Rise of the Mechanical Digimon

With Neil and Agumon fighting by everyone's side, things really seemed to be looking up, but just how long would this advantage last? After all, this was only a slight improvement from before.

"Do you morons really think your pathetic rookie level models can defeat our Champion models?" Jason asked as Midori replied, "So that's why your models are so much stronger. I figured there had to be a reason why our models had a specific classification."

"That's not important," Morrigan remarked, regaining focus as she said, "The fact is we've finally overpowered you. There might be more of you, but you're all weaklings compared to us."

"WELL THEN PROVE IT!" Neil spat, doing something surprisingly rash for him as he soared toward Devimon only to be thwacked to the side, hitting a wall as he said, "Well, I'm convinced," Agumon sliding down the wall.

The others looked at Neil with concern before rushing into battle again. However, Neil was starting to feel helpless again.

'Dammit!' the man thought, gritting his teeth, 'How can this be? I finally man up and gain control of Agumon and still we're losing! I wish there was something I could do, but they really are too powerful for us!'

This thought was proven as Monodramon had been slammed into the ground, Lalamon pierced by Devimon's claws, the claws barely missing Kotaha, but since they hadn't gone all the way through Lalamon, the flower was still running. V-mon was being dodged frequently by the Vilemon, soon rammed into the ground by one's feet as Pawnchessmon was easily overwhelmed. Even Wormmon was in Kuwagamon's clutches about to be cut in half by its pincers.

At that moment, Neil let out a loud battle cry, Agumon roaring into the sky as its body started to open up. Soon, its body turned inside-out, the outer coating now a darker shade of orange as its claws expanded in size. A slit opened up in the back of Agumon's head as a dinosaur skull protruded out, flipping onto the dinosaur's head and acting as a helmet. Finally, Agumon expanded in size as horns lashed out from two holes that appeared in its head, the dinosaur roaring as a message came up, Neil reading aloud, "Champion Mech: Model Greymon."

Everyone stared in shock, Morrigan asking, "You mean they can actually transform into champion mechs?"

The others stared in absolute shock and amazement, Mato squealing, "That's so cool!" Kotaha nodding in agreement as Neku whistled, "Impressive..." Alejandro saying, "It's magnifico..." Midori adding, "Not bad for a guy."

"NOVA BLAST!" the dragon shouted, unleashing a flame from an expanded mouth cannon as the Kuwagamon model was hit, its head blowing up in an instant as Jason was now exposed, the man shouting, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" flying off into the distance as Morrigan sighed, "Well, at least now I can prove myself," sending her claws toward Greymon only for the dinosaur to grab the incoming hand by the wrist and pulling it off. Morrigan didn't let up as she sent another jab only for Greymon to lower its horns, ramming them into Devimon's hand and blowing that one up as well.

"DAMMIT!" Morrigan cursed, flying away as Greymon landed, letting out a loud roar before reverting back to Agumon.

Mato squealed with excitement and exclaimed, "THAT WAS SO COOL, NEIL-CHAN! HOW'D YOU DO IT!" Neku saying, "It is quite surprising for you of all people to pull that off when no one else could."

Alejandro opened up Pawnchessmon's cockpit and held out his fist adding, "Nice on, bro!"

"I have no idea what happened," Neil said, blinking.

Soon enough, the group headed back to the building, storing their mechs away as Midori let out a disappointed sigh.

"So..." Yomaki said after hearing the report, "Agumon transformed, did he?"

"Yeah," Neil said, "but how did he do it?"

"Must have been your spirit," Yomaki said with a grin, "You wanted so badly to protect your friends that you awakened its inner hero."

Kotaha nodded and said sweetly, "He did it just when we needed him the most."

"Yeah..." the boy said, rubbing the back of his head as he added, "I was a true hero back there, wasn't I?"

"Yeah, yeah," Midori groaned, folding her arms then smiling and saying, "Good job, lecher," as Neil narrowed his eyelids thinking, 'Saw that coming a mile away.'

Neku then tapped Yomaki on the shoulder and asked, "So, what was that transformation thing he did?"

"It's called digivolution," Yomaki replied, "Don't really know why. Guess it just sounded cool to the creators or something. Either way, I believe all of your mechs can do it too. But like with Agumon, certain requirements must be met for it to work. Speaking of work..."

Soon enough, everyone was put back to work now forced to clean up a room that had become messy after a group of people had a meeting in it. Kotaha of course was back in the kitchen and not helping them with this.

"I expect this from a kid, not a group of adults," Neil groaned as he stepped on a paper cup, slipping and flying toward Midori who kicked the boy hard in the face shouting, "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Neil flying into the wall.

