Billy and Mandy's Digital Chronicles Chapter 4
A whole day had passed, and the gang had continued their trek along the path Aquilamon mentioned Billy had gone through. Two things concerned Mandy, the first was that Billy had somehow made it to this world a day before them despite going at the same time, she could chalk it up to timelines being weird when going between worlds, but the other concern was that he was supposedly on his own, no Digimon partner at all, while Mandy wasn't that familiar with the rules of Digimon, the fact that she, Mindy and Pud'n had Digimon partners, almost instantly, yet Billy has been seen without one, this inconsistency bugged her, especially so since the other Digimon reacted in a more shocked manner upon discovering Billy had no partner.
During this walk, Mandy eventually began to explain what Pandora's Box is to the Digimon.
"Six years ago, we met a new girl named Pandora, who referred to herself as Dora, and she had this box with her, inside it contained so much powerful evil, it could destroy the world. Thousands of years ago, the Gods of Greek Mythology gave Pandora the box which she opened without hesitancy, it wiped out her village and she was banished, force to travel the globe with the box. Somehow, opening the box gave her eternal youth, as when we finally met her, she was still a kid. She wanted to open the box again so she could unleash the evil and destroy the world out of vengeance, but she couldn't, so she tried to get others to open it without any luck, until she met me. She pretended to be my friend and tricked me into opening the box, and almost destroyed the world, but thankfully, closing and reopening the box not only pulled the evil back in, but Pandora herself, being trapped inside the box. We've kept it in Grim's Trunk the entire time, until that mummy-like monster stole it and tricked us into coming to this world."
"So, if this box gets open again, then it could destroy our world?" asked Gazimon. "Who the hell would wanna bring something like that here?"
"Don't know." Said Mandy. "But the fact that the skies haven't changed, nor is there a pillar of light, it tells me that the box hasn't opened yet."
Aruraumon soon spoke up. "Still though… I can't help but feel for this Pandora… it sounds like she was innocent until your Gods decided to play a cruel trick on her. Her obsession with vengeance drove her insane."
Mandy huffed. "Like I care, she decided to trick me just like the Gods did to her, in the end, she's no better."
BlackGatomon smirked again as usual, as she spoke up. "So, what about this Billy? He sounds very special to you." Mandy turned to BlackGatomon with a glare, she remained silent as she turned around. "Oh? Did I struck a nerve? Surely you'd be more open to talk about someone you seem so desperate to reunite with?"
"It's none of your business, cat!"
Gazimon growled. "So, we're going on this suicide mission to find someone you won't even elaborate on!? If that's the case, why should we even come with you? You'd be putting Pud'n in more danger and making my work harder!"
"Billy and Mandy have been together since they were babies." Pud'n spoke up, with everyone looking over to Pud'n, especially Mandy who gave him a death glare. "You and Billy… you're like a brother and sister."
"So that's it." Said BlackGatomon, this time, she had no smirk on her, she actually looked concerned. "So, it's a family matter."
Mandy notices BlackGatomon's concerned look and raised an eyebrow, but she then just faced forward, huffing. "Well now you know, now drop it!"
Aruraumon looked over to Mindy who had been silent the entire time, just watching the flowery fields and tall trees in the distance. "Are you ok, Mindy?" she asked.
"Huh?" Mindy turned to Aruraumon. "Y-Yeah… just enjoying the view." Deep down, she was still bothered by the whole Aquilamon incident and wanted to forget it.
Aruraumon placed her hand on Mindy's shoulder. "Well, if you ever wanna stop and relax, it's fine by me."
Mandy spoke up. "If you wanna stop, go for it, but I'm not waiting for you, so either follow or get left behind."
Mindy simply huffed in frustration. But soon looks over to Aruraumon and just sighs before continuing.
About ten minutes pass and Mandy notices a large, deep river with a wooden bridge going across it. Mandy's eyes lit up slightly as she made her way to the river, she dug into her bag and took out the half empty water bottle, then looked over to Aruraumon.
"Hey, can you tell if this water's safe to drink?"
"One moment." Aruraumon walked forward but Mindy gently took her hand and pulled her back.
"Now hold on! Aruraumon is MY partner, you don't get to boss her around!"
"Then tell your partner to check if this water's safe to drink!"
Aruraumon looks over to Mindy with a smile. "It's alright Mindy, I need to see if this water's safe for you too." She then gently takes her hand out of Mindy's grip and walks up to the water; she extends her vines into the water and waits for a second.
"Yes, this water is safe to drink." She said as she retracted her vines.
"Good." Mandy then got onto her knees and began filling her water bottle. BlackGatomon then sat by the river and began drinking out of it. Gazimon soon did the same.
As Pud'n took out his water bottle and began to fill it up, there was a sudden splash which startled everyone, forcing them to jump back. Except Mindy who was already at the back.
There they saw what looked to be a large purple clam with teeth, black markings and two eye holes showing a pair of yellow eyes.
"What the hell!?" asked Mandy.
"Tehehehehe! Gotcha!" said a childish voice coming from the clam, as it suddenly opened up revealing a green blob-like critter with yellow eyes, two antennas and a small cat-like smile. "I gotcha good!"
"It's a Syakomon." Exclaimed Aruraumon with a smile. "Don't worry, they're friendly."
Soon there were six more splashes as six more Syakomon appeared, their shells opened up revealing their faces.
"NICE TO MEET'CHU!" they all said in unison.
"Uh, nice to meet you too?" asked Mindy.
"What are you doing in this river?" asked Gazimon. "I thought you were ocean dwellers?"
"We are, but we can survive here, no problem!" said one of the Syakomon.
"Truth is that we got evicted by some bad people. They made a mess of our water supply, so we had to move."
"SUCH BAD PEOPLE!" they all said in unison.
"That's… terrible." Said Pud'n. Who are they and where are they?"
"We don't know who, as for where, we can't remember. We've lived here for so long; we can't remember how to get back."
Mandy huffed a bit before going back to refilling her water bottle. BlackGatomon scratched her ear with the back of her foot before speaking up. "You don't mind us taking some water, do ya?"
"Nope, go right ahead. You're not the first and won't be the last."
"STAY HYDRATED!" they all said in unison.
Mindy couldn't help but chuckle a little. "They're kinda cute." She whispered to Aruraumon, who nodded in agreement.
Soon Mindy and Pud'n began filling their water bottles. Once Mandy finished and screwed the lid back on, she turned to the Syakomon. "So, when you said we weren't the first, were you referring to other humans?"
"Plenty of humans and Digimon pass here. Even as recent as a few hours ago."
"A few hours ago? Did one of the humans have a big pink nose and a red hat?"
"Yep, we saw him yesterday, he just crossed this bridge without even a how-do-you-do! Didn't even stop to get some water!"
"HE WAS RUDE!" they all said in unison.
"So that was yesterday, what about the one from a few hours ago?" asked Gazimon.
"Yes, he was big and had big round arms, had a heart shape picture on his arm, and wore a red fluffy hat. And right beside him was a black lizard-like Digimon we never seen before."
Pud'n crossed his arms. "That sounds like Sperg, and it sounds like he has a Digimon partner too."
"But Billy… doesn't?"
"Yeah, that was weird." Said one of the Syakomon. "He had no partner with him, I've never heard of a human who doesn't have a Digimon partner. Not that we've seen that many humans."
"Well, do you know where they both went?" asked Mandy.
"Eeyup!" said another Syakomon. "They both stuck to this path as they went forward. We don't know what's beyond here, we don't travel far."
Mandy nods. "Well, thanks. We should go now."
