Rise of the Mechanical Digimon

The day passed by normally as back at the enemy base, the kid had filed his report as Aku grinned, stroking his beard and saying, "Well, well, well, another champion transformation, huh? Intriguing."

Meanwhile, tech expert and soon to be base operator Megumi, a young woman with red glasses, short dark-brown hair, a red sleeveless top and a pair of black jeans, was rushing to Yomaki's office. She had an assortment of new weapon ideas for the mechs.

Yomaki looked over the designs and said, "Well, these are certainly impressive, but don't forget, these mechs have minds of their own. I don't think they'd like being tampered with."

Megumi nodded and sighed, thinking about how much she'd have loved to ride one of these things. After all, she and Yomaki's parents had fought in the battle back then alongside their own parents.

Megumi then smiled and said, "Maybe if we're lucky, they'll be like my mom's Biyomon was. I heard she was okay with getting upgrades from everyone," Yomaki patting her on the shoulder and replying, "We can hope."

The next day, Mato awoke, still by Neil's side as she said, "Good morning."

"Good morning," Neil replied as he attempted to get up, rising back to his feet with a smile as he jumped for joy shouting, "FINALLY! I CAN MOVE AGAIN!" giving Mato a big hug and saying, "Thank you so much for being the best friend a guy could ever have!" spontaneously kissing her on the cheek then heading toward the kitchen for breakfast.

Mato's face turned beet red as she got up, faltering towards the door. This sudden show of affection caught her off-guard as she staggered down the stairs, bumping into the wall and laughing like someone who was drunk.

After breakfast, Neil was being driven to work as he rubbed the back of his neck saying, "You're probably wondering about that kiss. Well, I was just really grateful and all... you know... heheh..." the man having trouble believing he'd actually done that.

The two arrived at work at that exact moment, Mato still blushing as she said, "Yeah, of course," a big smile on her face while the two exited the car, Neku noticing them and saying, "Hey, you seem to be in a good mood. Something happen between you two?"

Neil narrowed his eyelids and replied, "How about the fact that I'm able to move again now?"

After that moment, Neil entered the workplace as Yomaki patted the boy on the back saying, "Good to have you back. You know, everyone was rather down with you away."

"Really?" Neil asked as he noticed a group of workers in his division smiling with sparkling eyes at the sight of him, the boy thinking, 'I didn't know I was popular.'

At that moment, Kotaha entered, having been once again dropped off by Luchi. Neil noticed Kotaha, his eyes sparkling as he squealed, "Now everyone's here!"

However, not everyone was feeling energetic today. Megumi had been working on the mechs since four in the morning, feeling exhausted. The only one left to make adjustments to was Agumon. But just as Megumi came close, Agumon opened up its jaws and sent them towards the woman's hand, Megumi screaming in fear and reeling her hand back, trembling.

Agumon let out a growling noise before powering down again, one eye lighting up and watching the woman. However, Megumi didn't seem to get the message as she said, "Hold still. I just want to make you stronger."

Agumon clawed at her as a warning before returning to sleep. Clearly, it didn't want to be modified.

Megumi sighed in disappointment, finally taking the hint and slowly making her way toward the exit to the room only to pass out on the floor, falling into a deep sleep. After all, she'd overworked herself with this task.

All the while, Neil was still getting swamped with attention as he said, "You know, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually missed going to work," Kotaha smiling sweetly and replying, "Well, you were certainly missed. Everyone was so depressed."

After a few hours of work, it was shower time again as Neil gulped, strutting forward only to find that the stalls were once again full.

"Sorry, Neil," Yomaki said, walking by, "It's gonna take the guys a month to build your stall."

"Are you trying to mess with me?" Neil remarked as the woman laughed and said, "If it helps, I'll accompany you this time."

As the girls were all undressing for their showers, Yomaki showed up with Neil by his side, the girls staring, Midori gritting her teeth as Yomaki spat, "Alright, listen up! Currently, Neil doesn't have a shower stall and you all have one too many, therefore Neil will have to use the women's shower room until his stall is built! You can whine and complain all you want about privacy and all that crap, but I won't listen to any of it, so accept it!"

