DIGIMON XROS WARS- A.U. 02
THE YOUNG HUNTERS THAT LEAP THROUGH TIME
ONE YEAR AFTER "CASCADE INCIDENT"_ _ _|
*Cue "Another World"*
"My name is Kudo Taiki, one year ago my team, Xros Heart, defeated the Bagura empire and their evil ways. We were warned by a temporal investigator that something would happen that would destroy all of time and space- not only for our world, but for the entire multiverse."
The camera fades on, showing the town where our story is to take place just as the sun rises over the horizon, just beyond the bridge and the harbor where the battle the previous year had been fought.
"Today marks the one year anniversary of another warning, of similar magnitude but of differing sources. Today marks the day that our adventure would begin once again."
The entire sky flickers with the strange energy of the temporal warps that had been occurring over the last year and a half, when the static energy stopped, the sun was higher in the sky, nearly 10:00 A.M. now...
"In all that had happened since then, I'd nearly forgotten that 'that day' was almost upon us."
Then the camera's view point suddenly pulls down towards a basketball court, where a game in progress was already running.
"It started like any other Saturday, really..."
*cue STAND UP (TWILL) TV Size*
"GO!" the coach of the red-team cried out as his players ran past.
This team's name?
Xros Heart.
_Yeah, Stand up boys!_
And the Coach's name? His fellow teachers and coaches called him Dren Solfield, but to his players... he was known as Dorulumon.
_Come on, Face forward._
The Captain of the team jumped forward, green tinted goggles glinting in the sun- His Name: Taiki Kudo-, as he passed the ball to his teammate to the left.
That Teammate was a boy- with blue eyes, blond hair, and, surprise surprise, Taiki's old goggles keeping said hair out of his eyes- who was a long time friend of Taiki's caught it with ease. His name- Yuu Amano.
_The call enveloping you in your guide_
With a grin he spun around and flung it in the opposite direction, causing the Purple team to scatter.
_Step towards tomorrow_
A girl looking similar to him caught it, and ran for the Purple team's basket- Her name was Kotone Amano, Yuu's younger sister.
_Yeah, Stand up Girls!_
With a jump over an approaching opponent, she flung the ball down into the ground so hard that it bounced off to the hard right, where the next teammate caught it.
_At the end of what's more than real_
That teammate was another girl, also with blond hair, only this time having it's ends tipped in purple and with most of it tied back into a long, thin, pony tail- Her human name was Tairru Yagami, but to her friends, she was Tailmon.
And, with a swoosh, she jumped up, throwing the orange ball straight into the enemy team's basket.
_We'll grab a light that's been covered by thick clouds_
In the audience, several children in particular cheered at this- They were all wearing T-shirts with the Xros Heart Logo on it- Most of them were girls, but included in the mix were two boys. In no particular order, Their first names were Konata, Clubs, Kagami, Kaiyumi, Simon, Tsukasa, and Miyuki. And in the Digital world, they were all Digimon (excluding Clubs Deuce, who was born human)- Togemogumon, Terriermon, Lopmon, Cutemon, Poyomon, and Palmon, in the same order as above.
_How we spent our days before isn't good enough_
"I'm Open!" A boy, with very messy brown hair that had a strange streak of red in it and was being held back by-yet again- more goggles (yellow lenses this time), waved as Taiki got hold of the ball again. "Hey! I'm Open!"
_At Full Speed_
His name?
Tagiru Akashi.
_We Can blast through_
"Pass!" Taiki flung the ball over to the boy, who, as you might have expected, was just an ordinary human boy with a slight energy problem.
_Even the highest walls!_
...Simply put: he had too much of it.
"YAHOO!" Tagiru caught the ball and grinned so wide that the other team paled as they, rightfully so, imagined a steam locomotive powering up for a non-stop ride. For Pete's sake, although it was probably just the heat of the battle getting to them, they even saw steam billowing out of his nose!
_Stand Up for Your Dream!_
"Good grief." Both coaches said in harmony as Tagiru began zigzagging through the entire crowd of purple-shirts.
_Be Enthusiastic at what you do_
Those too far away to do anything about him just stopped to stare at the high-energy comet that was bursting through the Purple Teams' defenses like a hot knife through butter.
_No matter what it is_
Meanwhile a girl on the sidelines of team Xros Heart just sighed in annoyance as she messed with her orange-ish hair. Her name? Mami Takahashi, and she was one of Tagiru's classmates.
_Push your way through to make an opening!_
Tagiru grinned as he jumped up past the opposing team's members, even planting his foot on one of their faces to get a higher momentum built up!
_No matter how far the answer you're seeking is_
Yuu looked up as Tagiru pulled his arms back mid air, preparing for a slam dunk.
_Stand Up For Your Dream!_
And slam Dunk it he did.
That orange ball smashed down through the net so hard that it bounced back across the field...
_Even if your feelings_
...Where it bounced off the side of the Purple team's captain's shoulder and flew high into the air...
_Show weakness_
Kotone jumped up and then punched the basketball back towards the enemy team's goal...
_Your voice that I head close by_
Tairru then grabbed the ball from mid air, and slammed it into the ground, copying Kotone's earlier move, sending the orange little sun flying up into the sky, where it was obscured from view by a bright, white sun.
_Gives me courage and strength_
When it came down a moment later, it slammed back down through the purple team's basket for a second time.
_I Can go the distance_
"WAHOOO!" Tagiru grinned as he stared at the scoreboard after the match. "I Can't believe that worked!"
"You're lucky Kotone was there to bounce the ball back!" Mami scolded the boy as she hit him on the back of the head. "I swear, if the ref' wasn't so impressed by how you all managed to get TWO Slam dunks within thirty seconds of each other, he would've...! Would've...!"
Meanwhile, just a few feet away, Taiki laughed. "They remind me of Shoutmon and Akari during the war."
Yuu smiled uneasily. "What does? The banter or the actual hitting?"
"Just in general," he shrugged. "A vibe, really."
"Well, if you ask me..." Kotone said with a sigh as she picked up her shoulder bag. "They look like they could use an ice bath to cool down. And speaking of, I'm heading home to take a shower."
"That's fine! See ya later!" Yuu smiled at his sister. "But Kotone? Don't use up all the hot water this time."
"Cetus makes no promises, Y-" She stopped as something beeped from within her bag. "Ugh..." Taiki and Yuu looked over, recognizing that beep as that coming from a Wrister. "Kotone here," She said after fishing the device out of it's inventory grave.
"Hey," Sally Sparrow's voice came through the device's small speaker, "Nene sent me an email a few minutes ago, she says there's something you need to see."
"Can it wait?" Kotone asked with a sigh.
"No." Sally replied. "Echinda added that it's urgent, and that you should come to the Digital World right away."
