A/N: A full month without an update. Well, better than over six months, but hey I've been busy with getting Urban Legends off the ground and working on my novel.
This arc is off to a intense start. We'll see Digiteam and Marvel hero action on top of the Artificials dealing with a few clones and dinosaur hybrids. And how will Davis and the others react to Jax and Sonja with Miranda and BlackWarGreymon?
The tensions will be mounting!
xxxxx
Digimon Fusion Ascendancy
Act V: Dark HYDRA Network
Chapter XLI: Jurassic Hybrids
xxxxx
Digital World/Valley of No Return
(Cue Dragon Ball FighterZ OST - Wasteland)
As they exchanged fisticuffs, Sonja and the Metalla X clone went at it pretty fast and hard. The clone went for hard-hitting blows, which Sonja parried and countered with ease. Sonja dodged the clone's punches and quickly got behind the clone. She clobbered him with an axe handle blow and sent the clone falling to the ground.
Jax watched on with a composed smirk. "Still haven't lost your fighting touch, sis."
Miranda watched in awe. "Amazing how easily she's handling this clone on her own."
BlackWarGreymon observed the clone standing up showing no pained expression. The clones were designed not to show any pain or fear. However, he could see it clearly favoring its right arm.
Seeing the clone on its feet, Sonja conjured two energy discs in her hands. She flew down to attack the clone. The Metalla X clone flew up and prepared to cut Sonja off. She hastily tossed her Dual Destructo Discs at the clone, hoping to cut it two. The clone stopped the first disc by simply blasting it. However, Sonja motioned her hand as the other swerved opposite from the clone's reach.
"I've got you!" Sonja declared as she clenched a hand, triggering the disc to explode into a barrage of miniature discs that sliced into the clone and dismembered it. She flew up and kicked the clone's head, twisting it all the way around. She then unleashed an immense Ki blast and vaporized it. "That takes care of that."
(End theme)
"Nicely done, sis! And you didn't even need me to tag in," Jax added.
Sonja brushed a bang from her face and scoffed. "I didn't even need your help to beat the real Yamakins either."
"Hah, touché, sis."
Miranda clapped for Sonja's victory. "Outstanding! I knew you were strong, but to get rid of that clone so easily. I'm confident we can remove the others as quickly as possible!"
"There was nothing about that clone that screamed 'difficult.' It was only slightly stronger than the Yamakins I fought years ago. I've only since gotten stronger myself," Sonja plainly stated her assessment. "If these are strong as these clones are going to get, we'll be done in no time."
"Yes, that's what we hope for," Miranda concurred. "And believe me there's plenty roaming around.
"And what about this guy here?" Jax pointed to the unconscious Stegoceramon. "I barely tapped it to knock it out."
Taking out a small capsule, Miranda threw it at the Stegoceramon. The capsule opened up and released purple smoke, which seemingly pulled the DigiHybrid dinosaur in. The capsule then shut and contained the creature. Miranda headed over to fetch the capsule.
"You leave those poor things to me," she assured them. "I'm taking them to reverse the merger effects that turned them into the DigiHybrids we've seen them become."
"There'll be too many to capture, Miranda," BlackWarGreymon reminded her.
"Yes, I know, but I can't let them roam about knowing they've been mercilessly experimented on for the Dark HYDRA Network's twisted ambitions."
"Sooo, where to now?" Sonja asked the group. "The sooner I get this done, I'll see Davis and the others soon."
BlackWarGreymon's eyes flared as he scanned the perimeters. "It's clear here, but I'm picking up two beacons near the Gekomon Dominion."
"And there's where we'll be heading, my friends," Miranda nodded.
"Great, if there's two of them, we can tag team, Sonja," Jax suggested. "We'll finish things a lot faster."
"Sounds like a plan, bro. Let's do this."
xxxxx
Digital World/Continent of Server/Outside the Gekomon Palace
(Cue Dragon Ball FighterZ OST - Rocky Field)
Upon arriving at their next destination, Jax and Sonja fought off a BanchoLeomon clone and a Pikkan clone. Jax found himself revisiting his prior fight with BanchoLeomon years ago, but that flare that was there for that fight didn't exist here. Jax fought the counterfeit half-heartedly. Sonja dodged clone Pikkan's rapid punches.
As clone BanchoLeomon brandished its sword, he swung it only for it to shatter against Jax's left arm. Jax opened a palm full of energy and fired it through clone BanchoLeomon's chest, blowing a hole through it.
Following an axe kick to its face, Sonja dazed clone Pikkan. As clone Pikkan recovered and went for a Thunder Flash Attack, Sonja was already up in its face and fired a beam, vaporizing the clone.
(End theme)
"Yeah, I'm starting to get the hang of this again! Still, not quite the same…" Jax's excited look was replaced with a half-hearted expression.
"They aren't the real things, Jax," Sonja plainly said as she walked by him. "Ok, BlackWarGreymon. Where to now?" She asked the giant Mega.
"1200 kilometers from here, there's four DigiHybrids that need to be collected. Two clones are near their location," BlackWarGreymon confirmed.
Having collected another Stegoceramon, Miranda put its capsule in her coat pocket. "Good, we need to preserve these DigiHybrids so we can restore them to their original forms." For a minute, her face contorted as she light-headed. "Oooh!"
BlackWarGreymon noticed this and approached her. "Are you, Miranda?"
"I'll be fine, BlackWarGreymon. Thanks," she waved him off as her head cleared.
Jax and Sonja meticulously observed Miranda's behavioral patterns. They turned to each other. Both were overly cautious about the woman they've been helping.
"Yes, onto our next stop…" Miranda faked a smile. "Let us proceed."
xxxxx
Digital World/Continent of Server
(Cue Hunter x Hunter OST - Obvious Difference of Power)
Far off from the Artificials' locations, half of the Digidestined and their allies successfully raided a Dark HYDRA Network camp. Ken and JewelBeemon actively took out most of the Network's troops and destroyed their artillery and transports.
"JewelBeemon, that should take care of most of the enemy posts!" Ken called out to his Digimon. "We should check in with Yolei and the others!"
"I hope they were able to plant that computer virus in and find Black Widow," JewelBeemon said.
"You and me both, my friend. Let's go in and check!" Ken said as he and JewelBeemon flew into the Dark HYDRA Network base.
As they headed deep inside the base, they saw fighting between the Shurimon and the Scooby Digidestined's Digimon fighting the Mursaimon brothers.
"Look! If the Yolei and the others' Digimon are here, we're getting closer to them!" Ken called out. "Shurimon, we're here!"
"Good, but we've been handling things here well!" Shurimon said while driving back a Mursaimon with a shuriken.
"Then, allow me to put an end to this!" JewelBeemon conjured his spear, which he used to generate an electrical shock that blasted the Mursaimon brothers. With his Spike Buster, he knocked out the Mursaimon and left them sizzling like toast.
"Whoa, thanks a bunch, JewelBeemon!" Bearmon called out.
"With them out, we can follow Yolei and company's direction," Dinohumon stated.
"They're right this way!" Shurimon pointed ahead.
"Yeah, I can feel Yolei's location! Get moving, my friends!" Ken beckoned the group.
