I do not own anything.
Chapter Forty-Five-Where Is Your Fear?
They already knew what they were in for before their bodies finished materializing in the targeted area. As one would expect everyone's faces were a mix of fear and anxiety, natural given what they were walking into. No one spoke or made much noise, some feared if they did then they'd be called out. A few were trembling, only the steady hands of friends and allies were enough to comfort the. Even without looking Tai knew some of them were looking to him since he'd elected himself leader of this little team. The fact he was injured wasn't exactly a confidence booster. The teenager's head was alight with thoughts and predications of how bad the situation when be when their little trip ended, none of the possible scenarios were appealing in the slightest. Something in his gut told him the real situation was going to be far worse than anything he'd imagined.
By this point he'd long given up on trying to keep out such pessimistic thoughts; unfortunately such scenarios had become the grim reality of their predicament. Tai tried not to focus on what the rest of India might have looked like. If the last report he read was any indication just about every coastal city on Earth had been decimated and sea levels had steadily been rising. Kochi was no exception which meant they'd be getting a face full of monstrous fish the moment they landed.
The flash of light came to an end and the group found themselves sitting on solid ground, heavy rain immediately drenched by torrential rain. Within seconds each of them were utterly soaked to the bone. Just about everyone had their vision obscured due to the rain and the howling wind that was whipping at them from every direction. Those Digimon with enhanced eyesight had it worse since it seemed almost as hundreds of tiny daggers were being thrust into their eyelids every second completely blocking their vision as well as causing notable discomfort.
"A barrier! A shield! Something!" Tai screamed over the furious winds hoping someone could hear him. Regardless of how bad things were he at least needed to be able to see what it was they were up against.
Luckily someone heard him because within seconds he was able to open his eyes and not feel as if the wind was trying to tear his pupils to shreds. Air wasn't being forced down his throat at breakneck speeds allowing his brain time to function and if given enough time even think properly. The one-armed teen had to use Agumon as something of a crouch while he caught his breath.
"Not exactly off to a great start are we?"" The yellow-scaled Digimon jested.
"Not as bad as I thought it would be though. Here I thought we'd be ducking our heads the second we landed." Tai replied.
"That's because we didn't land in the heart of the heart of storm Tai." His blue-haired ally stated. "We just landed on the outer rim of it."
Joe pointed with his finger and Tai followed, what he saw didn't just knock what little wind he had, but flat out killed it. Glancing at the truly massive water twister Tai began to passionately believe he was better off recovering in the hospital. A hurricane was one thing, but a supernatural hurricane was well and truly something to be feared.
It was gigantic spiraling stack of wind and water steadily moving across Willingdon Island, dragging the sea with it at every inch of progress. Connecting the sky and the earth it trudged across the ground, decimating anything and everything that stood in its path. Entire buildings seemingly vanished into the funnel cloud, the sound of them breaking apart piece by piece barely being audible to even those with enhanced hearing. Every now and then someone could spite stray pieces of the environment traveling up the funnel cloud then disappearing back into the grayish-black. Behind it the sea roared and raged like a dog being yanked along by the collar. Waves the size of ten-story buildings roared and raged in mad pursuit of the twister flattening anything that survived the former's passing. It was like watching a nonstop sledgehammer being used on a toy city, one that people actually lived in. Periodically lightning fell from the storm clouds above striking anything within range. It was wild, unfocused meaning there was no one controlling it, which made it all the more terrifying. When it struck the water it spread out like a bag of snakes being dumped into a bit lighting up the dark-tinted ocean. Upon striking land the result was comparably to a missile strike hitting its target completely with the thunderous quake that followed.
The mass of clouds at the top of the twister were the darkest, the most polluted as evident by the malevolent aura the DigiDestined felt rolling off of them. There was no need for any sort of scanner or device to tell what lay at the top of the funnel cloud. It was clear Dagomon had wised up in protecting the dimensional rifts. In order to close the gate they'd have to go through a literal storm wall. Arcs of red lightning and data floated between the storm clouds, many of branching out then disappearing back into the twister, more than likely directly linking to the rift in the eye of the storm.
All that was just accounting for the natural things. Dagomon had apparently decided to throw his army a bone in the form of a new larger and more vibrant playground.
Virus-infected Digimon flew through the turbulent skies with ease while anything else was either grounded or tossed to the side like a rag doll. Perhaps Dagomon had blessed them with their power or maybe the flyers were just that good. Regardless of the answer they had the skies all to themselves and they were making the most of it. Down beneath the waves the shadows of various aquatic creatures could be seen, some creating tidal waves and others moving in tandem with them. If someone or something was knocked out of the sky then the sea dwellers pounced on it like a hoard of sharks going after a fresh corpse.
"So Tai, what's the plan?" Joe asked without looking over at his old friend.
