Before we get under way I'd like to take the time to thank everyone who's reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. It means a lot to me as I thought by this point I'd be done with this story but I'm happy I'm not. It's been a true pleasure writing this and having people comment on what they liked about it
Now then, I do have to give you readers fair warning. This chapter contains violent and disturbing content that may be harmful to some readers or trigger traumatic memories.
I do not own anything expect the OCs, human and Digimon.
Chapter Thirty-Five-Prey Again
Nebirosmon had only one thing on his mind-making each and every one against him pay for the damage he'd taken today. It amazed him how things had gone from sweet to sour so quickly. First Tolhumon had the nerve to insult him then those three actually managed to critically wound him. They also managed to escape him, him, the most feared watchdog in all the Dark Area. How could he allow such a thing to happen? "All of them were going to die." He thought bitterly digging his paws into the soaked dirt. "The only way to remove this dishonor is to kill all of them. Yes, I'll kill them ,each and every last one of them!"
He'd start with the legions of mind-controlled humans idiotically rushing him.
"I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU WORMS!" The first Nebirosmon shouted launching into a war charge that left a trail of jet-black flames in his wake. Hundreds of bullets came speeding his way but none ever met their target. Instead, he continued on his warpath with black hellfire coating his fangs and jaws.
SSSSSSSHHHRRRIIIII-IIIISSSSHHHH!
Magma-like flames rose from the jagged scar Nebirosmon left along the earth showering the rest of the cultist with burning lava. He'd cut a clear line through their numbers and went back to take another bite out of their forces.
SSSSHHHHHHRRRIIIII-IIIIIISSSSSSHHHH!
SSSSHHHHHHRRIIIII-ISSSSSSHHHHHHH!
Half the battlefield was a searing wasteland by the time the two Nebirosmon and that was how they liked it. Bodies among bodies falling to the ground as the flames ate away at every piece of their physical and spiritual existence. Those that still held the ability to scream did so and it was music to Nebirosmon's ears. The sight of his own forces jumping through the flames to finish off any survivors only further added to his pleasure. In spite of the pain he was in both hellhounds raised their heads to the sky and bellowed with sick laughter.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The two hellhounds turned away to see a new collection of cultists had begun firing at them with everything they got. It brought a compound smile to their faces as they trudged forward shrugging off the bullets and rockets that came their way without so much as a word. They opened their mouths and out came wide rivers of devilish flames that washed over the squadron turning it into a massive bonfire. Ceasing the attack immediately the two demonic canine broke off in separate directions. "Hex Chains!" Their voice cried in perfect union. Three sets of spiked and flaming chains formed around each of the Dark Animal Digimon.
If any of the cultist had any reason or sanity left they would have moved as far out of the way as possible, since they didn't they just kept firing. That was perfectly fine for Nebirosmon who took gleeful pleasure in charging through their firearms. Like starving vipers the chains lashed out, cutting, and burning everything they touched. A never ending sea of blood, clothing, and limbs were thrown into the air then came down over Nebirosmon's two halves. Not even the gory rain stopped the unholy chains which continued to lash and tear at everything within a twenty foot radius of the canines.
THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!
"I guess six bodies per chain will do." One of the Nebirosmon snarled noting how infected Digimon and human cultist converged on him once more. "Here, I do believe this all belong to you!" Everybody that had been impaled by the black chains were burning bright, and as they were swing around they left trails of black and white flames in their wake. All pressed together the collected corpses looked like elongated wrecking balls both Nebirosmon gleefully swung around before choosing to bring them down.
THU-KUNK! THU-KUNK!
A concrete of bones and flesh cracking boomed each time a Nebirosmon brought one of its chain on a group of attackers. To any human the sight was horrifying, there were no humans or any such compassionate creature amongst the flaming battlefield the clearing had become. Humans and Digimon vigorously attempted to destroy each other spilling blood and data over the ash-covered earth. Jumping up to the highest point of the battle's wreckage gave Nebirosmon the bird's eye view of this. From there he ruthlessly brought his chains down creating a never ending serious of shockwaves and eruptions.
SWOOOSSSHHH!
The hellhounds jumped off of their high-point as a serious of blindingly fast tentacles tore through the metal not unlike how their chains had shredded the flesh of the Deep Ones. With a snarl both creatures hurled the bodied they'd amassed on their chains at the tentacles' owner, the eyeless and seemingly emotionless Tolhumon.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Was the resulting sound of each tentacle effortlessly deflecting the human projectiles with a small shockwave of air tailing them. Tolhumon said nothing as the irreversibly bent and broken bodies landed around her. "You're putting up a lot of fight for a half-dead munt." She offered taking the first steps towards her target while her extra appendages rose behind her. "But that ends now." At that all the spear-like limbs rushed towards the twin hellhounds.
One of them roared causing a visible barrier of raw heat to form. The speared tentacles weren't strong enough to penetrate the barrier and instead distengrated on contact with the protective field. "Don't you know little girl? A cornered dog is always the worst! Hex Chains!" They cried simultaneously causing the ground to erupt and spew forth countless black chains in Tolhumon's direction.
THICK-THUNK! THICK-THUNK! THICK-THUNK! THICK-THUNK! THICK-THUCK! THICK-THUNK! THICK-THUNK!
It was an even match between Nebirosmon's chains and Tolhumon's tentacles. Air and embers exploded between the metal and flesh whips that angrily bat at each other furiously. Neither demon nor mutant backed down nor could they break the stalemate they'd locked themselves in. Nebirosmon's black-hearted eyes never strayed from Tolhumon who returned the glare despite having no eyes at all, the stony mask she wore merely conveyed all the disdain she felt towards her opponent.
