Additional Author's Notes: This chapter is basically pure, unrelenting overkill. This is what happens when anyone lets me manipulate events in any incarnation of the digital world. At least, when I'm not preoccupied with sorting out the relationship polygons. Personally, I find the battle choreography to be a lot more fun.
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 5 |
Plesiomon took the plunge into the hidden depths of the lake situated in the middle of the floating continent of the Resort Zone with the members of team Xros Heart struggling to remain standing on her back. The light from the surface gradually faded until it was extinguished completely when the aquatic digimon maneuvered into an underwater tunnel that was gradually illuminated again as they approached the interior cavern. When Plesiomon surfaced it became readily apparent that the source of this new illumination was none other than Volcdramon himself. The glow of the magma visible between the gaps of jagged volcanic rock that comprised the dragon's body danced along the walls of the cavern as well as the surface of the water emerging from the underground tunnel much like the flickering flames of a very large bonfire. It was also very hot.
"Is it always this hot down here?" Zenjirou complained for the group.
"Oh, it has to be," Plesiomon assured him. "Volcdramon heats all the water for the surface hot springs."
Taiki was impressed. "That's pretty amazing in itself."
"More humans? I would assume that Slashmon sent you down here," Volcdramon's voice echoed throughout the cavern.
"That's right," Shoutmon took over from there. "He told us to come down here for the Code Crown."
"I see," Volcdramon spoke more gently. "So tell me, what are your intentions for this world?"
Shoutmon made a gesture to indicate Taiki. "Taiki is our general. We're trying to prevent the Bagura Empire from taking over so that peace can be restored to the digital world."
Taiki nodded, "That's more or less it."
The fierce looking dragon known as Volcadramon gave them a measuring glance. He let the silence stretch for several long seconds before he finally acknowledged them. "Very well. If Slashmon and that girl he sent down here before believe in you, then it must be true."
There was a familiar golden glow as the Code Crown for the Resort Zone emerged from one of the miniature volcanoes along Volcdramon's back. It made a dramatic show of levitating over to Taiki before resolving itself into a cartridge in his hand.
"Thank you Volcdramon," Taiki expressed his gratitude to the dragon digimon.
Volcdramon nodded and directed his attention to Plesiomon, "Give my regards to Slashmon. I certainly hope he turns out to be right about this group."
After all that Plesiomon transported the group out of the underground cavern and back to the surface of the lake. Just a few minutes in that superheated underground cavern was enough to make them all grateful to be back out in the sun. Slashmon was there waiting for them once they reached shore.
"It looks to me like Volcdramon decided not to give you guys any trouble," the raptor-like digimon observed.
Taiki nodded. "It seemed like you and Crystal must have had something to do with it."
Slashmon scratched at his chin with a claw. "I suppose she must have made a good impression when she met him. I don't typically go down there since I really don't like water very much."
"Then what are you doing at a hot spring resort?" Akari demanded.
Slashmon gave her a fangy grin. "I just run the place. I don't swim in it."
"Where did Crystal go anyway?" Taiki asked changing the subject.
"That's right," Shoutmon added. "I would have figured she would be here waiting for us with Zapmon."
"They didn't go far," Slashmon informed them. He pointed to a spot a short distance from the lake where there was a circle of evenly spaced trees around a fairly ordinary looking park fountain aside from the fact that the statue on display in the middle was in the shape of three clashing Depthmon launching water into the air. Crystal was lying on her back along the edge of the fountain apparently staring up at the sky. "Crystal thinks those enemies that attacked before will be back again in greater numbers so she's trying to conserve her energy in case another fight breaks out."
"That's actually a pretty good idea," Akari noted giving Taiki a meaningful glance. "You could learn something from this."
Taiki rubbed the back of his neck looking a little uneasy. He had a pretty good idea what she was talking about.
Crystal immediately sat up when a glint of metal caught her eye behind some clouds. In another instant she was on her feet with Xros Loader in hand. Zapmon, who had been keeping an eye out from one of the surrounding trees, descended from her perch to dash to the girl's side.
"They came back sooner than I had expected," Crystal stated simply. She held out her silver Xros Loader. "Reload, Thunderbirmon!"
The electrical armored bird took shape in the sky above them and Crystal began rattling off instructions. "I want you to rendezvous with the Fan Beemon. Tell them to split up to rally the rest of our forces and collect a provisional tally of enemy numbers so we know what we're up against. And one more thing-ask Gryphomon to get ready for me. I've got a feeling I might have to do some flying this time."
"Understood," the avian digimon took off to fulfill his purpose.
"It sounds like you're expecting a lot of them," Zapmon commented uncertainly.
Crystal nodded. "They might be after Taiki and his friends. You know what that means, don't you?"