Agumon looked up to find the Japanese youth's eyes were obscured by his wet hair which was now sticking to his face. He didn't need to see his eyes to know what he was thinking; as his partner the Rookie could feel the myriad of emotions swirling within the human teenager. Being partners for all these years had given them a bond they could rarely explain via logic, or at least using words they understood. Some would argue the absurdity of such a link existing between a human and a bundle of computer data. Such a thing did exist though, and if anything this crisis had strengthened it.
Even though they were separated by dimensional barriers each could feel what the other was feeling when the emotion peaked in intensity. When one was gripped in fear the other felt as if they were constantly being poked by a sharpened needle at the base of the neck. When down beaten by sadness they could feel an invisible rain silently drenching them. Most importantly, when any of those negative emotions came for a fight each could always feel the other at their back, remind them that they weren't alone.
Agumon knew that expression on Tai's face quite well, the feeling he felt inside hi conveyed all that he had to say. Within his chest he felt a familiar power rising up warming his body. Agumon welcomed the feeling, letting it wash over his body and resonate with his DigiCore which reacted positively to the foreign feeling.
"Our goal here is evacuation not winning, so we're going to proceed as such." Tai started, his voice calm and steady. "We'll form four groups to funnel survivors into the evac-zones, we do nothing but hold those positions until the last of them are out of here. Once that's done we're leaving. Any objections?"
Not surprisingly no one spoke up, the plan was incredibly dangerous, but no would was going to be risking their lives needlessly.
"Tai," Joe finally said knowing his old friend wasn't telling the whole truth, at least not yet. Something in his gut told him the DigiDestined of Courage wasn't going to be with them holding the line. Looking out to the literal sea of chaos he found it hard to believe either side was going to let them quietly evacuate thousands of people in relative peace and quiet. Both the Deep Ones and the Seven Deadly Digimon had shown not just an appalling lack of regard for human life, but a psychotic enjoyment in snuffing it out. "What else? What do you plan on doing?"
Turning to his longtime friend Tai held up his Digivice, the handheld device was glowing bright orange with a flame-like radiance. The light greatly illuminated the teenager's face, showing the resolute fire within his brown eyes. "Dagomon's got a bone to pick with me, believe me on that. If I go down it'll be a huge blow to the resistance, there's no way the Seven Deadly Demons could pass that up."
"You're still injured." Joe calmly countered.
"But I'm not dead yet." He responded.
Joe could have sarcastically fired back he would be if he let him go through with this crazy plan. Really, he'd heard enough of the brown-haired youth's crazy plans to be convinced he's secretly a death-seeker. It didn't help that most of the time even he expressed surprise at when his plans actually worked and he was still alive to tell the tale. In this case Joe knew Sora would be looking at him, pleading for him to talk Tai out of this madness. Joe looked out over the horizon, over the warzone they'd stepped into. Between the rising sea and the Digimon it was doubtful they'd even be able to save a two hundred people, the smallest number they'd shot for. Unless someone acted as a decoy it was doubtful any of them would even make it back home. Swallowing the lump in his throat he adjusted his rain-soaked glasses, being so close to Tai he felt the teen's residual warmth wash over him putting some of his fears at ease. In addition to that Joe felt there was a message hidden amongst the waves of heat, Trust me, he read feeling his nerves harden. "Once your mind's made up on something there's no stopping you, especially when someone's life is on the line. That's why you're the leader, that's why you're our sun." The blue-haired teen silently chuckled marveling at how little things had changed from their younger days. "Alright then, just don't get yourself killed. You know Sora will have my head on a pike if I let something happen to you."
"And Biyomon would turn me into roasted salmon if you went and got yourself deleted." Goemon chuckled waddling up to the yellow-scaled Rookie. "Make sure to watch yourself out there alright."
"Don't worry, just make sure to be here when we get back." Agumon agreed clapping their clawed palms together
"I'm leaving you in charge of the defenses Joe, don't let me down." Tai chuckled raising his Digivice towards the sky. "Agumon,"
An obscuring ring of data surrounded the saurian Digimon while a voice from Tai's Digivice announced the name of the Digivolution about to take place. A heartbeat later and the Rookie was replaced by a draconic-warrior covered in heavy golden and red armor along with two three-clawed gauntlets on each arm. Throwing out one of his arms WarGreymon released an all-encompassing blast of heat dried the moisture off of the entire group. The power that was carried on the heat wave washed over them feeling them with a renewed sense of confidence as well. Just the appearance of the Mega seemed to infuse the teenagers and Digimon with Tai's courage, as expected of the pair chosen to carry the crest of Courage.
"WarGreymon, let's go." Tai ordered climbing onto his partner's shoulder.
Even as the armor-clad Mega took off his gift of strength and fortitude stayed with the group; everyone's expressions were grim, but they were determined to do as Tai had instructed.
Turning to face the others Joe gathered his courage and used his voice, "Alright, so here's who's going where."
In his pocket Joe's own Digivice had begun to glow, pulsate even. As Tai's had glowed orange-red his was now glowing a calming blackish-gray.
The second they entered the battlefield Tai and WarGreymon became the number one target of both sides. Even if a few continued going at each other they made at least one or two passing shots at the flame-encased duo. Neither of them minded that much, after all, the more of each other they killed the less work they had to do.