Rather than being angered by this, Midori patted Neil on the shoulder and said, "Wow, I really feel sorry for you," the others shrugging, saying, "Who else but Neil?" Mato adding, "I feel a little bit sorry, too," a sweet smile on her face.

Neil let down tears of joy as he said, "Thank you for understanding," as Midori remarked, "If you try to touch any of us, you're a dead man," Neil's eyes going wide while Mato joked, "That ain't no lie, either, you dig?"

And so, Neil's shower went rather well. The girls had no problem with him being near them while they were naked nor did they mind him changing with them. Sure, it felt a little awkward, but it wasn't unsettling. After all, they knew Neil was the nicest male at the work place so it was only natural they'd have no problem with him around.

Afterwards, Neil walked out with Mato and said, "Ya know, that wasn't half bad," Mato turning to him and asking, "You think so? I'd feel awkward in a room full of naked men myself."

Kotaha smiled while watching the two walk ahead of her. She was glad to see Neil finally getting the treatment he usually lacked. She thought for sure he was going to get pulverized after Yomaki made the announcement.

The rest of the work day was going fine until the alarm sounded again, the Kabuterimon mech back only now, little red beetle robots were accompanying it, the kid shouting, "These Tentomon will help me exact my revenge!"

At that moment, the others ran by him, Midori grabbing the back of Alejandro's collar and heading toward their mechs, Yomaki blinking and taking out a notepad, saying to herself, "And Ali Baba is late again."

Alejandro blushed before pulling his hand away, saying, "I can walk."

"Well, pick up the pace!" Midori spat, "Leave it to a man to be late for combat!"

Alejandro looked into her eyes, anger in his as he sighed, "I was looking for my dog. She went missing. She's like my baby. Don't get snippy with me," walking away, feeling pissed.

Midori let out a sigh and shook her head, taking off toward her mech as Yomaki stood before Alejandro, a smile on her face as she asked, "Excuse me, sweetie, but don't you have something you need to do?"

Alejandro gave her a quizzical look before remembering he had to fight at that moment. With that, he shook his head and walked toward the mech room.

With that, Neil stood in front of Agumon as the dinosaur opened up without trouble, however, Neil felt a twinge of fear when he approached it. But why? He'd felt so positive all day and yet seeing Agumon again made him feel like a loser.

As Midori was about to enter Monodramon, she and the others noticed Neil trembling. The woman sighed. It was as if Neil always needed psychological help.

However, seeing Alejandro enter, the woman had to admit, she did feel a little bad for snapping at him as she said, "Hey, Alec, I'm sorry for earlier. I probably should have thought before speaking."

Alejandro barely cared right now. She could say all she wanted but it wouldn't have mattered. Right now, he was too upset with current events.

Neil was still spellbound as the others were about to take off, Midori rolling her eyes and sighing, "Neil, can you please stop being an emotional wreck and help?" but the boy didn't know what to do. He didn't want to risk damaging Agumon again.

Mato then exclaimed, "Come on, Neil-Chan, man up!"

"But... I might screw up again..." Neil replied as Yomaki backhanded him, the boy staring as the woman spat, "Look, you tried your best back there! It's not your fault you lost! Remember, Aku was using an ultimate mech, which is much more powerful than a champion one! He even said you did an impressive job considering the circumstances! You have no reason to beat yourself up!"

The boy blinked and said, "You're right," climbing into Agumon as he said, "Well, let's get to it, I guess."

Soon enough, everyone was assembled as the kid in Kabuterimon noticed the mechs shouting, "REVENGE TIME!" directing the Tentomon models toward the group, the small beetles shooting sparks from their antennae.

Agumon quickly opened up, releasing its pepper breath and blowing one of the Tentomon up as the kid piloting the Kabuterimon grimaced, thinking, 'It's the Agumon model, the other one that can transform! I'll need to be careful!'

Monodramon easily plowed through another Tentomon as Midori laughed, shouting, "EVEN WITH YOUR BUDDIES, YOU'RE STILL EASY!"

V-mon rammed his head hard into one, blowing it up as Wormmon latched his string to another, swinging it around and ramming it into one of the Tentomon, both blowing up. Meanwhile, Pawnchessmon raised its arms, a rapid fire of gun blasts going off, this being one of Megumi's additions.