"Can I at least take a shower first?" the girl lamented.
"I'm never going to get used to this whole double identity thing, am I?" Yuu muttered as his sister argued over the wrister with Taiki's girlfriend.
"Hephaestus and I didn't get used to it at all while we were still somewhat separate," Taiki mused. "Fusing together made it easier to handle for me, I guess, but..." he got a distant look on his face for a moment, then shrugged with a smile. "If you're still asking, I'd have to say 'No. No you're not."
"Gee. Thanks." Yuu narrowed his eyes slightly as he sarcastically replied. "That was very encouraging."
"Okay!" Kotone said as she shoved her Wrister back into her shoulder bag. "Change of plans. I'm going to give our dear sister a visit. Who knows when I'll be back. So stay safe!"
"Give her my regards." Taiki said with a nod.
"Will do. And Yuu? Be sure to eat something besides pizza for dinner, would you?" Kotone directed this criticism at Yuu in particular.
"I make no promises!" Yuu replied, quoting his sister's often used catch-phrase.
"So..." Tairru grinned as the team 'Xros Heart' and their 'cheerleaders' began walking away from the basketball court. "What next on today's agenda?"
"I'm taking Kaiyumi and the others back home so they can study for that test on Monday." Taiki said. "Then meeting up with Sally later for dinner."
"Where are you going this time?" Yuu asked.
"I was thinking Italian," Taiki mused.
"Being a teleporting master must be pretty nice..." Tairru purred. "Too bad most of us regular folk have to walk."
"Actually, I was talking about the Bread-Garden that opened up on eighth and ninth." Taiki clarified. "We've been laying off on the tele-dates because...uh..." he blushed slightly before continuing. "Well, Sally has to work earlier shifts now."
"Surrrre she does." Kaiyumi- the Lopmon that had been part of Xros Heart since the beginning, now in human form and now legally registered as Taiki's sister- said with a wry smile. "I hear you guys 'chatting' at night when you aren't traveling across the globe," her smile turned into a full-fledged smirk. "And here I thought I'd get away from all of that by moving here. Silly, silly me!" the sarcasm in her voice laced the entire paragraph heavily.
Simon, Cutemon in human form, blinked and tilted his head. "Huh? What?"
Konata, Togemogumon from Karaoke Zone, put her had on the boy's shoulder, a cat smile bridging her mouth cheek to cheek. "And let's keep it that way!"
"What?" The boy asked again, looking over at the girl with extreme confusion.
"So what about you, Yuu?" Tairru giggled at her pun. "Got any plans for today?"
"Meeting Corone at the arcade," The be-goggled boy shrugged, "that's about it."
"Arcade?!" Tagiru jumped into their conversation suddenly, having ran up to join them as fast as possible. "You mean Quarterz on Ninth and Dragon?"
"Uh...Yeah?" Yuu blinked. "Why?"
"I got a free-day's pass coupon in the mail yesterday!" The boy grinned as he adjusted his own Goggles. "So can I come too?" then, in a lower voice, almost barely a whisper, he added. "I have to get away from Mami! Please let me come!"
The watery look in his eyes, combined with the sudden exclamation of dismay from back at the court ("TAGIRU! WHERE DID YOU GO!?") settled the decision.
"Alright." Yuu smiled apologetically at the boy. "You can come!"
"Thank you!" Tagiru bowed in thanks, timing it so well that he didn't spot the shadow hiding in the trees nearby, a shadow with a pair of eyes glowing through the darkness the tree provided, watching him and him alone.
A short while later, Taiki was walking down the sidewalks and street-ways that led him and his companions towards his house. He was smiling and whistling a tune nonchalantly as the children behind him (Only really a few years younger than him, not enough to be dubbed "Children" by the Digital World's standards) chattered among themselves.
It was then that the instincts of... whatever it was Taiki was now kicked in, causing him to stop walking just in time to spot a shadow leaping across the rooftops.
"Taiki?" Taiiru asked as her own cat-like instincts flared up. "What's up?"
"I'll be right back." Taiki ordered while narrowing his eyes. "Everyone stay here."
And before anyone could get a word in edge wise, he vanished in a flash of red and white energy.
"That never gets old!" Konata grinned.
In an alleyway nearby, Taiki re-appeared almost seamlessly with-in the flow of time.
"This way!" he heard a voice call out... A girl's voice? Taiki narrowed his eyes. Wasn't that the same girl who had talked to him and Kiriha in Honey Land about reviving Nene?
"Oi, Wait up Airu!" ...A boy's voice. He began following the echos down the alley way, reaching a corner.
Airu huh?
"If we don't hurry it'll get away!" the girl's voice came again, louder now.
Taiki turned down that corner.
"Ah-ah-ah!"
A hand planted itself on his chest, and Taiki's eyes narrowed as the hand's owner stepped forward out of the shadows. For a single moment, Taiki thought the owner of that hand was a girl, what with the purple tint to the eyes and the whiteness of the hair, but the voice, combined with the narrowing of said eyes quickly corrected that. "Who are you?" Taiki asked.
"That's not important..." The boy said, his voice deeper in tone than the boy that had spoken before, making three altogether. "What is important that you shouldn't be here."
"What do you mean?" Taiki barely held back a growl.
"Things may be noisy in this town, but it doesn't concern pedestrians." The boy said. "Leave this to the professionals."
"Pedest-" Taiki's eyes narrowed in anger.
The white haired boy fell forward slightly as Taiki teleported a few feet backwards and upwards. "What the...?"
"My name is Kudo, Taiki." Taiki said as he landed on a nearby rooftop. "So I'll say it again..." He cleared his throat, using the 'power' voice he'd been practicing. "Who are you?"
Ryouma Mogami stared at the super-powered boy for a single moment before he realized that this...could he even be called a boy?... 'person' before him was anything but an innocent pedestrian...
Far from it in fact.
*Cue Title Theme*
"We Are: DIGIMON HUNTERS!"
QUARTERZ ARCADE_ _ _|
"OH COME ON!"
You could hear Tagiru's exclamation of annoyance from the street outside, much to every passerby's surprise, to the point that everyone looked away, towards the arcade, just in time to miss a burst of digital static rift through the street.
The cause of said exclamation?
A pinball machine, celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Digica Scrab series and all of it's various incarnations, that Tagiru had just lost at.
For the third time that hour.
And he still didn't have the high score.
Corone rolled her eyes. "You know that isn't going to make it work any better, right?"
"Got to give him credit though," Yuu lamented before taking a sip from his soda can. "He doesn't give up!"
Tagiru sighed, then slammed his face into the front plate of the machine as he muttered over the machine's complaint of a "Tilt!" "Why is my life such a pain...?"
