Hello Everyone! Made a typo error in describing one of the logos of the drones. Instead of manta rays, they should've been metal birds. The error has been corrected and sorry for the confusion.
Guest IG: Yes the logos are significant, and maybe. The boys are twins after all.
HeartByte-FreeAIWriting Tool: Thank you for liking my story
Vinay-kox01: I am sorry. Digimon is owned by Toei, and I only do this for the fan writing.
Guest mt 20: Interesting Perspective...
Without further ado, here is the latest chapter: Out of the Frying Pan & Into the Fire.
Before the drone could make the impact, Officer Wakeme came in between and punched it like a boxer. The flying contraption flew erratically back trying to stabilize itself.
"You two!" Officer Wakeme shouted at the Digi-destined. "Get out of here!"
Junpei and Koichi didn't need to be told twice. They got up from the ground and ran away as fast as possible.
The drone finally managed to regain control of itself and flew after them.
"You're not going anywhere!" Officer Wakeme pulled out his taser from his belt and aimed it at the pursuing drone. He was going to tase the flying machine obsolete. Unfortunately, as he pressed the trigger, another flying drone was already upon him.
When the first drone blared out its alarm, it alerted the others. Except for the three drones draining the tower's power, all the black-coated drones converged on the ground. One of them rammed against the officer knocking his weapon out of his hand. The taser flew around and accidentally fired at the poor man.
Bzzt. Officer Wakeme got an electric jolt and fell to the ground spasming. His body kept shaking like a cell phone on vibrate.
"Officer Wakeme!" Junpei shouted, still running. He felt bad for the poor officer.
"Keep going!" Koichi said, right beside him. "They're not after him. They're after us."
Sure to his words. All the drones set their sights on them and chased after them.
"Run! The drones are going nuts!" The passersby witnessed the whole thing and ran away from the scene, but the drones ignored them. They continued to go after the Legendary Warriors.
"What is going on?!" Junpei said, a little freaked out. When some people theorized that robots would take over the world, he always thought they were crazy.
Now, not so much.
The strange problem was that the drones only seemed interested in him and Koichi. "Why are they only chasing after us?"
"Because those aren't regular drones," Koichi answered.
When the drone attacked Officer Wakeme and caused him to shock himself, the Bearer of Darkness thought it was weird. These flying contraptions were attacking too intelligently to be robotic, so he decided to use his powers on a whim. What he saw surprised him.
The drones were showing emotions of hostility towards them. That was impossible! Inanimate objects shouldn't have emotions. Unless…
"They're Digimon!" Koichi concluded. It made sense. If Digimon took over the drones, he would be able to see their negative emotions.
"If they're Digimon, why haven't they transformed into their true forms?" Junpei asked.
"I don't know,"
It was a good question though. If these flying menaces were Digimon, why didn't they transform into their real forms and attack them? It would be way faster than using drones.
"Man! If I could spirit evolve," Junpei muttered. "I would teach those drones a thing or two."
Koichi's eyes lit up. "That's it! That's why they're not transforming into their Digimon form. It's not like they want to. They're choosing not to."
"What do you mean?"
"We can only spirit evolve in the Real World when there is a fractal field. Without one, we can't transform into the Legendary Warriors," Koichi explained. "My hunch is our enemies know that and are opting out using their real forms. Instead, they're using their vessels to deal with us in the Real World."
"Okay, so we can't spirit evolve," Junpei was up to speed. "But neither can they. All those flying contraptions are doing right now is just annoying us at best. Besides giving bruises, cuts, and misfired shocks, they aren't doing anything lethal to us. I mean, what's the worst they can do?"
A drone landed on a nearby vending machine. Small electrical shocks came out of it and entered the other machine. The lights on the machine blinked like crazy and started to shake uncontrollably.
Shortly after, the vending machine shot out soda cans at Junpei and Koichi. The soda cans whistled through the air as they sped toward the two.
"Behind the car," Koichi reacted quickly. "Behind the car right now!"
Junpei and Koichi ran to a parked, electric-powered white SUV and used it as cover. Soon, the soda cans connected on one side of the vehicle. The impacts caused the car to be dented by a considerable amount. Soda bursted out of the cans fizzing crazily around them. One of the cans even broke through the windows on the driver & passenger seats and lodged itself deep into a thick wooden sign.
"Does that answer your question?" Koichi asked, causing both of them to shudder. If one of those soda cans hits them, forget about broken bones. The impact could also lead them straight to the ER room.
