Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Morphs: A Digimorphs Tale ❯ Raptor on the Run ( Chapter 37 )

Digimon / Digital Monsters and all related trademarks belong to Bandai. 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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Raptor on the Run

By nightdragon0

 

 

 

It was dark and jerky being stuffed inside the bag and being unable to move for themselves. The morale was at an all time low too and the group of four soon fell silent.

The Devas holding them `captive' had apparently regrouped after failing to find Zelia. There had been some heated conversations amongst them before they got moving. Their captors were dragging them off to some unknown destination….and there was nothing to do but wait and see.

It didn't help that Janet was extremely distraught and brought up a remark every now and then.

“This is probably the worst situation we've ever been in.” She snarled. “Zoe! Can't you get control of your body or something?”

“Don't you think I've been trying?” Zoe responded. “But it seems like my powers have faded out while I'm stuck in this toy's body.”

“Grrrr….I wanna get my claws on them so bad!!”

There came the slamming of a door, accompanied by voices from outside.

“Shh…listen…” Sekata whispered.

“Your spell was supposed to be foolproof!” A voice, identifiable as Makuramon, sounded. “We lost three of the puppets thanks to that, and thus won't be able to control three of the bodies!”

“Sorry pal, I clearly stated no refunds when I made this deal with you.” A second Digimon replied, with a rather young sounding voice. “You probably messed up somewhere along you side if the spell failed to work.”

“On just that particular one though.” Majiramon, the dragon, added in.

“You know, it was that dino, Evza's experiment, remember?” Mihiramon spoke up. “Well, she's sort of a zombie I'd say…”

“Mihiramon!!” The monkey Deva, Makuramon, fumed.

“Really?” The unidentified Digimon asked with curiosity. “Go on.”

“And she was some experiment that involved some magic and science stuff to revive the dead.” Mihiramon continued. “So…”

“Grrr…you're just repeating all the information I told you.” Makuramon growled.

“So, you did know about it.” The unknown Digimon laughed. “Well the spell, I can tell you, transfers souls. And if it's not technically a living Digimon, it shouldn't have one. Of course, this is all pretty debatable.”

“This is all your fault you dumb cat!” Makuramon hissed. “Why didn't you remind me?!”

WHAM!!

“Ow!! Hey just admit that you were so caught up in that mad, diabolical scheme that you completely forgot.” Mihiramon barked.

“Ooohhh!! Just forget it!” Makuramon was clearly frustrated. “Fine then Puppetmon. Let's just go on to the second part of our deal.”

Sekata pictured the Digimon known as Puppetmon in his mind. He remembered it as a brown colored, puppet-type Digimon with a long `spike' nose, dressed in blue overalls with a red skull cap and a wooden cross across his back. Somehow, it didn't seem surprising that a Digimon such as that one would be behind the magic that put them in their currently embarrassing state.

“Now I'm definite about it.” Aero, who'd been surprisingly quiet, suddenly spoke up.

“About Zelia?” Zoe asked.

“Yes. During my encounter with Zelia when I first obtained my Mega form, there were a few instances when I saw into her memories. And at the time the Devas kidnapped Zelia and me, I actually heard Mihiramon talking about Zelia's condition.”

“And you never told any of us?”

“I wasn't too sure what to believe, even though I did have my suspicions. Now I know for sure.” Aero muttered. “I saw it with my own eyes earlier on. Well, if I have eyes while my mind's stuck inside this blue sphere. Damn, I don't even have any limbs right now!”

“Guess my awkward feelings towards her have been misdirected.” Sekata whispered.

“No, I told you not to worry about it.” Aero insisted. “What does trouble me however is that it's been a while since her last ice bath. I don't know how much more she can take before…”

That was as far as he got before the bag was tipped over and the four were thrown out into the light.

“Well, these look interesting.” Puppetmon giggled, picking up their tiny forms.

The wooden Digimon was much shorter that the Devas had been sitting on top of a wooden counter in what appeared to be an old, run-down shop.

“Hey get your hands off me you freak!!” Janet hissed at him.

The others were instinctively struggled…and of course getting no results. None of them could move their forms for now.

