And we're back with yet another Digital Story!
Hope you're ready for the additions in this chapter, because let's go!
Miracle Quest - Part 5
"So… how many level ups does that make?" X-Veemon asked curiously as he blasted a group of enemy Kiwimon with his X-Laser.
"I'm… already at level 41." Annette said in a bit of surprise as she used a pair of guns, keeping a safe distance from the enemy.
"See? I told you that equipment we crafted would come in handy!" Pierce said with a grin as he spun Pandora X around, killing a few more enemies.
"Yeah… but what about that amulet you found on Floor 25? Ain't that one a little risky?" Annette asked him.
They were currently on Floor 30, a mostly beach-like floor with about 30% of it being an ocean, and a few small forests as well.
A few floors ago, they'd manage to craft some gear that boosted XP gains, which she was currently wearing, namely a pair of white boots, gloves and a scarf, and on top of that, Pierce had found an amulet that removed the wearer from the XP gains while also doubling the wearer's power… and tripling their money gains.
A bit of a risky item for regular players… but for Pierce… it was basically broken.
"I'm not restrained by levels, remember? The game puts me at Level 100, but really… that stuff doesn't really affect me, so might as well use the good part of it." Pierce snorted.
"You'd think I'd remember by now that I've partied up with a pair of living cheat codes," Annette snorted at that.
"Hey, we resemble that remark," X-Veemon chuckled. "Anyway, think that's enough grinding for now? We still haven't gone looking for the Digimental Temple yet."
"Yeah, seems good." Annette said, storing her guns away now that the fight was done, going around picking up the materials left over and grinning when she picked up what looked like a bottle of vitamins "Oh hey, perfect."
"Oh, those again? Man Akiyoshi was NOT original when he basically copied the vitamins from Pokemon." Pierce snorted as Annette activated her digivice and released a Stingmon from it, using the vitamins on it to boost its stats up a bit more.
"You've really been focusing on that thing since you got it some floors ago huh?" X-Veemon asked before he reverted back to being Veemon.
"Yeah, I'm just… preparing for something." Annette said, not wanting to mention a certain something to the two of them just yet.
"Speaking of preparing, if we're done for now, we should start looking for the Digimental Temple," Pierce said. "Not that we're in a major hurry right now."
"I think we can stop for now. We can always grind more later," Annette nodded.
"Okay then, time to search again," Veemon said. "Ready to fly anytime."
"Got the Digimental ready," Pierce nodded before Veemon soon became Wyvernmon, while Annette called out her Thunderbirdmon as the party was once again flying over the floor, scouring for any signs of the Digimental Temple.
"The one thing that's sometimes annoying about the Digital World, anything could be what we're looking for," Annette mused.
"Oh yeah, it can get weird and annoying when you have no idea what to find," Wyvernmon agreed.
"Well, judging by how things have been so far, I doubt he'd put the temple deep underwater since there's a chance some people don't have any seafaring Digimon in their party yet. He's a dick, but clearly his ego makes it so he WANTS someone to get far in the game and try to beat it." Pierce mused.
"Lucky us, then," Annette said wryly.
"Hey guys, I think I see it." Wyvernmon said, nodding ahead towards… well it was literally an overgrown sand castle, big enough for people to walk into it.
"Huh, that's… unique to say the least." Pierce blinked in surprise at the view.
"Its on theme for the area, and well…anything goes," Annette sweat dropped.
"That's true," Pierce and Wyvernmon chuckled before the group soon flew towards the castle, landing not far from the entrance as Wyvernmon reverted to Veemon and Annette recalled Thunderbirdmon. Without any hesitation, the group soon went into what they assumed was the Digimental Temple. Their first impression…
"Bigger on the inside," they all commented, as unlike the previous Digimental Temples…this one appeared to be much larger than its exterior would imply.
"Kind of surprised he didn't employ stuff like this sooner. I mean, it's par the course for the Digital World at times," Pierce mused.
"I'm glad he didn't," Annette sighed. "It would have taken longer if he'd done this sooner."
"True," Veemon chuckled. "So, did the Dev leave some kind of clue for us to follow or do we have to explore the whole place before we find the Digimentals?"
