Chapter 12: Parasite
Taikei and Veedramon panicked "that's the X-Virus! That stuff's dangerous!" Veedramon nodded "yeah, that stuff's gnarly, don't touch it!" Monzaemon giggled "hmhmhm, maybe if you're stupid, but I know how to wield this great power" Monzaemon opened the canister, the X-Virus was in a gas form and Monzaemon inhaled it all "behold the power of the X-Virus!" Monzaemon's skin began to tear as it darkened aswell, a viscous dark purple liquid began to seep from the tears before exploding "Monzaemon Digivolve to...ShinMonzaemon" Shin was much more vicious looking, lost of its upper body was that purple material, its left arm was tipped with large red claws, its left leg was made out of that material, as was its right arm, he also had wings made of that same stuff. Shin giggled "now it's time to end this!" Shin rushed forward outspeeding Veedramon and hitting him with a claw swipe knocking him into a wall, Veedramon recovered and rushed at Shin, Shin swung but Veedramon ducked and hit Shin with a tail strike, Shin slid back "I'm surprised you're still close to me in strength, you're truly something else" Shin then closed one of its eyes "Sweetheart Attack!" A laser fired from one of its eyes, Veedramon reacted quickly "V-Breath Arrow!" Veedramon fired his attack nullifying the attack, Shin then rushed in as did Veedramon, Shin's right arm turned into a hammer "Fantastic Smash!" Veedramon's right arm was then coated in yellow energy "Hammer Punch!" The two Digimon reeled back and hit eachother with their attacks sending both of them flying back into walls.
Veedramon recovered as Taikei got to him "you okay buddy?" Taikei asked with Veedramon putting a thumbs up "all good here...just gotta shake off this concussion" Shin felt his cheek "this is getting tedious, it's time I end this, Sweetheart Attack!" Shin then shot a blast at Veedramon, Veedramon put up his arms attempting to block it, the attack collided with Veedramon who was trying to fight it off "HAHAHAHA! You won't be able to take that attack head on!" Veedramon struggled to hold it back, the force behind it was causing him to slide bacm further and further, Taikei then shouted to Veedramon "c'mon Veedramon, I know you can do it! We always find a way to win" Veedramon then began to speak, although he struggled to get the words out "we...always...win!" Veedramon then began to glow a shade of green before roaring and dissipating the attack "what?!" Shin uttered "V-Brrath Arrow MAX" Veedramon fired an arrow that was massive and that same green color, Shin tried to defend himself but the blast was too much and it exploded on impact. Shin fell to one knee, the attack had damaged him heavily "this power...it's incredible!" Shin's body began to writhe as a mass of tentacles began to emergr from his body and toward Veedramon, Veedramon couldn't move as he was immobilized from his own attack, the tentacles clasped onto Veedramon and lifted him up into the air, Veedramon struggled in the graps of the mass but he couldn't get free "I'll take that power of yours now, it'll be much more useful in my hands" an energy from Veedramon's body began to transfer into the tentacles and further into ShinMonzaemon "Hahahaha, all this power is incredible, if I knew DNA had this much potential I'd have started hunting humans long ago!" Taikei then shouted "let him go!" Shin looked at Taikei "don't worry, I'll drain you next..." Taikei looked around and saw an inactive mortar cannon, Taikei ran to it "ExTyrannomon stop him" ExTyrannomon ran to Taikei but she tripped and fell infront of Taikei, Taikei picked up Ex "you okay?" Taikei asked with ExTyrannomon blushed and jumped out of his arms before cowering "useless piece of fabric!" Shin shouted before sending a tentacle and hitting ExTyrannomon away then grabbing at Taikei, Taikei dove over it into the cannon, Taikei started pressing buttons before a shell fired from it and hit the ceiling causing the building to shake, Shin stopped his absorption but still holding onto Veedramon who was nearly limp, Taikei then aimed the cannon at Shin, Shin then grabbed ExTyrannomon and put her infront of him "Sir, what are you doing?!" Ex cried "finally finding a use for you, now silence! You're a defective Digimon so the least you can do is sacrifice yourself for our cause!" Ex struggled in the grip of Shin, Taikei struggled to pull the trigger, he didn't want to hurt ExTyrannomon, she was forced to work for ShinMonzaemon, Veedramon opened his eyes to see what was going on, his vision was blurry but he still managed to summon the strength to fire a blast, the tentacle holding ExTyrannomon was struck and ExTyrannomon was freed, Taikei pulled the trigger and hit Shin with a mortar shell sending him straight into a pile of ammunition, Taikei fired again detonating the ammo creating a massive explosion.
