Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Morphs: A Digimorphs Tale ❯ Convergent Paths ( Chapter 23 )

Digimon / Digital Monsters and all related trademarks belong are copyright to Bandai/ Toei animation / Saban entertainment. The story, its original contents and ideas, and any original characters belong to the author and cannot be used or reprinted without the author's permission.

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"Man, is this it?" Steve wondered, pushing his way through the rubble.

He knew he had to hurry, for the underground base was literally coming apart. However, the flickering lights easily showed that the power was still running, possibly the auxiliary power.

That same power needed to be shut off if Steve was to free Siavon from his prison.

"Siavon, how you holding out?" Steve radioed his friend through the nano-communications chip. "I think I've found the power control station for this level."

"I'm alive. For now at least." Siavon replied.

"Just hand in there!"

The door's control panel was broken and unresponsive, so Steve took to ramming the door with his shoulders, over and over again.

"Come on! Come on!" He growled, taking several steps back. "That does it! Fire Rocket!"

Steve's fiery charge finally tore the door down, sending him into a forward roll.

"Hah, easy does it." He laughed, dusting himself off.

However, his gaze soon turned towards a sign posted at the side of the door, which read 'In Case of Power Outage, Door Opens Outwards'.

"*@%$!!!!"

"Something wrong?" Siavon asked.

"Nevermind. Just give me directions." Steve muttered.

Note to self, next time I find a door that's locked, I shoot it open.

"I don't think you'll be able to break into any computer systems still running, so you'll have to manually cut the power." Siavon instructed. "There should be a connecting door leading into a generator room. You know what a power generator looks like, don't you?"

"Yeah, I found it." Steve pushed open another heavy metal door, fortunately one that wasn't locked. "Whoa....man!"

It opened into a huge room extending multiple levels, both upwards and downwards, though most of the area was dark. In particular, the black empty space below the pathway was especially forbidding. Extending from the doorway was a catwalk leading to a hunk of machinery in the middle of the room.

An explosion shook the area, reminding Steve of the urgency of the situation.

"OK, I'm at the generator. What do I look for?" Steve asked, running forward. Along the way, he grabbed a glowing yellow lightstick that had been lying by the side of the pathway.

"Somewhere along the bottom of the generator...there should be a large rectangular panel. You'll need to open it."

Squinting in the dim yellow light, Steve managed to find the panel, hooked his gauntlets by his side and pried it open with the Dragon Dagger, which he'd claimed during the chaos earlier. Under the older dragon's directions, Steve turned several knobs and flicked a couple of switches. All seemed well until Siavon instructed him to cut a yellow wire only.

Problem was, there were several orange wires wrapped around it as well. And in the dim yellow light, the wires looked practically identical.

"Oh crap." Steve cursed. "Erm...what happens if I cut the wrong wire?"

"Then we all go up in a big bang. Why? Great, don't tell me you're color blind?"

"No! It's just that....erm...well..." Steve hesitated, claws gripping the wires as tightly as he could with his sweaty palms.

BOOM!

"Gargh!" Startled by the small explosion behind him, Steve jerked...and snipped one of the wires with his claws. "Not good! Not good!! ARGH!!!"

Steve sprang away and covered his head. But when his thoughts didn't end in a fiery blast, he quickly looked up.

"Hey, I think I got it! Siavon?"

"Ragh!!"

"Siavon?!"

There were some coughing and spluttering sounds over the link before Siavon managed to answer.

"I'm all right." The old warrior panted. "When the vacuum went off, the liquid metal went everywhere, including into my mouth. Well, I'm free now, at least if I don't die of mercury poisoning first. But thanks kid, guess I owe you one now."

"No problem." Steve laughed, silently making a 'yes' motion with his hand. "I'll be right back there, then we'll get out of here."

"Better make it quick, kid."

Steve snatched up the lightstick, noting that the room was almost pitch black, except for the rows of emergency orange floor lights, lining the edges of the catwalk.