"No problem!" said one of the Syakomon. "If you happen to see more of us, feel free to chat, we love a good chat."
"TTFN!" they all said in unison, right before they all dove back into the river depths.
There were a few seconds of silence before Mandy turned back to them. "Well, we know Billy and Sperg went this way, let's get moving."
Pud'n agrees and walks with Mandy, Gazimon and BlackGatomon. Mindy gives off a huff as she reluctantly follows along, with Aruraumon following beside her. Mindy jumped slightly to see Aruraumon holding her hand for comfort. She just huffs again before continuing on.
Twenty minutes had passed, and they continued the same walk along the dusty path, trees soon began to disappear in favour for large open fields and bright blue skies, the wind was gentle too, and the heat was just fine, making it the perfect weather for a long expedition.
Mindy was in the far back of the group keeping her scowl, growing more frustrated over Mandy with both her bossier than usual attitude, how she just decided to be the leader of the group, and is dragging them just to find Billy. It was also that they've been stuck together since this trip started, so Mandy has naturally been suffocating to her.
Mindy soon remembered about her Digivice and took it off her hip, she began to examine the buttons and screen. "So how does this Digi-thing work anyway?" she asked Aruraumon.
"I'm not sure, this is the first I've seen one myself. All I know is that humans get them when they have a Digimon partner."
Mindy tuts as she decides to just fiddle with the Digivice, pressing the buttons on both the front and the shoulder buttons. Until suddenly a light emanated from the screen showing the time of the day in holographic numbers, showing it was 10:43 AM and the weather would be clear all day.
"Oh, well that's convenient." Said Aruraumon.
"Yeah, I wonder what else it has." Mindy began fiddling with the Digivice more, this time taking note of what does what.
After a bit more fiddling, suddenly a square holographic map appeared, and to her surprise, it shown where she was exactly on the centre, like a GPS. Everything was displayed in shades of blue, a much brighter blue for the winding path, and a standard shade of blue for the fields, and a yellow arrow indicating Mindy's position. She turned around to walk backwards for a few seconds to see that the arrow was always pointing to where she was facing, she even turned back around, and then began to walk sideways while pointing her Digivice to the side, to her surprise, the arrow was pointing to where Mindy was facing and not where the Digivice was.
"Well, that's certainly useful." Said Aruraumon with a cheery smile.
"Yeah, it's pretty accurate too." Mindy then shut off the map to fiddle with the other buttons.
Mindy became startled to see another holographic screen appear, this time it shown an image of Gazimon, and even shown a description beside it.
- Gazimon, Rookie Level, Mammel Type, Virus Attribute. -
- It has an extremely aggressive temperament despite its small size, and it never warms up to humans. Although the claws on its forelegs are very effective at attacking, they are also surprisingly suited to digging holes, which it always does as it enjoys watching other Digimon fall into its pitfalls due to its mischievous personality. It's Special Attack is Electric Stun Blast, which blasts an electrical beam from its mouth to stun enemies. -
Mindy was confused at first, until she realised she was pointing her Digivice at Gazimon accidentally. "A Digimon scanner?" she muttered.
"Hmm… try it on me." Said Aruraumon.
Mindy nods and points it to her and presses the same button. Then a holographic image of Aruraumon appeared with a new description.
- Aruraumon, Rookie Level, Vegetation Type, Data Attribute. -
- It seems that, at noon, it opens up its arms and the flower on its head to perform photosynthesis. It usually buries its root-like feet under the ground, and although it is absorbing nutrients, it is also able to walk. As for the flower on its head, when it is joyful or happy, it will waft about a sweet fragrance, but when it is angered or senses danger, it releases a foul stench that will drive off even large Digimon. The aroma emitted from the flower on its head is definitely inherited from Palmon, so as usual, it is intensely foul. It's Special Attacks are Poison Ivy, which entangles the opponents in toxin laced ivies, and Gloomy Dust, which spreads a poisonous dust from its flower. -
"Is… this accurate, Aruraumon?" Mindy asked.
"Yes, very. It's actually kinda creepy how much it knows about me."
Mindy ponders for a moment, then turns her head to Gazimon. "Hey, Gazimon?"
"What?" Gazimon turns his head to Mindy looking annoyed.
"Is it true that you enjoy watching Digimon or humans fall into pitfalls you make?"
Gazimon smirked. "Heh, sure do, it's one of my favourite things to do." Soon he lost his smirk. "But, why'd you ask?" Soon he took notice of Mindy's Digivice showing the Aruraumon hologram. "Uh, never mind. I think I know." He then turned back to facing forward.
Pud'n noticed this, then looked back over to Mindy seeing her with the holographic screen, just as it disappeared.
Pud'n then dug into his pocket to take out his Digivice and began to fiddle with it. Gazimon noticed him doing so, then just looked forward again. Mindy soon took notice of BlackGatomon walking behind Mandy, Pud'n and Gazimon, she got curious and decided to point her Digivice to her and activate the scanner.
But just before she could press the button, BlackGatomon suddenly jumped from the right to the left, avoiding the scan. The baffled Mindy stared for a second before redirecting the Digivice back to her, but BlackGatomon jumped to the right avoiding the scan again. Mindy feeling annoyed, tried to scan BlackGatomon five or six more times, but every time, she dodged out of the way without even looking. Till eventually, she ran forward going past Mandy and taking the lead.
Mandy notices BlackGatomon but chooses to ignore her. Mindy huffs as she puts her Digivice away. "Screw it. Didn't wanna know about that dumb cat anyway." She mumbled.
"Then why did you keep trying to scan her then?" asked Aruraumon. Mindy didn't respond.
As Mandy continued to walk, keeping her usual scowl, she noticed BlackGatomon walking further ahead, she turned to face her with her usual smug look, before turning back forward and running ahead. Mandy was confused at first, but merely shrugged, but raised her eyebrow again when BlackGatomon ran so far she was over a hill and out of sight.
She continued to walk regardless, but then BlackGatomon ran back from over the hill and back towards Mandy. "Yo! There's an abandoned factory up ahead!"
"A factory?" asked Pud'n. "What's that doing here?"
"If it's abandoned, then why should I care?" asked Mandy.
"Because I saw a fat kid with muscles and a red hat go inside just now. Sound familiar?" asked BlackGatomon.
"That sounds like Sperg." Said Mindy walking up to them.
"Those Syakomon did mention Sperg taking this path." Said Aruraumon. "Including Billy."
"Was Sperg with a Digimon?" asked Pud'n. "Like a Black Lizard like critter the Syakomon mentioned?"
BlackGatomon nods. "Sure was, both of them went inside."
Mandy huffs a bit. "Alright, well we did agree to find everyone so we can fight that mummy-guy and get Pandora's Box before it opens. Let's go get him and get out."
BlackGatomon nods. "This way." And she began to run ahead.
As the others follow, Pud'n looks over to Gazimon. "Hey Gazimon, do you still remember Billy's scent?"
"Yeah. Clear as day."
"Good, he might be there as well, can you keep a nose out for him?"
"I will. But if there's any danger, you keep out of it, got it?"
"Got it." Pud'n nods.
Mandy was surprised with what she was seeing, it's true that BlackGatomon told her it was a factory, but to actually see it was a different story.
The factory looked to be right out of the 1800s, there was a three-storey stone building with several vines growing out of the brickwork and windows. But behind it were several massive iron pillars with smoke chimneys and metal buildings with them. And they were all surrounded by a massive metal fence, with the exception to the front gate, which was swung wide open, due to the hinges on it being eroded.
