23. Jailbreak

Night had fallen.
The excitement that had befallen Saurus Fortress since MetalTyrannomon's departure for File City had ebbed and the dinosaur digimon were settling down for the night. Some went to the barracks to get some sleep, while others headed into the Skull Palace for some cactus soda. Only the night guards were still alert as they patrolled the walls and stood by the gates.
The quiet made Bowmon more nervous than if the palace had been noisy. He'd snuck out of the barn before; managing to disappear into crowds that usually consisted of big digimon who barely looked at him. Now it felt like every step he took echoed throughout the spacious building.
His nervous thoughts were interrupted by a questioning squeak from Relemon beside him.
"Don't worry. I know exactly where we're going." He hoped he sounded confident. "I saw Tuskmon heading towards MetalTyrannomon's throne room after he said BlackGreymon was going to join the army. The armbands must be kept in there. I'm just not sure how we're going to get in."
The two young digimon made their way through the palace, sticking to the shadows cast by the burning torches. Eventually they came to the training ground where a trio of digimon were cleaning and reassembling the equipment. They'd set up torches all around the area so there were no more dark spots for Relemon and Bowmon to hide in.
"What do we do now?" Bowmon whispered to Relemon.
The little yellow digimon looked around at the training equipment. Her eyes fell on the hard balls piled near the treadmills. She flicked her tail to Bowmon, indicating that he follow her.
"I mean, if I had to choose; I'd like to live in Factory Town." A red T-Rex-like digimon with a huge head was sweeping away broken bits of wood and metal. He had to rest his overgrown head on his broom so as not to be pulled down to the ground by it's weight.
"Seriously? With all that machinery?" A much smaller version of the red digimon was hammering a metal plate over a crack in a target board. "Wouldn't the place be really loud and smelly?"
Relemon transformed into a hard ball and rolled along the ground behind the conversing digimon.
"Maybe, but think of all the cool machines you'd get to see. MetalTyrannomon used to live there and he's built a lot of neat things in the fortress. Imagine an entire town like that. And I hear AtlurBallistamon is nice."
Bowmon tried to follow Relemon, only to trip and roll onto his back with his legs in the air.
"We've seen where being nice gets you. We just spent all day patching up the walls. You want to do that all the time in Factory Town?"
Still in disguise, Relemon rolled back and pushed Bowmon along the ground towards the piled balls.
"You're the one who asked me where I'd live if Saurus Fortress was no longer an option." The bigger digimon swept the last of the debris into a heap. "Wait. You don't think anything's going to happen to MetalTyrannomon, do you?"
"I just think we should be ready for any eventuality." The smaller digimon grabbed a bag and held it open so that his companion could lift the pieces of debris and drop them in. "He is taking on two Guardians; one of which is a Mega-Level. Who knows what could happen."
"Are you finished over here, Atamadekachimon?" A green quadrupedal digimon with a spotted orange crest on his head approached the two. "Allomon wants us to give MetalTyrannomon's room a good tidy for when he gets back."
"If he gets back." The tiny digimon muttered.
"Shh!" His larger companion shot him a reproachful look before turning to the green digimon. "We're finished, Parasaurmon. Let me just gather the gear."
He lowered his large head to the ground.
"Come on, Minidekatchimon." He opened his mouth wide.
"The cleaning crew's work is never done." The little digimon sighed and clambered into Atamadekachimon's mouth.
As the cleaning crew gathered up their tools, Bowmon peeked out from behind the ball pile.
"Did you hear that?" He whispered to a ball beside him. A different ball poked him with a yellow tail and he turned to speak to that one. "They're heading to the throne room. This is our chance."
Parasaurmon walked by their hiding place, pulling a cart packed with cleaning supplies behind him with a harness. Relemon dropped her disguise and hopped into the cart, followed closely by Bowmon. She quickly jumped onto his head and transformed into a spherical sponge, hiding Bowmon from view.
The two of them waited in silence as the cart trundled along the pathway. Eventually, it came to a stop and Relemon peeked over the edge to see the digimon stood in front of the familiar doors emblazoned with a skull.
Parasaurmon unhooked himself from the cart and knocked on the door with his spotted tail. After a moment the doors swung inward, revealing Allomon standing before MetalTyrannomon's throne.
"Ah, you're here." He pointed with his tail towards a door on the left side of the room. It was almost entirely hidden in the shadows. "Make sure MetalTyrannomon's room is well cleaned and give his throne a polish. I want everything to look perfect for his triumphant return."
"You're not sleeping here yourself?" Parasaurmon asked as Allomon walked past him toward the door.