The Flamedramon had taken about two steps onto the bridge when a long, creaking sound caused him to turn around. In horror, he realized the bridge he was standing on was coming apart before his eyes, starting from the section behind him.

"SHIT!!" Without thinking, he ran.

Steve swerved as a falling chunk of metal almost landed right in his path, then leapt over a hole in the catwalk. He had to dodge falling metal pieces two more times and jump over some debris in the path.

Finally, he stumbled and skidded forward, on his chest, along the smooth metal, ending up at the relative safety of the doorway.

"Ow...whew...that was....too close..." He gasped, rubbing the sore, exposed sections of his stomach. Then, he glanced back at the collapsed catwalk. "Man, just like the movies. Hey, and I didn't hit my head even once!"

Grinning in relief, Steve kicked the bottom of the door with his foot. Unfortunately, the door came right off its hinges and fell towards him, giving Steve a hard smack on the head.

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"You moron, this is all your fault!" Zakar yelled.

"Hey! Hey! I wasn't supposed to know this would happen, ya?" Beelzebumon protested.

"Just shut up and move." Vija shoved. "At least we got what we came for."

The four villains emerged from the secret tunnel, only to find a white armored Dukemon and a larger Black MegaloGrowmon waiting right there for them.

"Going somewhere?" Janet taunted, folding her arms.

Dynamo fired off an energy blast that caused the foursome to scatter.

"Persistent fools." Zakar growled.

"Hey kids, I didn't come here for you lot today, but if you're gonna make me..." Beelzebumon drew his guns. "Then I...."

"V-Wing Blade!"

"Gargh!!" Beelzebumon screamed as a V-shaped bolt of blue light slammed into his back, sending him rolling down the hill they were standing on.

"I'm the one you'll be fighting today." An Aero V-dramon, Aeromaru, declared, hovering in the air above. "You're the one they call the 'Hunter'....I remember you...."

"Yeah, that was a while ago." Beelzebumon replied. "And what do you want, ya?"

"You won't remember me....but I do. I've never forgotten....never...ever since then! RRRAAAGGGHHHH!!!"

With a scream of fury, Aero tackled the dark rider, breaking out in a fierce struggle. However, the three remaining villains turned back to Jan and Dynamo.

"Well, then we'll just have to take you out ourselves." Zakar said, drawing his sword.

"We won't let you take the Dragon Shield." Janet declared.

"And I second that." Another voice rang out.

A Paildramon came up behind Zakar's group, waist mounted blasters held ready.

"Zoe? You made it!" Janet smiled beneath her helmet.

"Yeah, Aero over there and I followed your trail." Zoe nodded, making a slight gesture towards the battling Aero V-dramon. "He's good at these things."

"But how did you get here so quickly?"

"Aero got us on this express Trailmon!"

"Huh? What?"

"Hmmm...pricy, but spiffy." Dynamo whistled. "Talk about the bullet trains."

"YOU!!" Zoe stared hard.

"Relax." Dynamo waved. "I'm on your side for this fight. Besides, I'm sure you don't want this bunch making it off with your precious artifact, right? Well, I don't want to let that happen either."

"Grrr...it doesn't matter how many of you there are! You're no match for us!" Pija brought her crossbow up and fired, forcing Janet to raise her shield in defense.

At the same time, Vija swung his huge dual swords at Zoe, who somersaulted backwards. Zakar charged towards the larger form of Dynamo.

And so, the battle was joined...

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"Kid! Hey kid! Wake up!" Siavon's voice slowly drew Steve back to consciousness.

"Urgh...huh...AAARRRRGHHHHH!!!"

Several other explosions must've occurred while he was out cold, for the room looked even more damaged than before. And there was also the fact that Steve was dangling headfirst over the bottomless chasm.

A mere stroke of dumb luck had prevented him from taking the plunge, as a loose wire had gotten entangled around his left leg and his tail.