As he said this rather loudly despite muttering, several people looked over, one of them being a girl in a pink dress further away in the arcade than most of the others looking his way. Her eyes were hidden beneath her pink cowboy hat and long brown hair, and she was clutching a small pendant that had been hanging around her neck in her gloved hand.
Yuu and Corone shared an uneasy glance. She shrugged, and he sighed in return. "Look, Tagiru..." Yuu began as he put a hand on the other goggle boy's shoulder. "You may think that everyone but you has it easy...But the truth is we all have out miseries to go through every day."
"Like what?" Tagiru asked, raising an eyebrow. "Everyone around me seems like they have some sort of relationship going, and it looks to me like their lives go pretty smoothly."
"Everyone has their rough spots to over come," Corone began.
"That's not what I mean!" Tagiru stood up and turned to face the couple of eleven months. "You guys have this big whole group of friends that just fit together and I always feel like I'm just butting in!" he raised a finger and cut Yuu off with a well timed: "Just like right now, I might add! You guys don't have to hang out with me! You're just making me feel like a third wheel!"
"Oi, Tagiru..." Yuu began. "You know that we don't...!"
"'Oi' nothing!" The boy huffed as he crossed his arms. "I just want to fit in with someone for a change! People in school treated me like I'm a total idiot until I joined your basketball team, and even you guys seem distant at times. Like what's this job Taiki's girlfriend has, huh? Nobody'll tell me what it is! And speaking of Taiki, why'd he even invite me to join that basketball team of his anyways? I mean, it's fun and all, but every time I ask him why, he never gives me straight answer!"
"That's..." Yuu glanced to Corone, and she nodded, as if she too felt the need for a honest answer to be given. "Something we shouldn't talk about here."
As Tagiru began to fume in annoyance, Corone spotted a security guard by a door to the arcade's stock room and said "Let's go." before reaching out to drag both boys through the arcade by their hands.
As they passed by on their way, the cowboy hat girl turned to an older teen with glasses and light blue hair. "Well, that's my job done for now."
"Sincerity always works best with situations like these." the teen replied with a nod. "All we have to do now is wait."
They entered the employee's only section of the arcade with a simple flash of a badge from Yuu's wallet. The security guard just let them right on through with a nod, much to Tagiru's concern. 'I hope I'm not getting mixed up in any mafia business. You never can tell with people these days.' he glanced around in concern as Corone and Yuu led him into the far back, where no cameras seemed to reside. 'Oh god...What if they are mafia!? Yakuza? Foreign Nationals? Oh god oh god oh god..." he started to sweat.
"Are we good?" Corone asked as Yuu fiddled with some sort of...iPod? What the heck was that thing anyways? A mutant microphone? Wait. Wasn't that a Xros Loader? One of the things that the-
"Good," Yuu nodded as he put the device back into his back pocket. "No listening devices around."
Listening devices? Tagiru gulped, his thought track changed immediately.
With that done, Yuu and Corone turned to face the boy...
And then the whole arcade dissolved away into debris and rubble with a sudden "Bwhrr" of static, leaving the be-goggled boy standing alone in the moss and vegetation over-run version of the arcade.
"Nan..." The boy's eyes widened in surprise. "...Des ka...?"
"Oh F-" The words left Yuu's mouth before he even realized he'd said it.
"What just happened?" Corone ran a hand through the spot the goggle wearing boy had previously occupied. "Where'd he go?"
"Time storm." Yuu growled as he fished a Wrister out of a pocket. "Why'd one appear now of all place? Take him of all people!?"
"Something tells me we're not going to be able to give him the explanation he wanted," Corone frowned.
"Taiki-" Yuu spoke into the Wrister. "We've got a major problem here!"
"Let me guess?" Taiki replied nonchalantly on the other end. "Tagiru's gone?"
"Yeah," Yuu nodded. "How'd you know?"
"Let's just say it's a hunch for now." Taiki paused on the other end for a moment, as if distracted by something on his end. "Well, more than a hunch, actually. Get to the corner of Winterstreet and Castlerun as soon as you can."
Corone and Yuu shared an uneasy glance at that.
"RUINED EARTH"_ _ _|
Tagiru looked around in confusion. "What the hell...Where am I?"
The world around him appeared to have become decayed and destroyed instantly- years worth of damage suddenly was all over everything. Everything was bathed in a constant pink glow- as the sky had turned a reddish purple color- and there was moss and plant life growing over everything.
Marking off the oddest thing of all, however, was the fact that no matter where he stepped, green particles of light would float away from the ground a second later.
He'd seen something similar on TV once, how Digimon from the World the Earth now orbited along side were made out of computer data. Surely this wasn't that world?
If it was, why weren't there any Digimon about? Why was everything in ruins?
"Hello?" He called out. "Anyone there...?"
Silence, save his voice's echo.
"Damn it, They must've been mafia, that's got to be it," Tagiru grumbled. "No, can't be. They named their team after the one that saved our world, right?" he stopped. "Unless they are that team?" he frowned. "But that can't be it then..."
Impossible. It had to be.
Surely the heroes who saved the world wouldn't just go to school in their spare time? And even if they were the same Xros Heart, then why would they have intentionally sought him out? He was just a looser kid with way too much energy- there's nothing that he could have brought to their close knit family. Hell, there was barely anything he brought to the basketball team beyond his miracle throws.
But that had to have been a Xros Loader Yuu had.
And then there was Mami. Maybe she was in on it too? The girl had never even given him the time of day before he joined up with Taiki's basketball team. Maybe she was an evil digimon intending to kill him, and he was secretly under Xros Heart's protection?
"Idiot." He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm asleep. There's no other explanation. I'm asleep and I'm dreaming. That's gotta be it."
At that moment, rather loud roar shook the abandoned city to its core, proving the opposite of his current line of thought.
"..." He stared straight ahead, a scowl forming on his face. "This is the weirdest dream I've ever had if I am dreaming."
The street shook with another roar, and broken glass rattled as something above him broke.
"Get Down!" And then someone jumped from the side, pushing him to cover behind a ruined car, just in time to save the boy from being hit by a pile of falling debris from a collapsing building.
Tagiru hit the dirt as his savior rolled underneath the car from the moment before. "Ow..." he groaned. "Definitely not dreaming then..."
It was then that he saw what had caused the building to nearly collapse onto him- A massive white Dinosaur with cybernetic enhancements allover its body- a MetalTyranomon.
It roared as it shoved itself to its feet, glaring at something in the distance- probably whatever had made it fall. And then it lunged forward, clawed feet plowing through the ruined road, tearing it up even more than it had been already.
Tagiru, for his part, simply stared on in shock as it happened. "Okay." He said after a moment of relative silence (MetalTyranomon was roaring as explosions occurred around it). "That's a Digimon."
He slowly pushed himself up to his knees, and looked through the car's broken windows, watching as the Dinosaur fought...something.
