of his laptop, the civilians might've been in some real danger.
"Hurry, get out of here!" Joe and Izzy instructed the citizens.
Zenjirou and Thomas made it to the frontlines where the giant pirate ship was waiting for them, flags raised. From the deck, Olegmon and his crew, which consisted of one Mermaimon, a couple of Depthmon, MarineDevimon, and Scorpiomon were moving around from one side to the other with big open-mouthed smiles on their faces. The ones that could, held up wooden beer mugs, each one appropriate for their sizes, as they sang and danced.
"Two of my archenemies times several?" Zudomon groaned. "This doesn't look very good."
"Remember what Ballistamon said though," MegaKabuterimon said as he landed on the ground. "We might not need to fight this particularly army if Ballistamon can get through to him. Fighting is only our last resort here."
Despite what the giant beetle had said, there was still doubt laced in his tone. After all, convincing one of their enemies not to give them trouble would be far too convenient and much too easy. A match between these pirates and the Chosen Children was brewing and only time could tell who the victor would be.
"Olegmon! Stop this madness!" Ballistamon called out.
Olegmon, the large golden pirate captain of the crew, slowly turned around and glared at the robot to show his distaste for having his chant interrupted. "Who are to tell me, leader of the Kinzoku Kaizoku, what to do?! Do you have a death wish? Is that it?"
"The Kinzoku Kaizoku?" Zenjirou repeated. "So… The Metal Pirates?"
"I think it's supposed to be translated as the Gold Tribe Pirates," Thomas corrected.
Ballistamon ignored all that in the background in favor of focusing on Olegmon who was looking rather menacing, especially with his scary-looking lackeys glaring down at him as well. But the thing was, why was the captain of the pirate crew acting like this when he had defected to the Xros Heart Army the last time they had met. Just what had those Demon Lords done to him to make him behave in such an atrocious manner?
"Don't you remember me?" Ballistamon asked. "You made me from scratch and I became your friend."
"Made you? You got the wrong gold-thief pirate, bud," Olegmon scoffed. "I've only ever built one machine in my life and his name is DarkVolumon so don't try to fool me with something that is so obviously a lie. It's not even clever."
"But I am – was – DarkVolumon!" Ballistamon objected.
Mermaimon suddenly took the reins here. "Don't flatter yourself. Not just any old machine can call himself a creation of the great and mighty Olegmon though I understand why you're trying. If you want to join our crew, just say it! Maybe Olegmon will feel generous or pity you."
"No!" Ballistamon snapped. "I don't want to join your crew! Olegmon, you're an ally of the Xros Heart Army! You're a friend of Taiki Kudo! How can you forget about all of that? What did the Demon Lords do to you?"
"The Demon Lords?" Olegmon frowned. "Those guys are ancient history. It's all about Lord Apocalymon now, kid."
Izzy and Joe tensed up when they heard the name of their final enemy from seven years ago. But then they remembered that he hadn't only been their enemy but the foe of the very first DigiDestined, before even them. And according to the stories they had heard, Apocalymon was capable of enslaving Digimon using the Dark Chain. So could that mean?
"Olegmon! Please snap out of it!" Ballistamon pleaded.
"I've had enough of this pointless drivel," Olegmon snarled, his scowl getting deeper. "DarkVolumon, destroy him!"
"DarkVolumon?!" the others gasped.
From behind Olegmon, a machine that looked a little similar to Ballistamon jumped high into air, the only difference being that he didn't look as friendly and he looked much more like a weapon of mass destruction. "Ultimate Speaker!"
Everyone tried to get out of the way as a sound wave pulsed through the air, destroying nearly everything that got caught up in the range. Lucky for them, MirageGaogamon was fast enough to pick them all up and carry them out of harm's way.
"Did he… make another one?" Ballistamon croaked out. "Another version of me?"