"Argh! ARGH!! ARRRGHH!!! HELP ME!!! HEEELLPPP!!!!!" Steve cried in panic, feeling the wire's hold slipping. He had completely forgotten about the Digivice he possessed, which could've literally given him wings.

"Stop it you idiot! Don't move a muscle!" Siavon ordered. The armored dragon was standing on the section of the bridge connected to the doorway, directly above Steve's hanging position.

From what Steve could see, many parts of the Blackwargreymon's armor were still covered with silver, metallic-like liquid. He seemed extremely drained as well, and Steve doubted that Siavon had enough strength to fly, especially with all the falling debris around.

However, Siavon still clipped both his Dramon Killer claws by his sides and swung his body over the railing.

Please hurry! Steve silently begged, biting his lip.

Balancing on the edge, Siavon reached out for Steve's wire, but fell just short of it. The old warrior then brought up one of his claws, the right claw (with only two fingers left instead of three), and reaching as far down as he could, drove it into the wall below.

Siavon then dropped down, placing a foot on the stuck claw and gripping the bottom of the bridge with his hand. Reaching out, he was barely able to touch the wire and stretched.

For several tense seconds, Siavon grunted as his fingers neared the wire. Then, as an explosion shook the area, Siavon got his hand around it and pulled Steve towards him.

The Flamedramon grabbed his companion's body the moment he was within reach.

"Gagh! Quit strangling me kid!" Siavon gasped.

"Sorry!"

"Climb up, and hurry!"

Nodding, Steve grabbed the railing and hoisted himself up onto the bridge. However, as Siavon reached up, the claw he'd stuck into the wall came loose and fell towards the levels below, disappearing into the darkness.

With his footings lost, Siavon nearly fell, but was able to grip onto the railing in time.

"Urgh...damn, you're heavy!" Steve exclaimed, grabbing his hand. "Come on old timer!"

"Oh shut up." Siavon painfully heaved his body over the edge and back onto the safety of the bridge.

Both then pushed their way into the control room and lay there, panting, for the next few minutes.

"Whew...thanks man." Steve managed. "Guess we're even now, huh?"

"No, you still owe me one more." Siavon replied.

"Well, yeah..." Steve nodded. "But erm...looks like you lost one of your claws."

"Forget about it." Siavon immediately turned towards the door, walking with a slight limp. "Let's get out of here before this places come down on our heads."

"Siavon..."

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"Gargh! Stand still!" Vija yelled, missing another swipe at Zoe.

Zoe nimbly ducked under one sword, then leapt over the other and drove a kick into his face.

"Ugh…not bad." The Vajramon muttered, rubbing the side of his face with his elbow.

"You ain't seen nothing yet." She growled, taking a fighting stance. "Esgrima!"

Upon the vocal command, the spikes attached to each of her wrists extended. Zoe used these to match Vija's sword strokes, blocking and parrying in a furious slashing match.

"Roda!" Vija pierced his swords into the ground, creating a shockwave the sent Zoe to the ground.

Stunned, Zoe was barely able to avoid his follow-up attack by sliding between his legs.

"Elemental Bolt!" She cried, throwing off an electric burst from her claws.

Vija took a hit in the back, but he shook it off and whirled around, ready for more.

Zoe found herself barely even thinking about the next move, reacting on instinct and motion. She blocked an attack from the left, then right, and rolled beneath another slash. With a hand planted firmly on the ground for support, she launched a sweeping kick, which took Vija's four feet out from beneath him, sending him rolling over.

Wow…that was intense…She thought. But I got off with just a bunch of small bruises.

"Your style…it's so much like her…" Vija shook his head, pulling himself to his feet. "No, it couldn't be. But I have to know…someday…"

"What are you talking about?" Zoe demanded.

"I would know the name of a warrior such as yourself." Vija pointed a sword at her.

"…Zoe."

"Well met then. I am Vija of the 12 Devas. Remember that. We'll meet again."

"Huh?"

