Another chapter prepared for your viewing pleasure. A little reflection from a character who hasn't shown up for a while and then a three-way battle between the android, the cyborg, and the wooden toy. Hope you enjoy.
Riley rubbed her temples tiredly. Stress was part of the job description at Hypnos. She'd been in the middle of problems ranging from random bioemergences, the Juggernaut disaster, Yamaki and them being fired and replaced by idiots, tamers lost in the Digital World, the D-reaper, crowds of worried parents, and even Calumon on a sugar rush. She assumed that she could deal with any situation she might encounter.
So far, they couldn't find a signal from any D-arc in the digital or human world. Likely, they were on one of the higher levels. Anything beyond that vast wasteland on the lowest level and the sensors lost true effectiveness. The children had described a lush forest, a breathable ocean, a level of clockwork and gears, and even a library. The tamers could be anywhere on the other levels and they wouldn't necessarily be able to detect them. The rules of the digital world were so strange and illogical, it would be nearly impossible to predict at this point what factors might influence their sensors range and reliability on the other levels.
But the lack of news on the missing tamers wasn't what was causing the woman's current level of stress. She could keep her head during an emergency. What bothered her most was what Mrs. Olkowski and Tally suggested earlier. Could she actually ask him to…?
She moaned and rubbed her eyes. That question was a dangerous one to consider. Tally would watch those romantic movies at night and had explained all the different ways that situation could go. The preferred result is instantaneous acceptance of the proposal and a 'happily ever after' ending, but it wasn't the only possibility. He could say no. In fact, he could say no and the question might destroy their relationship. By asking him, she might actually lose him.
Was it worth the risk? Did he ever hint that he might want more? When Mrs. Olkowski suggested it, she made it sound so simple and easy. But now… she wasn't so sure.
She did love him. She couldn't deny that fact. She didn't want to lose him because of one question. Was everything they did have, however limited, worth risking over something neither had ever discussed?
If this drove a wedge between them, she would have to quit Hypnos. She might be able to remain professional and distant in public currently, but if he said no… she didn't think she could continue to work with him, face him daily, without breaking the "simple co-worker" façade. She could easily find employment elsewhere, but that wasn't the point. She loved her work at Hypnos. She loved her job, talking to Tally, listening to the geeky humor of the Monster Makers, watching the tamers grow-up and still retain their youthful energy, and even chasing down Calumon when he decided to visit the building. Could she leave it all behind if he didn't want…?
She'd also have to move. If she ruined their relationship like that, there would be no possible way to escape that. They couldn't share an apartment after he said no, especially since she wouldn't even be able to face working alongside him afterwards. She wouldn't be able to drink coffee and eat delicious food from the Matsuki bakery with him across the table anymore. Calumon's colorful pictures would still decorate the refrigerator (or maybe not since she was the one who praised the white in-training's art and placed it on the fridge in the first place), but she wouldn't be there to see it. She wouldn't be there to pointlessly argue with Yamaki that he didn't have to focus on work all the time and try to convince him to relax. If she asked him that one important question, she wouldn't just lose him. She'd lose everything she loved in her life.
This is why, Riley reflected, men are the ones that are supposed to propose. They don't seem to worry about every detail of a relationship as much. At least, the men she'd met in the past. Yamaki lived to worry about details. That attention to the possibilities, especially once he got past his nearly blinding hatred of digimon and firm belief about their lack of true life, made him the successful head of Hypnos he currently was. If he stood here instead, pondering whether or not to ask her the question, he would undoubtedly be analyzing the options and worrying even more than she.
In the end, she needed to decide if she could accept a rejection and all it would cause. An acceptance would be such a long-shot; it didn't even make sense to consider it. In fact, why was she even thinking about risking everything on such an impossible option that she could live without anyway? She would be better off pretending that she never even considered the idea. When he gets back (she refused to say "if he gets back"), she should just let things go back to the way they were. It was the smarter, safer option.