The onslaught of soda cans finally stopped. It looked like the vending machine ran out of soda, but it didn't matter. With Junpei and Koichi stuck in one place, all the drones converged circling them.
One of the drones landed on the car and sent out electrical shocks. The SUV started up by itself and drove away leaving the duo's defense. It turned around and shined its headlights at them revving up its engines. The car was going to drive straight at them.
"We're surrounded," Koichi said, standing back-to-back with Junpei. He calculated their odds of getting out of this. They weren't looking good. "What now?
The drones blocked any path of escape. The only direction they could run was to a ramming car.
The SUV couldn't wait anymore and drove to them at top speed. It was going to hit them in a few minutes.
"At a time like this," Junpei pulled out some white balls from his pocket. They looked like mummy-wrapped ping pong balls. "We just need a disappearing act!"
He then threw the ping pong balls on the ground, and they burst out in a smokescreen covering him and Koichi. The SUV kept going and drove right into the smoke. A little fog was not going to stop it.
A second later, the car dispersed through the smoke and accidently crashed against the drones causing them to go into disarray. When they reorganized themselves, their targets were gone. They looked around to find them, but the Digi-Destined were gone. How the heck did those two escape?
The drone detached itself from the SUV, and like the rest, fanned out checking the perimeter. Even if those two Digi-Destined escaped, they couldn't have gotten far. It was only a matter of time before they were found.
Off to the side near a row of bushes, Junpei and Koichi were crouched down out of sight slowly moving away from their attackers.
"You carry smoke balls on you?" Koichi couldn't help but ask.
"Once a magician, always a magician," Junpei answered confidently. "You'd be surprised how much you can do with just a little smoke and misdirection."
Before entering the Digital World back then, Junpei always knew a magic trick or two. Now after coming back, his tricks and skills only grew. Although being a magician was only a hobby to him, he was already a master of misdirection. Making himself and another person disappear in a puff of smoke was child's play to him.
"Incoming!" Koichi said, and the duo quickly hid deeper into the bushes as a drone passed by. Once it was out of sight, they exited the uncomfortable shrubbery. "We need a better hiding spot to regroup."
"What about that place over there?" Junpei pointed to a ramen shop in the distance.
Koichi looked at the restaurant and nodded. The structure looked stable, and thick metal poles were positioned perfectly to prevent cars from driving through. At least in there, they wouldn't have to worry about being surrounded by drones or ramming vehicles. "Let's go!"
Together, the Digi-Destined sprinted toward the restaurant. Once through the glass doors, they saw the interior was similar to other ramen noodle shops. Wooden chairs and tables to seat dine-in customers. A counter with stools for people by themselves. The kitchen was visible to everyone, so customers could watch as the food was being prepared.
Freshly handmade sliced noodles were on the cutting board with flour scattered around. A large pot was on the stove boiling the broth, ginger root, green onions, and shitake mushrooms. It looked like the kitchen was at the stage of prepping food to serve customers within minutes.
"We have to barricade the door," Koichi said, grabbing a broom. He slid the stick through the metal bars preventing anyone from coming in. Junpei moved some of the chairs and tables against the door to give them more security."
"Excuse me," Turning around, Junpei and Koichi saw a man in his 40s behind the counter raising his eyebrow. He had a black apron on with specks of flour. "What are you two doing to my restaurant?"
The duo immediately guessed this man was the chef/owner of the ramen shop. He must've been on break since the dinner service didn't begin for another hour. His face had a look of displeasure.
"We're sorry, sir," Koichi apologized. "But there are a bunch of drones attacking outside. We're just trying to protect ourselves!"
"Yeah, right. And my oven leads to another world full of savory and sweet food," The chef scoffed. "I'm not gullible. Do you really expect me to believe you're outlandish story for messing up my restaurant?"
As if to prove the man wrong, a rock crashed through the upper part of the glass doors leaving a hole. A drone then flew through locking onto Junpei and Koichi. The enemy found them!
Although the barricade could keep things out, a drone wasn't exactly big. All it needed to get in was a small enough opening.
"Get lost!" Junpei picked up some ramen menus and threw them at the drone. Koichi grabbed a chair and waved it around to keep the flying menace out of range.
The drone dodged the objects and flew to the middle of the room. Its speakers opened up and released an ear-piercing noise. The sound bounced off the walls increasing the volume.
Junpei and Koichi dropped their improvised weapons and covered their ears. The sound was too loud. Even the chef in the distance grunted in pain a little bit from that awful noise.
