Hello all.
Guest IG: I did not think of that for MetalKabutarimon with the security system lore, but let's go with it!
Supernova star destroyer: I wouldn't say it ruined everything. The Japanese version is better voiced, but some scenes in Digimon were slightly inappropriate for kids in Jap.
For anyone contacting me for comic commissions, I'm not interested since Digimon is owned by Toei, and I only write for fun.
This chapter might be released earlier than usual. On vacation in another continent, and the timezone is confusing me.
Also, I have bad news. I have hit writer's block and shortly got laid off at my workplace, so next month's release might or might not be released due to personal reasons. I will keep you informed when the end of December comes. Apologies for the inconvenience.
Without further ado, here is the latest chapter: Magnetic Collision.
Luckily, the situation wasn't all bad. Junpei and Koichi were inside a fractal field, so now they could do this.
[Execute! Spirit Evolution - Beetlemon & Loweemon]
When the smoke cleared, Junpei and Koichi were gone. In their place were Beetlemon and Loweemon. Both looked ready to pound some jets.
[Thunder Fist] Beetlemon emitted electricity and discharged it at the Pteramon. The armored pterodactyls took evasive action and swerved avoiding the lightning strikes.
The Thunder Warrior kept on the electrical onslaught, but the Pteramon kept dodging them. "Ugh! I can't hit them!"
"I got it," Loweemon shadow leaped and appeared above one of the pterodactyls in the air. He gripped his spear tightly and thrust it down. "Take this!"
But it was like the pterodactyl had eyes on the back of his head. Pteramon swerved left causing the spear to hit nothing but air.
[Beak Pierce] Another Pteramon flew from behind and rammed his metal beak at the Dark Warrior. The thick armor did little to protect his body, and Loweemon fell to the ground with a loud thud.
"Ow…" He muttered, a little in pain.
[Missile Storm x5] The Pteramon weren't done yet. A small squadron came swooping down and launched missiles from their wings. The explosive projectiles rocketed toward Loweemon. The Dark Warrior didn't have enough time to dodge.
[Thunder Fist] Beetlemon came in between and punched the ground. Lightning shot out and attacked the incoming missiles. The flying bombs exploded before they could touch the Legendary Warriors.
"You okay?" Beetlemon asked in concern.
"Yeah…" Loweemon replied slowly getting up. "But something's up."
"What do you mean?"
"Those Pteramon…," The Dark Warrior looked carefully at the pterodactyls. Beetlemon's Thunder Fist was still ongoing and moved towards weaponized jet birds, but they kept dodging them. No matter where the lightning attacked, the Pteramon kept avoiding it. "They're too uniform. They can dodge our attacks and strike us too perfectly!"
Beetlemon took in what his friend said and admitted he had a point. Even for experienced pilots, it took years of training to maneuver like what the Pteramon were doing. And that was with lightning and spears coming at them. How were they dodging and attacking so effectively?
The Thunder Warrior then stared at the Mailbirdramon. They were just hovering there observing the battle. It looked suspicious.
Beetlemon closed his eyes and focused on his surroundings. As the Legendary Warrior of Thunder, his attunement to the lightning element was strong. He could sense all kinds of electricity including electromagnetic waves.
Soon, he could feel multiple radio waves being broadcasted back and forth between the mechanical birds. Tapping into the feed, the Thunder Warrior heard multiple commands coming from the MailBirdramon telling the Pteramon commands on formations and incoming lightning strikes.
"It's them!" Beetlemon opened his eyes. "Those blue birds are commanding the Pteramon while tracking our movements and attacks."
MailBirdramon were known for their reconnaissance from afar. Along with their inherited calculations, dodging incoming enemy fire while effectively striking back was simple for them. Combined with the destructive force of the Pteramon, they became a strong yet coordinated aerial team.
"That explains the perfectly timed attacks," Loweemon commented. Blindly attacking them wouldn't work making defeating them much harder. They needed another plan. "Any ideas?"
"There is something," Beetlemon offered. "But it's not the right time to use it yet."
"Don't give them any more chances to resist!" MailBirdramon shouted. The lightning from the Thunder Fist faded. "Attack together!"
All the Pteramon dived down converging toward the two Legendary Warriors. They were going to blitz them using sheer quantity.