It was humanoid, wearing a blue business suit, and had on a strange piece of head-gear. It must have been another Digimon, because it held a weapon that shot out bursts of light that simply bounced off of the Tyranomon's skin and exploded harmlessly into the surrounding environment.
Nearby was a boy- that Ryouma fellow from before- holding up a sickly looking Lime Green Xros Loader. "Come on, Astamon!" He was yelling to the Digimon. "You can do better than this!"
It was then that another boy, wearing a heavy jacket and a very odd looking cap, ran up, holding a pure Silver Xros Loader. "Ryouma!" he called out. "It's a trap! Get Astamon out of there now!"
"What?" Ryouma spun around, distracted- He failed to deliver the warning in time as the ground suddenly exploded up from beneath the MetalTyranomon, sending it flying backwards on a very controlled arc, and causing the Astamon's targeting to fall off center.
He hit a flying piece of rock, and fell down uncontrolled towards the ground.
But the ground wasn't there when he hit it.
The explosion had destabilized the street so much that the entire physical structure of that area had begun to liquidize- becoming a massive sand trap. Astamon hit the 'dirt' and began to sink. Moments later, the two boys soon found themselves sinking as well- MetalTyranomon was having an easy time of it, however- having "luckily" landed from his earlier toss onto a stable piece of land.
"And Stay Out, you little brats!" The Tyranomon said before he stuck his tongue out at the two boys as he turned on his heels and leaped towards a nearby rooftop- making it shake under his weight- before he leaped off into the distance again.
"Damn it, Ren!" Ryouma snapped at the other boy. "What the hell just happened!?"
"Dracmon stepped on something- that's how the Tyranomon knew we were here!" The other boy, Ren, hastily explained as he tried to wriggle free of the sand trap. "Airu was trying to figure out how to get him out without bringing the whole place down when..."
"Hehehehahahahah!" A voice laughed from under the car. "Oh Man that was a classic!"
Tagiru lowered himself down to look under the car, for the first time getting a good long glimpse of his previous savior. "Eh-!?" He blinked. It was a small, tiny, no bigger than his hand, humanoid-shaped dragon- purple and white in coloring- this little Digimon had a red vest over his chest, and his tail ended in a small little mallet. "You're so small!"
The Dragon turned his head...all the way around. "Oh! You!" he twisted his body around to match his head and strolled out from under the car...Moments later beginning to stretch back out to a larger size. "Hey! I never got to properly introduce myself, did I?" Now resting at about waist height, the still small dragon held out his hand... which promptly grew even larger to match Tagiru's own hand. "Gumdramon's mah name, and stretchin's mah game!" he laughed at this. "You won't find a stretchier digimon this side of the divide!"
Taigiru stared at this... "Gumdramon" ...in relative shock. "You...You're...!"
"What? You're just leavin' me hangin'? No name? Cat got your tongue or somethin'?" He stretched his head's shape out to mimick a Gatomon's as he stuck his tongue out, then 'snapped' it back to normal. "hehe, sorry, that never gets old!"
"Tagiru!" he finally brought his hand to meet the Gumdramon's in a hefty handshake. "I'm Akashi, Tagiru."
"Nice to meet you Tagiru Akashi Tagiru!" This... Gumdramon shifted his hand into a microphone like shape as he leaned in to speak into it as if he were a sort of newscaster. "So where're you from? The Baltics? You've got that sort of oriental theme goin' on! Not that I know where the Baltics are. Haha! But that's just me! I'm new to this town. You the tour guide?"
Tagiru had no clue what to say in response to that.
EYE CATCH!
On one side of a Disk stood Tagiru, and on the other, Gumdramon. Both leaping forward with grins on their faces.
The Disk flipped over, revealing a purple outline of a Dragon digimon roaring to the heavens in front of the number Sixty-Nine.
EYE CATCH!
It was then that a Vegimon appeared on a nearby rooftop, throwing down his vines so that Ren and Ryouma could climb up out of the pit.
"Astamon: Return!" Ryouma held out his Xros Loader once he was high enough up to get a clear view of his trapped partner. There was a burst of light, and the poor Digimon was saved from the pit fall.
"OI!" A girl, blond hair, dressed in way too Pink clothing that looked just a tad too small for her age, called out as she leaned over the edge of that rooftop. "You two let him get away, didn't you!"
"Airu!" Ren cried up to the girl. "He had another sand trap waiting for us! Bigger than the last one too!"
"How the hell did he have that made up?" The girl huffed. "The one your Dracmon triggered was way smaller!"
"How should I know!?" Ren snapped. "You're the trap expert!"
"PLEASE," Ryouma said rather loudly. "Can you both just shut up for a moment and let us climb to safety in peace?"
As the trio of children left the rooftop, descending down via a fire escape, Gumdramon caught sight of them out of the corner of his eye.
"Yeek!" he shrunk back down and dove under the car. "I thought those guys would've been stuck for hours, not minutes!"
Tagiru did a double take. "Huh, what?"
"Hunters!" Gumdramon hissed as he shifted into a house cat like form. "That girl especially. Always with the cute and the Oh I want it mentality." He stuck his tongue out and arched his back as he did so, which really sold the cat form he'd taken. "Bleh! I just wanna slap her upside the head for trying to catch me with that stupid trap 'f hers!"
"What trap?" Tagiru blinked. What was this guy going on about now?
"If any of them ask, you didn't see me!" Then Gumdramon twisted up into a random rock, trying to become as still as he could.
Taking the hint that hiding might be a good idea, Tagiru crawled to the side of the car and crouched behind it. It didn't take too long for the trio of "Hunters" to stroll past where Tagiru and Gumdramon were hiding...
And as they did, their nonsensical argument came to a halt as a Digimon forced their way out of Ren's Xros Loader.
"I smell fresh meat!" came Dracmon's whiny voice as he pointed at the car.
"A digimon?" Ren asked.
"Nah." Dracmon replied with a grin. "A human!"
Taigru had to force himself from taking in a sharp breath. 'Damnit!Damnit!Damnit!Damnit!Damnit!Damnit!Damnit!'
A digimon reloaded from Airu's pink Xros Loader- an Opposumon. "Maybe we should check it out?" she asked of her partner with a slight lisp to her words.
"Sure." She nodded...
And the Opposumon floated up over the car on her balloons...
Tagiru looked up.
She looked down.
For a single moment their eyes met...
And then MetalTyranomon roared as his towering form appeared in the distance.
"Damn it!" Ryouma turned on his heals to look up at the distant MetalTyranomon. "It's coming back for more!"
"Nobody here!" Opposomon turned around and flew back to her partner. "Just some rusty ol' Car!"
"Let's get after that Tyranomon then!" Ren ordered. "Albinos are super rare!"