What also took Mandy by surprise was the train tracks that cut through the factory, it was likely that a train would come through here to collect and deliver goods to and from the factory. And the gates that would open for the train tracks were still shut tight. Not that it mattered since the gate to the front door was open.
"So, you saw Sperg go into here, right?" asked Mandy.
BlackGatomon nods. "Yup, dunno why, maybe to grab some supplies or something?"
Mandy simply walks past the gate and makes her way to the front door, the others shortly follow after, except BlackGatomon who jumped towards a broken window and slipped through. Mandy opened the front door easily and walked in, looking around.
They were greeted by a broken-down reception room, with a lone desk, a cracked computer and a simple wooden chair, and a door on each side of the desk. Both of them had plaques on them but they had a foreign language on them, and they didn't look anything remotely like any language on earth. Mandy hardly cared however, she just cared about getting Sperg and leaving.
"Alright, two doors, so I'll take the left one, you two take the right."
Mindy grew really annoyed instantly and spoke up. "No! Not a chance! Pud'n will go with you!"
"What?"
"The only time I got any me time was when I was trapped by that stupid giant bird, I need my space! So Pud'n goes with you instead!"
"I don't care about your space, just mine! Now Pud'n goes with you!"
"No! Pud'n goes with you! You're not the leader of this group!"
"I don't care if I'm not the leader, either Pud'n goes with you, or he'll go with you, and you get a free black eye!"
"SHUT IT!" Gazimon shouted startling everyone. "I don't give a shit who's the leader or who goes with who, but arguing like a bunch of idiots is just going to attract predators! So shut your damn mouths and let's just look for this Sperg kid!" He then turns to Pud'n who looked at him sheepishly. "C'mon."
Gazimon soon walked towards the left door, with Pud'n following, Gazimon opened the door and the two went through. Mandy looked back at Mindy, who huffs at her before marching off to the right door, but she then noticed Aruraumon glaring at her.
"Mindy is under a lot of stress." Said Aruraumon in a more angered tone.
"Do I look like I care?"
"You should. If you expect us to help you stop Pandora's Box from being opened, everyone needs to be a team. And YOU'RE the one holding us back!"
Mandy felt a bit surprised to be accused of that, but she simply glared back. "And who the hell was the one trapped by a giant bird on day one? It wouldn't have made a difference whether we came to save you or not."
Aruraumon looked shocked, and then growled in frustration, she quickly peeked over to BlackGatomon watching, then huffed as well as she walked with Mindy who walked through the right door, slamming it shut.
Mandy gave out a quiet sigh as she turned to the left door, but soon noticed BlackGatomon on the windowsill looking at her smugly. "What are you looking at?"
"Well, you certainly proved you're not the leader."
"I didn't ask for your opinion. I'm going to look; you stay out of my way."
"Sure."
Mandy walked up to the left door and opened it, and walked through, with BlackGatomon slipping through just before it closed in front of her.
Inside the factory was not surprising in the slightest, a bunch of tables, with several piston-looking machines and several mechanical items sprawled out on the tables, with various tools to bend, assemble and cut the metal into their appropriate shapes, and several broken conveyor belts that snake its way across the factory, going outside, to the higher floors and even underground. The metals on the table looked rusted and worn down, from sunshine and rain due to holes in the ceiling made from wear and tear. In addition to several vines and roots wrapping around the table legs, the conveyor belt legs and other various metals.
Mandy looked ahead to see Pud'n and Gazimon much further ahead of her and looked to have been making their way to the massive door leading outside. Mandy looked behind her, expecting to see BlackGatomon, but she wasn't there, she then looked up to see her on one of the wooden beams walking across it. Mandy simply huffs as she walks forward and begins looking around, she could call out Sperg's name, but she decided to take Gazimon's advice of keeping quiet in case of predators, and simply look around first before she starts calling out.
Pud'n was following Gazimon towards the door leading outside, he looked behind him to see Mandy near the entrance looking around, with BlackGatomon lazing about on a wooden beam high up. Pud'n sighed as he turned back to follow Gazimon, who kept his nose to the ground, sniffing out for both Billy and any other odd smells.
Pud'n soon spoke up. "Did you have friends before you met me?"
Gazimon stopped and turned to Pud'n. "You know if you have time to ask questions, you have time to help look around."
"I can do both." He said as he proceeded to look around and even move some objects.
Soon they went to the outer area and looked around to see all the massive cylinders with smoke pipes, and several metal buildings and conveyor belts that went into the cylinders, to the buildings, and going into the main building. And much like the interior, vines grew everywhere, and a lot of the areas have been worn down due to the weather.
Gazimon soon sighed and decided to humour Pud'n. "Friends is kind of an operative word. I was part of a Pack of other Gazimon… and one Gabumon with an identity crisis."
"I see…" Pud'n didn't know what a Gabumon was but felt that wasn't important. "I guess your, um, Pack, is a lot friendlier than... well… us?"
"Again… friends is kind of an operative word, but we work together to ensure the Pack stays safe and healthy, we don't really have to like each other, but we put our differences aside to make sure everyone survives."
Pud'n sighed. "I sure wish we were more like your Pack…"
Gazimon looked back. "Me too, the way those two bicker senselessly is just baffling. Is that what all human kids are like?"
Pud'n shrugs. "Not all, but some, it doesn't help that Mandy and Mindy never liked each other, and they won't even put their differences aside."
"What about you?"
"I'm just some kid they know, I barely spent time with either of them. And here we are."
Gazimon tuts, as he turns around and begins sniffing the ground again. "You sure picked a bad team to be stuck with in a survival mission."
Pud'n nods. "Yeah… maybe we need to be in more danger so we can learn to be a team more."
Gazimon stops, turns to face Pud'n and stands on his hind legs. "No Pud'n… THEY need to be in more danger so THEY can learn to be a team. You're scrawny and weak, but at least you've been learning faster than them, and you seem to be the only one who gives a damn about keeping the others safe."
"Um… t-thank you? … and I really appreciate you helping me."
Gazimon nods. "It's what partners do, I don't like humans, but I can put my dislike aside to help."
Pud'n then smiles. "I'll do my best to help you as well."
"Good, now c'mon, let's find this Sperg kid."
"Yeah." As Pud'n and Gazimon continued to look around, Pud'n didn't notice that his Digivice in his pocket was glowing slightly.
Mindy and Aruraumon were in a series of hallways, each door led to a different office, all of them had broken windows, eroded doors, tables and chairs, and rusted filing cabinets. They have both gone through at least ten different offices, and no sign of Sperg or Billy, or anything useful.
Mindy let out a sigh as she looked around, looking more frustrated than before. "Stupid loser, Mandy." She mumbled. Despite that she finally had some space from Mandy, she was still letting her get to her head, frustrating her to no end.
Just as she was about to leave this office, she felt a tug on her wrist, seeing Aruraumon holding her hand, with a concerned look to her.
"Oh, what now?"
"You're far too stressed, let's take a breather."
"But…"
Aruraumon nods. "It's alright, the others will do fine without us, besides, you're clearly stressed. So, c'mon."
Mindy was silent for a moment, then nods. "Yeah…" she closed the door leaving them both inside the office, she then goes to sit by the wall, she would've sat on the chair, but it looked like it could collapse if any weight went on it. Aruraumon sat next to Mindy and unleashed some of her yellow mist, which released all aggression, Mindy willingly breathed in, and she felt all of her anger and stress melt away nearly instantly.
"Thanks…" said Mindy calmly.
"You're welcome."