Izzy shook his head. "Somehow, I doubt it. Olegmon's memories should be the same as they were before so if he had built another one, then in his memory, he would've built two in total. My guess is that DarkVolumon was manufactured by someone else entirely. Possibly Apocalymon since Mr. Mizuno did tell us that he could create his own Digimon and weaponry."
"He'll pay," Ballistamon droned, clenching his hands into fists.
Zenjirou had never seen his partner like this before, so full of rage and the determination to strike down a foe he had never even met. But that must've meant that Olegmon was someone important to Ballistamon, there couldn't be much of another explanation.
"Don't worry… We can take care of this," Zenjirou nodded. "And we'll definitely get your friend back."
"But our first priority is to break through his line of defense," Thomas reminded them. They looked down to see that Olegmon's army was fortifying themselves in a way to keep them from attacking their general from any angle. "We need to retreat and strategize."
"My question is, if Olegmon really is being control by a Dark Chain, why don't we see it anywhere on him?" Izzy inquired. "From everything the Monster Makers have told me, the Dark Chain is practically a living thing, finding victims and enslaving them. However, from what I can tell, each of Olegmon's subordinates and himself included, do not have a Dark Chain."
"What about Olegmon's chant?" asked Joe.
"My frequency should've cancelled it out," Izzy stated.
"But what if they've been exposed to it for such a long time that they simply follow Olegmon's orders?" Joe continued. "By that logic, the only Digimon that needs to be controlled is Olegmon. So if we find the Dark Chain on him, destroy it, we should be able to liberate them all."
"That does make sense," Thomas concurred. "So for now, we should keep his troops occupied."
Izzy nodded in agreement. "Zenjirou, we'll make an opening for you guys to take on Olegmon."
"Wait!" Ballistamon interjected. Everyone paused as they looked over to the robot Digimon. "I appreciate what you are all trying to do for me but our worlds are at stake here. If it turns out that there isn't a Dark Chain on Olegmon, Zenjirou will get hurt and furthermore, I'm not strong enough to defeat Olegmon by myself, even with a Xros. So I think it would be better if I were to take on DarkVolumon."
"Are you sure?" Zenjirou asked. "Olegmon is your friend…"
"He wouldn't want to destroy the world he once protected."
Zenjirou was about to say that he understood where his partner was coming from when all the three older and more experienced Chosen Children reached over and smacked the back of Ballistamon's head. It didn't really hurt the android but it did leave him and his partner looking rather puzzled.
"When did we say we were making up this plan for your sake?" Thomas grinned.
"Olegmon's army consists of a ton of Ultimates," Izzy added. "It'd take all three of our partners just to keep them occupied."
"Therefore, the best course of action is for us to take on the army while you go for the leader since you've had experience in fighting this very same enemy once before," Joe finished. "We're just looking out for the city, not your friendships."
"Wow, Joe, when did you start saying cool things like that?" Zudomon smirked.
The shelled walrus was being hoisted into the air by MegaKabuterimon who was actually having trouble trying to remain airborne while holding onto the heavy sea mammal. If they weren't such good friends, the beetle would've let go a while ago though he was very tempted to do that even now.
"This isn't the time to poke fun at me," Joe sighed.
"I won't," Zudomon chuckled before weighing them in with his thoughts. "But listen, I have a better idea for how we can beat these guys."
Down below, Olegmon was wishing that he had someone in his army who could take flight because he had no idea how he was supposed to attack his enemies in the sky. Everyone in his crew, himself included, simply watched and waited for something to happen when they noticed something strange. One of the figures from above was getting larger and larger so that meant it was getting closer… right? But whatever or whoever it was, it was rapidly accelerating in its drop by the second.
"Abandon ship!" Olegmon ordered as Zudomon cannonballed right into the boat, shell first, destroying it and sending everyone onto dry land. Unfortunately, for Mermaimon and the Depthmon, this was where they lost their fighting advantage, giving even the singular MegaKabuterimon the ability to keep the entire group occupied.
MirageGaogamon shot back down to the floor at top speed, dropping off his passengers before gathering up the remaining lackeys into a group so he could keep them busy. This included the Scorpiomon, the MarineDevimon, and DarkVolumon.
