Episode 15: Legend; Leagues; Lord
The caped figure seated himself in the front row bleachers. He crossed one leg over the other, and gently placed his hands on his knee.
MinoGatorus bowed until his Alligator nose nearly touched the floor. He turned his attention back to the four Digimon. "It seems we have an esteemed guest with us today! I do hope you will help me put on a splendid show for him."
In an instant, Jackmon was in front on MinoGatorus, his fist pulled back. "Done." He swung, but the DIGIrus easily caught his punch.
"Excellent! Thank you very much for playing along." He too pulled his arm back and went for a punch. Jackmon managed to catch his punch as his own was previously, but he could feel the force behind it.
Jackmon turned with a tail swipe, forcing his opponent to back away, and giving him a moment to think. "Kurohi, this is going to be a tough one."
MinoGatorus raised one hand. "Yes, yes, such power! This shall be an excellent show! But it's not right for a ring master to monopolize his own spotlight!" He snapped his fingers and the three feline DIGIrus, the centaur, griffin, and gun-back, dashed out from behind him.
Legionmon pounced on the cannoneer before it was half way to Jackmon. A cloud of small floor chippings sprayed into the air from his impact. "Eliminating target." He went to stab at it with his tail, but the out of place Tankmon head on its back spun around to force him off. Before Legionmon made contact with the floor, the tip of his tail had already changed into the form of a gun, and the two began to exchange gunfire.
The other two ran past Jackmon, opting to attack the two smaller Digimon behind him. The centaurian DIGIrus raised up on its back hooves and clapped down on the tiny Mezzomon, who weaved in between its stomping feet with more than a little difficulty. The griffin-like DIGIrus clawed and bit at Chargermon's cannonball form, throwing it around the arena like a cat would a ball of yarn.
Jackmon turned back just in time to catch another of MinoGatorus' punches. Jackmon retaliated with his free hand, but the blue swamp-dweller grabbed his wrist.
"It seems I have the upper claw!"
"Are you sure about that?" Jackmon looked over to the four holographic humans situated in the bleachers to their right. "Whenever you're ready, Kurohi!"
"I got it." His DP was suddenly in his hand. He swiped the screen in his usual over-the-top fashion.
Override Accepted – Superior Evolution
Jackmon disappeared from MinoGatorus' grasp as he transformed into a vacuumous sphere. His opponent kicked back as hard as he could to get away from the suction. Behind them, the caped figure straightened up in his seat.
"Jackmon, Superior Evolution! GlobaLinkmon!"
GlobaLinkmon lumbered toward the alligator. "Now try catching this punch." He let fly his armored fist. MinoGatorus held out a hand as he had done previously, but instead of catching it as before, he was spent skidding backwards. He shook his hand to alleviate the stinging.
"Looks like an exchange of blows is out of the question now. Then I suppose I'll have to change up the game with a-" He slammed his fists into the floor, spitting dust into the air, then opened his mouth wide. "Water Wrecker!" A giant torrent of pressurized water spewed from its gaping jaws.
GlobaLinkmon crossed his arms over his face to absorb some of the impact, but the stream still forced his back several meters, causing him to trip backwards over the Lia-Peckmon DIGIrus that was chasing Chargermon.
Finally free from his attacker, Chargermon spun in place and launched himself into the face of the disorientated cat at GlobaLinkmon's feet. He popped out of his cannonball form and began to pummel the orange lion with everything he had. Unfortunately, everything he had wasn't very much, and just served to annoy the cat more than anything else. It swiped at Chargermon with its claws. He quickly turned into a ball to negate the damage, and flipped back to normal once he had bounced away. He then ran at it, flailing his arms like an upset toddler.
Mezzomon ran past Chargermon, followed closely by the Shima-Leomon DIGIrus. He managed to dodge out of the way of its hooves whenever it got to close; his small stature aiding him well in the fight. He slowed down enough to slip underneath it and blasted it with his trumpet. The centaur reared up and began to kick wildly. It was easy enough for Mezzomon to dodge the bewildered animal's attempt to strike him in its agitated state with only a little weaving from side-to-side.
Off in another corner of the arena, Legionmon was throwing the cannon-backed cat around with his tail. His tail was coiled so tightly around the barrel of its tank cannon that it looked like it was about to be crushed from the strain. It tried over and over to break free, but Legionmon gave it no time to rest, continuing to beat it mercilessly. After another minute of this, it went limp and stopped moving.
Legionmon stopped and looked over its defeated prey momentarily. "Target has no discernible vital signs. Locating new target." His turned his attention to the cat beating at the emerald ball that was Chargermon, and lept at it.
The clashing of metal and scale echoed from the center of the arena. Every punch MinoGatorus threw banged against GlobaLinkmon's armor, and Mino's skin deflected Link's with the sound of a hundred castinettes. Their bare-knuckle boxing match was a sight to behold. Their fists collided one last time, each of them pushing all their weight into the other to try and throw them off balance.
Mino flashed Link a crocodile's smile. "I have to say, I'm quite enjoying this fight!"
GlobaLinkmon continued to add more force to his ongoing punch. "Good, because it's going to be your last."
The alligator pushed back with equal force. "Too bad. I was actually thinking of letting you go so we could fight again! But if that's your attitude, then I guess I'm gonna have to throw you to the lions after all!" He widened his jaw again. "Water Wrecker!"
With no time to dodge or block at suck close range, GlobaLinkmon took the full force of the blast to the chest. MinoGatorus was thrown back by the pressure of his own attack.