Taikei jumped off the mortar and grabbed ExTyrannomon then ran to Veedramon who was freed from Shin's grasp, Taikei kneeled next to Veedramon "hey buddy, are you alright?" Veedramon's eyes flickered "oh man, he's in bad shape" Taikei put down Ex who was very perplexed by the situation. Taikei shook Veedramon who finally came to and struggled to his feet "Taikei...I don't think I have a lot left in the tank, I'm hungry, and I'm drained..." Taikei petted Veedramon's snout "it's alright buddy, I won't let him hurt you anymore" Shin emerged out of the fiery debris "you will pay for that with your life human!"Taikei stood infront of ExTyrannomon and Veedramon "Veedramon...get ExTyrannomon out of here, we'll retreat and come up with a new plan" Veedramon clenched his fist, he felt useless in this situation "I'm supposed to protect you Taikei, that's what a Digimon is supposed to do" Taikei turned to Veedramon "heh, now who told you that nonsense, we're partners, equals, we protect eachother". Shin stomped over to Taikei then backhanded him sending him straight into the ground "Taikei!" Veedramon screamed, ExTyrannomon cowered in fear and Shin grimaced at this, he then kicked her out of the way, Veedramon threw a punch but Shin grabbed it then struck Veedramon in the stomach. Taikei recovered and ran over to Veedramon jumping at Shin, Shin sent out a tentacle and grabbed Taikei "I might aswell drain you now while I have you both like this" Taikei's DNA began to flow out of his body as he screamed in pain, Veedramon then roared at Shin that distracted him, Veedramon then began to glow that familiar green glow "Victory Pulse!" Veedramon roared before a pulse of green energy knocked Shin back freeing Taikei, Shin fell on his back but quickly stood back up "w-what's happening?! How can you still have energy?" Taikei looked at Veedramon who was brimming with power, the energy around him then began to bend and shape forming in the shape of another Digimon "Ray of Victory!" Veedramon's entire body fired a massive beam that sounded like thunder and tore through the factory disintegrating many of the Digimon within it, ShinMonzaemon put his hands up to block the attack but his arms were instantly vaporized along with his body, Shin funnily enough, smiled "Glory to the D-Brigade" ShinMonzaemon whispered before being obliterated in his entirety.
Veedramon stopped firing and reverted to Veemon before collapsing "y-you did it Veemon!" Taikei said while running to his partner, he lifted Veemon who chuckled "I sure did...what did I do?" Taikei was confused "you don't remember what you just did?" Veemon shook his head "nope" ExTyrannomon ran over to them "you destroyed Monzaemon!" ExTyrannomon looked around with Taikei asking "what's wrong?" ExTyrannomon fidgeted "I don't know, I was supposed to be a soldier but I came out wrong so I was only supposed to serve Monzaemon or be deleted" Taikei smiled at her "well, now you can decide for yourself what you want to do, I can tell you're not like the others, you're gentle" ExTyrannomon's eyes lit up but the moment was interrupted by a squadron of Guardromon surrounding them "follow me!" ExTyrannomon exclaimed before running in a certain direction, Taikei and Veemon followed her. The group eventually got to a giant door, ExTyrannomon opened the door and ushered the two in, the room was lavishly furnished with gold wallpaper and toys scattered across the ground "this is Monzaemon's Command Room" ExTyrannomon jumped onto the desk and to a massive laptop "we can shut down the army with this!" Taikei jumped onto the desk aswell "wait! Can you reprogram the Guardromon instead?" ExTyrannomon looked at Taikei "what would you want them to do?" Taikei responded "give them that same free will that you and Monzaemon have, they don't deserve to be shut down, they didn't choose to be created for war, let's set them free" ExTyrannomon thought for a second then jumped on a few keys before hitting the enter key "done and done" ExTyrannomon jumped back "Black Matter!" She launched a projectile and destroyed the laptop.