"Leave it up to my partner to come with the most outrageous ideas," Joe sighed.
"Well, it worked out pretty well, if you ask me" Zenjirou chuckled.
Zudomon grabbed onto Olegmon's leg and yanked the pirate into the ocean where the sea mammal had the advantage while Ballistamon ran to the end of one dock before diving in. Joe was right, what Zudomon had done was unbelievably ludicrous and if he hadn't landed in the water, he would've incapacitated himself for the rest of the battle. But since it did work, no use in complaining.
"Execute the next part of the plan," Thomas instructed Zenjirou.
The teenager nodded before raising his teal X-Loader. "Ballistamon! Zudomon! Digi-Xros!"
Ordinarily, a heavyweight Digimon like Ballistamon would sink to the bottom of the ocean if he tried to take a swim, but given Zudomon's ability to breathe and maneuver underwater, he could've competed in the summer Olympics for swimming. As for his physical appearance, not much had changed besides his size which grew to Olegmon's equal as well as the addition of Zudomon's hard shell and giant hammer.
"Vulcan's Hammer!"
Olegmon crossed his arms over his chest to block the hit but it didn't absorb much as he was pushed back and crashed into one of the docks. With a deep scowl in reaction to the whack, he drew out his twin tomahawks.
"I'm no land lubber, I can take you on in the sea if that's how you want to tango!" Olegmon snarled.
The pirate attempted to cut down the fused Digimon but every time he used one tomahawk to repel the hammer and tried to cleave with the other, he was blown back by Ballistamon's Heavy Speaker attack. It made it nearly impossible for Olegmon to get close enough to launch a counterattack.
"Do you see a Dark Chain on him?" Zenjirou called out.
"I don't!" Ballistamon stated. "I think we might have no choice but to destroy him!"
"Destroy me?!" Olegmon growled. He really didn't like them talking about his deletion as if he was someone weak enough to be destroyed so easily. "Don't act all high and mighty just because you got yourself a fancy new upgrade! I'll show you! Besides, I already know your weakness."
"Our weakness?" Ballistamon frowned.
Olegmon raised his arms out of the water and suddenly, dark humanoid beings started crawling out from the depths and attacking the humans. Ballistamon would've jumped out of the sea to protect them if a few more of those shadowy enigmas hadn't started grabbing him and pulling him back down. To make things worse, the humans couldn't seem to touch them.
Zenjirou picked up an abandoned fishing rod and tried to use it as a sword but no matter how hard he swung, it just passed right through the creatures. Thomas's punches could do nothing at all but they were still able to grab onto the boys and tighten their grips around their throats, making it difficult for them to breathe.
"It's like they're incorporeal!" Izzy struggled.
"Then how do we defeat them?!" Joe choked out.
Suddenly, they heard what sounded to be gunshots, not that they had any idea what those sounded like in real life. But one by one, each of those creatures had their blank white masks shattered and they seemed to melt into the docks. The humans and Ballistamon were freed but they had no idea who their savior was.
"Who are you?!" Olegmon gaped, staring off in another direction.
The others followed his gaze over to a figure standing at the top of a building with a smoking pistol in hand. Everything about his clothing choices screamed pirate, including the dark gray long coat that flapped in the cold sea breeze. He also wore a sash that had metallic balls clipped on it and upon closer examination, the humans let out a gasp.
"Mr. Jones?!" they stared.
"Please," the Monster Maker chuckled. "Call me Captain Babel."
The man who looked to be in his early twenties all of a sudden, jumped down from the building's roof, landing on top of a large metal crate before pointing and shooting down several more of those shadowy creatures coming to get him. When he was finally on ground level, he detached the sash from his torso and swung it around like a whip, having it knock away oncoming foes. At some point, he plucked one of the balls off of it and threw the sash over his neck. He pitched the orb like he was in a baseball game and then shot a bullet, it hit the ball which exploded, sending shrapnel at a large group of those unidentifiable monsters.