(End theme)
xxxxx
Meanwhile, Yolei and the Scooby Digidestined tried every room with the central computer. However, no luck came up. They opened every door until it came down to one.
"Ok, this is it," Yolei frowned as she reached for the door handle.
Shick!
"GAH!" The purple-haired woman withdrew her hand from the door as a kunai struck the front of the door.
"What the hell?!" Jun screamed.
(Cue Jackie Chan Adventures Game OST - Battle Theme 1)
The group heard low chuckling from behind them. As they turned, they spotted TaoCranemon tossing up a few kunai in his right hand. His frown twisted into a conniving sneer as he focused on his soon-to-be victims.
"Shoot, we've been found out!" Jim exclaimed.
"That's as far as you whelps go. You're lucky your pets are around to handle my crew, but they made the big mistake leaving you while I'm still here." snickered TaoCranemon.
"We're so dead!" Momoe screamed.
However, Yolei stood in front of her siblings and put her hand out. She quickly conjured a reddish object, which turned into a giant shuriken. Yolei brandished her Crest Weapon: the Shuriken of Caring.
Eyeing the weapon in the young woman's hand, TaoCranemon's curiosity piqued.
"Think you're the only one who can throw shurikens?! You better get back!" Yolei threatened TaoCranemon.
However, the assassin leader cackled in the face of his opposition.
"Do you know how many have such as nonsense before I killed them? Too many to count, woman," TaoCranemon snickered rubbing his beak. He turned around and showed the back of this shirt, which had 'Kill You' in Kanji. "If you can read this, then you'd know what you're in for."
Upon reading it, Jun gulped. "...we're so screwed."
"And our Digimon aren't even here!" Jim cried out as he pinned himself against a wall.
"Stay back, guys!" Yolei beckoned her friends back. She saw Chizuru in a fighting stance. "You, too, sis! Get with Momoe and Mantarou!"
"Yeah, this guy's way out of your league! These aren't just some random thug you can beat on." Mantarou called for his other sister.
Taking heed of her siblings' pleas, Chizuru stepped aside and got behind Yolei.
TaoCranemon took advantage of the situation and tossed a kunai. Yolei tried countering with her Shuriken of Caring. While the kunai bounced off, this provided distraction long enough for TaoCranemon to sneak up on Yolei. He quickly went to stick his beak into Yolei's head.
Shick!
Just then, a kunai struck TaoCranemon. The assassin already had his right hand out as he caught the object. He turned as Shurimon swooped down and knocked TaoCranemon away. TaoCranemon sprang back and tossed more shuriken. Shurimon deflected as many as he could, but a few stuck his sides.
"Shurimon!" Yolei cried out and tended to her injured partner.
"I'm glad I wasn't too late," Shurimon grunted, yanking out a few kunai out of him.
"But, you're hurt because of us!"
"I'll manage…"
"YOLEI! EVERYONE!" Ken called out from across the hall.
TaoCranemon scoffed. "Drats, I've outnumbered." He turned to see Ken and JewelBeemon gliding through the hall. I won't be able to beat these two… even I have my limits.
As Ken, JewelBeemon, and the Scooby Digidestined's partners came, they saw Yolei tending to Shurimon. They immediately pivoted and faced TaoCranemon, who pointed his finger at the ceiling.
"So, you managed to get by my minions, but no matter I know when a battle has been lost!"
"He's getting away!" Jun cried out.
"But for me to make my exit, fools!" TaoCranemon prepared to fire a blast in the ceiling.
"I don't think so!" Ken roared as he and JewelBeemon shot across.
"GAH!" TaoCranemon yelped as Ken shot up and elbowed him square in the face, breaking the assassin's beak and knocking out him cold.
(End theme)
"Way to shut that jerkface up, Ken!" Yolei cheered.
"Is that the room with the computer?" Ken asked Yolei.
"We think so. This was the last room we were planning to check before this guy intercepted us."
"Ok, I'll handle it from here," Ken snatched her flash drive and stormed into the central computer room. He scanned for a flash drive slot. Once he found one, he slid the flash drive in and waited.
The screen came up with the following:
Viral Program Activate
Y/N?
Ken pushed 'Y' as a loading screen came up. Another screen turned up with the following message.
Viral Program Uploading
0%...
Sighing with relief, the Bearer of Kindness waited for the virus to load into the Dark HYDRA Network's computers.
Yolei finished treating Shurimon. The Armor Digimon checked over himself.
"Thank you, Yolei. We're lucky we came before that crane got away with harming you."
"I was holding my own, but there's no way someone like me would've stood a chance," Yolei chuckled modestly. "I'm no Ascendant like Davis, Ken, Kari, and TK have become. Me and Cody don't seem to have it in us."
"You won't know until you try, sis," Mantarou chimed in as he patted her shoulder. "Shoot, just now you saved us and shown more courage than I ever would've dreamed of having."
"I don't have anywhere near the brave bone in my body like you do, Yolei," Momoe said.
"Yeah, and you even convinced me to stay down when I tried to fight that crane on my own. You knew I'd get killed," Chizuru added, acknowledging her sister. "Our baby sis has long grown up."
"And we couldn't be any happier," the Inoue siblings expressed their gratitude to Yolei and her partners.
"Yeah, it's thanks to you, my brother, and y'alls friends we have Digimon partners to call our own," Jun said while patting Dinohumon's said.
"I have a partner just like my brother does and no thanks to all of you," Jim genuinely smiled to Yolei.
After heating the heartfelt gratitudes, Yolei smiled and almost teared up. Shurimon couldn't be anymore happier to hear Yolei's friends thank her.
Ken watched as the download count finalized. Then, a new screen popped up to confirm the process.
Viral Program Download Complete
100%
Sighing, Ken took out the flash drive. "It's done! Now, let's get out of here!"
"Wait, we still need to retrieve Black Widow, Ken," JewelBeemon reminded his partner.
"Yes, that's right! Have you found the prisons in this facility?" Ken asked anyone in the group.
"Nooope," Jim shrugged.
"Wait, I think I did!" Jun recalled. "I just happened to pass by, but didn't think much of it."
"Show us, Jun," Yolei requested.
"Ok, follow me!" She nodded as she pointed them the way.
xxxxx
Once they reached the prison facility, the group noted three HYDRA guards armed with guns. Ken and Yolei barely poked their heads out to scan the prison cells. They spotted a handful of captive Digimon. Yolei turned to her right as she sighted the red-haired Agent hanging from the ceiling inside her own cell.
"I see her!" Yolei whispered loudly.
"Shhh!" Ken cupped his friend's mouth shut.
This startled the HYDRA soldiers, causing them to scour the area.
"Who's there?!" One of the HYDRA soldiers demanded.
"They're going to find us!" Jun cried.
(Cue Digimon Frontier OST - Aku no Toushi (1:28 - 2:12))
"No point in us hiding anymore! They know we're here!" Shurimon exclaimed as he flew out into the open.
"What?! Intruders!" The other two HYDRA soldiers yelled and fired laser beams at Shurimon.
The Armor Digimon unleashed a swift Ninja Wind, turning himself into a tornado and sending a hurricane of sharp leaves that swept two of the HYDRA soldiers back. When the third turned to open fire, Ken rushed the soldier and gut punched him. The third soldier doubled over and fell unconscious.