"Nah. It's far too quiet. I miss the noise from the barracks. Besides, I want everyone to know that MetalTyrannomon's coming back. I'm just holding down the fort for him."
Allomon stepped out onto the pathway.
"Stay out of the storage room though. There's some... experimental stuff in there." He called as the door swung shut behind him.
Minidekachimon stuck his head out of Atamadekachimon's mouth.
"See what I mean? Even Allomon's worried."
"What're you talking about?" Parasaurmon halted just before grabbing a yellow sponge from the cart.
"Nothing!" Atamadekachimon clamped his mouth shut, only to open it again with a yelp. His smaller counterpart jumped out with smoke curling from his mouth.
"I was just pointing out that MetalTyrannomon returning may not be a guarantee." He said, while his bigger companion was pawing at his burnt tongue. "Our leader may be biting off more than he can chew getting involved in a fight between Baalmon and Babamon."
"That's none of our concern." Parasaurmon turned back to the cart and blinked in surprise at seeing that the sponge had disappeared.
"It will be our concern if he gets himself egged and word gets around that our territory has lost it's protector."
The other two digimon paused for a moment at Minidekachimon's words. Then Parasaurmon shook his head.
"It's the soldiers' job to worry about protecting the fortress. Our job is to keep it from falling apart. So let's get to it. You two take care of MetalTyrannomon's room. I'll see to the throne."
He fished out a rag and spray bottle, putting the disappearing sponge down to tiredness on his part, and got to work.
Behind the throne, Relemon looked around the room. Her eyes fell on a door on the opposite side of MetalTyrannomon's quarters. That must've been the storage room.
She patted Bowmon with her tail. The puppy digimon was staring at the floor, seemingly lost in thought, but looked up with a start at her prodding. She pointed to the door and then nodded towards Parasaurmon. Bowmon figured that she wanted him to distract the larger digimon.
He crept to the edge of the throne and looked to the door of MetalTyrannomon's room. Breathing in through his nose, he pulled in his stomach as much as he could and let out a bark.
Parasaurmon turned his head. The noise had come from the direction of the bed chamber.
"Hey, are you guys okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine. Why?" Atamadekachimon's voice answered.
"I thought I heard something." Another bark sounded out. "There it is again!"
Parasaurmon hurried over to the bed chamber.
"Something's making noise!"
"Oh great. We better not have Bakemon." Minidekachimon groaned as Parasaurmon joined the other two in the bedroom.
Relemon hopped onto Bowmon's back and he ran to the storage room. A big handle loomed over their heads.
Relemon jumped up and transformed into a fishhook. She hooked herself over the handle with her tail hanging down. Bowmon grabbed her tail in his mouth and pulled down with all his strength.
The handle turned with a creak and the door moved outward, leaving a gap just big enough for the two small digimon to squeeze through.
Relemon looked around the dark room. Torchlight from the throne room lit the place up just enough to allow her to see. The walls were lined with shelves, upon which sat boxes of various sizes. A few cables peeked over some of the lids and metal surfaces reflected the dim light.
"Say, Relemon?"
Relemon turned around to look at Bowmon who was shifting awkwardly from side to side.
"Do you think Babamon would really... egg MetalTyrannomon?"
Relemon gave an unsure squeak and flicked her tail in a shrugging motion.
"And your friends..." Bowmon scuffed the floor with a tiny foot. "Do you think they'll be able to stop the fighting?"
Relemon wasn't sure of that either, but she was sure that they would try; and she'd already seen them do some amazing things.
She patted Bowmon with her tail squeaked reassuringly. The puppy digimon still looked uncertain but gave himself a shake and resumed investigating the storeroom.
At the back of the room was a large desk with similarly sized tools hanging over it. A piece of black fabric could be seen sticking over the edge of the top.
Relemon squeaked and hopped up and down, pointing at the desk with her tail. With some effort Bowmon got up on his hind legs, placing his front legs against the desk frame. Relemon jumped onto his head. She squeaked three times and swung her tail upwards. Bowmon nodded.
"Okay, here goes. One, two... three!"
He jumped as high as his stubby legs would let him. At the height of his jump, Relemon leapt for the desktop.
She didn't make it to the top but managed to grab the edge with her teeth, leaving her hanging over Bowmon's head.
"Oh! Hang on!" Bowmon took a few steps back and aimed his muzzle up at Relemon. "Puppy Spark!"
The attack knocked Relemon over the edge of the desktop. Her fur stood up with little sparks jumping between the hairs. She turned around and squeaked angrily down at Bowmon.
"It was all I could think of! Now hurry and grab a band before the cleaning crew find us!"
With a huff, Relemon crawled along the desktop. There were strips of black material scattered around. Some had silver lines running along them like circuitry. An open box lay by the wall filled with completed bands.