She frowned slightly. She'd stood beside him as Hypnos was under attack and everyone else fled, the blond man refusing to leave. He didn't always take the smarter, safer option. But the smart choice wasn't always the right one. The right choice sometimes meant taking risks and fighting for what you want. The tamers proved that on a regular basis, whether that meant facing digimon, human, or other threats to their friends and family.
Was marriage worth fighting for? Did she want it that much? Was it that important to give their relationship a proper title with a ceremony?
No, the concept of marriage wasn't worth the risk. But Mitsuo Yamaki was.
Kazu, floating inside a brown sphere, stared in pure and utter shock. The heroic figure standing in front of him, his red scarf fluttering in the breeze, seemed to stare back with his featureless face. And, even if it was theoretically possible for there to be more than one of these particular digimon in existence, the tamer didn't even consider this an option currently. The boy knew, on some level, that he shouldn't be so stunned. After all, they came to the Digital World in search of the two individuals who create this mega, Devimon was destroying him before his eyes. Kazu had seen him vanish. The phrase "looks like you've seen a ghost" would be too perfect a description for him since they did die. Still, the search was over and their lost tamer and partner were found. Slowly, he found his voice.
"Justimon?"
The familiar figure turned his head slightly, focusing more directly on HiAndromon. He raised his right arm and directed it towards the mega.
"Justice Burst!" he announced.
The tamer was too stunned by the idea of Ryo, the Digimon King and Kazu's former all-time idol, could actually attack him that he couldn't even consider getting out of the way. The digimon half of the Biomerged creature, however, took control of the android and dodged the incoming blue energy burst. The dark metallic being rolled from his frozen crouched position before climbing swiftly to his feet.
"Did he just… attack us?" gasped Kazu. "Why would he…?"
"Puppet Pummel!" a certain viral mega shouted, his hammer aimed for HiAndromon's head.
Ducking below the swinging weapon, the android grumbled, "He's still here? Go away, Puppetmon. We're busy here. Atomic Ray!"
"Justice Kick!" announced Justimon, his foot connecting with HiAndromon the same instant the beam of light struck the wooden toy.
Two out of three of the combatives went flying across the charred remains of the village in opposite directions. The Biomerged digimon managed to crash through one of the remaining walls, the wood shattering with impact. When he came to rest, the mega stayed still for a moment.
"Guardromon, what's wrong with him? We just got beat up by Justimon," the tamer muttered.
His partner suggested, "Maybe he doesn't recognize us. We didn't Biomerge before he was destroyed."
Grabbing onto that hope, Kazu shouted, "That's got to be it. It's just a giant misunderstanding and we can fix it by explaining who we are."
The mega leapt to his feet and sprinted back towards their friend.
He successfully kicked HiAndromon out of the way while the android was attacking the wooden digimon. Now he could focus on one opponent at a time instead of two.
"Flying Cross Cutter!" shouted Puppetmon, hurling the spinning wooden projectile towards Justimon.
As the Biomerged digimon prepared for his next move, the dark metal shape of HiAndromon appear through the jagged hole the earlier blow sent him through. The robotic creature held his right hand up.
"Copy Paste!" he called, his voice seeming to be a combination of two speakers crying out in unison. A wooded 'X'-shape object formed in his grasp and he threw it, announcing, "Flying Cross Cutter!"
HiAndromon's identical attack struck Puppetmon's, knocking both off course. The android smiled with satisfaction while the sentient marionette stomped his foot in frustration.
"Stop cheating. Tin soldiers aren't supposed to interrupt my games," the toy scolded.
"Justimon, don't worry. We're here to help," assured HiAndromon. "It's just us. Kazu and Guardromon. We're here to rescue you."