"For now, let's make a tactical retreat," Beetlemon said to his friend by waving two fingers left and right then gripping it into a fist.
"Got it!" Loweemon responded, and the duo split running in the opposite direction into the streets of Sapporo.
"After them!" One of the MailBirdramon ordered. "They must not not escape."
The Pteramon divided into two groups and chased after them.
Unlike Odori Park, which had a lot of open space to move around, the streets in Sapporo were much narrower. Tall buildings covered the sky making it hard for aircraft to maneuver around in mid-air, and the infrastructure created a maze-like area. This limited the Pteramon flight capabilities, so they had to fly in a single file line in twos and threes to prevent bumping into each other.
[Missile Storm x15] These new restrictions weren't going to stop them. The Pteramon launched multiple missiles from their wings, and they all flew to the Legendary Warriors.
Loweemon used the building's walls as hard trampolines and jumped from building to building. Just when a missile was about to hit him, he shadow leaped disappearing and reappearing a few feet away. It caused the missiles to miss and fly past hitting something else.
Beetlemon just flew around and maneuvered around the exploding projectiles. He had a much easier time flying since his wingspan wasn't as wide as the Pteramon.
No matter how the Pteramon attacked, they couldn't get a good clean hit on Beetlemon and Loweemon. Those two kept dodging their artillery while moving randomly around the streets. It was like playing a game of cat and mouse, and the cats were losing horribly.
"What are you doing?! One of the MailBirdramon berated angrily. They didn't chase the Legendary Warriors like the Pteramon but could monitor and radio them using their electronic communication system. What the Pteramon saw, they could see as well. The MailBirdramon witnessed the current actions of the pterodactyls and grew frustrated. "You have the numerical advantage! Separate and pincer them!"
The Pteramon executed the order and all separated leaving only two to pursue after the Beetlemon and Loweemon each. Soon after, the rest came out of the other streets and alleyways cutting off the duo's escape paths. It forced the Legendary Warriors to run in a specific direction.
The Pteramon regrouped once again, but this time, they had the advantage. The pterodactyls had Beetlemon and Loweemon each heading in only one direction.
And those directions were dead ends.
Looking ahead, Beetlemon could see a big water tower barring his way, while Loweemon had a gigantic billboard in his. There were no gaps or alleyways around the surrounding buildings. In just a few minutes, they were going to reach those places and have to stop.
"Perfect," A MailBirdramon said, grinning. Those two would be stuck soon. "Prepare your strongest attacks then fire at will!"
The Pteramon executed the order. All of their remaining missile were set to be launched with their targeting system locked on to the Legendary Warriors. Their beaks shined menacingly in the sunlight while their thrusters were about to go on to full blast. They were to hit them with full force.
"It won't be long now," MailBirdramon smiled at the situation. "We might be getting two more spirits today."
"Hmmm," The other MailBirdramon didn't think so. Something felt off. Why didn't the Legendary Warriors use any special attacks and just dodged?
On instinct, MailBirdramon pinpointed each location of the Pteramon and crossed checked them on his internal moniter. Nothing seemed out of place. Then he overlapped with the map of the streets in Sapporo, and his eyes widened.
"Wait! Stop!" MailBirdramon commanded quickly. "Don't Attack!"
But it was too late.
[Missile Storm & Beak Pierce x15] The Pteramon fired all of their remaining missiles then their thrusters blasted out turning themselves into shooting arrows. Both types of attacks sped toward Beetlemon and Loweemon at a breakneck speed.
The Legendary Warriors were almost about to hit their dead ends. If they stopped now, a barrage of missiles and sharp beaks would hit them full force. It looked like there was no way to get out of this situation.
Or was there?
Underneath the shell or mask covering half of their faces, Beetlemon and Loweemon were smiling. This is just what they wanted.
[Lightning Blitz & Shadow Meteor] Lightning emitted from Beetlemon's horn and he rammed right through the water tower. The large water tank broke and fell down the streets making a big splash. Loweemon fired off a golden energy wave from his chest at the poles supporting the billboard. The sign fell to the ground causing wind and dust to sweep around it.
Both of their attacks got rid of their obstacles and created a new path. Beetlemon and Loweemon kept going and in the next moment, they reunited again.
