Act 1: Beating Heart

Segment 3: A Glorious Arms Race

Chapter 3-4: H. Leucocephalus

Vanadramon had torched a few hearts by now along with Hawkmon's excellent feather throwing skills, but they seemed no closer to ending this abnormal Junction. It had a bad feeling. They were venturing into a place with growths in the walls as well. They were wriggling and vibrating. It could sense, and see, something inside them. "Asuka?" it asked.

"Hmm?"

"Did Rei say if the professor she talked to was interested in any particular kind of life forms?"

"No, she said it was just an ecosystem simulation," Asuka replied.

"So anything goes. Whatever happens, happens. Whatever the program says is possible, will be possible."

"Yeah. At least, I think that's what that means."

"Rrrrh." Its lip curled. "No wonder."

Ryuta was riding on Vanadramon's back now. It gave him a bit more vision, at least, to see down the tunnel and with his phone's flashlight turned on. They had bumped into another giant Plasmid earlier. It had been easy to deal with since Vanadramon was there. "These are getting worse because the program itself is evolving," he remarked, understanding Vanadramon's point.

"Exactly. The longer we wait and the more we attack it, the more it learns from us."

"An arms race." Ryuta rubbed his face with the heels of his hands and gave his cheeks a light slap. "Ugh. We didn't need this."

"Worse still… we'll stop evolving at some point," Vanadramon added.

"Mega, right?"

"That's all I have. Hawkmon should be the same."

"Indeed," it agreed. "Even if we somehow stumbled across a Digimental, or a Tailmon, we'd all still stop at Mega level." It sighed. "The good thing, though, is that our power goes up relatively exponentially with each level, not linearly. It seems these life forms are relatively linear."

"You can tell? Vanadramon, you too?" Asuka asked.

"It's a crude guess," Hawkmon admitted. "I'm just guessing based on how easily Vanadramon can deal with the giant Plasmids."

"Even so, we had best be careful not to get surrounded by them," Vanadramon replied. "You've heard those stories, Hawkmon."

"Megas brought low by masses of Champions? Yes." The four continued walking. It was a dark conversation, fitting for the environment they found themselves in. Asuka glanced at Ryuta. He was remarkably collected. Was he?

"Ryuta?" Asuka asked.

"Yes?"

"How are you feeling?" He suddenly burst out laughing uncontrollably. "Dude. You okay?" He bent over and finally stopped to wipe tears from his eyes. He had laughed so hard, he had cried. "You seem… disturbed," she commented. She hoped he wouldn't take that personally.

"Asuka, we're going crazy. Insane. Demented. We're all developing schizophrenia," he gestured wildly.

"Uh…"

"Hahaha. Haha. For fuck's sake." He stared into the distance. "I'm trying to stay as sane as I can."

She blinked and itched her arm nervously. She'd never quite seen him like this before, and that was maybe more bothersome than the webs of glossy black veins or the slowly-blinking lights around them. She looked about. She was sure those glowing sacs contained some kind of living creatures, and she really, really did not want to know.

She didn't get a choice.

They burst from the roofs and rained down on them, taking the forms of giant mammals of all kinds. If it weren't for the glowing eyes they might have been mistaken for melanistic mammals.

Also, squirrels shouldn't have two jaws.

"Ionic Crush!" The charge from Vanadramon's horn diverted across its body to its tail, which it swept its tail around, knocking tens of them away. They writhed and dissolved as they were splatted against the walls. Its roar reverberated around the room. They kept coming. "This is exactly what I feared!" it roared, breathing blue-white fire from its mouth. The smell of torched carbon blasted Ryuta's nostrils. He winced. It was like inhaling campfire smoke.

Hawkmon was doing its best to keep up, but there were a lot of them. The masses of creatures separated Asuka and Hawkmon from Ryuta and Vanadramon. "Vanadramon!" Ryuta took notice. "We have to form up with her!"

"I'm trying my best!" it grunted. Hundreds. Maybe thousands. Who knew? Little beasts with glowing eyes. Too many eyes. More of them burned. More of them were annihilated by its tail spike. It didn't matter. They kept coming.

Hawkmon was backed up against a wall with Asuka. It wasn't fast enough. "What do we do, Asuka?" it pleaded, looking back and forth at the creatures that snapped at them. It was swiping them away as much as it could.

Asuka looked around. This couldn't continue. If she was fast enough, then maybe… just maybe! "Hawkmon, take flight!"

"What?! They'll come at you!"

"Trust me on this. Vanadramon!" The dragon raised its head. "Run at us!"

"Alright!" The ground shook as it galloped. "Now, Hawkmon – fly!"

"O-okay!" It took flight. An abnormal jaguar growled in the distance and raced Vanadramon to Asuka.

"Vanadramon, get ready! Hup!" She leaped into the air, a leg swung up to get herself some lift. "Hawkmon, swing me over!" She grabbed hold of Hawkmon's talons, who tried its best to swing her over while keeping airborne. The abnormal jaguar snapped its jaws right behind her as she flew through the air and landed right on Vanadramon's rump. "Nice one, Vanadramon!"

"Any time, Asuka," it replied. "Now what? I can't deal with these on my own."

Hawkmon dove down and pecked the jaguar right on the head, yelling, "Get out of here!"

"No. And… we don't have to," Asuka replied.

