Rise of the Mechanical Digimon

As the group headed to hall D and started rolling table rounds, Midori took her time, which was different from her usual aggressive approach. Neil let out a sigh and said, "Well, at least we're seeing progress. Maybe Alejandro should be her councillor or something."

Realizing what he'd just said, the boy's eyes went wide as he asked, "Did I just suggest that?" Mato nodding her head slowly.

After setting up the round table, the boy blinked saying, "I'm starting to wish I'd been disabled for an extra day. I don't like this one."

He then went to get another round as he tripped forward, his hands running into Midori's boobs, the boy freaking out and bracing himself only for Midori to blink, raising her hand slowly and giving Neil a light slap on the cheek, so light in fact that it didn't hurt.

After a while longer, it was lunch time. Everyone was happy to have some of Kotaha's wonderful cooking, Midori slowly taking tiny bites of her food. She did like it but was still in too much shock to really enjoy the food.

"Midorin," Mato said with worry, "Are you okay?" knowing the answer but still asking anyway. *

Midori turned to Mato and blinked before looking back to her plate, Weiling snapping, "Answer the question, girl!" as Midori simply jabbed at her food, Neil stating, "She's been through some psychological trauma today. It's probably best to leave her be."

Neku then sighed, "Midori, you're really worried about what happened, aren't you?" Neil slapping his forehead and giving the man a look as if to say 'No shit, Sherlock. You really think reminding her is going to help?'

Midori didn't say a word. She simply nodded, getting up from her seat and leaving her plate at the table, heading off to work long before break was even over.

"Um, Midorin, I'll help you clean Monodra-Chan!" Mato squeaked in response.

Midori stopped upon hearing that and shook her head before resuming her trip, Neil blinking and saying, "It's funny... whatever Alex Kidd said to her got her moving. Maybe if he kept it up, she'd stop being so down in the dumps."

"You think so?" Mato asked, "He's only good at flirting," the boy shrugging.

All the while, Aku had heard the news, rage overtaking him as the kid braced himself, the man rising to his feet and shouting, "Alright, this has gone too far! How DARE they kill Mai!"

"Whoa, I've never seen you this angry at failure before," Jason said as Aku turned to him and barked, "Alright, you, Morrigan, Nathan and Zet will go out!"

A young boy with white striped shirt and Goth make-up playing with marbles in the corner looked up and blinked asking, "Did someone say my name?"

Back at the base, Yomaki saw Midori approaching her, the woman eating her own lunch from home. Midori blinked as the woman groaned, "Look, Midori, it's not your fault that child died. You did what you had to. If anything, Aku's a monster for having a kid fight for him."

Sadly, these words didn't seem to work as Midori walked off and started giving herself work, doing it as she did. Yomaki groaned and slapped her forehead, muttering curses to herself.

Neil explained what happened to the other employees as they hadn't heard the story yet, Michael saying, "Geez, no wonder she's such a wreck. If I killed a child, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night."

Kotaha then looked down and sighed, "I wish we could help her too. I gotta find out what Alex did."

After a while, everyone realized it might be best just to let Midori sort things out on her own, maybe let Alejandro help out instead. After all, it wasn't as if they were helping cases and if they obsessed over this, nothing would get done.

While working on meals for clients, Kotaha was still bothered by all of this. What Alejandro said to make her feel so comfortable? Furthermore, why hadn't he done it again?

While the others continued to work, Midori approached Alejandro, no idea why or what she was even doing. Rather than doing anything else, she just stood there, her expression still refusing to change.

The man smiled when he saw her, a smile coming over his face though he didn't really know what to expect right now. He simply unclasped one of his necklaces, handing it to her, hoping that would help.

"This is the symbol of Amythis, the goddess of rebirth," he replied, "It's said all who die young, by mistake, or had a pure heart shall be reborn as another." *

Upon hearing this, Midori smiled, but it wasn't weak like before. It was a plain-as-day smile that one didn't need to be up close to see. Shockingly, she accepted the necklace and put it on. Even after that, she continued to stay with Alejandro, watching whatever he was doing.

