Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Morphs: A Digimorphs Tale ❯ Heart of the Machine ( Chapter 46 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: nightdragon0
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 09.30.2005 | Pages: 11 | Words: 12.2K | Visits: 353 | Status: Completed

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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Heart of the Machine
By nightdragon0
 
 
 
“Gargh! Those were ultimate rare cards!” Sekata fumed. “I swear….I'm gonna kill him!”
“Hey! Hey! Hey! It's best not to go storming in there.” Rain cautioned, stepping in front of Sekata. “They're just kids right now. You might scare them to death or something!”
“Grrrr….”
“Think of some happy thoughts!” Rain jumped up on his hind legs and shoved his front paws against Sekata's body, although didn't do much good anyway.
Sekata began walking forward, dragging Rain along with him.
“Shouldn't you be more concerned about how they got the cards in the first place?” Janet interrupted.
“I know how they got them! This is the room where I left my other body, and the cards were in the belt. So that means that…”
The party was standing in the corridor, peering into the adjacent room that had its door open. The V-mon kids were both inside, and for once sitting down. They'd apparently been worn out from all the running around, but Steve was still busy scribbling on the cards with a pen whilst Zoe was swinging a small object around.
Of course, they were completely ignorant of all the equipment and machinery lying around the laboratory area.
The cylinder Sekata's Dorugoramon body had been placed into was now open, with a wooden Dorugoramon mannequin lying on the ground nearby. From the outside, it looked relatively unscratched, though it was still missing an arm and a leg.
Damn, my real body's still under that curse and shifting between those two forms. Sekata thought.
“You guys have any suggestions about what we can do about them?” Rain asked. “From experience, I know that they're just gonna get up and start running if I approach.”
“Could we leave them, just for a while?” Janet suddenly grinned.
“Why?” Rain looked up. “What's so funny?”
“Well, Zoe's holding Dynamo in her hands and shaking him up really badly.” Janet pointed. “I wanna let him get a taste of the small life.”
“This is related to that thing going on between you and him, am I right?” Sekata sighed.
“Hey, it's my pride and honor at his humiliation!” The Strikedramon snapped.
The V-mon Zoe was meanwhile swinging Dynamo's miniaturized form around, oblivious to the little cries the clay covered Guilmon was making.
“Waaagghh! Help! Please somebody help me!” Dynamo was screeching wildly. “Hey! Over there! Help!”
Dynamo had been referring to Sekata and his group, which caused the kids to turn and see them.
“Erm, hey guys.” Rain waved, trying to hide his nervousness. “We…”
“Whoa! Bro! This guy is way cool!” Steve leapt up with glee. Together with Zoe, he dashed over to Sekata's side. “Is he your friend too?”
Sekata was too distracted by the sight of the kids jumping around his legs, so Rain stepped forward. The lightning dragon had just gotten an idea, hoping that he could stir Steve's and Zoe's memories somehow.
“You two should know him.” Rain gestured with his head. “He's Sekata. And the small one on top of his head is Janet.”
“Rain, I'm gonna kill you after this.” Janet hissed furiously.
The V-mon kids looked at each other and scratched their heads.
“Don't you remember?” Rain asked again.
“But Sekata is a Monodramon.” Steve replied.
“And Janet's a Guilmon.” Zoe added in.
Both Sekata and Janet stood, dumbfounded for a few moments. It had taken them those seconds to realize that the V-mon kids were referring to their original forms when they had first come to this world. Or at least in Sekata's case, the Rookie of his original form.
“Could you excuse us for a second?” Sekata moved away without waiting for a reply.
“This is too weird.” Janet whispered as the Chaosdramon walked. “Rain told us that their memories seemed messed up, but I didn't think it was something at this rate!”
“They `remember' our Rookie forms, almost as if they knew us as children.” Sekata muttered. “Doesn't it sound familiar?”
“As in?”
“Notice any similarities to your previous lives in the human world?”
“Well, I've known Zoe since we were pretty young. And Steve moved to my city not too long after.” Janet noted. “But you? You're from Japan right? That's the other side of the world!”
“Actually, I lived in America for about two or three years when I was younger.” Sekata admitted. “That's where I learnt to speak English so well.”
“What? And you've neglected to tell us this for how long?”
“I didn't think it was important. But now I'm wondering if there was a point in time where we could've been in the same school, or even the same class.” Sekata closed his eyes. “My parents moved around a lot while we were in America, and I didn't really get to know anybody as a result of that.”
“Well, I don't remember most of my classmates from when I was below eight years old either.” Janet nodded. “So what are you getting at?”
“Listen, the four of us know that we were just thrown into this new world, like this right?” Sekata said, snapping his fingers. “But why? What if there's more to it than just that?”
“And you're saying…”
“What I think is…” Sekata suddenly stopped short. “Wait! Look there!”
A couple of shadowy forms were lurking about the dark corners of the room. And headed for the rest of their unwary companions.
 