But they weren't alone. The MailBirdramon were right next to them! The Legendary Warriors were back at the Sapporo TV Tower, but closer now than ever. How did that happen?
When Beetlemon told Loweemon to make a tactical retreat, he was silently signaling him something more. All of the Digi-Destined have been friends for many years, so they have a silent understanding of each other. The Dark Warrior saw his friend's hand signs and knew what they meant.
Tactical retreating was part of the plan, but hand signals added more to it. Two fingers meant two allies or enemies. In this case: the MailBirdramon. Waving left and right meant separating while secretly pointing to the water tower & billboard. And finally, the grip into the fist meant reaching the blue mechanical birds and delivering a decisive blow.
Although it seemed like Beetlemon and Loweemon were running around randomly, they were actually secretly heading to their designated locations: the water tower and billboard. Two places that blocked the path led back to the Sapporo TV Tower– right next to where the MailBirdramon were.
The Pteramon and the MailBirdramon were so focused on destroying the Legendary Warriors that they forgot the directions they were traveling in. By the time someone realized, it was already too late.
"Time to go up," Beetlemon grabbed Loweemon and flew them higher. A second later, a barrage of missiles came hurdling passed them with the MailBirdramon right in the middle of it.
[Plasma Cannons & Nightflare] There was no time to dodge, so the MailBirdramon unleashed everything they had at their disposal to stop the incoming missiles. They spewed out plasma beams from their mouths and deployed bombs from their wings skimping nothing. Their frantic attacks did the trick and most of the missiles exploded prematurely, but it wasn't enough.
Stray missiles got through imploding the MailBirdramon. And the onslaught wasn't over yet. The Pteramon came following after from opposite sides just to see each other mere feet apart. The pterodactyls couldn't change direction on time and crashed against each other and the MailBirdramon at full speed.
Loud sounds of metal hitting metal rang out. The Pteramon screeched in pain and some of their mechanical parts went flying. It was like playing a massive game of chicken* with the worst possible outcome.
"Ouch," Beetlemon dropped Loweemon off on one of the steel beams of the TV Tower and looked at the head-on collision disaster. "That has got to hurt."
"You're gonna pay for this!" When the smoke cleared, the MailBirdramon and Pteramon had a lot of dents and internal malfunctions but were still operational. The blue mechanicals looked at the Legendary Warriors in a sharp, angry light and radioed the pterodactyls. "All units! Scatter and use Operation-"
"Yeah not this time," Before MailBirdramon could finish his command, electricity emitted from Beetlemon's hands, and the Thunder Warrior clapped his hands together releasing an electromagnetic wave.
"Argh!" When the wave went past the Pteramon and MailBirdmon got a full hit of static noise in their ears.
Getting enemies to crash into each other was a good plan, but it was only part of it. The other part was to get closer to the MailBirdramon. The blue mechanical birds' ability to relay tactics while watching the entire battlefield was troublesome. They had to be taken out quickly.
Beetlemon could disrupt their radio contact via electromagnetic waves, but he needed to get closer to them. The closer the wave, the stronger the attack. It was like nails on a chalkboard right near the ears: painful. For a team that uses radio to communicate, it would make them chaotic.
Sure enough, the noise was unbearable to the Pteramon and MailBirdramon. Their movement became erratic, and they started bumping into each other. Their current formation was in disarray.
"Loweemon, would you like to do the honors?" Beetlemon asked.
The Dark Warrior gripped his spear tightly. "Gladly."
[Shadow Lance] Loweemon jumped down from the TV Tower to the mechanical birds. He shadow leaped in and out while swinging his spear around. When he landed on the ground, the MailBirdramon and Pteramon got hit fatally by his weapon.
Fractal code appeared around them, and the auto function activated. Half of the data went to Loweemon, while the other half went to Beetlemon. Soon, the MailBirdramon and Pteramon disappeared leaving inoperable drones which fell harmlessly onto the ground.
'Strange,' Beetlemon thought. Before the fractal code left the MailBirdramon, they had a smile on their faces. Why did they smile before their demise?
Vrooom. A noise came out from the Sapporo TV Tower. Facing the tower, Beetlemon saw all the lights in the building shut off like someone turned off the generators.
