Hey everyone, sorry it took so long before another chapter for anything came out, but we've actually been building up a bit of a backlog for a CERTAIN story (no, not this one) that will get released soon enough. Due to that, I ended up focusing on said story, and forgot I had chapters for Digital Story, yes, chapters as in plural.
You're all getting one right now, and the next in a few hours when I wake up because it is 2AM when I'm posting this one here.
Hope you enjoy this rather... unique chapter.
End of the Spring Bandit
The day had been going rather smoothly. Helped a random village they went through, dealt with a small skirmish in the Digital World, for once NOT related to either the Resistance or the Digimon King, and overall it was a smooth day for the Chosen. Despite that they were rather tense. The reason? They'd been tracking their path on a map they'd gotten, and they were now positive that the next village they'd reach would be none other than Shion village.
"Alright, so if we have the timing right, we SHOULD be arriving in Shion before Raven's bandits do." Jaune said as they looked over the map.
"Considering we left Menagerie a while ago? Yeah, we also went a LOT faster than canon thanks to the RV." Nora pointed out.
"What are the most likely spots they would attack from though?" Aile asked.
"Chances are… they MIGHT try to come down from the hiking trail since it's fully hidden by foliage." Jaune said, pointing to said spot on the map.
"Any other areas though?" Gyro asked "You're the one who went on family trips there, so you know it more than we do."
Jaune hummed, before tapping a spot on the map, on the opposite side of where the hiking trail was "Here. I remember that the trees on that side were always pretty densely packed together, and from that spot it's a straight shot to the center of the village."
"Why don't these villages have walls sometimes, seriously?" Gomamon sighed.
"Some do, others don't. It's a bit of a clash of opinions. Some argue that the walls would help keep the Grimm out… but others say that they would instead make it harder for the villagers to flee during an attack." Ren explained.
"...well, I GUESS that makes sense," Wormmon sweat dropped. "How do we plan to stop what happens?"
"Easy. With a trap. The Branwen Tribe work by sneaking in, causing havoc and destroying defenses while they do their raid, then leave the Grimm to clean up after them. But this time we know they're coming, so if we catch them in a trap...well, we don't want to cause too many problems to Shion, so my idea is we repel them...and put a tracker on one," Gyro said. "After that...they're all yours, Keenan."
"Good." Keenan said with a hard frown "Ravemon will make sure there's nothing left of them."
"Indeed." Falcomon nodded "After that, we continue our journey."
"I contacted Gennai by the way." Pierce said as he stepped closer to the table "He said he'd come through once we were done and that he'll try to do the extraction from her. He's still not 100% sure if it'll work, but he's confident enough to try."
"Right, so, Keenan, remember, as much as you want to kill her, leave Raven alive." Agumon reminded the boy "Besides, it'll be a better punishment for her if she's the only one who lives after her whole tribe died."
"She chose to keep being with the tribe, calling it doing what is necessary to survive. It's only fitting her own action come back to bite her," Blake frowned. "Still though…"
"Don't worry. After this, my vengeance is over," Keenan reassured. "I want nothing more than to put this part of my past to rest."
"Good to know." Patamon said with a smile.
"Hey, guys, we're coming up on Shion." Yang's voice suddenly called from the speakers "Still perfectly fine too, so the bitch hasn't come through yet."
"Good to know we got the timing right." Ruby breathed in relief.
"So anyway, for now we'll have to plan our strategy. If we move too soon, they'll run away. If we move too late, they'll cause more damage than necessary," Gyro frowned.
"Well...if it's a bit late we can still do damage control. If it's too early, we'll lose the chance to deal with them," Pierce frowned.
"If the biggest goal is to put a tracker on one of them...let me do it," Ren spoke up.
"Hey that's right," Wormmon nodded. "With Ren's Semblance, we'd be able to get close, stick a tracker, and get out."
"Right, your semblance evolved a year ago." Pyrrha remembered, and Ren nodded, before demonstrating, and to them, he vanished completely for a moment before reappearing a few seconds later.
"That'll be perfect." Gabumon smiled.
"I think our best bet then will be putting the tracker on the bitch." Yang said "Raven's 100% going to go back to the bandit base while the others might scatter."
"Glad to know you're not hung up about her anymore." Blake noted.
Yang snorted "Raven's not my mom, Summer is. Easy as that."
"Then we've got a plan. The bandits got their way due to surprise. We'll just have to get rid of that and ensure they can't cause TOO much damage. Once we've driven them off, then we'll have to get rid of all the Grimm," Agumon said.