"Everything's clear! Let's go!" Yolei called out as she and the group stormed inside the prison room.
They quickly released the Digimon captives. Ken came upon Black Widow's cell and bent the bars wide open. He then stepped forward and gently yanked Black Widow down. Shurimon tore the straps binding the red-haired assassin.
(End theme)
"Great, we've got her!" Yolei said.
"Wait, she's waking up," Jun noticed Black Widow stirring.
As she came to, Black Widow noticed several unfamiliar faces surrounding her. Acting on pure skilled assassin's instinct, Black Widow grabbed Yolei and put an arm around her neck, thinking she might be a HYDRA agent.
"Ack! Yo-You're welcome…!" Yolei gagged.
"Wait! We came here and freed you! Please, let go of my friend!" Ken quickly pleaded to Black Widow. "We were asked by Agent Fury to get you!"
Hearing Fury's name, Black Widow turned to the group looking befuddled. She released Yolei and nodded.
"Fury sent you?" She asked.
"Yes, we're…"
"The Digidestined. I know. Fury told me all about you," Black Widow replied as she turned to Yolei, who was rubbing her neck. "Sorry for that. You had me thinking you were a HYDRA agent trying to interrogate me."
"...no problem, but a little warning next time?" The purple-haired woman cringed while rubbing her throat. "Geez, could've crushed my throat, too."
"Last I remember, I was ambushed by a woman in a lab coat and dozens of HYDRA soldiers," Black Widow recalled the last instance prior to her capture. "I was neck deep into a HYDRA stronghold. That woman surprised me. She completely caught me off guard and overpowered me."
"Her name is Miranda and she used to be with SHIELD, correct?" Ken asked.
"I think so. All I know she's definitely with HYDRA now."
"Well, we've managed to shut down Dark HYDRA Network's base here. Also securing you was our other objective. We should get back to Earth and bring you back to SHIELD," Ken informed Black Widow.
"Thank you," Black Widow replied.
"We'll take the closest Digiport we used to get here," Yolei suggested.
"Great idea. We've already cleared this facility anyway," Shurimon stated.
With that, the group stormed out of the now defunct Dark HYDRA Network base and headed for Digiport.
xxxxx
Upon arriving, the group stopped in front of the Digiport. Black Widow looked dumbfounded at the small television sitting in front of them, thinking how in the world they'd fit through. Ken and Yolei used their D3s to teleport them and their colleagues through it.
xxxxx
Odaiba (お台場)/Odaiba Bay (お台場ベイ)
(Cue JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders OST - Clash)
Back on Earth, the Dark HYDRA Network forces were quickly defeated, but as they were beaten, more soldiers came marching in and mobilizing skull-faced mecha, tentacled transports. TK & MagnaAngemon and Kari & Angewomon headed off to attack the giant tentacle-armed transports.
"Sheesh, they keep on coming," TK fired a barrage of Ki beams that tore into the transport. He watched MagnaAngemon cutting tentacled legs of the HYDRA transport.
MagnaAngemon then carved through the transport with his Excalibur. After cutting off its legs, the transport collapsed on the streets.
Iron Man and War Machine flew around another walking transport. Iron Man fired pulse blasts that pushed the machine back. War Machine launched a barrage of missiles that blew apart some of its tentacled limbs. Paildramon shot cables from his hands and used them to tear apart the HYDRA transport.
"Yeah, they can keep coming, but we'll kick their butts harder! Won't we Kari?" Davis grinned as he winked to her.
"Yep!" Kari nodded as she paused and noticed a shining ray of light pop out of a computer screen inside a shop. "What's that?"
As as she said, Ken and JewelBeemon came running out of the electronics store with Yolei & Shurimon, the Scooby Digidestined & their Digimon, and Black Widow. Numerous HYDRA soldiers and Dark Network Digimon spotted the newcomers.
"Hey, Ken, Yolei! Great, you're back!" Davis called out to them.
"And from the looks of it, they've rescued Black Widow!" Cody pointed out to the red-haired assassin with them.
"Even better! Did y'all plant that virus thing into their computer?!"
"We did, Davis!" Ken replied.
"Mission accomplished!" Yolei flashed a thumbs up to him.
"Um, guys. How about less talking with the bad guys surrounding us and about to shoot us?" Black Widow suggested as the HYDRA soldiers opened fire on them.
As they fired, Ken, JewelBeemon, and Shurimon quickly deflected the incoming projectiles and bullet rounds fired at them. Ken even caught so many bullets he dropped them with one hand. Baffled, the HYDRA soldiers left themselves open for Black Widow to take down a few. Yolei threw her Shuriken of Caring, which disarmed many HYDRA soldiers. Several Tankmon charged in to attack, but JewelBeemon intercepted and sliced them apart with his spear.
"Tony, look!" War Machine pointed him to Black Widow taking down a few HYDRA soldiers.
"Fury's gonna be happy about this," Iron Man noted.
"Davis, let's put put Imperialdramon and GranKuwagamon to work!" Ken suggested, lifting his D3 into the air.
"Good call!" Davis shouted and raised his D3 device.
Two beams of light shot out of their D3s. The beams struck the two Digimon. JewelBeemon became GranKuwagamon and Paildramon evolved into Imperialdramon Dragon Mode. The winged behemoths turned their sights on several HYDRA skull transports stalking toward them. The transports quickly ensnared Imperialdramon and GranKuwagamon with their tentacled arms.
"You've got this Imperialdramon!" Davis encouraged his Digimon.
"Snap those cables of theirs!" Ken called out.
"Going up!" GranKuwagamon quickly airlifted a HYDRA transport and dropped it from midair, watching it crash into the ground.
"How about a lift?!" Imperialdramon roared as he deadlifted one HYDRA transport with his left front arm and slammed it into another transport. He then fired a Positron Laser, which destroyed the two transports. Another came charging his way only for Imperialdramon to fly into the air and expel a fiery breath that burned the skull-faced transport.
"Hell yeah! Way to go, Imperialdramon!" Davis pumped his fist up. He saw several HYDRA soldiers trying to escape. "Where do you jerks think you're going?!"
He flew down and knocked out each soldier with fists. Davis watched TK making short work of more HYDRA soldiers.
(End theme)
"Piece of cake, right, TK?"
"Yeah, but there's still some Dark HYDRA Network bases stationed in the Digital World. Ken and Yolei's group only managed to take down one thus far."
"Hmm, well I think it's time we start exploring the Digital World."
"Guys! I just got a message from Max!" Kari called out as she landed where TK and Davis were. "He and Simms just told me they've spotted Sonja with her brother there."
"Really? My babe's in the Digital World? Well, what are we waiting for?!" Davis exclaimed.
"There's more," the Bearer of Light stopped Davis. "You two won't believe who's with them."
TK frowned as he didn't like the concerned tone in her voice. "Who?"
"BlackWarGreymon."
"BW's with 'em? Ok, so?" Davis asked.
Not our BW. BW's here with me right now. The voice of Max telepathically contacted the Digidestined. Kari just said BlackWarGreymon. And yes, THAT BlackWarGreymon.