Alejandro was shocked upon seeing this. Was this a test? Were there hidden cameras that would beep if he did what he longed to do, meeting his lips with hers? No, he couldn't, not yet.

While Midori continued to watch, Yomaki came on, confused by what she saw. Midori had always been uncomfortable around men. What was she doing with Alejandro?

While Midori continued to watch, Yomaki sighed and shrugged, leaving the area. Maybe some alone time with the one guy who had made any progress would be good for the woman.

Meanwhile, Neil and Mato were busy setting up a stage, Neil's eyes wide and his teeth gritted as he lifted his end, finally putting it on the base as he wiped sweat off of his forehead, soon realizing he had to do this 8 more times, groaning. He really hated stage.

Alejandro sighed and faced Midori, saying, "I know you're expecting me to come up with a bunch of helpful words. Well, I do understand your pain. However, it would likely hurt more if the one lost is someone you love, not someone you just met."

Strangely enough, these words seemed to work as Midori blinked, turning to Alejandro and shouting, "OH MY GOD, WHAT AM I DOING NEAR YOU!"

Alejandro's eyes went wide, the man backing up as his heart pounded a bit. Still, he felt glad to see her back to her old self.

After doing so, she took a deep breath, grinned and said, "Well, thanks for snapping me back to reality. Good god, I was being an emotional wreck. Now to give Megumi a piece of my mind," walking off into the distance.

Midori entered Megumi's office and approached the mechanic, glaring and snapping, "Hey, you, what's up with the defective missile drills!"

Megumi simply looked up at the woman and replied, "Defective drills?"

"Yeah, they worked fine except for the fact that there aren't others that take their place after they're fired," Midori remarked, "The idea was good, but poorly executed."

Megumi let out a sigh and replied, "Well, I guess I'll have to work that out," before noticing Midori's neck and adding, "Nice necklace." Midori had almost forgotten about what Alejandro gave her as she felt it with a smile on her face, exiting the room, figuring she may as well let the others know she was okay.

As Neil and Mato had finally finished the stage, they saw Midori enter, punching Neil hard in the face as she said, "That's for earlier," while Neil's eyes spun, the boy groaning, "Nice to have you back..." Mato nodding in agreement.

Soon enough, it became clear to everyone that Midori was back to her old self. However, this happiness didn't last too long as the alarm went off, a Kabuterimon, Kuwagamon and Devimon scouting the area. As if that wasn't bad enough, they also had a giant turtle-like mech with big spikes as a shell.

"Remember," Jason said, pointing his Kuwagamon's finger at the tortoise, "Since you can't fly, you're gonna have to wait until we can't fight back."

"Zet understands perfectly," came a voice from within as the others gasped, Morrigan asking, "What are you doing in Zet's mech, master?" Aku saying, "I want to meet the one who killed Mai."

Upon hearing the alarm, Neil nodded and was about to head back to Agumon before turning to face Midori, asking, "Do you feel up to this? I mean, considering recent events and, well..."

"Don't worry about it," Midori said with a grin, folding her arms, "I'm over it."

And that was that. All was finally back on track. The mechs were soon deployed and the six were ready for battle.

As usual, V-mon, punched through some of the minion mechs, head-butting others. Wormmon shot sticky thread, trapping a few while Lalamon blew holes into their mechs with her seed bombs. Pawnchessmon was also on his A-game, spearing quite a few.

Agumon proceeded to take out a few mechs of his own, Midori striking down a few of her own while also making sure not to kill the pilots. After all, how did they know they weren't also kids?

"Well, well, well, the cavalry has arrived," Jason said with a grin as he sent Kuwagamon at Agumon, Neil groaning, "Oh god, this guy again..." as Agumon dodged to the side, scratching Kuwagamon's side.

Kabuterimon sent an electric blast toward Lalamon, the kid piloting it known as Nathan shouting, "REVENGE, REVENGE, REVENGE!"

Devimon sent its claws at V-mon and Wormmon as Morrigan grinned wickedly, saying, "You're not gonna get away this time."