A short while later, the RV had rolled into the village and parked next to a local Inn. Without much issue the group started establishing themselves here, claiming to be a group travelling the Kingdoms...which they sort of were. While they acted like they had no idea what was going to happen, they were making their own preparations, spreading out some drones around the walls and in the nearby trees, aiming to scan for human life signs...and ones that were set to alert them if they sensed a sizable number of them. At the very least so they could be ready for any immediate attacks.
A few days passed after that, the group enjoying the town and helping with the defenses when needed, but they remained patient. The time would come and when it did, they'd be ready. Until then, they'd keep their skills sharpened.
Eventually though, the time they were waiting for came, starting with a silent alert from their drones, that a sizable number of people were gathering among the trees.
"Get ready everyone." Gyro said as they were all in the RV for now "We're gonna start acting scattered, but we'll focus as soon as Ren manages to spot Raven."
"I don't really like that we're basically using the people of Shion like bait." Aile voiced with a frown.
"I know, and trust me, we'd prefer any other way, but we have no other way of locating the base of the Branwen Tribe and remain discreet about it. At the very least, we're going to be spread out enough we can keep any casualties to the Bandits themselves and the Grimm when they show up." Gyro told her.
"Guess that's the best we can hope for." Rusty sighed as he leaned back.
"Alright, spread out everyone." Ruby said, and the group gave a collective nod before splitting up and spreading through town, making sure to each have separate areas covered, while Ren waited under the cover of his Semblance, observing the patch of forest where they had detected activity.
The group were ready and waiting, the drones informing that unsurprisingly, the bandits were coming from multiple directions. Everyone had used the days to map out possible openings and were already at the ready. That was why when the bandits came, they were in for a nasty surprise.
It was a rather routine raid. They'd already spent several days observing the village, noting any possible vulnerabilities, and they confirmed there were Grimm near enough that when the fireworks started, it would be as planned.
Everything was in set, the raid began, and at first things seemed like they were working well...until it just fell apart. All the entry ways that they'd noted they could use while the main force attacked the main gate...there were ambushes waiting for them. At first they didn't think much of the ambushers, some kids with Digimon...but when their weapons started breaking without much effort, and their aura barely held up, that was when it was clear something was VERY wrong here.
Raven narrowed her eyes as she watched the assault they had planned so much just break apart, all because of these random kids… and then her eyes widened when she saw what she thought was Summer at first… before realising it was her daughter… and she was glaring right at her with those same silver eyes.
"Dammit! Fall back! They figured us out!" she ordered, the bandits that weren't captured doing their best to retreat.
Even the arrival of the Grimm didn't deter these kids… and Raven almost paled when she saw YANG casually punch off the head of a Beringel.
They didn't just figure it out… they knew this was going to happen somehow. Why else would both of the girls be here after all?
She tried her best not to panic at that, and her mask was able to hide her wide eyes as she ran… and she never noticed when something small and black was attached to her back. Whatever the case, it was clear the Raid had failed. For now, it would be best to cut their losses and retreat, and as such she sounded the retreat. With the Grimm still around, there was no way they'd pursue them, so while it would be a loss, it was still salvageable. There was never a shortage of villages for them to make use of anyway.
"They're backing off!" Ruby reported.
"That's fine, let them go for now!" Gyro said, as Ren returned to visibility not far away.
"It's done," Ren said simply, earning a few nods.
"So, we give them a bit of breathing room for some… minutes? Hours?" Weiss checked.
"I'd prefer seconds." Keenan muttered, a glare focused on the treeline the bandits had fled through.
"Cool your jets there avenger." Gyro chided him, and let out an internal sigh of relief when Keenan visibly deflated.
He SERIOUSLY wanted this part of their self-imposed mission done with so Keenan could finally calm the hell down. Though to the kid's credit, he was doing WAY better than most avenger types he'd seen in fiction. The kid at least had a lot of things going for him after he's done with it. Heck, the only reason Keenan was so...eager...was because this goal was so close in reach.
"We'll give them about an hour and a half. Make them drop their guard enough and start to relax AND to make sure they actually reach their hideout. After that they're all yours," Gyro said, earning a firm nod from Keenan.
"So… this MIGHT be a touchy subject… but once you've completed your goal… are you going to stay with us Keenan?" Penny asked curiously.
Keenan paused at that "... I hadn't thought about it yet honestly."
"Of course not." Falcomon sighed, bringing his wing to his face as if making his version of a facepalm.
