Chapter 11: Stranded
Aiko sat infront of Taikei "In the sewers we battled a Digimon known as Vademon, after defeating it I found its control station, it was monitoring various areas of the Real World...but the most concerning part is that they were monitoring you" Taikei grimaced "which is what Sandiramon was used for...but why?" Aiko then responded "I assume its because of Veemon and his unique composition" Taikei's expression changed to confused "Veemon's...composition?" Aiko nodded "I'm sure you know your Veemon is abnormally strong for a Rookie Level, and as Veedramon his power rivals that of an Ultimate Level as a Champion...that is unusual, I hypothesize that Veemon's very Data fundamentally different from other Digimon, what makes it different is the question" Veemon looked at Taikei "what's all that mean?" Taikei looked to Veemon "it means you're special, more powerful than others...but it makes you a target" Veemon's face became one of determination "don't worry about it Taikei! we'll beat em!" Taikei smirked "yeah, we definitely will!" Aiko then waved to get Taikei's attention "I need you both to focus, you never disclosed how you came into contact with Veemon in the first place, please do so now" Taikei thought about it "man, that feels like a long time ago, well it all started when I woke up in the middle of the night, my TV was acting strange, it turned on all by itself and showed a battle between two giant Digimon, one was big with blue armor and wings with a big V on its chest and the other was black with a red gem in its forehead" Aiko leaned forward and brought out a new Datapad. Aiko pulled up a few pages "big V...black armor...that matches the description of two Digimon, both members of the Royal Knights, Alphamon is the black armored one and the blue armored one is Ulforceveedramon, a Digimon in Veemon's Evolution Tree" Taikei then leaned back "that makes sense, this Ulforceveedramon is Veemon" Aiko leaned forward even further causing her calm demeanor to disappear "Wait! Your Veemon IS the Royal Knight Ulforceveedramon?!" Taikei backed up intimidated by this display of emotion "I-I guess, I mean, when Ulforceveedramon came through my TV he changed into a Digi-Egg...oh yeah, and he said to "protect it" I have no idea what Veemon was talking about".
Aiko and Taikei regrouped with the others and Aiko briefed them, Keiko spoke up "so this force we've been fighting against is well organized and can be anywhere growing its power and influence, and they're also after Veemon" Aiko nodded with Daichi adding on "it sure doesn't help that Veemon lost his memory, otherwise he could tell us why the bad guys are after him" Betamon then chimed in "maybe we can use a Recovery Program to jog his memory!" Tentomon shook its head "not likely, a a Recovery Program was used on Veemon when he first lost his memory and while it did heal his mind, it did not restore his past as Ulforceveedramon" Betamon's fin drooped on disappointment, Akira shrugged "looks like we're back at square one on figuring things out" Nyajinmon began to ponder "maybe the Digital World has the answers" Keiko then interjected "no, the Digital World is too dangerous, especially now since the enemy calls the Digital World their home" Moriymoto then stepped forward "then we'll send you in with a Task Force, covert operation" Keiko pinched the bridge of her nose "I'd feel like a hypocrite if I kept trying to stop you, considering I admitted you guys'll do amything for one another...fine, we'll schedule a mission to the Digital World, Pidge, your main DATS Agents will scout out specific areas of the Digital World, specifically where sightings of Ulforceveedramon were most frequent" everyone could see Moriymoto blush at being called 'Pidge'.