"How are you doing that?" Izzy stared.
"It's so cool!" Zenjirou nodded excitedly, stars in his eyes.
"Those are Voidlings," Babel explained. "The only way to destroy them is through your DigiSoul. Simply put, I'm infusing my DigiSoul into my bullets and my miniature cannonballs. Case in point, Thomas, I believe you know what to do now."
Thomas enveloped his body in his blue DigiSoul before punching out one of the Voidlings. "I see now, thank you, Babel."
"That's Captain Babel to you," Babel corrected with a grin before turning over to Ballistamon. "The floor is yours now. Oh, and one more thing, the Dark Chains don't work on partnered Digimon so if Olegmon happens to get Hunted…"
"He'll turn back to normal!" Zenjirou and Ballistamon gasped.
"Now you've got the idea!" Babel laughed.
Joe and Izzy watched as Thomas took out Voidlings while Zenjirou excitedly sent out orders at his partner to follow. The one thing they couldn't understand was Babel's sudden return to youth or where the Voidlings came from. But most of all, the biggest question circulating around their heads, was concerning Babel Jones. Was the middle-aged, genius programmer always this childish?
"Don't just stand around, head to safety," Babel told those two.
"Uh, just one question," said Izzy. "Where did these creatures come from?"
Babel kicked a Voidling trying to come at them from behind. He then bent the creature over and used its back to keep his aim balanced as he opened fire on its comrades. "They grow on negative emotions like sadness, anger, and fear. The recent incidents involving Armageddemon and the Dark Generals has humanity on edge and many of them angry at Digimon. The more scared they are of Digimon, the angrier they are at Digimon, and the sadder they are because they lost someone to Digimon, the more Voidlings will be produced."
"So what about everyone in the Digital World?" Joe inquired. After all, the kids they sent probably have no clue what the Voidlings are so if those creatures showed up to face them, those Chosen Children would be in danger.
"They should be fine," said Babel before kicking his balancing board away and shooting it in the head. "According to Gennai, most Digimon have high hopes in the United Xros Heart Army who protect them so they aren't too afraid. Especially since so many of them grew up on the legends of the DigiDestined." His tone suddenly became solemn. "They feel like they can depend on you guys."
"They can depend on you guys too!" Izzy added.
"Nope," Babel chuckled. "No one remembers our stories. Not unless they were reborn with their memories of us."
Back in the water, Ballistamon was trying to fight a progressively angry Olegmon who was frustrated by the fact that the Voidlings were destroyed so easily. However, his focus had to be on the fight which he was soon realizing that he wouldn't be able to win if they continued their match in the water.
"DarkVolumon! Enhanced Armor Mode!" Olegmon ordered.
Abruptly, DarkVolumon broke apart into several individual parts, slipping their way past MirageGaogamon and becoming part of Olegmon. The pirate suddenly took on a more mechanical look, reminding them all of a dangerous cyborg Digimon.
"He can fuse too?!" Zenjirou gasped.
"Viking Vuffet!"
He sliced with his Tomahawks vertically at a speed that was only possible through the combination with DarkVolumon. Ballistamon turned around and used his shell as a shield but despite the hardness of it, he still felt massive pain cutting into him. It was actually leaving deep gashes in the shell. And Olegmon didn't stop until Ballistamon broke apart into his two separate components.
"Gomamon!" Joe gasped when he saw his partner.
Zenjirou didn't take any time to think as he quickly tried another Xros. "Ballistamon! Gigadramon! Digi-Xros!"
Ballistamon gained mechanical wings and his arms became similar to that of Gigadramon's so he quickly flew out of the ocean with the injured Gomamon in his arms. After dropping off the little guy in Joe's hands, he turned to face his foe who was climbing out of the water.
"Genocide Breaker!"
Countless organic missiles fired out from Ballistamon's claws and right for Olegmon who seemed more than prepared to counter such a move.
