And after a few months, we're finally back to this!
We had to take a bit to recap ourselves before continuing as well, to make sure we didn't go over something that's already been touched on, or contradict it.
But also, we decided to set up a certain something for the future, so enjoy!
Ultimate Reunion and Dark Plottings
The forests of Anima were calm today, not many Grimm wandering them. A stroke of luck some would say.
That's what these two certainly thought at least.
"Still can't believe we actually managed to get out of there." a rather familiar voice spoke as a carrot haired man wearing a gray shirt and black pants walked through the forest, carrying a red and black cane in one hand with a bowler hat on his head. "Still… might be best if we don't push our luck." he said, before stepping into the light made by a break in the canopy of the trees, revealing Roman Torchwick, and following right behind him, dressed in a similar manner and holding her parasol was Neo, her long tri-colored hair tied into a ponytail, before she signed something to him quickly.
"The clothes? I mean, yeah, I know we had a bit of a stylistic flair going on… but we'd stand out WAY too much and be found pretty much on the spot if we still had them." he told her.
Neo frowned, but nodded, not able to refute that, before she pointed at his hat with her parasol, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Ok, NOT this one though. You KNOW this thing is my first steal ever. Sentimental value, you know?" he shot back defensively as he clutched the bowler hat.
Neo rolled her eyes at that, but had a fond smile on her face as she shoved his shoulder a bit.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Roman said with a smirk "Anyway, as much as we BOTH want to get right back to work, I think we should hold off."
'How do you mean?' Neo signed to him.
"Well, I'm thinking we lay low for… a while honestly. It'll be a LONG time before the heat stays on since we only JUST escaped. There's no doubt going to be a news report about it soon. So, my idea is, we both change our looks up, find some remote village, and just… live there quietly, you know? We can use our skills to sell ourselves as travelling hunters to help keep the peace for them." he explained.
'So… we go clean?' she signed to him with an incredulous look.
"Pretty much. Temporarily, at least. I don't want to have Atlas after us again too quickly, or worse, Little Red and her friends chasing us with their super overpowered Digimon." he said with a grimace at the end, Neo shivering a bit as she remembered Rosemon and just how… OVERWHELMING the Digimon's presence alone had felt to them.
Shaking her head, she looked to him again 'So… how are we gonna sell this then? And how long are we going to do this for?'
"Let me start with the second question because that one, I have a definitive answer already: At LEAST 5 years. And we hope nobody ever finds out who we really are." He told her.
'Five whole years without pulling a heist… you gonna be ok mr. grabby hands?' she asked him with a smirk.
"Keep that up and I'm making you gravely handicapped as part of our cover." he shot back dryly, leading to Neo miming a zipping motion across her lips while keeping a grin, causing him to roll his eyes "As for the first question though… maybe say we're father and daughter and that I've been training you on my own?"
'That's just our actual story without the thieving bits though.' she pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, that's why it might work best. Give them a half truth, you know? Easier to believe us that way. We just omit to mention anything related to us being crooks." he told her with a smirk.
A few weeks later…
Luck seemed to favor them as not long after they'd agreed on their next course of action, they found a rather nondescript village, and after a bit of smooth talking, making up sob stories, and a few picked pockets, they were able to secure a place to live for the time being. Not the most glamorous life, but hey, it beat being in prison.
And outside of all the loose change they grabbed, they didn't steal any other money. They didn't feel like testing their luck after all, especially since the village had a few Digimon in it that might have good noses for all they know.
As well, to avoid people linking him to his wanted poster, Roman had made sure to dye his hair before they reached the village, making it a dark black color, with Neo changing her colors to match the disguise she'd used during the Vytal Festival.
It meant that, thankfully, nobody had linked them to those posters, so they were able to live under some fake names.
Apparently, none of them knew the standard police procedure of calling a man without a name a 'John White', the same being done for women only using the name Jane.
Lucky for them in that case.
They also took up a house on the edge of the village, both to do their new job better, and to avoid too many prying eyes.
"This is why I hate hair dye." Roman muttered as he could already see his carrot colored roots growing back in the mirror "You're lucky that you can have any color you want Neo."
Neo grinned smugly at that, changing her hair into a rainbow of different colors for emphasis, before leaving them back on black.
"Yeah yeah, rub it in why don't you?" Roman groused, but still had an amused expression. Living here was a lot more boring compared to what he was used to...but it wasn't the worst thing he could go through for the next few years.
Any further conversation was cut off when they heard a knock at the door. "Who'd be coming at THIS time?" he grumbled, right as the knock became louder. "Alright alright, I'm coming!" he called, to which the knocking stopped. Walking to the door, grumbling a little, he soon opened it. "Can we help-" he trailed off when he saw who was at the door and well… "I'm sorry, but if you're looking for the next Space Battles convention, you're WAY off," he said dryly at the sight of someone who was apparently taking cosplay a little TOO far.