Soon, Monodramon was surrounded as Midori noticed a new button installed, pushing it as the dragon's drill claws fired like rockets, blasting through the Tentomon as Midori exclaimed, "COOL!"

However, this wasn't so good when she discovered something. There were no extra claws to replace the ones she'd fired.

'Oh, I am so giving that mechanic a piece of my mind,' she thought.

Alejandro felt rather heroic gunning down Tentomon until suddenly, the gun addition ran out of bullets just as quickly as it had started using them. That certainly ended up being a letdown.

Seeing this, the Tentomon quickly took advantage of the situation, striking Monodramon and Pawnchessmon as the kid in the Kabuterimon laughed hysterically shouting, "YES, YES, YES, NOW FOR MY VENGENCE!" aiming an electric shock at Lalamon.

Lalamon took in the blast and fell back, Kotaha squealing in agony and trying her hardest to regain control. Alejandro was started to lose confidence as well. He should have still been out looking for Sam. What if she was alone having puppies?

At that moment, one of the Tentomon noticed a dog as the pilot inside, a very young girl, squealed with delight, flying over to it and picking it up by the collar. As the dog squirmed to free itself, the Tentomon mech pet it while the girl said, "Aw, don't be scared, little doggy! I won't hurt you!" as another noticed the pilot being distracted, shaking his head.

However, Alejandro was so distracted by his worry for his little collie that he failed to notice the very dog in the Tentomon's grasp. Some pet owner he was being right now.

As the Tentomon continued to rub its pincer over the dog's head, Midori turned and shouted, "HEY, PUT THAT DOG DOWN! IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR BATTLE!" the little girl ignoring her. Of course, no one knew it was a 13-year-old girl piloting the mech.

Alejandro opened up Pawnchessmon's chest, panic taking over as he saw his precious dog looking as if she was being man-handled. He then groaned, lowering his head. Of course she'd show up now of all times.

However, his concern was powerful as he spat, "LET MY LITTLE SAMMIE GO, YOU MONSTER!"

Midori, hearing this, tried to help rescue the dog only to be surrounded by Tentomon, only able to fight back with some energy blasts now that her drill claws were gone.

Neil was far too caught up as Agumon slashed away at the Tentomon, only to be knocked to the side by Kabuterimon, the kid inside turning toward the one Tentomon and shouting, "EXCELLENT WORK, MAI! WITH THAT DOG AS A HOSTAGE, I CAN EASILY PICK THESE GUYS APART!"

Alejandro's face darkened in response to this. All he had in the world in terms of family was his dog. He curled his hand into a fist but was too afraid to do anything. After all, if he attacked, who was to say Sam wouldn't be hurt as well?

Mato growled at the sight of this, shouting, "Hurting a thing like that... I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

With that, V-mon's body started to expand in size, a hole forming as a long metal horn shot up from it. Spikes also came from two holes forming on its wrists as its belly flipped around, revealing another one with an X on it. V-mon had just become the Champion mech, XV-mon.

The kid's eyes went wide as he had Kabuterimon blindly attack XV-mon, shouting, "NO, I WON'T HAVE YOU BEAT ME! MAI, THREATEN THE DOG IF THAT THING ATTACKS!"

However, it was now that he noticed Mai wasn't even listening and was still stroking the dog's head with her pincers, the boy shouting, "I SAID WAIT UNTIL SHE LAUNCHES AN ATTACK, YOU NITWIT!"

"Taste this!" Mato exclaimed, XV-mon charging up a light with the X before shouting, "X-LAZER!" blasting the Kabuterimon hard.

The kid's eyes went wide as he ejected himself just in time, Kabuterimon exploding as the boy let down tears shouting, "YOU'LL PAY DEARLY FOR THIS!"

At that moment, Neil finally gained confidence as Agumon became Greymon, blasting an onslaught of Tentomon. Unfortunately, no one could touch the one with the collie in its grasp without risking the dog's life, Neku saying, "Oi, we'd better get that dog."

Seeing the hopelessness in everyone else, Midori felt the need to go in and help. She wasn't used to Alejandro being an emotional wreck, and if the dog was the reason for this, she may as well solve this. As such, she noticed one of her claws lying on the ground as it hadn't exploded like the others. She quickly had Monodramon grab hold of it, aiming it carefully at the Tentomon's back, piercing the bug's armour as she swooped in and grabbed the dog, handing it over to Pawnchessmon and saying, "You can thank me later."