…A brown-haired boy with a hat and a shirt with an odd symbol stared in awe at him. Another boy, with dark hair and glasses, seemed equally stunned. He felt slightly uncomfortable with the nearly worshipful gaze in their eyes. Traveling with them was Rika and the yellow fox, Renamon…
…The hat-wearing youth, Kazu, was hurt. There was a blanket of fog around the area and water sprayed everywhere. A fire-based digimon, humanoid-shaped, was the cause of the injury. An angry, brown-metal, cube-ish being, Guardromon, attacked Meramon along with Justimon and Antylamon. The hurt human was near a tall blond man, a small white digimon, and a small girl. Suzie. He knew all of them…
Ryo pulled his mind out of the scattered memories unhappily. He wanted to remember, but a battle was not the place to reflect. Puppetmon was still alive and HiAndromon was trying to trick him, just like DemiDevimon said. So far, everything that bat told him seemed to be true. He knew about the D-arc, cards, Biomerging, and the fact he once lived a very different life than the one he spent in Floramon's village. The viral rookie explained he knew other humans with partners, which his memories proved true. And even if he could feel that DemiDevimon was hiding something, that didn't mean he lied about the traitorous nature of these humans. Someone killed him and Cyberdramon. Until he gained evidence otherwise, the bat's description of those events were the only ones he knew. This meant HiAndromon was likely his enemy. An enemy who would depend on lies and tricks to destroy him once again.
Cyberdramon growled softly, anxious for the battle to continue. They wouldn't stand by and be killed again. They would continue to face them at full force until they gained victory or went down fighting. Puppetmon would be destroyed for DemiDevimon, but the Biomerged mega would be punished for betraying them.
Justice Burst!" he announced, firing once more at the android before leaping high into the air. Flipping around, the cyborg aimed for the wooden toy with a shout. "Justice Kick!"
Somehow, HiAndromon scrambled out of the way of the fired attack. Puppetmon, a hair slower, met the foot with his face. The wooden digimon crumbled to the ground. The android turned his head, undoubtedly glaring under his helmet, and waved his hand in the general direction of the earlier attack.
"What was that about, Ryo? You could have taken our head off," complained HiAndromon, but only in one of his dual voices. Specifically, it sounded like the younger speaker of the two halves. "In case you didn't notice, we don't even look like Puppetmon. So why'd you fire on us?"
"Because you are a traitor," Justimon replied coldly. He broke into a run towards the Biomerged digimon, his right arm shifting. When he drew near, he shouted, "Voltage Blade!"
This time, the android didn't have time to dodge the attack and received the full blunt of the energy blade's slice. He staggered back, clutching his chest where the cyborg cut across. Justimon prepared for another swing, but another mega interrupted.
"Puppet Pummel!" shouted the viral marionette, catching HiAndromon in the side and knocking him tumbling across the landscape. It also returned the toy to striking range of the vaccine Biomerged mega of Ryo and Cyberdramon. "Oh…"
"Voltage Blade!"
With a pained scream, Puppetmon scrambled backwards, "I don't like this game anymore."
It was lying on its side, unmoving and frustrated. After the metallic mega, Justimon, dislodged its rider with his arrival, it was left on the ground and the three of them were battling all around without actually touching the bike.
Behemoth rumbled softly, hating the fact all this chaos and fighting was taking place and it couldn't move. HiAndromon was too busy trying to talk to the newcomer to climb back on. And the chances of a random MetalKoromon climbing on at this exact moment were miniscule. It was trapped as a motionless observer to the event in front of it.
HiAndromon, slashed by the cyborg and bashed by the puppet, bounced across the landscape and landed within a few feet of the demonic bike. It revved its engine, trying to catch the Biomerged mega's attention. He sat up, but didn't seem to notice the motorcycle's efforts.
"'Traitor'?" Kazu's voice whispered, sounding stunned. "Why would he call me a traitor? What did I do?"
Behemoth, not caring what his problem might be, growled deeply. It may not speak, but it figured even that annoying tamer might understand the message. It tried to will the thought of getting on the bike into his mind.