What WarGreymon did was akin to aerial strafing, blasting crescent-shaped blades of heat upon everything that caught his eye. Tai knew the blades were hot enough to melt Chrome Digizoid, to say nothing of actual flesh. Even in this torrential rainstorm the searing heat was enough to cause instrumental damage. The human teenager couldn't see every explosion the resulting impact nor could he hear every scream, but he could feel and hear them in his gut. Of course, these attacks did not go without retaliation. Tai subconsciously gripped WarGreymon tighter when the first counter attacks came their way; by this point his body and mind knew the procedure enough he no longer lost his sense of balance or thought chain when WarGreymon had to jerk his body from one side to another.
With his partner literally at his back and combat raging around him the Mega's senses were all operating at peak efficiency, not that he needed them to avoid the pitiful attempts the Deep Ones and Demons Digimon made at destroying him. A great many tried to torpedo him using speed and sheer mass to their advantage. To him it looked as if they were all moving in slow motion. Holding out his clawed gauntlets WarGreymon briefly worried if these Digimon truly thought they had a chance at taking him down or were merely following orders. It didn't matter in the end, the minute they'd crossed his path their fate was sealed in fire.
SLIISSSSHHH! SLISH! SLISH! SLISH! SLISH! SLISH! SLLLLLLIIIISSH! SLISH! SLLISSSSSSSSSHHHHH!
No matter how many times Tai heard it a part of him could never get used to the sound of his partner slicing and dicing living creatures with his claws as if they were vegetables on a table. Shifting his eyes from one side to another he saw countless streams of data bellowing in the wind, a Digimon's substitute for blood. It wasn't as if he was going to be stained or physically touched by the data streams, he feared what would happen if his human body made contact with the corrupted data. Since the fighting had grown worse downloading an enemy's data had become an almost accepted norm, provided the data wasn't too corrupted. In this case he knew WarGreymon wasn't going to chance it, not until he had to. Unfortunately that meant there were now countless floating lumps of data sitting around waiting to be devoured.
"You boys want to play with fire, I promise you you're going to get burned." WarGreymon chided watching his adversaries absorb the data of their fallen comrades, some actually beginning to Digivolve in doing so. If they thought the power up would be enough to overwhelm him then they were about to be sourly disappointed. Red-hot flames lit up his Dramon Killers giving the armor-clad a fearsome glow complimented by the steam born from the never-ending rain clashing with the flames. The Dragon Man's eyes flashed with murderous light while on his back lightning could be seen in the eyes of his human partner. "War Driver!"
If they couldn't defend against WarGreymon's bare claws then they had no hope now that they'd been superheated boiling-hot temperatures. Still, that didn't stop the enemy Digimon from coming at WarGreymon with the intent of taking him down.
"There's no need to hold back WarGreymon, it's all or nothing."
"Understood."
Red-hot flames condensed into the Chrome Digizoid claws before they moved struck like flashing knives. Cutting through armor and flesh alike the screams of the enemy Digimon intensified when they realized the very core of their being had been attacked. The pain of having their DigiCores attacked was worse than the physical agony they endured being shredded by WarGreymon's claws; screaming and wailing they fell to the ground disintegrating clumps of data then completely disappeared into thin air. That was true deletion, the final 'death' a digital life form could experience, simple total oblivion that promised no chance as rebirth or resurrection. Ordinarily such a thing was reviled and hated throughout the Digital World with only the rulers of the afterlife possessing the authority to deal out such punishment. Based on the passing look in WarGreymon's eyes his slain enemies realized the Dragon Man had no problem taking that authority and using it himself, this was war after all.
WarGreymon moved through the stormy skies like a flaming bullet, cutting and burning anything that got too close to him. Constant flashes of fire and light followed the Mega on his warpath as well as flaming corpses of slain Digimon, all of whom had been cut into multiple pieces. The number of slain and defeated didn't detour the Deep Ones or Demons, from what Tai could see it actually seemed to embolden some of them. For the demons seeing what was a beacon of light and goodness use such ruthless tactics probably got their digital blood racing; for them such a thing must have reminded them of the hellhole they'd called home for centuries,. The Deep Ones showed no fear of the raging flames that cooked their skin like well-done salmon, unlike the Demons their minds were one-track and entirely focused on seeing the crest-bearing Digimon go down, even if it meant sacrificing scores of their own to do just that. Their method of attack was more akin to a school of piranha, overwhelm the target with sheer numbers then devour the remains.
In his hand Tai's Digivice exploded into radiant orange light that resonated with the stylized crest on WarGreymon's shield. As the skies became ever more crowded with the shadowed forms of viral and demonic Digimon WarGreymon stood out to all beings as a burning star in a sea of darkness. To survivors and the DigiDestined his flame was a beacon of hope, to others it was a vile light that hand to be snuffed out at all costs.
SSSSLLLLLIIISSSHHHH!
SSSSLLLLLIIISSSHHHH!