"Oh no," The Thunder Warrior said looking up. If the TV Tower is out of power, wouldn't that mean…
Sure enough, without an electric energy source, MetalKabutarimon inside the building couldn't sustain himself anymore. He powered down reverting into his relic form.
"Finally," Gigasdramon said and punched through the windows. His metal gauntlet opened up and captured the Beast Spirit of Thunder. "I have acquired the beast spirit."
"Nooo!" Beetlemon shouted, flying up. He now knew why the MailBirdramon grinned earlier. They may have lost the battle, but their objective was completed.
[Lightning Blitz] Lightning streamed out from Beetlemon's horn as he rammed upward toward Gigadramon.
[Giga Heat] The cyborg dragon opened his other gauntlet and released a strong heat wave.
"Argh," Beetlemon grunted in pain taking on the heat wave. It felt like he got hit by a full blast from a heater times a hundred. His Lightning Blitz got interrupted, and he could feel his armor heating up.
[Evil Claw] Gigadramon followed up and raised his metal gauntlet in the air. He then brought his hand down doing a 180-degree swing and slammed right at Beetlemon's back causing the Thunder Warrior to drop from the sky.
"Beetlemon!" Before the Thunder Warrior could crash into the ground, Loweemon shadow leaped next to his friend, grabbed him, and landed them safely back to the ground. "You okay?"
"Yeah…" Beetlemon answered and looked up. He saw Gigadramon flying away not even bothering with them anymore. "Where is he going?"
"Kouji mentioned it," Loweemon said, remembering his brother's text message about his battle with Megadramon. "Now that Gigadramon has your beast spirit, he's probably going to meet up with a rookie-level ally to transport it out of the fractal field. Once your beast spirit is outside, getting it back would be next to impossible."
"We can't let that happen!" Beetlemon was about to take off going after the cyborg dragon but stopped. He felt resistance on his back along with a slight pain. Turning his head, he saw one of his wings bent in an awkward angle. "My wing…"
With one wing broken, Beetlemon couldn't fly after Gigadramon making him grounded. "Loweemon, can you shadow leap after him?" He asked.
The Dark Warrior took one look at the retreating cyborg dragon and shook his head. "Can't. Shadow leaping involves darkness and shadows. Gigadramon is too high in the sky close to the sun. I'm sorry. I won't be able to reach him."
"Dang it!" Beetlemon punched the wall in frustration. Was that it? Was there really nothing they could do? Were they going to lose the Beast Spirit of Thunder?
The Thunder Warrior stared at the wall for a good moment and paused. He then glanced up at the Sapporo TV Tower in all of its metallic glory. "That's it…"
Working quickly, Beetlemon palmed the ground under him. Small sparks of electricity dispersed out and traveled throughout the whole city of Sapporo touching anything electrical. Next thing, the lights, and electronic devices all shut down in the whole city as the power was drained out of them converging into the Thunder Warrior.
Beetlemon then put both hands on the base of the TV tower transferring everything to it.
The TV tower lit up like a city-wide night light. Current electricity moved from metal pillar to pillar. The whole thing was now filled to the brim with Sapporo's power grid.
"Beetlemon, what are you doing?!" Loweemon asked, eyes slightly covered from the brightness.
"If we can't come to him," The Thunder Warrior answered. "We'll make him come to us!"
Beetlemon turned around and punched out a small stream of lightning. The condensed electricity traveled through the sky and hit Gigadramon.
The cyborg dragon felt something on his metal wings and laughed. He knew he got struck with a lightning attack from Beetlemon, but it didn't matter. With how much distance was between them, the lightning was significantly weakened. At most, it would feel like static electricity from touching a metal doorknob.
Gigadramon kept flying. Nothing was going to stop him from dropping the Beast Spirit of Thunder to his ally.
But in the next few moments, something would.
Suddenly Gigadramon's speed slowed considerably until he stopped completely. His body was met with strong resistance, specifically his gauntlets and wings, and the cyborg dragon started to get pulled back by an unseen force. How was this happening? Beetlemon's attack didn't do any damage to him, so why was he forcibly going back to the TV Tower?
He wasn't the only one.
Lamp posts, mailboxes, and other objects left the ground and went to the Sapporo TV Tower staying there. It was like every metal object wanted to stick to the landmark.