Around them the hell known as war was unfolding in all its grand horror. In every direction Digimon and humans were engaged in vicious all-out combat that left as many dead and defeated as it did victors. The Cerberumon didn't care that their opponents were humans, in fact, they were glad. Multiple dark portals opened up all over the battlefield from which they came forth, either slashing and biting or breathing streams of demonic fire. Given how little room they had to move few of the cultist were able to survive the murderous assault of the hellhounds. The number of men and women who were shredded was unimaginable as that seemed to be the favored method of death for the Cerberumon. In their twisted eyes it was a lovely sight-bodies and limbs being launched into the sky amidst a firestorm with thunder and lightning in the background.
There were no words to describe the enjoyment Cerberumon Werewolf Mode felt crushing scores of humans. Sadistic glee practically set his eyes ablaze, all six of them, seeming to leave crimson streaks in their wake. Despite his intimidating height and appearance he moved with the speed and ferocity of his four-legged brethren. Not even the fastest sharp shooters amongst the absent-minded cultist were able to catch him in their sights, and by the time they did he was already well on his way to ending their lives. His twin wolf-shaped gauntlets swallowed up two or three people at once when he lunged out. CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! The two oversized heads went ruthlessly grinding anything caught in them into bloody chunks, not even Digimon were spared. No matter how big they were or how thick their defenses Cerberumon Werewolf Mode was able to cleave sizable chunks out of their bodies. Their pain-filled screaming and horrified expressions was like an endless string of dog bones for the armored werewolf. They'd die on their own from the gaping wounds he'd left them.
"Giga Missile!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
High above the scorched earth squads of Gigadramon and Megadramon blasted the area with their futuristic weaponry. Having already lost their sanity the possibility of killing their own didn't faze them as long as they took out some portions of the enemy with them. Most of them waited for the Cerberumon to group together like the pack animal they were based on before firing; grins plastered their faces at the sight of the Cerberumon lying dazed and wounded in smoking craters. On that note the second volley of attacks came as the Dark Animal Digimon were regenerating for they knew that was when they were the most vulnerable. The squad leaders roared the command to the second wave and down came countless missiles and laser blasts that tore into Daemon Corps trackers. Dozens of data clouds came forth and data streams leaked out of the vanishing bodies of the dying and deleted.
Cerberumon Werewolf Mode wasn't one of them, matter of fact he was one of the hardest targets to hit. The lower rank and file of the Deep Ones were barely able to scratch the transformed beast let alone stop him. Even the airborne Digimon raining fire and death on everything that moved couldn't stop the rampaging beast man. Always holding up one gauntlet towards the sky he dodged and retaliated with an endless barrage of black fireballs whose range and explosive power were enough to get the flyers to reconsider their advantage. His aiming was unsettlingly sharp for a creature dodging destruction at every turn. A string of jet black explosions and metallic shrapnel were proof the two-legged demonic canine still had a leg up on them.
"Do it boys! Hellfire!" Coming out of an evasive roll with both gauntlets lined up together. From each head came a hellfire blast nearly ten-feet in diameter. Each blast punched a hole in the aerial blanket before beginning to move in opposite directions much to the horror of the various flying Digimon.
"Portals of Darkness!" Cried countless from all directions of the flyers.
"STYX KILLER!"
SLLLLLLLIIIIIIISSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!
It was raining ribbons of blood, metal, oil, and data. On the ground Cerberumon Werewolf Mode looked up to the grim sky and roared with laughter. It was beautiful, too beautiful for him to describe with words.
"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you munt." Came Tolhumon's slightly annoyed voice. The fact she could even skip while combating Nebirosmon's chains spoke volumes of her ability. "You may have eliminated a small portion of my forces but this battle is far from over, no actually this battle is actually almost at its end. You fools just don't know you're not going to be the winners." She calmly proclaimed with the ghost of a smile on her face.
"You arrogant mutant bitch!" Cerberumon Werewolf Mode screeched taking one step towards her threateningly. "You fish bastards are too delusional for your own good! Allow me to-"
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
"Huh?" Was the collective word of the various canines who looked up.
A silvery white figure appeared to be approaching the battlefield through the stormy skies. With every flash of lightning more of its fearsome vintage was revealed. First off it was a dragon, second it had guns, as in a lot of guns. Those with better eyesight realized chillingly the dragon's entire body was made up of guns and firearms, mainly revolvers. Familiar colored and designed DigiCode permeated its body along with a coal-colored coral like substance that wrapped around its metallic body like an infection. Coming to a stop above the inflamed clearing the warriors and trackers of the Daemon Corps had enough time to realize their hour of power was up.
Name: Gundramon
Level: Mega
Attribute Virus (Viral)
Description: It would appear this creature is a fan of the Second Amendment, as you can tell a little too much so. Of all the dreaded machines you can run across in the Digital World Gundramon is one of the last few you want. There are too many guns on his body to count and once he starts firing them they'll be no one left to try. Speaking of which using his Gewalt Schwärmer attack tends not to leave much landscape so forget about trying to find cover. If let's say, by some chance you do he can always snipe you with his Der Blitz which is one of the fastest and brutal attacks ever recorded.
The disturbing lack of eyes only made Gundramon's already warped appearance that much more fearsome. It didn't so much as look at the battlefield before several of its back-mounted gun barrels rotated towards the ground. "Gewalt Schwärmer!" It thundered.
What came next was almost literally thunder, there was no other sound that could compare to all of Gundramon's guns going off at once.
The result afterwards made the battlefield resemble the aftermath of an earthquake given the number of holes and tears in the ground.