"I'll admit I've been a bit too...focused...on putting this part of my past to rest," Keenan admitted with a slight blush. "I'll give my answer after we're done with this. I'll be able to think better after that."
"We're already at the thick of it, so I guess there's no point in thinking about things we can worry about later," Gyro sighed as they continued to beat back the Grimm, and between the amount of experience they'd been building up and their better equipment...the Grimm were soon decimated.
Nora suddenly paused "Hey guys? Is it weird that taking care of the Grimm sounds more like… like just a CHORE for us now rather than an actual fight? Like we're just cleaning up something in a house."
Everyone paused at that "... huh… never actually properly thought about it… that's a pretty apt description though."
"The Grimm have literally become the least of our worries." Veemon chuckled.
"Considering we have big Digimon in another world that are more dangerous, yeah." Salamon said in amusement.
"WE'RE more dangerous than the Grimm." Tentomon added with a laugh.
"Kinda funny when you put it that way," Yang snorted. "So, how much time left before Raven gets a long overdue meeting with Karma?"
"If we're counting since they backed off, we can set Keenan on them in...30 minutes," Weiss said, checking her Scroll.
"Let's make sure everything is...stable...first before we make that move," Tentomon said, earning a few nods of agreement.
The group went around the village, making sure that the defenses wouldn't fall apart if another attack came, and once they were sure everything was in order, it was soon time.
"Alright… Keenan?" Gyro started.
"Yeah?" the boy looked up, his face serious. Instead of receiving a verbal answer, his Scroll beeped, and opening it up, he saw the location of the tracker had finally stopped.
"Go all out, just leave her alive." Gyro said.
Keenan grinned "I intend to… just going to make sure she can't hurt anyone after this." he said, before grabbing his Digivice "Let's go Falcomon!"
"Right!" Falcomon nodded as the light covered the two of them.
(WARNING! Scene of Blood and Gore inbound! Skip ahead to the next parentheses if you'd rather not see it)
Raven frowned as she looked over her maps of the area.
How could they have possibly known they were going to strike Shion? The fact the girls were there, and were keenly aware of who she was, rang many alarms in her mind. However, before she could think further on the matter, the camp was suddenly on high alert what with the alarm being sounded. Quickly grabbing her helmet and sword she soon exited her tent. "What's happening?!" she said.
"We're not sure, but something is approaching the camp!" one of the bandits said, as true enough, they could see a shadow cast across the moon high above...and it was clearly coming towards them.
"I don't know what it is, but shoot it down!" Raven ordered, the Bandits obeying as they opened fire, but their shots either missed or just bounced off of whatever was making the shadow as it was coming closer at a faster pace...before it suddenly vanished.
"What?!" several of the shooters gasped in alarm...before the figure was suddenly among them.
"To quote that comic. 'You are already dead'," the figure said simply.
"What?!" the shooters and several bandits gasped...right before the shooters fell to the ground in pieces, their auras not even slowing whatever was used to cut through them.
"I've been waiting a LONG time for this." the being said, and now that they finally focused on him, they saw a tall man… one that looked the farthest from normal.
"Hey! You're one of those shitty monsters!" one of the bandits shouted, and Raven held back a groan as she recognized that idiot Shay's voice.
He just doomed himself, she knew it in a heartbeat, and she's not gonna try to save his stupid ass.
The Digimon (because what else would it be?) simply glared at Shay, before his arm blurred, and Shay looked like he was hit with a strong wind… that cut a large scar in his stomach, one that had him drop like a sack of bricks as he bled out quickly… and likely the cut went FAR deeper than what it looked.
Seeing this, several of the bandits tried to attack, hoping that they could bring down the clear threat...but another wind blew through the camp...and they all fell to the ground in pieces. The Digimon didn't seem to care much about the fallen, instead walking towards Raven, but it was clear it was also here for the Tribe, seeing as any of the members who tried to run...the Digimon seemed to vanish for a moment, reappear near the exits and reappear back in place, whoever had tried to run falling to the ground dead.
Raven herself took an involuntary step back as the Digimon was cutting down her tribe like it was having a casual stroll...which frankly it may as well be doing from what she could see.
"Well? Not going to stop me?" the Digimon asked tauntingly "Or are those Spring Maiden powers you stole as useless as you are?"