He could tell the person was glaring at him from beneath the helmet "Ever the comedian, aren't you Roman?"
He blinked at the VERY familiar voice, looking at the person in surprise "Wait… Cinder?!" When he got a nod in response, he was trying to think of what else to say...until finally settling on something. "I'd ask what happened...but if I had to guess...Little Red and her monster friends?"
"You make good guesses." she said, though he could hear the barely restrained rage in her tone.
"All things considered...it wasn't a hard guess," Roman sighed. "Well come on in I guess. I'd rather not any of the neighbors happen to be out on a stroll and see a woman in armor standing outside of my house."
"Such kind hospitality." she said dryly, before stepping inside, and he looked outside to see if she had anybody else with her, catching a glimpse of people in the woods, making his eyes narrow before he closed the door.
"I'd offer you something to drink, but I can imagine you're not here for a social visit," Roman frowned once they were inside, Neo looking at the armored woman with a narrowed gaze, having overheard him say her name. "So I'm just gonna have it straight. What do you want?" he asked bluntly.
He could very easily hear the scoff, her mask vocalising it completely "I want your help to get to Mistral quickly."
"Yeah, fine, if it'll make you leave I can see about getting you some transport." he said, anything to get her out of his hair honestly.
"Actually…" she trailed off, and he could feel her confident smirk come into place even through the mask "I want you to come with me. A spy we have placed in Mistral confirmed that Ruby Rose and her friends are all there."
Roman just stared at her for a long moment, before he sighed "Get the fuck out of here."
"I'm sorry, would you care to repeat that." Cinder said dangerously.
"Alright, I'm going to break it down very slowly seeing as clearly when Little Red and her monster friends did...whatever they did to you, they left you with brain damage. The last time I followed your plan, it ended with me and Neo locked up in Atlas, of which we only barely escaped because of planning and a LOT of luck, and nothing short of a miracle that we managed to get to Anima," he said. "And you're telling me to not only do something that would almost definitely get us caught, but you want to fight those overpowered monsters again? You want your transportation? Fine, I can pull a few strings. But if you expect us to go into the meat grinder because you're apparently suicidal, then kindly get out and don't bother us again. We like living," Roman said, ending on a tone so dry it'd probably make Vacuo feel like a beach.
Cinder glared at him through the lens of her helmet "You're making a big mistake Torchwick." she growled out.
"No, if anybody's making a mistake here, it's you for thinking you'll actually win Round 2 when they clearly dominated Round 1." Roman said "I won't stop you from your little suicide mission, but leave us out of it."
Right as he finished that statement, some of the armor on Cinder's arm opened up...before something shot out and grabbed him by the neck, lifting him into the air. "It seems you've become quite the coward," Cinder growled.
"Better a coward than an idiot," Roman managed to gasp out. "Do you REALLY think you can beat them if you throw yourself at them again? The little plan to tear Vale apart failed. Spectacularly. That should be a good enough clue!" he said as Neo got up and grabbed her weapon, ready to attack Cinder.
Cinder's eye burned with rage, before a sword seemingly made out of flame appeared in her other arm, to which she swung it at Neo, sending out a burst of fire that pushed Neo back while setting fire onto the house. Once again glaring at Roman, Cinder aimed her weapon and with a shout, she plunged it through his gut.
Neo saw that happen and if she could she'd be screaming right now, but before she could do something...questionable...Roman managed to look at her and sign 'Run!'
Biting back the tears, Neo used her Semblance, and by the time Cinder shifted her attention to her, she was already gone. Cinder glared a bit before ripping the sword out of Roman who fell to the ground already dead, before she proceeded to set the house ablaze further, walking out of it as the flames were consuming the whole building.
"My, what impeccable recruitment skills. I feel SO glad I listened to what you said," came the sarcastic voice of Watts, who was looking at the burning house in exasperation.
"He was a lost cause anyway." Cinder glared at the burning wreck.
"Eh, I never liked him, so good riddance if you ask me." Mercury shrugged, before he looked over to their new companion. "You got an opinion on this?"
Marie shook her head, her face completely blank, she was dressed in a rather classic old timey doll style, which was fitting considering her semblance, wearing a very pale blue dress with a bonnet on her head, and a parasol in hand… and he really didn't want to bother figuring out HOW she found all this out in the wilds.
The group soon left, having nothing left to gain from being here. As they left, the fire continued burning away at the home. Eventually though the rain came in and put out the fires on the now completely ruined home, and as the fires died out, Neo returned to visibility, an almost...unfocused...look in her eyes as she walked back into what had been a home she honestly found rather enjoyable during the time they spent here. However, the moment she touched it, like a straw breaking a camel's back, the building collapsed in on itself, yet as it collapsed, something flew out, which she caught, revealing it to be Roman's favorite hat, a little singed, but somehow intact, while his body...she didn't want to see it, and with the building having collapsed...it was as close to a burial he could have at this point…
For a long time, Neo just… stared at the collapsed wreck, holding the hat close to herself.