Outside the Factory
Tuskmon and Kuwagamon were pinned on the ground by the same Guardromon they had attacked earlier "oh boy, Kuwagamon, looks like this is the end!" Tuskmon said in a panic as Kuwagamon whimpered, the Guardromon pointed their rockets at them, Tuskmon closed their eyes but nothing happened, suddenly the Guardromon released them, Tuskmon and Kuwagamon got up seeing the Guardromon wandering around confused "what happened?" Tuskmon asked witj Kuwagamon making a confused grunting sound. Taikei's voice came out from above the Guardromon "I hope we didn't finish too quickly!" Tuskmon looked at Taikei, he had ExTyrannomon on his head and Veemon in his arms "he did it!" Tuskmon exclaimed with Kuwagamon letting out a victorious roar. Cherrymon approached Taikei "you defeated Monzaemon? Most impressive" Taikei smiled as did Veemon.
Later
The Forest Digimon and the Factory Digimon were all in a circle enjoying a meal, Cherrymon watched with content seeing Digimon in peace, he looked to Taikei and Veemon who were enjoying their meal "I must say human, you surprised me...forgive my previous apprehension, I've had encounters with humans before, I'm weary now of who enters the forest" Taikei looked down at his food "I'm sorry" Taikei whispered with Cherrymon smiling "hold no guilt for the actions of others, I should've seen it earlier, both you and your partner were brought here to help the Digital World" Taikei wiped his face "well, honestly we're just here for information" Cherrymon stroked his mustache "all the same, I'm going to keep my end of the bargain, I will tell you all I know about Ulforceveedramon" Cherrymon then motioned and Taikei and Veemon followed the tree. The three got to a clearing and Cherrymon turned around "Ulforceveedramon was last seen heading South, toward Server Desert, that was the last Digimon saw of him, both he...and the Royal Knights, nobody has seen them in some time, it was around the time of their disappearance that this X-Virus began to appear, the sickness is devastating, twisting good Digimon into horrible monstrosities and sending bad Digimon further down the path of evil" Cherrymon's hand began to shake on top of their cane but they steadied themselves "Monzaemon had mentioned a benefactor...I suspect this has something to do with the X-Virus he had" Taikei then responded "it wasn't like that, it was an evil looking cloud, I've always seen the X-Virus as some sort of liquid, like slime" Cherrymon then answered "it's possible that the gas is less potent, ShinMonzaemon was most likely weaker than your average Mega Level Digimon considering you beat him with a Champion Level" Veemon then flexed "yup, that's because we're that strong" Cherrymon chuckled "quite right! Well, you might also want to know, before going to Server Desert Ulforceveedramon stopped in Ohguino Wasteland, what he was doing there, I couldn't tell you" Taikei put his hand on his chin "we'll check out the Wastelands first" Cherrymon nodded "be careful, Ohguino is patrolled by a ruthless General Digimon who is not known for taking prisoners" Taikei nodded with Veemon tightening his fist "bring em on!" Cherrymon then moved some branches "head West and you'll get to the Wasteland, keep hidden and don't let him find you" Taikei and Veemon began to leave when a voice came to them, Taokei turned around to see ExTyrannomon "wait for me, I'm coming with you!" Taikei shook his head "no way, it's too dangerous for someone as small as you" ExTyrannomon caught her breath "you'll...need...a guide, I can do that for you" Taikei looked at Cherrymon who shrugged "fine..."Taikei said with ExTyrannomon jumping for joy, as the group left Cherrymon called out to them "good luck on your mission, I hope you find the answers you're looking for!" Taikei looked back and waved while Veemon shouted back "we'll find what we need and save the Digital World, I promise!" Veemon then put up a peace sign which made Cherrymon's very code jump "could it be?" Cherrymon thought as Veemon flashed into Ulforceveedramon in their eyes.