Relemon tried pushing the box towards the edge of the desk but it was extremely slow going. She looked around for something to use and her eyes fell upon a hollow metal tube lying on a shelf level with the desk.
"What are you doing?"
Bowmon watched in confusion as Relemon jumped from the desk to the shelf.
She ignored his question and squeezed herself under the tube, transforming into a wedge-shaped wooden block to slide it down to the table. It felt heavy enough to knock the box off of the desk.
What she hadn't noticed was a handle at the end on the tube. It knocked against her wooden form as the tube slid down and a small panel pressed into the handle with a click.
A deafening boom sounded out and one of the desk legs exploded into splinters.
Bowmon yelped and ran out of the way as the desk collapsed, spilling the armbands over the floor.
"What did you do that for? Now they'll definitely know someone was in here!"
Relemon's ears were ringing so she couldn't hear Bowmon, but she could see the accusing look on his face. She squeaked defensively as she jumped from the shelf and slid down the tilted desk.
"What the Dark Area was that?!" Parasaurmon's voice accompanied the sound of heavy footsteps approaching the door.
"Now what?!"
Bowmon looked around in a panic. Relemon tapped him on the back with her tail and pointed to the armbands while she hopped towards the door.
"Wait! Allomon said not to go in there!" Atamadekachimon followed behind Parasaurmon, shuffling along with his head resting on his broom.
"He also said to make everything perfect for MetalTyrannomon's return." Minidekachimon spoke up. "We can't let his storage room blow up!"
Parasaurmon pushed the door open and looked upon the toppled desk. The smell of smoke was fresh in the air. Following the scent, he saw a gun barrel hanging down from a shelf.
"Looks like one of his experiments went off." He said to Atamadekachimon, who had stuck his large head through the door.
"I never did trust hand-held weapons." Minidekachimon poked his head out from between his companion's jaws. "A digimon should rely on his own firepower."
He blew a small flame out of his mouth.
"Regardless, we should straighten up in here." Parasaurmon lowered his head to inspect the jagged stump that used to be a desk leg. "Go back to the station and fetch a log of DigiGreatwood. And grab me a mug of cactus soda while you're at it. This is going to be a long night."
While the dinosaur digimon had been talking, Relemon and Bowmon sneaked out from behind the door with an armband wrapped around Bowmon's body. Fortunately, Atamadekachimon's oversized head kept him from spotting them as they creeped past him.
They managed to jump into the cart and conceal themselves before the red digimon pulled on the harness and tugged the chain, opening the doorway to the rest of Skull Palace.

-

The cell was quiet save for the sounds of light snores and shuffles.
Muchomon was sleeping against the bars. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but it was the furthest she could get from the humans.
Charlie was splayed out on her stomach on the floor between the two beds, her head resting on her beanie hat. Kumomon was nestled under her arm, wrapped up in her pillow case.
The spider digimon fidgeted in her sleep before blearily opening her eyes. She crawled out of the pillow case and made her way to the hole in the corner of the cell that served as a toilet.
While she was taking care of business, Charlie unconsciously reached out for the source of warmth that had disappeared. After some groping, her hand came to rest on Muchomon's back. Edging closer, she lay her head on the digimon's body and snuggled into her warm feathers.
Kumomon stepped away from the hole - and almost stumbled back into it as a series of squeaks sounded from the window. She looked up to see Relemon and Bowmon standing on the sill, pressing up against the bars.
"I c-can't believe it! W-Wake up, everyone! It's R-Relemon! She's got the b-band!"
With snorts and splutters, the others started to return to consciousness.
"Gah! Get off me, human!" Muchomon kicked Charlie away from her.
Still drowsy, the girl sat up and put a hand on the side of her face that had been laying on Muchomon.
"Ooh, that's warm. Could I have some of those feathers for my pillow back home?"
She reached for the digimon, who scrambled to her feet and quickly backed away from her.
"You keep your hands to yourself! Just stay away from me!"
"Relax! I was joking!" Charlie grinned at Muchomon; but her smile faded as she took in the digimon's wide eyes and fluffed up feathers. "...You're really scared of me, aren't you?"
"Relemon!" Muchomon's reply was cut off by Tarumon's joyful cry. "I knew you could do it!"
He held his hands up to the window. Relemon squeezed through the bars and jumped into his arms with a happy squeak.
"I helped!" Bowmon barked.
"Bowmon, what're you doing here?" Tarumon had been too relieved to have Relemon back to notice the puppy digimon.
"I wanted to help you guys." Bowmon's eyes fell on Muchomon. "Well, not her; but you were nice to me Tarumon. And Charlie helped me. I don't think you're bad."