She wasn't sure how long she just stood there, she just knew it was long enough that she'd completely forgotten to reactivate her semblance, her hair now it's usual color, before she slowly moved her eyes to where Cinder and her group had left.
Her hands clenched the hat harder as she felt the fury start to bubble up inside of her, tears running down her cheeks as she grit her teeth, a garbled snarl rising up from her throat, before she did something she hadn't done in over a decade.
It came out raspily and brokenly, sounding like a rattled, angry spirit more than a person… as she finally forced out a single word from her damaged vocal chords, uncaring of the pain she was feeling in her chest and throat as she uttered that single word.
"REVENGE…"
The next day at a different location…
A training dummy fell to the ground, cut in half by what appeared to be a sharp blade of wind. Next to it was one that had been cut as well, but from what appeared to be a focused jet of water, and another that had been burnt to a crisp.
"How was that one?" Yang asked, turning to where Weiss and Gennai were watching through a glass window. Both of them were busy working on some devices set up, while Yang herself had a few scanners attached to her arms. She was currently inside of the training room in the RV. It had started as a small point of curiosity, but it had spiraled into a full on analysis.
This all started when Blake had a random thought, namely what's the difference between the Maidens beyond the obvious. THAT caused everyone present to stop short, the Brothers confirmed that from their knowledge, they legitimately couldn't tell the difference from one Maiden to another beyond what Vault they unlocked. Yang herself couldn't answer that either, seeing as despite being a Maiden and having had some time to try and get used to the powers, she honestly felt like she was less a Maiden of Spring and more a Maiden of 'whatever you feel like doing'. One thing led to another and that was why she was participating in this test. To try and figure out any clue as to what was the actual difference between any of the Maidens.
"Hm...so far it seems all of them are responding similarly…" Weiss frowned.
"Is there REALLY a difference between any of the Maidens?" Biyomon sweat dropped.
"There has to be something other than just what they're called and which Vault they opened," Tentomon said. "Otherwise, there wouldn't be any meaning from being one Maiden to the next. Heck, if Cinder actually wants to try getting all of them for her power lust, then she's as good as just getting dupes."
"...you say that like finding out all she's doing is adding the same power to herself is going to stop her," Yang pointed out.
"...good point," Tentomon said with a sweat drop.
"Jokes aside, it wouldn't be accurate to say no difference," Gennai said.
"Did you find something?" Yang asked.
"Yes, try to use that fire again, and then use anything you'd like," Gennai instructed, to which Yang did just that. When she was done, Gennai carefully looked at the data and nodded. "As I thought. While it may not seem like much, there's a lower output whenever you use the Maiden Powers to generate fire," Gennai said.
"Lower output?" Biyomon blinked "So… fire's weaker?"
"Seems like it if the readings are accurate." Tentomon said.
"They should be." Weiss nodded "Oren helped me put our systems up to date recently, so our programs should all be state of the art."
"So, if fire's weaker, which one is stronger then?" Yang asked, cycling small orbs of different elements around one finger.
Gennai hummed, considering it "It doesn't seem to be one of the standard ones… could you try stone maybe? The reading from that one might be helpful since we haven't tested it yet."
"Good thing Ozpin could tell us all the magic he was able to do back in the day, or we'd have a hard time figuring this out." Weiss noted as Yang tested out the stone magic, making rock spires shoot out and tear a dummy to shreds.
"Doesn't seem to be that one… the output is higher than fire, that's for sure, but it's not what I'd consider the highest." Gennai said.
"What's left again?" Biyomon asked, to which Tentomon picked up a sheet of paper they'd set aside.
"Plant manipulation and healing magic are the only ones we haven't tried yet… I think the best way to test that out would be with seeds and wounded animals, yeah?" he asked.
"First one is easy to get, just go get us an apple Biyomon." Weiss told the bird, receiving a nod before she walked out of the room to go up to the kitchen "As for the second… I suppose we could go outside the walls, see if we spot any deers or birds, or even better, find someone wounded in the city itself."
Yang paused at that last one, before she turned to the glass "Somebody go get Uncle Qrow, I have an idea."
A short while later saw them still in the training room, but this time Biyomon brought an apple, while Qrow was just curious why exactly they needed him here. "So, what exactly are you all trying to do here?" he asked.
"We're trying to test a theory," Weiss said simply.
"A theory about…?" he trailed off, moving his arm in a 'go on' manner.
