It helps, in a way, to know that someone's out there, watching their back, willing to step in if need be. Drake will be honest, the team of Digidestined behind him aren't very helpful to his confidence. They're all so young, and so inexperienced. The only one he feels somewhat comfortable in in defending themselves is Dream, and even he isn't sure how to read the young man who can somehow digivolve as one with his partner, and not just as a power conduit through his digivice like every other digidestined Drake has ever met or heard about. So yes, ultimately, Timemon is a strange creature, but Drake is relieved to know he's out there, eager to help if they require it.

For now, however, they're on their own as they trudge through a quiet, strangely empty village. "What do we think?" Damien Priest asks, his deep voice startling Drake as he walks up alongside the leader of the NXT digidestined and look over the land before them.

"I think something here made the villagers all run for their lives," Drake mumbles. "But without destroying many, if any of them." He kneels down and spreads his hand over the ground, mixing around the soft sand and dirt conspiring most of it. "I see no scattered data here, at least."

"Hopefully a good sign," Dakota offers and Drake nods at her with a small smile.

"Hopefully so, yes," he agrees, standing once more. They venture further into the abandoned village and are just about to check the outskirts when something whispers in the wind and Drake's head immediately shoots up. "Did any of you hear that?"

"I don't think so," Dakota murmurs, but Damien's gaze is locked somewhere far in the distance and Drake isn't terribly surprised when he starts walking forward, ignoring them and their idle chatter.

"Hey! Priest! We need to all work together," Drake calls after him but it falls on deaf ears and he grits his teeth, clenching his hands into fists at his side. "Damien!"

Still no response and he shakes his head. "Keep up with him, all. We don't need to be separated right now, especially when we don't know what we're up against." They follow quietly, subdued, watching as Damien marches through the deserted homes and walkpaths, finally stopping before the biggest building in the area, tilting his head curiously for a moment before marching forward purposely.

"Dammit," Drake mumbles, unable to reach Damien in time to stop him as he pushes the door to the building open and slips inside, Arkadimon Child by his side every step of the way.

Only a few moments pass before there's a faint explosion and the side of the building crumbles a bit,dust and debris raining down on the ground before them, Arkadimon and Damien thrown back out the way they'd come. "Oh my God!" Dakota gasps, her and Drake running forward to check on Priest.

"Stay back," he growls, throwing an arm out to stop them as he gets to his feet. They skid to a stop and he stands tall, glaring across at the white and gold armored knight digimon who's appeared in the wreckage. "You are to cause for all of this."

Smirk crossing his face, Dynasmon shifts forward and lifts his arms. "I forced all inhabitants of this land to leave, yes. They had no purpose here anymore.'

Dakota and Drake exchange glances before facing the brewing battle once more, trying to figure out if they should get involved or not. "Leave this to me," Damien snaps and, for now, they agree silently to stand down and see how he does in his first true fight here. "Arkadimon!"

The rookie creature looks tiny in comparison to Dynasmon. "You truly expect me to fight that?" Dynasmon asks, almost sounding bored as he peers down at the strange pink digimon with sickles and spikes all over, just making it look truly unfriendly and vicious. "It is hardly a fair fight."

"Don't underestimate him," Priest recommends with a smirk, catching his partner's eye before Arkadimon lunges forward.

Dynasmon sighs and withstands the attack, unimpressed with the size of his opponent, but then Arkadimon is on him, his sickles biting through Dynasmon's armor and- "AH WHAT ARE-" Dynasmon chokes and struggles as his entire body seems to deconstruct, then reconfigure. "You can..." He gags as pain ripples through him, fresh and all-encompassing. "You can alter data," he forces the words out, glowering down at Arkadimon. Shooting off energy from his hands, he groans in reprieve as Arkadimon retreats, but it's only a few moments before he's back on top of Dynasmon, altering and shifting more and more of his core, destabilizing him. "No!" This time, Dynasmon's attack isn't half assed, and he sends Arkadimon flying far, into a wall of one of the nearby houses, where he lands hard and collapses, large pieces of the foundation falling down around him, on top of him, crushing his arm and midsection until he lays still.

Priest gapes on in horror until he realizes. "Arkadimon!" he cries out, rushing forward- just for Dynasmon to appear between them.

"Your partner is an abomination," he informs him, body still fazing in and out, shattering and reforming within moments. "He should never have been created, much less allowed to wander free through this world." Dynasmon turns and holds his arm out towards the downed creature, about to finish it, when Damien yells out.

"NO! Arkadimon!" One minute, Damien is frozen behind Dynasmon, and the next, he's lunged forward and finds himself between Dynasmon and his crushed partner, arms outstretched, trying somehow, someway, to defend the strange insect-type digimon who's been his main companion for the past few weeks. "I won't let you hurt him any further," he declares, watching with some satisfaction as Dynasmon's eyes widen in shock.

Damien grits his teeth as Dynasmon resumes his attack, ignoring how unstable his data is even as he forms the attack, and then- then... there's a bright light issuing from the device trapped in his pocket and Damien fumbles, grabbing it and holding it high as it shakes and shines. "Arkadimon," he whispers, wishing he could watch, but aware of what's happening behind him as Arkadimon squeeches, freeing himself from what remains of the house and slamming forward.

Arkadimon Adult looks vastly different from the pink creature that Damien's gotten to know, standing much taller, his arms the length of his body, and he has vicious looking claws and dark red spines pulsating on both arms above his wrist, his skin a pale orange shade. All Damien can do is watch as this new creature lunges forward and digs in, the spines on his arms embedding themselves in Dynasmon's already weak spots, causing the digimon to roar out in pain, just for his voice to die away abruptly as his body warps, and twists, Arkadimon's entire body glowing, his eyes reflecting the force of Dynasmon's life energy as Arkadimon alters it, destabilizes it beyond repair.

"No," Dynasmon chokes out. "It's not supposed to end this way..." He lifts his hand towards the sky and falters. "My master. I am sorry I failed you. Please-" And before he can finish his thought, Arkadimon lets out a triumphant noise and Dynasmon shatters, his data raining down around Damien's partner.

"Holy shit," Drake mutters. It had happened so fast, they had no time to interject when Dynasmon had initially attacked Damien, but it clearly hadn't mattered. He looks back over at Damien. "Holy shit."

Damien had, as soon as Dynasmon disappeared in a twisted heap of data, rushed to his partner's side, and now he's patting the creature's side, murmuring to it cheerfully like it hadn't just shredded a digimon down to its very core with only its hands.

Dakota remains by Drake's side, biting her lower lip. "I... that's horrifying."

"It is," Drake agrees quietly, thinking perhaps Dream isn't the only one he needs to keep an eye on.