A Week Later
Taikei and Akira circled one another in a boxing ring, they were in the training room sparring, Taikei threw a jab but Akira slipped hit and hit him with a jab of her own, she then scooted forward hitting Taikei in the side with a hook that sent him stumbling back, Akira kept the pressure on but a well placed uppercut stopped her assauly and made her step back, meanwhile a few feet away Veemon was sparring with Nyajinmon. The sparring was interrupted when Keiko stepped into the room "the mission to the Digital World is a go!" Taikei's face lit up and he practically jumped out of the ring followed by Akira and the Digimon, everyone met in the Hangar where the Transport tube was primed, Daichi bounced with excitement "oh boy, I haven't seen the DATS Base in so long, I can't wait to go back there!" Mamoru stood proud "wait till they see that all of our Digimon have reached the Ultimate Level" Betamon then chimed in "except for Veemon..." Veemon patted Betamon on the fin "it's alright, I got Veedramon and that's more than enough!" With everyone gathered the Team stepped through the Portal to be welcomed by DATS Agents along with the Director, Moriymoto then saluted them an the Team saluted back "follow me Agents...it's time to go Digital" everyone entered the Transport room where a large glass tube stood illuminated by a green glow, other Agents handed everyone a backpack "these are filled with enough food and supplies for both you and your Digimon to last 2 weeks, you won't be staying that long but it's to ensure if something goes wrong you won't starve while there" the group lined up, ready for the challenge, that is until a commotion from outside stopped them, various Agents were shouting at someone "hey! You don't have clearance to be here!" The door to the Transport room suddenly opened and a familiar man in a suit, it was the leader of the Skeleton Division "sorry to interrupt your operation Director Moriymoto" Moriymoto then stepped infront of the team "what business do you have here?" The man pushed up his glasses "unfortunately this visit isn't for pleasantries, I have been ordered to expunge this mission, whether through coercion...or force" Moriymoto then gripped his Digivice "I am the Director, I'm not sure if you forgot our last conversation but any actions carried out by this team is automatically approved by me, their actions are to be taken as if I did them myself" Akira then added on "yeah, we have the Director in our corner so move along creepy!: the man snickered "yet again, unfortunately, these orders come from someone...above you" Moriymoto lifted his Digivice as the man flicked his forward sending out his Dracomon, Moriymoto did the same sending out Patamon, the two Digimon collided in the air, Moriymoto then looked to the team "go!" The team ran to the Transporter with Taikei being far ahead of the others, Taikei entered the Transporter, the man grimaced and pointed at the Transporter, Dracomon threw Patamon to the side and blasted the Transporter with a breath of fire, instead of breaking it, however, the Transporter roared to live filling with green light "guys...what's happening?!" Taikei asked while looking around him, he put his hands on the glass with Keiko reaching for him, suddenly in a brilliant flash of light Taikei was gone and everyone just stood there, dumbfounded, Moriymoto approached the man and left hooked him in the jaw causing him to stumble back "you might've just killed one of my Agents..." Moriymoto then grabbed him by the collar "you better hope he comes back soon, or else I'm coming for you and your whole Division" he then released him and the man adjusted his tie before recalling his Dracomon, he then spoke into his Digivice "monitor the Digital World...if there's a Digivice detected...assist whoever has it".
Taikei opened his eyes to see Veemon's face "you're awake!" Veemon said before hugging Taikei "yeah, I am, and I'm alive..." Taikei sat up to see that he was lying on a field of grass "huh, when did I get outside?" Veemon then bounced around "this ain't the Real World Taikei, it's the Digital World!" Taikei stood up to look around, he then saw a massive paneled dome that had a chunk missing out of it in the distance, he saw giant batteries stuck in the ground and random vending machines "yeah...you're right, we made it!" Taikei and Veemon high fived, he then spoke into his Digivice, in the Real World Aiko's Digivice lit up and Taikei's voice came through "hey guys, can you hear me?" Keiko spoke first "Taikei?! Are you okay? Where are you?" Taikei responded "I'm in the Digital World, Veemon and I are fine, we're gonna carry out the mission" Keiko rebutted this "no, stay where you are, we were supposed to do this as a team!" Taikei responded "look, the Transporter is probably busted so it'll take you guys awhile to get me so I might aswell take a look around" Keiko sighed "just be careful" Taikei responded "don't worry about me, I have Veemon with me".