Mindy digs into her hip bag and takes out two apples, and handed one to Aruraumon, and both began to eat them.
As Mindy finishes her bite, she spoke up. "You know, I tried to be Mandy's friend when we first met."
Aruraumon looks over to her. "What happened?"
"I tried talking to her… then she just told me to shut up and walk away… it pissed me off. I was new in town and alone, and the first interaction I got was from her."
"That's… awful… Did it ever improve?"
"No. We still hate each other. I became the school's most popular student; I was loved by everyone… but every time… and I mean every time… she always has to get the upper hand whenever we compete. She's cruel to everyone, she's always selfish, always mean, and yet somehow, she gets everything she wants and more…"
Aruraumon tilted her head in confusion, noticing the change in tone and dialogue.
Mindy sighs. "She has friends, she aces every test in school, she became friggin president of the United States for a while. And she's a nobody! An evil loser! … and then there's me… I'm the popular girl, I'm beautiful, and smart, but… she always has to be better than me somehow, and she doesn't even pretend to be nice." She soon tipped her head down as she took another bite of her apple. "I just… I just hate her so much."
Aruraumon was silent for a moment, but then she placed her hand on Mindy's shoulder, making her look at her. "But… if you're the most popular girl, wouldn't that mean you have more friends than her?"
Mindy shrugged. "Um… being popular isn't the same as having a lot of friends. They like you and admire you… but it's not like they know you, they just like to look."
Aruraumon fell silent again, then tipped her head down. "I… I think I envy you."
"What?"
"Well… not the whole being constantly beaten by Mandy part… but I've never been popular, everyone always says I'm just an uglier Palmon… so not only am I unpopular, I'm always bested by Palmons too."
"Palmon?"
"They look like me, but they have a pink flower instead of blue. Everyone always seems to like them more. So… at least you had people who admired you, even if it's shallow."
Mindy fell silent, but then she placed her arm on Aruraumon's other shoulder. "You… you have me."
Aruraumon looked over to Mindy again. "T-Thank you… and… I'll gladly be your friend."
Mindy fell silent, but then she smiled, there almost looked to have been a tear in her eyes. She then proceeds to hug Aruraumon. "T-Thank you."
As they hugged, neither of them noticing Mindy's Digivice glowing brightly.
Mandy had been exploring the interior of the factory, making her way to the second floor, there she saw more conveyor belts and cylinder-like machines, but she had no idea what they were even making here, not that she truly cared. She actually lost sight of BlackGatomon, which felt like a relief, she was getting too annoyed with her smug look and attitude.
As she looked around some more, she looked down and noticed from the window, the train tracks, she was reminded of the incident with the mummy man and how they came here via train. She wondered if it as possible to escape back to their world the same way, but she had to prioritise Billy and get Pandora's Box before then.
Yet Mandy wondered, why hasn't Pandora's Box been opened yet, that man had every opportunity to, yet there's been no sign of any hint that it has been. Mandy simply shook her head, whatever reason they hesitated, it'll be their biggest mistake. She looked around some more and decided she had enough.
Mandy takes a deep breath. "Sperg! Where are you!?" she shouted. "We know you came into here! SHOW YOURSELF!"
Meanwhile, Pud'n and Gazimon were at the far back of the outdoor section of the factory, still no sign of Sperg or this black lizard the Syakomon mentioned. But as they're looking around, Gazimon's ears perked up and looked over to the direction of the factory.
"What is it?" asked Pud'n.
"Mandy's shouting, the idiot!" Gazimon responded feeling very frustrated.
"Well, we haven't seen anything yet, so maybe it's safe?" Gazimon was silent for a moment, but then his eyes widened, and his ears tipped back. "Um, what's wrong?" Pud'n asked.
"I… I hear Mandy's voice, but she… stopped… and now… I hear footsteps… heavy… footsteps!"
Pud'n's eyes widened as she looked back at the factory. "Oh no!"
Back inside the factory, Mandy could hear the heavy pounding footsteps. She fell quiet, and felt a shiver down her spine, she looked over to the stairs leading to the third floor, and she could tell the footsteps were above her and heading towards the stairs.
"Shit!" Mandy muttered under her breath, feeling like an idiot for letting her lack of patience get the better of her. She immediately dove for behind one of the large cylinders and crouched down, carefully peeking her head out to see what was coming down the stairs.
As she got a good view of the source of the footsteps, her eyes widened, seeing exactly what she attracted.
Back to Mindy and Aruraumon, the both of them had finished their break and left the office room and went to continue their search. They checked the rest of the rooms going forward, all of them were more offices that were worn down.
Eventually, the two found a door leading upstairs, so they climbed up, keeping a hand on the handlebar as they slowly climbed up. Despite being cautious, both of them had a more positive feeling after their emotional moment, in fact, Mindy was focusing more on the mission and hadn't even thought about Mandy once.
As they reached the top, they find another long hallway, with only two doors, one near them, and one that reached to the end of the hallway, both of them were on the right side. On the left side was a long series of windows, the two had a quick look to see they could see the third floor of the factory, and it was more cylinders and conveyor belts, with tables with more scraps and tools on them.
The two then turned to the door and Mindy tried to push it open, but it was stuck. "Huh!?" Mindy pushed harder, making it budge slightly, but it felt like something was blocking the door. "I think it's blocked."
"Here, let me try." Aruraumon stepped forward as Mindy stepped back slightly. Aruraumon then extended her claws into vines that crept into the door's gap and felt around, soon she felt what was blocking the door, it felt to be a chair, after more feeling around, it felt like three chairs stacked on top of each other and was tilted in a way, so it pushed itself against the handle, and was on two of its legs to prevent being pushed so easily. Aruraumon then wrapped her tendrils around the chairs and lifted them away from the door, placing them down gently, she then opened the door revealing the room.
It was a massive canteen with several tables and chairs, and a few serving tables where food would be kept, the room was massive, enough to fit over a hundred employees, and on the far left was the other door they saw at the end of the hallway, and that also had chairs stacked against it.
"Why would the chairs be set like this?" asked Mindy.
"Someone stacked them up so no one could get in… but if these are the only two exits, then that means whoever stacked them up, is still in here." Said Aruraumon.
"Sperg or Billy, maybe?" asked Mindy.
"It's possible, but if they barricaded the doors, then they must be hiding from something, so we should be quiet."
Mindy nods as the two then proceed to explore the room, looking under tables and chairs for any clue, but nothing, thankfully it didn't take long since the tables had no cloths, so it was possible to look under all of them at once. But as the two looked around some more, they noticed a set of double doors, so the two immediately walked up to them.
Mindy looks through the window of the double doors to see a kitchen, and a set of bins blocking the door so it couldn't be pushed open. But Mindy was able to pull the door open, making the barricade useless. She and Aruraumon then gently moved the bins away and looked around in the kitchen. Unlike the rest of the area, this kitchen and canteen had the least amount of erosion and vines crawling around it, in fact it barely had any. Likely a result of it being the highest up so the vines had yet to climb up here.
The two were looking around, trying to be quiet, but soon, Mindy raises one hand up pointing up, and placing her other hand on Aruraumon's shoulder. "Wait." She whispered as quietly as she could. "Listen." She could hear something.
The two remained quiet for a few seconds, trying to listen for anything, but soon, they could hear something. The sound of crunching. The two looked around carefully, trying to listen for where this sound was coming from, after listening carefully, they could tell that it was coming from around the corner to the right, so the two carefully tiptoed around there.