"But-!" The Dracmon tried to move for the car.
"Get the lead out already!" Airu grabbed him by the colar and dragged him away. "The sooner we catch that Tyranomon the sooner we can find that cutie Gumdramon!"
"Nyeeehhh!" The poor demon just couldn't win- first he triggered a sand trap, now he was being taken away from a potential spy!
As the trio ran off, Tagiru just stared up at the pinkish clouds above him, wondering what the hell had just happened.
After a few moments of relative silence, Gumdramon pulled himself out from under the car. "Wow, did I pick a good time to hide in a Tyranomon's territory or what?" As the little dragon sat down next to the goggle wearing boy, he continued, "yeesh, what a day. What! A! DAY!"
"So uh..." Tagiru asked after a moment. "Where the heck are we, anyways?"
"Eh?" Gumdramon blinked. "I thought you knew?"
"Nope." Tagiru shook his head. "I just sort of...got lost somehow?" he frowned a bit. "I was just chatting with my friends, and then..." he blew some air through his lips. "Pfff... I'm here."
"Same here," Gumdramon laughed. "'Scept for the fact that I was in jail, not talking to any friends."
"Jail?" Tagiru raised an eyebrow.
"Ehehe...yeah..." The dragon smiled, a little embarrassed. "I uh...Was trying to become the next big superstar of the digital world but I got a bit too loud doing it! Yeah, that's it..." he looked to the side. "Exactly that...Exactly that. Superstar. Heh. Yeah. That's me!" he chuckled a little. "Gumdramon! The next big superstar!"
"Well...Mister Superstar..." Tagiru laughed a little as well. "I don't suppose you know where to go from here?"
"Nope!" Gumdramon shook his head. "I only knew this was a Tyranomon's turf by all the claw marks on the buildings."
"Smart move," came a new voice, older, gruffer, and somewhat wise beyond his years.
The confused duo froze as the car they were hiding behind was pulled aside, causing them both to fall backwards.
Immediately, they both looked up to see an old man standing above them, in his right hand was a cane, and in his left was a Black and Gold Xros Loader, scratched up and rather beaten looking. His face was obscured partially by the sunglasses over his eyes and the visor on his forehead.
"And to answer your earlier question..." The man said, "you've stumbled onto the plane of existence called Digi-Quartz- a shadow dimension created when the Human and Digital Worlds fused together."
"Chi Chi Chi!" Chimed in a Clockmon, although different from the ones usually seen in that it was just the clock portion, no human 'rider' on the top. "Digi-Quartz is a dangerous place for people such as yourselves! How did you get here?"
"Uh..." Tagiru blinked. "The world changed around me?"
"I don't got a clue," Gumdramon repeated flatly.
"Well, then," The old man said as he lifted his Xros Loader up, "perhaps we should return you to a place where you can make some sense of things." The screen flashed as he said his next two words: "Time Shift."
The Destroyed World of "Digi-Quartz" vanished around them in a burst of white light and clock motifs.
EARTH_ _ _| JAPAN_ _ _| TEMPO-QUARTZ CLOCK SHOP_ _ _|
Tagiru and Gumdramon found themselves surrounded by many, many, many clocks very suddenly. And then the boy realized he was still lying on the ground, so he sat up.
"Welcome to my humble shop," The old man said as he moved towards a back counter- the Clockmon having vanished somewhere among the other clocks. "Please, make yourselves at home while I explain..."
"Um..." Gumdramon looked around. "What the heck is this place?"
"I build clocks for a living," the man said as he fiddled with the safe under the counter. "Sell them as well. I have for over sixty years now, both here and in the Digital World."
"Both worlds?" Tagiru mused as he looked at a rather random looking clock. "So you've traveled between them?"
"Yes, I have," The Watch-Maker said as he twisted the dial around. "Though more so in the last year than the twelve before it."
"It's a very nice shop," Tagiru said as he looked over to the counter, "but why are we here?"
"To introduce you to the ever changing game, dear boy." The man chuckled as he unlocked the safe. "I accidentally discovered Digi-Quartz on my first trip between the worlds after the reunion, and I discovered that Digi-Quartz existed at a point somewhat out of sync between these worlds- to the point that it had already existed a few decades despite only recently being formed from our perspective." He pulled the door open and slid out a shelf, one that contained a not too fancy wooden box that seemed just big enough to hold several somethings inside. "And due to that, I encountered Digimon and humans who had been stuck there for varying points of time despite their past selves not being...how do I say it...ah...Yes! Despite not having been lost to the Digi-Quartz in the first place." He motioned for the duo to come over to his counter. "Come here, would you?"
Tagiru looked at Gumdramon, who shrugged in return. They walked over.
"To help in returning the lost Digimon and Humans to their proper time, I devised a game, of sorts," The Watch-Maker continued, "that game is what I like to call 'the Quartz Hunt.'"
"And the players are called 'hunters', am I right?" Gumdramon asked as he stretched his legs upwards so he could lean against the counter the man was bringing the box up to.
"Quite so." The Watch-Maker said as he opened the box, revealing a familiar looking shape on its cover- that of a Xros Loader. "The Hunters would 'Hunt' down those wild ones who had been trapped in the world, and help them reintegrate with their lost worlds. Typically, I recruit two from each of the two worlds via my shops both there and here. I hand them a puzzle box, claiming it's an entry to a game, and if those that solve it get identical solutions, they can join into the hunt as partners." The man smirked. "For you two, however, I'm foregoing that, due to your special circumstances. It's not every day that I find myself finding people who have fallen through only just recently." And so he pulled out a pristine, white, unused Xros Loader. "This is a Xros Loader, as you two are no doubt familiar with." He held it up to show it to them. "You're in luck, this device was just born yesterday- in fact, it's the first one I've had the pleasure of hatching personally."
"It...hatched?" Tagiru blinked. "Like, out of an egg?"
"Xros Loaders are like Digimon then," Gumdramon mused. "Sometimes eggs just appear and something get's born from them. Digimon like that are usually the Digital World's own chosen children!"
"Quite so!" The Watch-Maker said as he laid the device onto the counter so he could put the box back. "So then, are you two willing to help save the helpless from the ever-continuing trap that is Digi-Quartz?"
The bell to the shop rang as Tagiru and Gumdramon raced out the doors, leaving a very amused Watch-Maker behind.
"Crimson, huh?" was all he said as a smirk began to form on his face.
ELSEWHERE_ _ _|
Taiki stared up at an office building that had drawn everyone's attention due to the massive cloud of static hanging around it.
"Taiki-san!" Yuu's voice called out as he and Corone ran up to him. "We're here!"
"See that?" Taiki pointed up to the static cloud. "A massive temporal rift that just appeared out of thin air."
"The storms are coming back, aren't they?" Yuu asked.