While its speakers were still blaring, the drone took this opportunity and sped toward Junpei's head. Time to give the Bearer of Thunder a grade 4 concussion!
Fortunately, before the drone could crash into Junpei, a bag of flour came from the side and blindsided it. The bag bursted open, and powder exploded everywhere. Most were on the drone. It was then followed by a jug of water.
"Leave to those two alone!" The chef shouted.
The water splashed on the drone mixing in with the flour. Soon, the powder turned into a sticky texture. Some of it got covered on the drone's speakers dampening the volume. Junpei and Koichi uncovered their ears. Although they could still hear the noise, it wasn't as aggravating as before.
"Young Man!" The chef tossed a frying pan to Junpei. "Use this!"
Junpei caught the cookware and swung it at the drone-like hitting a fly mid-air. The thing went flying, crashed against the wall, and dropped into a pot of boiling broth.
Koichi, working quickly, grabbed a lid, ran to the pot, and practically slammed it close. The drone resisted violently causing the pot to shake a lot, but the boy held firm albeit struggling. Soon, the chef came by to help and together, they managed to keep the flying menace from escaping.
The broth entered through the gaps in the drone's electronics affecting its functions. The pot slowly stopped shaking until it went completely still.
"That was exhilarating," Junpei walked over and put the frying pan on the stove. "Thanks for the help."
"No problem," The chef replied. "Sorry for not believing you two earlier. I can't believe a drone attacked like that."
"And there's even more of them outside flying around." Koichi pointed out, looking at the pot sadly. "I'm sorry about your broth. It smelled really good too."
"Eh. I can always make more," The chef waved it off. "I'm going to call the police. They better have an explanation for this!
While the man went deeper inside to use his phone, Koichi lifted the lid. Fractal code spilled out and entered Junpei's cellphone.
"There really was a Digimon in that drone," Junpei said. He believed Koichi, but actually seeing fractal code entered his cellphone was still shocking.
Although Koichi and the chef helped in defeating the drone, Junpei was the main hitter, so the code went to him.
"I had some doubts too," Koichi's eyes never left the pot. When he saw the negative aura disappear inside, he opened the lid to test his theory. The auto-scan function activating was proof enough. "We'll need to get out of here. I'm pretty sure that alarm earlier was a signal to the other drones. They'll probably be here soon."
"Even if we go somewhere else, they'll still find us," Junpei said, annoyed. "The biggest reason is our lack of understanding of the current situation.
"That might not be true…" Koichi recalled everything that happened a few minutes ago. "I have some ideas on what's going on, but it's all based on speculations."
"It's better than nothing. What do you have?"
"Do you remember what Officer Wakeme said about the unknown energy source?" Koichi asked.
The electrical source that's powering the whole tower?" Junpei answered. "Yeah, what about it?"
"It's highly possible that energy source is your beast spirit. The drones must be draining its power slowly weakening it."
"But why?" Junpei questioned. He understood their enemies taking his beast spirit but didn't understand their actions. "Why attempt taking it in the Real World instead of inside a fractal field? Wouldn't be faster to use their Digimon forms?"
"I don't know all the details, so I can't answer the first question," Koichi speculated. "As for your second question, it probably would be faster to use their Digimon form, but would also increase the risk of fighting us."
"Us?" Junpei repeated.
"They don't want any interference keeping us in our world." Koichi looked at the pot where the drone was being boiled. The Digimon could have transformed into its real form but didn't "Even at the cost of their own life."
As long as they were in the Real World, Koichi and Junpei couldn't spirit evolve. Drones were outside trying to kill them. They could take on two or three of them but not all at once.
Time wasn't on their side either.
With drones wreaking havoc outside, the police would have to get involved. Once arriving, the officers would make the whole area off-limits. Junpei and Koichi were just civilians. They wouldn't even get close to the TV tower. Once everything dies down, their enemies would be long gone with the Beast Spirit of Thunder.
"So there nothing we can do?" Junpei pounded the counter in frustration. "They got us."
"Not necessarily…" Koichi said, thinking. The situation was tough, but it wasn't hopeless. "Let's try out that new function of ours, but we'll need to get one of the drones."
Junpei smirked. "No problem. I know just the trick."
…
"Hello, one and all!" Junpei walked out of the ramen place arms outstretched like he was addressing an audience. "Hope you all liked my disappearing trick! For my next act, I'm going to need a volunteer!"
A nearby drone saw the Bearer of Thunder and zoomed toward him.
