Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon Tamers: The Next Level ❯ Episode 21: Battles for the City, Part 1 ( Chapter 21 )

Valkyrimon made his way across the rooftops of the city as the evacuation of the city continued underneath him. He was amazed by the number and variety of Digimon that passed below him, and he couldn't remember seeing anything like it before. He had caught some of what Henry had told the unconscious Takato, and he wondered if this tied in. Certainly, the city was the most human-like thing he had seen in the Digital World. He was a little hesitant to call it a city; it was more like a medium-sized town, but never before had he seen so many different species of Digimon gather together, and ones who didn't even share a common evolutionary path, like he had seen in other places.

 

As he progressed further away, the rush of evacuating Digimon slowed and finally stopped entirely. He caught sight of an explosion out of the corner of his eye, and turned his full attention to it. He had little doubt that he would find an opponent there. "C'mon, Guardromon," Kazu said. "Let's go."

 

"Right!"

 

It wasn't long before he found what he was looking for. A Were Garurumon was stalking through the streets, his head turning back and forth as he looked for something. From its black and dark blue coloring, Kazu guessed it to be a virus type. "Black Were Garurumon," Guardromon confirmed with his sensors. "Virus type."

 

"Any bets?" Kazu asked. "Bounty hunter, or enemy soldier?"

 

"Inconclusive."

 

Kazu sighed. Sometimes Guardromon just didn't get it. Oh well, there was only one way to find out. Drawing his sword from its sheathe, Valkyrimon landed on the ground a short distance in front of the Black Were Garurumon. "Who are you, and what do you want here?" he asked.

 

"Why should I tell you?" Black Were Garurumon sneered.

 

"Because," Valkyrimon replied, appearing beside Black Were Garurumon in a flash, holding his sword to the wolfen Digimon's throat. Black Were Garurumon tensed in surprise. "If you're just a bounty hunter, I plan to be generous and let you run off with your tail between your legs. Possibly quite literally."

 

"And if I'm not?" Black Were Garurumon asked, slowly maneuvering his hands together.

 

"Then I'm gonna kick your ass and make you tell me everything you know," Valkyrimon answered with a half-shrug. "So, which is it?" he continued, slowly increasing the pressure on Black Were Garurumon's neck.

 

"I choose the third option," Black Were Garurumon chuckled, pressing a button on the device around his wrists. Valkyrimon almost jumped as Black Were Garurumon slipped his grasp and circled around to his back. This time, the wolfen Digimon had his claws pressed against Valkyrimon's throat. "I kill you, and receive my rightful share of glory from my Master."

 

"Option two it is," Valkyrimon countered, his shock rapidly fading and turning into curiosity at how Black Were Garurumon had gotten so fast. Pursing his lips he let out a loud whistle.

 

"Your friends are too busy to help you," Black Were Garurumon leered. "Now, perish!" Just as he began to clench his hand, something golden streaked down from the sky, heading straight for his face. He threw up his hands to defend himself from the piercing claws and battering wings of Valkyrimon's Chrome Digizoid falcon, and that was all the opportunity Valkyrimon needed.

 

Valkyrimon ducked forward, pivoting on one foot and delivered a spinning kick to the side of Black Were Garurumon's head, sending the wolfen Digimon into the side of a building. Black Were Garurumon fell to his knees in front of the now dented wall, stunned. “Well,” Valkyrimon said, letting his breath out in a sigh of relief. “I have to admit, you caught me by surprise there.” The falcon perched one again on his shoulder guard, and he patted its head fondly.

 

Black Were Garurumon got back to his feet, shaking his head to clear his focus. He turned, once again facing Valkyrimon. “Enough warming up,” Black Were Garurumon growled deep in his throat. He drew back his claws, and crouched, getting into a fighting position. “Now the real fight begins.”

 

Valkyrimon lifted his sword into position, balancing on the balls of his feet. “All right, let's go!”

 

 

******

 

 

“Crap,” Rika cursed, facing down the Knightmon that stood against her. So far, they hadn't been able to deal any serious damage. “The longer this battle drags on, the worse our chances of winning get.”

 

“Why don't you just give up?” Knightmon laughed. "There's no way that you can beat my iron defense and superior strength!"

 

"He's half right," Renamon said. "We're not a match in terms of defense and offense." Sakuyamon didn't have the strength to last in a straight, head-to-head fight against an opponent like Knightmon, especially with the D-Band enhancing his stats.

 

"Well," Rika smirked, "we'll just have to rely on a bit of strategy. Even the strongest defense has a weak spot. And I think I have an idea of what this guy's is."