Loweemon finally understood what his friend was doing.
There were many ways to make a magnet, and one of them was putting a magnetic material in a strong magnetic field. When Beetlemon took all the electricity from the city, he used it to create a magnetic field around the TV tower. The more electrical power you put into a magnetic material, the stronger the magnet. Basically, the Thunder Warrior made one of the biggest magnets in the world and used Gigidramon as the other attractional force.
Soon, the cyborg dragon came back with surprising force and slammed against the TV tower. His metal wings and gauntlets were magnetized against the metal pillars like industrial glue. He wasn't going to be flying again anytime soon.
"You did it!" Loweemon exclaimed. "Gigadramon's back!"
"Great…" Beetlemon fell to the ground on one knee, exhausted. "Because I'm at my limit."
Even for the Legendary Warrior of Thunder, channeling a whole city's electricity was a lot. It was like cramming everything into a small box without bursting. The concentration and control would mentally deplete the user. Fractal code surrounded the Thunder Warrior, and he transformed back into Junpei.
Without Beetlemon supplying energy to the TV tower anymore, Gigadramon could start moving his body again. He forcibly freed one of his gauntlets and aimed it at Junpei. He had to get rid of these annoying pests once and for all.
"Not so fast!"
[SCA: Aerial Shadow Meteor] Before the cyborg dragon could open his gauntlet, Loweemon shadow leaped next to the metal gauntlet and blasted out a Shadow Meteor in mid-air interrupting Gigadramon's attack. Not only that, but the force of the attack was so strong the cyborg dragon's gauntlet flew up and accidentally hit himself in the face.
Loweemon used the opportunity and appeared next to the other gauntlet. He raised his spear and stabbed down on the wrist.
"Ahhh!" Gigadramon roared in pain. The hit to the face wasn't enough. Now he was pierced on the hand. His metal gauntlet automatically opened and the Beast Spirit of Thunder became visible.
The Dark Warrior shadow leaped inside, grabbed the beast spirit, and jumped out.
"Junpei!" Loweemon threw the Thunder Spirit. "I think this belongs to you."
The Beast Spirit of Thunder flew down and landed next to Junpei. The boy lifted up his head and took one look. Standing so close, he could feel the strong attraction coming between them.
"No!" Gigadramon shouted. "You will not take my prize! I will have that spirit!"
[Guilty Wind] The cyborg dragon aimed his gauntlets at them and created a suction force. Small rocks lifted off the ground and got sucked inside the gauntlets followed by the sounds of grinding. Soon, Junpei also started to leave the ground as he and his beast spirit slowly flew toward Gigadramon.
"Not today!" Junpei took out his Digivice and pointed toward his beast spirit. A small beam of light came out touching the spirit, and it quickly entered the Digivice. The Symbol of Thunder appeared on the screen.
The Bearer of Thunder clutched his Digivice tightly to his chest. As soon as the beast spirit was reunited with him, he could already feel his exhausted body being recharged by its energy. "Let's fight once more, my friend."
[Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution - MetalKabutarimon]
Junpei spirit evolved into MetalKabutarimon, and he landed back on the ground hard. Guilty Wind wasn't strong enough to lift his heavy body off the ground now. More importantly, the Beast Warrior of Thunder was back, and this time, there were no security system limitations to stop him.
[Bolo Thunder] Electricity gathered in Thunder Warrior's arm until they were two large orbs. MetalKabutarimon then let it rip. The lightning orbs linked together and spun together heading straight toward Gigadramon.
"Ahhh!" The cyborg dragon took the attack head-on. His body got electrocuted and then went numb. The recently weakened improvised tower magnet got reenergized, and his gauntlets stuck on it to it again.
MetalKabutarimon fired off more Bolo Thunders each more damaging than the last. Gigadramon took them all on, and smoke covered most of the upper TV tower.
"Did that do it?" Loweemon said, looking at the smoke.
Gigadramon roared angrily out as the smoke dispersed. The Thunder Bolos didn't do it. "I have had just about enough of you two!"
With explosive fury, the cyborg dragon ripped off the steel beams from the tower freeing his arms. The metal was still stuck to him, but now he could attack. He aimed his metal gauntlets at the Legendary Warriors and opened them. "Take this."