They saw a large metal door with a sign on it, though the writing was the same as the other bits of writing from before and was in the unknown language that wasn't familiar to either of them, but given the size and where it was, Mindy guessed it was likely a pantry, where all the food is stored.
Mindy carefully stepped up to the door of the pantry and listened carefully, she could hear the crunching sound very clearly, it was the sound of someone eating. She and Aruraumon looked at each other, then Mindy lifted her left hand slightly to the door.
She knocks loudly. "Anyone in there?"
"No." said a voice behind the door.
Mindy and Aruraumon looked at each other again, this time with a slightly annoyed look.
"Open this door." Ordered Mindy. "We come in peace!"
"Nobody here but us icicles." Said a second voice, that sounded familiar. "Now make like a tree and run away."
"Oh wow, I had no idea that icicles could talk and chew, that's such an amazing thing." Mindy said in a very sarcastic tone. "Oh, and in case you didn't know, THAT'S sarcasm!"
There was a bit of silence behind the door, until he second voice spoke up. "Mindy? Is that you?"
Mindy smirked. "Figured you'd recognise that, Sperg!" There was a second before the pantry door opened up, and there, Mindy saw exactly who she thought.
It was indeed Sperg. And his face was covered in all sorts of sauces, meat chunks and other bits of food. "Hey! It is you! You're alive!"
"Naturally." Mindy said, she then waved her arm to Aruraumon. "And this is my Digimon friend, Aruraumon."
"Pleasure to meet you." Aruraumon bows slightly.
Sperg opened the door all the way to reveal his partner. It was a small bipedal black dinosaur-like critter with green eyes, long grey claws, and toe claws. "Here's mine, his name is BlackAgumon."
"Agumon for short." He then threw his head to the ground to scoff a giant chunk of meat from the ground in one bite.
Sperg then turned back to Mindy. "So, what the heck are you doing here?"
"Looking for everyone, Mandy and Pud'n are here too. We saw you come in here, so we followed. Did you see Billy too?"
Sperg nods. "Yeah, we saw him come inside this factory, so we followed."
"We couldn't find him either." Said BlackAgumon with a mouth full of food. "You'd think he'd be easier to spot with that massive pink fruit stuck to his face."
"That's his nose." Said Mindy.
BlackAgumon was silent for a moment. "Humans are weird." He then proceeded to chew on a bone.
"Is that food even safe to eat?" asked Mindy. "This place has been abandoned for years."
Sperg nods as he picks up an apple and shows it to Mindy, to her surprise, it's polished and clean. "Yeah, turns out food doesn't expire around these parts, apparently."
"Huh, weird but convenient."
Aruraumon spoke up. "Um, hang on. This is important, just why were you hiding in the pantry? Why did you barricade the doors too?"
"Didn't you see that big robot?" asked BlackAgumon, as he continued to chew on the bone.
"What big robot!?" Mindy asked feeling more concerned.
"While we were searching for Billy - couldn't find him, by the way - we spotted this big mean looking robot, so we hid here, and we found so much food that we decided to have some lunch before we hightailed it outta here." Said Sperg.
"But…" Aruraumon looks back towards the two doors which lead to the rest of the factory. "Mandy and Pud'n are still in there!"
All four of them jump to the sound of what could be described as an explosion.
"Oh shit!" exclaimed BlackAgumon.
"Come on!" shouted Sperg as he ran for the doors, with Mindy and Aruraumon following. BlackAgumon grabs a bunch of meat first before running, and starts eating them as he ran.
Mandy dives out of the way of a massive electric beam in the shape of a blade, destroying several cylinders and tables and cracking the wall violently. She looked up at her assailant.
It was a very tall humanoid cyborg of sorts, having a humanoid face and right leg, but most of it is made of a silvery shiny armour, it had long black claws for hands, which could spin and act like a drill, which was the source of its attack. Mandy immediately jumps back on her feet and makes a run for the stairs, as the robot prepared to use the same attack again, it's right claw was spinning so fast it looked to be a drill of sorts.
But it's attack was interrupted by BlackGatomon jumping from one of the wooden beams and struck it's face with one of her paws, the force was surprisingly high, causing the robot to stumble back and fall onto it's back, BlackGatomon didn't have her smug look, instead, she had a very serious expression. Once the robot was knocked down, BlackGatomon jumped far back and scratched her claws against each other readying to fight.
Mandy jumps over the side and lands on the ground floor, doing a quick parkour roll to reduce impact. She quickly turned forward to see Pud'n and Gazimon running towards her.
"Mandy! Are you ok!?" asked Pud'n.
"Yeah, but probably not for long!"
"Why the hell did you start shouting!?" scolded Gazimon.
"Don't start this!" Mandy shouted.
Suddenly the crashing sound of wood caught their attention as they saw BlackGatomon and the giant robot falling through the wooden ceiling, both landed on their feet, but the robot quickly threw a kick into BlackGatomon sending her flying, but she quickly grabbed onto one of the wooden beams, spun around on it and shot herself back towards the robot with both her claws for a stabbing attack. But the robot caught her and threw her behind him, then turned to chase after her.
Pud'n digs into his pocket and takes out his Digivice and starts pressing the buttons. "How did Mindy do it?"
"Mindy?" Mandy asked. "What-"
Pud'n's Digivice soon protected a holographic screen showing the robot.
- Andromon, Ultimate Level, Android Type, Vaccine Attribute. -
- A Cyborg Digimon. It possesses a fighting strength which can fell a Digimon below Ultimate in a single blow. It was developed as a prototype for Cyborg Digimon, and the mechanically based Andromon was manufactured at the same time as the organically based cyborg Boltmon. Its technology was also appropriated for MetalGreymon and Megadramon. As a prototype Digimon, it possesses neither will nor emotion, so it is faithful to its programmed behaviour. It's special attack is Lighting Blade where it launches a blade-like beam from its hand, and Gatling Missiles, where it launches missiles from its chest. -
Gazimon's eyes widened. "A-An Ultimate Level!?"
"There are levels to you guys!?" Mandy asked.
"Yes, we won't stand a chance since we're just Rookie Levels!"
They're distracted upon seeing BlackGatomon being punched so hard by Andromon, she was smashed through a wooden beam and sent flying into a metal cylinder making it bend violently. BlackGatomon pushed herself out of the cylinder, but clearly looked injured and tired, but kept pushing herself to move forward.
Andromon was preparing his hand again, but he was suddenly struck by a fireball flying in from the side, making it barely flinch, everyone looked to see Sperg, BlackAgumon, Mindy and Aruraumon running in, with BlackAgumon's mouth producing flames, then he launched another fireball from his mouth at Andromon, it struck but it was barely fazed.
Gazimon took this opportunity to start digging rapidly, he then turns to Pud'n and Mandy. "Find a safe spot! NOW!" Gazimon then dug completely underground. Mandy and Pud'n immediately ran towards one of the cylinders and hid behind it. Mandy hated the idea of taking orders from someone else, but sure as hell she had no intention of fighting that thing.
Andromon unleashed another beam of energy towards Sperg, BlackAgumon, Mindy and Aruraumon, but they all jumped out of the way. BlackAgumon unleashed another fireball at him, but it still didn't faze it. Aruraumon then got close and unleashed her yellow pollen to try and relax it, but it didn't even flinch as it turned and stared down at Aruraumon who looked at it scared.
Andromon was about to kick Aruraumon, but Mindy quickly jumped forward and tackled Aruraumon out of the way. As Andromon's foot was still in the air, the ground suddenly collapsed under it causing it to fall into a pit Gazimon made. Gazimon then suddenly jumped out of the ground and unleashed a lighting attack from his mouth directly into Andromon's face, the electricity seemed to be more effective than the fire, but it still didn't seem hurt.