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“Aw no!” Janet stared. “That's Skull Barukimon!”
“And Fangmon.” Sekata added in. “Rain! Over there!”
Suddenly, the two dark Digimon jumped out of the shadows and lunged straight for the kids. Sekata found his mechanical body too slow to react to the screams. However, Rain was across the room in the blink of an eye.
“Guys watch out!” He shouted. “RRARRGGHH!”
The tiger and fox immediately turned their fury onto Rain, biting and slashing away with their fangs and claws. The attacks threw Rain into the wall with a scarred belly and bleeding shoulders.
“Bro! NO!” Steve stared in shock.
The child-like look faded from his face as he charged towards Rain's attackers, only to be swatted away by Skull Barukimon.
With a roar, Sekata moved in and attacked by slamming a huge claw down, only to have Fangmon leap away. Turning his head, Sekata saw Zoe screaming as Skull Barukimon prepared for another strike. He blocked the tiger with his arm, leaving several long gashes as Skull Barukimon's claws tore through the outer metal casing.
System messages popped up, alerting him to the damage, but Sekata felt no pain. In fact, it only served to make him very, very angry.
Skull Barukimon was still clinging onto his body and clawing away when Sekata lashed out with a fist, pounding it into the wall.
“Glaive Horn!” The tiger recovered in mid-air and bounded off the wall. The single horn at the end of its snout was glowing with energy.
Sekata simply walked forward and punched. The horn did succeed in cutting into the circuitry of his left fist, but Skull Barukimon was splattered against the wall, leaving the impression of its body in it.
The tiger certainly hadn't been expecting that and hissed furiously as it struggled to its feet.
“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” The tiny Janet gasped as she struggled to hold on to Sekata's head. “Can you take it easy? I'm up here remember?”
 
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On the other side, Rain was standing in front of the V-mon kids and shooting lightning bolts at Fangmon. The fox was much faster however, nimbly leaping away from each strike.
With a taunting snicker, Fangmon bounced on Rain's head, slamming his face into the floor.
“Bro!” Steve cried. “He's over there!”
“Gargh, I know.” Rain muttered.
The Raindramon pulled himself up and shook the stars out of his eyes. Turning towards his opponent, Rain got into a battle stance and snarled.
“I'm not through with you yet!”
 
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Sekata allowed Skull Barukimon to latch onto his mechanical body again, before ripping him off and hurling him against the wall.
“Don't keep on letting him make holes in you!” Janet urged. “But then again, he's not very smart, is he?”
“Seems like he's an undead type.” Sekata remarked. “He must be one of those `vengeful presences' Antiramon told me about.”
Skull Barukimon got to his feet again, with his eyes glowing more fiercely in their eerie red color.
“Deadly Fear!” The tiger let off a horrendous sound that seemed to pierce everyone's eardrums.
Everyone other than Skull Barukimon and Fangmon was soon rolling on the ground and covering their ears in agony. Sekata was stunned for a while before shaking the attack off. His sensors were registering it, but simply as an abnormal noise.
He turned to each of his suffering companions in turn, and finally to Zoe. That filled him with a blind rage as his shoulder cannons begun to charge up. Sekata roared and executed a back flip, landing on all fours. He braced his arms against the ground and dug his rear talons into the floor.
All this time his shoulder cannons had been glowing, and now they released their increasingly pent up fury.
“Hyper Mugen Cannon!” The lasers discharged, shooting straight at Skull Barukimon.
The tiger didn't even have time to react before the laser completely disintegrated his body. It then continued on to pierce through the laboratory's wall, and several more after that.
“Wow…” Janet stared, still recovering from the howling attack. “What power! It's so awesome! Huh?”
Her body suddenly started trembling uncontrollably and Janet felt nauseous. Then, a loud `pop' exploded in her ears as she changed back to her normal size. The shock had left Janet off balance and she fell, hitting her backside against the hard, cold metal floor.
“Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!” The Strikedramon moaned, rubbing her sore behind.
Fangmon let off a startled whine at his companion's demise and retreated through an air vent on the wall.
“Stop you!” Sekata was too slow to catch up and pounded on the wall in frustration. “Dammit! We've got to go after it!”
“Shouldn't we worry about them first?” Janet gestured towards the V-mon kids, who were now unconscious.
“Don't worry.” Rain lifted his head off the ground. “I'll take care of them.”
“Killing Skull Barukimon freed you from his curse.” Sekata turned towards Janet. “So taking out Fangmon should eliminate mine too.”
The Chaosdramon pointed to his Dorugoramon body / mannequin, lying close to Rain and the V-mon.
“Makes sense.” Janet agreed. “So let's hurry then!”
“Good luck you guys!” Rain called as the two exited the room.
The V-mon kids seemed to be sleeping soundly and Rain realized that his eyelids just wouldn't stay open any longer.
He was much more exhausted than the rest of them, for Rain had been the only one literally chasing the V-mon around the castle. So, he deserved a break, didn't he?
Rain's head suddenly hit the ground as his world dissolved into the darkness of unconsciousness.
 