“Feisty too.” Puppetmon added in. “Well, these will do then.”

“After we're done with them.” Makuramon stepped forward. “We'll need to finish the second ritual before night that the full moon ends in order to bring their bodies are permanently under our control. Once that is done, then you can have your little toys.”

“Ah yes. And that's what? Two or three days away?”

“We don't have time. The Royal Knights are moving out as we speak….and we'll need to make use of their bodies to intercept them.”

“In that case, you'll still need these toy vessels you put their souls in to control their actual bodies properly.” Puppetmon rubbed this chin thoughtfully. “Hmmm…I have a place you can put them so that they'll be a lot easier to handle. And at the same time, I'll see how well this new device of mine works.”

Puppetmon brought up a small brown object that seemed like an old stone pot with odd carvings on it.

“Just put them in there.” The shorter Digimon gestured, opening the lid.

Sekata and the others gave out short screams as their tiny forms were tossed into the darkness.

 

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“Ow! Hey lady! It couldn't hurt to not bounce us around so much, could it?” Adrian's voice called from inside the small pouch Zelia carried.

“Give her a break man.” Cimons called back. “She just saved our butts.”

Similarly to the others, Katsu, Cimons and Adrian had been trapped in the form of 3 hand puppets. In the earlier confusion, Zelia had managed to grab the trio of them before making a hasty escape.

The raptor had been running non-stop for the past half an hour, and now slowed down to rest by the foot of a hill, under the cover of darkness. Zelia was breathing hard, with aches running throughout her entire body, and she tried to shake those feelings off.

While all Zelia could think of was her exhaustion at the moment, what she didn't know was that her panting and labored breathing were all part of her mechanical side's program to make her seem `alive'. The heat, however, was very real and a genuine danger to the raptor.

“Zelia, are you all right?” Katsu's voice asked.

“I'll be fine.” Zelia closed her eyes and gritted her fangs. “But what to do now?”

“I would normally suggest going back for help, but we can't exactly do that right now.” Katsu told her. “Besides, they're probably waiting back at base for you to show up.”

“Yeah! And I bet one of them's in my room right now, going through my stuff!!” Adrian muttered.

“Under these circumstances, go tell somebody who cares.” Zelia snarled, giving the bag a good, hard shaking.

“Ow!! Hey!! What did I do to piss you off?!” Cimons protested. “It was Adrian! Not me!!”

“It was Steve.” Zelia continued, not listening to a word he had to say. “Steve led them in. He was working with them. He betrayed us.”

“That's a possibility. But there might be other explanations as well.” Katsu spoke up.

“Are you kidding?! You never saw how he just led those Devas in and watched as they did their voodoo magic on us?” Adrian protested.

“Grrr…I will hunt him down on the next chance I get.” Zelia swore.

“Don't let rashness get to your head.” Katsu warned. “The three of us can't do a thing right now, so it's up to you to figure out how to rescue Sekata and the others.”

“One against all those Devas, plus our bodies isn't exactly good odds.” Cimons said. “She's got her work really cut out for her.”

As much as Zelia hated to admit it, the trio were right. She was not going to be able to accomplish this task alone. There had to be some way to…

Of course! There was a warrior the others spoke of, a friend of theirs. Perhaps I can get information from him too on how to deal with the traitor.

Excitedly, Zelia took off running again.

“Where are you going now?” Katsu queried.

“There is someone who can help me. I have never met this Digimon, but Aero mentioned before that I could always trust him to help out in a tight spot.” Zelia explained as she moved along. “I just need to find a video communicator.”

Zelia continued along her course with amazing stamina, leaping and bounding up smaller hills. She continued along a dirt trail and finally arrived at a small sheltered hut, which served as a rest-stop for weary travelers in the mountains.

The hut was empty now, however it was the video phone in the corner that caught Zelia's attention. The raptor curiously inched forward and grabbed the phone in her right claw.

“Please insert your phone card to begin.” A computerized voice sounded.

Zelia jumped in fright, glancing around for the source of the voice.

“Please insert your phone card to begin.” The computer repeated, now that the phone's receiver was hanging down by its wire.

The raptor picked up the receiver again and sniffed at it.