Sadly, its nonexistent thought-projection abilities failed and HiAndromon remained oblivious to the meaning of its rumbles. The android climbed to his feet and charged right back to where Justimon and Puppetmon still fought. Behemoth wanted to scream in frustration. It wasn't fair that it was stuck on its side, unable to move, and its only friend in the area was completely ignoring…
Wait, hit the reverse on that thought. Did it actually consider HiAndromon a "friend"? It was one thing to consider Beelzemon a friend. And it was, admittedly, accepting the idea that it should be loyal to Beelzemon's friends and allies. But it was harder to shift Kazu from annoying tamer that it chose not to torture much anymore to the same category as the viral mega. If it allowed that oblivious, bragging, crazy boy be its friend, would it have to call all the tamers and their digimon its friends too? At this rate, it would run out of targets to terrify and torture.
The fight between the trio seemed interesting to observe and a nice distraction from the uncomfortable "friend" concept. One would use an attack on another, but the third would either strike the first one or catch the second as they evaded the original attack. Only HiAndromon broke this pattern. He refused to harm Justimon, trying to ask why he thought he was a traitor while blocking strikes and trying to knock Puppetmon out of the way.
Eventually, HiAndromon grew frustrated by the wooden toy's interference. Considering how many times the viral mega had been hurt since the battle began back when he stole the D-arc, he was looking a little worse for wear. He wasn't about to drop out of the fight yet, but Puppetmon's attacks seemed to lack the explosive potential of earlier. The Biomerged mega grabbed a handful of the strings and slung him over his shoulder, causing the wooden marionette to bounce closer to the demonic bike. In fact, he stopped right next to it.
"That's it. Game over," he muttered grumpily. "I'll just let the tin soldiers play by themselves. And maybe kill the survivor."
The puppet's white gloved hand moved just an inch closer, brushing against Behemoth's handlebars. With a deep roar of triumph, the sentient motorcycle did something it hadn't in so long. It gained a new rider the old fashion way: against their will.
"Please, Ryo," HiAndromon pleaded, trying to trick him still. Just like DemiDevimon told him. Right? "How did I betray you? Talk to me. We're friends."
"I won't be fooled," he snapped. "You can't be trusted. I know what you and the others did to us."
The three of them had been fighting for several minutes, but the android hadn't tried to directly attack him. Just like the bat described, they depended on trickery instead of force. He would, however, strike Puppetmon. In fact, he just tossed the viral mega across the battlefield a second ago.
"Honestly, we haven't betrayed you," assured HiAndromon. "We've been trying to find and save you. When do you think we turned against you?"
"When you killed us," Justimon answered in a cold voice. "Justice Burst!"
Another shape slammed into the cyborg digimon, throwing off his aim. Cyberdramon snarled at the frustration of missing his target. Ryo glanced at the attacker, wondering who it was. He knew the mass was greater than Puppetmon's.
Turns out, he was partially right. He was the wooden mega, but his eyes now glowed red and he was riding the bike that HiAndromon was earlier. The motorcycle growled in an almost feral nature. If he didn't know better, he would think the vehicle was actually self-aware enough to hate him. But that had to be impossible. It was just a bike.
"Don't hurt him, Behemoth," yelled HiAndromon. "He's just… confused." The android turned back to Justimon, "We didn't kill you. Don't you remember?"
"No, I don't remember. Death can do that to you,' he answered sharply. It was getting harder to retain that mindset of fury towards them. It should make sense to hate them. They tricked and killed him and his partner. They weakened and betrayed DemiDevimon. They couldn't be trusted. The viral rookie said so and he hadn't steered them wrong yet. But something was telling him that he shouldn't be fighting HiAndromon. Still, Ryo tried to remain angry with the murderers. "Voltage Blade!"