"But, how's that possible? If BW is still with you, who's this BlackWarGreymon with Jax and Sonja?" TK asked the former watcher.
I wish I knew, but we're just finding out the logistics. They're currently with Miranda, who might be in league with the Dark HYDRA Network. Max continued to fill them in on the situation.
"What?! Sonja's helping the bad guys?! I refuse to believe that!" Davis snapped.
Calm down, Davis. She and Jax are mostly likely being manipulated or have had their protocols tampered with. BW's sure of it. Max reassured the Bearer of Miracles. Although, it would be a good idea to find and confront them.
"Well, Davis?" Kari turned to her friend with sadness in her eyes.
"Oh you bet we're going to the Digital World!" The ever determined Davis declared, making it a mission to find his Artificial girlfriend.
"So, what are they doing in the Digital World with Miranda and this fake BlackWarGreymon?" TK asked Max.
They're actively taking out some clones of us the Dark HYDRA Network created. Who knows, but I think Miranda might be planning something. If things get too serious, BW, myself, and the others will come down. Max stated.
"Do you know if my brother and Matt will come out of training with Whismon anytime now?" Kari asked them. "I know my brother told me he's confident we can take care of this problem and so far, we've been handling things fairly well."
"Yeah, we haven't needed my brother, Tai, or you, Max," the Bearer of Hope realized.
True, but we're always here when you guys need the helping hand. So, I urgently ask you and the team go into the Digital World.
"You heard, Max, guys. We're going for babe and her brother," Davis stated. "I'll tell Ken, Yolei, and Cody to come with us."
"So far, the Dark HYDRA forces have been dwindling here. We'll wrap up things here and head for the Digital World."
That's great, TK. You all be cautious. There's no telling what this Miranda might have her sleeve. Max warned as he cut off connection with the Digidestined.
"I hope it's not as serious as Max says it is," TK muttered.
"Don't worry. Jax and Sonja wouldn't be doing this if they didn't already have a plan. Maybe they're just willfully cooperating just to monitor Miranda?" Kari surmised this possibility.
"We'll see. C'mon, let's grab the others and head out, Kari."
"Right!"
After effortlessly neutralizing Dark HYDRA Network's forces, the soldiers were apprehended and Dark Network Digimon were sealed in a container. Several SHIELD transports arrived to pick up the beaten HYDRA soldiers.
"Don't worry about these captured Dark Network Digimon. We can ask Azulongmon and Gennai relocate them to a Digital World prison," TK informed Iron Man and War Machine. "Seems SHIELD can handle HYDRA's goons."
"Yeah, the SHIELD boys got it covered. Great work shutting down one of their computers and rescuing Black Widow," Iron Man said, eyeing Black Widow, who was seen calling for Fury.
"So, where are y'all heading?" War Machine asked the Digidestined.
"We're going to the Digital World and finding two of our friends," Cody said.
"That's right! And getting to the bottom of my girl being used by HYDRA!" Davis shouted. "C'mon, guys! Let's go find Sonja and her brother!"
"I can't believe there's some clone of BlackWarGreymon out there with them. I hope BW's aware," Cody stated.
"He is, but our job is to find them and tell them the likely truth about Miranda," TK plainly said.
"Well, we shouldn't keep Davis waiting," Ken noticed how restless his friend was being.
"Davis, Ken, we've rounded up the last of the HYDRA creeps! Are we all set?" Imperialdramon Fighter Mode asked as he and GranKuwagamon dumped a few HYDRA soldiers inside a SHIELD transport.
Nodding, Davis veered toward the electronics store Ken's group used to leave the Digital World. As the Digidestined headed over to a big screen television, the group pulled out their D3 Digivices.
"Hey, is it true there's some clones of us and our friends in the Digital World?" Yolei asked TK.
"That's what Max told us. Don't know how credible that sounds, but it wouldn't surprise me. This new Dark Network organization and HYDRA probably exchanged access to all sorts of technology to build new WMDs," the Bearer of Hope replied.
"I wouldn't put it past them to create clones of us. After all, Datamon used insects to collect DNA from us and our Digimon to create a bio-artificial monstrosity like Virus," Ken reminded them. "And when I was the Emperor, I collected the data of various Digimon to build Chimeramon."
Kari noticed Davis staring anxiously at the screen. She smiled and patted his shoulder.
"It'll be ok, Davis. Jax and Sonja will understand they're being used to do Miranda's bidding," Kari calmly reassured him.
As his hand stopped shaking, Davis calmed down. The Digimon entered having reverted to their Rookie forms, or Champion-level in Gatomon's case.
"You're right. Thanks, Kari." Davis smirked. Here we come, babe! I hope there's no clone of me out there you're having to face! "Digiport open!"
xxxxx
Digital World/File Island/Railroad Plains
"No way," Sonja frowned. To her surprise and dismay, she faced off against an Ultima X clone. The clone stared at her listlessly and growled. "You're not asking me to fight someone who looks like Davis."
Jax shrugged. "If you're not up to it, sis, I'll gladly step in."
"No, I mean…" She hesitated and maintained a fierce glare at the clone.
(Cue Dragon Ball Super OST - The Power to Resist)
Observing the hesitant Sonja, Miranda and BlackWarGreymon waited for her to neutralize the clone.
Before Sonja made her move, the Ultima X clone rushed her and conjured an energy beam. Then, something seemingly came running out of a forest. Alarmed, Sonja and the clone turned as the former scanned a large theropod-like Digimon charging at them full head of steam. The creature quickly undid its invisibility cloak, revealing a mostly gray-scaled Tyrannomon. It had white bony structures that doubled as armor and bony quills, which were characteristics taken from SkullGreymon. Its eyes glowed red profusely much like SkullGreymon. The Tyrannomon-like monster opened its mouth and tried to snatch them both. Sonja and the clone dodged the monster's mouth, which had DinoRexmon's immense bite force.
"Another DigiHybrid," BlackWarGreymon confirmed.
"So, we've finally find Indomimon," Miranda eyed the gray-scaled theropod Digimon. "An apex predator designed for the sole purpose of leading Tyrannomon herds and serve the Dark HYDRA Network's ground forces. It has the base of Tyrannomon, the body structure of SkullGreymon, can detect thermal signatures like Frogmon, has the intelligence of Reptiledramon, and DinoRexmon's bite force. On its own, it's a formidable beast, but is no match against an Artificial. Go and take it down, dear Sonja."
As the Indomimon snapped its jaws at her, Sonja landed a kick to the beast's jaws and knocked it over. The Ultima X clone quickly got behind Sonja and put her in a full nelson. The female Artificial flew around and struggled to break loose from the clone's hold.
"C'mon, sis! You've got him!" Jax encouraged her. "If you're still not up to it, just remember, that thing is not Davis! He might as well be someone else!"
Having been reminded of this notion, Sonja clenched her fists and tucked her head. She hit the clone's jaw with a headbutt. As she dazed the clone, Sonja caught him with a barrage of kicks. She landed an elbow and sent the clone flying back. She then conjured a Power Blitz beam and destroyed the Ultima X clone.
(End theme)
Sighing, Sonja landed next to Jax.
"Great work, sis."
"Thanks," Sonja didn't even look to her brother.