Nebirosmon withdrew from Tolhumon to survey the damages. "We need a diversion in order to retreat. We have to or else that bastard is going to wipe out every last one of us." He was in no condition to handle Tolhumon and Gundramon at the same time. On top of that engaging in an all-out battle was far from his original battle plan. First off they had to do something about the floating artillery piece above their heads; that would take up a lot of airpower. Fitting enough this lead to the second problem, how could he escape with Tolhumon on his tail? The answer came after an undisclosed amount of time running and dodging the renewed onslaught of the Deep Ones. "I can make it work but by Lucemon's Crowns this is going to hurt for a while." One of the hellhound crouched down on all fours while the other took began sucking in all the air it could.
When the crouched one sprung forward and the other released an ear-piercing howl towards the colorless sky Tolhumon knew something was up. She recognized a distress call or an order when she heard it. "Do you take me for a fool!" Came her furious reply as she sent all her tentacles at the oncoming hellhound.
SSSKKKKKIIIIIRRRR-CRUNCH!
The first hellhound had been impaled somewhere between six and eleven times, but it was still standing and biting down on one of the tentacles with everything it had. Blood and data trickled down in continuous streams yet the Dark Animal Digimon remained on all fours. "How cute," Nebirosmon spat glaring daggers at Tolhumon. "You thought I'd give you an opening to attack? Foolish mutant! Any opening I give is a trap, one you've shown to be stupid enough to fall for!"
Most creatures would have been KO'ed by the concentrated toxin within her tentacles, Nebirosmon wasn't most. Tolhumon hated the fact even after impalement and poisoning the munt was still standing, and still insulting her. "For the love of the Great One, just die already you stubborn munt!" With her tentacles sunken deep into the beast's flesh Tolhumon was able to lift the Nebirosmon hound up then slam it back into the ground with all the force of a sledgehammer. A fiery snarl left her lips when the beast snarled at her in return.
THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!
Tolhumon was half-tempted to order Gundramon to simply blast the battered demon into oblivion, artistic tastes be damned. Just as she was about to give the order she realized the second Nebirosmon was no longer howling.
"Hex Chains!" It shouted in perfect unison with its second half.
CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING! CLING!
Tolhumon didn't react as her body was covered from the neck down to her waist in black Chrome Digizoid chains.
""Portals of Darkness!"
She didn't panic as there was now an entire pack of wounded but furious looking Cerberumon surrounding her.
"Emerald Blaze!"
Were it any other creature caught in the hellish maelstrom of flames that would have been the end of them. The flame tower seemed to stretch high enough to touch the clouds and it raged like a mighty hurricane.
Gundramon didn't react to his master being trapped in a firestorm and that worried Nebirosmon. Why wasn't he blasting him and his men to pieces to save her?
"This attack…would have worked….if the lot of you weren't out of breath. As of now each and every last one of you are out of time and luck. Abyss Break."
SWOSH!
All the Cerberumon shrieked in surprise at the wall of black water that sudden sprung up around Tolhumon. Not a heartbeat later and it'd flatten into a whirlpool of inky black water that expanded with frightening speed. Few of the Cerberumon had time to grasp or understand what was about to happen, but they all were able to give a startled scream before they were drugged underneath the black water.
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRCUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
Without a care in the world the second daughter of Dagomon turned back to the wounded Nebirosmon while Gundramon resumed his attack on the straggling reminder of the Daemon Corps. "Now it's your turn munt."
One of the Nebirosmon grinned wickedly at her. "Another day princess."
The wall of screeches was enough to catch even Gundramon's attention. Temporarily turning away from the battlefield he saw a black cloud of demonic birds and reptilian monsters advancing towards his position. Countless red lights flashed at the forefront of the black wall then came the barrage of energy and fire blasts.
BOOM!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Her steel-hard tentacles coiled around Tolhumon protecting her from the firestorm that pelted the battlefield. Instead of a heated snarl or snort her lips remained a straight line and her posture gave little to no signs of outrage. Even when she withdrew her extra appendages to find a bombed clearing with no sign of her target she said nothing. The ground actually looked like some kind of volcanic eruption had taken place; considering all that had happened that probably wasn't too far from the truth.
"Find them." She ordered to both Gundramon and her hooded followers. Above her the mechanical dragon roared then propelled itself through the skies. Her followers fanned out into the forest leaving her alone in the field of craters and fissures. "It won't matter how many of your run or how long, in the end all of you will find none of it will change a thing."
Name: Goblimon
Level: Rookie
Attribute: Virus
Description: Don't expect too much from this club-wielding little goblin. His general behavior is exactly what you'd expect from a four-foot goblin with an attitude problem. Unless they're in a group courage isn't their strong suit nor are one on one battles. If faced with a disadvantage they'll scatter in all directions without a care for if one of them ends up getting caught. When they actually do work up the guts to stand and fight watch out for their Goblin Strike attack, a fireball that's been known to reach Mach Speed. That stupid-looking club? That's for his Goblin Rush attack which will leave you seeing stars if you're not careful. For a finishing you have a choice between a giant boulder in the form of his Goblin Throw and an explosive fireball in his Goburi Bomb.
Jun wasn't at all impressed with the description she'd just read. "Oh, awesome. I lose an eight-foot tall ass-kicking oni but I get a short, ugly goblin that can't fight for crap on its own."
"Wow, that's quite a statement to make for your partner." Harper joked keeping a steady pace by her side.
Grumbling Jun looked away knowing the ghost had a point. She'd gotten so used to seeing her partner has such a towering pillar of fearsome strength that when he was reduced to this weakened form she had a hard time accepting it. He couldn't fight half as well as he did before, and that was if he regained all his strength. Currently she was carrying him on her back with Harper somehow managing to hold onto all her bags. How he did this Jun had no idea considering he was a ghost, but she wasn't going to complain. Hiking through the near endless series of twigs and muddy soil made Jun realize just how ironic the current situation was. To her, a frail human teenage girl she'd probably been as light as a feather for Orgemon and Onimon to carry. Now that their roles had reversed Jun found she might have taken her partner for granted because Goblimon was anything but light. They were keeping a good pace but if something came after them they were screwed.