He tried to get through the bars but he was too big, so he slipped the armband off and pushed it through the window.
"Yes!" Tigremon caught the armband and wrapped it around her paw. "Now let's see if we're right about the data patch."
She extended a claw and put it into the lock like she'd seen BlackGreymon do earlier.
The others watched in silence as several beeps rang out, followed by a click and the door swung open.
"Alright!" "Woo hoo!" "Let's get out of here!" The group celebrated their success and moved to the door.
"Hold it!" Shinyu stepped in front of them and held his hands up. "I hate to be a downer - "
"And yet you soldier on regardless." Tigremon snarked while she went to free Blitzmon.
Shinyu threw a quick glare her way before continuing.
"But has anyone thought of a plan beyond getting the door open?"
Everyone looked at each other uncertainly.
"I assumed we'd fly out of here with Birdramon." Kartik looked down at Muchomon. "You can digivolve once we're outside, right?"
"It's not that simple." Blitzmon rubbed his wrists as he stepped away from the wall. "It takes time for our digicores to build up enough energy to allow us to digivolve; and, like Kumomon said, we need something to trigger the actual change."
"And I don't feel very energetic right now." Muchomon admitted, holding her flippers over her stomach. Those scraps of digimeat barely counted as a meal."
Shinyu lightly held his chin as a thoughtful look came over his face.
"I think I know how to fix that." He looked to Kartik. "Remember when BlackGreymon gave us that cactus soda? He said it can restore your energy."
"Yeah, but how do we get a hold of some?" Kartik asked.
"Say, how did you guys get in here?" Tarumon looked to Muchomon and Blitzmon. "If we can get out to the desert, we can find some of those cacti again."
"We dug under the wall." Blitzmon replied. "But they may have filled in the hole by now and it would take all night to dig our way out again."
"I saw a bar inside that giant skull." Charlie pointed out. "There's bound to be some cactus soda in there."
"Gr-Great. We'll just stroll up to the b-barkeep and order a few m-mugs." Kumomon commented with a roll of her eyes.
"I can get you to the back." Bowmon called from the window. "I tried to sneak a drink of soda once because Monochromon only lets us have a little bit. I got caught, but I saw where they keep the drinks."
"You shouldn't disobey your carer like that." Tarumon wagged a finger at the puppy digimon. "If he says you shouldn't have much, there's probably a good reason for it."
"Okay, Captain Killjoy; it's a good thing for us that he did." Tigremon's voice came from outside the cell. She stepped back into view, carrying three familiar bags.
"Our things!" Kartik took his shoulder bag from Tigremon and looked inside. "Good. Everything's here. I don't think my phone insurance covers theft by digital dinosaurs."
"They were probably too scared to touch anything in here." Shinyu pulled his sling bag back on. "You all saw how freaked out they were by our digivices."
"Yeah, they were all locked in a storage room in the back." Tigremon reached out into the hallway. "And this was with them."
She pulled into view a folded up ladder. Even in it's compacted state, it was as tall as Shinyu.
"While you guys were talking, I came up with a brilliant escape plan. Bowmon, do you know a place along the outer wall where we can set this up without being seen?" She patted the ladder.
"I think so, but first; if I help you escape, will you promise not to hurt MetalTyrannomon?"
"Like we could if we tried!" Charlie scoffed. "The guy's a walking missile silo!"
"We don't want to hurt anyone." Kartik said more gently to Bowmon. "We're hoping to get to File City in time to convince Baalmon to stand down."
"Baalmon has no quarrel with MetalTyrannomon." Muchomon put in. "He'll gladly stand down if you humans leave the Digital World."
"If that's what it takes, then we'll go." Shinyu replied.
"Hold on! You're gonna give up, just like that?" Tigremon stared angrily at Shinyu.
"If our continuing to be here is just going to get people hurt; leaving is the only right thing we can do." Shinyu said firmly.
"But what about the Overloading? We could lose our chance to fix it, just to make Baalmon and his idiots happy!"
"We are perfectly capable of fixing our own world's problems without human intervention!" Muchomon's feathers started to flicker with tiny flames.
Tarumon placed a hand on Tigremon's shoulder and drew her aside.
"There's still a chance that Babamon survived Baalmon's attack." He spoke quietly to her. "If we can get to her, she may be able to fix this mess. We should cooperate with each other, at least until we know the whole situation."
Tigremon's ear twitched as she forced herself to calm down. Tarumon had a point, as much as she hated the idea of working with File City's attackers.
"Okay." She ran a paw over the fur on her head, smoothing it down, and looked to Bowmon. "We promise not to hurt MetalTyrannomon.