"No more holding back," Zapmon smirked as she cracked her knuckles.
The two of them opted to regroup with Slashmon before continuing on to join the fray which was how they were inevitably reunited with the members of team Xros Heart. It didn't take long for one of the Fan Beemon to arrive to report on the number of enemies that had been sighted approaching the resort.
"Land forces are primarily comprised of excessive numbers of Deltamon, Tuskmon and Troopmon. Air forces are comprised primarily of Devidramon and Pteranomon accompanied by Megadramon and Gigadramon. It looks like Megidramon is leading the attack with the air forces," Fan Beemon buzzed hurriedly.
"Megidramon might pose a problem," Crystal acknowledged with her fists clenched at her sides. "Cannondramon should be able to thin down the land forces, but he's going to need some support to pick off the stragglers that manage to get by. We should get Hououmon to assist us with the air forces..." She trailed off to consider Taiki's team. "You guys should get out of here while we keep them distracted."
"We aren't leaving," Taiki shot back at her. "I said we'd help you guys fight. You know these digimon better than we do so just tell us the best way to handle them and we'll back you up."
"I uh..." Crystal forgot what she was going to say for a second before her brain remembered to catch up with her mouth again. "Alright then. We can worry about the land forces once we take out Megidramon and the rest of his air forces since they can cause the most damage to the resort. How are you guys at aerial combat?"
Taiki hesitated. "I guess we really haven't dealt with many flying opponents yet."
"So basically you haven't sorted out a Digi Xros that can handle sustained flight," Crystal finished for him. "We just need to find you a decent pair of wings. And I know just the thing." She returned her attention to Fan Beemon. "Change of plans, go get Imperialdramon."
Fan Beemon nodded and hurried off.
"Wait, you don't mean that huge dragon from before?" Zenjirou recalled his anxiety from that earlier flight.
"Don't worry," Zapmon assured him. "This time you won't have to ride on him."
When Imperialdramon arrived moments later it seemed that Taiki and Crystal had already Digi Xrossed their respective teams of digimon into Shoutmon X4 and X-Zapdramon Fighter Mode with a slight modification on Crystal's part in that Raptordramon had been attached to X-Zapdramon Fighter Mode's right arm in the form of a crossbow appropriately classified as the Dragon Crossbow. With the arrival of Imperialdramon, Taiki knew exactly what to do.
"Shoutmon X4, Imperialdramon! Digi Xros!" he activated his red Xros Loader to take care of the rest.
The overall effect was that Shoutmon X4 gained an impressive pair of white draconic wings while the Star Sword transformed into something reminiscent of the Omega Blade. "Shoutmon X4 Paladin!"
Gryphomon arrived as per Crystal's earlier request and the girl quickly mounted the phantom beast digimon fully intent on monitoring the course of battle by following along in the sky.
"We'll go on ahead," she was about to signal Gryphomon to take flight when Slashmon stopped her.
"Hold that thought," he interrupted her. "I have something else you might need."
Slashmon disappeared into the shrine for all of a few seconds before returning with a set of four cartridges between his claws.
"DigiMemories?" Taiki immediately recognized them for what they were.
Slashmon nodded before handing them over. He made a point of indicating the two bearing images of Victory Greymon and Z'd Garurumon. "These should be used together."
Taiki nodded and pocketed them before climbing onto Gryphomon with Crystal. "In that case, I should probably go with you."
"Right," Crystal got the impression that she should have seen this coming. "You're going to want to hang on tight."
They certainly weren't alone in the aerial battle. A number of winged dragons were being led into battle by Thunderbirmon and Hououmon. Megadramon, Gigadramon and the numerous Pteranomon on the opposing side were letting missiles fly with reckless abandon, but the flying dragons and avian digimon defending the resort countered with blasts of lightning and fire. Meanwhile, on the ground, Cannondramon was thoroughly decimating the opposing land forces with a variety of land dwelling dragons and assorted beast digimon to pick off anything that managed to get around his attacks.
"Thousand Arrow Storm!" X-Zapdramon Fighter Mode made use of the Dragon Crossbow to target multiple enemies simultaneously with small, concentrated energy darts to create an opening for Shoutmon X4 Paladin to strike down Megidramon with his newly upgraded sword.
However, Megidramon was quick to counter with his devastating Megido Flame attack. Then, to make matters worse, he began absorbing his fallen and wounded subordinates assimilating metallic armor and missile ports along with extending the length of his deadly claws. Megidramon unleashed a barrage of missiles in a multitude of directions while also swiping at nearby digimon in range of his claws.