Two sets of claw marks, sex flaming imprinted that could span football fields lit up the sky as thunder boomed in the background. Along each slash were countless fiery explosions that dissipated to reveal burning clumps of data. Following the intense burst of flames came gale force winds that knocked back all the flyers who'd chosen to hang back, their bodies were blasted with the force of a hurricane leaving many of them rolling along the ground like soccer balls kicked to the wayside.
At the center of the lay WarGreymon, his body still ablaze with swirling heat energy. "Tai,"
"Already know." The teenager stated popping his goggles over his eyes. He was sure after this mission he wasn't going to be in any condition to be leading for a while, but it would be worth it.
"Ultra Tornado!" The orange-armored Digimon roared putting his arms together then propelling himself towards the ground. No sooner had he done so that a monstrous collection of fire and searing winds engulfed him in a spiraling mass turning him into a fiery red drill that shook the earth like an angry hammer upon impact. On the ground and in the water the enemy forces felt the traveling vibrations and heat wave wash over them like an invisible harbinger.
SSSSCCCRRREEEECCCCHHH!
The tornado barreled through everything in its path like the drill that it was. Cutting and burning through anything that stood in its way all the Digimon could do was stare in terrified awe and shock, it was all they could do given the breakneck speed WarGreymon was traveling at. To many the oncoming attack seemed nothing but a reddish orange blur followed by a second of mind-numbing pain before total darkness took them. Some of them might have been grateful for the silence as the pain of being shredded and burned to cinders at the same time was quite intense, enough to make total deletion seem like a divine gift.
"Stand your ground! Eliminate them for the glory-"
SSSSSCCCCRRRREEEEECCCCCHHHHH!
As a result of the speed of movement and spinning WarGreymon had wrapped his body in something of a vacuum, a powerful slicing void that could cut apart even diamond-hard scales that protected some of the Digimon in his path. If that weren't enough said vacuum was super heated adding to their offensive power.
Touching water didn't diminish the tornado's speed or power, but it did produced the loudest explosion of steam anyone had ever heard. Trails of white-hot steam followed closely behind WarGreymon no matter how deep he dove or what he punched through. An unimaginable hissing sound was born each time he came into contact with something living and heavily armored, steam and fire rolling off the collision before the flaming drill broke through the creature's defenses leaving its dying corpse to sink to the bottom of the water. A handful of the Deep Ones grew more terrified of the super heated death spiraling towards them than they were of Dagomon's wrath. They'd gladly take a tentacle lashing over being sliced while simultaneously being burnt into oblivion. Even if they got out of the tornado's direct path they were still hit by the aftershock and residual heat wave. For quite a few this meant being tossed aside like ragdolls while at the same time having their digital organs pulverized or heated up. The lingering pain was so intense a handful wondered if they'd been better off suffering through a second of agony before entering the abyss of deletion.
"I believe that's quite enough of that, you've had your little play time lizard! Otherworld Mist!"
They'd known this was coming, known they'd eventually run afoul of one of Dagomon's accursed daughters. Facing the one often called the most sadistic was just another obstacle they'd have to overcome. "You're right, I think it's time I did what I came here to do!" WarGreymon shouted barreling full steam ahead of the cloud of poisonous mist heading straight for him. Though he couldn't see it he could imagine the look of utter surprise on Tosamon's face when he punched right through her supposedly sure-kill cloud of toxic air and continued straight for her.
Gnashing her teeth in frustration the Mutant Digimon launched her of her poison-tipped tentacles at the incoming threat hoping to skewer him and his partner from every direction.
Tai was pretty sure one of his bone snapped under the pressure when WarGreymon made his breakneck spin that resulted in an explosive shock wave of fire and pressurized air that knocked away Tosamon's tentacles. Even with the protective barrier caste by his Digivice he still felt like he was in the cockpit of some fighter plane pulling off next to impossible maneuvers jerking his body in five different directions at once. Still, if it weren't for his Digivice's protection Tai knew all of his internal organs would have ruptured and exploded killing in a rather painful and horrific way. As usual he bit down the pain knowing it was minuscule compared to what he could be feeling, or what they were about to make Tosamon feel.
WarGreymon saw the Mega roar in frustration before charging them direction, her body pulsating with vile energy he knew he didn't want anywhere near his partner. Still riding the energy burst from his little rampage he jetted upwards towards the surface fully knowing Tosamon would follow him. The dim light of the surface grew closer and closer by the second until he felt the sudden transition from cold to warm upon breaking the water surface. As he continued moving upwards with Tosamon closely following him, an aura of malice and evil heavily coating her body.
"Quit running! True Blue!"
SLISH! SLISH! SLISH! THROOOOOMMM!