Neku walked over and asked, "You okay, bud?" helping him up as Mato looked at Midori with worry and stated, "You know that was an accident, right?"

Neil dared not question the irony of Mato of all people saying that as he smiled saying, "Thanks," as Midori growled, "He's a guy. Guys make that sort of stuff look accidental," then shot a glance at Alejandro saying, "Like him."

Alejandro scowled in response to this. Why did such an attractive girl hate him so much?

Meanwhile, Kotaha had made friends with a few of the banquet workers as one, a girl by the name of Melissa, asked, "So, how many children are you planning to have after you get married?"

Kotaha blushed with a light smile and replied, "Well, I was hoping to have twins, a baby boy and a baby girl, but I'm happy with any kind of baby. I love children."

"Well, good for you," Melissa replied as she chuckled, "My little Meli is just cute as a button. I can see her growing up to do great things," Kotaha giggling, "I'd love to meet her."

Kotaha's supervisor, Jessica, came into the kitchen and said, "Alright, guys, lunch is coming up. We need a big order of roast beef, mashed potatoes, broccoli and some black forest cake for dessert."

Kotaha gave an army salute before getting right on it. While Kotaha cooked, a man by the name of Richard smiled and said, "You seem to have had a lot of experience with this. Your fiance is certainly lucky to have you."

Kotaha blushed again before replying, "I feel luckier to have him. He's the light of my life."

While Alejandro was cleaning, he slipped on something and landed against Midori, his lips meeting her cheek as he stared in shock. Midori fumed, a vein forming as she landed a hard punch to Alejandro's head, Neil staring with shock and thinking, 'Wow... it wasn't me this time...' Alejandro landing on the ground, grinning with satisfaction and thinking, 'Totally worth it.'

After another hour of work, it was finally time for lunch. The group sat in the cafeteria with the lunch they had gotten from the kitchen as Neil took a bite, his eyes sparkling as he said, "It's like heaven... for once."

Yomaki took a bite of her food and said, "Hey, it's actually good today," as Midori asked, "You mean it's not usually this good?"

"Well, lunch here is usually rushed," Neil replied as he asked, "Seriously, who made this masterpiece?"

Kotaha soon joined the group for lunch and said, "I hope you like it. It was fun making it."

"You mean you made this?" Neil asked, his eyes sparkling as Midori gave Kotaha an embrace saying, "This is the best thing I've ever tasted!" Yomaki saying, "Remind me to give you a raise."

Mato took a few bites and squealed, "So yummy!" Neku nodding and adding, "Yeah, it's good."

Neil finished off his lunch quickly as he said, "Seriously, Kotaha, you are the best thing that's ever happened to the banquet staff."

"That sounded awkward," Midori said with a shrug, "but it's true."

After lunch, it was back to work and after a few hours of working, it was time for the group to head on home.

"Seeya tomorrow," Midori said to Kotaha and Mato with a smile, Neil blinking with a pathetic look in his eyes as the girl rolled her eyes and added, "I guess I'll be seeing you BOYS tomorrow too."

Neil then looked at Neku then at Mato wondering if Mato would be driving Neku home again, leaving Neil to fend for himself. However, this thought changed with Mato offered to drive both home.

Neil couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had to share a ride with the girl of his dreams with another guy! Well, he dared not make a scene, so he reluctantly accepted this, but quickly claimed the front seat next to Mato.

During the drive, Neil had an envious look on his face. He didn't feel like having smalltalk with Mato like he usually did. It just felt so much nicer when the two of them were alone together. With Neku there, Neil found it awkward to even try.

All was quiet in the car. Neil turned to look at Mato with a smile then looked at Neku with a weaker smile, then looking forward with a neutral look on his face. He was acting childish and he knew it, but he couldn't help it.

Neku remained silent as Mato sighed, "Aw, come on, guys! I don't like momentary silence with my friends! I feel like we're drifting away from each other!"

Alejandro was walking home at this time when a girl walked over to him, blushing and ripping off a chunk of his hair, Alejandro letting down a tear while barking, "HEY, THAT'S MY HAIR!" the girl skipping off squealing, "I GOT SOME OF LATIN MODEL ALEJANDRO'S HAIR!"

Mato noticed him while driving by and asked, "Hey, isn't that Al?"

With that, the woman stopped the car and asked, "You okay, Al?" Neku asking, "Why'd that girl rip your hair out?" Alejandro sighing, "Thus is the troubled life of a now ex-model."

Mato offered the man a ride but he politely refused, preferring to walk home despite what had just happened. Either way, all three passengers were still weirded out by this.