"Excellent work, Sonja! Not only has the clone been eradicated, but you've helped neutralize the rare Indomimon. There's at least one more of its kind to capture," Miranda said as she sealed the Indomimon in a capsule. "And we have plenty more to go."
BlackWarGreymon turned to the two Artificials. "We're ready to head for the next location."
As Jax and Sonja turned to each other, the sound of a blast fired out of nowhere and hit the ground near them. This alarmed the four as they looked up. Imperialdramon floated above them carrying the New Digidestined and the other Digimon. Davis immediately spotted Sonja and her brother.
"There they are!" Davis pointed to the siblings.
"I can't it's true! It's really them!" Yolei exclaimed.
"Remember, they probably have a reason for this," TK reminded the group. "They wouldn't think about turning against us."
"But, then again they used to…" Cody muttered.
"Sonja!" Babe!" Davis called out as he flew off Imperialdramon and landed near the siblings.
"Davis!" Sonja cried out. "What are you and the others doing here?!"
"We came for you, of course! And your bro…" Davis modestly chuckled and turned to greet Jax.
"Davis, I…" Before Sonja could say anything, she eyed Miranda's way and looked down. "Sorry for not telling you I was ok."
"It's all good. You're ok and that's all that matters. Seems Miranda's not as bad as I thought if she didn't mess with you."
"Well, actually…"
Miranda and BlackWarGreymon watched Imperialdramon descend with the Digidestined and the other Digimon. They held their ground catching themselves between these two and trying to get to Davis.
"Be careful, Davis!" Kari called out, not taking her eyes off Miranda, who had a demure look on her face.
"I can't believe it's BlackWarGreymon," Cody quietly muttered.
"But, not our BW," Armadillomon emphasized.
"Still, we can't take our guards off these two," Gatomon narrowed her eyes at them. "That woman especially gives off some creepy vibes."
"Really? If I may ask, however do you mean?" Hawkmon asked the Champion-level feline.
"There's something very off about her. It doesn't help when Fury told us she works for HYDRA."
"Let's hold our ground until something occurs," TK suggested. "If and when those two try anything that crosses the line, we'll step in."
Imperialdramon growled, cautiously raised his mounted laser cannon.
"Davis! Are those two ok?!" Ken called out to his friend.
"Yeah! Seems that way!" Davis reassuringly answered them. "C'mon, babe. We came to get ya."
(Cue Dragon Ball FighterZ OST - Evil)
"Davis, listen…" Sonja watched Miranda and BlackWarGreymon turn away. She quickly motioned Davis to whisper something to him. Jax, being the closest to them, listened to their conversation.
Davis blinked. "...what? She tampered with you two"
Sonja nodded. "So, I want you and your friends to play along and pretend we're against each other now." She glared an icy glare toward Miranda. "There's something completely off about her I can't explain, but a part of me wants to help her overcome whatever's affecting her."
"Alright, babe. We can go along with your plan, but the others might not..." Davis whispered back.
"They'll understand coming from you, Davis."
The Bearer of Miracles nodded and smiled. "Then, let's get this over with." He then winked as Sonja replied with a sardonic smirk and poked his chest, putting enough power into her poke that pushed Davis down.
"Hey! Did you see that?!" Cody exclaimed.
"She pushed Davis!" Yolei cried out.
"Stay back! This is none of your business, Davis!" Sonja openly snapped at him. "Go and get out of here!"
"You heard, Davis," Jax shrugged. "Once sis makes up her mind, I can't change it."
"Davis!" Imperialdramon roared as he rushed in to grab him, but BlackWarGreymon intercepted his path. The giant dragon held his ground and pivoted his cannon toward him. "Step out of the way, you fake!"
"Yeah, we know you're not our BlackWarGreymon!" Gatomon pointed at the black-armored Mega.
"You two can can also explain why the bulk of our powers have gotten sealed away!" TK berated Miranda and BlackWarGreymon.
Upon hearing this, Jax blinked in confusion. "What? Sealed away?"
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Sonja asked the Digidestined.
"It's the energy-suppressing waves," BlackWarGreymon revealed. "It's a machine Datamon previously built that we've modified that suppresses energies on both sides of reality."
"And yet we weren't informed about that?" Jax asked as he and Sonja eyed Miranda's way.
"That would explain why we haven't tapped into our powers beyond our first stage Ascendant forms," Ken deductively stated.
"So, it was Datamon all along. Even beyond the grave, he's a menace," the Bearer of Hope growled. "He claimed the Dark Network for himself after he and Etemon seemingly perished. Then, we all know what happened. He goes and builds Artificials to kill us with."
"But, these two went against his evil program and became our friends," Davis said. He picked himself up and faced the siblings. "Tell me you two had nothing to do with this machine."
"No, of course not! We had nothing to do with it!" Sonja replied.
"We didn't activate it, Davis," BlackWarGreymon simply put.
"But, you had something to do with it, right?" Jax asked the dark-clad Mega. When he got the silent treatment, Jax hounded him. "Well, say something!"
(End theme)
Suddenly, a low chuckle escaped Miranda's mouth as she stood and removed the palm covering her face. She turned and creepily glared at the Digidestined and their Digimon.
"...uh, freaky," Davis backed off, feeling an unsettling vibe from Miranda's presence.
"Miranda, please stay calm," BlackWarGreymon reasoned with her.
(Cue Dragon Ball FighterZ OST - Devastation)
"No! I… I simply can't resist any longer!" Miranda shouted. As BlackWarGreymon reached for her, she slapped his hand away. Her face went from demure to depraved in an instant. The irises and pupils in her eyes visibly shrank. She stared at her left hand in a crazed manner. "I must feast… I must consume… Heheheh!"
"What's up with her?!" Imperialdramon exclaimed.
"She looks nuttier than one of those flying fruit bats!" Armadillomon picked up the woman's unsettling look.
"I don't like this," Yolei shuddered.
"Me either, I'm sensing darkness from her," Kari felt cold being within proximity of Miranda.
"Hey, what's going on with her?!" Davis tried to approach, but Sonja pushed him back.
"Digidestined, I'd advise you to leave! I can't let you have these two yet!" BlackWarGreymon demanded. "You all need to flee for now!"
"No way! I came for Sonja and her brother. That's all!" Davis angrily protested.
"Davis…" Sonja muttered.
"C'mon, Sonja! We're leaving! I can't let you and your bro hang with these two, especially with that creepy lady!" Davis pleaded to her as he turned to BlackWarGreymon and Miranda. "I don't know what you two are up to, but leave my girl out of this! Besides, Sonja's past those rebel days. Right?" He looked at Sonja with a sad look. "You don't want to go back to how it used to be, do you?"
Sonja gritted and shouted. "I want to go back with you… believe me I do! Just not right now…" She paused as she heard Miranda giggling.
(End theme)
"Love… friendship… family?" Miranda raised her head to Sonja's eye level and screamed. "Nonsense! Artificials have no such need for useless ideals!" She powered up as unsettling red waves of energy wisped out of her. She powered up enough with the ground shaking beneath her.
(Cue Dragon Ball FighterZ OST - Rage)
"Miranda!" BlackWarGreymon came to her side.
"You two! Fight right now!" She demanded from the twins.