"Zakar had the shield if you want it." Vija called as he turned and fled, leaving Zoe standing there in bewilderment.

"I'm so much like who?" She wondered. "My style? What's with him? He was going all out at first, but after the fight, he looked…just confused…"

BANG!!

Zoe jumped, the sounds of the battle snapping her out of her trance. Her fight had taken her some distance away from the others, and they could probably use the help.

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"Jumonji Kiri!" (Cross Slash)

Zakar swung his left blade, creating an energy wave that slammed into Dynamo's body, leaving large cuts in his armor.

"RRARRGGHH!!!"

As the larger Digimon fell, he turned towards Janet, who was still distracted blocking Pija's crossbow bolts. Zakar charged and slashed at Jan as she turned around, landing a slice along her shoulder armor and her red cape.

"Whoa...gargh..." Janet panted, whirling around to defend herself.

"Hey you!" Pija called from another direction.

Startled, Jan took a shot in the back from Pija, sending her flying.

"Argh...ow…" She moaned, opening her eyes to see Zakar standing over her, swords raised.

"This ends now…gargh!!"

Dynamo had suddenly moved in and swung his tail, tossing Zakar away.

"Rarr…it takes more than that to stop me." Dynamo growled. "Hey, you OK princess?"

"Fine." Janet nodded, getting to her feet. "And…erm…thanks."

"Don't thank me till we're done here." Dynamo winced, lowering his voice. "Hey, I'll give you an opening, so you hit them while they're distracted."

"All right." Janet nodded.

"Yo, you bozos!" Dynamo taunted. "Bet ya can't hit me...and I'm wider than the broad side of a barn!"

"Why you!!" Pija yelled angrily, raising her crossbow. "Vafunijuvara!"

"Jumonji Kiri!" Zakar let loose his attack as well.

"Atomic Blaster!" Dynamo skipped to the side and fired his chest-mounted cannons at the ground, creating a blinding explosion that dissipated the two attacks. "Now!"

"Final Elysian!!" Janet rolled into a position at the right side of their opponents and launched the powerful energy blast.

Screaming, the Pajirimon and Zanbamon were sent flying, crashing into a pile of boulders several feet away.

"Man, I'm glad I'm not on the receiving end of that attack this time." Dynamo commented. "Look! He's dropped the shield! Get it!!"

The golden, circular object lay beside the fallen villains, it's well polished surface reflecting the moonlight. Janet made a dash for it, reaching the Dragon Shield just as Zakar was getting up.

"Die!! It's mine!!" The warrior shouted, swinging his sword.

Jan broke into a rolling leap, snatching the shield off the ground and barely avoiding the fatal sword strike. However, it did slice much of her tattered red cape off.

"Royal Saber!!" The white knight sprang to her feet and lashed out with her lightning fast lance strokes, driving Zakar back.

"Out of the way!" Dynamo ordered. "Atomic Blaster!"

"Holy shit!!" Janet was thrown off her feet as Dynamo fired his lasers with full intensity, resulting in an explosion that disintegrated Zakar and Pija, leaving a large blackened crater behind.

"Dammit!! What were you trying to do?! Hit me?!" Janet screamed as soon as she'd gotten to her feet.

"With that, of course not." Dynamo winked. "THIS is for you!"

Before she could react, Dynamo raised a claw and fired a spear-like device from an opening in his palm. Janet gagged as the spear pierced her through the stomach.

"Garghh...back...stabbing...b**tard...." She managed, before collapsing, unconscious.

"Hey! I'm insulted! I shot you from the front, fair and square!" Dynamo muttered. "OK, let's see...how was it again?"

The armored dinosaur moved to Janet's limp form and placed a claw on the spear he'd shot her with. The spear lit up with a purple light as the Digital Hazard symbol materialized above it. Slowly, energy flowed from Janet's form to Dynamo's.

Shrouded in the purple energy, Dynamo let off a roar as he began to evolve. His gigantic Black MegaloGrowmon shrunk down considerably, taking on a more humanoid shape.