Later, when Neku was dropped off, Neil let out a sigh and said, "I'm sorry, Mato. I should be happy that our friend has reunited with us and yet the fact that I had to share a Mato ride with him, even giving up one to him yesterday makes me feel a tad..."

He froze, knowing the next word was going to be 'jealous'. He'd walked into that.

"Aw, come on, Neil-Chan," Mato cooed, "Say it."

"Well, it made me feel jealous," Neil said with a sigh, adding, "I wish I knew why."

Mato was sure she knew the reason but didn't seem to want to admit it, simply pursing her lips together, shrugging her shoulders. With that, she dropped Neil off at his house and waved goodbye, Neil also waving to the girl of his dreams and lowering his head, sighing.

The following day, as Neil was about to head out to be picked up by Mato, he noticed a note below his doorstop. The boy blinked and picked it up, seeing it was addressed to him and opened it up, his eyes going wide as his jaw dropped, the boy's eye twitching. Ironically, this was exactly when Mato showed up.

"Hey, Neil-Chan," Mato greeted, "What is that, a love letter?"

Walking into the vehicle and sitting next to the girl, he simply stood there silent uttering, "How did they know where I live?"

"Who's it from?" Mato asked as Neil was in too much shock to answer right now, the two soon arriving. Kotaha also arrived shortly after, dropped off by Luchi, the tough man waving to her before heading off.

As Kotaha arrived, Midori also pulled up and waved at the woman, then stared at Neil and blinked asking, "What's up with him?"

Kotaha shrugged and replied, "Don't know. He's probably tired or troubled this morning."

As the group entered the building, Yomaki was there taking attendance as usual when she saw the look on Neil's face asking, "Gee, I'm not that big a slave driver, am I?" the boy handing the woman the note he'd received that morning.

Yomaki blinked, a grin coming over her face as she said, "Well, look at Mister Popular being all modest."

Alejandro quickly entered exclaiming, "I'm sorry I'm late!" worried his missing hunk of hair would be noticed. Luckily for him, though, Yomaki was too distracted by the letter to care.

Alejandro breathed a sigh of relief while the others, on the other hand, were very interested to know exactly what the letter said. What could cause Neil so much panic?

"What does it say?" Kotaha asked as Yomaki turned to the woman and cleared her throat, reading aloud the following:

"Dear Mister Neil, to answer your first question, yes, I am the leader of the army that has been attacking your home recently. But that's not the point. The fact is that your mech is able to transform. That makes you the biggest threat of all. Well, mark my words, I will see to it that you get what's coming to you. I've called off all other attacks until further notice. Just meet me outside of the city after dark where we will engage in a duel to the death. Sincerely, Aku."

Kotaha quivered in fear. How could anyone say something like that about Neil? The others were, of course, equally shocked. How could such a wimp get this much attention from the leader of all people?

As Neil sat in a corner, trembling, Midori walked over to the boy, let out a sigh and patted him on the shoulder. Neil's eyes widened as the girl said, "Look, I don't normally care about guys, but this is really serious. However, considering what this guy said, obviously his mech isn't able to transform. We'll be there to cheer you on. Just kick his butt. If you win this battle, you'll be killing the leader. That in itself would be awesome."

"You're right," Neil said with a chuckle, "It would be, wouldn't it?"

Kotaha looked at both with surprise. Was Midori really helping Neil out right now? After all, she did hate boys.

Mato also joined in, patting Neil on the shoulder and saying, "Aw, come on, Neil-Chan. We saw what you're capable of. You're strong."

Despite the boost in confidence, Neil was still a little down for a couple of hours. However, after that time, the boy had pretty much forgotten about the letter and was more focused on his work when the first break came up, Yomaki approaching everyone and saying, "Well, guys, I have good news. After a little tweaking, I finally successfully installed shower rooms for when you get too sweaty or smelly for your own good. That means that along with your usual breaks, you'll get a 10 minute shower break as well. I encourage you all to try them out now."

Crickets chirped as she narrowed her eyes, saying, "That's an order," pointing in the direction of the exit to the break room.

Mato shrugged and said, "No choice, huh? Well, I'll go first!" walking toward the break room before turning to the boy and winking while saying, "No peeping!" Neku remarking, "Who'd wanna?" Alejandro whistling innocently as Midori glared at him.

"Actually, everyone has to go in at once," Yomaki remarked, "hence why there's a stall for everyone. And besides, you think I'm really stupid enough not to make a men's AND women's area?"

Soon enough, everyone was having their shower except for Neil who turned to Yomaki, who was also headed to her own shower room and said, "There must be a mistake. All the stalls are taken."