"Considering that you said Tagiru vanished in a puff of static?" Taiki said flatly as he stared up at it. "And the fact that I met the 'Ryouma' that future me mentioned in the past..."
"Yeah, that was a rhetorical question I asked, wasn't it?" Yuu sighed.
"So what's going on?" Corone asked. "Here, I mean."
"Static cloud formed out of nowhere, reports are that an image matching the shape of a MetalTyranomon is inside it," Taiki explained while narrowing his eyes. "MetalTyranomon. That can't be a coincidence."
"After what happened with a MetalTyranomon last summer?" Corone asked. "And yes, Yuu, that's a rhetorical question."
"So what do we do?" Yuu asked.
"Tagiru's at the center of this. So we wait for him to return- and the storms always do that around us," Taiki explained. "I've already called Shoutmon about it. He said he's on his way, but he won't be here for another day."
"Can't you just teleport him?" Corone asked.
"He said he had to wrap something up first," Taiki answered. "With the journal, remember?"
"I still don't get why he's obsessing over it," Yuu frowned.
"Today's date is one of the ones marked with exclamation marks," Taiki reminded the other goggle wearing boy. "The game is afoot, Watson."
At that moment- the part of the building inside the static cloud exploded dramatically as a static-like image leaped out of the cloud.
Taiki brought his Orange Xros Loader up and tilted it at an angle, bringing out a holographic compass that locked onto the static image from his point of view- clearing the pixelated image into something solid- That of a MetalTyranomon. "And right on cue," he took off after it. "Come on!"
Tagiru and Gumdramon ran down the streets with no direction in mind.
"So what do we do about this hunting thing anyways?" Gumdramon was asking. "Where should we start first?"
"Let's get that dinosaur you saved me from, first!" Tagiru replied with a grin. "Then we'll see about finding things after that!"
It was right about then that the building exploded, and the static-shadow of MetalTyranomon flew through the air, just above them.
"Ah!" Gumdramon grinned. "Talk about luck!"
"Yeah!" Tagiru held up his newly minted Crimson Red Xros Loader. "Let's Go! TIME SHIFT!"
"Isn't that Tagiru?!" Yuu cried out in surprise as the other boy cut across the street and vanished into an alley way with a burst of white light.
"Exactly that!" Taiki smirked slightly. "Come on, before the portal closes!"
"What portal!?" Corone cried out as they turned into the alley way...
To see a shimmery wimmery, shiney winey clock-themed portal.
"Oh." She finished. "That one."
For Tagiru and Gumdramon, the transition was nearly instantaneous- the portal seemed to freeze them in space as the world around them transitioned from earth to this "Digi-Quartz" location, and as this happened, the static-shadow of MetalTyranomon shifted into the real thing just above them.
As they stepped out of the portal, their feet touched dirt and they kept on pounding along after the MetalTyranomon.
"Whoo!" Gumdramon let loose a holler of glee. "Now this is fun!"
"More fun than being a superstar?" Tagiru asked with a friendly grin.
"No Doubt that being a Super Star is GREAT!" Gumdramon jumped into the air and did a summer-sault. "But this has got to be tied for a close second!"
"Hahah!" Tagiru grinned.
They stormed out of the formerly dead-end alley and emerged into an abandoned plaza, where MetalTyranomon was...chewing on a building.
"Woah!" Gumdramon laughed. "What a break! We caught him on his snack run!"
"Well let's get to it then!" Tagiru grinned.
And it was at that moment that both of them realized that they had no clue what the hell they were doing.
MEANWHILE_ _ _| THE CLOCK SHOP_ _ _|
The Watch-Maker blinked as he suddenly remembered a critical piece of information. "Oh crap." He turned around and leaned back into the room just behind the back table- where a guide book lay abandoned on the table. "I forgot to give them the rule book!" he started to sweat a little. "Damn it."
DIGI-QUARTZ_ _ _|
"FIRE VORTEX!" Gumdramon rolled into a sphere, encased himself in fire, and flung himself forward at the MetalTyranomon, in hopes of doing some damage to the massive dinosaur.
A swat of the tail and the poor Gumdramon went flying backwards- bouncing haphazardly against the buildings like a super rubber ball. "WAAAAHHH!" he cried out as he bounced from place to place.
"Gumdramon!" Tagiru tried, and failed, to follow the trajectory his partner was taking as he bounced across the buildings and rooftops.
MetalTyranomon, for his part, was absurdly calm as the little purple dragon made out of rubber bounced all over his teritory. He just chewed absentmindedly on a piece of concrete as Gumdramon bounced about without aim.
Meanwhile, on a nearby rooftop, the trio of Hunters just stared haplessly at the unfortunate situation.
"Seriously?" Ren gawked as Gumdramon bounced off of a bent street sign and flung high into the air. "These guys don't stand a chance against a MetalTryanomon!"
"They're new to the game," Ryouma said as he crossed his arms. "They'll figure out they're in over their heads soon enough."
"Why'd the cute one have to end up partnered with a goggle-brain like that kid for?" Airu pouted. "If I'd caught him he'd be doing so much better right now."
Opposomon squeaked in protest at her partner's comment. "NO! No he wouldn't!"
"RAAAAAAHHH!" Finally, Gumdramon caught a lucky angle and actually rebounded into the back of MetalTyranomon's neck with more speed than he would have had normally- causing MetalTyranomon to take note of the little pest, and Gumdramon to fly back into the air.
"YOOSHAAAA!" Gumdramon cheered as he rolled out of his sphere attack and punched the air, floating there on some tiny wings he'd just made. "Yeah! I hit him!"
MetalTyranomon turned his head and raised an eyebrow, as if asking the little dragon "Really? You're proud of all that bouncing you just did?"
"BYEEH!" Gumdramon stuck his tongue out at the MetalTyranomon and then rolled up into a sphere again. "FIRE VORTEX!"
And he fell.
"Is..." Ren blinked. "Is his plan to bounce MetalTyranomon into submission?"
Gumdramon smashed into MetalTyranomon's snout, and bounced away, hitting a nearby building, and then bouncing back towards the Tyranomon...
Who simply caught Gumdramon in his cybernetic claw, stopping all momentum, and then squeezed.
Like a projectile launcher from a certain line of Lego toys, Gumdramon flung out in a direction of Tyranomon's choosing- which happened to be directly at Tagiru.
"DOOF!" The boy grunted as he and Gumdramon were flung into a nearby alleyway.
"Aaaand they're done," Ryouma shook his head. "Pathetic, really."
"Noobs," Ren agreed.
"You know." Gumdramon mused as they both stared up at the sky from where they had stopped rolling. "I'm beginning to think we're out of our league here."
"Maybe..." Tagiru sighed. "So much for this idea."