How long until Goblimon woke up? Even if he was a rookie they needed all the firepower they could get. How long would it be until he was able to Digivolve again? Could they hold out until then? Would Dagomon or the Daemon Corps find them before they were able to recover? Those questions all weighted heavily on Jun's shoulders just as much as Goblimon's unconscious body did. Silently she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind in order to focus on the task ahead of her. Even the concert of explosions going off in the far off distance did little to stop her, as a matter of fact, they actually pushed her to move faster.
Harper remained mostly quiet as they tracked through the forest. Though he was a self-admitted lunatic he still had enough sanity to know when joking around was a bad idea. The fact their trio had lost their main powerhouse certainly didn't help things too much. Unlike Jun's whose sixth sense was still fledging his was razor sharp. Harper remembered enough about his life to know he had a choice of mastering it or dying on the battlefield. He'd done the former rather than the latter, and now two people he'd actually come to care about were counting on that. Something was moving around, maybe not close enough to be a threat but they weren't alone. From what he could guess Dagomon was too busy fighting off Daemon to hunt for them. Every so often he thought something had spotted them only to run into a conflicting party and off they went trying to destroy each other. As long as their enemies were too busy with each other they had a chance to escape.
"I hate it."
"Hm?"
"This feeling, like no matter what happens, no matter where we go or what advances we make we still have to watch our backs. Every second of everyday I've been here I've felt like there's been some…monstrosity trailing me every step of the way. Even when I met up with Orgemon the feeling didn't go away, it was always in the back of my mind no matter what."
Harper was quiet as she trudged up a small hillside with Goblimon slug over her back. It took some time but eventually she made it though she had to take a minute to catch her breath. Harper simply watched the rise and fall of her chest and short breaths she took. "It's because you were prey." When she looked at him he knew he would have to explain it in detail. Harper would explain to her in clarity because he knew what she was feeling. "Whenever you're in an environment…where there are those with power and those without power, the powerful always prey upon the powerless. It's not evil or wrong, it's just nature. You can go back beyond the scope of human history to when the closest thing to a mammal you had was some half-rat half-badger thing digging holes to avoid the next hungry dinosaur. Herbivores feed on plants who in turn are eaten by carnivores. Go back further and you'll have marine life, where all life began so too did the struggle between the powerful and powerless. Big fish eat little fish, nothing's changed in the millions upon millions of years.
"Humans act like they've evolved past that point, but the truth is we're as much an embodiment of it as animals. Since man first discovered fire it's been an endless struggle between those with power and those without it. Those with it rule over those who without it, and those who don't despise those who have power. It's natural. It's natural for the deer to hate the wolf for having the speed and ferocity needed to kill it. We humans instinctively play out the roles of the deer and the wolf everyday with our lives, with the choices we make. I…don't know about you but…when I realized I was a deer I despised myself." His ghostly palms turned into tight fists. Though he had no face the raw anger and utter loathing could be felt from the way his body shook. "Seeing how countless other "deer" were slaughtered…I didn't want to end up like that. It was one day on the battlefield when I was lying there, dying, that I realized something Jun."
BBBBBOOOOOOMMMM!
The redhead didn't look away from the ghost despite the earth-shattering explosion behind her. The faceless entity she was facing was a thousand times more important than some disaster movie explosion.
"I'd rather be a wolf than a deer, a shark than a guppy."
The ghost's words had resonated with Jun, visibly so. Unknowingly she dug her fingers into the soaked earth then craned her head towards her comatose partner. "Do you think…" she began feeling her mouth go dry. "Everyone thinks that way?"
"…Maybe Jun, honestly I'm not going to stand her and explain the deep philosophy of human thought and reasoning. I don't have those answers." Harper answered bowing his head a little. "What I can tell you is that no one wants to be powerless."
"…When you became a wolf did it make you feel happy?"
"…"
"It's…okay Harper. You don't have to answer that."
"It's not about being happy Jun, or at least it wasn't for me." The faceless specter replied suddenly. "When I chose to become a "wolf" it was because I wanted to live. That's why I gave you the analogy of a predator and prey. Prey lives its life in fear of the predator, rarely knowing a moment's peace because deep down they know any second something stronger can end their existence. Predators don't have that fear, in their own way they're free."
"Yeah, free to do whatever they want, pick on whoever they want and take whatever they want."
"Why do you think everyone always wants to be the predator?"
The crestfallen DigiDestined looked back over the horizon to see dozens of smoke clouds grasping at the sky while wildfires raged. There was little doubt in her mind the frequent rainstorms would put them out, but that wouldn't be before they'd done some considerable damage. "Let's get going, the sooner we're able to rest the better." Hosting Goblimon onto her back was slightly easier than before since she'd gotten used to it. "We need to put some more distance between us and the enemy."
"Understood."
Jun never looked back at whatever explosion or tremor shook the ground beneath her feet. Somewhere inside she knew the reason why she didn't look back. It wasn't that she wasn't scared, she was.
She had just gotten used to the feeling of fear in her blood.
Amongst a collection of oversized tree roots they set up a base camp. There was enough moss and greenery that they could construct a suitable cover to keep themselves out of sight. They'd be safe for maybe a few hours then they could move out. The inside was spacious enough for Jun to still have some room to move around with Goblimon leaning against the opposite side. Seeing him now in his Rookie form Jun could understand why he wanted power so desperately in his younger days. He was a thug, a hoodlum, one that could easily be beaten off if her Digivice had given her correct information.
"I forgot what it felt like." The redhead suddenly spoke.
"What felt like?" Harper questioned from her shadow.