'But I'm not making any promises about Baalmon.' She thought to herself. 'I'm getting him out of my home, one way or another!'

-

"W-Why am I here f-for this?"
"Because you're fast, can jump high and can fit into small spaces. Now keep it down."
Tigremon and Kumomon followed Bowmon through the Skull Palace, keeping to the shadows of the exterior wall. It wasn't long before they were within sight of the bar.
A large sign at the entrance had the name 'The Oasis' painted on it. The tables and benches were mostly empty with only a few digimon enjoying their drinks and chatting amongst themselves. A Stegomon was walking among the tables, slicing cactus pods open with his back blades.
"The drinks are stored in the shed back there." Bowmon pointed to a wooden shack situated behind the main bar with a gated fence closing it off.
"Okay, then. You wait here, Bowmon." Tigremon patted the In-Training on the head. "When this is done, you're getting a whole mug of soda."
Bowmon wagged his tail in anticipation as the two Rookies sneaked closer to the bar.
Checking to make sure nobody was looking their way, Tigremon climbed up the gate with her claws while Kumomon jumped to the top in a single bound. They both hopped down the other side and waited in silence for a moment. Once they were sure they hadn't been spotted, they made their way to the shed.
"Kumomon, you hide on top of the bar and give me a signal if you see anyone coming." Tigremon started working on the shed's lock with her claw.
"What k-kind of signal?" Kumomon asked.
"I don't know. Something that'll get my attention but not alert anyone else." Tigremon replied, not taking her eyes off the lock.
"Oh, I s-see. That's not c-confounding at all." Kumomon jumped to the top of the shed and leapt over to the roof of the barstand. She pressed herself down low and crawled to the edge, peeking out at the drinking digimon.
Tigremon smiled as the lock sprang open.
"Like falling off a log." She pushed the door open to find several barrels stacked inside the shed.
The smile fell off her face when she saw that the barrels were almost as big as her. How was she going to get one out?
"Alright, last round!"
Kumomon watched Stegomon walk around the tables, taking final orders from his customers. He then started making his way towards the shed.
"Oh n-nuts! I need a signal! B-But a quiet one! Think K-Kumomon, think!"
Tigremon wrapped her arms around a barrel and dug her claws into the thick wood. She heaved with all her strength but only managed to lift it about an inch off the ground. She set the barrel back down and leaned against it while she caught her breath. She really wished she could become Smilomon again.
Suddenly, something flew over her head and hit the wall with a splat.
With her fur bushed up, Tigremon bared her claws and looked around for an attacker. Her eyes fell on a wad of sparking webbing stuck to the wall. She turned around to see Kumomon on the barstand roof flailing her legs around and pointing down at the gate.
Just as the gate started to open Tigremon threw the shed door shut, pausing to listen as the lock clicked into place, and looked around for somewhere to hide.
A tarp lay over some empty barrels in the corner. Tigremon dived under it just as Stegomon unlocked the door with a key around his neck and stepped inside.
He stabbed his tail spikes into the top of a barrel, prying the lid off with ease. Some of the blades on his back floated off and hovered beside him. He picked some cactus mugs out of the barrel and placed them on the blades like they were serving plates before replacing the lid. Turning around he walked out the door with the blades hovering just behind him.
As the door shut, Tigremon came out from under the tarp and ran up to the barrel. She was able to remove the top easily now that it was loose, and looked inside to see it still half full. She tore a large strip off of the tarp and started loading up on the mugs.
Kumomon paced back and forth, watching as digimon began to leave the bar. Movement from the shed caught her eye and she turned to see Tigremon emerge with a makeshift bag slung over her back.
Checking one last time that no one was looking in their direction; Kumomon jumped down to join Tigremon by the gate.
"Why did you take so many?" She looked at the bulging bag. "We only need enough to re-energise Muchomon."
"They may come in useful later." Tigremon replied. "Now help me get it over the fence. The others should be in position by now."

-

It was taking all of Charlie's self-control not to hum the Mission Impossible theme song as she and the others crept slowly along Saurus Fortress' outer wall. Shinyu and Kartik were carrying the ladder between them.
"Okay, this looks like the place." Tarumon pointed to a corner that was drenched in shadow from the torches set in the walls.
The group could see dark figures moving along the top of the walls. Fortunately, it seemed the guards were more concerned with watching for threats outside the fortress than anyone sneaking around inside.
"So now we just wait?" Muchomon fought the urge to tap her foot with impatience as she spoke to Blitzmon. "What if those idiots have already been caught? There could be soldiers on their way to recapture us as we speak. You and I should just make a break for it."