Even Tosamon had to admit to be able to fend off her metal-melting tentacles the Dramon Killers had to be incredibly sturdy. She guessed it would take repeated strikes to break the accursed weapons to disarm the Dragon Man Digimon, breaking his shield would be a harder challenge. Still coming in hot she cursed when he dismissed the shield then fired off a small but incredibly dense fireball directly at her. Cursing she threw up two of her tentacles she felt the slight sting of the explosion , but that was nothing compared to the paralyzing shock that washed over her body. So intense was the feeling she couldn't even gather the air needed to curse which meant she was completely defenseless. WarGreymon did not let that moment go to waste.
The spinning axe kick was like something out of fiction, the execution and the result was deeply gratifying. Tai himself felt his lips curl into a grin when he heard the slightest sound of bone cracking underneath the force of WarGreymon's kick then the whirling of wind produced by Tosamon descending downwards.
"From here on out the real fight starts," The Dragon Man mused watching Tosamon come to a dead stop mere inches from the water. The silent aura of malice she'd had before sky rocketed sending multiple waves across the water. Her still form was positively frightening and painted a clear image of what horrid images were running through his mind. "I'm going to have to leave the rest up to Zudomon and the others because I can't let this woman off."
Slowly she tipped her head up allowing for a few of a trickling blood stream snaking its way down her face. Pure hatred radiated off of her features, "You…shouldn't have done that lizard."
"Don't dish out what you can't take Tosamon." WarGreymon responded not flinching under he glare. "If you order your forces to retreat we won't stop you."
"…Heheh...heheh…HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!" Throwing back her hand in mad laughter while throwing her wings out the silent aura blazed into the physical realm as a cloud of blood red data and energy that choked the air itself. "RETREAT!? YOU BRATS HAD THAT OPTION THE MOMENT YOU SPETTED ONTO THE BATTLEFIELD! TOO BAD YOU WERE TOO FOOLISH TO TAKE IT! NOW IT'S TIME TO PAY THE PRICE!"
"Tai," WarGreymon spoke readying himself.
"Extra crispy and in as many pieces as possible." He responded in a cold voice.
Once again WarGreymon's claws were alit with orange fire. "Coming right up."
"Ice Bomb!"
The truck-sized fireball composed of sub-zero flames sailed across the rainy sky flanked by countless other ice-attributed projectiles freezing any rain droplets they passed. The cold fireball slammed into the oncoming mass of digital monsters creating a sizable inferno of swirling arctic flames that froze anything caught in the blast radius. The other projectiles slammed into it causing it to grow in size and its effects to worsen on the Digimon caught in the blast. The blue inferno grew in size until onlookers were sure it could be seen from the hill's summit where hundreds of survivors were being rushed through a hastily put together teleporter, rather they felt horror or hope seeing the explosions was anyone's guess, but those on the ground couldn't worry about that, they still had a job to do.
"Joe, your turn!" The leader of India's DigiDestined called.
Pushing his glasses up pure determination blazed in Joe's normally calm and cool eyes. Raising up his arm he called to the assembled line of heavy weight Digimon. "Second line, break it down!"
Zudomon breathed out a thick cloud of cold air as he raised his hammer to a sky filled with flashing lightning. Multiple bolts of whitish-blue lightning struck the Chrome Digizoid hammer filling it up with energy. A few other Digimon beside him called down the divine fire to enhance their attacks as he had done. The concert of thunder and howling made the blood of every human being in earshot stand on end; though these creatures had come as saviors the powers they'd displayed had put the fear of god in many of the already terrified masses. In the back of his mind Zudomon knew this war was going to set back human-Digimon relationships decades, not that the relationship was ever that great to begin with. At last if they won there'd be a human race and digital race to speak of.
The arrow-shaped blast of lightning was joined by countless other projectiles such as rocks, fireballs, and various energy blasts of varying size. Along the ground dozens of shock waves raced alongside them tearing apart the ground nearly causing half the hill they were fighting on to collapse into rumble. When they all hit their mark even the mightiest of the Digimon felt their teeth shake at the resulting explosion, or rather explosions. Everything that had been frozen by the ice storm was shattered and pulverized until not even the tiniest scraps of data remained. On a positive note the Deep Ones and Demons had been completely and utterly frozen down to their DigiCores so they probably didn't even feel any pain when they went.
"Everyone brace yourselves!' Joe roared into his Digivice. "The next wave's coming! Hyun, how's it looking from the sky?"
"Something of a fifty-fifty! The line of survivors is still coming but it's thinning out! Be careful though, the water's rising and there's something moving through it cutting apart everything in its way!"
"Noted." Looking down at his watch Joe realized only twenty minutes had passed since they'd arrived, yet it'd felt like they'd been fighting for hours on end. Maybe it was the layered exhaustion everyone was fighting on or maybe it was the storm wearing them down mentally as well as physically. When they left they'd been given a forty minute time window before they were ordered to pull out, they'd blown through half that time without even realizing it. Gnashing his teeth he set his eyes upon the barren wasteland the combination bombardment had created, a miles long stretch of broken ground that was partial burned and partial frozen. Through the tree line he sensed hundreds of Digimon marching up the hill ready to cross the wastes to wage war on them.