"Meh," Gumdramon sighed as well. "It's not like we can even put that Xros Loader to any good use. Xros Heart had a huge team right from the start...They could Digi-Xros to their hearts content!"
"What do we have?" Tagiru asked. "Just you and me."
"And then there's that whole super-duper 'Time burst! Now I'm in my future form' thing they could do," Gumdramon continued on. "I heard they modded their Xros Loaders with some other kind of Digivice just to get that to work. So we probably can't even do that!"
The duo sighed in unison.
"So what do we do now?" Tagiru asked as he stared up at what appeared to be a star, peeking through the clouds. "Keep trying?"
"Sure, I guess." Gumdramon shrugged. "Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll just fall asleep?"
Tagiru frowned as the star he was watching seemed to glow brighter. "Hey, Gumdramon?"
"Yeah?" Gumdramon replied. "What is it?"
"Is that a star?" Tagiru pointed up.
Gumdramon looked up. "Huh?" Indeed, up in the skies was what appeared to be a shimmering star that was indeed getting brighter and brighter with each passing second. "Ah..." Gumdramon blinked. "That's new."
"Really?" Tagiru's frown deepened.
"Yeah," Gumdramon nodded. "I haven't seen a single star the whole time I was here."
"Then what is it?" Tagiru had to ask.
Ryouma's little band of merry Hunters stopped in their tracks as MetalTyranomon looked straight up, and seemed to take several steps back in surprise.
"What's going on?" Airu frowned. "What's gotten into him?"
Ren looked up. "Uh...Guys...?"
"What is it?" Ryouma asked.
"Look," The other boy simply raised a finger to the sky.
The other two Hunters did such, looking up to the heavens as...
"You've got to be joking...!" Airu lamented as a blinding white sphere of light shot down through the sky towards the alleyway where Tagiru and Gumdramon had landed.
There was an explosion of golden light that seemed to stay in place for way too long...
Everyone's eyes were drawn to the alleyway as two figures emerged from the light show- or rather, were at the center of it, drawing it outwards.
Tagiru held his Xros Loader up, and Gumdramon looked absolutely ready to tear something apart. Both of them had their eyes hidden behind a curious white glow as they looked straight ahead towards the MetalTyranomon.
As for the source of golden light- that would be courtesy of the matching bracelets that had somehow found their way onto Tagiru's left wrist and Gumdramon's tail. Both of them were simple, golden rings, but they had what appeared to be comet trails arching out behind them.
"Ready?" Tagiru asked of his friend.
"Oh yeah!" Gumdramon cracked his knuckles.
And then the glowing number 69 flashed onto the Xros Loader's screen.
"TIME BURST!" The duo roared at once as the flaring trails from the bracelets flared around them and then connected together in a blinding explosion of light.
*cue Tagiru Chikara*
"REEYYYAAAHHHH!"Gumdramon's body seemed to explode into data as he expanded outwards, changing forms in a more drastic way than usual.
His tail became long and serpentine like- tapering out into into a massive battle ax. His simple red vest turned into a massive piece of torso armor, complete with shoulder fins that extended out into what looked like stationary wings containing jet thrusters. His little hands blew out into giant fists wrapped up in yellow gloves, and his clawed feet became excessively layered in metallic plating- almost looking as if he were wearing yellow boots. His legs were coated in black leather pants, held up by a belt that was massively long to the point that it practically became a tail-coat.
Finally, his head elongated, and a massive metallic helmet snapped into place with a hiss of steam as his green eyes flared open beneath a set of goggles. Yes. He was a dragon digimon, and he was wearing goggles.
"CHOU SHINKA! ARRESTERDRAMON!"
Ryouma's jaw fell open. "He did WHAT!?"
Ren whistled in appreciation as the dragon took to the air. "Now that's a beauty of a rare beast. They don't usually have the goggles!"
MetalTyranomon narrowed his eyes at the little dragon grown big. Nothing good ever came out of things falling from the sky. He raised his clawed arm up...
...And then the speedy purple dragon flew down in a blur of motion, slamming his gloved fist into the Tyranomon's face. "YOSHA!"
MetalTyranomon went flying backwards like a comet- smashing through a nearby building and causing it to collapse down onto him.
"YAHOO!" Tagiru jumped as he punched the air above him. "That was awesome, Gumdramon!"
"Heheh..." the dragon chuckled. "Now this is how a superstar rolls!" He stepped back and struck a peculiar fighting stance, as if he were standing on some invisible floor, while he waited for MetalTyranomon to pry himself out of the collapsed building.
It didn't take long.
"ATOMIC LASER!"
The explosion sent the building remains high into the air, where it all dissolved away into data before it could descend down again.
MetalTyranom huffed out a puff of steam. "So...A worthy opponent approaches at last."
"You betcha!" Arresterdramon laughed. "The Digital World's Number One Superstar has finally arrived!"
"Superstar, huh?" The Tyranomon laughed. "Well, I've seen my fair share of those rise and fall- Taught a fair share of 'em myself! So if you think you're the new top dog, then prove it!" he held his arms out wide. "Take me down in one hit!"
"One hit?" Tagiru smirked. "We'll take you down in one HALF!" he pointed dramatically at MetalTyranomon. "LET'S GO!"
Arresterdramon soared forward on the blink of an eye as the ax on his tail glowed a bright blue. "PRISIM GARRET!"
SSSSSSSHHWWWAAMMMNN
A massive purple whirlwind erupted on the spot where MetalTyranomon was standing, and when it cleared, MetalTyranomon fell to the ground, stunned, and tied up in Arresterdramon's long and flexible tail. "Wh...What?"
"Heh heh..." Arresterdramon smiled behind that face plate of his. "Cat got your tongue?"
The Tyranomon blinked, then began to smile. "You've got talent if you could get me tied up so fast that I couldn't even see what was happening!" his smile turned into a smirk. "So what are you going to do now? Send me back to the Digital World? Kill me? Keep me locked in your Xros Loader as a trophy?"
"You said you trained superstars before." Taigru said as he walked over. "Would you mind helping Gumdramon here out with that before we send you home?"
"Hey!" MetalTyranomon laughed. "Now that's something I haven't done in years! Sure thing! That sounds like a fair trade to me!"
"Awesome!" The goggle boy held out his Xros Loader, and MetalTyranomon went inside with a flash of green light.
Ryouma's team stood there in shock at what had just happened.
"Did...he just..." Airu asked after a moment of silence, "talk that MetalTyranomon into joining his team?"
"I think he just did." Ren stared, completely confused as well, though somewhat miffed that he had lost the Tyranomon to someone-else's collection. "Why didn't we ever think of that?"
"He didn't even use a capture grid." Airu continued her little rant. "He didn't even use a Capture Grid!"
"Just who is this boy?" Ryouma narrowed his eyes. "And why did a light from the sky just give him the power of a future form while we've had to find alternatives?"
