Ben10 & Digimon Tamers
Heroes and Humanity
Part 02: Humanity and Heroes
The Invasion – Chapter 26
Music Inspiration: Hikaru Utada - Deep River
Originally Written: Friday July 10, 2015 1115PM to Saturday, July 11, 2015 153AM
. . . . .
Albedo looked around the main foyer of the apartment complex he and Henry lived in. His ID mask was still set so he looked like a plumber, and he was starting to get used to the weight of the blaster in his hands. He narrowed his eyes, finding no sign of deep blue hair or silver eyes. His students were relatively calm, considering the situation. He supposed that after something like the D-Reaper incident, not even a situation involving Tennyson could rile them up with fear. Maybe they didn't quite grasp the seriousness of the situation yet. He looked around at older females and males alike with faces marked with hidden seriousness and fear, as they huddled together, many of them with just the clothes on their backs.
"The aliens fleeing created the perfect distraction to prevent human civilians from preparing their own survival gear." He spoke up.
"Shame too." The female plumber who helped him and others lead civilians away from gunfire nodded, "It even caught us by surprise."
"Unfortunately." Albedo kept looking around."
"Rika and Jeri reached Shelter Three." He heard Kazu through his ID mask "Chumly's silent, and Henry's still M.I.A."
"Ryo's still out here with other plumbers," Kenta sounded worried to Albedo, voice wavering. "They're not winning."
"Dude, shut up." Kazu whined.
Albedo looked back at the entrance, just outside the building where Kazu, Kenta, Andromon and MarineAngemon stood talking to Fridge and Hugh, not disguised as humans as a result of their previous actions. 'It'll do.' He thought, 'Let's see how believable I sound.'
"New orders!" He called them from the door. "You Tamers take watch. Guard this safe house at all costs."
Kazu and Kenta looked at him and nodded.
"The rest of you, inside." He continued, Fridge and Hugh gave him a look, but they eventually complied. Albedo looked back inside the building. "Akari, Haiphen, Ykcat, Rose." He pointed to random plumbers, including Rose, who stood next to him. "With me." He spoke firmly.
They all nodded in the affirmative, and followed his lead. He took off out of the building, running past Kazu and Kenta as well as his alien accomplices. "Grab any Plumber reinforcements you see!"
"Yes sir!"
He nearly rolled his eyes at the plumbers who followed his orders without complaint. If he wasn't wearing a visor and helmet, he hoped they would react much differently, annoying as that reaction would be.
"Albedo, what the hell are you doing!?" Ryo's voice sounded out, full of static over the loud whooshes and bzzts of laser fire.
He refrained from saying anything too quickly. On this channel, the plumbers surrounding him couldn't hear Ryo. He made sure to look down every street he passed while he slowly made his way to Ryo's location, just in case he spotted signs of blue and silver.
"The barrier is down!" Yckat called out.
Albedo looked at the sky just in time to see the transparent barrier become visible for a few moments. It fizzled and disappeared like a sheet being taken off the sky shortly afterward. Incursean ships filled the sky, leaving just enough room between each one so they could easily move without crashing into each other.
'Is that...' Albedo questioned his vision. 'The Time Walker?' Sitting on the terrace of an apartment building with his legs hanging between two posts of the railing, was Professor Paradox dressed in a white lab coat. Occasionally he looked up at the sky, but his pocket watch kept his attention the most.
"By the orders of Lord Emperor Milleous, Light of the Incursean Empire, Destroyer of Galaxies, Keeper of the Conquest Ray, all beings tremble-!"
Albedo and the plumbers around them sighed, hearing the sound of Plumber Gunfire cut off the Incursean grunt's voice. Albedo pinched the bridge of his nose, 'Incurseans are idiots.'
"You are to stand down!" The Incursean continued.
"Shit." He heard Ryo call out, "This is not good."
"...Tennyson will not stand down, hm? ….Then we'll release the Waybads! Have fun with this, humans!"
Screams erupted as a slew of purple To'Kustar fell from the larger ships, some of them crushing buildings they landed on. Albedo turned around. Four of the aliens surrounded Hypnos, easily rivaling the height of the tall building. The other plumbers looked at Hypnos as well. For the moment, there wasn't much else tiny individuals like them could do against the To'Kustars.
'When did the Incurseans gain access to feral To'Kustars?' Albedo's mind raced. Full of thoughts about the Incurseans and Henry's whereabouts.
He and the surrounding plumbers all winced as loud static flowed out of their communicators. "All plumbers in the vicinity!"
