Author's Notes: This was when I finally got up the gumption to bring in some of the official characters. I was kind of nervous about it since the series is still in progress and I don't really know everything about them. Nevertheless, I had a lot of fun dreaming up this location. I also enjoyed making thinly veiled references to previous entries in the Digimon franchise. I'm sure some of you who decide to read through this might be able to spot them.
Disclaimer: Although the severely warped and twisted imagination is my own, Digimon Xros Wars and its characters are the property of Akiyoshi Hongo, Bandai, Toei Animation, and TV Asahi.
| Digimon Xros Wars | Xtra | Part 3 |
Approximately three months had passed since Crystal's arrival in the digital world. In that time she had easily adjusted to her new life as a resident of the Resort Zone.
It is probably easiest to understand the Resort Zone as a floating continent. An island in the sky with spectacular waterfalls, hot springs, and an enormous lake at its center. The mountains surrounding these features have been carved out into luxury hotels to take full advantage of the natural aesthetic beauty of the environment. The continent itself floats above an enclosed valley with a narrow canyon as the only access from the outlying region. Water from the floating continent collects underneath to form a secondary lake at ground level, although it also seems that some of those waterfalls are actually flowing upward to bring water up to the floating continent so it kind of balances out.
The floating continent was, or rather had been, under attack which was why Crystal, along with the small black dragon known as Zapmon, was racing along the valley floor riding Lighdramon while being pursued by a Megadramon and a Gigadramon in the shadow of the continent. To an onlooker it would have looked like they were being chased, which was true, but it was also how they wanted it because it meant the enemy digimon weren't blasting the resort to get to them. It was also about the time that a portal materialized to drop the members of team Xros Heart into what, for their steadily increasing numbers, constituted a new zone. It also meant that they had no idea that the situation was presently under control.
"It looks like this zone is in trouble too," Shoutmon observed. There was a brief pause when he realized that the fleeing digimon was with another human. "Wait, there's a human over there too."
"In any case," Taiki had already made his decision. "We should go help them."
This plan of action was cut short when Lighdramon came to a halt and spun around to face his pursuers. Crystal quickly dismounted along with Zapmon before retrieving her silver Xros Loader from its holster.
"So you've finally stopped running," Megadramon hissed antagonistically.
"It's about time," Gigadramon continued with added menace. "It's not like you could have outrun us forever."
"As if," Crystal knew the two cyberized wyverns were only trying to bait her. "We only ran because we knew you would chase us." She held out the Xros Loader, "Reload Gururumon!"
"Another Xros Loader?" Akari voiced what had already caught the rest of the group's attention.
"Then she must be a general," noted Dorulumon.
"Should we still help them?" Shoutmon was getting impatient with being on standby.
"What if she turns out to be another rival?" Zenjirou noted uncertainly.
"It looks like they know what they're doing," Taiki observed quietly. "Still, I think we should help out if it gets out of hand."
"Zapmon, Gururumon, Lighdramon!" Crystal, thoroughly unaware of her observers, continued as if her dialogue hadn't been disrupted after the above witty banter. "Digi Xros!"
Zapmon struck a dramatic pose as her small frame became surrounded by silver light. "Zapmon!"
Gururumon struck one of his own as he became surrounded by blue-white light. "Gururumon!"
And Lighdramon finished with one of his own as he became surrounded by electric blue light. "Lighdramon!"
"Digi Xros!" The three eventually came together, colliding in midair. "X-Zapdramon Fighter Mode!"
X-Zapdramon Fighter Mode had the torso of an anthropomorphized Gururumon. The fur on each of its legs eventually transitioned into a pair of three-toed, silver-clawed, black-scaled draconic talons with silver and gold lightning bolt patterned stripes. The fur on each of its arms eventually transitioned into a pair of five-fingered, black-scaled, humanoid hands with a pattern of silver and gold lightning bolt patterned stripes. Each finger ended in a pointed silver claw. Its tail was also distinctly black-scaled and reptilian with silver and gold lightning bolt patterned stripes. Its draconic, black-scaled face with a pattern of silver and gold lightning bolt patterned stripes was covered by Lighdramon's armored mask with a pair of horns the same black color as its scales protruding from the back of its head. Its chest was covered by a section of black armor with downward facing lightning bolt shaped spikes that would have been on Lighdramon's back, its shoulders were covered by sections of black armor with a rectangular patch of red that would have been on Lighdramon's front legs, and its knees were covered by sections of black armor with a ridged, rectangular gray portion that would have been on Lighdramon's hind legs. X-Zapdramon Fight Mode's silver eyes were visible between the slits in its armored facial mask. X-Zapdramon Fighter Mode also had a pair of draconic wings extending from its shoulder blades fading from gold to blue to white giving it an impressive wingspan.
X-Zapdramon swiftly took to the sky. Within seconds it had snagged Megadramon by the tail and flung the cyberized wyvern against companion effectively sending both aerial combatants off balance. This was followed by X-Zapdramon producing an electrical field from its body with an exclamation of "Electric Burst!" as the electricity that had been emitted collided with the two awkwardly tangled, cyberized wyverns. Megadramon and Gigadramon were blasted into the mountains along the edge of the canyon roughly a kilometer away. Once the two of them managed to pull themselves from the rubble they made a hasty retreat exiting the valley through the canyon.