"Olegmon Speaker!" The Dark General released a sound wave from his chest that was strong enough and had a wide enough range to block all the missiles from harming him. Everyone aside from his allies and the Voidlings were forced to cover the ears as the sound of his hypnotizing chant reached their ears. It also seemed to skyrocket the morale of his crew as they started launching a heavier counterattack on the Digimon obstructing them from helping their captain.
"I can't hold them back for much longer!" MegaKabuterimon grunted.
"We have no choice but to destroy them!" MirageGaogamon added. "Try to push them over to my side."
MegaKabuterimon did as he was told as he used his Horn Buster attack to lead the Depthmon and Mermaimon over towards their crewmates. Once they were stuck together in one giant cluster, MirageGaogamon readied his signature attack. "Final Mirage Burst!" In a massive explosion, Olegmon's crew was diminished down to one member, himself.
"Mermaimon! Everyone!" Olegmon shouted, stopping his Speaker attack. The pirate stumbled forward before bellowing to show his rage. Somehow, it was louder and much more inhumane than his attack as the chests on his shoulders opened up, revealing some ghost-like figures. "Surtr! Jormungandr!"
Thomas and Izzy recognized those names from Norse mythology as they watched them wrap around their partners. Olegmon then leapt forward with his tomahawks in the air, cleaving MegaKabuterimon and MirageGaogamon clean down their middles. They were reverted back to their Rookie forms before they could even blink.
"Gaomon!" Thomas shouted.
"Tentomon!" Izzy called out.
Olegmon landed on the ground, right over the miniscule Digimon. He raised his tomahawks and he would've destroyed them too if Ballistamon hadn't flown down and took the attacks for himself. The robotic Digimon yelled out in pain when he felt the weapons digging into his shoulders but he mustered up all of his strength to push Olegmon as far away as possible from his fallen comrades.
Izzy and Joe quickly went over to pick them up since Thomas was a little preoccupied at the moment. But it was then that they realized it might've been a mistake to destroy Olegmon's team because after he had pushed Ballistamon away from him, he started destroying buildings and the docks with his speaker and his weapons.
"He's finally starting to act like a villain," Joe whispered. "But only after we deleted his friends."
"I've never actually seen a bad guy act this way for his underlings," Izzy added.
Ballistamon was injured and Zenjirou quickly ran over to check on his partner. "That's because he's not a villain!" Zenjirou snapped at them. "He was once Ballistamon's friend which means that he was one of our allies."
"Then why was he working for Bagramon in his past life?" Izzy asked.
Zenjirou didn't have an answer to that and as far as he knew, neither did Taiki. Maybe Olegmon was caught up in the wrong crowd of Digimon, after all, how could someone who only wanted loyal friends be a bad Digimon?
Babel left the remaining Voidlings up to Thomas as he joined the younger kids. "I don't care what kind of influences turned him this way, the guy is giving a bad name to pirates." The others paused to wonder if real-life pirates ever had a good name in the first place. "I'm going to have to make him walk the plank."
Babel moved forward with his firearm raised when Ballistamon grabbed the hem of his coat, keeping the man from going at the Dark General. The robot was clearly in no condition to fight and if he tried to, it was almost a guaranteed suicide. The same could've been said about Babel trying to take on Olegmon on his lonesome.
"…Wait," Ballistamon pleaded. "Please… Olegmon… He's not a bad Digimon. I'm sure… Zenjirou and I… we can Hunt him."
Babel pulled his leg out of Ballistamon's grasp. "I don't really care. In case you haven't noticed, that friend of yours is destroying the city. As a DigiDestined, it's my job to protect this world from Digimon like him. No excuses."
Ballistamon tried to argue with Babel who already shot a bullet at the back of Olegmon's head, getting the behemoth's attention. The two pirates stared each other down as Olegmon took a few steps closer, tomahawks raised.
"Who do you think you are?" Olegmon growled. "You're just a puny human against me."