"Looks like we have a very eager volunteer today. Not a problem! Let me just get my handkerchief," Junpei searched his pockets but came up empty. "Strange. I'm sure I had some on me…"
The drone ignored the boy's actions and continued speeding toward him. Using gravity and motor speed, the flying menace looked like a cannonball hurling at a velocity that could take somebody's head off.
Unfortunately, the drone was too focused on the boy that it temporarily forget about the other Legendary Warrior.
"Now I remember!" Junpei snapped his fingers in realization. "I gave them to Koichi to help with the act."
A rope made out of a lot of handkerchiefs came out of nowhere and collided with the drone. At first, its propellers cut some of the fabric, but soon got clogged by the sheer amount. The machine lost its ability to fly and crashed to the ground next to the Bearer of Thunder.
"Great work Koichi!" Junpei gave him the thumbs up. "Your timing was perfect!"
Koichi popped out of his hiding spot in the bushes and smiled. "Just doing my part to wow the crowd. Let's give them a show-stopper!"
"Right, you are! Now ladies, gentlemen, and Digimon who are trying to kill us. Me and my companion will begin the act!" Junpei pulled out his cell phone and pressed it on the drone. "Beetlemon if you would please."
An image of Beetlemon appeared on the screen. Small sparks of electricity burst out of the cell phone and entered the drone. At first, the thing struggled and released its electricity as resistance, but Junpei's cellphone unleashed stronger shocks. It looked like there was a battle going on between two electronics.
Soon, Junpei's cell phone overpowered the drone continuing the electrical onslaught. The cell device kept going and going causing the drone's alarms to blare endlessly.
Until it happened.
Fractal code appeared and covered the surrounding area. A few seconds later, the data disappeared, and the people around were gone.
"Yes!" Koichi said in victory. The plan worked. He and Junpei entered a fractal field!
This was the fourth newest function of the Digivice: Hacking.
Although the Spirits of the Legendary Warriors had severe limitations in the Real World, they could still offer assistance. One of them was hacking. Since their bodies were digital, they could enter the internet or any electronic device and hack it for their use. All the Digi-Destined had to do was put their Digivice/cell phone next to the device. The spirits would do the rest.
The gang could've hacked through the internet to get tickets for transportation, but it would've left a digital trail. People would ask questions that would then involve the police. They didn't want to deal with the authorities, Asking Saya for help was the best choice. She had the connections, and it wouldn't be traced back to them for breaking the law.
Koichi came up with the idea of using the hacking function due to the drones being electronic. Since their enemies weren't going activate a fractal field, he and Junpei forced them to. Hacking and fighting inside a vessel was not a pleasant experience for a Digimon.
"We did it!" Junpei said triumphantly then his expression changed. "Oh dang it. We did it…"
With the fractal field activated, the drone revealed its true form. Junpei was now standing in what appeared to be a mixture of a fighter jet and pterodactyl.
Pteramon: An armor-level, dinosaur-type Digimon whose special attacks are Missile Storm and Beak. They can fly at the highest altitudes among aerial Digimon and pinpoint bombs on their enemies without revealing themselves. Their eyesight is excellent, capable of capturing the enemy's figure from 10 km in the sky.
Pteramon screeched out. The black armored bird lifted up and flew off causing Junpei to fall like a rider from his horse. Luckily, the boy was prepared and braced himself, so no serious injuries happened.
"Junpei!" Koichi ran to check on him." You okay?"
"Yeah," The Bearer of Thunder answered, smiling. "We did it! We're inside the fractal field."
"Yes, we are. Now we can finally figure out what exactly is going on."
Junpei and Koichi both looked at Sapporo TV Tower again and saw a different scene. Instead of the drones draining the electricity from the tower, there were three Digimon in their place.
The two further back looked like giant blue mechanical birds. They had robotic blue faces and wings with a red crystal on top. Their jaws, long necks, legs, and tails were silver slightly covered in blue armor.
The one in front looked like a purple, cyborg dragon. He had purple hair and yellow eyes. Robotic wings, black gauntlets, and a helmet were attached to his back, arms, and head.
MailBirdramon: A champion-level, machine-type Digimon whose Special Attacks are Plasma Cannons and Nightflare. These birds are raptor-type flying Digimon and can perform reconnaissances on the status of battle from the sky. Due to their analysis skills, they have calm and calculating judgments.
Gigadramon: An ultimate-level, cyborg-type Digimon whose Special Attacks are Genocide Gear and Evil Claw. He is a dark dragon Digimon who was developed at the same time as Megadramon and a combatant armed to the teeth by further remodeling. His weaponry has the firepower of a small human aerial force.