“Hey, you need a phone card to use that.” Katsu informed her. “Hmm…you could try look around this place and hope someone dropped his here….”

“Grrrr….” Zelia snarled, ripping the phone box's main panel open.

Sparks flew as Zelia dug her claws in and twisted the wires about.

“Card confirmed. Please proceed to dial your number.” The computer sounded. “Please proceed to dial your…”

BAM!!! Zelia punched the computer's speaker out before lifting the phone's receiver to her ear. Carefully, she inputted the number and waited as the phone rang.

“Hello?” Asked a deep, gruff voice on the other end.

“Are you the one known as Siavon?” Zelia asked.

“I am. And who might you be? I don't give this number to just anybody.”

“A friend of Aeromaru's and Steve's. And all of them happen to need your help right now.”

“Explain.”

 

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“Rarrghh!! Garghh!!!” Sekata's apparent plunge was suddenly snapped to a halt. “Wha…?!”

He was seemingly dangling in mid-air, but the realization soon hit him that his body and limbs were still bound by the puppet strings. The walls around him were odd too, painted white with black swirls forming a large, spiral shaped drawing that made him feel nauseous from simply looking at it.

“Wait a minute! I can actually feel my limbs!!” Sekata gasped, tugging at the strings.

His movements were still limited, but Sekata looked down at his body and clenched his fists. The red dragon didn't have the slightest clue of what had happened or where this strange place was, but he knew his first task was to get himself loose.

And that was easier said than done.

Much like in his earlier dream, his arms, legs and wings were spread out as he dangled from the ceiling. And try as he might, Sekata just couldn't angle his claws or his fangs correctly to cut the strings.

“Rrrargghh!!!” Sekata howled in frustration.

“Sekata?! Is that you?” A voice called out.

“Zoe?” Sekata looked around. “Where are you?”

“Try to follow my voice.” Zoe replied.

Sekata's glance complied, spotting the limp blue form of an XV-mon lying facedown on a platform across from his position.

“Zoe! Are you all right?” Sekata called.

“I'm fine, just that I can't move.” Zoe yelled back. “I think it has something to do with that thing stuck in my back.”

“Hey Zoe, I think it's a key!” Sekata stared harder.

“What?!” Zoe stopped to think for a moment. “I have a hunch. Can you reach the key and turn it?”

“I can try. But what good would…”

“Just try it!”

Taking a deep breath, Sekata forced his body weight to one side so that he swung a little. From his hanging position, the return swing carried him a little further and he repeated this process over and over again.

It was both a tiring and strenuous activity, but he was eventually able to get a good enough swing to carry himself over to Zoe's position.

“Almost….” Sekata reached out with his lower talons.

Once…twice…and Sekata pulled back for a long swing. With a satisfying cling, his talons met their mark. The Vritramon grunted as he turned the key, with a winding sound emitting from Zoe's back.

Zoe slowly begun to stir and when the key could turn no more, Sekata released and swung back.

“Ow…my body feels so stiff…” Zoe moaned, reaching over to feel the oversized key stuck between her wings. “And this thing is plain weird.”

“How about getting me down from here too?” Sekata shouted.

“Let me get the timing right!” Zoe waited until the momentum carried Sekata's body close to the platform, then leapt up and cut the strings with a swipe of her claws.

Sekata's natural instinct by now was to open and flap his wings, but this time his wings simply refused to work and he dropped like a lead weight.

“Gggarghhh!!”

“Gotcha!!” Zoe leaned over the edge and grabbed Sekata's claw. It took some effort, but she managed to pull him up onto the platform, where both sat panting. “That was close.”

Looking into the darkness over the edge, Sekata nodded in agreement.

“I have absolutely no idea what's going on here.” Sekata finally managed.

“I think this is some sort of temporary dimension that they're keeping us in.” Zoe looked up. “You were listening to their conversation right?”

“Yes…”

“And I believe too that we're still toys….and our forms in here reflect those forms.”

“Great….so what else can we do right now?” Sekata sighed.

“I really don't have any ideas about that…huh?” Zoe felt the floor beneath her feet shift.