"And leave the others behind?" Muchomon didn't like the reluctant tone in Blitzmon's voice. The sooner she got him away from the humans, the better.
"Why not? We have to warn Baalmon about MetalTyrannomon as soon as possible. These humans would just slow us down."
"Maybe, but..." Blitzmon's eyes darted around as he tried to think of a counterargument. He didn't know why, but the thought of leaving the humans behind made his stomach turn. "But what about our mission? Sure, we can't take the digivices back to Baalmon but we can still complete our original objective by bringing the humans to him. And they're even willing to leave the Digital World, like we wanted. We could clear up this whole mess and go home! Don't you think Baalmon would be impressed with us?"
Muchomon's eyes widened at the thought of redeeming her failures on this mission. She could save Baalmon and the rest of their comrades, as well as ensure that their ultimate goal was fulfilled.
"Okay. We'll stick with the humans. But keep your wits about you. I still don't trust them."
"Do you trust anyone?"
They both jumped as Tigremon appeared behind them followed by Kumomon and Bowmon.
"What took you so long?" Muchomon hissed at Tigremon.
"It's not like we were popping to the corner store!" The feline digimon shot back. "Now shut up and drink this."
She sliced the top off of a mug with a claw and shoved it into Muchomon's flippers before grabbing another from the bag.
"You should have some too, Sparky." She opened it and gave it to Blitzmon. "You'll need the energy for the distraction."
Kumomon passed some sodas around to the others before piercing her own mug with her fangs.
"Tigremon," Tarumon peered over the edge of his drink at her. "What did you do to Bowmon?"
"What're you talking about? He's just - Oh."
Tigremon looked down at the puppy digimon. His pupils had dilated to take up almost his entire eyes. His head was zipping around as if he was trying to see everything at once, and his tail was wagging so fast that the sand behind him was being blown away to reveal the rocky ground beneath.
Tarumon put a hand over his eyes.
"Tell me you didn't give him a whole mug of soda. A digimon his size can't handle the extra energy!"
"Well, I promised him a reward!" Tigremon picked Bowmon up. Her arms started shaking from holding the vibrating In-Training.
"He's not going to explode or something, is he?" Kartik took a step back. He caught a questioning look from Shinyu. "Well, we don't know a lot about digimon biology! That could be a valid concern!"
"H-He's not going to e-explode," said Kumomon. "But we sh-should hurry with the plan b-before - "
"Aaawwoooooo!" Bowmon threw his head back and howled.
Tigremon grabbed his muzzle to silence him, but there was already movement and raised voices on top of the wall.
"What was that?"
"It came from down there!"
"It's the humans! They've escaped!"
"Aw, nuts." Tigremon's ears flattened as the guards began to call out to each other.
Blitzmon threw away his empty mug and readjusted his helmet.
"I guess that's my cue!"
Electricity sparked along his armour as he rose into the air and shot towards the dinosaur digimon.
"Megaton Punch!"
He drove his fist into the stomach of a DarkTyrannomon, sending him flying back to collide with his fellow guards.
Landing on the wall top, Blitzmon entered a fighting stance and faced the aggressive digimon.
"Come on! Who thinks they can take the Master of Thunder?"
As the sound of battle raged overhead, Tigremon pointed to an empty part of the wall.
"This can still work! Let's set the ladder up over there!"
"A-And we'd better make it sn-snappy." Kumomon pointed to the Skull Palace. "We've g-got company!"
Some more dinosaur digimon were emerging from the palace. They took in the scene before them and started running towards the group.
"Oh, great." Tigremon turned to Muchomon and the humans. "You guys get on the wall. We'll hold them off!"
Shinyu and Kartik hoisted the ladder between them while Charlie took the still shaking Bowmon from Tigremon. As they ran, they didn't notice Relemon jumping out of Kartik's bag and following the three Rookies into battle.
"Paw Force!"
Tigremon shot an orb of air at an Ankylomon who had sped ahead of the pack of dinosaurs. The attack impacted harmlessly against his armoured hide.
"Tail Hammer!"
The spiked digimon swung his mace-tipped tail towards Tigremon.
"Hook Horn!"
Tarumon's chained horns wrapped around Ankylomon's tail and the bovine digimon reared back, managing to slow the attack enough for Tigremon to jump out of the way.
"Go, Kumomon!" Tarumon called through gritted teeth.
Kumomon leaped into the air above Ankylomon.
"Shock Spit!"
She spat a gob of sparking webbing that landed on Ankylomon's back. He didn't even react to the electricity dancing along his spikes but glared up at Kumomon.
"U-Uh, oh."
"Megaton Press!"