"Which Maiden powers have the strongest set of abilities." Gennai answered "We've found that the Spring Maiden powers seem to be weaker when it comes to using fire and ice for example, but somewhat stronger with wind and thunder, while water and stone are stronger than that. The only ones left to test out are plant manipulation and healing.
Qrow looked to the apple in Biyomon's wings, before looking back at the glass "So you got me for the healing bit… fair enough I guess." he said with a shrug "Do your thing firecracker." he told Yang with a smirk.
"Alright, let's start with plants," Yang said, Biyomon placing down the apple to which Yang focused on it, and right before their eyes, and despite the apple not being in soil, they saw saplings and roots start to grow, and before long a tree large enough to hit the ceiling of the training room was present despite its roots having nothing to latch on to, and the fact it was well...an apple moments ago.
"...yes, that was DEFINITELY a much stronger reaction than the other elements," Gennai confirmed.
"Makes sense, Spring IS associated with plants," Weiss mused. "Now on to the healing test."
"Well in that case, I think we'll be needing some X-rays," Yang snorted.
"Coming right up," Gennai chuckled as he did a scan of Qrow and got an X-ray. "...you really should stop taking so much alcohol. It's really not doing your body any favors," Gennai winced...right as Qrow took another swig.
"I get that enough from Summer." he shot back, before Yang shoved his shoulder with a deadpan stare "Alright, fine." he groaned, before putting the flask away "Do your thing."
"That's what I was planning." Yang sighed, before her hands glowed green and she held them out to him, the glow moving to him and covering him for a few moments, before it stopped "Give us another X-ray Gennai."
"Will do." he said, doing just that, before he blinked in surprise "Huh… you had a few small bone fractures before, but they're all gone now… and your liver is completely healed, it's practically good as new."
"Wait, seriously?" Qrow asked with a wide eyed stare, before he grinned "Alright, free health care!"
He received a dope slap upside the head from Yang for that "Do NOT go drinking your ass off daily just because I can heal your liver. Otherwise I'll call mom." she told him with a frown.
"I was just joking," Qrow winced...to which the others in the room gave him a dry expression, not fully believing that.
"That aside," Gennai said, taking the attention away from Qrow for a bit. "Based on the results, I think we can confirm that Healing Magic had a stronger output. So yes, it seems essentially life is the Spring Maiden's strongest point."
"Great. Then when we take the Fall powers from Cinder, we can find out which magics are stronger." Weiss said with a nod as she made sure to note everything in their system.
"Well, Fall is the season of storms, so stuff like rainfall, lightning strikes and tornados I'd wager would be the most likely." Qrow said with a shrug.
"Makes sense. We'll make sure to focus on those then." Tentomon said, before he turned to Biyomon "Betcha those powers will fly into Pyrrha if we try to crystalize them."
"No bet." Biyomon said "She basically rubbed elbows with the powers before Cinder stole them, it's pretty much a given she'll be our Fall Maiden."
As that was happening, the others were doing their own things while waiting for the time to make their next move.
"Things have been...more or less smooth over here. Nero's still a problem, but so far we've been able to manage whatever he throws at us. Other than that, it's a waiting game when it comes to Cinder and whatever Salem has planned," Blake sighed into the Scroll she was using.
"I can't say that's good to hear, but I'm glad you're all doing alright," Ilia said from the other end. "Vale is more or less rebuilt. I think it won't be long before Beacon can reopen. Maybe when that happens all of you can finally resume classes," she said.
"Maybe. After everything that's happened, suddenly being Hunters feels so small," Blake chuckled. "But...that's not necessarily a bad thing. I guess our world has just grown that much."
"Well, after everything that's happened, I'm sure all of you wouldn't mind going back to a 'normal' Hunter's life. Add in when you take out the witch, I think all of you getting to have a normal life would be a great break," Ilia said.
"Define 'normal'," Blake snorted. "Remnant hasn't been normal ever since the Digimon came into the picture," she laughed. "And I think we can all agree that that's perfectly okay by us."
"Normal-ish then." Ilia said with a chuckle "So, what about the new arrivals?"
Blake hummed in thought "Well… Emerald is a lot more diligent than I expected her to be at first. So far we're trusting how serious she is about wanting to prove she's fully on our side. Obviously we haven't told her everything, and she KNOWS that, but she understands why and accepts it. Really what gives her the most credibility is Morphomon and Norn and how much they care about her. Plus we had Gennai check in with this SlashAngemon she saved and he and his new charge only had good things to say about her."
"So basically she's almost definitely turned a new leaf," Ilia nodded. "Well, I'm glad for her. Glad she could turn her life around before she went too far."
"So are we," Blake nodded with a smile. "Still… she explicitly said she has blood on her hands, and that she wants to do something about that as well… if she's serious, she might turn herself in to the police once Salem is finally out of the picture."
"Hope things go well for her if that happens." Ilia winced a bit.
