Things haven't been going well for Drake lately. He's sore, his body feels exhausted, and all in all, going to the Digiworld and trying to sort out another issue over there is the absolute last thing he wants to do right now. But he has an obligation and he tries to keep his head held high as he casts a quick glance over the others before holding his digivice out and activating the portal to send them on through to the world that grows more and more unstable every day thanks to all of the issues on earth.
Once they're there and on their way to the next village in need of assistance, Drake finds himself walking side by side with Tommaso Ciampa. The man is intense, his dark blue eyes boring through anything that catches his attention, and Drake swallows hard, uncomfortable with the proximity. But he tries, offers a faint smile up at the man. "How have things been for you?"
Ciampa glances down at him, a flash of overwhelming blue in a pale, angered face, and Drake flinches as he falls quiet and simply continues walking, mentally arguing with himself over if he should say anything else or just let the man continue on in peace. It's not Drake's way, however, and he soon finds himself talking about the digiworld, about NXT, about what he had for dinner last night, for chrissakes- anything at all he can think of to fill the air between them, and although Ciampa doesn't exactly react, he doesn't leave or punch Drake, so Drake assumes that's a good sign.
Drake cuts himself off midsentence, however, when Tommaso throws an arm out and hits Drake's chest before he can continue on any further, stopping them all short. They hear it before they see it- digimon laughing boisterously, mixed in with the sounds of explosions and things collapsing. Ciampa pauses only long enough to inhale sharply before he's off, sneaking closer to see what exactly is going on. "Hey, wait," Drake hisses, stalking after him. They lean against a collapsed wall and peeks over to find-
A group of PawnChessmon, running throughout what remains of the village, attacking everything in sight with their spears or bucklers. But they're not alone, King Chessmon is standing on the outskirts, overseeing, barking orders, egging his associates on as they lay waste to everything within reach. Ciampa shakes his head briskly and motions to Guilmon X, marching forward. Drake's jaw drops. "Ciampa!" he hisses, trying to move forward to catch up with him, stop what he's doing, but Tommaso's already been spotted, three PawnChessmon circling him almost immediately, spears all pointed at vulnerable areas of his body. He stands his ground, however, unimpressed with the group of them.
His focus, however, primarily seems to be on King Chessmon. "Care to come over here and fight your own battles?" he calls over to the man.
King Chessmon looks incredibly offended at this and scoffs, waving his hand towards the PawnChessmon, watching as more of them surround Ciampa. "Why on earth would I do that when that is their jobs?" he asks, dismissively.
Flames fill Guilmon X's maw and he turns in a slow circle, eyes flashing with madness as he takes in all of the creatures surrounding them. "Guilmon," Ciampa says slowly. "Think you can handle all of these alone?"
Guilmon X doesn't verbally respond, just glances over his shoulder at Ciampa, the flames within his mouth growing in intensity, and then he's off, barreling through all of the PawnChessmon, not hindered by spear or shield, sending all of them flying, burnt and incapacitated as they hit the ground and shatter into little pieces of data immediately. Within a minute, they're all gone and Guilmon tilts his head towards KingChessmon, who is wavering where he stands.
"RETREAT!" KingChessmon suddenly cries out, turning and running desperately the way he came.
Guilmon X growls, aware that he won't be able to catch up due to the differences in their speed- but then his body begins to glow, fueled by a hunger to end KingChessmon as easily as he had the pawns, and Ciampa turns to watch as Guilmon X roars out, his data stripping away and his body shifting, growing taller and larger, and more vicious as he hits the ground and shakes his head wildly. When he runs, he's ridiculously quick, and KingChessmon double takes when one minute he's far away, and the next, Growlmon is nearly on top of him.
"NO!" he cries out, trying to attack with his spear while running, and missing. Growlmon, however, does not as his large claws slash through KingChessmon's body, tearing through his form and leaving him collapsing to the side. "No," he weakly gasps, struggling to move forward, to somehow escape, try to heal from this horrific attack.
"You are a coward," Growlmon informs him. "You destroy villages and ruin lives with your little pawns, then cannot even fight me when I take all of them out. Have you no honor?" But he waits for no response, already knowing the truth of the matter, and instead gouges his claw down one last time, shattering straight through KingChessmon's chest, and shattering what remains of him, his data slowly drifting after what remains of the PawnChessmon in the wind.
As Growlmon returns to Ciampa's side, dedigivolving back to Guilmon X, Drake slips out from behind the wall and approaches Tommaso, staring at him and his partner in awe. "I'm really glad you're on our side," he tells him.
Tommaso glances at him once more, his lips twitching up in a faint smirk before he motions to Guilmon X and they begin walking side by side back to the portal. It's all the response Drake gets from the man, but it's enough.