"No, I can't…! Not Davis and his friends!" Sonja protested.
"Fine, if you won't then I will!" Miranda shot a piercing glare at the Digidestined.
As Miranda advanced toward them, Davis ran back to the Digidestined. The collective group whipped out their D3s as they and their Digimon prepared to stop Miranda.
"No, you can't let her fight Davis and his colleagues when she's like this!" BlackWarGreymon called out.
"Shit, this isn't good…" Jax tensed at these developments. "Sonja, looks like your plan has to take effect now. Things are getting way out of hand. She's gonna kill them if we don't stop them."
Sonja turned to her brother.
"Do you want that to happen?"
"No! Of course not!" Sonja cried out. All I need is a good shot and knock out Davis. I made sure he's in on our game plan. "Stop! Ok, we'll fight them!"
As she heard Sonja's compliance, a twisted smile formed Miranda's face. She stepped aside to let Jax and Sonja by. The Artificials twins faced off with the Digidestined.
"I can't you two are willingly cooperating with her!" Cody accused them.
"How could you?! Tell me this is all a bad joke!" Yolei exclaimed.
"Sorry, but our friendship is over," Sonja dropped into a fighting stance.
"Don't take this personally, guys. This is business," Jax warned them.
"I can't believe this, but if that's how you want it," TK readied his D3 Digivice.
"There has to be another way!" Kari tried reasoning with them.
"There isn't," Davis nodded. "Sorry, Kari, but we've gotta do this." As he said this, he and Ken used his D3 Digivice to withdraw Imperialdramon, de-evolving him back to Veemon. "Ready, Ken?!"
"Let's do this, Wormmon!" Ken beckoned his partner forward.
(End theme)
(Cue Dragon Ball FighterZ OST - West City (Destroyed))
With that, Davis invoked the internal energies of his Crest of Miracles, merging him with Veemon to become Ultima X. LIkewise, Ken tapped into his Crest of Kindness energies, fusing him and Wormmon to become Zordiark X.
Ultima X and Zordiark X flew at the Artificial twins. Ultima X traded fisticuffs with Sonja. Already familiar with each other's fighting styles, they dodged and parried their blows.
Zordiark X had a slightly tougher time being less familiar with Jax's attack patterns. However, Zordiark X made up for it with versatile attacks. Zordiark X summoned his Crest Weapon, the Boomerang of Kindness, at Jax. Jax dodged the boomerang and flew over kicking Zordiark X's face. As the boomerang swerved around to hit him, Jax quickly caught it.
"Ready, Patamon?" TK asked his Digimon. After tapping into TK's Crest of Hope energies, they then combined into WarAngemon.
Gripping her D3 in hand, Kari used her Crest of Light's powers, combining her and Gatomon into Celesta X.
"And we're not getting left out of this fight! Ready, Hawkmon?!" Yolei summoned her
"Indubitably!"
"Armadillomon?" Cody asked as he conjured his Blade of Humility.
As Yolei and Cody powered up their D3s, Hawkmon and Armadillomon evolved into their Mega forms: Valkyrimon and Vikemon.
Once Sonja battered Ultima X, Celesta X flew right in her path. Celesta X landed a flying kick and knocked Sonja away.
"I don't want to fight you, Sonja," Celesta X addressed in a saddened tone.
"I don't either, but I have to do this to protect you," Sonja replied as she conjured and tossed a Destructo Disc at her.
"Protect us from how?! Her?!" Celesta X referred to Miranda as she fired and blasted away Sonja's disc with a Holy Beam.
WarAngemon swiftly caught Jax with an uppercut to his jaw. After knocking the Artificial back, WarAngemon caught him with a Seraphi Fist to the gut. Jax caught WarAngemon's fist and punched him back.
"You've gotten plenty strong, Jax."
"Thanks, TK. I can say about you."
"I've been kinda slacking a bit myself."
"Really? That's a shame. Protecting the animals has helped me build my strength," Jax said. "I'm willing to go all out just to prove a point."
"C'mon then!" WarAngemon rushed Jax and went for a flying kick, which Jax easily dodged.
"You've gotta do better than that!" Jax called out.
"Then, how about this?!" Vikemon roared as he charged into and pushed Jax away with his right shoulder armor. Taking out his hammer, Mjolnir, Vikemon then hit Jax hard and sent him sailing back.
"Thanks, Vikemon!" WarAngemon called out. He watched Cody walk up to Jax. "Wait, Cody!"
"Tell me you're still on our side," Cody asked Jax while raising his Blade of Humility to his face.
"Always the philosophical type, Cody. Maybe we are, maybe we aren't," Jax looked him dead in the eyes.
"I want to believe you," Cody gritted as he lifted his blade back to strike Jax with.
Valkyrimon quickly intercepted Sonja with Aurvandil's Arrow. Never one to miss, the Mega knocked Sonja back.
"Kari! Are you ok?!" Yolei called to her friend.
"I am now…" Celesta X nodded to her. She turned to Sonja. "But, I'd be better if my full powers weren't sealed. I'd quickly end this if that were the case."
Sonja looked between Valkyrimon and Celesta X. The Artificial flew ahead attacking theme head-on. She caught Valkyrimon with a punch and knocked him away. Celesta X came into blows with Sonja again. The Bearer of Light shot a Holy Beam straight into Sonja's chest and blasted her down. Sonja crashed near Ultima X.
"Babe!" Ultima X cried out as he ran over to her.
"Davis…" Sonja muttered as she seized Ultima X and jerked him forward. "Forgive me." She pulled Ultima X close and gut punched him hard. As he doubled over in pain, she leaned into his ear whispering something and then let him drop to the floor.
"DAVIS!" The other Digidestined shouted in unison.
"Enough! Finish it now!" Miranda demanded as she beckoned BlackWarGreymon to attack.
Taking to the air, BlackWarGreymon amassed a giant red glowing ball. The Digidestined instinctively recognized the Terra Destroyer, which had enough power to leave devastation in its path.
"MOVE!" WarAngemon shouted as he went to collect Ultima X, but Terra Destroyer slammed hard into the ground and exploded, unleashing a greater degree of force that wiped out an entire vicinity.
(End theme)
As the destructive force subsided, the debris smoke cleared. In the wake of the explosion, the entire Digidestined team was left lying unconscious. Jax and Sonja floated away having escaped BlackWarGreymon's attack.
"Damn, that was going overboard!" Jax exclaimed.
"You didn't have to intervene on our behalf!" Sonja berated BlackWarGreymon.
"I ordered him, too," Miranda addressed the Artificial twins. "He finished what you started, but don't worry they're not dead…" She chuckled evilly in thought. Yet. "And I've made certain to enhance BlackWarGreymon's strength compared to the original. Thus, his Terra Destroyer should significantly be more destructive." She looked down at Ultima X, who stirred.
"Sonja… why…?" Ultima X weakly muttered, slowly looking up at his girlfriend. He fell and seemingly lost consciousness.
"Davis!" Sonja reached for him, but Miranda stopped her.
"He and his friends are just unconscious. Like I said, don't worry," Miranda smirked.
"I'm sorry…" Sonja apologized to Davis and his team.
"Are you satisfied now, Miranda?" Jax turned to her direction.