"If it happens...we'll do what we can to help her," Blake sighed. However, before they could talk more, the alarm suddenly started blaring. "And that's Nero causing trouble again. I'm afraid I'll have to end this call," Blake sighed in annoyance.
"Don't worry about it. Hope I'll see you again soon." Ilia said.
"If not, I'll call again soon at least. Bye." she smiled, Ilia returning the goodbye before she hung up and got up from her seat.
Once she reached the computer room… "So, what's your nut job brother up to THIS time?" she asked Oren.
"The sad part is that is painfully accurate," Oren sighed, before getting serious. "But from what I can understand, a large number of Spiral readings have been detected and they seem to be chasing after three other energy signatures, which judging by the data, they're Ultimates."
"So Nero's mobilized an army of Perfects to fight a trio of Ultimates...if not for the fact these Ultimates clearly don't want to hurt innocent Digimon, I think that army would have been gone by now," Gyro frowned.
"Yeah, so they're probably partially aware of what's going on in the Digital World right now, or at least in Server." Ruby said, before checking something on her scroll "I asked some of the Rebellion Forces about it, they said they've seen some of the chase, but all they could see from the Ultimates were a single silver streak and two golden ones."
"That...doesn't really narrow it down," Patamon sweat dropped.
"Well, guess there's nothing to do but get our feet on the ground," Gomamon said.
"Okay, let's decide who goes for this one then," Terriermon said, taking out the roulette.
"Actually...we should probably plan based on what we need," Pierce frowned.
"Yeah. This is going to be a chase mission for the most part, going over territories that might have Dark Towers in them, which would cancel out any regular evolutions." Gyro said "What we need are choices that have flight-capable Armor Evolutions. So right off the bat, Yang, Blake and Nora are on this."
"You got it!" Nora saluted with a grin.
"I think we should go too. Tetermon can float up high in the air and his attacks would be helpful for precision strikes on Dark Spirals." Ren suggested.
Gyro nodded "That works out, now we just need a fifth member and you're good to go."
"I'll do it." Oren said as he got up "We confirmed the other day that in their armor evolutions, Terriermon and Lopmon can fly up high and keep up with some of the fastest Digimon."
"Then I guess we have our team for this mission." Pierce said.
"Anything we should go over before we send them off?" Veemon asked.
"Yeah… parachutes as a precaution." Agumon said, making everyone pause.
"That… would be a good idea yes." Salamon admitted.
"I'll go see if we have any." Ruby said as she ran out of the room to go check.
"While she does that, let's just make sure everyone's clear on the mission parameters. Catch up to Nero's troops, rendezvous with the Ultimates they're chasing, then take out all the Spirals." Gyro summed up.
"Got it, we can handle that." Yang said with a nod, right as Ruby ran back in with 5 backpacks in her arms.
"I got Gennai to make some." she said before she handed them out to the team.
"Alright then, we'd better go as soon as we can. The last thing we need is Nero getting his hands on Ultimates," Blake said, earning nods of agreement from the others as the team for this mission stood before the screen, right before they opened the gate and soon entered the Digital World.
When they stepped out of the Digital Gate, the group found themselves in a canyon from the look of things.
"In any other circumstance, I'd want to explore this area… but we have more pressing matters right now." Oren said as he took out his D-Core "We need to hurry."
"The Digivices should be able to track the Dark Spiral signal at least, so no problem there." Blake said as she and the others took out their D-Crests, while also taking out their scrolls and holding them up.
"Digimental Up!"
(Play Break Up!)
"Salamon!"
"Patamon!"
"Biyomon!"
"Wormmon!"
"Terriermon!/Lopmon!"
"Armor Evolution!"
"Nefertimon!"
"Pegasmon!"
"Robinmon!"
"Tetermon!"
"Speedermon!"
When all of them had finished Evolving, their respective partners immediately got on them, and the group wasted no time taking to the skies and giving chase. "We're heading towards the signals! We should have a visual soon!" Oren reported.
"I think we just got our visual now!" Nora shouted as up ahead they could indeed see a large number of Pteramon and Megadramon ahead, and all of them were emitting the same signals as a Dark Ring and Dark Spiral. In short, they'd found the army Nero had sent.
Digimon Analyzer: Pteramon
Pteramon. Data Type. An Adult Level Pterosaur Digimon. Holding the alias of Blue Bomber (rip-off), it can fly at some of the highest altitudes among flying Digimon, and can pinpoint a bomb drop on the enemy without revealing itself. Its eyesight is second only to the best cameras in the world, and is able to get a clear view of any Digimon it targets from up to 10 km away. Special attack is Hell's Bomb, dropping several bombs over a wide area.