Kazu couldn't believe that Ryo thought he would kill them. The idea was insane. HiAndromon dodged the slashing energy blade while the boy's mind struggled for a way to break through to his fellow tamer. It was easier to concentrate with Puppetmon under the control of the demonic bike and no longer trying to smash his head with a hammer, but the ideas he considered were unlikely to work or dangerous. Words just weren't going to get through to him. He would have to take action to prove his innocence.
"If you try that one, you'll get killed," Rika's voice hissed as he considered a particularly crazy stunt.
"Did you hear that?" the boy asked his partner, wondering if his survival instinct's words could be detected by the digimon he was Biomerged with.
Guardromon's tone was fairly distracted, likely because they were trying to dodge another strike from the energy blade, but he stated, "I do not hear anything, Kazu. But I do not know how we will convince Justimon that we are to be trusted. He simply will not listen to reason."
"Don't even think about it. It's even stupider than riding Behemoth," his inner voice scolded, as clear to him as if the red-head was actually present.
"Takato doesn't think before he acts and it still works out for him," muttered Kazu uneasily.
"What are you…?" began Guardromon, confused at the boy's random comment.
He didn't have the chance to finish, however, before the tamer forced them to divide into a human and champion. Now smaller and vulnerable, the boy briefly wondered about the wisdom of his actions before continuing forward with his idea. He stared firmly at the powerful shape of Justimon.
"I will not fight you. You are our friends. We never betrayed you and we never will," he yelled. "If you have to kill me to prove it, I'd rather do that than turn against a friend. So, go ahead."
"Kazu, don't…" shouted Guardromon, trying to shove his partner behind him for protection.
Both the robotic digimon and the hat-wearing tamer froze as the white rectangle around his neck began to glow. Brown lines started to appear across the surface, as if drawn by an invisible hand. The tamer recognized the shape as being identical to part of the sun-like figure of the Crest of Courage, except half was missing from the symbol. It was like a rising sun instead of the sun at the full height of the day. The symbol was accompanied by a ringing sound that swiftly morphed into voices.
Loyalty. Faithfulness to friends, family, partners, ideas, and beliefs. Standing firm in support of what you hold important, even in the face of adversity. Promises and vows are evidence of this, but this dependability can be exhibited in silence as well. It is not for glory or honor that you remain strong. It is to protect and support what is worth your loyalty.
Others may return that unwavering support, responding with your steadfastness with their own. They gain strength from your loyalty and return the favor until both are more powerful than before.
Yet others will betray your loyalty. They will tempt you to turn your back on your beliefs or friends. But if you find your true cause, one that deserves your support, remain loyal to it. Regardless of whether it is an idea or an individual, if it is truly worthy of your faithfulness, never stray from that path.
Loyalty.
"That was weird," muttered the boy. "But awesome. Kind of like the show, but with cooler effects."
Justimon, pausing during the unexpected crest activation, began to move again. He raised his right arm, preparing to attack. He hesitated, seemingly uncomfortable with the idea of attacking an unarmed and helpless human. It was hard to judge the emotions of a featureless face, but Kazu could almost sense the mega's doubts.
Behemoth, on the other hand, didn't intend to see what the vaccine would decide to do. The sentient bike slammed into Justimon with enough force to knock him quite a distance from Kazu. It also dislodged its possessed rider from the seat, bringing the demonic motorcycle to a halt. It rumbled cheerfully, however, and was clearly pleased with itself.
"Ugh… my head," Puppetmon groaned, sitting up. "Hey, the human's back. Time to take care of that."
Confronted with the viral mega coming after him with an explosive mallet, the tamer acted on instinct. He grabbed his D-arc with one hand and his card-like crest with another.
"Digi-Modify! Crest of Loyalty Activate!"
Light surrounded both the boy and robot like before, but stronger and brighter than in the past. Kazu knew whatever was happening would be good.
"Guardromon Crest Biomerge to… HiAndromon Loyalty Mode!"
Another crest activated. Hope you liked the chapter. Three-way fights are hard, by the way. Reviews are deeply appreciated and are a good incentive to update sooner. Thanks.