"Hawkmon?" Ryuta looked over. There it was – those faint fissures. He grinned.

Hawkmon divebombed an abnormal wolf, dodging its maws, and pecked it right behind the neck. It howled and melted, then dissolved. As it flew towards them, it said, "We'll get out of here soon, right? Lomamon still has a favour to repay. I'm still going to ask for it! Asuka!" She nodded. "Here we go!" A giant abnormal bear with six arms galloped at them, roaring, six red eyes glowing at them. Hawkmon was undeterred as its body glowed, burst, and reformed into Aquilamon.

"Now, we can deal with this properly! Hold still friends! Blast Laser!" The pulse of sound shook the ground and blew away the bear, slamming it into a wall, and crushing tens of smaller creatures in the process.

Not to be outdone, Vanadramon whirled about. "Ionic Burst!" The balls of plasma zapped and evaporated scores more of the assorted alien mammals. With that, Aquilamon cleaned up more of the smaller, numerous animals, while Vanadramon continued to swing itself about and lash away the larger beasts. The cavern was alive with the sound of violence for minutes. Vanadramon roared and speared an abnormal wolf and flung it at a wall, which cracked suddenly. "Aquilamon, the heart is behind that wall," it said, sensing the heart.

"Got it!" it replied, and grabbed an abnormal elk. It brayed and flailed in its claws. Aquilamon was unrelenting, and soared away as it lobbed it at the cracked wall. The split spread further. With the abnormal animals thinning out, Aquilamon circled around. "Blast Laser!" It targeted the wall, which crumbled yet more.

Vanadramon crushed a number of abnormal animals underfoot, then wrapped its maw around one and flung it away. "Ionic Burst!" The ball of plasma thudded and a shockwave pulsed as it struck. The wall came crashing down, revealing a tunnel behind it.

"I see it now! Glide Horn!" Aquilamon zoomed forward and headbutted it, and flew straight through it. The heart squelched and exploded. Goo showered off its horns as it circled around. It shook itself clean of the evaporating liquid. "Goodness, that was a close thing."

They waited for something to happen. Nothing happened – until suddenly the ground shook again. "Was that from the heart being destroyed, or was that something else?" Asuka wondered.

"Not sure," replied Vanadramon. "I get the feeling something is happening elsewhere." Vanadramon concentrated. "Ugh. There might be another heart messing with my senses. But they can't be far then."

"Then let's find it and link up with them," Ryuta replied.

"Of course!" Vanadramon galloped down the now-open tunnel with Aquilamon flapping alongside.

Asuka reached out to Aquilamon. "Hey, that was great," she cheered.

"You too, Asuka," it replied. "All that soccer training came in handy."

"Heheh, it really did!"

Vanadramon skidded to a stop. "Hope you don't mind inhaling fumes again. Ionic Charge!" It reared its head back and blasted plasma at the heart. It exploded and evaporated. The stench was strong.

"Ugh, sheesh, why did these have to smell like overcooked sausages?" Asuka complained. Ryuta was also cringing. The cave wall before them suddenly turned to wireframe and then disappeared. "Is that it?" Asuka was a bit disappointed.

"No, that's not it!" Vanadramon yelled. "I can sense Lomamon – and Peckmon!"

For a moment, there was silence. Then the distant reply. "Vanadramon!" It was the sound of Yuuka. Vanadramon galloped forward as Ryuta stood up on its back, watching as Peckmon and Yuuka approached, Lomamon and Takaharu behind them. Vanadramon turned suddenly, and Ryuta leapt off its back, tucked into a roll, and then slid on his feet to a stop in front of them.

Asuka snorted. "What a dramatic entrance." Aquilamon murmured in agreement.

Yuuka jumped into Ryuta's arms. "Ryuta! You're alright!"

He gripped her in a tight embrace. "And so are you, it seems. Peckmon, congratulations."

"It was thanks to Yuuka. You should have seen her. It was intense!" it replied.

Takaharu groaned behind her. "Ryuta?"

"What?"

"Both you and Yuuka are terrifying people." He was still rubbing his collarbone.

Ryuta squinted. "Yuuka? What did you do?"

She smiled. All of that fear from before was gone. She figured she might still be running on the adrenaline, but… this must have been a hint of what went on inside his head. She didn't mind. It was rather thrilling, in fact. "I'll tell you when we're out of here."

Lomamon was also disappointed. "Great, now I'm the only one who hasn't evolved yet."

"Well, you and Monodramon," Takaharu remarked.

"And it's not here!"

Asuka put her hands on her hips. "Nothing like a little hardship to get the juice going, right guys?"

Ryuta snorted. "We're all going insane in here, after all."

"H-hey! I'm not wrong!"

He smiled. "No, you're not. I just wish it didn't have to be this hard."

"That explains why you don't try in school."

"Excuse me? I still do well enough." Yuuka slapped him in the chest before he could say any more. They had a job to do. "R-right, back on track." He pointed in the forward direction. "I guess, Vanadramon, that's it. That's the final one." Vanadramon didn't even need to try to sense around for it. They could see it: a five-metre high thing, writhing with arteries and veins, gushing Plasmids everywhere.

The Tamers winced. They had seen their fair share of hearts in biology class, but not this big, and not alive. "Well," Aquilamon said, "let's get stuck in, shall we?" Vanadramon flared its wings and roared in response.