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.
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay. Being bombarded with visiting relatives definitely hasn't been conducive to the whole writing process. Well, aside from giving me an excuse to watch more episodes during the intervening time between chapters so I can get a more solid grasp of the series. Anyway, let's just see how it goes from here.
| Digimon Xros Wars | Xtra | Part 14 |
And so, the members of Xros Heart returned to the Resort Zone after their frigid ordeal in Snow Zone to be greeted by a somewhat familiar sight. They were immediately swarmed by numerous of Botamon, Chicomon, and Punimon, along with a handful of Koromon and Tsunomon bouncing along between them, with a lone Monodramon leading the pack of young digimon right up until the purple colored dragon bearing some resemblance to a small pterodactyl sprung into the air and swiftly knocked Crystal onto her back as the rest of the swarm finally caught up and surrounded the rest of the humans all the while cheering joyously at the return of the four humans and the few digimon that chosen to materialize from Crystal and Taiki's Xros Loaders respectively.
The impact caused Crystal to have the wind knocked out of her momentarily, but she recovered after spending a minute catching her breath while staring up at the sky looming above her, occasionally blocked out by the enormous silhouettes of Hououmon or Imperialdramon flying overhead. She was just about to ask the Monodramon if it would mind getting off of her when Zapmon decided to wedge herself between the human girl and the slightly larger dragon, easily shoving Monodramon aside.
"Hey, get off of her," Zapmon spoke in an unusually reprimanding tone. "I know it's exciting to see Crystal, but you really aren't as small as you used to be. You could hurt her."
"Huh?" Zenjirou was understandably puzzled by this and spoke up on behalf of the other assembled humans. "Wait, you mean you know this digimon?"
He might have been mistaken, but he definitely didn't recall seeing this particular digimon during their previous visit to the Resort Zone. But then, Crystal had been staying in the Resort Zone for several months before the rest of them met up with her so it was possible that she and Zapmon knew more of the residents.
"Sure I know him," Zapmon peered up at Zenjirou in total bafflement. "He was Chibimon."
"So you're saying that he's actually the same digimon as the one who tackled Crystal the last time we were here, is that right?" Taiki started to employ his powers of deduction. "Does that mean that he somehow changed from one kind of digimon into another?"
"Something like that," Slashmon materialized and readily began to explain the situation. "Chibimon has entered into the next stage of his life cycle and evolved into Monodramon."
"Evolved, huh?" Zenjirou looked like he was deep in thought, but then he gave up with an exaggerated sigh. "I don't really get it."
"It's really very simple," Slashmon continued. "When the necessary conditions are met, digimon evolve to the next available stage in their life cycle until we reach our natural limit."
"It sounds like a very different concept of evolution than we have in the human world," Akari finally commented.
"It works for me," Crystal sat up with her legs crossed.
"Anyway," Monodramon interrupted. He paused and poked the tips of his clawed fingers together uncertainly. "I've gotten strong enough to fight on my own now. Do you think that maybe you could take me with you when you set out again?"
"Well, if that's what you really want to do, then..." Crystal paused for dramatic effect with a serious expression on her face, but then she broke into a silly grin. "Sure, why not? How about we start by testing out a new Digi Xros."
Monodramon still looked pretty nervous until Crystal finally gave him the go ahead. "Um, okay! I'll do my best!"
"Here we go," Crystal lifted her Xros Loader into the air. "Zapmon, Monodramon, Digi Xros!"
"Digi Xros!" The two digimon came together so that Monodramon took on the form of a rigid, sturdy pair of wings that encompassed Zapmon's entire body. "Monodra Glider!"
"Great, now let's see what we can do with it," Crystal put away her Xros Loader and lifted the newly digi-xrossed digimon over her head. She took a look around to determine the direction of the closest edge of the floating continent that served as the central hub of the Resort Zone. Once she had that figured out she took off at a run, eventually disappearing over the side of the floating continent once she had put some distance between herself and the rest of the group.
"Didn't we come back here to take a break?" Akari watched in shocked disbelief as Crystal vanished over the side of the floating continent on the makeshift hang glider.
"That girl must be crazy," Zenjirou stated simply.
"I dunno, that kind of looks like fun," Taiki was no help at all.
"Shouldn't we go make sure they land safely?" Shoutmon asked of no one in particular. There didn't appear to be any immediate danger, but confirmation might help to ease some of their worries, not that Taiki seemed to have any.
Slashmon shrugged. "Let them have their fun," he spoke with a slight chuckle. "It will help them to strengthen their bonds."
It wasn't long until night fell over the Resort Zone. The sky was clear and filled with stars. And, after spending some quality time spent relaxing in the hot springs, the assembled humans were decidedly underdressed, being clad in bathrobes held in place with simple sashes as they regrouped at a nearby ramen stall operated by a Bakumon. Clearly, whoever is in charge of this particular narrative isn't even trying to be subtle about the amount of fan service going on.