Andromon quickly swatted Gazimon away, hitting the wall hard causing it to collapse, then Andromon began to pull itself up back onto its feet no problem, and looked towards Gazimon, and marched towards him. Mindy and Aruraumon looked seeing Andromon marching towards Gazimon who was struggling to get up, and the two of them noticed a strange purple diamond-like object in its back, it looked different from everything else on Andromon.
Aruraumon then looks up, and then to Mindy. "Quick, get some space!" Mindy nods and runs from her. Aruraumon then throws her vines onto the wooden beams on the ceiling of the second floor and starts pulling.
Andromon raises his foot, readying to stomp on Gazimon, but BlackGatomon suddenly intervened by jumping onto it and slamming her claws into its neck, but didn't even make a dent. Andromon reached for BlackGatomon but stumbled slightly when BlackAgumon launched more fireballs from his mouth.
This distraction gave BlackGatomon enough time to jump off and land behind Andromon, then lunged forward with her claws, aiming for the back of the right knee, the impact forced it to bend it's knee involuntary, which then made it fall onto it's back, with BlackGatomon jumping out of the way in time.
Arurarumon with all her strength, managed to pull the wooden beams apart making a section of the flooring collapse, along with several tables, scraps, tools and even a cylinder to fall and land on top of Andromon.
BlackAgumon quickly ran to Gazimon and picked him up, and the four Digimon ran to the centre of the factory looking at Andromon.
"We gotta get out of here!" Gazimon grunted as he forced himself onto his feet. "Never mind the fact that he's an Ultimate Level, he's also a Vaccine, that means he does even greater damage to us Viruses! We don't stand a chance!"
"Perhaps there's a way." Said Aruraumon. "I'm a Data, I have a small advantage, but he's also got something on his back that looks off, it might be a power source."
Suddenly, the rubble flew off as Andromon stood up, then he turned to the Digimon, and then his chest opened up revealing two fish-shaped missiles that launched towards them.
"QUICK! SCATTER!" shouted BlackGatomon. The four quickly jumped and scattered, with the missiles flying towards some cylinders and exploding on impact.
Gazimon immediately began to dig underground again, with Aruraumon launching her vines to grab the ceiling and lift herself up. BlackAgumon and BlackGatomon ran towards Andromon splitting up to attack from either side.
Mandy, Mindy, Sperg and Pud'n all watched from afar. Mandy soon noticed the door leading to the entrance, confirming that there's no way Billy would be here, it would be for the best to escape, but just as she pondered it, she noticed BlackAgumon dodging another of Andromon's lightning blade attacks, and it smashed towards the ceiling in front of the door making it collapse in front of it, she grumbled in frustration, and proceeded to watch the fight, reading to jump out of the way should an attack reach them.
"Aruraumon… be careful…" Mindy muttered, Mandy overheard this and rolled her eyes, hardly believing Mindy cared about anyone else but herself, but she soon noticed something, Mindy's Digivice was glowing faintly. Curious, she took out her Digivice to inspect it, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
As BlackAgumon dodged another attack, the ground collapsed under Andromon again causing it to fall and land on its knees. Aruraumon then swung down using her vines and kicked Andromon in the back of the head causing it to stumble enough to land on its hands.
The purple diamond visible, BlackGatomon jumped onto it's back and jammed her claws into it creating sparks. Andromon screamed in pain as BlackGatomon tried to pull the diamond off, but to their utter shock. Two tentacles with bladed tips shot out of the diamond and smacked BlackGatomon away into a wall, then four more tentacles shot out and jammed themselves into Andromon's arms and legs, forcing it to stand, it then turned to face BlackGatomon, now with six bladed tentacles squirming around from its back.
"What the hell is that thing!?" exclaimed Sperg.
"Some kind of parasite!?" Mandy asked.
As it stared down at BlackGatomon, who hissed aggressively, BlackAgumon and Gazimon shot their fireballs and lighting breath at the tentacle-laced diamond on Andromon's back causing it to scream in pain once more.
It then turned around and launched a lighting blade attack towards BlackAgumon and Gazimon, with the two just barely dodging out of the way in time. Andromon's chest then opened up and fired more missiles, one each towards BlackAgumon and Gazimon who split up and hid behind a cylinder each, causing the missiles to hit them and explode, the two were sent flying due to the blast but damage was thankfully minimal.
As Andromon's chest closed, Aruraumon, shot all of her vines and wrapped around every bladed tentacle on its back and began to pull as hard as she could. Sparks flew wildly with Andromon screaming in pain once more, but this time, BlackGatomon grabbed onto Aruraumon's vines and started pulling too. As they pulled, them and the kids noticed the purple diamond getting bigger as it was being pulled out, and even some yellowish spikes attached to the purple diamond were visible.
But Andromon suddenly spun around and grabbed onto Aruraumon's vines surprising the two, then he began to spin Aruraumon and BlackGatomon around and around. BlackGatomon lost her grip and was sent flying into another cylinder denting it violently.
But Aruraumon was swung through wooden beams and smashed into cylinders, being thrown about like a ragdoll. Aruraumon screamed in pain and agony as she was battered through the wood and metal. And then Andromon violently threw Aruraumon to the ground causing massive cracks, she simply lied their motionless.
"ARURAUMON!" Mindy screamed, the look of horror was evident on her, as she ran from cover and up to Aruraumon, and tried lifting her up. Mandy looked shocked to see Mindy act this way, but she didn't move from her position.
Andromon began to slowly walk towards Mindy and Aruraumon, Mindy ignored it, trying to shake Aruraumon awake. "Aruraumon! Please don't die!" As Andromon got closer, Mindy looked up to see it walking closer, tears streaked down her eyes, but she quickly wiped them clean, and stood in front of Andromon.
"YOU LISTEN HERE, YOU BIG TINNED LOSER!"
Andromon continued to walk forward, the six bladed tentacles all preparing to launch themselves.
"ARURAUMON IS MY FRIEND! I HAVEN'T KNOWN HER LONG! BUT SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO EVER CARED AND LISTENED TO ME! I WON'T LET YOU HURT HER ANYMORE! SO, IF YOU WANT TO FIGHT! I'LL GIVE YOU ONE!"
Mandy, Pud'n and Sperg were all taken aback by Mindy's sudden change of heart, especially Mandy. But before any of them could react further…
There was a sudden blast of golden light with red bolts of lightning going everywhere, originating from Aruraumon, in addition, Mindy's Digivice was glowing in a brilliant red light as it vibrated extremely violently. Everyone started in awe, even Mindy turned to see this.
This blast forward Andromon to step back, but then the bladed tentacles shot towards Mindy, but they bounced off at the light blocking both her and Aruraumon. Andromon then simply watched.
Aruraumon suddenly stood up, all her wounds were fully healed, as she glowed radiantly, she looked over to Mindy and gave a nod. Then the light became so bright, Aruraumon couldn't be seen at all, and it began to expand.
"WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON!?" shouted Mandy.
BlackAgumon, BlackGatomon and Gazimon quickly ran together and watched this. Gazimon smirked. "HA! Time for a game changer!"
ARURAUMON DIGIVOLVE TO…
The light exploded and cleared away, Aruraumon was gone, but in her place was a seven-foot brown wingless bird-like creature, it had a long neck with a skull-like helmet with a long beak, leaves growing out of the head like hair, and long black legs with red claws.
KIWIMON!
Mindy stared at this new form in amazement and confusion. "Aruraumon…?"