It looked exactly like Dukemon, except for the coloring. Where Dukemon had a red cape, helmet and red sections of armor, Dynamo's new form had blue instead. And instead of being mostly white, his armor was of a dark gray, almost black.

"Chaos Dukemon." Dynamo laughed, looking over himself. "It worked! Tapping into her Digital Hazard and draining some of its powers. Hmmm...wait till Junon sees me like this! Haha!"

Dynamo walked over to Janet's unconscious body, which had reverted to its Guilmon state. The spear had ended up outside of her smaller body mass and fell to the side.

"Sorry princess, but I had to borrow this from you." He grinned, stroking her head. "So, no hard feelings when you wake up, eh?"

Then again, she's much more peaceful when she's asleep.

Dynamo was so pleased with his evolution accomplishment and his obtaining of the shield that he failed to notice Janet's body glowing once he'd turned his back.

The symbol of the Digital Hazard was hovering above her form, and it too was changing. Large leathery wings were sprouting, armor forming, legs fusing into a single serpent tail.

Silently, the red D-Dragon strapped to her claw shattered as well.

"Wait a minute. The Digital Hazard is an energy source that exists within my species." Dynamo said to himself whilst fingering the Dragon Shield. "And I only took part of hers, part of what she had a strong connection to. That was what she was able to utilize to become Dukemon. I avoided draining too much so that I wouldn't lose control, but at the same time, the process essentially left her with an instable, uncontrollable energy source that..."

Upon feeling a hot breath at the back of his neck, Dynamo froze in the midst of his musings.

That could result in unpredictable evolutions...

"Erm...princess...?"

A thunderous roar rang out from behind him, with so much force that he fell over. From his downed position, Dynamo spun round....and found himself staring into the very angry red eyes of a huge, ferocious Megidramon.

"Jan...that...you...?" Dynamo asked meekly.

"RRRRROOOOAAAARRRR!!!"

"SON OF A B**CH!!!!! AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

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Aero sprang forward, grasping one hand around his opponent's gun arm and the other around his neck. Grunting, the two furiously wrestled and shoved, each one trying to maintain his balance at the same time.

Beelzebumon pushed forward with a sudden burst of strength, pointing his gun at Aero's head. The blue dragon immediately jerked his head to the side, the deafening shot missing him by inches. Aero bit down, causing his opponent to scream and drop his weapon in pain.

The Aero V-dramon sprang away in anticipation, but Beelzebumon still managed to give him a left hook to the side of his face, followed by a side kick. Aero spun to the ground and swung his tail in a sweeping motion to throw Beelzebumon off balance.

Still on the ground, Aero shot both his legs upwards, straight into the biker's chin. Beelzebumon took the hit, but retaliated with a roundhouse kick that sent Aero rolling over to the side.

"Damn, you're good, ya? And I ain't even holding back." Beelzebumon panted.

"You...you're the reason..." Aero growled, clutching his side. "I won't stop...until..."

"Aero!" Zoe's voice rang out.

"Don't interfere now!" The blue dragon yelled, watching through the corner of his eye. "I have to..."

"Behemoth now!" Beelzebumon suddenly called, springing to the side.

That was when Aero heard the roaring of a bike's engines and jerked his head up to see Beelzebumon speeding off on the machine.

"NO! Dammit! Arghh..." Aero cursed, spreading his wings.

"Aero, let him go." Zoe (as Paildramon) grabbed him by the shoulders and held the struggling dragon down. "You're hurt you idiot! You shouldn't be fighting in this condition."

It took a couple of minutes, but the Aero V-dramon finally relaxed and dropped to the ground.

"Urgh...yeah...sorry..." Aero muttered, wiping the bleeding left side of his mouth. "I think I lost a couple of teeth, but nothing's broken."

"Good to hear that." Zoe nodded. "But, erm..."

"Yeah?"

"What was that between you and Beelzebumon? I've never seen you completely freak out like that before."