"Pretty sure he went with the simple 'All the way in the back' according to a dev who leaked some minor info a while back. So we just have to get through it and we'll find the Digimentals at the end." Annette answered.
"Easy enough." Pierce shrugged, before activating another Digimental as Veemon evolved into Roninmon "Better to have you prepared for anything."
"Yeah, fair point." Roninmon nodded, not arguing with his partner as they started walking through the sandy temple. As expected, this time around rather than a straightforward temple…well…
"I feel like I'm in a Zelda game…" Pierce deadpanned.
"If all the future Temples are like this, I'm gonna see if damage to a certain point can be felt when we find Akiyoshi," Annette said dryly.
"...no comment," Pierce and Roninmon said as they continued onward. Thankfully aside from the game effectively being a platformer in the Temple, complete with traps, a few minor Digimon that acted as enemies, and a few rooms that they had to unlock to get through, thankfully one thing that was not included was underwater sections. Still though…why did the sections that were mildly flooded seem so ominous?
Either way they pressed on and after…quite some time of trial and error (and a few futile attempts to literally break through the walls), they eventually found their goal in sight. An ominous walkway with the Digimentals sitting almost innocently at the very end.
"Either the boss or bosses are gonna jump at us mid-way or they're gonna show up right after we get the Digimentals," Pierce deadpanned.
"Yeah, this is painfully obvious," Annette nodded with a sigh.
"Which one are you picking then?" Roninmon turned to her.
"Reliability. I got a Digimon for it last week, the only one that canonically could carry me underwater." Annette said, before releasing an Armadimon from her Digivice.
"Right, guess we should be ready to do this fast then." Pierce said as the two of them stepped up, with Pierce holding his hands out to the two Digimentals while Annette stopped in front of the Reliability one, a screen popping up in front of her before she hit the confirmation and a copy of it appeared in her hand, at which point Pierce grabbed the two of them and lifted them off the pedestal… which crumbled into a pile of sand "Yang would probably make a joke about that." he muttered at the sight, while Annette quickly activated the Digimental she got and used it on Armadimon, evolving it into something called Submarimon apparently.
"Huh… so it's a one seater? MetalSealmon can carry all of us like an underwater bus." Roninmon said as he looked at the new Digimon.
"Ok, that's pretty cool." Annette admitted "But yeah, in the show Submarimon could only carry one person, usually his partner." she said… before they felt the whole building start to shake "... well that can't be good."
Pierce paused at that, remembering something "Hey… wasn't the temple right next to water?" he said thoughtfully, causing the others to pause as well.
"Oh… he's trying to drown us is he?" Roninmon frowned at that, the temple shaking more, and he noticed some patches of sand starting to get darker in color, clearly becoming damp "Yeah, he totally is. Alright, time for a new power then and hopefully I can carry you." he said, before his current Digimental flew back into Pierce's scroll, his partner holding up the Digimental of Reliability even as he reverted to Veemon.
(Play 'Break Up' (At 3X speed))
"Digimental Up!" Pierce shouted as the Digimental flew towards Veemon, causing him to be cocooned in bubbles, the images of Gomamon's evolutions appearing briefly as it changed shape.
"Veemon, Armor Evolution!" the shape quickly solidified into something quite large on all fours, before it broke apart, revealing his new form "Ferocious Reliability! Niledramon!"
His new evolution was a large, nearly 17 feet long crocodile with blue scales and a white underside, grey armor covering his torso with the belly there being purple, the back actually being rather bulbous thanks to the very clear single seater cockpit for a person to lie down in, the head having some white armoring over the top through which his eyes peeked out, the armor extending down his snout and replacing his usual horn with a silver, torpedo like one, his legs having some minor armor on them, save for the feet gaining armored flippers on them.
Digimon Analyzer: Niledramon
Niledramon. Vaccine Type. An Armor Level Aquatic Digimon. A Veemon that evolved through the power of the Digimental of Reliability, becoming equipped for aquatic exploration. Digimon that don the power of this Digimental will become able to scour the seven seas and reach the deepest depths with little to no issue. Special attacks are Depth Torpedo, firing off several torpedos from his body, and Aqua Spinner, either grabbing his opponent with his powerful jaws and spinning them around, or ramming into them while spinning. Now close this window and GET GOING!