Kiwimon looked down at her and nodded. "I'm Kiwimon now! Please, let me handle this, Mindy."
Mindy was still confused, but she nodded and ran back to the others. Kiwimon then stared down at Andromon, who didn't hesitate to spin his hand to make a drill again for another blade attack. But before he could even launch it, Kiwimon suddenly charged forward like a bullet, becoming a blur, Kiwimon struck Andromon's side with her beak causing it to stumble as some metal was smashed off its body, completely stopping the attack.
The bladed tentacles all lunged at Kiwimon, but she jumped back dodging all of them, and then she opened her mouth, then suddenly, a massive barrage of what looked like white and brown bullets launched from her mouth like a machine gun. Each bullet made an explosion upon hitting Andromon's back and it looked to have made about ten to twenty of them.
As the smoke cleared, Andromon was on one knee, looking stunned, as the tentacles swung around wildly, looking to be in pain. But without hesitation, Kiwimon ran forward and grabbed all of the tentacles with her beak and ran as fast as she could, with one massive and violent pull, the purple diamond was completely yanked out of Andromon's back, revealing it's true form.
The purple diamond was actually just a piece of a large purple pod-like monster with yellow spikes on the chest area, a pointed head with black eyes and a singular red horn, a yellow spike at the bottom, and the six tentacles attached to its back. Kiwimon threw it across the room, but it suddenly stopped in mid-air and floated still, staring at Kiwimon. Andromon then collapsed, completely unmoving.
Pud'n pulled out his Digivice and scanned this new creature, showing a holographic screen.
- Chrysalimon, Champion Level, Unidentified Type, Unidentified Attribute. -
- No information is available for this Digimon. -
"It doesn't have anything… but I think Arurau- I mean Kiwimon might have a better chance with this." Said Pud'n.
As Kiwimon and Chrysalimon stared at each other intently, Kiwimon began scratching the ground with one of her feet, preparing to dash. Chrysalimon began scratching its bladed tentacles creating electrical sparks. The two continued to stare each other down for what felt like minutes but was only a few seconds.
Chrysalimon launched its tentacles trying to stab Kiwimon, but Kiwimon suddenly dashed forward, swerving from side to side dodging every last tentacle, she then jumped to the far left and launched herself into Chrysalimon's side striking it and shooting past, breaking some of its shell.
Kiwimon stopped and dashed back striking Chrysalimon again, then stopped and dashed back hitting it again. Everyone looked in surprise to see Kiwimon was moving extremely fast constantly striking Chrysalimon in multiple directions like a ricocheting bullet. Parts of Chrysalimon's shell scattered all over the place, including parts of it's spikes, horn and even two of it's tentacles being completely severed.
Kiwimon stopped her barrage of attacks and looked at the incredibly injured Chrysalimon who was barely keeping afloat as it's remaining tentacles whipped all over the place, most of it's body is cracked and fallen apart. But soon Kiwimon opened her mouth again and fired more brown and white bullets which exploded on Chrysalimon so many times there was just a cloud of dust.
And before the cloud of dust disappeared, Kiwimon launched herself forward and dashed through the cloud, clearing it away instantly, and there the others saw Kiwimon piercing her beak through Chrysalimon and dashed through it, splitting it in half. And in that instant, Chrysalimon exploded into a series of glowing squares and binary, then faded into nothingness.
Kiwimon stopped in her tracks, and began to glow faintly, until she glowed very brightly and transformed back into Aruraumon.
Mindy immediately ran to Aruraumon and hugged her tightly. "THAT WAS AWESOME! HOW'D YOU DO THAT!?"
"I… I don't know… I just felt a massive surge of energy… I think… I think you did that."
"Huh? But how?"
"Never mind how, just what the hell was that?" asked Mandy as she, Pud'n, Sperg and their Digimon walked up to them.
"It's called Digivolution." Said Gazimon. The others looked towards him. "It's a process nearly every Digimon go through, it's where we transform and ascend a new level."
Pud'n responds. "Yeah, the Digivice scanner did mention levels… Rookie and… something else, I don't remember."
Sperg soon turned to BlackAgumon. "Ha! I didn't think that was a thing, can you do that?"
"I think so, I've never tried before."
"Urrrgh!" said an unfamiliar voice.
Everyone darted around to see Andromon slowly pushing itself up and standing up straight.
"Ah! It's back up!" shouted Pud'n.
Andromon turned to them hearing Pud'n. But it didn't do anything hostile, instead it rubbed its head and shaking it slowly. "My head… my circuitry's overheating… what… happened?"
Mandy thought about it for a second, then realised the Chrysalimon had to have been controlling Andromon. So, she walked up to it calmly but cautiously, with BlackGatomon following, though Gazimon noticed her limping slightly.
"You worked in this factory?" Mandy asked.
Andromon lowered its hand and looked down at her. "I… I think so." It looked left and right seeing the damages from the fight. "My… memory banks are corrupted by fifteen percent… I cannot remember… much."
"You attacked us!" scolded Mindy as she and the others walked up. "You could've killed us!"
"I… did…?" Andromon shook its head slightly. "I apologise… attacking humans is not part of my prime directive…" Andromon then looked up. "Although, I think I was a guardian of this factory, designed to chase off intruders… How long was I shut down?"
Mandy spoke up again. "It's a long shot, but did you by any chance see a human boy, with a big pink nose, and a red hat?"
Andromon looked up again, this time its eyes began to glow as a beeping sound emitted. He then looked back down at the kids. "I'm starting to recall previous information… though it is still corrupted in some areas. But yes, I do recall seeing a human boy exactly as you described."
"You do!? Can you tell us everything you remember?"
"I will try." Andromon's eyes began to glow and beep again for a moment before speaking up again. "Yes… I awoke, I was surrounded by this factory, but no one was here, and vegetation began to take over, I could not process how long I was shut down for. As I wondered this factory, trying to find any information as to what happened, I saw the boy you mentioned, he stared at me, silently, without emotion… and then, I received a critical error, my circuitry was compromised, and I shut down once again."
Mandy crossed her arms thinking about this, she then asked again. "Did he have any Digimon with him?"
"No."
Mandy pondered for a moment. "Billy's behaviour seems really odd."
"It sounds like to me that Billy distracted Andromon long enough to get taken over by that parasite." Said Gazimon.
"Distracting someone like that is common for him, he is very annoying, but to just stare and not emote, that doesn't sound like him at all."
"I… am recalling something else." Said Andromon. "Just before I was compromised… I heard the distinct sound of a whistle, and the wheels on a track… yes, I heard a train."
"A train? There are those tracks that cut through the factory…" said Aruraumon. "Maybe Billy took the train?"
"I… I don't doubt it but…" Mandy sighs. "Nothing is making sense here."
At the back, Sperg and BlackAgumon looked at each other. "A train?" Sperg asked quietly.
"I didn't hear or see one when we followed him into the factory." Said BlackAgumon quietly.
"Me neither."
Pud'n spoke up. "So… if Billy took a train, then he'll be really far away from us, right? How are we gonna follow him?"
"I… might be of assistance." Said Andromon, who gave a small smile. "More memories are returning. While I do not remember what this factory is for, I do recall that trains would often pick up the supplies, they would come in from the right side and to the left. Never the other way, but in case of an emergency, we had a spare train that we could use if the usual was running late. I think it's still here."
"We're gonna ride a train? Can you get it for us?" asked Mindy.
"Of course, it's the least I can do for releasing me from that parasite. It will take approximately thirty minutes to get it ready. In the meantime, feel free to take anything you need from here."