Taikei and Veemon walked across the field, his Digivice was displaying a 3D map of the area "the first area should be about 2 klicks South" Veemon had a stick in his hand pointing it South "off to adventure!" He proudly proclaimed, after some time walking they found themselves at the mouth of a forest, Taikei and Veemon entered the forest getting closer to their destination, they stopped when they reached the first dot on the map, they were in a clearing "huh, this is the place where you were most frequently spotted" Veemon stepped ahead of Taikei looking around "this place feel familiar to you buddy?" Veemon sniffed the air "I'm...not sure, I feel something but I don't know what it is" Veemon suddenly turned his attention to a direction "a Digimon is coming!" Taikei and Veemon prepared themselves just as the Digimon made itself known, it was a giant insectoid Digimon, it's carapace was red and it had black markings on its head with giant pincers at the front of its mouth which was filled with sharp teeth, Taikei pointed his Digivice at it scanning it, he then read what it was "Kuwagamon, Champion Level Insect Digimon, wonderful" Veemon put his fists up "what business you got with us?" He asked in a stern voice, Kuwagamon just roared and charged at Veemon, Veemon jumped over Kuwagamon before striking it in the back with an axe kick that sent it crashing into the ground, Kuwagamon got up just to be hit by Veemon's Vee Headbutt sending it into a tree knocking it down, Veemon landed ready for more, Kuwagamon stood up visibly shaken before fluttering its wings and rising up, it then flew at Veemon but Veemon launched himself at it "Vee Headbutt!" Veemon collided with the bug causing Kuwagamon to get flung back, Veemon kept the pressure on spinning his fist till it caught fire and striking Kuwagamon in the side of its head sending it to the ground. Taikei cheered Veemon on but his attention was caught when he heard a growling sound from behind him, he turned to see a Dinosaur-like Digimon charging toeard him, he dove out of its path as it barely missed him, he got a good look at it, its skin was green and it had two black horns coming out if its shoulders that curved forward, it had pink stripes lining from the top of its head, down its back which had spikes running down it aswell, and ending at the tail, it also had a skull and crossbones tattoed on its left shoulder.
Taikei scanned it "Tuskmon, Champion Level too" Veemon noticed Taikei was in trouble and ran over jumping and placing his two feet into the side of Tuskmon's face making it fall over, Kuwagamon finally recovered and roared before charging as did Tuskmon, Veemon jumped up high causing the two Digimon to collide and making both of them stagger, Veemon then fell down headfirst hitting Tuskmon with a Vee Headbutt causing Tuskmon to smash into the ground causing dirt and rock to fly everywhere, Kuwagamon backed up and from the dust Veemon launched out and hit Kuwagamon with a punch that knocked out the big bug. Tuskmon struggled to lift itself up "what's up with this Veemon?!" It said in a panic "we need Cherrymon! He'll deal with you!" Veemon looked at Tuskmon "Cherrymon?" Suddenly a booming voice from the forest made everyone stop "cease these hostilities!" Everyone turned to see a large tree-like Digimon emerge from the forest, it had a mustache made of leaves and and wooden walking cane "Cherrymon! Thank goodness you're here! This human and his Veemon are trespassing in the forest, Kuwagamon and I tried to stop them but...Kuwagamon slipped and my head go too heavy and I cracked the ground" Cherrymon looked at Tuskmon "you must think me a fool, it's obvious this Veemon bested you both". Cherrymon eyed Veemon "you two seem lost, that's a DATS Uniform, is it safe to assume that you two are on a mission?" Taikei nodded "yeah, sorry to intrude on your forest but we're actually kinda stranded here" Cherrymon then looked forward "don't mind these two, they mean well but they're very overzealous, but that aside I have to ask what your mission here is" Veemon put his fist up "and what's that it to you?" Cherrymon made a stern face "because your answer will determine whether you leave this forest alive or not" Veemon got into a fighting stance but Taikei put his hands on Veemon's shoulders "it's alright little buddy, we need info anyway, so let me do the talking" Taikei then addressed Cherrymon "we're not here to cause any harm, we're just looking for information" Cherrymon knelt down to get closer to Taikei which made him flinch a bit "and what information could you be seeking?" Taikei explained "we're looking for info about a Digimon named Ulforceveedramon" Cherrymon stood back up and looked at the sky "Ulforceveedramon...I'm sorry to tell you this but he's gone, for some time now, but I will tell you what I know...".