"D* it," Gigadramon cursed. "Pteramon messed up. Those two humans have forced a fractal field! We're still not done with draining the target!"
Inside the third floor of the tower was a massive figure brimming with electricity. His entire body was covered in blue, yellow armor, with treads for legs, cannons on the ends of his arms, and a large turret as a horn. The figure looked like an electric-powered tank.
MetalKabuterimon: A variable, cyborg-type Digimon whose Special Attacks are Bolo Thunder and Electron Cannon. He is the beast spirit descended from the Ancient Warrior: AncientBeetlemon, and equipped with heavy artillery. Due to the heavyweight armor, his mobility is hindered, but in close-range battle, he can obliterate opponents with his various armaments.
When the Beast Spirit of Thunder first landed in the Real World, he flew to the Sapporo TV Tower and inhabited the security system on the third floor. Thanks to his appearance, the whole tower was powered with free electricity and he in turn could fight using a vessel.
When Gigadramon and his soldiers located the beast spirit, they immediately entered compatible vessels activating a fractal field, and invaded the tower.
What was MetalKabuterimon's response? He blasted them without hesitation.
The Thunder Beast Warrior fired at anyone who stepped into the tower. Electric attacks discharged everywhere and his enemies were forced to flee. Some didn't make it and had their fractal code taken instinctively by MetalKabutarimon. Attacking him with numbers in a small space wasn't going to work.
Learning from his earlier mistake, Gigadramon decided to take a different approach and sent the Pteramon one by one. From multiple trials and errors, the cyborg learned that the war tank only attacks when an enemy steps inside the tower. If they stayed outside, MetalKabutarimon wouldn't attack.
Thinking about it, it made sense. The Beast of Thunder entered a security system as his vessel. His mind would be in tune with it, and the security system would only activate when an intruder stepped into the building.
With this new information, Gigadramon had to think more outside the box. He hacked into the police station's computers to indirectly convince the local authorities to cut off the electricity to the TV tower and notify the officers at the scene about the drones' deployment.
But even with cutting off the power, MetaKabutarimon was still there. He was using his own energy to keep the TV tower running. It left people in the Real World confused.
Gigadramon anticipated that. In his drone form, he connected a wire to himself & the digital clock, which was part of the power grid, and slowly drained electricity from MetalKabuterimon. Without an energy source, the armored beetle would lose its form and revert to its relic form. All he and his underlings had to do was stay outside and take the beast spirit power. It was the perfect plan.
Until those two annoying little pests showed up.
Gigadramon couldn't let Junpei or Koichi get too close to the Beast Spirit of Thunder causing a strong attraction between bearer and spirit. He was getting close to completely draining all of MetalKabutarimon's power, so he ordered the black drones aka Pteramon to intercept and kill by any means necessary.
The cyborg dragon also commanded them under any circumstances: Don't transform into their Digimon form. If they entered a fractal field, Junpei and Koichi could evolve getting to beast spirit easier before Gigadramon could finish the draining process.
So only drones came after the Digi-Destined. It ranged from using their vessels to crash into them or hacking into cars to ram them. Even if they didn't kill the two, it would give Gigadramon enough time to sap the beast spirit.
Unfortunately, he underestimated how resourceful the Bearers of the Legendary Warriors were. Who knew the duo could hack into devices like other Digimon and outhack them.
"Mailbirdramon!" Gigidramon shouted. "Take care of them while I finish draining the beast spirit! It won't be long now!"
"Understood," The two Mailbirdramon hovered lower a little towards Junpei and Koichi. Their eyes locked on them. "Pteramon! Converge to this location and commence Operation Rainfall!"
Shortly after, around 15 black armored pterodactyls came out and flew high above Junpei and Koichi. They looked like fighter jets hovering high in the sky.
[Dropping Bombs x15] The artillery shells under Pteramon's' wings detached and fell down. When one touched the ground, it exploded leaving a pillar of smoke and a deep hole. The other followed suit and the area became a bombing zone.
Soon, the shells dropped near Junpei and Koichi. The duo didn't have enough time to dodge and could only use their arms to shield themselves.
As the smoke and debris engulfed them, Junpei finally understood the saying:
Out of the Frying Pan & Into the Fire.
First drone attacks and now dropping bombs. What's going to happen to Junpei and Koichi? To find out: Tune in next time on Digimon Frontier 2: Fractal Fusion.
Preview: Magnetic Collision