"Good… I could… use a nap." Said BlackGatomon weakly, everyone looked to see her collapse on the ground suddenly.
"Ah! Are you ok!?" asked Pud'n.
Mandy felt surprised, but then again, she took the most hits out of all of the other Digimon, and Aruraumon seemingly healed from her previous injuries.
"Y-Yeah… just… tired."
Mandy hesitated for a moment, but she got down on one knee and gently scooped BlackGatomon into her arms and stood up, keeping her close. Mandy sighed feeling embarrassed, but even she couldn't deny that BlackGatomon helped her out big time during that fight. She looked over to Mindy expecting her to make fun of her about it, but to her surprise, Mindy was walking away with Aruraumon.
"C'mon, let's find anything we can take with us." Said Mindy.
As Andromon walked away, the others soon began to scatter, looking for any supplies while Andromon left to get the train ready. Mandy soon felt BlackGatomon's little heart beating against her chest. She couldn't help but feel both uncomfortable, yet comfortable at the same time.
In terms of supplies, aside from the food in the pantry, which Sperg and BlackAgumon ate most of, there wasn't anything of value to take with them, the tools would've been useful, but they were all rusted and worn, so they were useless, but they found a bunch of plastic boxes with lids, and it would be perfect to store the food in.
Sperg and BlackAgumon are carrying the boxes with all their food supplies in, Pud'n and Gazimon are looking ahead, Mandy and BlackGatomon are doing the same, as everyone was watching the train being pulled out of the hidden garage and onto the main tracks by Andromon, who did so with seemingly little effort. The train itself looked like a classic steam engine, accompanied with two carriages, both the train and carriages looked fairly polished, with no trace of wear and tear at all.
Mindy and Aruraumon were looking at the others from twenty feet away. Mindy began to sigh. "It looks like I won't get to have much more space away from that loser, Mandy. Even if we get our own carriage, she'll just be barking orders at us."
Aruraumon nodded. "Indeed, she has shown to be quite unsavoury, and hasn't seemed to improve."
Mindy and Aruraumon look at each other. "You know." Said Mindy. "Maybe Billy didn't take the train, maybe he just walked away, and the train was for someone else."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that maybe they're going the wrong way, so what if we went the right way? Get me?"
Aruraumon tilted her head looking concerned. "You're seriously considering leaving the group?"
Mindy scowled a bit. "It's her fault we got into this mess, and now we have to follow her around like dogs? She dragged us into this world, and is the one constantly putting us in danger, and does she ever apologise? No, she just acts like it's everyone else fault except hers! She didn't even thank you for saving us back there. I'm just so sick of her."
Aruraumon placed her hand on Mindy's. "I understand, I really do. She's insufferable. But I can't control my Digivolution properly yet, if we go alone, we might not get the help we need if we are put in danger again."
Mindy sighs, she couldn't deny that Aruraumon was correct. "Alright, but I won't like this."
"Me neither." Aruraumon then smirks. "But if she gets too aggressive, I can just blast her with my calming pollen again."
Mindy nods. "Works like a treat, that stuff."
Andromon speaks up once the train is fitted onto the tracks properly and the gate that's blocking the train is open. "This train is automated, once you set the destination in, it will do all the driving for you, and it'll perform a safe stop if anything is blocking the tracks."
"Thanks again, Andromon." Said Pud'n.
"Travelling in this heavily armoured high-speed machine is sure to guarantee better protection." Said Gazimon smirking.
Andromon nods. "I cannot guarantee your safety in this world wherever you go, but I hope this train will help make it safer for you, even if it's temporary."
"You're not coming with us?" asked BlackAgumon. "You'd be of great help to us."
"I'm afraid my programming prevents me from leaving this area, besides, I think I want to put this factory back into good use."
"Shame, we could use an Ultimate like you." Said Gazimon. "But if we can't convince you, then we won't."
"Alright, let's go." Mandy walked up to the set of stairs leading to the train and went inside. With BlackGatomon following shortly after, though she stops to look at Andromon and nod at him before going inside. Andromon nods back.
Sperg, BlackAgumon, Pud'n and Gazimon enter the train in the first carriage. Mindy and Aruraumon stopped for a moment, but they soon entered in the second carriage.
As Mandy looked around, it looked strangely similar to the train the mummy man was using, though much cleaner, and while it still had the same type of lever, instead there was a computer, Mandy quickly walked up to it to inspect it.
Thankfully it was easy to get the hang of, it was no different from a standard GPS system on phones. And she figured out she can set it to arrive at the next train station which is half a day away. So, she sets it up.
"The train will be departing in one minute, please make sure you have all your personal belongings and have a nice trip." Said an automated voice.
Mandy looks out the window to see Andromon looking in. "Well, I can only hope you find this Billy, and the rest of your friends."
"Me too. Something strange is definitely going on."
Andromon nods. "There is one last thing I should mention. If you happen to find any other Andromon like myself, don't hesitate to ask them for assistance, most if not all of us Andromon are good Digimon, though we are programmed to remain in our spots. Unless we have a partner of course."
Mandy nods. "I would prefer to run into more friendly faces that's for sure."
Soon, the train starts to move by itself. And BlackGatomon pokes her head out of the window. "So long Andromon, and good fight, totally want a rematch next time."
Andromon waves. "Our levels and attributes dictate you'll lose again."
"Don't count on it!" she said smugly.
Soon, Pud'n, Gazimon, Sperg, BlackAgumon, Mindy and Arurarumon poke their heads out of the windows to wave to Andromon, who he waves back to all of them. Once the train was out of sight. Andromon turned to look around the factory, seeing it smashed in several areas and vines growing all around it.
"I may be programmed to remain here… but nothing says I can't redecorate."
Andromon proceeded to dismantle the cylinders, the wooden structures, and the conveyor belts in a slow and safe manner.
"That Aruraumon really helped me out… I think I'll repay her by turning this factory into a giant garden. Yeah, I can make hundreds of plant pots, make myself a house for the tools, some weather protection equipment. Maybe even a little house for myself, need to keep myself out of the rain. Yup! Andromon's garden will be absolutely amazing!"
As Mandy stared forward out of the front window, watching the world go by on the tracks, she couldn't help but wonder about the mysteries surrounding Billy. First he's been walking around without a Digimon, he left his backpack behind when he was on Login Mountain, and there was no sign of an attack. Now he was at the factory, the Syakomon mentioned he never said a word, and Andromon mentioned how he was acting emotionless before being taken over by the Chrysalimon.
Not only was Billy wondering around on his own, but he also wasn't acting like himself. Mandy wondered if it's possible that he was taken by the same parasite that took Andromon, or if it's possible that it was not even the real Billy. Regardless, she knew that to find him will yield answers, she can only hope that it'll be a short journey, but she had a sneaking suspicion that this'll be one adventure she won't forget.
She turned around to look at BlackGatomon sleeping in the corner on a wooden chair. Mandy wondered if she was capable of this Digivolution thing, and what would she become, regardless, it appears she's not as useless as she originally thought. Mandy soon sighs as she looks back forward.
"Stupid cats." She grumbled quietly.
End of chapter
Last chapter was quite short, this one was my longest one, truth be told I'm probably not gonna make them as long as this one, I may just end up splitting them in two, but every time I decided to cut this chapter off, I kept hesitating and just adding more and more. But I have a feeling you won't mind.
Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you ever wanna suggest any Digimon for me to try and use, lemme know, for the most part I'm picking Digimon out of randomness, but I'm always open to suggestions.
Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter, hope you liked it.