(Cue Dragon Ball Super OST - A Fearsome Foe)
"Heheheh, he looks so… delicious," Miranda giggled crazily. She shot a crazed glance over Ultima X. As she reached for Ultima X, Sonja blocked her way.
"What the hell are you doing?! Get away from him!" Sonja snapped.
"Miranda, stop!" BlackWarGreymon intercepted her, cutting her completely off from Ultima X. "You have to resist. Use your strength to suppress your urge!"
"Shut up… shut up… SHUT UP! LET ME FEED! GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Miranda screamed as she broke her mental capacity. In conjunction with her broken state, the red energy waves resurfaced, but now came with a black aura that wisped out of her. Electrical surges came shooting out and surging through her aura. The aura indicted something sinister. Something abhorrent underneath the surface.
"No! Jax, I need help!" BlackWarGreymon pleaded.
"You took out Davis' friends by yourself! And you need me to restrain her?!"
"I didn't give my all! I held back with the knowledge they're your friends! And besides, her power completely eclipses mine!"
"You stay out of my way!" Miranda snapped at Jax. "Or, I'll be forced to feed on you, too!"
"She wants to eat us?! Has she gone mad?!" Jax asked, readily holding his ground as Miranda's dark waves pushed against him and Sonja.
Maybe it's too late to save… no! BlackWarGreymon quickly turned to Sonja. "You need to link up with Miranda now!"
"What?! Is that possible?!" Jax queried.
"Theoretically it should! Sonja, you need to restrain Miranda!"
Heeding BlackWarGreymon's pleas, Sonja glanced over Ultima X and the others. She closed her eyes and forged a mental link with Miranda.
xxxxx
As she entered Miranda's subconsciousness, she saw Miranda cowering with an ominous dark shadow of herself creeping behind her. The shadow had red eyes of malevolence and a sadist's smile. The sinister figure laughed while Miranda cried and pleaded.
"Heheheh! Hahaha! Give into your urges!"
Just then, Miranda sensed a new presence enter the mind space. She looked up and looked up confusedly. The shadow continued to taunt her.
"Who's there?! Huh, wait. Are you…?"
"Ah, do you really intend to stop me?! How adorable! Good luck with that sweetie, but it's only a matter of time before she completely loses herself to me!"
Miranda quickly closed her eyes and focused, channeling her positive energy to suppress the shadow behind her. She calmly opened her eyes and smiled. "Thank you. I think I can manage now."
xxxxx
Having settled herself, Miranda fell unconscious. As she fell, Sonja reopened her eyes after vacating Miranda's mind.
(End theme)
"Thank goodness, that should settle her down," Sonja muttered. "You're not going to believe what I saw in there."
"What did you see in her mind?" Jax asked her.
"...I can't explain, but it's really unsettling…" Sonja then noticed the Digidestined were gone. "Wait, where's Davis, Kari, TK, and the others?!"
"Relax, me and BlackWarGreymon took them at a safe place," Jax reassured her. "While you were still inside her mind, I convinced the big guy to help me take them far away from here. Besides, one of their friends will come and find them."
"Oh, thank god," Sonja sighed with relief.
"Thank you. I wouldn't have been able to stop Miranda without you two," BlackWarGreymon expressed gratitude to the twins.
"Look, whatever I saw inside her mind, it creeped me out. BlackWarGreymon, you know something about this," Sonja addressed him. "You have explaining to do."
After picking up Miranda, BlackWarGreymon motioned for them to follow him.
"You're right. It's time I do explain what you may have possibly seen."
As BlackWarGreymon glided into the air, Jax patted Sonja's shoulder.
"Relax, Davis and his friends will wake up. Besides, didn't you and Davis just plan this out already?"
Sonja smiled. "Yeah, I'm glad our 'fight' was convincing enough. Davis will fill in the blanks for the others."
"Now, let's see what the big guy has to tell us."
The Artificial twins flew up and followed BlackWarGreymon off File Island.
xxxxx
File Island/Toy Town
Davis stirred and opened his eyes. He saw the faces of a some toy soldiers poking their rifles at him.
"Davis!" TK called out from the opposite side.
Davis awoke to the sound of footsteps coming his way. He saw Veemon already awake and sitting next to him.
"Hey, Davish! Feeling ok, buddy?"
"I would if these little soldiers put their guns away," Davis remarked as the other Digidestined approached him.
"Davis, you're ok!" Kari cried out.
"Can you believe what Sonja did?! She and her brother just turned their backs on us!" Yolei chastised them.
"Who knew they'd slip back to being bad delinquents again?" Cody dissuaded the twins.
"This is bad, Davis. Somehow Miranda's gotten a hold on them. We have more than her and BlackWarGreymon to worry about now," Ken said. Then, he noticed Davis chuckling. "Davis?"
"What's so funny? I'm lost," TK scratched his head.
"It's Davis. Who knows what goes in that empty head of his," Yolei shrugged.
"Heheheh! Hahah!" Davis laughed. "Oh man, our plan worked! Even that crazy lady didn't see it coming!"
"HUH?!" The Digidestined exclaimed in unison.
"Now, I'm totally lost," Patamon remarked.
"Looks like Sonja and her brother aren't at all in league with that woman and BlackWarGreymon," Gatomon clarified.
"Yep! Sonja and Jax are spying on our behalf! They're still on our side!" Davis declared.
"Yeah, I listened to their whole conversation, too!" Veemon nodded.
"Lucky you," Wormmon grumbled.
"That's great! I'm very relieved Sonja and Jax haven't turned against us," Kari replied.
"I can't believe I almost doubted them" Yolei dismissed her own judgmental character.
"Yeah, I know what it's like being used by evil," Ken said.
"But, you were totally influenced by darkness, Ken. Sonja and Jax aren't," TK pointed out.
(Cue Dragon Ball Super OST - Towards Hope)
The Bearer of Kindness nodded. "Yeah, that's a good point. Nonetheless, I'm pleased we have those two pulling an inside job for us. Now, we'll have a better shot of finding this computer that's suppressing our powers and destroy it."
"Not to mention what kind of untold damage this computer may have on the two worlds," Cody said.
"Doesn't this computer remind you of the Control Spires? I wonder their sources are being used to power up this computer?" Yolei deduced.
"That's a good possibility, Yolei," Ken pointed out. "After all, Datamon 'borrowed' the left over Control Spires to create Artificial Digimon to fight us. And that was before we ever found out Datamon was even alive and building Artificials."
"He was already hard at work building machines for us to fight with," TK stated. "But, Datamon's long gone. Miranda's now handling his network and is the lynchpin connecting HYDRA with the Dark Network."
"HYDRA and the Dark Network. That's an unholy alliance if I've ever seen one," Cody said.
"How about instead of us debating who's running this Dark HYDRA Network or whatever, we go and tell the others about what we've found out?" Davis said. "We can leave Sonja and her bro to continue doing their thing."
"Good idea. We should tell Izzy, Yamaki, Maki, and the others what we've found out," TK suggested to the team.
"No questions asked," Ken added. "They deserve to know."
"All right then, let's head back and get rested, everyone," Kari said. "We've got a long fight coming up."