X-Zapdramon Fighter Mode took a hit that effectively broke the Digi Xros splitting it into its component digimon. Hououmon was able to swoop in to retrieve Zapmon, Gururumon, Lighdramon, and Raptordramon once they were no longer able to fly. Gryphomon took evasive action and was able to deflect incoming missiles with the shockwave produced by his Super Sonic Voice attack.
"That was rough," Crystal grumbled once Gryphomon had maneuvered into a more stable flight position. "We can't let him do that again."
"Maybe we should use the DigiMemories Slashmon gave us," Taiki suggested. After all, he was the one carrying them.
"I suppose it's worth a shot," Crystal agreed. Taiki seemed to know what he was talking about so she wasn't about to argue with him anyway.
"Here," he handed her the one with Z'd Garurumon on it while keeping the one with Victory Greymon for himself. "He did say these should be used together."
"I get it," Crystal took the cartridge and readied her Xros Loader. "That was the reason you decided to fly out here with me."
"More or less," Taiki admitted readying his own Xros Loader. "Let's see what these are capable of."
He inserted the DigiMemory of Victory Greymon into the corresponding cartridge port on his Xros Loader. "Trident Gaia!"
"Full Metal Blaze!" Crystal did the same with the DigiMemory of Z'd Garurumon.
And then together they declared, "Activate!"
The result was that the holographic representation of Victory Greymon deconstructed its massive sword into components that were then integrated into the armor on its arms. Victory Greymon then began accumulating atmospheric energy into those components while Z'd Garurumon locked onto Megidramon with every weapon it has. Megidramon prepared to counter with another barrage of missiles and claw swipes, but even then he wasn't ready to withstand the full force of Victory Greymon and Z'd Garurumon's combined attacks fired simultaneously. The joint attack from Victory Greymon and Z'd Garurumon easily broke through Megidramon's assault leaving the enemy digimon both singed and open for attack.
As the holographic representations of Victory Greymon and Z'd Garurumon faded from the battlefield Shoutmon X4 Paladin used the opportunity to finish Megidramon off by striking the demonic dragon with his upgraded sword. The strike produced a rapid chain of explosions originating at the point of impact and quickly extending to envelope Megidramon's already damaged body in an even larger explosion. The overall impact was made all the more dramatic by the fact that Shoutmon X4 Paladin emerged from the opposite side of the explosive shockwave as he followed through with his initial slashing motion. With Megidramon summarily defeated Shoutmon X4 Paladin reverted back into his component digimon with Imperialdramon swiftly retrieving the rest with his tractor beam before they could fall out of the air.
Once the fighting was over they were all brought back to the shrine by the lake where the others were waiting for them with Taiki and Crystal both staggering off of Gryphomon's back in an exhausted heap.
"I seem to have misplaced my center of gravity again," was Crystal's first line of defense.
"Or maybe you're just tired," Akari was used to this from Taiki although it didn't stop her from thinking, Oh great, now there are two of them.
"That too," Crystal conceded. "It's a good thing we're at a resort."
Of course, once everyone had gotten a proper rest, it came to be time for them to part ways. At least, that was what Crystal kept trying to tell herself.
"You aren't coming with us?" Taiki wasn't willing to accept it.
"I promised to protect this place," Crystal tried to formulate a viable excuse. "I can't do that if I'm not here."
"That's enough," Slashmon decided to intervene. "Crystal, you should go with them if you want to. Now that Taiki has this zone's Code Crown it isn't in any danger anymore."
"You've got that right," Zapmon nodded adamantly. "We all know this kid is going to get into a lot more trouble and I have no intention of playing it safe by sitting out of all the fighting."
"Zapmon," Crystal started hesitantly. "I guess the rest of the team feels the same way, huh?"
Zapmon pointed at her accusingly. "Don't think it's just us. You're only kidding yourself if you keep telling yourself you aren't feeling it too."
Crystal sighed in defeat. "That's true."
"You can come back here anytime you like," Slashmon assured her. "Nevertheless, legendary general or not, Taiki could use the extra help and you know it. You really won't be getting in the way."
Crystal brought a palm to her forehead. "Alright, I get it already. Sheesh, you don't have to try so hard. I'll go already!"
The End... For This Story Arc, At Least.
Author's Notes: I would just like to note that if anything like this actually happens in-series that I take absolutely no responsibility for it.
Additional Author's Notes: And there you have it. Not bad for my first endeavor at a Digimon Xros Wars fanfic. Or maybe I should just stick to role-playing. In any case, I wanted to finish this before NaNoWriMo since I probably won't be churning anything else out until after November.
Keep in mind that "Believe me, I want to help, but canonically I don't exist" would have been an equally valid excuse for Crystal to stay behind, but it really just doesn't work as well in the presence of the fourth wall. Besides, I already tried that excuse on my friends and all they did was yell at me for it.