Act 1: Beating Heart

Segment 3: A Glorious Arms Race

Chapter 3-12: Breaking Protocol

"Aquilamon!" Asuka rushed over, a sense of dread all over her face. "Aquilamon, speak to me!" She kneeled next to her Partner, hands on its feathered face. It didn't respond. "Aquilamon…" she whined. Tears dripped off her face, which she pressed into its feathery snout. Tomonobu stared at the two of them, wondering what the hell was happening now.

He looked around. Rhodramon, Garurumon, and Strikedramon were too busy dodging the fists to notice. Satsuki yelled out, "Oi, dragon boy, got ideas now?"

"Absolutely – gah – not!" he yelled back as Rhodramon zipped past a swinging fist. Rhodramon couldn't unleash anything while it was still carrying him.

"Fox Fire!" Garurumon's attack surrounded the colossus' head harmlessly. It roared, seemingly enraged, and extended a hand to grab it. "I'm out!" Garurumon yelled, and jumped away before it could reach them. The fist cracked the concrete above. "We're running out of escape routes and time!" Garurumon yelled.

Strikedramon panted. It was burning all of its energy just keeping Kazuhiko safe. It and Rhodramon had been the stars earlier, but they couldn't handle anything now. "Kazu, thinking of anything?"

Kazuhiko shook his head. "I've got nothing, man!" Strikedramon growled and dashed away as the fist came swinging down again.

Tomonobu looked around. Memories of what he was supposed to be investigating were finally coming back. "Right," he muttered, "I was… investigating something. For the police. Some kind of fluid leak in the data centre." He paced as Asuka looked up at him, tears all over her face. She wiped them away. Tomonobu continued to pace. "Something called Prometheus was supposed to be here, and they were saying it was getting corrupted earlier."

Kazuhiko perked up. "Prometheus?"

Strikedramon dashed away. "Reminded you of something?"

"Yeah… yeah, it's a long shot, but, maybe – look, I don't know at all – but maybe it's weak right there!" He pointed at the right side of its torso. "Its liver!"

"What?!" Strikedramon was incredulous.

"I said it was a long shot, but if it's picked up information about humans, then maybe it's picked up something about Prometheus, the mythical man!"

Satsuki passed by on Garurumon. "Are you out of your mind?" she yelled as Garurumon galloped past and blasted flames at the colossus again.

"Yes! I am!" Kazuhiko yelled back. "But it's all I've got!"

Ryuta grimaced. "Give it a try anyway! Rhodramon – quick!" He had noticed a fist was heading for Asuka again. Rhodramon left him up on a ledge while it screamed downward and pierced the arm reaching out for her, knocking it away, then raced back up to get Ryuta, and returned with him to Asuka's side.

"Asuka, how's Aquilamon?" Rhodramon asked. Asuka shook her head.

Rhodramon summoned its shield again. The fist deflected away, but it grimaced. It couldn't handle that repeatedly. "No response?"

"It's out cold," Asuka cried.

"Well, if it's not dissolving, then it's still alive!" Another deflection. "Aquilamon, you've gotta wake – we need you!"

The feathery Digimon stirred and flexed its feet. "Asuka…" it grunted. An eye cracked open.

Asuka sniffed. "Hey. Aquilamon."

"I'm… awake," it groaned.

She smiled and wiped her tears away again. She heard Rhodramon's shield deflect the fist again. "Aquilamon, follow my finger, okay?"

"… Right." It stared intently at her finger as she moved it up, then down, then left, then right. It would be fine.

"Thank goodness," Asuka sighed as she hugged Aquilamon. It got back up to its feet. "You're back with us."

It shook its body and ruffled its wings. "Ugh. I'll be fine, I think. Asuka, thank you for checking on me." It stepped forward. "What do we do now?"

Rhodramon grunted as its shield took another punch. Garurumon howled somewhere above. Strikedramon yelled out, "Go for its liver!"

"Its what?" Aquilamon yelled back. Asuka pointed to the right side of the colossus' torso. Aquilamon steeled itself. It didn't exactly like having to charge like that right after being woken up from a physics-induced nap, but it seemed there was little choice. Then, it flapped its wings, flew up, then charged down. "Glide Horn!"

And with that, it pierced through the colossus' torso. It wailed and shuddered. Aquilamon turned around mid-air. "Did… did it work?" it wondered. Had it really?

The colossus writhed and shook. Veins bulged from its body, then burst one by one, ripping the colossus apart. The entire space shuddered and shook as the concrete walls turned to wireframe. "Let's go!" yelled Rhodramon as it reverted to Amedramon, and tucked itself away into Ryuta's phone. Strikedramon, Garurumon, and Aquilamon similarly disappeared as the space derendered and collapsed.

Tomonobu blinked. They were outside – in the rear parking lot. It seemed like the guards who had been there had taken a break or were switching out. He looked around. "How? How… how are we out in the back?" he exclaimed. Only the four Tamers looked back at him. Satsuki hugged Asuka and whispered some assurances to her.