In the Past
Cherrymon patrolled the forest alongside two other Digimon, one was a worm-like yellow Digimon with a blue beak and black markings acting as eyes with yellow antennae, the other was a mammal-like Digimon with purple and yellow fur and a fan-like tail "stay close you two, Spinomon was said to be nearby, if either of you spot it warn me then hide, the mammal Digimon stood up on its hind legs "don't worry about us, Elecmon and Kunemon'll show that big lizard what for!" Cherrymon closed their eyes to listen, suddenly a crashing sound came from their right, Cherrymon readied themselves just as a massive Dinosaur Digimon emerged from the forest, it was orange with silver blades lining its back "get to cover you two!" Elecmon shook their head "no! We can do this together!" Elecmon jumped into the air and shot a jolt of electricity from it's fan-like tail "Jamming Thunder!" Kunemon then sprayed electrified silk from its beak "Electric Thread!" The attacks bounced off of Spinomon, Spinomon's mouth then began to fill with blue fire "Blue Prominence!" A stream of fire emerged from its mouth at the two Rookie Digimon, Cherrymon moved in and blocked the attack with its body, Cherrymon knelt down in pain, their leaves were scorched and bark charred, Elecmon ran to Cherrymon pushing the tree with its paws "Cherrymon no!" Cherrymon was barely able to talk "get out of here you two..." Cherrymon stood their ground and the cherries on its head began to shake "Cherry Bomb!" The cherries then launched at Spinomon exploding on impact making the Dinosaur flinch, Spinomon then tail whipped Cherrymon sending it flying crashing into multiple trees. Spinomon towered over Cherrymon and was about to blast Cherrymon when something just as big as Spinomon landed behind it, Spinomon looked but had its snout grabbed by a large blue hand, Spinomon was then lifted with ease and thrown to the side.
Cherrymon struggled to get up but the same blue hand stretched out to Cherrymon, Cherrymon took it and the Digimon helped them up "thank you, Sir Ulforceveedramon" Ulforceveedramon nodded then turned to the recovering Spinomon "let me handle Spinomon, you take Elecmon and Kunemon soemwhere safe" Cherrymon nodded "are you sure you can take him?" Ulforceveedramon turned to Cherrymon and scoffed "please, I'm a Royal Knight, I can handle this in my In-Training form" Cherrymon then added "okay...don't harm the forest" Ulforceveedramon cracked his neck "don't worry, this won't take long" Spinomon roared and blasted Ulforceveedramon, this was useless however as with a flap of his wings the flames were extinguished. Spinomon then charged but was stopped by just a single hand of Ulforceveedramon, Spinomon was then met with an uppercut that sent it to the floor, Ulforceveedramon's gauntlet then unsheathed a blade of green energy, Spinomon attacked again but Ulforceveedramon suddenly appeared behind it, Spinomon in an instant was cut in half and reverted to a Digi-Egg. Ulforceveedramon sheathed his blade and turned to Cherrymon giving a peace sign "told ya" Cherrymon chuckled "we can always count on you Ulforceveedramon"
Back in the Present
Cherrymon was listless "he was the guardian of those who most of the Royal Knights had forgotten about, even when Yggdrasil was using the Royal Knights for evil he still kept the common Digimon in his heart...I do miss him" Taikei looked down in sadness but then back up at Cherrymon "can you tell us anything else? Like where he was last seen?" Cherrymon turned to Taikei "I'm afraid that's all I can tell you, while you've proven to be non-hostile to us, if I give you anything else you might use it for nefarious purposes" Taikei shook his head "no, we won't! We're friends of Digimon, honest" Cherrymon stroked their mustache "very well then, prove to us that you are an ally by helping us with a problem we have" Taikei and Veemon looked at one another then to Cherrymon "what would that be?" Cherrymon guided them to the other side of the forest, on the edge of the forest there was a massive factory "a Digimon is in there causing trouble, his name is Monzaemon" Taikei typed into his Digivice and pulled up Monzaemon's file "Ultimate Level, looks like a giant yellow teddy bear" Cherrymon then pointed and Taikei looked to see a bunch of Digimon hauling wood into the factory "Monzaemon is using lumber from our forest to produce Machine Digimon, he's building an army to invade us, our attacks have had little effect" Taikei stood up as did Veemon "I get it, hey how about you guys run a distraction while we infiltrate and take down Monzaemon" the guards outside were bronze automata that had a sort of steampunk design. Suddenly they were struck with a barrage of cherries from Cherrymon, one of them was rammed by Tuskmon and the other was lifted by Kuwagamon in its pincers, meanwhile Taikei had made it to the loading dock of the factory, he ducked under one of the doors and hid behind some crates, there were patrols of Digimon that looked like floating gears with two smaller gears acting as appendages "Hagurumon..." Taikei whispered before making his way deeper.