"Joe, what do you want us to do? Do you want another cold wave?" Mina asked trotting up to him. He could see the exhaustion beginning to show on her face just as he was sure it was starting to show on his.
"No, I want you guys to save your strength for when we need it. I've got something else in mind. Liam?" He spoke into his Digivice.
"What is it ya' need?"
"Roadblocks, as many of them as you possibly can make."
"We're a little short staffed, but we can make do. Clear a path for us up front, also, tell everyone to hold onto their teeth."
Behind him humans and Digimon parted way for a collection of rather bulky Digimon who shook the ground with every step they took. Leading the group was a green scaled dragon easily the size of two tanks put together, a pair of giant hand-like wings attached to its back. The dragon's expression told onlookers it was less than pleased at the situation, a stark contrast to the Digimon's partner, Liam's face looked more annoyed than angry. How the Canadian managed to always keep a cool head no one save for a few ever knew.
The dragon released an anger-filled roar before slamming its palms into the ground sending a green-colored wave of energy across the ground. Beside him other Digimon slammed their limbs into the ground causing a visible surge of elemental energy, it moved the earth as if it were water. At the far end of the wastes the soaked ground surged upward, visibly hardening into a wall almost thirty yards high, big enough to stop an advancing hard but not a surging tidal wave. Stretching a good distance on both sides it would do the job in holding long enough for evacuation to continue on track, at least if their luck held out.
Before anyone could make a statement a fierce howl shook the air freezing the DigiDestined in their place. Something jetted up from behind the wall, a figure holding something bright red in its hands.
"HELL HARPOON!"
There wasn't any time to scream, only time to act. The spear-like projectile flew like an arrow then struck with the force of a missile. A second one came not a second later further breaking up the ground and kicking up debris blinding a good chunk of the defenders.
"You…little brats." A gobbled up voice rumbled through the smoke and ash. "Chaotic Frenzy!"
It was like watching a gigantic blooming flower comprised completely of water. The unruly mass held together for a few precious seconds before it exploded outwards, condensing into coherent shapes as it did so-that of sharks.
"SCATTER!"
"I WON'T LET YOU!"
It was hard for anyone to tell what happened, the sharks lunged at anything that moved, be it human or Digimon. Upon biting down they then violently exploded potentially damaging the hearing of anyone close by. Since they'd spread out in all directions everyone was caught off guard, unable to coordinate or react accordingly. A shadow moved through the explosions, viciously tearing apart anything or anyone that stood before it. The last sight many saw before the end came for them were a pair of blood-red eyes.
The next creature that fell into the shadow's line of sight was Mina, her body safely protected by the cold-blue form of her partner. The shadow snarled, an Ultimate's defenses would be nothing to him, especially in his current enraged state. Kicking off he dove straight for the human and Digimon pair, his mouth releasing an inhuman roar that announced to the two the end was near.
The Indian girl prayed for a quick and hopefully painless death while her partner prepared for the moment to push her away, hoping like hell it'd be enough to keep her alive.
None of the three noticed the green object surging through the water vapor, a furious dragon being ridden by a human whose eyes screamed with murderous rage.
"MINA!"
"MEGATON HAMMER CRUSH!"
TTTTHHHHOOOMMM!
As remarkable as it was the dragon's tail was fast enough to catch the speeding shadow midway, the resulting shockwave rivaling that of a gale force wind. The unseen creature cried out in pain as it literally skidded across the ground before coming to a stop in a crater created by its own momentum. Acting quickly Joe directed his partner towards the impact zone and Zudomon responded in kind with an arrow-shaped blast of thunder that lit up the surroundings.
"Mina! Mina!" Liam shouted hopping off of his partner and running over to the still startled girl. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
"Damn, not even the threat of death is enough to keep you from your girl is it?" The Canadian's draconic partner grunted keeping his attention focused solely on the downed creature.
Joe watched with unflinching eyes as the creature stood up amongst the smoke, the sound of bones cracking echoing like some sort of sick bell. What drew his immediate attention was the scarring, almost the entire left side of the shark-man's face was charred black with a deep, stitched up gash right around the neck. From the looks of it he had to guess someone had attempted to turn a stabbing into a decapitation then stopped halfway. He didn't flinch when the Digimon's eyes fell on him, eyes filled to the brim with malicious malice that promised him nothing but pain. In his pocket his Digivice glowed brighter illuminating him as well as casting a faint glow over Zudomon's body.
"You…little shits. That…really…hurt." Raandaimon snarled stretching out his webbed hands. His whole body trembled with incredibly rage upon seeing the radiant light of Joe's Digivice for it reminded him too much of her. He could feel a dull aching in his scars and a voice screaming for him to rip the glasses-wearing teenager apart limb from limb. The aquatic Digimon decided right there he'd be the first to die; it'd be a slow painful death that would sooth his mounting rage before he moved on to the rest. "You…four eyes."
"Liam, take the others and go, me and Zudomon will hold off this one." Joe spoke calmly and clearly.
"What?! Are ya' out of your damn mind Joe?" Liam shouted clearly distressed.
