Rise of the Mechanical Digimon

As the group entered the city, they were greeted by an army of Tentomon and Vilemon models, Neil sighing, "Do they really think we're too weak to stand up to these?"

"Don't count on it," Midori replied, "You know their generals aren't far behind."

With that, Monodramon quickly mowed down a series of Vilemon with its drill fingers, Agumon taking down Tentomon models with pepper breath.

V-mon knocked down various Vilemon like bowling pins with his fists and head, Mato squealing with delight now that she could do this again. Wormmon, meanwhile, caught a series of Tentomon models in his net, rendering them immobile.

Pawnchessmon started shooting from his spear gun, the Vilemon dwindling in numbers as a result. Lalamon, meanwhile, paralyzed some of the mechs with her acid attack while Kotaha beamed with pride. Sure, she may have had a baby coming, but she wasn't afraid of protecting the town. *

At that very moment, a large bug swooped in, catching Agumon in between its pincers as Neil said, "Well, nice to see you using more of a strategy this time around," Jason remarking, "You don't seem all that terrified," Neil replying, "I got an engagement ring. Let's just say it's built up my self-esteem," Agumon quickly changing into Greymon and using its massive hands to pry the pincers off of him, hurling Kuwagamon into a wall.

The Devimon mech emerged from the shadows behind V-mon, striking it in the back with its claws as Morrigan shouted, "IT'S PAYBACK TIME!"

Mato's eyes went wide in panic. She had not seen that coming. And seeing this, Neku stared with concern, still distracted by the minions as he felt like he should rush in and help.

"GET AWAY FROM MY FIANCE!" Neil spat, hitting Devimon hard with a flame as the Devimon mech acted like it was nothing, Morrigan grinning and saying, "Surprise, surprise, I built in some new armour for this baby."

The Devimon mech simply swatted them to the side like flies as Greymon turned to them, folding its arms and pretending to tap its foot, Neil saying, "Greymon, is now really the time to drop hints?" Kuwagamon flying at them.

The one not strategizing was, of course, Nathan who simply had his Kabuterimon rush towards Lalamon, the boy shouting, "REVENGE!" releasing an electric current, Lalamon flying back a bit after being damaged. *

All the while, Midori looked down and glared, noticing a familiar turtle-like mech. As such, her Monodramon became Strikedramon as it swooped down, hitting Zet's Tortomon mech hard in the face, Zet blinking while thinking, 'How did she know I was here this time?'

Alejandro held his breath thinking, 'Midori's fine without me interfering. I'll let her deal with that,' going back to a few minions.

As Midori was about to wail on the mech more, she heard the sound of rockets behind her. Sadly, it was too late to respond as a mech that resembled a lion opened up its head unleashing a set of bombs upon Strikedramon. Midori cried out in pain as the lion mech dove down toward her, trying to take advantage of the situation, Yae thinking, 'Forgive me...'

Seeing this, Alejandro's eyes shot open as he spat, "YOU LEAVE MIDORI ALONE!"

Yae gritted her teeth with a pained expression and mumbled, "I'm so sorry, Midori..." Midori scowling, but before she could respond, the Tortomon mech opened its jaws, looking as if it was going to devour Strikedramon.

Alejandro's determination to save the woman of his dreams came ten-fold as Knightchessmon took Pawnchessmon's place. He was willing to do anything to protect Midori now.

"Back off," he said in a menacing tone, "I'll give you one minute and if you don't comply, I'll kill you."

Mato and Neku saw Midori in trouble as well, shouting, "LEAVE MIDORIN ALONE!" V-mon and Wormmon quickly becoming XV-mon and Stingmon. But it didn't end there as something strange happened quickly afterwards.

At that moment, Stingmon's body split apart, the others staring in confusion as its chest soon went over XV-mon's head, descending past said spot, XV-mon holding up its arms and allowing it to latch to his body like a vest. Stingmon's hands also latched themselves to XV-mon's, posing as gloves for the mech. Of course, the thigh guards also performed the same function for the dragon-like mech, two guns protruding out of the side of Stingmon's lower body. His face also released a red object in the middle, the object expanding into a battle mask as it latched to XV-mon's face.

Everyone was in shock as Mato and Neku were riding next to each other in the same cockpit, Mato grinning and saying, "Fancy meeting you here," Neku nodding and replying, "Likewise," the two looking up the data on their new mech, discovering it was an Ultimate known as Paildramon.

Neil stared, his jaw dropped as his eye twitched, Jason stopping his attack to look at this, placing Kuwagamon's arm on Greymon's shoulder saying, "Tough break, man. Your girlfriend just combined with your rival," Neil replying, "Is it really that obvious?"