After taking in a strike to the chest, V-mon shot steam from his nostrils as Mato spat, "NEH, V-MON, DIGIVOLVE!" V-mon simply standing there as Mato groaned, "WHY!"

As Kuwagamon swiped at Agumon, finally getting him, the dinosaur quickly became Greymon, sending a flame at the beetle robot's chest, sending it back a ways.

All the while, Kabuterimon continued to try and strike Lalamon. Eventually, he managed to do so as Lalamon backed up, Kotaha groaning.

Greymon continued to fight back against Kuwagamon as Jason grunted, "I'm not going to let you win this time."

Just as Kabuterimon was about to strike again, Monodramon knocked the hand to the side as Midori said, "C'mon, Kotaha, you're better than that!"

Kotaha nodded as she regained focus, Lalamon becoming Sunflowmon and sending a beam toward Kabuterimon. Unfortunately, Nathan seemed ready this time as he dodged to the right, striking the sunflower with more electricity.

However, during all of this, Pawnchessmon seemed to stop working. The man hit his head on the dashboard yet nothing happened. What was going on?

Kuwagamon soared back toward Greymon, planting his claws into the robot's face as Jason shouted, "YOU ARE NOT BEATING ME THIS TIME!" as Greymon simply bobbed its head forward, piercing the hand with its horns and, with its horns lodged into the hand, spun its head around, hurling Kuwagamon into the side of a building, the people inside panicking as Neil shouted, "SORRY!" then groaned, "Don't overdo it, Greymon."

At that moment, Kabuterimon picked up Pawnchessmon, Nathan saying, "Alright, another hostage to use to my advantage! Let's hope it doesn't get me killed!"

Seeing this, Midori's eyes went wide as Monodramon froze. To make matters worse one the Tentomon pilots sent electricity at Monodramon, Neku having Wormmon get in front of it only to take in the blow himself.

Upon seeing this, Midori gritted her teeth as she said, "If I go and save him, I may end up killing the passenger," as Neil remarked, "It's not like you're throwing your drill again," Kuwagamon once again locking grips with Greymon.

Midori gulped, realizing that the boy had a point as Monodramon rushed in, piercing Kabuterimon's arm thus forcing it to let go of Pawnchessmon. This immediately boosted the confidence of every mech, and just in time too as Devimon was just moments away from striking V-mon and Sunflowmon.

"You okay?" Midori asked, turning toward Pawnchessmon, then said, "C'mon, Allen, let's start kicking butt. I can't always be your babysitter."

Alejandro shook his head replying, "I want to but, you see, Pawnchessmon won't move."

"He just needs a jump start!" Midori replied, Monodramon head-thwacking it as Midori spat, "YOU'RE IN A BATTLE RIGHT NOW!"

"DON'T IGNORE ME!" Nathan spat, preparing an electric blast.

All the while, V-mon and Lalamon were still being attacked by Devimon as Greymon kicked Kabuterimon back, giving the two rookie mechs thumbs up as if to tell them digivolving would be a good idea.

Things were finally starting to look up. Not only did Pawnchessmon's power return, V-mon also decided to digivolve into XV-mon. This was perfect.

Morrigan's eyes widened as she blindly started pressing buttons on Devimon, sending various slashes. Clearly, she had not been prepared for this.

At this very moment, Midori's spirit started to increase while Monodramon's body started to expand into that of a large lizard. Bits and pieces of armour such as shoulder pads, ankle braces, wrist guards and a helmet flew out of a shoot on his back, latching to various different parts, his tail even getting a tip guard. Slits opened up around his lower body, a big pair of pants, not metal ones but actual pants, springing out and wrapping itself around his waist and legs.

"Strikedramon, champion mech," Midori said as she grinned shouting, "HELL YEAH!" Nathan's eyes going wide, Strikedramon shouting, "STRIKE FANG!" its shoulder pad opening up and sending out a flame that surrounded its body, the mech ramming Kabuterimon as Midori said, "Now, Allen! Finish it!"

Alejandro ignored having his name once again mispronounced multiple times as Pawnchessmon's spear head split in two, revealing a hold on the end of the staff, beams shooting out. The beams hit Kabuterimon hard, dealing incredible damage.