"He was known as Hunter when I first met him. That was when I was a cadet back in military school." The blue dragon explained. "My partner and I, we were out on a field training mission. It wasn't supposed to be too much, just a simple patrol around town. But then we came across Hunter robbing a bank. My partner, Alicia, wanted to call for backup. But I, I went in for the attack instead."

"And?"

"There was a struggle, and Alicia took a bullet in the head that was meant for me." Aero's whole body trembled as he said that. "She was more than just my partner. She was a friend a cared a lot about."

"I'm...I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Don't be Zoe. Don't be. It was my mistake to begin with. They didn't throw me out of the academy for that accident. And it made me work even harder. I graduated and went into the Special Ops, then eventually split into my own private investigation business. I spent years tracking him unsuccessfully, and now, he appears here."

"He's apparently working for someone who wants something from my group." Zoe commented, thinking back to their first encounter with the biker. "That's all I know, but I have a feeling he'll show up again sometime."

Suddenly, a thunderous roar sounded throughout the area.

"What the? Where did that come from?" Zoe wondered.

"Seems to be from the top of this hill." Aero pointed upwards.

"That's where Janet was fighting. Come on, let's go!"

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"What the heck was that?" Steve asked, hearing the roar upon reaching the surface.

"Doesn't sound very good." Siavon remarked.

"Hey wait! Over there!" Steve ran out of the secret tunnel and onto an open plateau to witness as astonishing sight.

Locked in fierce combat were a black colored Chaos Dukemon and a Megidramon. And considering the black knight was inside the dragon's mouth, desperately trying to hold the jaws open, it was safe to say that he was on the losing side.

"Steve! W-what's going on?" Zoe appeared on the opposite side of the dragon and knight fight, together with Aeromaru by her side.

"Hell if I know." Steve replied.

"HELP!!! SHE'S GONNA EAT ME!!!!" The black knight screamed.

"That's a she?" Aero stared.

"Dynamo?!" Zoe realized. "What the hell did you do?! And where's Jan?!"

"This is her!!" Dynamo screamed. "I didn't do it! Not really! I didn't mean for it to happen like this!!"

"Erm, guys...there's a broken Digivice strapped to that dragon's left hand." Steve pointed. "And according to my Digivice, I think that really is her."

"Gargh!! ARGH!!!" Dynamo frantically kicked the side of Megidramon's mouth.

The gigantic creature shook its head in pain, flinging Dynamo out of its mouth, sending him rolling down the hill and out of sight. A golden shield that he was carrying fell from his hands, landing in the grass nearby.

"RRRAAAGGHHH!!!"

"Jan! You can hear me in there right?" Zoe called. "It's us! We're your friends! You have to snap out of it!"

"Watch out!" Aero tackled her, taking them both down, just in time to avoid a fiery breath of flames.

"Gargh!!" Steve and Siavon were forced to duck into the tunnel as Megidramon spewed more flames and began trashing about violently.

After several seconds of burning everything around it, Megidramon spread its wings and took to the sky.

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"Jan! JAN!!!" Steve emerged from his hiding place, yelling in vain.

"I don't think she really hears us." Aero remarked as the four gathered in a circle.

"Steve, I wish we had better circumstances for our reunion, but it's nice to see you again." Zoe spoke.

"Yeah, I think so too." Steve muttered, hanging his head. "Well, we've got the Dragon Shield and the Dagger here, but Jan..."

"Dynamo, that no-good son of a b**ch!" Zoe cracked her knuckles.

"That would seem to be the least of our problems right now." Siavon commented. "Kid, did you manage to get some data on Megidramon with that device of yours?"

"Huh? Yeah, that's right!" Steve nodded, bringing up the holographic display screen of his Digivice, scrolling through the words and numbers. "Erm...I don't get much of this."

"The Digital Hazard?" Zoe read. "I think that was what Janet was concerned about earlier on."