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“Well, look who we have here.” A voice sounded. “Come to finish up the remainder of your clan's business?”
“I didn't come here to deal with you.” A female voice responded.
Those voices put Aero on alert as he pressed his back against the wall and peered out into the corridor. Puppetmon was standing with his back to Aero's position, and Antiramon facing the smaller Mega Level Digimon. Aero noticed that the latter had a glowing purple card in her hands.
“Don't lie to me! You're after the Chaos Shard I have, aren't you?” Puppetmon said accusingly. “Something your master Makuramon wants?”
“My former master is dead and I am no longer under his command.”
“Ooh, I'm so sorry to hear that.”
“But tell me something, by Chaos Shard, do you mean something like this?”
Antiramon reached into her robes and pulled out a black crystal fragment that caused Aero to gasp.
“Eh? Funny that you have one too.” Puppetmon dug his pockets and produced a similar looking black crystal, although his was much larger.
With his other hand however, Puppetmon was pulling out a pistol from his back pocket.
“Look out!” Aero yelled, jumping out and firing off a V-Wing Blade.
Puppetmon first rolled aside, then turned around and fired. Aero narrowly avoided a bullet to his head, but hit the ground in his dodging maneuver.
Antiramon let off a fierce yell as she closed the gap between the two, planting a neat kick in Puppetmon's back. The trickster went flying, losing both his gun and his Chaos Shard in the fall. An awkward moment of silence followed as a stare down ensued between the three parties.
Unfortunately, someone else broke that silence first.
Death-Xmon burst through the wall, roaring like a mad dragon. Everyone panicked and scrambled in different directions, but Aero found himself in a stumble and rolled over in a heap.
“Get up and run!” Antiramon yanked him to his feet and dragged Aero along.
The rabbit still had her shard with her, but Puppetmon had dropped his and failed to retrieve it before fleeing.
Turning his head back, Aero caught sight of Death-Xmon swallowing the Chaos Shard whole. The beast howled and spewed out dark energy waves from its mouth.
It didn't give chase however, something Aero was thankful for.
 
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“Gargh! Argh!” Dynamo sprang up. “No more! Please no more!”
Taking a few moments to catch his breath, Dynamo realized that he was still in the laboratory the V-mon had brought him into.
His head was hurting like hell, but at least he could move now. Dynamo took a look at the tiny clay fragments by his feet, and at the surrounding area.
“I'm…I'm back to normal size!” He cried. “Woohoo!”
Being manhandled by the two crazy kids added a new page to the book of Dynamo's bad experiences. The battle had apparently thrown him across the room, and Dynamo glanced about, searching frantically for the door.
I wanna get out of this place quick! Dynamo thought. Just so I…huh?
Lying close by was a Raindramon…accompanied by the two V-mon kids.
“Eek…” Dynamo cringed. “K…keep them away from me!”
The Guilmon never took his eyes off the two as he ran, only to end up crashing into a shelf full of items. Pieces of metallic junk clattered all around, but fortunately the kids didn't wake up. Dynamo breathed a sigh of relief and was busy struggling out of the pile when his claw hit another shelf, causing something to fall.
WHAM!
“Garghh! Ow!” Dynamo moaned, rubbing his sore snout. “Hmmm? This is…”
The object that had hit him seemed like a connecting piece in the shape of an `X'. It consisted of two strong metal bars welded together, with a hole at each of the four ends. Almost as if they were meant to connect to something.
However, what really caught Dynamo's eye was that the bars were coated in gold, with various precious gemstones affixed to its surface.
“Well hello.” Dynamo grinned. “Don't know what you are, but you outta sell for big bucks!”
Naturally, Dynamo took it along as he left the room. Now, all he had to do was find a way out…
 
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“Rain? Rain! Wake up!” Aero's voice called.
“Ugh…five more minutes mommy…” The Raindramon groaned dreamily.
SLAP!
“WARGH!” Rain was not only slapped, but had his ears pulled by Antiramon until he was back on his feet.
“Well that was harsh, but it got the job done.” Aero remarked. “Rain, Antiramon here is an ally who helped us in the ancient city. But we can get you properly introduced later. Where are the others?”
“Others?” Rain looked up. “Sekata and Janet went off, but the kids are…are…”
The Raindramon stopped short, realizing that the two V-mon kids were no longer by his side.
“Aw crap! They ran off again!”
“Hey, calm down hot-head.” Aero urged. “We'll find them again.”
“This is Sekata's actual body, isn't it?” Antiramon pointed to the wooden mannequin on the floor.
“Yeah, Sekata said so.” Rain nodded.
Silently, Antiramon knelt down and produced a leather bag from her robes. Inside was a wooden arm and leg, which she attached to the mannequin using some duct tape. No sooner had she done that did the mannequin glow and change into a flesh and blood Dorugoramon.
Aero touched the neck and felt a pulse. Its chest was rising and falling too, indicating that it was breathing.
“Seems like he's back in shape.” Aero remarked. “Now only thing left to do is get his soul back in here, am I right?”
“Indeed.” Antiramon replied.
“But how did you find his parts anyway?” Rain asked.
“Well, they weren't wooden parts when I first picked them up.” Antiramon responded calmly.
“Eew, gross.” Rain stuck out his tongue.
“I've seen worse. Ever been to an active war zone before?”
“Oh, I don't want to know.” Rain turned away.
The group was busy loading the Dorugoramon onto Rain's back when a loud crash sounded. All heads turned towards the wall, to see Death-Xmon in the midst of bursting through.
Bits and pieces of Puppetmon's body fell from its jaws as the beast opened its mouth to roar. Stuck to one of the pieces was a glowing purple card.
“That's the card carrying a copy of Sekata's energy signature.” Antiramon gasped. “So that's where it went! I though I lost it when we were fleeing from Death-Xmon.”
“Man, how are we supposed to fix Steve and Zoe now?” Rain muttered. “The thing just chewed Puppetmon to bits!”
“Erm, Rain.” Aero tapped his head. “Does the phrase `carrying Sekata's energy signature' mean anything to you?”
“Emmmrrrrrr….” Rain stared from Sekata's body on his back to Death-Xmon, who let off a ferocious roar. “Oh crap!”
“Run now!” Antiramon ordered as she tossed another card.
This one exploded into a cloud of smoke that covered the group's escape. Unfortunately, Death-Xmon was hot on their heels.
 