Legionmon's tail wrapped around the griffin-cat's waste. He threw it straight into the air. Free from his secondary assault, Chargermon performed another tackle, hitting it squarely in the stomach. The DIGIrus fell to the ground, incapacitated. The two victorious Digimon turned their attention to the third enemy currently engaged in battle with Mezzomon.
With Legionmon and Chargermon, the centaur was now outnumbered 3-to-1. It panicked and made a b-line for its tank-backed brother, narrowly avoiding several powerful energy blasts that the two higher-level digital beings were exchanging. The other three gave chase, circumventing their friend's fight as to not sustain damage.
When it reached its brother, it paused for a moment before raising its hands into the air in an attempt to strike. The previously blank eyes on the Tankmon's head suddenly burst to life. It turned it's cylindrical green nose to the looming lion and shot it through the chest.
The impaled DIGIrus stood for a moment before succumbing to its injuries and falling to the ground. The other stood up. It quickly began to cannibalize the other DIGIrus. Legionmon, who had been observing the situation with the others, charged ahead. He readied his tail and was inches away from skewering the cat when...
"Evowlve!"
The energy released from the DIGIrus' evolution forced Legionmon to disperse and reform several meters away.
The new DIGIrus was humanoid and female. She was dressed in what looked like cheetah pelts, the top half of a cheetah's head obscuring her human eyes and taking the place of them. On her arms, she wielded a pair of large Gatling Guns. "Catastrus!" She raised her guns to Legionmon; they began to spin in anticipation of mowing down the arachnid before her.
The caped figure appeared from nowhere and grabbed her by the wrist, jerking it into the air. "That is enough, child." This was the first time GlobaLinkmon could get a good view of the complete DIGIrus. He was tall, with light blue skin and dark blue hair. The eyes behind the white mask he wore were green. He wore a white suit, with a red flower in his lapel pocket. As his cape fell beyond his large shoulders, armored fins unfurled themselves from the lack of weight upon them. "MinoGatorus." He turned to his companion. "It is time to leave." He looked over to the quickly disintegrating griffin. "There are no longer any children in need of feeding."
Mino scratched the back of his head. "It's not how I would have liked it to happen. Guess I'll get my rematch after all." He began walking over to the man and the struggling Catastrus.
"You're not getting away!" GlobaLinkmon grabbed the globe on his back and swung it at the retreating reptile. "Atlas Hammer!"
"Azure Thunder!" The blue shock wave sent GlobaLinkmon reeling backwards across the floor. The man pushed Catastrus into MinoGatorus' arms and stepped forward. "We no longer have any reason to do battle with you. We will take our leave now."
The woman behind him kept struggling. "Rrrraaa! Not yet! Let me kill that bug! I wanna crush it!"
He backhanded her across the face. "If you go killing Digimon at your leisure, then there will be less for your brethren to eat."
"So, that is your plan then?" Mezzomon spoke up. "You plan to feed Digimon to the unevolved DIGIrus?"
"DIGIrus..." He pondered the name for a moment. "You forget, small one, that this is our world. We will do with it as we please."
Kurohi could feel something nagging at the back of his mind. Their world...
GlobaLinkmon stumbled to his feet. "Who...who are you?"
"My name is Mantlerus. Now good day." A tear appeared in the wall behind them, and the three, thou one rather begrudgingly, made their leave.
With the threat gone, their was a collective sigh that came with their devolution. The four of them congregated together in the center of the arena, Linkmon working out the kinks in his shoulders as he walked. "Do you know where they are?" His gaze fell on the silver spider.
"Negative. Their is much interference beyond normal space. We won't be able to pinpoint our partition until they return from outside the walls."
"Damn."
Linkmon could feel a tingly feeling on his shoulder. He looked behind him to see Kurohi attempting to pat it, but with no success. After a few more seconds, he merely gave up.
"We got one, they got another, and one evolved. Even if it isn't exactly how we wanted it, there are still three less DIGIrus eating people."
"Dhat logic's kinda twisted, i'n' it?" Pop was now standing behind Sopranomon.
"Twisted or not, he's right." White stood beside Legionmon. "The operation was a success, even if only under technicality. The three DIGIrus that were consuming Digimon in this area have been removed from the equation."
"And nobody was hurt. That's something." Rollermon beeped in agreement with Ricker.
"Speak for yourself." Linkmon was again working out his joints. "I got smacked around pretty hard."
Kurohi started musing to himself. "All the per-evolved DIGIrus we've seen so far have been fusions of Adult levels, and their evolved forms appear to be on par with Perfect levels, but we've never run into any DIGIrus who were created from Perfect Digimon. I'm guessing this Mantlerus might be on par with an Ultimate level."
Pop threw up her hands. "Well, we're boned dhen."
Catastrus walked through the stone halls of her new home. "I'll make that damn spider pay for embarrassing me like that." She shot a small statue in the middle of a fork in the hallway, shattering it to dust. "Nobody's going to throw me around like that and live."
A gritty laugh echoed in her ears.
"Who's there?" She raised her guns in the direction she thought it came from.
"Mr. Masquerade should know cats don't like leashes." From a shadowy doorway emerged a giant blue beetle. GiraffaKuwarus. "We aren't all like that scaly lapdog of his."
Catastrus' arms held their position. "Who are you?"
He strode forward, his four arms behind his back. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear. "Someone who'd very much enjoy plucking every last wing off that black one." He stood back up and shrugged. "But the boss says to leave them be. I don't understand why. It's very obvious that they've got it out for us."
Her guns lowered about an inch, but her gaze remained firm. "Why are you telling me this."
"Because I want them dead. Don't you?"
"...Yes."
"Then why don't we...help each other out then?"
Catastrus finally lowered her weapons. "What did you have in mind?"