"It's supposedly some energy source Guilmon have." Aero explained. "Whatever that guy did, it seems to have caused the Hazard to run wildly out of control, spreading it almost like a virus. I'm afraid I'm not a medic, that's Gold's job."

"A virus...?" Siavon said to himself.

"Gold and the other Digimetal Knights." Steve nodded. "They would be kinda helpful right now. Any way we could contact them?"

"They're miles away, it'd be impossible for them to get here in time to do anything." Zoe said.

"I mean have them analyze the information. Then maybe we could get a few ideas about what we can to about Janet's condition."

"Well, once I got their e-mail address from Aero, I used my Digivice to send them a message and let them know we were all right." Zoe thought.

"Guys, I hate to break it to you, but..." Aero pointed upwards.

The dark sky had gotten even darker as heavy clouds moved in, filling much of the night sky. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"Great, it's going to interfere with out reception." Zoe sighed.

"I have something in mind." Siavon suddenly spoke up. "If it's a virus you say, then we'd obviously need an anti-virus. Or an antibody perhaps?"

"What are you getting at Siavon?" Steve queried.

"That mountain over there." The old warrior gestured to a large formation several miles away. "I recognize it from the images I've seen. It's where the X-Antibody is said to be obtained, from the very tops of its cliffs."

"The X-Antibody? Fascinating..." Aero trailed off.

"And how will it help Jan?" Steve continued.

"It should help clear out the virus within her, much like herbs or medicine would help heal wounds." Siavon told him. "The mountain is dangerous and the X-Antibody supposedly guarded, but it's worth a shot."

"Until we come up with a better plan at least." Zoe nodded.

"I may be able to establish an internet connection for one of your devices too." Siavon added in. "I'll just need the right equipment from this underground base here. The upper levels should still be stable enough for me to work with."

"Damn, you're a miracle worker, old timer!" Steve grinned.

"Hey, there's no guarantee that it'll work."

"But there's a chance right? I'll go after the antibody then." Steve declared, holding his Digivice to his chest. In a flash of light, his Flamedramon form vanished, replaced by the winged armor type, Gargoylemon.

Steve also handed the two Dragon artifacts to Siavon.

"No, it's too dangerous. Let me...arghh..." Aero tried to spread his wings, only to feel the pain of his wounds and his exhaustion holding him back.

"You're staying here with Siavon. At least rest for a while." Zoe insisted.

"I'll be back as soon as I can guys." Steve took to the air. "And Siavon, catch! You'll need to use this too."

The BlackWargreymon extended a hand and caught Steve's Digivice.

"Be careful Steve." Zoe told him. "We're counting on you."

"I won't let you guys down. Especially Janet." Steve said softly as he flew off in the opposite direction.

The roars of Megidramon drew the trio's attention to the dark skies.

"Well, she's not the least bothered about the weather." Siavon muttered.

"This isn't good..." Aero realized. "If she keeps heading in that direction, she'll reach some of the nearby settlements. And who knows what'll happen."

"I'll keep her occupied." Zoe said firmly.

"But..."

"No buts soldier. You're in no condition to do it, and I think Siavon could use the help of someone who knows Gold when he sends the information."

"Yes, well..."

"Trust me." The Paildramon winked, tapping her Digivice. "I have this if I need it."

"All right." Aero nodded, finally forced to admit defeat.

"Come on blue boy, let's get to work." Siavon waved, walking back towards the tunnel that led down into the underground base.

"Yeah...hey, you're that Siavon right? The famous armorer?" Aero asked.

"If you want to call me that."

"Wow, this is amazing! Fancy meeting you at a time like this! Don't know if you know me, but I was the three time champion of the D-1 Battle Tournament."

As the two disappeared into the passageway, Zoe turned towards the sky.

"OK, let's do this." She whispered.

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The rain was pouring down, beating loudly on the old metal roof of the train station. However, it didn't bother Dynamo the least.