Digimon Analyzer: Megadramon
Megadramon. Virus Type. A Perfect Level Cyborg Dragon Digimon. A Digimon said to be the epitome of strength among Perfect Level Dragon Digimon, wielding a wicked power. Programmed to destroy everything, it is considered the epitome of a computer virus, able to easily penetrate even the most well guarded computer networks and completely rewrite the host computer. Special Attacks are Genocide Attack, firing an endless volley of organic missiles from its arms, and Ultimate Slicer, slashing the enemy up with its huge claws.
Seeing the army, the group flew closer. "They don't see us yet. What's the plan?" Pegasmon asked.
"We're going to be in trouble if that whole army goes after us. We should try and take out some of them with a sneak attack," Oren frowned.
"If we do that I HIGHLY recommend we take out the Megadramon first," Speedermon L spoke up.
"No arguments there…" Tetermon sweat dropped.
"So we take advantage of the element of surprise, and we take out as many Spiral Rings as we can," Ren nodded, everyone who had ranged weapons readying said weapons.
"We got one shot at this. Let's make it count," Robinmon frowned.
The group flew towards the army at a more cautious pace, Ren even using his Semblance to render them more or less invisible to the army. Once they were at a good spot…
"Now!" Oren shouted as Ren dropped the invisibility and everyone opened fire. The attacks proved effective, as a few Megadramon were caught completely off guard, and their Dark Spirals shattered from the force of the attacks.
With the sudden loss of their Spirals, the Megadramon fell out of the sky briefly, before quickly regaining their balance. As that was happening, the party who had now gotten the attention of the rest of the army and a portion of them now shifted focus to them while a majority continued to chase after their targets.
"Damn, like this we might lose them!" Speedermon T cursed.
"Just focus on taking out as many as we can! We'll have to work through this that way!" Nefertimon shouted as she used Nile Jewel to shatter the Dark Rings on a few of the Pteramon.
The controlled Megadramon were preparing to fight back, but before they could open fire…
"Genocide Attack!" several voices shouted, right before the controlled Megadramon were pelted by missiles, damaging their Dark Spirals.
"An opening!" Yang grinned, before opening fire, even using some of her Maiden Powers to create some projectiles that she hurled at the Dark Spirals, shattering them further.
"Glad to know they're ready to help us when we break the Spirals," Blake smiled a bit. Most of the Digimon they free usually choose to run away. Not a bad thing, but a bit of extra help is always great.
"Hey, come to think of it, don't those Megadramon look familiar?" Speedermon T asked.
"I think they might be-" Speedermon L started to say, before one of the Megadramon roared out "For the King!" "The ones from the army." he finished with a sigh.
"Huh, well that's helpful." Noted with a grin, before one of the freed Megadramon flew up to Oren.
"My King! The Ultimates we were being forced to chase are just up ahead, being hounded by Dark Spirals! You MUST get to them quickly in case they can work on them." the Megadramon urged.
Oren frowned at that "Good point. We know those things can control Perfects, so for all we know they might work on Ultimates. We need to hurry." he agreed.
"Leave these ones to us!" one of the Megadramon said, right as they shattered another Dark Spiral, freeing another of their comrades.
"Thank you, be careful!" Oren nodded as everyone immediately focused their attention on the rest of the army still chasing after the Ultimates and flew after them. As they got close they once again let loose their attacks, hitting several Pteramon and freeing them from the Dark Rings, leaving them to break away from the rest of the army.
With the sudden attack causing them to be in disarray, it was the opening the Chosen needed to break past the fliers, and head towards the Ultimates that were being chased, while their partners who had ranged weapons were taking shots at the pursuing enemies.
Flying ahead, they could see more and more Dark Spirals in the air, which they did their best to shoot down, until they could finally see the Ultimates being chased, and…
"Holy shit…" Yang said with wide eyes.
"Ditto…" Robinmon said with her beak wide open.
"And I thought we were awesome in Ultimate…" Tetermon said in surprise.
The reason for their reactions was the fact that one of the Ultimates was a large silver dragon with blue and gold highlights, another was a gold humanoid with sword shaped limbs and an even larger sword coming up from his back, his face red in color with a blue plate on his chest that held a white emblem, and the third was an oriental style dragon with bronze and gold colored scales, wearing a samurai helmet on his head, holding two large swords in his hands… while his wings were even BIGGER swords.
"I can see why Nero wanted these guys. They sure look strong," Pegasmon sweat dropped.
At that point the three Ultimates noticed them and…
"Oh hey, its you guys. Long time no see. Would have been better if we weren't being chased but take what you can, right?" the large silver dragon said...sounding way too cheerful for the situation.
"Wait, long time no see?" Ren blinked, right before they noticed the crystal on the dragon's forehead properly, and then it clicked.
"No way…" Nora couldn't help but say.
"Yes way," the oriental style dragon chuckled.
"It's us," the gold humanoid said.