Zapmon slurped her ramen while sitting cross-legged atop Crystal's head like an elaraborate, dragon-shaped headdress. The human girl had remained kind of distant since they had separated from the rest of the group during that little stunt earlier in the afternoon. However, this gradual change in attitude hadn't gone unnoticed. Taiki was a little too perceptive for that.
"What's wrong?" Taiki was just as thoughtful and sincere as ever, but it still threw Crystal off guard because she had been so deep in thought.
"She wants to prove herself so she's been contemplating doing something kind of stupid," Zapmon interjected after swallowing another mouthful of ramen.
"It's not stupid," Crystal quickly went on the defensive. "I just think we might be able to make more of a contribution to this team by traveling separately for awhile. We might even be able to liberate Zones a little bit faster."
"Like I said, it's stupid. We've been making excellent progress already," Zapmon responded before slurping up another mouthful of ramen.
"Hold on," Akari decided to interrupt the conflicted exchange. "Weren't you the ones who were going on about how the Xros Loaders resonate with each other and how much stronger you can be by working together?"
"That's true," Crystal answered with a sigh. "I've also seen that you guys work well enough without my help. That's why I think it might be more efficient for us to travel separately."
"I see," Taiki finally rejoined the conversation. "You might be right about that."
"Anyway," Crystal continued. "I know it will be more dangerous, but I think it will be worth the effort if it means being able to cover more ground and releasing more digimon from the control of the Bagra Empire."
"Well, if that's your choice, I really can't stop you," Taiki didn't see any reason to argue. He had seen that Crystal's team could handle themselves when they got into trouble. "Just don't hesitate to send for help if you get into a situation you can't handle on your own."
"Alright, but that goes for you too," Crystal answered in agreement.
"Ballistamon, mind preparing another Wrister?" Taiki turned his attention to the insectoid machine digimon.
A few seconds later Ballistamon's chest compartment flipped open. "Ready," he announced helpfully.
"If you're in range, you can use this to stay in touch," Taiki explained as he handed the newly manufactured Wrister over to Crystal.
"I'll have to remember that," Crystal accepted the Wrister and put it on the wrist of her right arm, typical of someone who happens to be left handed. Not really important in the long run, but certainly worth mentioning for informational reasons.
Crystal arrived in the Time Zone early the following morning. It was a Zone with a landscape made entirely from the faces of different varieties of clocks with both analogue and digital displays. Some of the faces were running backward while the vast majority of them were running forward. Some used Roman numerals and others utilized military time. Some of them ticked away noisily while others were totally silent. All in all, it made it virtually impossible to discern what the actual time was supposed to be. More to the point, Crystal didn't really have the time to think about it because as soon as she arrived she was greeted by the sight of a frightened group of Clockmon fleeing from a pursuing group of the Bagra Empire's Giromon and Tekkamon.
"We just got here and it looks like we already have our work cut out for us," Crystal stood her ground and held out her silver Xros Loader.
"Silver Lightning!" Zapmon emerged from Crystal's Xros Loader and materialized amidst the semi-spherical machine digimon as a dome of silver colored electricity was dispersed from the surface of her body to immobilize the enemy digimon that surrounded her.
"Works for me," the small dragon remarked once she had stunned several of the Giromon and Tekkamon. "Means we won't have to go looking for them."
"Anyway, let's finish what we've started," Crystal spun the dial on her Xros Loader and pressed her thumb down on the middle button to verify her selection. "Zapmon, Raptordramon, Digi Xros!"
"Digi Xros!" The two digimon came together as Raptordramon's head and neck shrunk back into his armor and the armor on his back opened out into a small cockpit for Zapmon to stand in. "Raptor Tank!"
"Now to get rid of the enemy," Zapmon declared as she took to the controls of the Raptor Tank like a pro. "Ground Breaker!" The Raptor Tank stomped on the ground to open a fissure causing the clock faces in the immediate area to shatter as they sank into the ground along with the paralyzed Giromon and Tekkamon. After that, Zapmon maneuvered the Raptor Tank in a charge against any remaining Giromon and Tekkamon in the vicinity utilizing the armored blades on either side to cut them down. "Bladed Impulse!"
Once the enemy digimon had been thoroughly eliminated, Zapmon and Raptordramon broke from their Digi Xros so that only the two of them were left standing.
"Nicely done," Crystal congradulated them. "Now, let's see if we can catch up with those other digimon to find out more about this Zone to see how else we can be of help."
She loaded Raptordramon back into her Xros Loader and reloaded Lighdramon for transport. A moment later she and Zapmon were in position on Lighdramon's back to race swiftly after the Clockmon that had been fleeing from the army of Giromon and Tekkamon that had just been defeated.
To Be Continued...
Author's Note: Just to let everyone know, there's no need to panic. Taiki, Akari and Zenjirou will return along with all of the digimon belonging to Xros Heart in the near future. This is just a temporary subplot for the sake of character development. And an excuse to show off some other Digi Xros variants. That is all.