Morrigan's eyes widened as she shook her head shouting, "NO, I WON'T LET THIS GET TO ME!"

Zet shrugged and said, "Whatever," closing Tortomon's jaws in on Strikedramon, Midori shouting, "THANKS FOR THE HELP, BUT ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING NEXT TIME!"

Yae realized that Midori was being taken care of as she tried her best to ignore what her ally was doing and turned toward Knightchessmon, charging at him with her mech raising its claws.

Alejandro attempted to strike back when suddenly, the mech burst into flame, Yae's Firamon also striking him hard.. Knightchessmon powered down as a result, making things even more complicated as Alejandro blacked out.

Paildramon charged at Tortomon shouting in a combination of XV-mon and Stingmon's voices, "STING STRIKE!" extending the spikes on his wrists into lances and striking the tortoise hard.

The mech started to sputter, electricity coming from it as Zet blinked. All the while, Neil had returned to fighting as Kuwagamon and Devimon held Greymon up, Morrigan shouting, "STOP!"

Mato looked up with anger, about ready to retaliate. She wouldn't let Morrigan lay a finger on Neil. However, she failed to realize what was really going on until what happened next.

Midori had Strikedramon fly over to Knightchessmon with concern as she turned to face the mechs, Morrigan shouting at Mato, "YOU MAKE ONE MOVE AND YOUR FUTURE HUSBAND GETS IT!" holding a claw over Greymon's head where Neil was seated.

Mato bit her lip, still full of anger as Paildramon hesitated. If she struck, there was no way to guarantee Neil's safety. What could she possibly do?

Neil was about to wet himself when he realized he couldn't allow himself to lose. He couldn't worry Mato like this. As such, the man gritted his teeth shouting, "HOW DARE YOU USE ME AS A HOSTAGE!" Greymon starting to change. Suddenly, his skull helmet flipped itself upside down, adjusting itself so it could still fit on Greymon's head, revealing a silver helmet, the mech's body opening up as a silver chest plate sprung out, the body returning to normal as the chest plate attached itself.. The mech also expanded a bit in size as wings protruded from its back, its left arm going into its body and being replaced by a big silver one.

Morrigan blinked as the mech used its claws to slice Devimon's arm off, Morrigan biting her collar as she shouted, "NOT AGAIN!" the mech proceeding to knock Kuwagamon to the side, opening up its chest and releasing two fish-shaped missiles from its chest, hitting them dead-on.

"Ultimate level, Metalgreymon model," Neil read aloud as he said, "I got an ultimate mech now..." his eyes sparkling.

Seeing as her allies had pretty much been defeated, Metalgreymon making quick work of Kabuterimon, Yae was now terrified as she turned Firamon around saying, "Guys, we'd better retreat," Morrigan pinching her forehead and saying, "Dammit, she's right... I hate you all so much!" the group fleeing from the area.

Unfortunately, one mech that was unable to leave was Zet's, and the others were in too bad of a predicament to have the time to care. As such, Zet opened up his mech and held his hands up, not saying a word as Midori let out a sigh of relief, Strikedramon opening up Knightchessmon's chest, opening up his own as Midori leaped over to Alejandro, shaking him by the shoulders shouting, "WAKE UP! WE'VE WON!" Mato and Neku giving each other a high five.

While Knightchessmon regained power, kicking in panic, Alejandro showed no reaction. He was truly out cold from that blow Yae dealt to him, Knightchessmon still in panic as it started making loud steaming noises.

"Pipe down!" Midori spat, Strikedramon placing a hand on Knightchessmon's shoulder and giving the mech a reassuring look, the woman holding onto Alejandro and saying, "Guys, Alejandro needs medical attention."

Kotaha nodded as she exited Lalamon, Alejandro soon carried to the work place and set down in the hospital area to rest. All the while, Kotaha pulled out her medical bag thinking, 'Neil, Mato and Neku had things under control and yet the moron got himself injured just to try and save Midori.'

Yomaki ordered Kotaha to bring Alejandro home when Midori sighed, "I'd do it myself, but I think my motorcycle would probably be too much for him to handle."

Neil looked at Mato then at Neku and shook his head thinking, 'Don't think like that! She said yes! Don't let this one little thing get to you!'

Kotaha, meanwhile, nodded in response to Yomaki's orders and replied, "I guess I can do that, but Midori might have to be by his side. It might help."

Midori's face turned red as Yomaki said, "Yeah, that's a good idea. Midori, take good care of Alice for me," Midori blinking and replying, "Are you deliberately trying to piss him off?"

Mato and Neku walked over to their boss as Mato said, "Um... our mechs combined into an ultimate level. Can you explain that?"