Ankylomon gave a mighty jump, dragging Tarumon off of his feet, and knocked Kumomon out of the air. She landed, winded, on the ground and a shadow covered her as Ankylomon dropped down towards her.
Tigremon dived in, grabbed Kumomon and rolled out of the way as Ankylomon crashed down to the ground. They both spluttered as a cloud of dust spread from the impact.
"I really wish we could digivolve right now!" Tigremon looked up to see the rest of the dinosaur digimon approaching as Ankylomon got to his feet.
Tarumon slid along the ground as his horns reeled back into their stumps. A fierce squeak sounded beside him and he opened his eyes to see Relemon sat before him.
"Relemon, what are you doing here? It's dangerous!"
Relemon didn't reply. Instead, hopped into his arms and transformed. When the smoke cleared, Tarumon found himself holding a rather simplistic looking gun.
He stood up and, almost immediately, a chorus of gasps came from the advancing digimon.
"Is that...?"
"The Data Destroyer!"
"I thought MetalTyrannomon destroyed it!"
"How did he get it?!"
Tigremon and Kumomon looked around in confusion at the dinosaur digimon who had halted their advance.
Glancing over at the equally perplexed Tarumon, Kumomon quickly caught on and raised her forelegs up.
"Th-That's right! He's got the D-Data Destroyer and he's not afraid to u-use it. All of you stay wh-where you are, unless you want to l-lose your ones or zeroes!"
"What are you talking about?" Tigremon hissed out of the corner of her mouth as she and Kumomon backed away to join Tarumon.
"I'm b-bluffing. Back me up!" Kumomon whispered back.
"Uh, yeah! You don't want to mess with this guy!" Tigremon pointed to Tarumon. "You saw him before. He's a mad 'mon! He'll defrag you faster than you can say, 'Have mercy!'"
"Okay! You don't have to go that far!" Tarumon snorted as the three of them moved towards the ladder to rejoin their friends.
On the other side of the courtyard, Allomon emerged from the barracks. Looking from the retreating Rookies to Blitzmon fighting the guards on the wall, he immediately realised what was happening.
"Wake up! We've got trouble!" He banged on the door of the next room with his tail.
The door opened and Tuskmon came hurrying out, followed more slowly by a yawning BlackGreymon.
"What's going on?" The blue dinosaur rubbed his eye and blinked sleepily.
"The humans are escaping!"
"What?!" BlackGreymon's eyes snapped open. "Why would they do that?"
"Obviously, they don't want MetalTyrannomon to learn the truth about their plans!" Allomon growled. "But they're not getting away! Follow me! We'll cut them off!"
He set off towards a set of stairs leading up to the wall top.
Tuskmon gave BlackGreymon a helpless shrug and followed after their superior. BlackGreymon fiddled with his claws and looked over his shoulder at the humans climbing to the wall top before going after his fellow soldiers.

-

Shinyu was the last one to come off the ladder onto the wall. He could see Blitzmon holding back the guards with bolts of lightning. The narrow wall top was keeping them from mobbing him but they were gradually pushing forward.
"Okay, Muchomon." He looked to the red penguin. "Whenever you're ready."
"Haven't any of you been listening?!" Muchomon squawked at him. "I can't just digivolve because I want to! It has to be in response to a need; a powerful surge of emotion!"
"Okay. Then let's try to summon that emotion." Kartik knelt beside Muchomon. "Close your eyes and focus on Baalmon and your friends. Think of how you need to save them from MetalTyrannomon. The only way you can do that is to fly. You need to fly."
Muchomon knitted her brows and concentrated. Her feathers began to flare up and emit light.
Suddenly, a roar broke through her thoughts.
The DarkTyrannomon charged at Blitzmon, powering through the electric bolts being thrown his way.
"Iron Tail!"
He swung his tail and knocked Blitzmon off of the wall. A quick anti-gravity field kept Blitzmon from falling the long way to the ground, but he was too far away to stop DarkTyrannomon from rushing towards Muchomon and the others.
"Watch out!"
Shinyu was the closest target and DarkTyrannomon closed in on him. His friends' calls to him sounded muffled as his vision was focused on the clawed hand reaching towards him.
With a howl, Bowmon jumped from Charlie's arms. In midair, his body seemed to suddenly explode with light. It faded just as quickly, revealing a larger blue and white dog with a purple gem on his forehead.
"Howling Fire!"
Red flames poured out of his mouth and hit DarkTyrannomon in the face.
The black dinosaur staggered back, raising his arms up to shield himself.
Shinyu looked down at the canine who was now standing protectively beside him.
"Thanks, Bow - I mean, uh...?"
"I'm Loogamon!" The digimon answered with a wag of his tail.