"You know them?" Oren asked the others.
"We've known them since they were Child level Digimon." Blake answered "I guess you're all grown up now, huh? What're your new names?"
The silver dragon that was once Dorumon grinned "I'm Dorugoramon now!"
Digimon Analyzer: Dorugoramon
Dorugoramon. Data Type. An Ultimate Level Beast Dragon Digimon. Rumors say this Digimon is born from the daydream of a Digicore, that it is nothing more than an imaginary Digimon. Due to possessing the mighty power and potent life-force data of a legendary dragon, the form created by its Digicore is that of a mighty avatar of Destruction, said to be an incarnation of the Ultimate Enemy. Special attacks are Brave Metal, rushing the enemy while shrouded in flames like a massive, blazing comet, and Doru Din, releasing a destructive shockwave from its hands.
The golden humanoid that was once Zubamon nodded "I'm Durandamon now, nice to meet you all again."
Digimon Analyzer: Durandamon
Durandamon. Vaccine Type. An Ultimate Level Holy Sword Digimon. A Digimon capable of turning into one of the mythical Legend Arms, the legendary holy blade known as Durandal, a blade said to promise victory unto its holder. Legends say the blades of this Digimon can cut through any material in the world, and can only be stopped by the strongest of shields. Special attacks are Zwanglanze, focusing all its power into the blades on its arms to cut apart the enemy, and Thron Messer, spinning it's body to dice the enemy to pieces.
The oriental dragon chuckled "I'm Ouryumon now, and it's good to see some friendly faces."
Digimon Analyzer: Ouryumon
Ouryumon. Vaccine Type. An Ultimate Level Beast Dragon Digimon. It possesses the ferocious combat data of dragons and generals of oriental myth, giving it the appearance of a Warrior Dragon. Legend has it that it possesses a rare ability that only comes about when in the presence of another certain Digimon, related to the blades that form its wings, the Gaiba Daimeijin. Special attacks are Eiseiryuoujin, firing out blade beams from the Gairyu Sadaijin and Gairyu Udaijin in its hands, and Ougai, rampaging like the earthflow of a mighty river, cutting apart everything in its path as it rushes the opponent.
"Its nice to meet you all again. Now, any particular reason why the crazy guy who's taken over a portion of the Continent is after you three beyond the obvious?" Yang asked as they shot at some of the Pteramon that came close, breaking their Dark Rings.
"Eh...not that we can think of sorry," Ouryumon said. "Normally we'd fight back, but…"
"Yeah, there are certain downsides to being a living WMD," Tetermon nodded. Being in Ultimate Level felt great, but collateral damage was a constant worry, and these were innocent Digimon being controlled.
"We'll handle this. You just focus on not getting caught," Nefertimon said.
"Will do!" the three of them saluted before getting some distance.
"They seem like a quirky trio," Oren couldn't help but say in amusement.
"They were the troublemakers of their home," Ren chuckled in amusement.
"And yet somehow they always found their way into important events," Yang said in equal amusement before they all got serious and charged towards the approaching army.
The Dark Ring/Spiral controlled Digimon were more than ready to fight, but right as they were near the Chosen, several attacks hit them from behind.
"For the King!" came the war cry from several of the freed Megadramon, as well as several freed Pteramon as they soon joined the attack.
"Looks like we got a cavalry," Speedermon T chuckled.
"Perfect timing indeed," Speedermon L nodded, as the Dark Ring/Spiral controlled Digimon found themselves in the middle of a pincer attack, both sides attacking, aiming for their Rings/Spirals, breaking them one after another, and with every freed Digimon, that was another ally in their own ranks. In short, it was a hopeless battle for the controlled Digimon.
"Glad to see they haven't lost their touches at all," Durandamon chuckled as the three of them were watching from a distance.
"I feel kinda bad leaving it to them, but yeah...as nice as being Ultimates are, I kinda miss being able to fight without worrying about making a new crater or reshaping the local landscape…" Dorugoramon sweat dropped.
"Well, that's just how things have gone. For now, we should be careful. The last thing we want is-" Ouryumon was cut off when he saw some movement by the corner of his eye, and quickly turned to see what appeared to be small machines of some kind. However, they didn't get long to wonder what they were, as suddenly they launched something at them, and before the three could react, those things latched on to them.
"What the-?!" Durandamon gasped, right before they realized they each had a Dark Spiral on them, and immediately they could feel it trying to control them.
"Oh HELL no! We did NOT spend all this time, travelling and growing stronger just to be the tools of some nut job!" Dorugoramon growled, his usually relaxed tone gone and was now dead serious, a sentiment all three of them agreed with. The Dark Spirals tried their best to control them, but the three Ultimates pushed through the influence and with a growl, they grabbed the Spirals and tore them off, even as the drones started to fire more at them, to which they simply continued to destroy them, even firing their attacks at the drones to take them out, with more just flying in to replace them.