"In case you haven't noticed, our odds are better if it's two against one." The green-scaled dragon rumbled shooting Zudomon a leery gaze.
"This isn't about winning, it's about holding the line; moreover, we still have a job to do." Joe responded not breaking a sweat. "We can handle this, trust us. Take the others and go hold evac line. We'll keep this one occupied, in case you haven't noticed he seems to have already decided we're top of the list."
Mina and Liam shared a look between each other then back at Joe. While they couldn't deny Joe and Zudomon were quite the pair when they stood their grounds they didn't feel safe leaving them to fend for themselves. Liam looked like he wanted to argue further when he felt Mina's hand tighten around his arm.
"Liam, let's do as he says." She stated in a firm voice.
"But…"
"Just take a look at them." BlueMeramon stated with equal strength. "Something tells me they won't lose to that overgrown guppy."
Liam knew there was something different about the DigiDestined chosen to wield crests, something that separated them from the rest. He'd seen the power of the crests with Tai and Matt, reportedly Japan's strongest. They were the only ones able to produce the type of glow he saw was now enveloping Joe and Zudomon like a cocoon of light. Despite the darkish-gray color there was something comforting about it similar to Tai's aura moments before he and WarGreymon headed off.
Trust me. Trust me. Trust me. Trust me.
With a heavy sigh the blond Canadian hung his head. "Just don't kill yourselves, we're running low on manpower as it is."
With his back turned Joe did the one thing he'd always wanted to do, it was incredibly corny and cliché, but this was his moment. He held up his right hand in a thumbs up position in full view for the others to see. One by one all of them nodded their hands and cleared out leaving just the human pair and Raandaimon.
"I'll take that horn of yours as a trophy!" Raandaimon roared before launching himself at the pair in the form a swirling drill.
"Just try it," Zudomon's heavy voice rumbled reeling back his hammer with lightning cackling around its shiny metal surface. "RAAAAAHHH!"
Joe threw a hand over his eyes to shield them from the intense shockwave that resulted from the collision. Lightning and sparks exploded from clash between the two and continued as they struggled against each other for the advantage. Raandaimon screamed in irritation at how the Ultimate Digimon refused to go down when mightier beings had fallen before his Infinity Ripper. Not even a crack appeared in the Chrome Digizoid hammer despite putting all his power into the attack, in fact, the harder he tried the more pain his body experienced. On Zudomon's end his arm was screaming in pain due to the insane amount of stress it was being put under. Every second it felt like having a hundred needles pressed into his forearm at once will only willpower being the binding agent. Shoving the pain down he forced all the strength he had into his arm intent on driving back the rapid beast trying to break his precious Thor's Hammer. He wasn't going to let that happen.
"RRRRRAAAAHHH!"
Lightning coiled around the Chrome Digizoid weapon energizing it to the point where it could visibly be seen glowing. Raising up his Digivice Joe added his strength to the weapon finally giving it the power needed to send Raandaimon flying in the opposite direction. Following this Zudomon causally dropped his hammer and allowed his right hand to lazily sag, with nothing left the aching pain finally took hold leaving the thick limb useless for the moment.
This time Raandaimon was able to get back up on his feet faster. Seeing the human teenager standing beside Zudomon apparently defenseless the humanoid shark threw himself at him, his maw stretching open to reveal rows upon rows of saw-like teeth. "YOU FIRST! YOUR HEAD! YOUR NECK! YOUR BODY! I"LL DEVOUR ALL OF IT!"
With fierce determination in his eyes Joe stood his ground calculating the distance between him and Raandaimon. "NOT TODAY!" Throwing up his Digivice when the distance between the two was exactly three feet he projected a transparent yet incredibly sturdy barrier between them. Like Zudomon his right arm exploded in mind numbing pain from the pressure forced upon it from the collision, and just like his partner he stood strong in the face of the mind-numbing agony.
Raandaimon couldn't believe he was actually thrown back by the recoil. The dull pain he still had from Zudomon's hammer returned, magnified tenfold by the light barrier the Japanese teen had used to protect himself. He'd make him pay for the disgrace and pain he'd inflicted by ripping his limps off one by one. Just as he prepared himself for another charge a shadow fell over the Mega-level Digimon.
Zudomon's bare fist may not have had the brute power, but it still packed enough strength to at least make Raandaimon feel some form of pain. His fist shook the ground leaving a crater with Raandaimon dead in the center. Not taking any chances he found the strength to grip his Thor's Hammer and raise it high for another swing.
It was a fatal mistake Joe was only barely able to save him from.
CRU-SLLLIISSSHHH!
The pain of having a solid chunk of his arm torn out was almost enough to make Zudomon drop to his knees and scream out. Raandaimon enjoyed the taste of the data he'd taken out of the Ultimate Digimon, it added to his already burning hunger, not he wanted the rest of the giant Digimon.