Yomaki blinked and thought about this saying, "I don't think I've ever heard anything about mechs combining. That's quite interesting," Neil's eye twitching all the while as he thought, 'I wish my mech could combine with hers.'

Kotaha simply looked at Mato to Neil then Midori to Alejandro, shaking her head and thinking, 'Love is blooming.'

Midori hopped onto her motorcycle sighing, taking off. After all, she'd dropped off Kotaha before. She knew where the woman lived.

Meanwhile, Mato hopped into her car along with Neil, smiling at Neku. She was really happy the two were able to work as a team.

Neil placed his hand on Mato's shoulder and gave her a peck on the cheek saying, "You two were great out there," all the while doing his best to hide his envy.

However, Mato saw right through it and grinned deviously saying, "You're totally jealous."

"Me? Jealous?" Neil asked, his eyes shifting back and forth, "What reason do I have to be jealous? I mean, it's not like Neku is the one engaged to y- okay, I wish it was me who could combine with your mech," his face turning red as he buried his face in his hands.

Mato blinked, thinking about this and saying, "You know, I was thinking it seemed strange ours didn't."

Neil sighed with relief saying, "Well, at least we're on the same page," then laughed saying, "My god, I need to stop being so paranoid."

Midori actually beat Kotaha to her house by a little bit as she powered down her motorcycle, sighing as she pulled up, a look of concern on her face. It was as if the company had molded her into a tolerant member of society. She'd hated men up to this point.

Kotaha simply smiled and said, "Let's get him inside," ex-nurse noticing Midori's expression and asking, "Something wrong, Midori?"

"Well, I'm... worried..." Midori replied, shrugging and adding, "I mean, he is our friend and all. Why would you even ask such a weird question?"

With that, she slumped the man over her shoulders saying, "You shouldn't strain yourself, Kotaha. Remember the baby."

Soon enough, the model was brought inside and placed in his bed as Midori let out a sigh saying, "I'm a little surprised. His mech's taken in worse than claws before," then growling added, "I just can't believe my own sister almost caused our failure!"

Meanwhile, Aku had heard the report as he spat, "THEIR MECHS CAN BECOME ULTIMATES!" then grinned and said, "I think it might be time I challenge Neil to another showdown."

"Well, it's not just that," Morrigan replied, "Two of their mechs are able to combine."

Aku thought about this and said, "Well, unless you can find a way to get your mechs to transform, I don't see you winning any battles with these people. What's more is that they have Zet."

All the while, Yomaki and Megumi were in an empty salon as the lights turned on, Zet tied to a chair. However, as usual, he didn't show any fear. He just kept his usual mellow face.

Yomaki grinned wickedly at the boy and said, "Alright, you're gonna tell us everything you know about Aku and his army," Zet blinking before replying, "You're doing this wrong. You should be shining a single light on me," Yomaki groaning, "I would, but the company doesn't allow us those kinds of lights."

Megumi cocked her head to the side in response to this. How could the boy be so calm about being tied up?

Zet let out a sigh and said, "Well, you have captured me and all. I guess I may as well tell you a few things," Yomaki smiling as the boy added, "Granted you don't expect me to go too far. See, I couldn't care less about you torturing me for info."

Yomaki let out a sigh and asked, "Alright, why do your people want us dead?"

"That's it?" Zet asked, shrugging, "I actually thought you all knew the reason. Well, you might wanna pull up a seat for this one."

Megumi blinked rapidly and replied, "Out with it, man."

Zet cleared his throat and said, "Long ago, the mayor of our city came to your fair city to negotiate a partnership. He figured that since our city was next to yours, the two should be trading partners. When he arrived, he was given the best of treatment. Before he could negotiate, the government decided to let him spend the night in one of the mayoral estate's guestrooms. However, this was all a trap as next morning, he had been arrested for absolutely no reason whatsoever, assuming that this was how your government treated all out-of-towners."

Yomaki blinked, her eyes wide with shock as she turned to Megumi, shrugging at her. Megumi simply looked back at her boss before turning back to Zet and stating, "So, you want to kill us all because of your mayor being arrested. Well, what if we could fix the problem?"

Ignoring the question, he continued, "Luckily, he managed to use his bird speak to have a pigeon send a message to the press about his capture. Word spread quickly and everyone in town wanted to save their beloved mayor. But they knew better than to rush in without a plan. They created unique mechs based off of legendary creatures to combat your people and take back their mayor. However, the mayor knew your people would pursue him and as such, he waged war on your kind. It was just unfortunate that your people had a spy to swipe the blueprints so that the citizens of your city could create their own mechs to fight back. After a long battle, it seemed as if your side had won, but little did you know that we had simply pretended to lose. We played possum until your people forgot about the very existence of the mechs so that we could strike and you'd be completely defenceless."