Albedo's eyes widened. Without a doubt, that was Yamaki's voice. He heard bits of laser fire and shouting in the background that gave him pause. Japan had certainly done better than America did when it came to defending against alien forces, but it seemed they too were no match for a true all bets are off attack on their land.
"If you received this message then Operation Hidden Technique is go! I repeat: Operation Hidden Technique is go!" Static cut off Yamaki's voice. Then the signal fell silent.
"Let's go, ladies!" Rose called, "We're the least likely to get crushed considering our distance. That means you too, Alex!"
Albedo jerked to attention. He gave the To'Kustars one last look as he took solace in the fact they were not red and white. He turned around and nodded, even though the other plumbers had started their trek already. He followed them, easily keeping up. Adrenaline flowed through his veins. He was certain that if the To'Kustars were red and white, he wouldn't be able to move.
"Oh man," Akari, a human male plumber looked around, voice wavering, "is Operation HT really this intense?"
'What is Operation HT?' Albedo figured asking out loud was out of the question. Although, American plumbers didn't have Operation HT protocols, asking would probably blow his cover. Being stationed in America previously was not a valid reason for not knowing what was probably an Omega level operation was. He assumed it was Omega level, for any plumber in the area, outside and able, immediately took defensive positions and moved from cover to cover as though they were preparing to move precious cargo.
"Can you beat Justimon in a one on one fight?" Rose snapped.
"...No..." Akari's voice wavered.
"Feel like taking on an Incursean controlled Justimon?"
"Oh hell…."
"Exactly, so move your ass and make sure the Incurseans don't grab him."
Albedo's heart raced. Thanks to his D-Terminal, he could hear Justimon, but the human portion of the Digimon seemed to be out voiced by the Digital Monster part. Justimon growled heavily and loudly, snarling. Albedo couldn't imagine Ryo sounding this way.
"Ryo," he spoke loudly, "you need to get out of the line of fire."
"Yckat wants to tell you don't bother." Yckat, a blond haired male who reminded Albedo of a skinny Appoplexian catboy spoke, "Once Cyberdramon takes over Justimon things get nasty quick. I'll be surprised if he can hear you." The cat ears on top of his head twitched, listening for any signs of danger.
If Albedo knew Ryo like he thought he did, Ryo would not be looking forward to being an Incursean spoil of war. He had to get Cyberdramon to listen. "You're outnumbered Justimon. Badly outnumbered." He looked up at the ships firing at the Digimon. A To'kustar caused considerable damage to a skyscraper trying to catch him.
"I will not lose to these inferior pests." Justimon growled out.
"We haven't lost anything!" Albedo ignored the plumbers looking at him. He was sure they believed he was involved in another fight. He was also sure that if Cyberdramon didn't stop it's predatory growling his next nightmare was going to feature it. "We'll hit them twice as hard in our counterattack. I know you'll get them triple," Albedo lowered his eyes, "but what good are you to anyone, even yourself, if you're captured?"
Justimon sliced into another ship. The group waited with bated breaths. Justimon landed on a rooftop and slipped inside a building.
"I'll be more than happy to hit them where it hurts."
The plumbers all sighed in relief. A few of them clapped Albedo on the back. Ryo and Cyberdramon sounded in equal control of Justimon again.
"Find that Alien!" An Incursean yelled through an intercom. It echoed as though the frog were using a microphone. "Crush all opposition who don't understand our power. For Lord Emperor Milleous, Light of the Incursean Empire, destroyer of Galaxies, Keeper of the Conquest Ray, All Beings Tremble-"
"-We'll rendezvous at this location." Justimon breathed heavily, "Stay hidden, Plumbers. Don't let them catch you." A few moments of silence carried over Plumber communicators. "I can't believe I waited for the idiot to get that far."
Albedo wished to tell him to not do it again, but he imagined that wouldn't translate well to his Plumber companions. He glanced back at Hypnos as Plumbers took to the alleys, slipping in between apartment buildings and stores. Incursean forces were already moving on the ground, grabbing unlucky plumbers who were brave but not smart or fast enough.
His impromptu squad hid behind a dumpster as Incurseans passed by. Plans formed in his head. Plans that would be useless if he was caught. He kept a look out for silver and blue, a searing pain filling him as he wished that Jenrya hadn't become so distant with him, and that he hadn't let Jenrya do so.
The Incurseans needed to go, and their best bet of doing that was freeing Hypnos from them. The question was how to do that without risking the entire planet. Albedo knew that it was rare, but Incurseans, especially Milleous, weren't fans of babysitting. Planets full of captives that become too rebellious were blown to smithereens. They became an example for other planets for why working alongside the Incurseans was a much better solution. He and anyone else involved would need to be careful.