Unfortunately for him even with half his arm missing and Zudomon still had enough strength to fight back, and fight back he did. With speed Raandaimon thought impossible for a Digimon of that size he spun an entire three hundred and sixty degrees before launching his hammer like a projectile directly at the Deep One Digimon. Raandaimon cursed as the hammer slammed into him like a freight train completely disorienting him while at the same time launching him further into the sky.
"NO…NO! I WON'T! I REFUSE TO BE HUMILIATED A SECOND TIME! NOT AFTER THAT BITCH DID THIS TO ME!" Stopping his flight in midair a blood-red aura flared to life around Raandaimon. "CHAOTIC FRENZY!"
Countless sharks compromised of red water and a pulsating core surged from the Marine Digimon's body down towards the DigiDestined pair. Acting quickly Zudomon caught his hammer then threw himself over Joe's body, completely shielding the human from the missile-like onslaught that followed.
The Ultimate Digimon disappeared in the string of explosions created by the shark bombs. Raandaimon was angry he heard no screaming or cries of despair when the air and ground shook with the force of his attack. As the smoke began to clear he saw Zudomon was still alive, granted his shell was now sporting a handful of cracks and his body was still encased in that damn glow. Seeing that made his pupils shrink into they were barely visible dots.
"JUST DIE ALREADY YOU STUPID SHIT! INFINITY RIPPER!"
This time he collided head-on with Zudomon's shell, yet just like with his hammer Raandaimon found himself unable to break through the material. Screaming in frustration he pushed harder hoping that'd be enough to break through and tear the Ultimate-level Digimon apart.
CCCCCRRRIIIIINNNNCCCCCHHHH!
He broke through, but only a portion of Zudomon's shell. The walrus-like Digimon went rolling on his side leaving trails of data spilling out into the rain but still very much alive. Raandaimon, meanwhile continued onwards eventually tearing into a patch of forest and buildings before coming to a stop. Stomping the ground in he screamed to the stormy skies, "Chaotic Frenzy!"
Just like before hundreds of shark-shaped bombs sped towards Zudomon who kept his body tucked in tight despite the obvious break in his shell.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"You like that, huh, you overgrown walrus!" Raandaimon screamed at the smoke waiting for it to dissipate.
As the smoke rolled away thunder boomed overhead and lightning flashed across the sky. From the ash cloud arose the imposing figure of Zudomon, his eyes reflecting the lightning striking overhead for Raandaimon to see. Raising a restored right arm he absorbed another burst of lightning that left his hammer highly energized. Searching the area for the human he found him standing on his partner's should, bravely defiant in the face of the mayhem around him.
"Vulcan's Hammer!"
"Hell Harpoon!"
The lightning blast and red energy lace met each other in an explosion that broke apart the ground between the two sides. Both attacks had canceled each other out despite the supposed power difference between them leaving Zudomon and Raandaimon to glare at each other from across the battlefield.
"…Why? Why? WHY? WHY!? WHY!? WHY!? WHY THE HELL WON'T EITHER OF YOU GO DOWN!? JUST GIVE UP! CLOSE YOUR EYES AND DIE! BE DELETED! LET ME EAT YOU! JUST STAND STILL AND LET ME DEVOUR YOU!"
"We can't do that." Zudomon huffed causally swinging aside his hammer.
"WHY THE HELL NOT!?" Raandaimon screamed in return, his eyes now a hair's breath from bulging out of their sockets.
"Because we've got people counting on us to hold the line here. If we went down then those people would get hurt, and we can't let that happen." Joe barked. Around his neck a blackish-gray light blazed its way into existence, almost resembling a tiny star hanging around his neck. "I don't know if a creature like you could understand, but for us, when people's lives lie in our hands we refuse to give up or accept failure. One way or another we will stop you here! If you want to get to the rest of the humans in this city then you'll have to go through us, and I promise you, we won't go easy!"
The star exploded in luminous light consuming not just the human but the Digimon as well. In front of the brilliant light a symbol blazed to life filling Raandaimon with silent dread.
"NOOOOO!"
Manifesting a harpoon in each hand he threw himself towards the bubble of light he realized contained various rings of data. His mouth pulled back revealing his rows of teeth.
"Those are some dangerous assets you got there, I think it's for the best I remove them for ya." A gruff voice sounded from the light bubble.
Raandaimon saw one thing before his mind could register how direr the situation had become for him. That one thing was a spiked morning star heading straight for him, fast. After that everything simply went black.
To Be Continued…
Heheh, sorry for scaring anyone with the long absence and lack of an update. I've been really swamped for time (again) so I haven't exactly been able to focus on writing for this story. Originally my goal was to have this story wrapped up by the time summer ended, but obviously that won't be happening. Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk right? What'd you think? Tai and Joe have always been two of my favorite Adventure characters so this time I decided to have the two of them step up to the plate. Courage and reliability, I find the two can go hand in hand from time to time, especially when there's someone counting on you to be strong. The question is, will it be enough for the DigiDestined to survive this coming battle, and those that will come after it?
Happy Memorial Day everyone, be safe and until next time (which will hopefully won't be too long)!
