Bright blue eyes open to a strange, unfamiliar world. The Miz sits up with a grunt, rubbing at his eyes and wondering what kind of prank the boys are throwing on him now when... something heavy drops atop his head and he jerks, looking behind him with a grimace, reaching up to check his head. However, he stops quickly when his fingers brush against something warm and rough, frightening him as he fails to recognize the feel. Looking up, he scoots backwards at finding something purple towering over him while he's crouching on the ground, quickly making it to his feet as adrenaline thrums through him, his heart racing in response. "What are you?!" he demands, staring at the creature who oddly resembles a dragon.
"I'm Monodramon," the beast says simply. "I am a Digimon. We're going to be partners... It's a long story, but we have to meet up with the others, where more will be explained. Follow me."
And despite everything in him telling him not to do it, he finds himself following along agreeably, eager to see just what the end result of this will be.
Which leads them here. A handful of missions behind them, friendships formed, even some good memories despite all of the fighting and scary moments each had provided. Luke had sent them back to the virus zone, a prospect that none of them are thrilled with after what had happened with Datamon, but they go. Not without muttered complaints, of course, most of them standing a little closer to their partners as they go where indicated, but there's nothing to be done. In the end, they still feel obligated to help innocent Digimon when possible.
Smoke and flame meet them before they're prepared for it, harsh memories of before still playing around in their minds. They all tense and look for the culprit, Renamon able to see before the others due to her taller height, and sharp eyes. "Musyamon." As if the name is swept away by the wind, calling to its owner, there's a sharp sense of foreboding following that break in the silence and they all stand at attention, waiting, listening, expecting...
And then it comes. A sword, long and alit in vicious flames, slices through the air and if not for Monodramon's heightened senses as well, Mike's not sure how much of him would be left standing- but the dragon lunges forward, tackles him aside, and the weapon embeds itself in the soil, burning its surroundings black. Mike gasps and chokes, looking up as a tall Digimon with battered, purple wings and armor of various colors and textures covering every inch of his body, none of which really match or make sense to the naked eye, slams into the ground before him, sending aftershocks through the surrounding surfaces. Crazed blue eyes stare down at him as the Digimon- Musyamon- stomps forward and collects his sword, prying it out of the ground as if it's merely stuck in butter.
Renamon moves first, spreading her long creamy arm out before them, shielding the group of them from him. "Back away," she warns him coolly, barely flinching when he sneers at her, flames building along his blade once more. "Very well, then. Diamo-" She's only gotten halfway through the attack summons when his large fist slams into her mid-section, sending her skidding far away, causing a bit of a rockslide as she slams into a nearby cliff, sliding back down to the ground, covered in rubble and dust.
AJ lets out a shocked little cry, Mike scrambling to his feet as the remaining Digimon regroup and stand up to the monster, all waiting for his next move. He's clearly lost it, swinging his sword around and laughing gleefully at the destruction he's caused, Mike looking over his shoulder to realize- the flames and smoke they had been greeted by hadn't just been some random thing, no. As far as his eye could see, a crumbling, half-destroyed village sprawls behind them for miles. He swallows and considers how many lives an attack of such magnitude could cost, his eyes growing cold and dark. "Monodramon," he snaps, turning to find his partner waiting, eager to also get some vengeance. For Renamon, for the other Digimon lost, for how close Mike had come to...
That one word appears to be enough. Not just for Monodramon, however, as his first movement towards Musyamon starts a domino affect, all of them rushing forward to stop his madness. The Digimon with flame or physical based attacks wisely fall back, waiting for an opportunity or to see if Monodramon may need their help, which leaves Betamon, Lopmon, Lunamon and Patamon at his back. Musyamon laughs at them, clearly not intimidated by their general sizes, none of them coming to his knees, but Monodramon seems unfased at the mocking of his team. "Go," he whispers.
They respond eagerly, their various air and electric attacks converging with Lunamon's water blast, slamming into Musyamon and only making him laugh harder, forgetting for a minute- the flames disappear from the redhot metal of his sword, and Monodramon sees his chance. Lunges forward and clamps his jaws down on the sword, feeling as it destabilizes between his teeth, Musyamon immediately realizing as the handle rattles in his grip. He screams and shakes it, sending Monodramon off in a wild sweep, but the damage is done. The sword falls into small fragments of data in his hands and Musyamon's screams turn into roars of painful anger, all of the younger Digimon wincing away from him.
He's still losing it when they hear shifting from the left, all turning as one to watch as Renamon painfully unearths herself, her fur matted with dirt and grime, eyes dull. She looks determined, however, as she holds a paw against her midsection, breathing heavily. Her diamond shard attack comes quietly, with no warning, zinging through the air before they embed into various parts of Musyamon's body, some dinging harmlessly off of his armor, but a lot digging into his exposed flesh, leaving him writhing and yelling as finally, he's deleted, his crazed anger evaporating with the rest of his data.
The village continues to smolder behind them as Renamon collapses to her knees, AJ surprising all of them by rushing forward to catch her partner before she faceplants into the ground, the tension between the two of them forgotten, at least for now. Mike swallows harshly, looking from where Musyamon had once stood over to where AJ is currently supporting the taller Digimon, to the partially destroyed buildings behind them. "We need to, um. We need to search for survivors," he finally spits out, pointing towards the village.
AJ stays behind, of course, and although they only find a few villagers in need of rescue, the air still thick with freshly fragmented data at spots, it's cathartic somehow. Proves to them that the Virus sector is something they can still find some level of success in, those few thankful Digimon they do find offering comfort to them. Makes it easier to see returning here more often in the future, to help others like them.