It felt like a layer of cold stone tiles that had the same white and black swirl coloring of the walls. Zoe got her fingers between a couple of the tiles and pulled, revealing a hidden passageway with a spiral staircase leading downwards.

“I suppose we should go down.” Zoe suggested.

“Not that we have much of a choice.” Sekata nodded. “And perhaps we'll find Janet and Aero too…”

 

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Zelia crouched low behind the fence and waited, watching cautiously. The rays of the morning sun were beginning to show over the horizon, and the raptor was exhausted.

After contacting Siavon, she'd spent the night making her way through the hills and towards the outskirts of town. She'd had a close call, but was able to duck into a dark alleyway as several of the Devas strode past with Steve in tow.

It took a lot to hold back her anger, but even Zelia knew that she could not possibly win the fight by herself. There were the three Devas she'd encountered earlier, the monkey, the tiger and the dragon, accompanied by two more of their group.

One was the tall, rabbit-like Antiramon. The second one was Indramon, a purple horse who stood upright. He had large hooves where his hands would've been, and carried a huge golden shell on his back.

The party was also wheeling four long crates, and judging from their varying sizes and lengths, Zelia guessed that the real bodies of Sekata and the others were inside.

That probably meant too that Katsu's, Cimons' and Adrian's real bodies were back at the base. At least the Devas wouldn't be able to use them against her like the previous night. Her left wing was still twisted and useless, along with the aching in her left knee that had worsened with all her running.

Zelia had trailed them until they passed through an electronically controlled door, with the compound beyond surrounded by the fence she now stood by.

She could still see the Devas moving their crates, loading them up onto a small carrier plane.

“Hey.” Whispered a voice behind her.

Zelia spun around and growled, forcing the stranger to grab her and hold her jaws shut.

“You must be Zelia, correct? Be quiet or they'll hear us.”

The raptor found the voice strangely familiar and relaxed. It was not only because it was the voice of Siavon, whom she'd spoken to earlier, but because of something else. Yet another feeling she could quite comprehend.

The larger form of the BlackWargreymon released his hold and moved to face her. Clad in his black dragon armor, Siavon had his claw weapons strapped by his sides, or rather, the one claw he had remaining. Across his back was a huge samurai sword in a sheath, fastened by a single strap running diagonally across his body.

Zelia's eyes paused upon seeing the `scar' in the center of his chest. It was a single, circular part of his armor that looked more worn than the rest, as if a hole had been broken into it and then patched up. Siavon stared into her eyes too, as if expecting then answer to some unspoken question.

Both then shook themselves out of the moment.

“Siavon…” Zelia acknowledged with a nod.

“You needed my help I believe?” The armored dragon spoke. “It's lucky that I happened to by close-by.”

“Katsu, you can explain better.” Zelia brought up her pouch and pulled it open.

“He's the one?” Katsu's voice sounded from the puppet. “Hey, this is embarrassing so don't…”

“Just explain to the guy what's going on!” Cimons cut in.

“Now this is….quite peculiar.” Siavon muttered as he listened.

While Zelia and the others were retailing the current events, Siavon kept watching the figures through the fence. He spotted Steve there and eyed the young Flamedramon with mixed feelings. The old warrior knew dealing with the Devas was bad news…after all he'd had his own encounters with the group before.

“The Dark Continent? That is where they are headed?” Siavon looked up.

“Grid Delta, coordinates 98 by 105.” Zelia repeated. “That's what Aero told me when he called just before I came back.”

“Hmmm…it seems like they're almost done…”

Engines suddenly sounded as the plane prepared for take-off.

“Already?” Zelia growled. “Damn, I have to follow or I'll lose them!!”

“No, wait girl!” Siavon ordered as Zelia leapt up the fence.

Although the barbed wire at the top left scars and scratches on her body, it did little to impede the swift velociraptor as she went over. Alarms then began blaring as Zelia reached the other side and ran.

Must have motion sensors on the fence! Siavon realized.

Spotlights from the guard towers were moving now, rapidly closing in on Zelia's position. Thinking fast, Siavon grabbed a large rock and hurled it into the nearest spotlight. The shattering of glass was followed by all the lights turning to his position.