He hadn't stopped running, even for a second, after his brush in with Megidramon. Upon reaching the station, he'd pulled out the laptop he'd hidden there earlier and went online, using a miniature antenna device.

"Junon, come in. Junon!" Dynamo called into his headset, fiddling with the knobs on the antenna.

Even though there was a lot of static in the background, Dynamo could still make out his colleague's voice.

"Junon here. How did it go?"

"Well, that evolution upgrade for myself certainly worked."

"I'm happy for you then. And about your other mission objectives?"

"The base is busted, and so are a couple of the smugglers."

"That's good."

"But the Dragon Artifacts are sort of...out of my reach."

"WHAT?!"

"Hey, I didn't know that the spear's draining capabilities would led to the Guilmon's Digital Hazard going wild after I drained part of it. I almost got eaten alive by a mad, hungry Megidramon for crying out loud! I barely made it out in one piece! Why didn't you tell me that could've happened in the first place?!!"

"As a technical expert, I thought you could've figured that out on your own."

"Well, yeah..."

"Forget it. Get back to base ASAP. That group will be busy trying to cure their companion's virally infected state for a while, and we've got things for you to do here."

"But..."

"You wanted in on the Royal Knights didn't you? Now's your chance Dynamo."

"I still do. I'll be there." Dynamo nodded, silently wanting to hit the pink knight in the face for his absolutely egotistical attitude.

"Roger, I'll see you back at base."

"Hold on a second Junon, the Hazard is running through her body like a virus, right? But the Hazard is also 'part' of her being, so to say, removing the Hazard's effects through any means of antibody programs, that would be potentially fatal, wouldn't it?"

"Of course." Junon casually replied.

"All right, just to check." Dynamo broke the connection and leaned back against the wall.

He should've been very proud of his accomplishment, having hit his Mega level form of Chaos Dukemon. But as he sat back in silence, glancing down at his new, shinny gauntlets, something just didn't feel right.

The earlier incident was bugging him a lot more than he'd expected.

"Those guys...and Jan..."

Dynamo was sure at least one of them would be smart enough to go out and find an antibody, whether being from a nearby medical center or town. But that wouldn't be enough to clear out the Digital Hazard virus form...it could in fact make matters worse.

At that, Dynamo brought up another screen on his computer and began furiously typing.

An antibody alone wouldn't be able to remove the virus, but perhaps an antibody AND something he could design would do just that...

--------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even considering everything she'd been through, flying in a torrential rainstorm was something new to Zoe. Up ahead, she spotted the Megidramon form of Janet.

Zoe closed in, weapons ready. She didn't want to hurt her friend, but there seemed to be no other alternative.

Just keep the shooting to a minimum and lead Janet around the mountains to keep her occupied.

"Desperado Blaster!"

The blue energy bolts which struck Megidramon's back barely even scratched it, but were enough to attract its attention.

"Hey! Over here! Hey!" Zoe fired a few more shots, then turned and fled as Megidramon gave chase.

The surrounding mountains formed an intertwining mountain range with a river running through its valley. Zoe sped through the course, twisting and turning around corners, moving up and down to avoid rocky projections.

It was simply exhilarating, much like a flight simulator video game.

Megidramon however, was bashing through everything in sight. The loud smashes caused Zoe to turn back every now and then.

Unfortunately, she only realized it was a rather bad idea when she faced forward again. A protruding tree branch was right in her path and Zoe got caught on it, sending her spinning out of control, screaming.

I have to...use this...now...She thought, clutching her blue D-Dragon with one claw. How does it...work...?

Zoe was trying to focus in the midst of her wild spinning when an image snapped into her mind. Imperialdramon Dragon Mode, herself, with its huge blue cannon, firing on Megidramon.

The power...and the destruction it could cause....

NO...I...I can't...

Zoe suddenly realized she had her eyes closed, and forced them open. Only to see Megidramon right in front of her.

The corrupted dragon slammed Zoe before she could react, sending her plunging into the cold, dark waters below.