THAT seemed to strike a nerve, as under her helmet Raven's eyes burned, visibly represented by some whisps of energy coming out from the helmet's openings, before she let out an angry scream, as the world around them started to shift from the energy she was unleashing. "You have some nerve, barging in like this," she snarled. "I don't know how or why you know about these, but if you want it so badly, then you can HAVE them!" she roared, as she unleashed a burst of icy wind so cold it was flash freezing the very ground. The bandits watched, smirking as they saw their leader unleash a power that none could possibly-
The Digimon gripped a sword sheathed at its hip, and in a single motion drew the sword AND slashed at the winds, dispelling them instantly like it was nothing, and even hitting a few Bandits that were too close, freezing them in mid-movement and leaving them to fall to the ground as they shattered into fragments of ice.
Raven's eyes widened as he casually stopped her attack, before she started trying again and again, trying to put more power into it, but the result was always the same… and the more she did it, the more her people were being frozen by him just batting her attacks aside.
"Are you quite done? Or are we going to keep going until you do my job for me?" the Digimon taunted, before he grinned almost devilishly "Because by all means, keep doing it. You're saving me the headache of making sure you Branwens are where you belong. Wiped off the face of Remnant."
Raven sneered "So what, you're gonna hunt down Qrow and my daughter next?"
The Digimon scoffed "No, Qrow Branwen is a good man with a proper head on his shoulders, unlike you. And Yang is a friend of mine. I would never try to kill her."
Raven growled "So what? You want revenge against me? I don't even remember encountering one of your kind before!"
The Digimon laughed "Of course you don't remember. You view it like if you had to remember every specific piece of bread you had eaten in your life. The villages you attack and leave for dead mean nothing to you. It was… 2, maybe 3 years ago for you. A small village roughly 4 hours south from the ruins of Kuroyuri. You killed many people there, and left the Grimm to clean up the rest… except they didn't. I survived." the Digimon said, and for a moment a ghostly image appeared in front of the Digimon. A young boy barely a teenager with dark hair and amber eyes...and as if the world was trying to make it come across clearly, a nearby lantern fell, setting fire to some of the fallen pieces of the camp, creating a burning backdrop.
THAT was when it clicked to her. The small boy, his parents dead at her feet...fear in his eyes as he ran away. She hadn't thought anything of it, he would be dead to the Grimm anyway...or so she had thought. "No…" she gasped, shaking her head, involuntarily stepping back. "It can't be you…! You couldn't have survived…! You can't have grown that much so quickly…!" she said.
"But I did," the boy glared. "I survived, I found my way into the Digital World, and try as I might, I NEVER forgot what you did to me, did to my family, my people," the boy snarled, fading back into the Digimon. "This night is something you Branwen Bandits have had a LONG time coming! I'm here to give you EVERYTHING you PARASITES have long deserved!" he roared, before slashing forward, and in a moment of pure self preservation, Raven used her powers...and grabbed any of the other members who were too close to her...including her close aid Vernal...and used them as shields.
Seeing what happened, the Digimon chuckled, before actually laughing a bit. It wasn't a happy laugh. It was a laugh of someone who saw something so disgusting it managed to double back into funny. "And so the true you emerges," he sneered. "In the end that's always what it's been to you. Your own worthless life. As long as it means you live, nothing else matters," he smirked. "Well...know this Raven Branwen. You can throw as many things as you'd like. I'm here and I'm not letting you get away."
Raven was starting to well and truly panic now, as such, she went for her last option. Trying to run. Reaching for her sword, her hand was grasping-
...Nothing?
Slowly, face pale, Raven looked down, only to let out a true scream of horror as she saw her arm had been RIPPED off, and now in the grip of the Digimon, before he crushed it. "I SAID I'm not letting you get away, remember?" the Digimon snarled, before he suddenly surged forward.
Gasping, Raven clumsily tried to draw her sword with her left arm, and right as she raised it to defend, the arm of the Digimon shot forward, smashing right through the sword like it was made out of cheap glass and slammed into her face, pushing her back into a wooden support that was still standing somehow, her helmet shattering on impact, before the Digimon let go and in a single movement spun around and hit her from behind, slamming her into the ground.
"I tried. I tried to not keep pursuing this, but I couldn't deny that deep down I knew I'd take this chance in a heartbeat," the Digimon snarled. "So how does it feel, Raven Branwen? How does it feel to be beaten and helpless, knowing you're at the mercy of another who won't give you any? How does it feel to be where you left so many people all these years, all in the name of your own worthless survival?!" he growled, increasing the pressure a bit, looking like he wanted to cave her ribcage for a moment...before he lightened the pressure a little. "I suppose in the end your answer doesn't matter. It won't bring anyone back," he said, glaring at her. "Just be glad, you still get a few more minutes."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Raven growled, her words slurred somewhat because of what she was rather sure was a broken jaw.