(Song end with record screech)
"Get in!" Niledramon said, his cockpit opening as Pierce climbed in, laying down on his stomach and grabbing onto a handle in front of him, Annette doing the same as she climbed into Submarimon, the two cockpits closing up right as the room gave in and water started REALLY rushing in "Alright, let's get out of here. Close your eyes because we're going on a spin cycle!" Niledramon told his partner who did just that and gripped the handle tightly as Niledramon leaped forward while getting into a spin "Aqua Spinner!" he shouted as a blue aura surrounded him while he spun his way through the sand and water, Submarimon quickly following through the hole as it filled up with water, before the two eventually got out, ending up right in the middle of the water.
Niledramon and Submarimon (or rather Annette piloting it) paused for a moment. "Well…that was something," Niledramon commented.
"He's seriously getting too creative with the killing attempts," Annette groaned.
"Well…this isn't the strangest way someone's tried to kill us. Plus knowing that guy…he's probably not done trying yet either," Pierce frowned.
True enough…
The waters became choppy as a slew of bubbles started to rise up from the depths, and before long a new form emerged from the darkness, one that was quite familiar at that.
"A MegaSeadramon huh? He really hates us." Pierce snorted as they looked at the red aquatic serpent.
"As if that wasn't obvious before." Niledramon snorted, blowing out some bubbles from his nose.
"Well…at least we get an excuse to test out our new Digimentals," Annette sighed, honestly used to this at this point.
"Oh well, time to do the usual," Pierce shrugged.
"More us than you two this time around," Niledramon snorted, before he paused "Kinda… keep forgetting I'm the only sentient mon around here." he muttered to himself.
However, before they could begin to fight, the MegaSeadramon seemingly glitched for a moment, before its eyes changed colors and then it spoke.
"Well now, how'd you manage that? Quite an interesting hack to make your Digimon talk on its own." it spoke in a rather familiar voice.
"Akiyoshi?!" the group realized in shock.
"The heck are you doing here?! Did you turn yourself into a Digimon just because you wanted to do the job personally or something?" Pierce asked incredulously.
Akiyoshi snorted "No, I'm simply remotely controlling this MegaSeadramon. I would have loved to send something worse after you, but sadly even I have to limit myself to the rules of my game sometimes."
"Then we'll be crushing you and your rules," Niledramon said, figuring there was no point in pretending he couldn't speak at this moment.
"Perhaps," Akiyoshi frowned. "But even if you manage to survive this, the closer you get to the top, the closer the time comes for me to rectify this bug in the system."
"Says the guy who made a frikkin Death Game. Well whatever, let's get this over with," Annette said, before directing Submarimon who fired Oxygen Homing at the MegaSeadramon. The sudden attack hit the MegaSeadramon, causing it to reel back a little.
"Very well then, if that's how you want to do it," Akiyoshi glared, before the MegaSeadramon was on the offensive. MegaSeadramon gained some range before swimming rapidly at them, aiming to impale them with its horn, but both of them quickly got out of the way.
"Depth Torpedo!" Niledramon declared, firing shots at MegaSeadramon who moved to evade, but several of the shots still connected, dealing some damage.
In retaliation, MegaSeadramon's horn glowed before firing Thunder Javelin, aiming for both of them and once again forcing them to evade. "I feel like saying something about this…but I don't want logic to screw us over!" Annette couldn't help but say as she was directing Submarimon to evade the electric bolts.
"There's no such thing as logic when Digimon are involved, it's like the Grand Line!" Pierce said with a grin, helping align the lock-on for his partner before they fired more Depth Torpedos at MegaSeadramon.
Once again Megaseadramon moved quickly, but its large body made for quite a large target still, several of the torpedoes managing to hit it, stunning it as it was clear that due to Akiyoshi controlling it himself, there was some kind of feedback on him. The momentary stunning was all they needed to capitalize on this opening. Niledramon immediately charged forward, jaws open and clamping down on MegaSeadramon's tail and… "Aqua Spinner!" Niledramon called out before rapidly spinning around…taking MegaSeadramon with him as the larger sea serpent found itself in the center of a growing whirlpool as Niledramon spun and spun, before eventually letting go, sending MegaSeadramon crashing into some nearby rocks.