“There's an intruder! Shoot him!!” Guards shouted from inside.

Siavon broke out in a run as gunfire pelted his position. He was tempted to thrown a larger blast back, but instead took to running from bush to bush. Hopefully, his form had been covered enough for the guards not to see him too clearly.

And it would be easier for him to flee and fade into the crowd once Zelia was clear…if she made it that was. And after that, he'd have to find his own way to the Dark Continent.

 

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Across the airfield, the running raptor went unnoticed as all attention was diverted by Siavon outside. Zelia charged, pumping her body to its limits to catch up with the moving plane. No one aboard the plane noticed as Zelia approached from the rear left side.

The chase was intense as Zelia drew closer and closer, reaching out with a claw. Just above her head, she could feel the heated blast of the plane's engines.

Her aim was to grab one of the metal connectors that allowed the plane's wheels to be extended. Zelia was within inches of her target when the plane lifted off from the ground.

“NOO!! GGRRRRRAARGGHH!!!!” With a snarl, Zelia jumped and grabbed the wheel compartment's open door.

However, she was unprepared for the intense pressure of the ascending plane and slipped. Zelia was still able to grab a hold near the bottom connector, but the still moving wheel rubbed against her body, sending her instinctively howling with pain.

Zelia fought against the friction and pulled herself up, planting her feet on the wheel and running as if on a treadmill. The wheel was slowly retracting itself into its compartment and Zelia scrambled up.

She'd gotten into the wheel compartment when the plane jerked and the raptor slipped, tumbling and falling forward. The compartment's doors were already sliding close, and this ironically saved Zelia when she used both arms to brace herself against the partially closed doors.

That left only her head and neck to shoot out through the opening, giving her a good, downwards look of the nothingness below. Zelia was stunned for a few seconds before she even registered the thought of pulling her head up.

Unfortunately, the raptor found that the doors were mostly closed and she couldn't bring her head inside because of her armored head's horns. Zelia felt the squeeze of the closing doors against her neck and screamed in panic.

Using her front claws, Zelia shoved against the doors as hard as she could and twisted her head at an angle. Desperately, she jerked harder and harder, ignoring the pain.

At seemingly the last moment, she drew back with a `pop' and fell flat onto her back….just as the doors sealed themselves shut.

Zelia lay there rubbing her neck, realizing how close she'd come to literally losing her head. After checking that her pouch, along with Katsu, Cimons and Adrian were with her, there was nothing else to do but curl up amongst the plane's landing gear and wait.

And she had a feeling it would be a long one.

 

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“Garghh!! Arghh!! Help!!! Somebody help me!!!!”

Sekata and Zoe glanced at each other in surprise. It was the first voice they'd heard after walking for some time…and a familiar one too.

“Jan?!”

The two dashed down the stairs, along a narrow corridor and emerged into an open, cylindrical-shaped room. Janet's Strikedramon form was strung up there, hanging over a pit of spinning blades.

“Help!!” Janet screamed again, struggling wildly.

The puppet strings that bound her limbs were connected to a pulley that was slowly lowering her into the pit.

“Hold on!” Sekata called. “Over there Zoe!”

“Got it.” Zoe nodded.

With Sekata in the lead, the pair ran along the surrounding platform and approached the pulley. Sekata felt a tile sink beneath his feet and quickly stopped to shove Zoe backwards. The next instant, a hidden trapdoor opened and dropped the fire dragon into a box underneath before slamming itself shut.

“Sekata!!” Zoe glanced down at the ground in surprise, but then turned back to Janet. She made her decision and leapt over the trapdoor, making a sprint for the pulley.

The XV-mon was within inches when an unseen force abruptly threw her onto her back. Zoe realized that there was a flat, circular magnet running along the wall and it was dragging her away. Desperately, Zoe dug her claws into the ground, leaving long scratches accompanied by a horrendous screeching sound.

Zoe then heard a `pop' and felt the key that had been stuck in her back suddenly come loose, pulled out by the attractive force of the magnet. The key stuck itself to the moving magnet, which took it in the opposite direction from her intention. Zoe's body suddenly felt heavy and sluggish, with her struggling just to push herself forward.