Midori rolled her eyes and said, "Not impressed," as Kabuterimon blew up, Nathan flying away on a jet pack.

Upon seeing this, Aku grinned and said, "Zet, now's your chance," as Zet launched the spiked missiles from the back of Tortomon, the tortoise revealing itself from under the sea and hitting all of the mechs.

Kuwagamon and Devimon started to recover some damage as Neil groaned, regaining control and shouting, "WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM!"

"You guys keep on going up here," Midori said, "I'll take that one."

"'Bout fucking time!" Morrigan spat as Jason sighed, "Morrigan, please, at least he came through for us, right?"

As the others rushed at Devimon and Kuwagamon again, Tortomon launched a new set of spiked missiles to stop them only for Strikedramon to send a barrage of flaming punches, overpowering the missiles and blowing them up while advancing toward the tortoise robot.

Greymon fought off Kuwagamon while Sunflowmon and XV-mon were still being attacked by Devimon, Wormmon left to fend off against the Tentomon.

All the while, Midori eventually approached Tortomon as Strikedramon shouted, "STRIKE CLAW!" punting the tortoise hard in the face with its claws, the Tortomon backing off a bit as Zet blinked, saying, "She actually caught up..."

Ironically, the others also started to fair better. Sunflowmon struck Devimon with another beam, Wormmon taking down various Tentomon.

"HOLD IT!" came a voice from inside Tortomon as Morrigan's jaw dropped, the woman shouting, "Come on! That sunflower hit me with a beam! Why can't I respond?"

Aku ignored her words and said, "That mech was a Monodramon before, right?" as Midori blinked, saying, "Uh... yeah? Wait, your voice sounds familiar."

"You're the one who killed Mai," Aku said, "I'm really mad at you!"

"C'mon, it's a war," Midori said as Aku remarked, "Look, this isn't just any old soldier we're talking about here! YOU MURDERED MY DAUGHTER!" silence filling the area. Jason, Nathan (from a distance) and Morrigan's jaws dropped. Even they didn't know this.

Kotaha froze, mortified to hear these words. Mato and Neku were simply shocked that Aku had a wife at some point in his life. However, Alejandro was in the most panic, assuming the worst. There was no way Midori's trauma wouldn't return after hearing this, right? But strangely enough, that's not what happened.

Midori blinked and frowned as she snapped back, "Look, I still feel really bad about killing a child, but what kind of heartless parent sends his daughter into a fucking war zone!"

"You don't understand," Aku replied, fuming and letting down tears, "She begged me with all her heart. She wanted so badly to help out, so I let her join eventually, not letting the others know she was my daughter. I wanted her to undergo the same kind of training, hoping she would be strong enough to defend herself. What choice did I have?"

"You could have ignored her pleading like a responsible parent," Midori retorted, "You could have said no multiple times! She would have told you she hated you! She probably would have cried and screamed, but she'd have still been alive! A responsible parent wouldn't cave in no matter what!"

"She's right, you moron!" Mato barked, "You could have at least protected her!" Alejandro all the while looking at a bracelet on his wrist, representing Amythis as well to remind himself Mai might be resurrected someday.

Hearing these words, Aku let out a sigh and said, "Zet, retreat Tortomon," as Zet asked, "But... sir...?" then sighed, "Understood..."

He then signalled the others to retreat as Morrigan shouted, "GOD! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" before exiting the area, Jason letting down a sweat drop.

Midori's words had clearly gotten Aku thinking. Maybe she was right. This may have just been him being war crazy and a terrible parent. He needed a lot of time to think this over.

Notes: *1) Mato saying 'Midorin' wasn't actually a spelling error. That's just how she talks sometimes. After all, she seems to be the main source of Japanese slang in this story.

*2) Truth be told, the bits for the characters Alejandro, Neku, Mato and Kotaha all had to edited by me as not only did the other two constantly use chat speak but one of them kept using multiple dots to replace periods and commas. Though I'm actually enjoying making these edits, personally.