"Giving a piggy-back ride, I used to do it all the time with my little brother." She clarified with a sad smile.
"Heh, I don't think I had any brothers or sisters to do that to me but I'm pretty sure my dad did the same to me. So what happened?"
Shrugging Jun brought her knees up to her chest, her mind going off to a distance place only she could see. "I got older. The differences between us got bigger and I just…I wasn't the best big sister I could have been. It…things only changed after I found out Davis had been going off risking his life over and over again to save not just our world but another one. After that I…I wasn't able to look at him the same way."
"Been there done that. What about him?" He asked beckoning towards Goblimon. "Does what he looks like now change your opinion of him?"
"No, he's still the same tough jock with a heart." Jun laughed. "No matter what he looks like he's still my partner and my friend."
They could still hear the distance sound of explosions but once again exhaustion won out over caution. Jun shut her eyes with her arms tucked tightly around herself. As the human and Digimon slept Harper kept up his silent watch on the area.
By his count they got at least twenty-five minutes' worth of rest before their cover came down on top of their heads. Literally.
"JUN! GOBLIMON! ON YOUR FEET NOW!"
Their eyes snapped open simultaneously, their hearts immediately beginning to hammer in their chest.
"INFINTY RIPPER!"
Everything disappeared in a haze of wood splitters and leaves. Their voices disappeared in the maelstrom of chaos that followed as too did their sense of vision. The only thing they both could agree on was that both of them were moving through the air, propelled like stray pieces of debris. How long they were airborne was lost to them as they both came down fairly quickly, rolling across with no way of stopping.
Jun could taste the blood and bile rising in their mouths. Her senses had been thrown out of whack and they weren't realigning fast enough for her. "I knew one of these times someone was going to catch us off guard. Just why did it have to come when we were at our weakest?" Through the hazy darkness she saw a brawling figure walking towards them. It's possible the constant ringing in her voice was a voice but her head was still hurting too much to discern what was what.
THUNK!
"GAH!"
"Harper!" Jun cried pushing her upper body up with cleared eyes.
Their ghostly ally was lying on the ground, a six-foot harpoon impaled in his chest. Red lighting cackled around the metallic object while connecting to every inch of the specter's body. Based on his nonstop struggling Jun deduced he wasn't going to be able to phase away to aid in the coming confrontation.
"Jun, get your ass up and high-tail it out of here!" Barked a gobbled voice she realized could only have belonged to Goblimon. "Goblin Strike!"
THUNK!
"Ah, how cute. I forget how you Goblimon like to act tough even when the odds are against. Hey, chin up a little, at least you didn't turn tail and run. You actually thought you could buy your pathetic partner some time." Cackled the deep, monstrous voice of their attack.
Her vision cleared enough to identify the shark-human hybrid that had attacked them. "Get your filthy hands off of him!" She roared. It was stupid of her to challenge a creature who very well had the power to destroy all of them but she did it anyway. "You want to pick on someone pick on me!"
His grin revealed nothing but a mouth full of meat cleavers, not at all a boost of confidence. "I knew you had spirit. Just like your brother. Let's be formal, I'm Raandaimon."
"You already know my name so just cut the bullshit."
Her harsh tone caused Raandaimon to howl with laughter. "Oh I like you Jun! I like you so much more than the last redhead I tangled with! Because of that…I'm going to offer you a deal." There was a sharp glint in his eye that put the trio on edge. Reaching out his webbed hand he spoke in a raspy voice, "If you can avoid me for two hours then I'll let you and your two friends go."
Jun felt like a bell had just gone off in her head. Instantly she looked to a struggling Goblimon and Harper. Both of them were practically screaming at her not to take the deal. Laughing in his face was the first option that came to mind. "You…want me to take your word on that? Why should I?"
"What reason do I have to lie to you?" The marine Digimon laughed. "If I wanted to I could kill all of you right now. Isn't it better this way? You get a fighting chance this way so you'll have some peace of mind if you lose."
"You sound like it's more for you than for us. This is just so you can get even more of a sick thrill out of killing isn't it?"
"Look at it this way, can you afford to say no?" As if to prove his point he brought one of his oversized feet down on top of Goblimon's back earning a pained growl from the little goblin.
He had her beat. If she said no he'd kill them all and if she said yes she'd be taking the ultimate gamble. What was the word of a psychotic murderous fish-man good for? She really didn't have the option of leaving that question unanswered. "Fine, if I win you'll leave us alone."
"For a time." He added shaking with laughter. "I won't report back for a while, maybe give you a day or two to catch your breath. You may not know this but I'm a mon of my word."
"Yeah, the same way a shark always gives the seal a fair chance to get away." Harper bemoaned still trying to rip out the Harpoon impaled on his chest.
"How about this, I'll let you keep some of your little toys, that should even things out huh?"
"How kind of you."
"I'll give you a five minute head start." Raandaimon spoke taking his foot off of Goblimon only to ram another one of his harpoons into his hand leaving him stuck against the ground. "Good luck Junny-Girl." He rumbled walking off into the dark forest.
She didn't have much time because once again she didn't know what the Digimon's word was good for. Quickly grabbing her things she looked between Goblimon and Harper. "I'll lure him away, you guys break free and get the hell out of here."
"Are you crazy?!" Goblimon roared still trying to free his hand. "Do you really think that fish-faced bastard is going to hold up on his end of the deal?"
"No, but the at least since he's after me he won't be gunning for you two!" She fired back. "Damn it guys we don't have a lot of options here! No matter what happens just keep your distance and run! Run as fast as you can towards Innsmouth!" Jun turned away from them unable to bear the thought of looking at them any longer. "Don't underestimate me! I'm not that cowardly little girl that needed someone to hold her hand! Besides…if I can do something to protect either of you, no matter how small it is I'll do it!" Her feet kicked off the dirty ground taking her further and further into the darkness of the forest.