Kazuhiko muttered to Ryuta, "Hey, looks like all that classic architectural and art study came in handy tonight, huh, Ryuta?" He gave Ryuta a light punch in the shoulder. Ryuta screamed and doubled over. "Ooh, right, I forgot. My bad!"

Ryuta muttered a curse under his breath. "Yeah, Kazu, it really did," he managed to get out between sharp breaths.

Tomonobu's chest tightened. So the kids were real. They actually were real. Right? He looked around. It had to be. The night sky, the late March chill at night, the sound of cars passing by. "I… we're… we're in Ariake, right? This is Ariake?"

"Yeah, Mr. Isono. This is real. We're real. You're safe now."

Tomonobu relaxed and sighed. "Finally, that nightmare is over." His face seemed to have developed new wrinkles. He readjusted his vest. "I should introduce myself properly, I guess. Isono Tomonobu, detective, cyberspace specialist." He bowed to the kids. "I have no idea how you got in there, whatever 'there' is, but I'm grateful nonetheless."

The four kids bowed back. "Mr. Isono, you were investigating the spillage, it seems?" asked Satsuki.

"I was, yes. I was tasked on it alone since nobody was sure if it was a real call or just an industrial accident that needed some cleaning. Perhaps it was best that I was alone." He shuddered. "But all the things in there… they were real, too?"

Satsuki shrugged. "As real as it seems. They did injure us for real." She pointed to Ryuta, whose shoulder was clearly bruising under his tee-shirt. "We don't know exactly what they are ourselves, but… as you saw, we're protected."

Tomonobu stared at them. "What I saw then… was real too? You called them… Something mon?" He shook his head. "I can't believe this."

"You don't have to, Mr. Isono," replied Ryuta.

Tomonobu slapped his own face gently, as if to make sure for one more time that he was real and not dreaming everything. "What did you say those things did to me?"

Ryuta shrugged. "All we can tell for sure is that they've used your information to enhance themselves."

"My information? They stole my phone's data?"

"No, Mr. Isono – they used your DNA," Ryuta replied. "It could have been anyone. They used it to evolve more realistic forms."

Tomonobu blinked. "So you've seen these before." Ryuta nodded along with the others. "And these are… appearing in Tokyo?"

Ryuta nodded again. "We think that this is the last one. But we also believe they were responsible for the glitches seen today." He looked to Asuka and Satsuki. "And we also believe it might have disabled the system you were investigating as well, Prometheus."

"Oh." Tomonobu seemed nonplussed. "I'll have to check with the university then. That would be unfortunate, but…" he trailed off and turned back to the data centre. It seemed as though nothing had happened. "If that was what it took to shut that down, then it would be worth it." He blinked at the kids. "What am I doing! I need to report back!" He began to type in his phone, then looked back up. The Tamers were still there.

"Mr. Isono? Please don't mention us," Kazuhiko pleaded.

Tomonobu opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and nodded. If he did say something, they'd only ask for him to explain why the kids were important in his notes, and then they wouldn't believe him at all. And if he was believed, then… who knows. They might come after the kids. Lock them up for investigations. If they had just saved his life, he didn't want to burden theirs. He nodded. "I'll keep quiet. If anyone asks, I'll just say I was escorting you past the building."

They bowed deeply. "Thank you!" Tomonobu finished his notes and led them back to the light rail station. As they rounded the corner, a police officer cocked his head. "Detective, why are you coming around the back?"

"Ah," he said, "I was just wrapping up the walkthrough and figured I should make sure the rear of the building was secure and clear of spillage as well." He fluffed his vest. "Just escorting the kids past the entryways."

The police officer blinked. "Alright, sir. Anything of note?"

"No, to be honest. It was just a chemical spill. Easily cleaned up, but some servers might be busted. The server company will have to notify the affected customers. We can wrap up and declare the incident over."

The police officer nodded and started speaking into a walkie-talkie on his uniform. Tomonobu continued to escort the kids back to the Yurikamome station entrance at Ariake-tennis-no-mori. "Kids, please – if you see something like that again, stay safe." He sighed. "Though admittedly, I'm not sure what use we would be."

The Tamers bowed again and thanked him for breaking protocol and bade him good night. They watched as the detective returned to the data centre's parking lot. Kazuhiko let out a breath. "That… that was more intense than I expected."

Asuka stared intently into her phone. "Hawkmon?"

"Mmh… it still stings a little," Hawkmon replied.

"Do you think human medicines would work on a Digimon?"

"I-I-I … I'm not sure!" Hawkmon didn't exactly want to try. It might go poorly.

"If it hurts too much, we can always get some ibuprofen. Or a hot pack. Same with you, dragon boy."

Ryuta grunted. Hiding this bruise was going to be impossible, and Kanae was going to be displeased. She was already displeased he was running off with the Tamers so much.