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“There he is!” Sekata pointed.
“All right, let's get him!” Janet clenched her fists.
The pair had chased Fangmon to the upper levels of the castle, where they had him cornered in a massive dining hall. The place was lavishly decorated with a cloth-covered table, dozens of chairs, a stage in the corner and a grand chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
As Sekata approached from the left, Fangmon sprang up onto the dining table and threw the white tablecloth into Sekata's face. The Chaosdramon was caught off guard, and stumbled whilst trying to get the cloth off.
The nimble fox then proceeded to jump over Janet's outstretched claws and sprinted for the door.
“Oh no you don't!” Janet gave chase.
However, Fangmon abruptly changed directions as the dining hall's door swung open. On impulse, Janet shot out with the only thing she could think of at the moment.
“Garrrrggghh! Princess!” Dynamo, holding a golden, X-shaped metal piece, opened the door just in time to receive a foot to the groin.
Moaning, the Guilmon collapsed as Janet ignored him completely, resuming her Fangmon chase.
“Grrr…” Sekata had his cannons ready, but couldn't fire in fear of hitting Janet. Reluctantly, he moved in to try and help Janet cut off Fangmon's escape route.
The chase eventually took them to the center of the dining table. Fangmon stood atop it, with Sekata and Janet on either side.
“We've got you now!” Sekata snarled. “I'm going to show you what messing around with my body brings you!”
The fox simply snickered and tossed a small sphere into the table. The entire room immediately lit up in a blinding flash of light.
Janet fell to the ground howling while Sekata's system froze up with error messages.
Dammit! Reboot dammit! He silently ordered.
The system worked fast, although it left him standing here, motionless for those few seconds.
Dynamo had recovered from his earlier mishap and had unfortunately looked up as the flash took effect. Stumbling about in a daze, the Guilmon smacked into an open cupboard of cooking utensils.
He was first hit on a head by a frying pan that took him to the ground, followed by pots and pans clattering around him. Dynamo screeched as a set of knives fell, surprisingly landing all around his body and making the outline of his scrunched up shape in the carpet.
“Gargh! Whew! Argh…” Dynamo moaned. “This is not my day.”
A creaking suddenly alerted him to one last object falling off the shelf…a metal rolling pin.
“Aw son of a…”
WHAM!
“GWWWARRGGHH!” He howled, clutching his groin. “Can't a guy get a break these days?”
“Hehehe…” Fangmon took a moment to laugh and admire his handiwork.
However, that proved to be a fatal mistake for the chandelier shook and came lose. The forces of gravity pulled it down towards earth at a rapid pace.
“Eh?” Fangmon looked up and sweatdropped.
The fox held out a wooden sign with the captions `Uh-oh' written on it. Seconds later, the entire chandelier came crashing down on his head, crushing Fangmon to death beneath.
“Whoa…” Janet was still blinking the white spots out of her eyes. “What just happened?”
“Hey guys!” A young voice called. “I thought you needed some help!”
“Yeah! We wanted to help fight the bad guys too!” Zoe added in.
Sekata and Janet turned to the stage, where the V-mon Steve and Zoe were standing. The two had released the cords holding the chandelier up, and now held that rope in their hands.
“And they say kids these days are dangerous.” Janet stared. “Now I know why.”
Suddenly, another set of double doors flew open as Aero, Rain and Antiramon came charging through. All three immediately slammed the doors shut and shoved the closest pieces of furniture against it.
“I used my Digivice to track Janet's.” Aero breathed. “But it's not good!”
“He's coming!” Rain added in, shoving his weight against the door.
“Who?” Sekata demanded.
A shrill charging sound came from the other side of the bordered up door before the entire barricade was blown to pieces. Aero, Rain and Antiramon, along with Sekata's Dorugoramon body were tossed in different directions and lay still where they landed.
“Guys!” Janet stared in shock.
Sekata was momentarily glad to see that his Dorugoramon body was both back to normal and in one piece, probably thanks to Aero and the others. His thoughts thereafter went to his wounded companions, but as the next figure entered the room, all his calm was lost.
“Death-X!” Sekata hollered.
 