“No…dammit! Not again…!!” She cursed.

SNAP!!!

“AARRGHH!!!” Janet yelled as the ropes holding her came off the pulley, having reached their ends.

Zoe threw herself forward and managed to get a grip on the ropes, winding them around her arms. Unable to move her body properly, Zoe was dragged forward and fortunately, was caught against the pulley in a tangle of limbs.

That dropped Janet further down, leaving her hanging just above the blades.

“Garrghh…I…can't move anymore…!!” Zoe cried in frustration.

“Your grip isn't good!” Janet shouted. “I'm still slipping!!”

There came another howl of rage as the box Sekata had fallen into was tossed up onto the ledge. The lid flew open and Sekata was tossed out….for a few feet before the rainbow colored spring wrapped around his entire body jerked him back in like a jack-in-the-box.

“What the hell?! This is utterly humiliating!!!” He roared.

The continuous springing in and out motion had him ready to throw up, but in between the jerks, Sekata saw the danger his friends were in. Thoughts racing wildly, Sekata clamped his jaws against the edge of `his' box and shook his body as much as he could, despite the lid constantly slamming down against his head.

He managed to knock the box closer and closer to the edge. With a final motion, Sekata tipped his box over and let it fall towards the blades. If his timing was wrong….then he would basically be cut to shreds.

Janet and Zoe screamed in horror as the blades sliced cleanly through the box.

However, Sekata had timed his shot correctly and was also freed by the deadly blades. In a split second, the Vritramon had pushed himself off the wreckage of the box and used it as a springboard to propel himself upwards.

In the same motion, he caught Janet's dangling form in his arms and landed on the platform, rolling into the immobilized Zoe and ending up with all three panting in a heap. Almost as if sensing that its prey had escaped, the whirling of the razor blades slowed until they fell silent with a complete stop.

“What is this? Some sort of kid's game?!” Janet gasped when she could finally speak.

“Some demented kid probably.” Zoe added in.

“Game? Well I did not find any of that fun at all.” Sekata rolled onto his knees.

Cutting Janet's strings and then retrieving Zoe's key were a simple matter after the previous encounter. It wasn't long before the three were on their feet again.

“Ok, this is just plain freaky.” Janet muttered.

“Tell me about it.” Sekata agreed. “Any longer and I might just lose my mind.”

“Hello?! Hey!!” A voice echoed from the pit. “Can anyone hear me?”

“Aero?!” Zoe gasped.

Nodding to each other, the trio dropped down into the pit. It didn't go down very far and the group landed on some surprisingly spongy ground, also decorated in the same black and white pattern.

“Where are you Aero?” Sekata called.

“Don't know. But I'm still stuck in some sort of spherical object.” Aero's voice seemed to reverberate throughout the area and it was impossible to tell which direction it was coming from.

“It must be one of these.” Janet stepped up and poked a large blue sphere the about the same size as herself.

“Erm…Jan…” Zoe tapped her friend's shoulder and pointed.

Janet's jaw practically hit the floor as she stared across the open black and white field before them. It was littered with hundreds of identical looking blue spheres, all scattered in jumbled piles and groups.

“You have got to be kidding…” Janet stuttered.

 

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“Whoa, careful there!” He was saying, taking hold of her arm.

“Thanks. I...huh?”

“Yeah, I was about to ask you the same thing too.” He grinned. “Don't see many Guilmon around here. Especially with the pretty rude welcome they gave me.”

“Oh, you expecting an apology for that?!”

“I'll lock the door. You hope they don't have blasters.”

“Well, it takes two to tango princess. So, shall we dance?”

“Garghh...back...stabbing…”

“Hey! I'm insulted! I shot you from the front, fair and square!”

“Jan...that...you...?”

“RRRRROOOOAAAARRRR!!!”

“SON OF A B##CH!!!!! AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

“Hey, you talking in your sleep again?” The firm female voice was accompanied by a hard tap on his shoulder.

“What…I …wha…erm…” Dynamo spluttered, jumping out of his seat. That also caused the chair in the moving vehicle to topple over and sent the Guilmon rolling onto the floor. “Hey! Were you listening or something?!”