Blitzmon managed to grab hold of a parapet and hoist himself back onto the wall top. He stood in front of the group and faced the dinosaur guards.
"Mjölnir Thunder!"
He struck the ground with his fist, from which bolts of lightning shot along the stone, forcing the guards back.
"Are you guys okay?"
Tigremon and the other Rookies clambered off of the ladder. Relemon had returned to normal and was sat on Tarumon's head.
"Bowmon, you digivolved!" Tarumon took in the new Rookie's appearance. "How do you feel?"
Loogamon inspected his furry body. He was quiet for a moment before answering.
"It feels good. It feels like me."
"I hate to interrupt what is clearly a self-affirming moment - but why aren't you Birdramon yet?!" Tigremon yelled at Muchomon.
"I'm trying, but it's hard to focus with all this craziness!" Muchomon shouted back.
Charlie was looking over the edge of the wall to the desert sand below. It was a very long way down.
"Hey, Muchomon. Do you trust me?"
"Not even a little!" She immediately replied.
"Well, this certainly isn't going to help that."
Charlie grabbed Muchomon and heaved her over the side of the wall.
"What are you doing?!" Shinyu cried out as he and the others crowded together to watch the screaming Muchomon plummeting towards the ground.
"She needed a trigger, and what's more triggering than terminal velocity?"
"She's not d-digivolving." Kumomon pointed out.
"She will. Just give her a second." There was a definite hitch to Charlie's voice as she smiled reassuringly. "Any moment now. Any moment... Oh cinglé."
A bright flash suddenly lit up the wall and, a second later, Birdramon rose into the air on flaming wings.
"You traitorous bone-headed sack of meat!" Everyone edged away from Charlie as Birdramon shrieked at her. "Give me one good reason not to fry you here and now!"
"Uhhh, because your boss told you not to?" Charlie gave a sheepish smile.
Birdramon glared at her through narrowed eyes and trails of steam snaked out of her nostrils.
Blitzmon flew back and skidded along the ground, coming to a halt before the group.
"Are we ready to go? I can't hold them back any longer."
Sure enough the dinosaur digimon were speedily advancing on them.
Birdramon heaved a frustrated sigh and stretched out her legs.
"Okay, climb on! And you better hope I don't decide to just drop you in the desert!"
Blitzmon picked up Charlie and Shinyu, with Kumomon in Charlie's hood, and jumped off of the wall. Birdramon deftly caught him in her claws.
"Hold on, Kartik!" Tarumon passed Relemon to his partner, who slipped her into his bag and wrapped his arms around the bovine digimon's shoulders. His horns shot out and wrapped around Birdramon's ankle. Kartik closed his eyes and pressed his mouth shut as they flew off the wall and landed on Birdramon's foot.
Tigremon and Loogamon were firing their attacks at the approaching guards in an attempt to slow them down. Seeing that everyone else had escaped the wall, Tigremon lowered her paws.
"Time for me to go. Thanks for your help, Loogamon."
"Hold on! I'm coming too!" Loogamon turned and ran with her towards Birdramon. "I'm gonna make sure MetalTyrannomon comes home!"
The two of them leapt from the wall and landed amongst the others holding on to Birdramon as she turned to fly away from the fortress.
On the far corner of the wall, Tuskmon was taking aim at Birdramon. The large horns on his shoulders were glowing with energy. Allomon and BlackGreymon were stood on either side of him.
"Okay, Tuskmon fires first and we follow up to finish." Allomon instructed. "On three. One, two, three!"
"Bayonet Lancer!"
A shining beam of energy shot from Tuskmon's horns and sped towards Birdramon. She noticed the attack but it was coming too fast to dodge.
Suddenly a ball of blue fire hit the beam, causing it to explode.
Birdramon was blown back but managed to right herself in the air. Shinyu almost fell off of her foot but Blitzmon grabbed him and pulled him back to safety.
"BlackGreymon!" Allomon turned a furious glare on their newest recruit.
"You said to fire on three." BlackGreymon raised his claws in a shrug.
"Tuskmon fires on three! We fire after!"
"Oh. I got confused."
"You really should've been clearer." Tuskmon put in.
Allomon growled through his teeth and looked towards Birdramon. She was too far away now for their attacks to reach.

"Tuskmon, come with me. We're putting together a squad to chase after them." He turned and pointed at BlackGreymon. "You wait here, and try not to screw anything else up while we're gone!" He and Tuskmon hurried towards the stairs.

"Good luck, guys."

Tuskmon turned to thank BlackGreymon for his good wishes, but saw that his friend wasn't facing them. He was watching Birdramon, who was already getting smaller as she flew across the desert.