"Oookay…that's…not my favorite move," Pierce couldn't help but say. Even if he closed his eyes, he still felt a little dizzy.
"Sorry Pierce, I'll try to avoid using that while you're still in here," Niledramon apologized.
"Don't be. Do whatever you need to win. That's more important right now," Pierce said firmly.
Meanwhile, the MegaSeadramon… "Ooooh, maybe I shouldn't have used the VR set." Akiyoshi mumbled weakly through it, before shaking his head "I need to get out of here!" he said, before swimming up towards the surface quickly.
"Oh like hell we're letting you get away!" Annette said as she directed Submarimon to chase after, Niledramon doing the same a moment later.
MegaSeadramon emerged from the waters, floating in the air as Akiyoshi directed it to quickly scan the area, somewhat relieved there were no other players at the moment, considering he was liking his chances less than before, before the two Digimon chasing him rose out of the water, Annette climbing out of Submarimon as she recalled it, and Niledramon climbing out of the water while letting his partner dismount, reverting to Veemon a moment later.
"What?! How did that happen?!" Akiyoshi gasped. "I programmed this world such that Digimon don't revert after evolving! Not only have you somehow created new Evolutions for a Digimon that WASN'T included in the game, but you made it able to talk AND revert! How are you bypassing my rules so much?!" he snarled.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Pierce smirked. "And if you hated that surprise, I got another one ready for you," he said, as he soon brought up his other new Digimental. "Digimental Up!"
(Play 'Break Up')
The Crest of Knowledge spun in the void as Veemon and the Digimental entered as well, the three forming a triangular formation. "Veemon, Armor Evolution!" Veemon called out as the three made contact and a bright light shone forth. A burst of earth manifested soon covering him in a large cocoon of earth/stone while behind him faded images of Tentomon's evolution line flashed through before the cocoon burst, revealing the new Digimon. Humanoid in shape, clad nearly fully in yellow armor with purple highlights, bits of blue scales visible underneath, a drill covering his right hand, a helmet that hid his face fully, his eyes hidden behind red compound lens while his two long ears now came out of the helmet in a way more reminiscent of antenna "Heroic Knowledge! Battamon!" he called out as he struck a familiar pose.
Digimon Analyzer: Battamon
Battamon. Vaccine Type. An Armor Level Cyborg Digimon. A Veemon that evolved through the power of the Digimental of Knowledge, except rather than gain power over earth, he became a Kamen Rider. He fights for those who can't fight for themselves, and his only goal is the eradication of all evil. Special attacks are Batta Kick, a flying side kick that makes the enemy explode, and Piercing Punch, hitting the opponent with his drill fist and breaking through them.
Akiyoshi… stared at the brand new Digimon "What?" he said flatly.
"You're kidding." Annette said incredulously.
"Like hell we are, my partner's a Kamen Rider now!" Pierce said with a cheer.
"And no copyright law in the universe is going to halt this fun!" Battamon said with a laugh.
"Well… when you put it that way…" Annette trailed off, holding up her digivice, before she summoned Stingmon from it… and he struck yet another familiar pose "Of course… Battamon is doing the Ichigo pose, so he's doing Nigo." she said with a sigh.
"Oh I GOTTA immortalize this." Pierce said, snapping pictures all around the two using his scroll.
Akiyoshi stared at the image before him incredulously for several moments, before he finally roared out "What the hell are you doing?!"
"What? My brother's just as much of a Rider fan as I am, he's gonna want to see this once I finally get out of here." Pierce said "Also before you do the whole 'IF you get out of here' we literally WILL get out, no ifs, ands or buts about it. You're gonna lose man." he finished with a vicious grin.
"I will lose?" Akiyoshi repeated…before they could suddenly feel actual killing intent going through the MegaSeadramon. "I will lose?! Insolent good for nothing hacker! This is MY world playing by MY rules! I didn't spend all this time and effort to make this game and set it up just to have someone like you waltz in and ruin it!"