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The Chaosdramon attacked immediately, charging across the room. Death-Xmon fired several green breaths from its jaws, all of which missed as Sekata locked claws with it.
Then, its body glowed with a dark energy. Most of it jumped onto Sekata and ran through his mechanical body. Warnings and alert windows popped up on his screen like crazy, but Sekata ignored them and shoved against his nemesis.
Shields up! Sekata ordered his internal systems.
“It's absorbed the power of one of the Chaos Shards!” Antiramon warned. “It's too much for you!”
“Get out of there man!” Rain added in.
Rays of dark energy were randomly shooting around the room and Janet dodged them to approach Sekata and Death-Xmon. However, she slammed into an invisible barrier that tossed her to the other side of the room.
Aero approached more cautiously, but the energy stung his claws, forcing him to back away.
“Grrrrr….I won't be defeated by you!” Sekata stared his opponent down as he twisted its claws.
Death-Xmon seemed to feel the pain and howled. Its energy output increased, throwing more and more of the dark energy beams at Sekata.
Shields critical? Sekata glanced at the warnings. I've got to finish this now! Prepare to divert all power to weapon systems.
His computer came up with a system message advising against Sekata's decision, but he chose to ignore it. Forcing his body to its limits, Sekata twisted his foe's arms further and begun bashing his head against it.
Sekata knew he had the edge over his foe. Since he his mechanical body didn't feel any pain, it allowed his mind to focus more on his plan of action. In addition, he had all these systems and readings to not only supply him with information, but regulate his body functions and energy reserves.
And his internal computer did that on its own, without Sekata having to put any conscious thought to it.
It's a shame I'll lose all these advantages once I'm back in my own body. Sekata said to himself.
“Sekata!” Rain shouted. “Your body!”
The Chaosdramon moved an eye to look at his former Dorugoramon body. As far as he could tell, the Dorugoramon body was still linked to Death-Xmon, and was taking the same bruises he was inflicting on the X-antibody's viral counterpart.
But somehow, it didn't really bother Sekata as much.
Wait, why do I even want my old body back in the first place? He realized. Now, I'm above pain…above suffering…above him! I can just stay as Chaosdramon! I'm so much more powerful that way!
With that, Sekata lowered his body and pointed his shoulder cannons straight at Death-Xmon. Sekata then commanded his systems to divert all their power to his cannons as he released his hold on Death-Xmon.
He knew exactly what he wanted to do, and that was to leap back as he fired. That would not only take down his foe, but bring him out of his own blast radius at the same time.
Sekata felt the vibration within his cannons and grinned.
Death-X won't be able to do anything about…huh?
His screen suddenly flickered and flashed. His systems screamed out several more error messages before going dead.
What's going on? No, it can't…
Sekata glanced down in horror and found Death-Xmon's long claws had pierced straight into his chest and out through his back. The massive beast seemed to laugh in his face as it twisted its claws about, ripping Sekata's internal circuitry apart.
His mind screamed for help, but half of his systems weren't responding. Sekata struggled to move, only find that he couldn't because his hydraulics had overloaded. His weapons wouldn't fire either….the little power he had left had automatically been diverted to keeping himself online.
Pieces of his robotic dragon body were falling to the ground, accompanied by various black and brown fluids that powered his systems.
What really had him terrified was that he felt nothing, just saw screen after screen of critical damage messages. Perhaps it was the fact that his mind was that of a living being, not a machine's.
Not feeling the pain of the struggle had created a false sense of invincibility in his mind. And Sekata knew he was about to pay dearly for it.
All he could do was reach up helplessly with his arms as Death-Xmon literally tore him apart.
I'm sorry…I failed everyone. The thoughts ran through Sekata's mind. I just keep looking at…more and more powerful forms that I forgot. Forgot where a warrior's true strength comes from.
Sekata felt his arms drop limply by his sides.
Zoe… Sekata realized that, more than anything, he wanted her to be the last thing on his mind.
“Hey!” A soft voice called. “Hey!”
Sekata forced a little power to his optic sensors and looked down. There, by his foot, was the V-mon form of Zoe, pushing against the back of his leg.
“You can't give up now.” She urged. “Everyone's counting on you.”
Steve was there too, and joined her in `holding' up the back of his leg.
“Steve! Zoe!” Rain cried. “Come back! It's too dangerous there!”
Together with Antiramon, Rain pounded against the energy barrier and was hurled away. The V-mon kids however, had somehow managed to get through unscratched.
“No, he needs help!” Steve called.
“Guys!” Aero swooped in and slammed against the energy barrier as well.
“We're not giving up on this yet!” Janet yelled, making her own charge.
Everyone… Sekata thought. The warrior's true strength…comes from the heart!
Somehow, Sekata found the energy to lift his arms again. Death-Xmon let off a startled yell as Sekata stabbed his claws into its belly.
More of the unstable dark energy crackled over his body, and down to that of the V-mon kids. However, Sekata forced himself to fight and hold on.
Then, an explosion drowned out all his senses.
Suddenly, Death-Xmon was knocked away by a pair of figures shrouded in smoke. A pair of blue clawed hands then reached out and pulled Sekata to his feet.
“Are you all right Sekata?”
Sekata turned his head, and looked into the face of Zoe…as an XV-mon.
 