Meanwhile, Airu's partner, Opposomon, just stared down at the goggle wearing team in awe. 'Akashi-kun...' she thought with widening eyes. 'You're so cool...!'
After a few moments of standing around, basking in the glow of success...
Arresterdramon began to glow a brilliant gold light... And then shrunk back down into Gumdramon.
"Nak!" he cried out as he hit the ground with a solid Doof.
"You okay there, Gumdramon?" Taigru kneeled down to help his partner up.
"Yeah, I'm fine..." Gumdramon muttered as he dusted himself off. "But...How the heck did we even just pull that off?"
"That's exactly what I want to know," came a voice from behind them.
Gumdramon froze as his eyes met those of Kudo, Taiki, and he fell backwards in shock. "H-H-" He stammered. "HEPHAESTUS!" his voice cracked in terror.
Taigru spun around, not expecting to see his own basketball team leader standing behind them...
With red eyes that flickered with red energy.
"T...Taiki-san...?" Tagiru did a double take.
"Tagiru. Gumdramon." Taiki said as he put his hands behind his back. "We need to talk."
TO BE CONTINUED!
NEXT TIME!
"Waaahhh...Just when I thought I was out, they Pulled me back in!"
"Akashi-kun!"
"Tagiru!"
"Why can't you just leave me alone for a change!?"
"Eheheheeh...As you wish, foolish boy!"
"Next time: Digimon Xros Wars: Hunters!"
"Sagomon the Deviant VS. The Heir of Space!"
"I'll Catch you for sure, Sagomon!"
ACT 3 INTERMISSION 1: KARAOKE AGAIN!
DIGITAL WORLD_ _ _| SOUTH WEST KARAOKE BAR_ _ _| SIX MONTHS AFTER "CASCADE" INCIDENT_ _ _|
*Tap tap tap*
Everyone's attention was brought to the stage as the bar's owner, Kazemon, tapped at the microphone. "Heyya everyone!" She waved a little to the rather large crowd. "How's it hanging?"
"Awesome!" A well on the way to being drunk Revolomon shouted out with glee.
"Great!" She smiled. "It's hard to believe it's been six months huh? Half a year since that meany DarkKnightmon got what he deserved for trying to take over two whole worlds..." she closed her eyes. "There have been a lot of changes, Kings have been crowned..." In the audience, Shoutmon smirked slightly. "...New lives have been started..." Mervamon lightly hit Beelzebmon in the shoulder, making him chuckle a little. "...And we're all still alive, thankfully!" Kroket, one of the PawnChessmon, nodded at this. "So I think it's only fair that on the one year anniversary of Xros Heart visiting our little bar that we hold a party!"
There was much cheering at this, as well as a certain Wisemon whistling rather loudly.
"So to start tonight off, one of our own locals wanted to open us up with a song that his local group, a very rocking Rock Band, was named after." Kazemon continued. "So everyone! Give a big round of applause for Clubs Deuce, and his own personal take on this classic song!"
As the audience clapped and cheered, she stepped off of the stage, allowing Clubs Deuce to hop up to take the microphone. He smiled at them all for a moment (even blushing slightly as Konata yelled out "Go Get 'Em, Deucy!") before he waved to Astamon at the bar to cue the track.
A slow, techno drum beat filled the room, giving everyone the cue to go silent as a few more synthetic sounds filled in the gaps.
Clubs tapped his foot to the beat as he waited for his cue to come up.
And then he started signing. "I hate a moral coward one who lacks a manly spark. I just detest a man afraid to go home in the dark. I spend my every evening where there's women wine and song!" (Konata laughed at this.) "But like a man I always bring my little wife along..." he took a breath, and then continued. "Aaaaa'm A member of the Midnight Crew. Aaaaa'm A Night owl and a wise bird too. Home with the milk in the Moooorning, singing the same old soooooong!" the audience was clapping along to the beat at this point. "Rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun. Early to bed and you'll miss all the fun. Bring your wife and trouble, it can never trouble you. Make HER a Member of the Midnight Crew."
A synthetic wolf howled at this point, causing a few to laugh at the seemingly random part of the song. Clubs just smiled at them as he tapped out the beat until his next cue.
"The fun, it doesn't start 'til Twelve, On Happy old Broadway! So what's the point of home until the break of day?" he winked at the audience as he pulled his rather dashing hat down over his eyes a bit. "Now something Confidential whispered Not Above A Breath!" he lowered his volume down a bit. "I once went home at Two A.M. and scared my wife to Deeeaaathhh!" he brought it back up to full for the chorus again. "Aaaaa'm A member of the Midnight Crew. Aaaaa'm A Night owl and a wise bird too. Home with the milk in the Moooorning, singing the same old soooooong!"He was really putting it all into it as he sang. "Rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun! Early to bed and you'll miss all the Fun! Bring your wife and trouble, it could never trouble you. Make HER a Member of the Midnight Crew!"
More synthetic sounds flowed in during the reprieve, though nobody cared, they were too into the song at this point.
"I never shall forget the night I made six scrappers run!" Clubs began the final verse. "Although I did not have a Knife, a Black Jack, or a Gun. I proved myself a Hero of a VERY HIGH DEGREE!" he lowered to a whisper again. "I ran for home and six of them was runnin' after Meeee! AAAAA'M A Member, of the Midnight Crew! I'm a Night Owl, and a Wise Bird too. HOME with the milk, in the Morrrrning! Singin' the same old soooong!" he took a breath as he leaned forward to wrap the song up. "Rise with the Moon, Go to bed with the Sun. Early to bed and you'll Miss aaall the Fun! Bring your Wife and Trouble, It will Never Trouble You. Make HER a Member of the Midnight Crew!"
And so it ended.
The audience cheered.
Shoutmon clapped as he leaned over to Akari. "Heh, I couldn't have done it any better myself."
She simply nudged him in the arm. "Oh quiet you!"
"Thanks everyone!" Clubs said as he took a bow. "That was the 'Post-Punk Version' of the song, and I really hope you liked my version of it." He smiled at them all. "But for now, I think the better question is..." he pointed out to the audience. "Which one of you is going to be next!"
END ACT 3 INTERMISSION 1.
A.N.: And so Begins Hunters. If you were paying attention, many answers were given, and while a few questions were raised. Song was the Midnight Crew Post Punk Version, from Homestuck Volume 9 Soundtrack. Fitting, given that Clubs there is a part of it. ;) And yes, I am doing Karaoke endings for a little while. It felt like the right thing to do for this. Also, upon uploading: over 10,000 words! WOW! How'd I get that much written? 0_0 Heh, I think I beat my own word count record for this story already. EDIT: Nope. Record is at 13,000. XD Oh well heheh... Until next time! _DTC