Pierce… just grinned more "Don't hate the player, hate the game! Besides, somebody would have booted you off your high horse eventually, I'm just the ass kicking express."
"Then I'll have to derail that train!" Akiyoshi roared as MegaSeadramon charged forward.
"Well he's angry now!" Annette gasped as MegaSeadramon went straight for them.
"Not a problem for us!" Battamon said, before charging forward and meeting the attack head on, his drill arm meeting MegaSeadramon's horn, stopping the enemy Digimon, even as Battamon grunted, his feet dragging on the ground a bit.
Akiyoshi pushed more into MegaSeadramon, the horn startin to spark with energy as if preparing for a Thunder Javelin, but at that moment, Stingmon came up and delivered a rapid series of kicks aimed at MegaSeadramon's side, causing it to be knocked back a little…and giving Battamon the opening needed to push back, his drill spinning and actually snapping the horn of MegaSeadramon off, causing it to break apart into data.
"Enough!" Akiyoshi roared angrily, before typing on his console, and maxing out MegaSeadramon's stats to the limit…but soon got a few error messages on his screen. Back at the fight, MegaSeadramon roared as it grew larger, its horn growing back…but it also seemed to start to glitch out, its roars becoming warped…but the abnormal reaction was enough to prompt Battamon and Stingmon to pull back. Good thing too as when a Thunder Javelin came…well…the section of the ground that was now heavily damaged made it clear it had been powered up.
"Right, not getting hit by that." Battamon said with a sweatdrop before he focused back on the fight.
The MegaSeadramon was…fighting much more erratically now, damaging the area more than it needed to, but the fact it was still more or less aiming for them made it clear Akiyoshi was still more or less in control of it. Either way, the group was left scrambling as they moved quickly to evade attacks, Pierce and Annette being forced to hang back as one direct hit would likely take them out. Annette more so than Pierce.
"We can't afford to prolong this! Aim to finish it as fast as possible!" Pierce shouted.
"Working on that!" Battamon shot back quickly, he and Stingmon moving to evade the rapid attacks from MegaSeadramon. Interestingly enough, Stingmon was moving…very well. Honestly, if he didn't know better, he'd almost say Stingmon was behaving on par with an actual Digimon…though his still somewhat mechanical movements at times dispelled that notion.
"Hold still!" Akiyoshi growled through the MegaSeadramon, his voice warped as the Digimon continued to move erratically, the group a little uncertain as to how much control he really had at this point, but as long as it was still more or less aiming for them…that was a moot point.
"Oh yeah, like we're stupid," Battamon snorted, before dodging an attack and ramming his drill into MegaSeadramon, forcing it back a little. MegaSeadramon quickly recovered, but was soon hit with a barrage of missiles from Stingmon. The attack surprised the MegaSeadramon enough that it was distracted, giving them an opening. "Piercing Punch!" Battamon called out, charging forward with his rapidly rotating drill, while Stingmon charged forward with a Spiking Finish, both of them striking the MegaSeadramon, causing it to take a good deal of damage, sending it skidding back, yet it wasn't done fighting yet. However, the damage seemed to have an additional effect, seeing as the MegaSeadramon roared…yet its roar was warped and it soon glitched and sparked, its body becoming unstable.
"Now!" Battamon said, before he and Stingmon jumped high, flipping in the air into a flying side kick from each of them "Double Batta Kick!" he shouted out as they rammed into the MegaSeadramon, sending it crashing further back as they landed, before turning away from it and posing right as it exploded.
(end song)
"Awesome!" Pierce shouted with his hands up in the air, and Annette couldn't blame him.
That was REALLY cool.
Elsewhere…
Akiyoshi shouted as he got sent flying back into a wall inside his lair, groaning as he lay there, twitching from the pain as there had clearly been some unintended feedback.
"I… hate… that… hacker…" he groaned, before passing out.
And there!
Floor 30 has been reached, and we reveal our next new armor evos, Niledramon and Battamon.
Niledramon is, obviously, a crocodile, a very big one at that, and Battamon, as said in the chapter, is basically a Kamen Rider.
I wasn't gonna skip the chance to make one after all lol.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed, because...
The Adventure Evolves.