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“Zoe?” Sekata stared. “You're back to normal?”
“Hey, don't forget about me too.” Steve popped up by his side. He too, was a Flamedramon once again.
“Bro!” Rain jumped into Steve and knocked him over, licking his face. “Man! I missed you bro!”
“Not like I went missing or anything.” Steve laughed. “I was just a little different, that's all.”
“Looks like that energy field that was blocking us earlier has dissipated.” Aero remarked, walking forward to join the group. “I guess you two changing back must have had something to do with the extra discharge of energy from the Chaos Shard of Death-Xmon.”
“For all we know, that could've been the thing that altered them in the first place.” Rain spoke up.
“Who cares, as long as we have them back.” Janet moved forward and placed her arms on the shoulders of Zoe and Steve. “So, let's take this thing down together!”
Antiramon didn't join the group, but sat behind and watched. She was exhausted, having used up much of her chi energy earlier. But the rabbit now had a good feeling that the battle was going their way.
Instead, Antiramon took it upon herself to use her healing magic on Sekata's Dorugoramon body. Not a permanent solution, but one that Sekata himself acknowledged with a nod.
The Chaosdramon didn't even want to count the amount of damage inflicted upon him. Pieces of his outer armor had been torn off in various places, exposed circuitry and wiring hanging out, not to mention the two large holes in his stomach area.
However, Sekata still managed to stand, and turned to face Death-Xmon once again. He didn't really know how, but Sekata felt that he was suddenly more than just a machine now. He was himself again.
Behind him, Aero suddenly felt Siavon's crystal tremble and touched the object hanging around his neck.
“The binding component…” Aero said out loud, causing everyone to look in his direction. “I have a strong feeling that it's right here in this room somehow…”
“Hmm…” Janet glanced around until her eyes fell upon someone lying in the corner. “Dynamo! That's it!”
The Strikedramon flipped herself over the table and sprinted to Dynamo's position.
“Urgh…” Dynamo was just getting up and started upon seeing Janet rushing him. The Guilmon stumbled and walked right into a large hole in the floor that had been created during the recent battle.
“Dynamo!” Time seemed to slow down as Janet leapt off the dining table and skidded along the floor.
“AARRRRGGGHH!” Dynamo was too panicked to get a grip on the edge, and could only stare as Janet dove towards him.
Jan… He gasped. Are you…really?
“Rrrrrargh!” Janet landed with a thud on her belly, right hand grasped around Dynamo's right paw. “Ha! Gotcha!”
“Princess?” Dynamo looked dreamily up. “So…you do care after all…”
“What are you babbling about?” Janet snapped. “I just came to get this.”
At that, the Strikedramon snatched the golden, gem studded cross device out of Dynamo's hands.
“Hey, wha…”
“Later.” Janet smirked, and released her hold.
“W….w…..w…..wa…..wa…..” Dynamo's world turned completely blue as the hearts swirling around his head shattered into dozens of pieces.
The Guilmon didn't even seem to notice that he was falling several stories down until he hit the bottom with a loud crunch.
“Wow…” Rain gawked, sweatdropping.
“Hey! That was harsh!” Steve called. “Even for you!”
“Oh, shut up and catch this!” Janet sent the cross device flying.
Aero caught it in his arms and examined it carefully. There seemed to be nothing special about it at first, but his wrist mounted Digivice suddenly shimmered and shot a beam of white light into what he now knew was the connecting device Siavon had mentioned.
“Everyone!” He shouted. “Go to your highest forms now!”
“Don't have to tell us twice.” Steve gave a thumbs-up, nodding to the rest of the group.
In a flash of light, Steve, Janet and Zoe activated their D-Dragons. Soon, their respective forms of Wargreymon X, Gaioumon and Imperialdramon Fighter Mode stood poised with their weapons ready.
“And we'll need Sekata's sword too.” Aero added in.
“I don't have it with me if you remember.” Sekata called. “You guys took it back to base after I lost my mind in the ancient city.”
Suddenly, a nearby window panel shattered and the Ryuukonken landed by Sekata's feet, embedding itself in the ground.
“I know.” Aero grinned. “That's why I made a few calls first.”
 