[Genocide Gear] Countless organic missiles came out and shot toward Beetlemon and Loweemon. They came down upon them like a stream of angry piranhas. It looked neverending. Gigadramon emptied his whole artillery to destroy them.
"Loweemon, throw your spear!" MetalKabutarimon bent down on all fours. A glass panel popped out from his back. It locked onto Gigadramon and missiles as the gauge quickly charged to full. The Thunder Warrior's gun turret aimed perfectly at the center of the explosive piranhas.
[UA: Electron Javelin] Loweemon threw his spear while MetalKabutarimon fired an extremely high-speed positron laser from his gun turret. Both attacks combined, and all the electricity from the laser entered the spear making it more concentrated. The weapon became sharper and faster as it continued its course.
Like a shooting arrow, the spear pierced through the stream of organic missiles like air causing them to implode early. The explosions did little to nothing to slow the weapon's speed. It kept going and plowed straight through the cyborg dragon's chest to the other side of the TV tower.
"No…" Gigadramon looked at the visible hole in his chest. He would've felt immense pain, but the leftover electricity from the Electron Javelin was numbing it. Still, he could feel his life slowly ebbing away.
The magnetism ended, and the cyborg dragon fell to the ground, body barely moving. Fractal code appeared around him as his figure darkened.
[MetalKabutarimon - Slide Evolution - Beetlemon]
The Thunder Warrior approached the fractal code with his Digivice in hand.
"Soul that is infused with evil. Be purified by my thunder." Beetlemon said and swiped his Digivice against the data. "Fractal Code, Digitize!"
The code left Gigadramon leaving only his vessel, the last flying drone. With him gone, the battle in Sapporo was over.
"Wait," Loweemon grabbed Beetlemon's just as he was about to transform back. "Let's get away from here before changing back."
"Okay…" The Thunder Warrior replied, a little confused but complied. He and the Dark Warrior retreated. When they were a good distance from the tower, they transformed back into Junpei and Koichi.
Fractal code surrounded the area, and the two returned to the Real World.
"Look at all this damage," Junpei stared at the current scene. It wasn't good.
Officer Wakeme was still knocked out from being tased. Soda cans fizzled out on the ground everywhere. A car was parked in the middle of Odori Park on the grass. Flying drones laid on the ground broken. And the area was devoid of people. It was awful.
Although the damage done inside the fractal field was repaired, it didn't fix the damage that was already done in the Real World. If Digimon could do this much damage in their vessel forms, what would happen if they used their real forms? Junpei didn't want to think about it.
"But we managed to stop it before it got worse, and that's what's important," Koichi reassuringly patted his friend's shoulder. The reason why he wanted Junpei and him to distance themselves from the TV tower was to avoid attention. If they transformed back then, they would've been smack in the middle of the destruction making them prime suspects. And the last thing they needed was to get the police involved.
Even if they were proven innocent, the Digi-Destined were on a time limit. He and Junpei couldn't waste any time at the police station being interrogated. The best thing to do was let the authorities handle damage control.
"Who's going to take the blame then?" Junpei asked. Someone had to be held responsible for all of this. It made him feel bad if poor Officer Wakeme was it.
"No one," Koichi answered. "This was a technological issue. The police will probably pass it off as a machine malfunction or being hacked. Either way, Sapporo won't be using flying drones again anytime soon."
"I wouldn't want to either after this." Junpei laughed at the last part. "But you're right. We stopped them, and that's what's important. Now let's get the other beast spirit. The faster we get all of them, the faster we can stop all of this."
"Then we better get moving."
Koichi and Junpei took one last look at the Sapporo TV Tower before heading back to the airport to catch the next flight. The Beast Spirit of Darkness was their next stop.
Chicken- a game modeling two drivers, both heading for a single-lane bridge from opposite directions. The first to swerve away yields the bridge to the other. If neither player swerves, the result is a costly deadlock in the middle of the bridge or a potentially fatal head-on collision.
Junpei was able to get his beast spirit. Yay! Halfway there. While they are heading to their next stop, we are going to be moving back to our first pair: Takuya and Tomoki. I wonder what they're up to. To find out, Tune in next time on Digimon Frontier 2: Fractal Fusion.
Preview: Race to the Mountain
Again, apologies for the possible delay in next month's chapter.