Megumi lifted and eyebrow before replying, "We're not all like our ancestors. What can we do to fix this?"

"Fix it?" Zet asked, looking up and whistling before saying, "That I cannot answer for even I don't know of it. Your only hope would be to take us down, but your people also forgot where we live."

"Hold on," Yomaki retorted, glaring at the boy, "That story your just told is a load of MOTHERFUCKING BULLSHIT!" her eyes widening, Zet blinking and asking, "Is that supposed to scare me? Also, that's the story we all grew up hearing. I doubt it really is BS."

Megumi covered up Yomaki's mouth, the woman nervously letting out a laugh. "She's just a little jumpy, just ignore everything my senpai just said. I guess her Kohai knows a bit more," the woman remarked, rubbing the back of her head.

Yomaki removed Megumi's hand and snapped, "Now listen here, Zet! I've heard the real story and your people are lying to you! The first part of that story is true. Your mayor did come here and was offered hospitality, claiming that he wanted to negotiate trading rights with our mayor. However, this was all a trick. Your 'beloved' mayor set up a bomb in the building set to blow up after he was done 'negotiating'! Luckily, the secret service managed to find the bomb during the night, rightly arresting your former mayor for his acts against the government! His explanation behind the whole thing was in newspapers for months, the fact that the city had just been built between his city and the neighbouring city that he usually went to. He hated having to cut through our city thus extending his trip to get there, so he decided to blow up our government as a warning to convince us to tare down our city!"

Megumi gasped, backing up as she couldn't bare to watch the two spit out their venom at one-another, pleading, "Yomaki-senpai, calm down."

Yomaki took a deep breath as Zet blinked, saying, "Well, clearly one of us has been misled over the years. But that's of no concern. Do you have any other questions for me?"

"Yeah, actually, where do you live?" Yomaki asked as the boy replied abruptly, "That I can't tell you," Yomaki sighing as Megumi remarked, "We want to speak to your leader, though."

Zet simply remained silent, staring into Yomaki's eyes for a few seconds before the woman had a nervous breakdown, backing up and saying, "Okay, okay, we're done here, but you're going into the dungeon," Zet replying, "Your company has a dungeon?" Yomaki spitting, "SHUT UP!"

And all said and done, Zet was locked away in the area where the janitor's equipment was kept. He simply looked around and shrugged. He'd seen worse.

During this time, Midori was watching over Alejandro while Kotaha simply stared in surprise. She couldn't believe she was actually seeing this. After a while, she got up to get a cloth for Alejandro, leaving the two alone.

Midori stayed at Alejandro's side, feeling the sudden urge to brush her hand up against his hair, lifting up her hand briefly before putting it down, shaking her head and thinking, 'What am I doing?'

Alejandro's eyes flickered open and closed, but he hadn't fully awakened as he muttered, "I'm sorry..."

Midori heard the words and picked up the boy's hand, doing something she never thought she would ever do, placing his hand right up against her chest. She hated being felt up more than anything else on the planet, yet somehow, the feeling of Alejandro's hand against her breasts felt soothing.

Alejandro's eyes flickered again, only this time they became fully open, shooting wide. Was he really seeing what he thought he was?

Midori smiled, seeing the boy awake and sighed, "Thank goodness," then remembered what she had done, lowering her eyes toward his hand and quickly releasing it, her face turning red as she breathed heavily, saying, "You gave me quite a scare... heh..."

He looked up at her and sighed, "I'm sorry for being a burden, Midori... I'll back off..."

"No, it's okay," Midori said with a sigh, patting the boy on the shoulder before saying, "I'm just glad you're okay."

Kotaha returned with the towel, peering into the room and seeing Alejandro was awake. However, also noticing the way he and Midori were interacting, she decided not to enter, knowing that would ruin the moment and figured she'd come back later.

The man reached out his hand, pushing some of her hair out of her face stating, "It was my fault. We tried to protect you. See, we tried to use an attack added by Megumi called Knight's javelin and it failed. We decided to try it, the attack blew up from the inside, smoke and fire everywhere."

Midori patted the boy on the shoulder saying, "Forget it, okay. You're alright, that's all that matters right now."

Alejandro then did something he regretted the second he did it, pulling her close. "Mia Mor," he whispered before his lips met hers. The man kissed her, right then and there. His love burned inside, he'd never loved her more.

Notes: *1) I kind of wish Kotaha's writer could have gone further with this plot point of her being pregnant. It never once hindered her performance in battle or kept her from participating, and that kind of disappointed me. As for why I'm not adding anything like that... I'm just adding to the stuff that's already there. I'm not adding an entirely new plot line.

*2) Honestly, a part of me was really wishing they'd follow my example and have their characters do the same thing in retaliation that mine did.