All the while however, none of those present noticed the singular drone flying even higher overhead, a camera built into it that zoomed in on them.
"Well, they certainly seem to be doing well." Nero said with a smirk as he watched the feed on his scroll as he walked through the forest, another person behind him.
"Indeed." the other person spoke with an older man's voice, to which Nero turned to him. The man was dressed in a long blue coat with a high collar that hid his mouth and nose, wearing a blue hat on top of his head that was slanted down a bit, hiding his right eye, leaving only his left exposed, along with bits of greyish skin around it. He held a cane in his right hand, while slung across his shoulder and hanging underneath his left arm was a MASSIVE gun "It's too bad they aren't aware of your REAL plan boss." the man said with a chuckle.
"How can they? Nobody would suspect my true aim," Nero smirked. "Speaking of which…" he said before holding out his D-Shadows, a pulse of darkness being released and spreading over the area. Once it did, something in the area started to react, as the area seemed to glitch for a few moments and from the ground at the center of the glitch something emerged. The figure at first glance appeared to be Etemon, but its form appeared semi-transparent, like what one would expect of a ghost. "Do it," Nero said.
"With pleasure," the man smirked as he aimed his gun at Etemon. "Nothing personal," he smirked before pulling the trigger. The moment he did, an orange beam with blue lightning arcing around it shot out, and hit the...remnant...of Etemon. The moment it did, the beam seemed to capture the remnant in a field...much to the remnant's apparent displeasure.
"Hey! What's going on here?! Who are you two bozos supposed to be?! And where are those damned Chosen Children?!" Etemon's remnant shouted at them while struggling.
"Let me answer that in reverse." Nero smirked as he stepped up to the ghostly Etemon "They're dealing with my distraction right now. I'm the new ruler of the Digital World. And you… are about to further my plans." he said with an evil grin as he held up his D-Shadow, and all but shoved it to Etemon's chest, who suddenly cried out in pain once it made contact, dark lightning arcing off from it and into him.
"What the hell?! Do you have any idea who I am?!" the ghostly Etemon shouted.
"You're just another in a long list of failures who couldn't make this world their own. The only use you have is to be fertilizer for my reign!" Nero grinned sadistically as Etemon was pulled towards his D-Shadow, and struggle as much as the monkey wanted, he was unable to stop himself from being pulled into the dark device. Once he was fully absorbed into the D-Shadow, the man cut off the flow of energy and Nero smirked as he looked at his Digivice small circles appearing, each with what appeared to be chains on them and chibi images of what appeared to be Etemon and Devimon.
"That's two," Nero smirked, before a gauge appeared over his D-Shadow. "And it's filling up nicely. Eat up my D-Shadow. Eat up and show me your true power," he chuckled, before laughing in a way that would send a chill down the spines of most who heard it.
Pegasmon sighed, floating in the air with the others "Alright… is that all of them?"
"Looks like it. I don't see any of those drones anymore either." Nefertimon said, looking around as they slowly glided down, Dorugoramon and his friends already on the ground and resting.
"He has WAY too many of those things." the silver dragon sighed "It was like I was being surrounded by a whole hive of tiny Waspmons."
"Waspmon IS tiny compared to you." Ouryumon said in deadpan.
"You know what I meant." Dorugoramon shot back with a roll of his eyes.
"I'm glad his Dark Spirals can't work on Ultimates then." Oren said as they touched down, his partners reverting to Child, while Yang and Ren flew towards a nearby tower with their partners to knock it down "Still… I'm worried." he said with a frown even as the tower fell in the background.
"How come?" Nora asked him with a frown.
"Well… I'd honestly expected him to be present and taunting us while we fought off his army… but he wasn't anywhere to be seen." he said, his worry obvious.
"Now that you mention it… that WOULD have been in-character for him." Blake admitted with a frown.
"You're thinking this crazy brother of yours is up to something then?" Durandamon asked.
"I wouldn't put it past him." Oren frowned "The question is what?"
And there's the chapter people!
Yeahp, the Troublemaker Trio is back, but they've now fully matured into their Ultimate forms.
As well, Roman and Neo came back... for a bit.
Yeah, Cinder's threatening and controlling aura died the moment she was put in that Darth Vader outfit ripoff, Roman knew if he followed her, he'd just be walking right back into his cell.
And, of course, none of that bullshit canon did when Neo suddenly decides to listen to Cinder when the bitch said Ruby was the one at fault, even though it's clearly because of Cinder they got involved in this in the first place.
But Nero is still planning something, that much is obvious, and I'm sure you all recognized who it was with him as well, so... yeah, things are shaping up to be more intriguing than they were in 02.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed, because...
The Adventure Evolves