"I'm Babel Jones, the Pirate of Responsibility," Babel answered coolly. "As a pirate, I make my own rules and follow them. Therefore, when something goes wrong or one of my crew members get hurt, I can only blame myself. So the same should go for you, why the hell are you taking revenge on the city when the person who failed your comrades, is yourself. That's why you're a disgrace to pirates."
A vein popped on Olegmon's head and it showed how much he didn't like Babel. "I will end you now!"
The bigger pirate swung his weapons down with the intention of cutting Babel down but they stopped short of his head. Zenjirou and the others were dumbstruck while Babel just smirked. The eldest human clapped Ballistamon's back as a sign of gratitude for protecting him.
"Olegmon," Babel said. "I want you to take a good look at the fire in this Digimon's eyes." Babel watched as Olegmon's pupils shifted over to Ballistamon and the little orbs that acted as his eyes, they shimmered and glowed like never before. "Do you recognize it? Well you should."
Before he could continue, Zenjirou stood up, not wanting this man to make his partner shine. He was no pirate but he liked hearing what Babel said. That as a pirate, one made his own rules and therefore, when something went wrong, he was the only one responsible for it. By that logic, for his partner, Zenjirou was responsible so he placed his hands on Ballistamon's shoulder and kept his partner steady as they resisted Olegmon's strength.
"Because Ballistamon was built by a great pirate who stuck by his own principles and never allowed anyone to tell him what to do!" Zenjirou shouted. "A pirate that any Digimon and even human would've been proud to call their call their captain and friend. But that pirate… isn't you! So come back to us as a friend!"
Olegmon's head was hurting. It made his body go numb. And inside him, he felt something. It felt like a cold-blooded snake, slithering around in his data stream, whispering something. It mixed with the words of the two humans in front of him and he wanted it all to be silent so that he could think. But they just kept talking and talking and talking and…
"Shut up!" Olegmon roared, letting out a sonic wave that pushed Babel, Zenjirou, and Ballistamon back. "Dual Tomahawk Boomerang!"
The weapons were sent flying at them and no matter how it looked, they believed they were about to lose their heads so they all squeezed their eyes shut. But then they heard a heavy clang, like the tomahawks crashed into something other than them. Thus, when they opened their eyes again, they saw the glowing crests of knowledge and reliability floating in front of the bodies of Izzy and Joe standing in front of them.
"We can't let you get all the glory," Gomamon smirked from Joe's shoulder.
"What are you talking about?" Joe chuckled breathlessly. "You're not doing anything."
"Are you and Joe okay?" Tentomon questioned.
"Doing this consumes gallons of our energy but we'll be fine if it means protecting our friends," Izzy huffed.
"Olegmon Speaker!"
The force of the sound wave blasted both Chosen Children back but their glowing crests were still there, protecting the grounded trio from those midair blades. Finally, the tomahawks slowed down enough to stop spinning and fall to the ground as the crests found a new home in Zenjirou's X-Loader, showing the symbol for alpha.
"What is…?" Zenjirou gasped.
"It looks like the belief you have in your partner and the belief we have in you, has opened up a brand new path," Babel chuckled.
Olegmon marched towards them, reaching down to pick up his tomahawks when Zenjirou pointed the screen of his X-Loader upwards which emitted a powerful teal glow that blinded Olegmon and enveloped Ballistamon.
"Ballistamon! Super Evolve!"
-X-
Since Rika is technically safe, I supposed we can mark her rescue mission as a success. But it was at the cost of both Ryo and Cyberdramon, will those two be okay? But how are things looking for Ballistamon and the gang? Will they be able to succeed in taking care of Olegmon with their new evolution or are they doomed to fail? Find out on the next Digimon: Children of the Future!
I realize that there wasn't as much development for Zenjirou as there was for Akari but it was hard for me to come up with anything more than this. Hopefully I'll do him more justice in a later chapter. Also, I couldn't help making Babel as epic as possible because I love One Piece and Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger so much. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed and don't forget to leave a review! See you!