"Alright," Crystal nodded in approval. "They probably won't be back for at least a couple of hours which means we've got until then to take it easy."
X-Zapdramon landed nearby and quickly reverted into its composite digimon.
"And that marks another victory for Team Epoch," Zapmon practically beamed with enthusiasm.
"That was great you guys!" A Fan Beemon buzzed over to congratulate them. "By the way, while you guys were fighting it looks like we got some newcomers from another zone." The insect digimon gave Crystal a meaningful look. "You might want to address this yourself because it looked like there were other humans with them."
"Thanks Fan Beemon," Crystal answered thoughtfully. "I suppose I should welcome them. Just point us in the right direction."
Fan Beemon obliged by pointing in the direction where the members of team Xros Heart had emerged from the portal. Crystal spotted them easily enough and taking stock of how many were in their group added, "Think you can do me a favor and get Imperialdramon to pick us up?"
"Certainly," Fan Beemon answered delightedly. Apparently for Fan Beemon it was always a joy to have a job that needed to be done. The insect digimon got its wings going and took to air as it headed for the floating continent.
Crystal brushed a hand through her bangs. "Okay then, I guess now it's my turn."
It only took a few seconds for Crystal to return Gururumon to her Xros Loader so she and Zapmon could both hitch a ride on Lighdramon again. After that it only took a few minutes for them to get in proximity to the members of team Xros Heart. They would know Crystal and her digimon companions were coming. It couldn't have been more obvious unless they had plastered themselves with neon signs before making their approach. Lighdramon came to a stop several meters from the newcomers to let Crystal dismount so she could try to communicate that they didn't mean any harm so they could avoid an unnecessary confrontation. At least they seemed reasonable enough.
"Sorry if I scared you guys," Crystal started hesitantly. If anything, the fact that Zapmon had chosen to climb onto the girl's shoulders for a perch probably succeeded at making her look pretty harmless. "I'm not very good at this, but I'd like to welcome you all to the Resort Zone."
Zapmon decided to take it from there, "You'll have to forgive our general. She hasn't been around other humans for awhile."
"Well I guess this means we don't have to worry about you being another rival," Zenjirou was quick to abandon his suspicions. "You know, you're pretty cute up close."
Crystal brought a palm to her forehead, "Just don't get any ideas."
She lowered her hand and paused briefly as she gave Taiki a once over. "Alright, this is definitely going to sound weird because I know we've never met before, but I feel like I know you somehow."
"Wait," Taiki seemed surprised. "You too?"
Crystal brushed a hand through her bangs again. "I think my intuition has been on overdrive since I got here. Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression."
"It's okay," Taiki was understandably confused by the discrepancy between the girl's fighting skills and her personality. Even so he smiled reassuringly. "You seem like a good person."
"It's nice to finally meet someone straightforward who isn't trying to pick a fight," Akari had to agree.
"Well," Crystal grinned sheepishly. "I didn't feel any malicious intent from you guys so I figured it would be alright for us to trust you." She paused and added, "Anyway, my ride should be along shortly. So, if you don't mind, we can continue this discussion topside."
Zenjirou immediately paled and pointed accusingly at the floating continent that loomed above them. "Wait, you don't mean we're going up there, do you?"
"Afraid of heights, huh?" Zapmon chimed in rather unhelpfully. "Just stay away from the edge and you'll never know the difference."
At that precise instant an enormous blue dragon clad in white and gold armor materialized several meters in the air a short distance from them. An onlooker would probably be feeling hard pressed to believe that they hadn't seen something like that coming. In this case, that onlooker turned out to be Zenjirou.
"Where did that come from!" he exclaimed uneasily.
"This is Imperialdramon," Crystal explained. "You won't find a faster flying digimon in the entire digital world. This is also the easiest way to get all of us up to the resort at the same time."
Zenjirou was about to stage another protest, but it was already too late. Imperialdramon had already used his tractor beam to lift everyone into the force field on his back before taking flight. In the next instant it was letting them off somewhere near the heart of the floating continent even though it felt like they had moved without actually moving.
"Thanks for the lift," Crystal waved off Imperialdramon as the large dragon took off to attend to other matters. She wasn't too surprised to find that her new companions were rather speechless at their new surroundings.
"This place is incredible!" Shoutmon definitely seemed to approve.
"But what exactly are we doing here?" Akari demanded.
"You guys came here for the Code Crown, right?" Crystal sounded entirely unconcerned by this knowledge.
"You know about that?" Shoutmon was more appropriately alarmed by this.
"Sort of," Crystal responded. "According to Slashmon, there's a prophecy about a legendary general who will arrive to unify the digital world and bring peace to the numerous zones. And he's supposed to be accompanied by a red dragon."
"You've got to be kidding." It was Akari's turn to disapprove. "Please tell me you're making that up."
Crystal was actually mildly amused by that accusation. "I can't actually read the digital world's hieroglyphs. I'm just taking Slashmon's word for it since it makes about as much sense as everything else that's happened since I came here. If you'd rather take it up with him, then I can take you to him."
To Be Continued...