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“Guess I got here just in time.” Katsu the Shadramon called from the window ledge. “Go for it guys!”
Sekata took hold of the familiar weapon in an unfamiliar grip. Wielding the sword felt awkward, but Sekata quickly realized that everyone was looking at him.
They were expecting him to give an order and send them charging into battle. That was who he was, their leader…whether he chose to acknowledge the title or not.
He then looked towards Antiramon at the rear of the group, who was vigilantly working on healing his Dorugoramon body, with Rain standing by her side.
“Death-Xmon and me are linked. For my Dorugoramon self at least.” Sekata spoke up. “Any damage I do to him just comes back to me. That's why I have to fight him…alone.”
A brief silence fell upon the group before Sekata hooked the Ryuukonken on his back and continued.
“You guys figure out how to form the sword of Alphamon. I have a feeling that it just might be our trump card.”
“But how will you fight if the damage just keeps coming back to you?” Zoe asked, giving a quick glance over to Antiramon and Sekata's Dorugoramon body.
“It's just a hunch I have.” Sekata replied. “Trust me.”
“Then let me fight with you.” Zoe walked up to his side. “You don't have to keep on facing things alone!”
Sekata could tell from her eyes that Zoe would not be turned away from this fight. But there was something else too…a fiery determination that burned within.
She didn't want to lose him again.
However, there was no more time for doubts as Death-Xmon chose its time to attack. Sekata stepped forward and knocked Death-Xmon aside, at the same time turning and nodding to Zoe.
“You have to survive.” Zoe whispered as she came closer. “There's something I've learnt, something about us. And I need to tell you after this…”
Sekata was momentarily startled, but the sight of Death-Xmon back on its feet quickly snapped him out of his trance.
With Zoe by his side, the dragons dodged Death-X's outstretched claws and grabbed its arms. Dragging the beast along the ground, the pair pulled back in unison and hurled it into the wall.
Thought you'd left me high and dry this time. AncientGreymon's voice sounded. Is abandoning your body becoming a common practice?
Sekata knew that the sword had some way of connecting AncientGreymon to him, but decided not to ask about it for now. Things were simply too hectic.
How I wish it were that simple. Sekata responded in his mind. You knew about the link forming between Death-Xmon and myself, didn't you?
Now did I? What makes you think that?
Tell me how it works! Sekata insisted.
Stubborn as usual. AncientGreymon huffed. Well, think of it as a couple of chains. The one that connects you to him is already fully formed. However, this isn't true for the reverse. And that's why he can hurt you, but not the other way round.
That's not fair! Is he the one pulling the strings?
The chains, more specifically. But there's always a loophole that can be exploited. Because those chains that bind you are there.
A scene flashed in Sekata's mind. The one when the computer terminal had exploded at his back and Death-Xmon had seemed to feel the shock as well.
Of course, it was so astonishingly simple!
Only Death-Xmon can inflict damage on me without getting hurt! Sekata gasped. But if I'm attacked by something else, then Death-Xmon feels it too!
Took you this long to figure out? AncientGreymon sighed. That's why it's been so relentlessly pursuing you. The faster is disables and assimilates you, the faster it loses that weakness.
But why didn't it just finish me off back at home base? Why lure me all the way out here?
Less interference, I believe. But seems like that isn't the case now. AncientGreymon's presence began to fade. By the way, duck.
Sekata instinctively complied and narrowly avoided a spray of his foe's acidic green breath. He'd somehow continued fighting, even in the midst of his `conversation' with AncientGreymon.
The mechanical dragon pounced, knocking Death-Xmon's arms aside. He wrapped his arms around its head and neck, using his claws to hold his opponent's jaws shut. As the creature violently struggled to throw him off, Zoe jumped in with a roar.
The Imperialdramon did her best to clamp down on its arms and wings.
 
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“And how the heck is this thing supposed to work?” Steve stared down at the X-shaped piece in Aero's claws.
“Grrr, I'd rather be out there, fighting that thing.” Janet looked up.
“What did Siavon say?” Aero muttered. “Your heart will guide you?”
A roar of pain rang out as Zoe was flung off Death-Xmon's back and into the wall. Steve and Janet immediately ran to her side, leaving Aero standing by himself.
“Come on Siavon, help me out here.” Aero touched the crystal hanging around his neck.
The gem started glowing in a warm light. Aero then saw the ghostly image of a pair of black clawed hands appear over his. The images moved over the center of the binding component and turned a flat, circular middle section. Something that everyone else had overlooked in their panicked state.
More energy from his Digivice flowed into the weapon as it burst into a splendid golden glow.
“Thanks Siavon.” Aero whispered. “Hey guys! Here!”
“Gotcha!” Steve caught the component Aero had tossed and held it to his heart for a few seconds. “We're betting this one on you old man!”
The Wargreymon X removed his claw weapons and placed them with their palms facing together. He then joined their finger ends to one of the binding component's four slots.
Death-Xmon reacted to the golden light and suddenly threw Sekata off, making a dash for Steve.
“Jan, heads up!” Steve dove away and tossed the partially formed weapon to Janet.
The Gaioumon attached the hilts of her twin samurai swords to two opposing open slots and pushed them forward. The weapon now consisted of the two katana held together, with the Dramon Killer claws as the `handle'.
Death-Xmon changed directions, heading for Janet instead. She was faster however, and slid the weapon along the ground to Zoe. It was the blue dragon's turn to attach her weapon, the Positron Laser, to the top.
“Sekata! Rargh!” Zoe's throw went wide as Death-Xmon slammed into her.
Sekata had to execute a diving roll to catch the weapon, but it cost him a previous few seconds as he struggled to get the Ryuukonken out.
“Come on! Come on!” He whispered furiously.
His current claws weren't exactly suited for delicate work and the Ryuukonken ended up being jammed partway into the final slot. Death-Xmon was upon him by this time and despite the warnings from his friends, Sekata took the blow head-on.
One of Death-X's claws pierced through his already damaged chestplate. The other however, went in from the top of his head…and straight towards the binding circle that currently held his soul to the machine.
 