While Goblimon stared dumbfounded at his partner's retreating back Harper continued to struggle with the harpoon impaled in his chest. "Will you give it a rest?" The specter barked causing the goblin to turn to him with a snarl. "Don't give me that look! You know she's doing this for us so the least we can do is make the most of it! Come on you ugly bastard! Start putting some muscle into it!"
Goblimon saw that the specter was indeed trying with all his might to free himself. "He really does care." His left hand was wrapped tightly around the metal rod keeping his right hand impaled in the ground. "Jun, just hold on for us!"
She wasn't as scared as she was the first time she'd wondered through the Dark Ocean alone, maybe because this time she actually knew what to expect. Anything and everything horrible was on the list for her to encounter. "I've gotten used to it." She realized trudging through the muddy grass. I guess when you're prey you get used to the feeling of being hunted. I mean, if you freak out every time you do then I guess all you're doing is asking for someone to kill you." With that thought suddenly everything she'd felt prior came into perspective. Jun honestly wondered if this almost surreal sense of peace was proof she'd finally gone insane. "Do soldiers feel like this after they've gone into battle enough times? Policemen? Criminals?" She was very aware Raandaimon was probably watching her as she contemplated her situation. That was why she felt her entire body had become a shaken bottle of beer, just waiting for the cap to come off.
Periodically checking her watch became something of a stress reliever. She'd just passed the half hour mark and Raandaimon hadn't shown his ugly face even once. If her analysis of him was correct then he was merely biting hit time, literally. The attack was coming, she could feel it.
"Hell Harpoon!"
Her blood pulsed and her body twisted to the right avoiding the demonic spear that would have torn through her stomach like a bullet.
In the darkness behind her she saw at least four red flashes that heralded the coming attack.
Hitting the forest floor allowed each of the attacks to sail above her; reaching into one of her waist pouches and pulling out a grenade was her immediate answer to Raandaimon's attack.
Boom!
She was moving again before the explosive had even gone off knowing it hadn't done any real harm.
SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH! SWOSH!
"You're pretty nimble for a human girl!" Shouted the mad Digimon.
Clenching her teeth she rolled to the left keeping her head tucked in to safeguard it from the eruption of debris that was kicked up by Raandaimon's attack. As she'd done countless times before she went straight into firing mode emptying out an entire clip on Raandaimon's bulky figure. Before spending her next clip she waited for the Deep One's enforcer to reveal his crimson-colored eyes. Even though there was still a sizable dust cloud obscuring his body there was no hiding his ear-to-ear grin. A big bulky arm rose to protect his face leaving Jun cursing and turning on her heels to run.
WHOSH!
It was instinct that saved her again. Based solely on light-speed calculations she jumped to the right hoping like hell she wouldn't feel all her back bones shattering like glass. Her shoulder mid the ground with a slight thud that was desirable compared to the collection of trees pulverized by Raandaimon's pressurized air attack. Jun knew Raandaimon was rushing towards her, she reached back into one of her pouches. What she needed was a grenade but not one of the explosive variety.
"You almost made it to the one-hour mark." The Mega cackled pulling his harpoon back.
"The game's not over yet." She snarled turning over on her back while throwing her arm out.
Raandaimon was genuinely surprised she had a flashbang on her, more so than the fact she'd just pulled the pin off of it.
Jun had shut her eyes prying to the flashbang going off. Five seconds and she was sprinting again putting more and more distance between her and her pursuer. "Mud!" She thought frantically jumping over branches and twigs. "I need mud, something to mask my scent from that damn noise of his!" When she actually felt her feet sink into the liquid-like ground she wanted to yell in joy. "I never thought I'd be so happy to take a mud bath before. Hell, this isn't even a proper one but I don't care!" In seconds her entire body was covered from head to toe in mud and plant twigs, even she could barely recognize her own foul smell. "That's smell now I have to keep myself out of sight." Raandaimon was more than likely already on her tail by now. Standing on the ground was too dangerous so she needed to get airborne. At least the realm's freakish trees had grown to almost skyscraper sized proportions. She'd just started climbing the nearest tree when once again Raandaimon's thunderous voice shook the forest.
"CHAOTIC FRENZY!"
Because she was too low she couldn't see the building-sized sphere of water Raandaimon had created around himself. With a mad grin he spread his arms out causing hundreds of water-formed shark-shaped missiles to erupt from the sphere. They all moved towards the sky then began their descent towards the forest like the missile storm they were. Each shark bomb roared all the way down until they made contact with something at which point they promptly exploded with the force of a tank shell.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Falling on her backside while shrapnel and debris showering her Jun screamed in horror and shock. It was hard to tell how long her terror-induce paralysis lasted as the concept of time had been obliterated along with half the tree tops she'd thought would protect her.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
"MOVE YOU IDIOT! MOVE!"
She was, keeping herself low and crouched to the ground she ran through the never ending rain of debris. Her hearing was nothing but an endless hall of explosions and earth tearing itself apart. No matter what happened or which direction she turned her vision was obscured by rock, wood, plants, and droplets of water.
Boom! Boom!
Jun didn't know if any of her bone broke when one of the shark bombs went off beside her. The explosive force sent her to the ground. She could taste the blood sipping through her gums. Despite the aching pain in her right side she pushed herself up and continued running hoping like hell eventually the bombardment would end. There was no way for her to tell so she ran and ran.
Her chest hurt like hell when the bombardment finally ended. She collapsed with sweat cascading down her staining her clothing. Suddenly the backpack and equipment she was carrying felt ten-times heavier than before. The original time limit, Raandaimon, the rain, the thunder, none of it mattered in the slightest to her now. All she wanted to do was rest.