"I do wonder about that creepy aura Miranda gave off. That scared the crap out of me," Yolei reflected to Miranda's malignant power surfacing.
"Don't remind me," Gatomon shuddered.
"Yeah, that did disturb me," the Bearer of Light whispered. "I can ask Homeostasis what it could be when we get back."
As everyone headed for the nearest Digiport, Davis turned to the sky and smiled.
"We're coming back later, babe. Be careful." He convened with his team and teleported through a Digiport screen.
(End theme)
xxxxx
Digital World/Laboratory Base
Jax and Sonja walked into a laboratory room full of capsules, crates, and boxes. They spotted BlackWarGreymon waiting for them.
"I had no idea this place existed," Jax meticulously scanned the facility.
"These labs exist all over the Digital World and there's quite a few on Earth," BlackWarGreymon informed them. "Even I don't know how many there are."
"Where's Miranda?" asked Sonja.
"She's resting in another room. She should wake up soon."
"I see."
"So, tell us who Miranda is."
(Cue Dragon Ball Super OST - Shady Scheme)
BlackWarGreymon sat down. "She's an Artificial born from the cells of countless Digimon, warriors, and brilliant researchers. Her power exceeds even Virus."
Hearing this, Jax felt disturbed. "Stronger than Virus? That's crazy to think about."
"Virus got stronger by fighting with the likes of Taichi and his friends. He was programmed to absorb you two in order to achieve his Perfect form. Virus became stronger than the one in this time. However, Miranda's different She already has more latent potential than Virus ever possessed." BlackWarGreymon explained. "And her most terrifying quality is her urge to feed. She powers herself up endlessly by feeding on others. She's already consumed thousands of variant Digimon by now. Those DigiHybrids we've been hunting? They were made for the sole purpose to feed her."
"Damn, she's an even bigger monster than Virus?" Jax became flabbergasted.
"You call her a 'monster'. That's putting it mildly. Why does she need to feed the energy from different creatures anyway?" Sonja asked the dark-armored behemoth.
"This is just my presumption, but I believe some of Miranda's cells may be going berserk. Her urge to feed takes on a persona that clashes with her true nature. That's how unstable these cells are becoming."
"What do you mean? Does she have another persona lurking inside her?" Jax asked. "Wait, Sonja, you mentioned you saw something else inside her mind?"
"Yeah, that must've been it!"
"It's constantly trying to surface and she's desperately been pushing it back down," BlackWarGreymon plainly stated. "So, why would you work with someone extremely dangerous?"
"She created me based on the original BlackWarGreymon's design after collecting a remnant of his data. I was made solely to stop her from falling into insanity."
"Oh yeah, that sounds like the BW we knew. He was an obedient one even when his creator was a total nutcase. Thankfully he's reincarnated and can make his own decisions now." Sonja scoffed, rolling her eyes. "But, I get this feeling you aren't just working with Miranda because she ordered you to." She got an no response.
"Man, the silent treatment again. You're just like the old BW, but of course you're not our BW, you copycat."
"Oh, I'm sure he'll eventually explain the rest. We can bug him later," Sonja consoled her brother. "Is there any way we can suppress her urge to feed? We can start there."
"Well, that is partly why we built the link system, which you used on Miranda, Sonja. Datamon created link systems for Artificials like ourselves, but we never had the chance to use them. Miranda used hers to control herself."
"So, al she has to do is link up and that's it?" Sonja asked.
"I don't know the full details, but she did mention to you linking up is like rewriting one's mind. You awoke with a different persona, Sonja. Then, you alternated and regained self awareness using your link system."
"Right, I get it. It's like a control system. A mechanism that prevents someone from rebelling. That could be what Datamon's remote control was meant for to manipulated our link systems, suppressing our rebellious natures and replacing them with a obedient doll personalities."
"Datamon severely overlooked the fact that maintaining a link was harder than he originally conceived. Even if a link is successful, most digitized souls return to their bodies in less than a minute. However, in Sonja's case, it's strange her digitized soul has managed to maintain a link for so long."
"You don't think Miranda intended to try utilizing my digitized soul?" Sonja wondered.
"It wouldn't shock me," BlackWarGreymon stated. "I apologize for keeping you two out of the dark for so long. Sonja, the potency of your link is crucial to suppress Miranda's dark side. Please, I need you to continue to lend us your strength."
(End theme)
Sonja was hesitant to answer. She had Davis and his friends on her mind. This meant she and her brother would have to continue their inside jobs a while longer.
"So, no to breaking the link until we beat those clones and capture those dinos?" Jax asked. "Either way, our goal stays the same."
(Cue Dragon Ball Super OST - Desperate Plan)
"If Miranda's urge to feed continues festering and grows, you two won't be able to defeat her as you are now," BlackWarGreymon informed them. "We need you two to get stronger."
"Well, at least we'll be getting our hands dirty."
"One more thing, are you two affiliated with SHIELD or HYDRA?" Sonja queried.
"The Dark HYDRA Network is simply a means to Miranda's end. Whether it rises or falls matters not to her. She'd want nothing more than distance herself from Datamon's past history and anything to do with HYDRA. Suppressing her hunger is more crucial."
"Just as long as we're not directly involved with HYDRA business, we're good," Jax said.
"We'll be altering our next course into Earth," BlackWarGreymon addressed the twins. "Several clones have surfaced there. We must intercept and destroy them before Dark HYDRA Network forces collect them."
"Understood," Sonja sighed. I hope you can hold up a little longer, Davis. This might take a little while longer.
(End theme)
xxxxx
Next chapter: The Hunt for BlackWarGreymon
xxxxx
A/N: There. Chapter went a little longer than the last, but a few bits and the last scene were taken from FighterZ cut scenes. I tweaked some dialogue here and there.
The base infiltration and rescue mission was a success. The Chosen and Marvel heroes then help take down more Dark HYDRA Network guys. This won't be the last of the Marvel characters. More on that in a minute.
Miranda's having the twins take out some clones and collect DigiHybrid dinosaurs to keep someone's hunger in check.
Davis and co. confront Sonja and Jax. There's a misunderstanding. Sonja fills Davis in and passes the message onto the others. Miranda goes nuts and almost lets the other side surface. Thankfully, that wasn't to be.
Now it turns out there's a computer left by Datamon acting like a Control Spire and capping high level energies. So pretty much any lifeform with above Ascendant 1-level powers will have their strength cut down. In Kari's case, Level 2/Amazing Grace, Mystic, and Holy Mode is out of reach for the time being. Special techniques like the Meta-Fusion are still applicable, but in the case of a merger, a fusion fighter's power is still hampered by these waves. So, this would better explain why Celesta X was easily taken down by BlackWarGreymon's attack, otherwise she'd wreck him and Miranda in her higher forms.
What will next chapter cover? Well, following BlackWarGreymon's whereabouts. We'll see what the other Chosen and Shu's group are up to. Max, BW, and the D3s will finally see some action. Max and BW will especially confront BlackWarGreymon. And more Marvel hero appearances in the form of a certain angry green man, who may cross in BlackWarGreymon and company's path.
That's about all for this chapter. Next time, the hunt for BlackWarGreymon and some clones is on. Don't be shy and send a review. Until then, see ya!