"Huh, guess the crew didn't finish the last one yet," Yomaki replied, placing her finger against her chin, "Well, there is an extra in the girl's room, but you'd better sneak in. The others should be distracted with their own showers right now."

Letting out a disappointed sigh, Neil stealthily made his way into the women's shower room, quickly tossing his clothes to the side and making his way into a stall, completely undetected and started running water. He couldn't believe it: He hadn't been caught.

Midori soaked herself in water next to Mato's stall and asked, "So, Mato, anything big happening in your life?"

"Well, aside from this mech business, not really," Mato replied.

Neil remained silent, simply washing, the sound of water blending in with everyone else's as he listened in on the convo.

"I notice you and that perv, Neil, seem to have a strong bond with each other," Midori said, "I must say, you have a lot of patience to deal with him."

Mato giggled and replied, "Aw, Neil's not a perv. He's just clumsy, that's all. You know, when we were younger, Neil often got picked on by bullies, so I protected him."

"Is that so?" Midori replied with a chuckle, "I'm a little worried about him, actually."

Neil's eyes widened when she said this, the woman continuing, "He really doesn't have much confidence in himself and that victory yesterday seemed like more of a fluke than anything. I only hope he can actually win this battle."

Mato smiled sweetly and said, "Well, all we can do is pray."

Midori let out a sigh and shook her head as Neil's fear started to return. The woman then started to scrub her hair and asked, "What do you think, guys?"

"Neil's always been a coward," one girl, Weiling, replied as another, Jasmine said, "Not to mention weak."

Neil's eyes went wider, his jaw dropped as if he'd never heard this stuff before, which he totally had, Midori waiting for Kotaha's thoughts, Melissa saying, "It should be me piloting Agumon, not someone like Neil."

"Aw, come on, guys!" Mato remarked, "Neil's just never done anything this exhilarating before!"

Kotaha smiled and said, "I guess Neil is kind of cursed. But I sometimes wonder if it's truly an accident. I happens so often I think it might be an act," Mato remarking, "That's not even what we're talking about," a blush coming over her.

"Well, he's a guy," Midori replied, "Guys tend to like doing that sort of thing," as Neil gritted his teeth, a vein forming. One would think he would be used to this sort of thing, but after years of dealing with it, he was tired of it. What did he need to reverse it?

"Despite that, he's not bad for a guy," Midori added, Neil's eyes perking open as the woman added, "He may be perverted, but he's also pretty helpful and nice, unlike most of the guys here. I think he would make a good husband if not for that one trait."

The boy couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was that semi-praise... from Midori?

Kotaha giggled and replied, "Looks like you got a keen eye on him."

"Don't get the wrong idea," Midori sighed, "I intend to remain single my whole life unless I end up being a lesbian. No matter how positively I think of a man, I would never spend my life with one."

Strangely enough, this didn't get to Neil too much. At least she wasn't just singling him out.

Kotaha shrugged and replied, "Well, the way I see it, Neku will be taken in a flash and Alejandro has too many fans. Either you or Mato will end up with him."

"Don't count on it," Midori replied as Melissa said, "Well, to be fair, you are right about Neil, Midori. One time, I dropped an entire plate and Neil helped me pick it up before Yomaki could see my mistake. No one else bothered to help."

"I used to be insecure about my chest size," Jasmine added, "Neil assured me that it was nothing to be ashamed of and it wasn't my fault."

"He actually helped hook me up with Yoshigai," Weiling stated, "Now we're happily married."

After a couple more minutes, the girls realized it was time to get back to their stations for their orders as they started exiting the shower. Neil had a big smile on his face as he thought, 'I can't believe they actually remembered all of that. They do appreciate me.'

Soon enough, almost everyone had cleared out as Midori put on her clothes saying, "You'd better hurry up and clean that hair, Mato. You don't have much break time left," and exited along with the others.

Unfortunately, Neil was too distracted by the sound of everyone leaving to hear that last part as he assumed the girls were all cleared out, exiting his shower stall and drying himself off. Just as he was about to put his clothes on, he noticed one last stall opening up, his eyes going wide.

Upon exiting the stall, Mato dried her eyes as she blinked, noticing Neil standing there before screaming, "IYAAAAAAAH, PERVERT!" kicking him hard in the face.

As Neil and Mato exited together, all the other girls gone and unable to know of Neil's act, the boy said, "Sorry, Yomaki told me to go into the women's shower room. I had no choice in the matter."

Mato folded her arm, scowling before putting on a smile and saying, "Hah, okay, I'll accept that as an excuse," patting Neil's head when suddenly, one of the boys named Beat said, "Hey, Yomaki, I think Agumon has some kind of bug or something."