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“NNNOO!” Zoe screamed as Sekata's arms fell limp.
Death-Xmon drew its long arms out of Sekata's mechanical body, stained with oils and fluids.
The partially formed weapon clattered to the ground as the only noise amid the silence that had fallen. Everyone present was left staring in horror for those few moments.
Then….WHAM!
Sekata's legs suddenly went up and sent Death-Xmon flying off.
“Sekata!” Zoe cried, leapt to his side.
Grinning as best as he could, Sekata opened his jaws and showed her the hole in his head. A couple of inches to the left had determined his fate, for the binding circle was spared.
However, his Chaosdramon form was falling apart and Sekata knew it wouldn't last much longer. Grasping his fingers around the combined weapons, Sekata locked the Ryuukonken's hilt into the final slot, causing the weapon to explode into a binding flash of light.
“Arise! Kyuukyoku Sen Jin Ou Ryuu Ken!” Sekata whirled the newly formed weapon around as he turned to face Death-Xmon.
It was more like a halberd actually, with a long handle leading up to a beautifully decorated golden and black blade. The blade section was double-sided, having a cutting edge on either side.
The mere sight of the weapon seemed to enrage Death-Xmon, and it locked eyes with Sekata, staring intensely. However, Sekata already had a plan in mind and dashed over to Antiramon's position.
“Thanks for looking after my body.” He said, lifting his Dorugoramon self over his shoulder.
Everyone backed away as Sekata broke into a charge, headed right towards Death-Xmon. In one motion, he hurled the new weapon and threw his back to his opponent.
The Kyuukyoku Sen Jin Ou Ryuu Ken spun like a boomerang, going first over Death-Xmon's head and making a huge circle around the room. Finally, it shot back towards Sekata's position.
The shimmering sword pierced through the chest of Sekata's Dorugoramon body, through that of his Chaosdramon form, and lastly into Death-Xmon's screeching mass.
“What the hell?” Janet yelled in confusion.
It seemed like madness to everyone else, with three figures impaled by a huge halberd and struggling. The Kyuukyoku Sen Jin Ou Ryuu Ken was beginning to glow and Zoe squinted.
Wait a minute, the Dorugoramon is moving! She realized. So that means…
“Zoe!” Sekata's voice rang out.
The mechanical Chaosdramon was now motionless, but the Dorugoramon was struggling to pull himself off the halberd.
“Zoe, hey!” Steve yelled as Zoe dashed towards the struggling trio.
“I think it's gonna blow!” Rain exclaimed.
“Oh crap, get down!” Katsu added in.
Everyone was thrown to the ground as the explosion both deafened and blinded all present. Although it seemed like hours, it lasted for all but a few seconds.
The ruined mess of Chaosdramon and the remains of Death-Xmon's massive bulk were soon visible amongst the smoke and fire.
Footsteps sounded as an XV-mon stepped into view…carrying a moaning Dorugoramon in her arms. Weakened, Zoe dropped to her knees with Sekata resting in her lap. The sight of the two caused cheers to ring out amongst the group.
 
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“I told you…to trust me…” Sekata managed a soft laugh, now back in his proper Dorugoramon body.
“Never….doubted you….” Zoe replied, leaning her head against his neck. “Ever.”
Behind them, the Kyuukyoku Sen Jin Ou Ryuu Ken hit the ground and separated into the four original weapons used to form it. The binding component rolled over to the side and hissed, before bursting into dust particles.
You attacked your Dorugoramon body on purpose. AncientGreymon sounded surprised. Then used the Chaosdramon form as a conductor to amplify the damage done to Death-Xmon, while still preserving your Dorugoramon self. Now I'm impressed kid, very impressed.
Sekata couldn't have cared less about him at that moment. He barely even felt the huge wound in his stomach, which the others were working on bandaging up. Antiramon was working on her healing magic, but with Death-Xmon's regenerative properties gone, it was far less effective.
“Should we take them back?” Katsu wondered.
“Nah, just let them rest.” Janet answered, back to her regular Strikedramon form. “They need it.”
Antiramon was quickly done with her spell and stepped away from the pair.
“I guess I missed out on most of what you did, but thank you.” Steve told her, having reverted to a Flamedramon as well.
In response, Antiramon pulled a black crystal out of her robes and handed it to Steve.
“Hey, this is…”
“A Chaos Shard.” Antiramon relied. “A small one, but I believe that it should help.”
“It definitely will. I'll make sure of it.”
“I know.” Antiramon never slowed or stopped in her stride as she walked out the door. “Farewell then. Perhaps we will meet again…”
“Whew, yet another battle won.” Aero dropped into a seating position.
“So, how was it like to run amok without a care in the world?” Janet tapped Steve's shoulder.
“Weird, definitely.” Steve rolled his eyes. “I'm still trying to sort out the memories I had for that while and the memories I have now. But it was like I really was a young Digimon, although I had the memories of my childhood back on Earth.”
“Is that, why you thought I was your older brother?” Rain spoke up.
“Sort of. I can't really explain it, but it's like I was a young V-mon, but using my human memories.” Steve scratched his head.
“But how about Zoe? She thought we were her brothers, didn't she?” Rain queried. “That wasn't the case in your original world, was it?”
“No, definitely not.” Steve replied. “I have a theory, but I think only Zoe can confirm it for sure.”
However, Sekata and Zoe were quite ignorant of everything going on around them.
Everything else can wait…Thought Sekata as he stroked the back of Zoe's head affectionately. Zoe let off a soft, dragon purr and fell asleep in his arms.