The Digimon ignored her, and simply turned his head… and Raven suddenly saw a pair of beige, boot covered feet next to her, looking up, she saw a man wearing a hooded robe, looking down at her, before looking to the Digimon "So… how do you feel?"
The Digimon was silent "...empty…like I wasted years of my life for nothing and yet… a part of me is glad to finally put this to rest… even if I'm going to need therapy after this."
"At least you admit it." the man sighed, shaking his head, before crouching down and putting a hand over Raven "Normally, I'd be making this painless… but considering the type of person you are, I think I'm going to make you deal with some… HEAVY discomfort." he said, before his hand started to glow…
And Raven shouted as it felt like her body was burning up. Her aura started to flare up before it started to shift in colors, before a portion of it turned a bright green color, before it was drawn into one point as the man pulled his hand away slowly, drawing the aura out as it gathered before his hand, and once all of it was extracted, he clenched his hand, a light emitting from it and when he opened it again, a bright green crystal floated over his upward facing palm. "It is done. She is the Spring Maiden no longer," he said, and true enough Raven realized she could no longer feel the power she once had as the Spring Maiden. This man had somehow separated the power from her aura and took it away.
With that done, the man stood up, and the Digimon stopped pinning her down...before she was kicked away, rolling a bit on the ground. "Your Tribe is FINISHED," the Digimon spat. "Now I consign you to the very fate you consigned so many others," he said, before taking to the sky, while the man seemed to disappear into light, leaving her alone in the half frozen, half burning remains of her Tribe's camp and among the bodies of her Tribe, the familiar snarling sounds of Grimm coming closer…
(End of the Blood and Gore. Safe to look now)
The trip back to where the RV was, now parked outside of Shion and ready to move on, didn't take long. Yet, as they were on their way, the part of Ravemon that was Keenan still felt...empty. It really was true what some say. Revenge really is ultimately pointless. That was why he was glad to see the others again after they touched down and reverted back to normal.
Gennai himself soon appeared next to him. It seemed he'd finally perfected a few tricks to move about Remnant like he would in the Digital World at times. "Feeling a bit better now?" he asked.
"...not really," Keenan shook his head. "And maybe that's for the best…" he sighed.
"Yeah...probably better that you don't feel satisfied after that," Falcomon mused. "Well...at least we got rid of a real problem for the world."
Biyomon nodded "He's right. Thanks to you, Raven doesn't have the Maiden powers anymore, and we can actually keep the Relic of Knowledge locked up now. On top of that, Anima will be safer with the biggest bandit tribe taken out of commission."
"True, I suppose." Keenan sighed "Still, I seriously need some mental help now… I killed so many people just like that..." he said with a shiver.
"Good to know you can admit that about yourself." Gyro said with a smile "So, did you decide what you were going to do?"
Keenan nodded after a moment "I'm going to stick with you guys. I can learn more about what Atlas is doing in WWW that way."
"And if worse come to worse...we can rush back to WWW if anything happens," Falcomon said.
"Like say, Atlas pissing off your dad I take it?" Ruby asked, earning a nod from the two.
"Well, until then, I suppose we continue with both aspects of this adventure." Gennai smiled "Handling things with the Digimon King, and making sure you all reach Mistral."
"Yeah, time to get out of here." Yang nodded.
Suddenly, Gennai felt the crystal in his hand shift, making him look down at it in confusion… before it jerked itself free from his hand, and flew right at Yang, slamming into her and sinking into her body as she reeled back for a second… and then a yellow glow came from her eyes.
The group was silent for a moment, everyone trying to process what just happened. Eventually it was Nora who summed up the feeling. "Well...that just happened," she blinked.
And NOBODY saw that ending coming!
That's right people, Spring Maiden Yang!
We've put the Maiden Powers directly in the hands of the heroes earlier than canon does, which means we're going to be taking some, ah... creative liberties, shall we say.
I won't say anymore on the matter, but know that we intend to have some fun.
Also, yeah, there was some... decent amount of gore and blood in this chapter.
Keenan had a LOT of repressed rage since he actually had a target for his outlet, just one that was out of reach for over 10 long years.
And as some of you might have noticed... he basically bumped up the rating.
Yeah... don't worry, these scenes won't become common, but what with us having at least ONE? We thought it would be prudent to bump things up to M, to avoid ticking off some of the admins.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and see you in a few hours for the next chapter.