Taikei made his way to the production floor where the guards were being assembled, Taikei scanned then "Guardromon, mass produced Champion Level Digimon sounds dangerous" Taikei was startled by an alarm sound coming from his direct right, he looked to see a metallic looking mouse Digimon "oh boy, so much for stealth, Taikei was suddenly surrounded by Hagurumon "Veemon Realize!" Veemon popped out of Taikei's Digivice and stomped onto a Hagurumon, Veemon then quickly dispatched the group of gears "good job buddy, now let's find Monzaemon!" Suddenly a bolt of electricity struck inbetween them, Taikei looked up to see Digimon flying towards them, they looked like bipedal beetles mixed with a taser "Kukuwamon" Veemon dodged bolts of electricity "I can't reach them from here Taikei!" Taikei looked around "I got it" Taikei picked up one of the defeated Hagurumon, it was surprisingly light, he thehe flung the gear Digimon, it then hit one Kokuwamon which then bounced and hit another causing both to explode, the third one was disoriented and flew lower, Veemon jumped up and kicked the last Kokuwamon into a wall making it explode. Taikei and Veemon ran through the facility until they got stopped by a line of Chess-Like Digimon, half the line was black colored while the other half was white "PawnChessmon" Taikei uttered, they charged at the pair but Veemon jumped over the spears and spinkicked them knocking down like dominos, Veemon then spun his fist and knocked the other half of the line back with a punch.
Taikei and Veemon stood back to back with eachother as more PawnChessmon and Guardromon surrounded them "we can take em, right Veemon?" Veemon nodded while smirking, a thunderous voice cut through the tension as all the machine Digimon stopped and turned their attention to the large yellow stuffed bear that had just entered the room "what is the meaning of this?!" Monzaemon shouted, he then eyed Taikei and Veemon "a human and Digimon pair? What a rare sight, and what a find for my master" Monzaemon gave a greasy smirk "you're surrounded, now surrender before I have my troops destroy you both" Taikei looked at Veemon and smiled "I don't think we'll be doing that" Taikei's DNA flared up and he slammed his hand on his Digivice "DNA Charge!" Veemon then began to glow "Veemon Digivolve to...Veedramon" with a whip of his tail Veedramon knocked back the crowd of Digimon surrounding them, the force made Monzaemon slide back "well then, aren't they full of surprises". Veedramon then charged at Monzaemon who charged in kine, the two collided pushing one another trying to overpower eachother, Veedramon purposefully fell back and flipped Monzaemon into a wall, Monzaemon recovered and fired red beams out of his eyes, Veedramon responded with a blast from his mouth, the attacks collided and cancelled eachother out. Veedramon and Monzaemon charged at one another again, Veedramon ducked a punch and responded with a punch of his own to Monzaemon's face creating a distinct squeaking sound, Veedramon pummeled Monzaemon with punches before tossing the plush Digimon across the room.
Veedramon grabbed Monzaemon but was met with a swarm of heart-shaped bubbles, Veedramon swiped at them but when he hit them his hand got stuck, Veedramon tried to shake off the bubbles but they were stuck to him. Monzaemon chuckled before hitting Veedramon with a flurry of punches "it's been too long since I've gotten to get my fluff dirty!" Veedramon bit into Monzaemon's fist and lifted him up before slamming Monzaemon into the ground, Veedramon then breathed fire onto his hands to burn away the bubbles, Monzaemon got to his feet and narrowed his eyes "you're much stronger than I gave you credit for, but this is just the beginning, ExTyrannomon!" Suddenly a small Digimon came from the shadows and slinked over to Monzaemon "yes General Monzaemon?" Monzaemon looked at the Digimon, it looked like a stuffed T-Rex with beady yellow eyes in the mouth, Monzaemon then hit ExTyrannomon on the top of the head "you see I'm struggling here yet you can't figure out I need my secret weapon?!" Ex rubbed her head "I-I'm sorry Sir, I'll grab it right away" Ex ran to a canister that was within a machine and quickly made her way over to Monzaemon "here you are Sir" Monzaemon grabbed the canister then batted Ex away "defect" Monzaemon muttered before presenting the metallic canister "this here is a gift from our benefactor..." he then twistted the top and the metal plating fell away revealing a glass inside that held a sinister looking red and black substance, it was the X-Virus.