Alejandro smiled, tears of joy running down his cheeks as he cradled his precious dog. It was finally over.

Kotaha opened up her mech and gave Mato thumbs up, saying, "You two were awesome back there!"

Neil blinked, his eyes wide open as Tentomon powered down, the boy saying, "Uh... Midori... I'm pretty sure you just killed whoever was piloting that thing," as the girl shrugged and replied, "Look, I don't feel good about doing such a thing, but don't forget these people are evil. They have it coming."

At that moment, the Tentomon opened up as Midori grinned and said, "Well, I may not like murder, but I would like to see the face of my first kill."

Neil felt even more emotionally scarred by this, but nevertheless, Monodramon flew over, opening up the hatch as Midori's eyes went wide, the woman's jaw twitching.

Neil, curiously, flew in next to her, a spellbound look on his face as he noticed what had scared Midori so much: the one piloting the mech was a girl only have just recently entered the age of 13.

"Oh god..." Midori said, not saying any more than that. Seeing the look on her face, Neil felt it wise not to say anything to her as Agumon slowly stepped to the side.

Kotaha gasped, somehow recognizing this child from her days working at a daycare. As such, she instantly ran to the kid, checking for a pulse. She smiled when she heard one briefly, not realizing it wouldn't last. And unfortunately, the pulse soon died as the girl coughed up a big amount of blood all over Kotaha's face, her eyes rolling to the back of her skull as Midori grasped onto her head, screaming into the sky, Monodramon closing up and taking off back to the workplace. Midori had never felt so horrible about anything she'd done in her life.

Alejandro watched her leave, a look of concern on her face before saying, "I know exactly what you're going through. This was a very unfortunate turn of events, Chika," Mato sniffing, "So cruel... what was someone so young doing on a battlefield?"

Upon returning, Neil let down tears as he said, "I know this is a war, but that was just too far."

All the while, Midori was sitting in a corner on a chair, an emotionless look in her eyes.

"Hey, Midori, I know you guys have done a lot, but it's time to get back to your other job," Yomaki said as the girl remained silent, Yomaki asking, "What happened? I've never seen her like this."

Neil sighed, shaking his head and saying, "She has all the reason to be upset. We just discovered something shocking today and let's just say Midori played a huge part in it."

Yomaki was even more confused, but realized she wouldn't get enough out of the boy as she turned to Mato asking, "Alright, what's up with Midori? I want a straight answer right now."

Mato felt nervous telling the story, especially with Midori nearby to hear it, so she whispered it all into Yomaki's ear. She described every detail, every little thing that had happened.

Yomaki's eyes were wide open as she asked, "Wait, wait, whoa, let me get this straight! You mean to tell me they're sending children to fight their battles! Good god, what is wrong with these people! And Midori had to kill one... geez, that would kill anyone's self-esteem."

Midori started to rock back and forth in her chair, holding onto her knees with her emotionless look still on. Yomaki let out a sigh and said, "Well, until she gets better, she can't really do anything."

Alejandro felt horrible. He'd snapped at her earlier, made her feel guilty and look what happened as a result. Feeling at fault, he walked next to her, putting his arm around her reassuringly and whispered something in her ear.

Mato, assuming he was flirting, kicked him the face shouting, "DON'T SEDUCE HER, YOU JERK!"

However, the words spoken to Midori actually brought a small hint of a smile to her face as Neil stared, thinking, 'A boy just made her feel better?'

Alejandro rubbed his aching face before noticing Midori's smile. Nothing could have made him happier right now, nothing.

At that moment, Midori rose to her feet. Her expression didn't change that much, but she finally started moving again, first shocking everyone by giving Alejandro a quick light hug before heading over to Yomaki who blinked, saying, "Uh... join Neil and Mato in hall D. We need to set up a few tables there... yeah..." Midori nodding.

Mato and Neku both stared in bewilderment as Kotaha turned to face Alejandro, then to Yomaki and asked, "What did he say to her?"

Whatever it was, it seemed to work. But there was no way she'd get over this trauma that quickly.