Not many of the tall-standing trees had survived Raandaimon's Chaotic Frenzy. The ground had taken a pretty heavy beating as well. Gapping craters littered the ground, many of them had puddles in the center or water stains.
Brushing up against a tree stump she didn't even try to hide herself. Jun threw off her equipment and cracked her jacket open so she could get some air. Never in her life had her entire body hurt as much as it did now. "I'll never take gym class for granted again." At that point even the harshest gym sessions seemed like cake walks compared to what she'd just gone through.
Vision came and went like the nonstop droplets of rain. Speaking of rain that wasn't helping her vision either. Though it was cooling her body down it was making her clothing so heavy she could barely move a muscle.
Drip! Drip! Drip! Drip! Drip! Drip! Drip!
Though her rationality was telling her not to fall asleep her body wasn't able to listen. With the rain drops acting as something of a lullaby the fight went downhill for rationality. She couldn't fight the darkness any longer than she could stop the rain.
The next time she opened her eyes she saw Raandaimon's smiling face. "Did you have a nice nap?"
Before she could act or even scream he had his oversized hand wrapped around her face and had tossed her across the ground.
"You're a tough girl Jun, and take it from me I live with quite a few of 'em. That being said you're just not strong enough to beat me." Now he was standing over her with one hand keeping her face pressed against the dirt. "If it makes you feel better you managed to last almost ninety-eight hours."
Jun wasn't sure what was more surprising, she'd actually survived over one hour of murder-tag or that Raandaimon had actually kept track of how much time had passed.
"Unfortunately or rather fortunately for you…I won."
She didn't want to imagine was running through the mutant shark's head.
Or rather she didn't have to imagine when she felt his impossibly long tail trailing done her back. He probably felt the shiver run up her spine as it traced her body through her wet clothing.
"As sexy as you look all wet I want to see the real you so what do you say we get rid of all those pesky clothing."
Those words put Jun on full alert. "No…" She whispered digging her hands into the dirt in an attempt to push herself up.
In seconds he'd flipped her over and shredded her raincoat leaving her in nothing but a nearly shredded t-shirt from which multiple holes provided a view of her dirty skin.
"That won't do," Raandaimon started. "I love kinky shit as much as the next person but this isn't what I mean!" Holding up his palm a concentrated sphere of water formed. At his mental command the sphere turned into a miniature blast that literally washed all the dirt and mud off her skin. "There…now you're clean…for now anyway."
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" The redhead screamed as Raandaimon's tongue began stroking every part of her body.
Nowhere was safe from the almost snake like tongue that extended from Raandaimon's drooling mouth. His eyes were maniac and out of control.
"No…"
The tongue wrapped around her waist squeezing it until she felt like she was being pressed by a boa constrictor. Then it moved down to her legs.
"Please…don't…"
"They're smaller than I would have thought."
She screamed as loud as she could when his slimy, wet, and rough palms grabbed at her breast through her t-shirt and bra.
He was groping her and laughing while he did it.
"Not like this….never…please just not like this…" Jun pleaded feeling the tears race down her cheeks.
Her hands began furiously pounding against Raandaimon's oversized body but it was no use. He laughed at her frail attempts to fight him off. Suddenly his grip on her breasts tightened to the point she began feeling pain. Squeezing them harder until she screamed out resulted in his bellowing laughter.
"They're pretty small for a girl your age but I gotta admit they're pretty soft!"
"GET OFF OF ME!"
"Ah come on, don't act like I'm the only one enjoying this!"
"I SAID GET THE HELL OFF ME YOU SICK FREAK!"
"You know I've gotten tired of all this clothing. I think it's about time I saw the real you, I wanna see how you stack up against some of the other…ladies we have here."
His right hand went up just as all the claws on each nail elongated.
"NO!"
CLINK!
"Huh?"
Realizing for the first time Jun still had her Digivice on her was the first and last mistake Raandaimon made. It had stayed clipped to Jun's waist and now it wasn't just glowing, it was burning like a miniature sun. His brain made the connection a minute too late as the "sun" went supernova on him.
"GAH!" He was burned and pushed back by the searing power that expanded from the girl's Digivice. He'd felt this kind of pain before and usually when he did it meant his prey had actually managed to tap into the latent powers of the Digivice they carried. The Mega-level Marine Digimon couldn't move once his body hit the suddenly hard earth. "You…stupid bitch! I'm gonna-"
"GOBLIN THROW!"
Never had he thought having a giant boulder slammed on top of his head would hurt, this one did, and it hurt like hell. "AAGGGRRRHH!"
Once his vision came back she saw the annoying goblin standing protectively over his partner. He may have been nothing but a Rookie-level but the look in his eyes, there was no denying that look belonged to only the most dangerous creatures in existence.
"You stupid little shit!" He roared coming at Goblimon full force. In seconds he was on him and slamming his stone-crushing fist down on top of him.
Goblimon side-stepped the attack with murderous eyes meeting Raandaimon's infuriated orbs. "Goblin Strike!" He slammed the fireball up against his chest just as it exploded.
With near divine rage fueling the flames the fireball left a small scorch mark on Raandaimon's abdomen. That attack actually hurt a little. Snarling he summoned one of his harpoons, but before he could move his arm his entire body froze up.
"RAHHH!" Jun was on top of his shoulder with something in her hands. Whatever it was it so dazzling it seemingly broke through the color scheme of the dark world.
It turned out to be a knife, one he could only guess to be made out of White Chrome Digizoid. That was the only thing that could have caused him this much raw pain.
"AAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! GET OFF OF ME! GET THE HELL OFF OF ME YOU STUPID WHORE! GET OFF! GET OFF!"