“The whole time.” Junon flipped up the visor section of her helmet so that her grinning facial expression was visible.

“Humph, well it's none of your business.” Dynamo huffed, pulling himself up.

“You were sleeping when you were supposed to be watching the ship's monitors. Anyway, we're almost there and nothing has come up, so it doesn't really matter now.”

“All right, all right.” Dynamo threw up his hands. “Just let me get a bit of air first.”

The dino pushed his way past Junon, who let off a sigh as he slammed the control room's door shut. Dynamo made his way out of the corridor and took a spot by the ship's railing. The boat was racing across the seas towards the village on the western coast of the Dark Continent, on another of the boss' `funny schemes', as he liked to term it.

And that would also mean another encounter with the Vritramon and his gang, now that they knew where they were headed.

Glancing down at the sea, he let the evening breeze blow past his ears.

“Damn, every time I think about that bunch, I just can't get her out of my mind.” Dynamo muttered.

He knew that there were some new members of the group, including Evza's old experiment, which Junon and himself had failed to dispose of. But it was Janet that he was thinking of.

Since the Megidramon incident, Dynamo hadn't seen her appear even once. Was she still recovering from the shock, and from losing her Mega form's data to him? Or perhaps his design had failed and she was…gone…

“Bah…” Dynamo shook his head.

He didn't want to let the past come back to haunt him, but the incident still pricked his conscience somehow. However, Dynamo couldn't let it get in his way, especially on this mission. The boss himself was onboard, along with the sorceress Evza and that creepy Arkadimon thing.

There was a slight bump as the boat's auto-pilot brought the vessel to a stop by an old docking platform at shore.

“No sign of them yet.” Junon came up by Dymano's side. By `them', she'd been referring to Sekata's group. “I'd think that they would be here early.”

“Nah, they'll be around.” Dynamo raised a claw and was briefly surrounded by a wave of Digicode that changed him into his Chaos Dukemon form. “Boss hardly seems worried though.”

“He barely ever is.” Junon nodded, closing her helmet's visor. “Let's go.”

“Hey wait up!” Metallix came running and leapt down onto the docking platform alongside the two knights.

Junon and Dynamo let the cybernetic wolf tag along as they approached the gates. The area was lit only by the dimming rays of the evening sun, which would soon be gone.

The trio took a while to look around at the abandoned city's huge walls, which surrounded its perimeter and stretched along the coast as far as eye could see. Beyond the walls stood dozens of dark buildings of varying shapes and sizes, the few ones remaining out of many times their number. It seemed like a technologically advanced city, and Dynamo wondered why it had been abandoned.

Perhaps there would be some interesting gadgets to be found there too.

“An ancient city, whose great advances in technology would ultimately be their own demise.” Lucifer, the dark angel and Ultimate form of Lucemon, suddenly appeared from behind and spoke.

“Boss?” Dynamo asked.

“The dark energies were strong here, and the residents attempted to harness them for their own uses.” Evza approached and continued the story. The sorceress was a human-like Digimon known as Lilithmon. “They thought their technologies could control the CHAOS, but that did not turn out they way they would have liked it to. And they paid with their lives.”

Junon was also listening with interest, but remained silent as the group passed through a huge gate consisting of an iron double doors. The doors were made of a strong, solid metal, but with the city's destruction, they remained useless and hung wide open as a reminder to the devastation.

“Well, well, you're finally here Lucifer.” The small frame of the monkey Makuramon stepped out. “We actually had a little ritual to perform, but I suppose we could deal with you first.”

“Hmmm…so you are the Deva leader.” Lucifer walked forward with his arms folded. “I'm impressed that you managed to find this place, but your motives are of no concern to me. Stand in my way and I'm afraid I'll simply have to eliminate you.”

“Oh that won't be so easy.” Makuramon tapped an odd stone jug strapped to his belt.

There came several cracking sounds, followed by the shattering of wood as four crates lying amongst the rubble suddenly burst open. The first one out was a Vritramon with a strange yellowish glow in its eyes, firing its arm blasters.