Jun's reply was to dig Elafris deeper into Raandaimon's left eye socket. She was snarling and screaming through her tears, her words completely beyond comprehension. With the tears streaming down her face and furious shouting she must have looked more like some wild animal then teenage girl. Her pure hatred of Raandaimon drove her to continuously ram Elafris over and over again into the left side of his head. He cried for her to stop but she wasn't going to. Not until he knew exactly how she felt barely a minute ago.
The face of the Deep One Enforcers froze when he saw the ghostly vintage of Harper rise up before him. A mouth had materialized on his faceless face, and it was pulled back into a hated snarl. Raising one hand his spectral fingers warped into claws he racked across Raandaimon's snout. Once he was done with that he dug both his hands into the Digimon's head.
"AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" His entire body seized up and his mind went black with mind-numbing pain. It was almost just as bad as when Dagomon forced his way into his head. The moment he felt control of his body return he fell backwards hoping he'd be able to squash Jun against the ground.
She crawled out of the way then continued her attack, this time aiming for his chest and throat. Digging her knife into the crux of his neck she dragged it down towards his ribcage leaving a jagged scar from which digital blood and data poured out of.
"Goburi Bomb!"
Boom!
He was blind in his left eye completely, his entire left side from his eye down to his shoulder was hurting. He was unsteady in getting up, through his right eye he could see the trio all glaring at him. If looks could kill he would have been dead three-thousand times over. "I'm…gonna…kill…al-al-all of y-you!"
Goblimon's face worried him. Rather than that of a snarling beast his frown was cold and dark. Holding up his still wounded right hand a fireball formed. There was something almost demonic about how the sphere of destruction illuminated the goblin's face. "Goblin Strike." Was all he muttered before throwing his hand out.
In the blink of an eye the fireball truly had reached Mach Speed so Raandaimon couldn't avoid it. It wouldn't have mattered as he doubted the attack would have done any real damage. The problem was his face wasn't what the fireball was aimed at.
It was aimed at the odd-looking grenade trapped within one of the many gashes on his neck. Thanks to his now absent left eye he couldn't see the small object zoom past him. With his noise maimed he couldn't smell the gasoline-like odor of the grenade.
He did feel the sheering ethereal flames burning nearly all the skin off his face and neck though.
KA-Boom!
"AAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
"MOVE IT NOW!" Harper roared fading into Jun's shadow just as the girl and goblin turned on their heels to run.
While their attacker roared and raged in pain and fury they put foot to ground in a mad sprint to get away. Neither spoke a word as the only thought on their minds was escaping.
"KILL YOU ALL! I SWEAR IT! I DON'T CARE WHO SAYS WHAT! I'M GONNA RIP EACH AND EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU TO SHREDS YOU HEAR ME! I SWEAR IT!" Roared Raandaimon who staggered out of the supernatural blaze that had consumed him. His entire left side from the head down to the elbow had been burned beyond recognition. "I'LL KILL YOU GIRL! EVEN IF IT TAKES ME THE REST OF TIME TO DO IT! INFINITY RIPPER!"
Naturally Jun and Goblimon heard the drill-like sound approaching them at rapid speed. Being blinded by pain and blood made Raandaimon's aim so off he rampaged through the tree line breaking mountains upon mountains of trees down. Though his aim was far from perfect he was getting too close to Jun and Goblimon. Within the shadows Harper cursed as he knew he couldn't immobilize Raandaimon when he was attacking in such a way.
"KILL YOU ALL! RIP YOU TO SHREDS GIRL! DO YOU HEAR ME SHRRRRREEEEEEEDDDDDSSS!"
Jun looked up to see the organic drill heading for her partner. With the skip of her heart she shoved her partner to the side falling with him just as the attack surged forward.
SSSSSSCCCRRRRRRR-RIIICHHHHH!
Harper and Goblimon stared slack jawed at the trail of blood and flesh that fell from Jun's left side rip cage. Blood and cloth seemed to fall away in slow motion as the teenage redhead stared numbly at her now mutilated lower left side.
She'd avoided having a chunk of her body ripped out.
Instead it now looked like a whirlwind of razor blades had cut through her left side leaving such deep wounds blood gushed out in an almost waterfall-like motion.
Raandaimon came to a stop barely six feet in front of them. "Hah! What do you think of that you…stupid…eh?"
Goblimon had caught his partner's shaking body. Her breath was coming out too fast and too short to give the illusion it was only a flesh wound. His entire body was trembling with barely controlled fury while sobbing could be heard from his throat. "You…you…you…you…you mur...derous…you…YOU MUDEROUS BASTARD!" Goblimon suddenly roared looking up with eyes the color of flames. Raising his left head which held his club he screamed a war cry so loud it actually caused a shockwave to flatten the ground around him. Crimson and ebony energy welled up around him forming the outline of Onimon. The Oni was angry, well and truly angry. "RRRRAAAAAAHHHH!" The eyes of the outline flashed red as it mimicked Goblimon's movements. Behind his small wooden club with bolts rose Onimon's heavily muscled arm holding a flaming Tetsuhono. When the goblin swing his club so too did the Oni.
Raandaimon was at least smart enough to shut his remaining eye to protect it from the unimaginable force heading his way. He had maybe a second or two to brace his heavily injured body.
It didn't help.
Dagomon's tentacles were the only comparisons that could be made for the insane amount of force and power that slammed into his body. The flames ate away at every exposed piece of flesh they could and he could feel them doing so. His voice was lost to the roar of wind, the cracking of the earth, and the feeling of his body being propelled through miles of forest before coming to a teeth rattling stop. After that everything for the digital shark-man went dark.
This chapter's been a long time coming because that rape scene was so hard to write. I actually held off writing so I wouldn't have to do it, made me feel way too uncomfortable. On top of that I had a close relative to end up in the hospital this weekend. I apologize for both the long wait and if I offended anyone with this chapter.