The Royal Knights scattered to avoid the shots as a similar-looking XV-mon, Strikedramon and Aero V-dramon appeared, shooting off their respective energy attacks as well. When the smoke cleared, more Devas had come into view.

Mihiramon, Majiramon and Indramon were all there along with two much larger warriors…. Vikaramon (Vikaralamon) and Shinduramon (Sinduramon). The former took the form of a brown, fur-covered boar with huge tusks and red horns on his forehead. The second one was a mechanical rooster with a purple body, red mane, and golden head, wings and talons.

“Erm…they seem to be pretty serious this time.” Metallix muttered, glancing around.

“Hey…” Dynamo nudged Junon and gestured towards the Vritramon. “Isn't that them? What are they doing with the Devas?”

“Those four are definitely under some spell.” Evza spoke softly.

Maybe that's why they haven't been around to bug us. Dynamo thought.

“We are serious indeed.” A Flamedramon, Steve, stepped out of the darkness. Waving his claws, his smaller blue dragon form shifted and changed into that of the white dragon knight, Dynasmon.

“This guy too?” Junon muttered. “Hmmm…how did the Devas infiltrate their ranks so easily?”

“Come! Arkadimon!” Lucifer called, ignoring the chattering of his troops.

From the storage holds of Royal Knight's ship outside, the massive, Ultimate level demon emerged and flew towards the gate, landing beside Lucifer. The various Devas gave it several awed glances, but nevertheless prepared themselves for battle.

The two opposing groups were left at a tense standoff, with only the howls of the wind echoing through the empty city. He wasn't exactly sure who fired the first shot, but all Dynamo remembered was all hell suddenly breaking loose.

 

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Zelia poked her head out from her hiding place and watched the battle unfold. Evza was here too and she wondered if the sorceress was able to sense her presence.

The raptor ducked down as Junon passed by her position, caught up in a hack and slash match with Steve's Dynasmon form. The Rhodo Knightmon's `ribbon' weapons met Steve's claws, with sparks flying as the two closed in on one another. Both knights struggled and finally shoved each other apart.

Growling softly, Zelia was every so tempted to charge out and take the traitor down.

“Aw…the new girl again?” Dynamo muttered, backing away as the Strikedramon bashed ferociously against his shield. “Look, I wasn't really up to getting acquainted in this manner…ooffff!!!”

The black knight was swept off his feet by XV-mon's sweeping kick, and barely managed to roll away from Aero V-dramon's and Vritramon's energy bursts. Dynamo sprang to his feet, but a couple of missiles detonated in front of him, stunning the `zombie' group for a while.

“Heh.” Metallix gave him a thumbs-up.

Vikaramon was raining down red colored energy balls at Arkadimon, who had its claws raised to shield itself and its master, Lucifer. Shinduramon flew in from behind and fired a series of thunder bolts at the fallen angel.

Lucifer drew a sleek fencing saber from his belt and swung it in a circular motion, creating a miniature windstorm that blew the lightning attack off course. Indramon approached too with his hands raised, maneuvering the gigantic shell on his back and slamming it into the ground. Lucifer swore as he was forced to move away.

Evza meanwhile, was kept occupied by Mihiramon and Majiramon.

“Phantom Pain!” The sorceress chanted, releasing a way of dark energy that shook her two opponents before tossing them to the ground.

The tiger and the dragon pulled themselves up and returned the strike, leaving Evza's scream to ring out as the right sleeve of her gothic coat received a long cut.

Surprisingly, Zelia took no heed of the attacks on her former mistress, but instead found herself watching Makuramon. The monkey had been quietly sneaking away from the battle, carefully watching his back and constantly tapping the stone jug at his belt.

He must be the one controlling the others. Zelia concluded, moving silently towards his position.

“Antiramon, are you there?” Makuramon pulled out a small radio. “How is your mission at the power plant proceeding? What's taking so long?”

“I have just finished rerouting the power and charging the systems.” The female Deva's voice replied. “I can restore power to this city sector and activate the defense systems at your command.”

“Do it then.” The monkey hissed. “Power up and weapons and….”

RRROOOAAARRRRR!!! A very angry Zelia suddenly pounced on him.