 

Holding one hand in front of her, Sakuyamon began to concentrate and a fierce wind began to whip up around her. "Amethyst Wind... Cyclone!" A flurry of flower petals sprang up, Sakuyamon standing at the center as they formed a large, spinning cyclone. Sakuyamon gestured, and the cyclone flew forward, directly towards Knightmon.

 

"What are you trying now?" Knightmon growled, swinging his sword at the approaching flowers. His efforts did no good and they surrounded him, carving a multitude of shallow gouges in his armor, though none managed to penetrate deeply. Still, it did manage to obscure his vision, causing Knightmon to lose track of his opponent. "Damn!" he yelled, lashing out with his sword.

 

With the distraction underway, Sakuyamon crouched and leapt high into the air, flipping over Knightmon's head. Still, his wild slash managed to catch her on the shin, and, though he only managed a glancing blow, it nearly caused her to cry out in pain. Landing behind Knightmon, Sakuyamon thrust the butt of her staff up, slipping into the gap between Knightmon's back plate and his helmet, striking the back of his neck. His eyes glazed over as a nerve was struck and he collapsed onto the ground, the petal cyclone fading.

 

Sakuyamon breathed a soft sigh of relief, which quickly turned into a sharp inhale of pain, and clutched her injured leg. Shoving the pain to the back of her mind, Sakuyamon, struggling, flipped Knightmon onto his back. With one stroke, she sliced the D-Band from Knightmon's wrist. Knightmon groaned softly as he regained consciousness. As he came to, Sakuyamon held the end of her staff against Knightmon's throat, ready to strike. “You're awake.”

 

“D-damn,” Knightmon grunted.

 

“Now you can answer some of my questions,” Sakuyamon said, applying pressure with her staff. “Where did you get the D-Band?”

 

“I found it.”

 

“Wrong answer.” Sakuyamon pressed harder, and Knightmon began to gasp for air. “Where did you get it?”

 

“T-that human gave it to me,” Knightmon replied. “The one in black.”

 

“Kurouji... Thought so. All right, how many of you are there, and how many D-Bands?”

 

“Ha, you haven't even begun to get a taste of our strength,” Knightmon laughed, bragging despite the position was in. “I was just a distraction to divide you Tamers up while our General wipes the rest of you out.”

 

“General? What do you mean by that?”

 

“The Generals. They're the strongest Digimon that our Master has gathered onto his side. Black War Greymon was just the first. You may have managed to beat him, but you'll never win against all of them!”

 

Tired of Knightmon's attitude, Sakuyamon struck his throat, knocking the Ultimate out once again. “Damn. What are we going to do with this guy?” Rika asked.

 

“I don't know,” Renamon answered. “But I'm worried. If this other General is as strong as Black War Greymon, the others must be in trouble.”

 

“Right,” Rika nodded. "But first, we need to do something with this guy."

 

Sakuyamon held her hands above Knightmon's unconscious body, concentrating for a second. "Crystal Sphere," she said, an orb of softly glowing blue light forming around Knightmon and lifted up into the air. "Bon voyage," Sakuyamon smirked, mentally throwing the sphere away from the city. She watched as it flew away, passing over the buildings and disappearing from sight.

 

"Are you sure it was all right to just let him go like that?" Renamon asked.

 

Rika frowned. "Not one-hundred percent, no," she answered. "But, we should at least give him a second chance." Putting the matter aside, Rika continued, "All right, let's go find the others."

 

Sakuyamon took a step forward, and made the mistake of putting weight on her injured leg. With a sharp cry of pain, her leg gave out from under her and she collapsed to the ground, surrounded by a bright light. In a flash, she reverted to Rika and Renamon.

 

“Goddamn it,” Rika cursed, gritting her teeth. She looked down with a grimace and saw a rip in the leg of her pants, the edges red with blood. “God, that hurts. You all right?”

 

“Yeah, I will be,” Renamon grimaced. “I'll heal quickly. But, c'mon, we need to get that leg of yours looked at.” She reached down, gathering Rika in her arms.

 

Rika let out a squawk of protests, squirming in Renamon's grasp. “Hey, I'm not a kid anymore!” she said, blushing furiously. "I don't need you to carry me." But, even as she said that, she felt her leg twitch and she stifled a cry of pain. "Damn..."

 

Her wounded partner in her arms, Renamon quickly headed back to the center of town and Takato's castle though she was still worried about her friends. Although she knew they could take care of themselves, she still worried, but Rika needed more immediate attention.

 

 

******

 

 

Valkyrimon's sword flashed down in a silver blur but, once again, Black Were Garurumon had used his speed to avoid the attack. He cursed softly as his head turned quickly, trying to catch Black Were Garurumon's movements. Ordinarily, he would have the advantage in speed, but somehow Black Were Garurumon had managed to get even faster.

 

"Dammit," Kazu growled. "How did he get so fast all of a sudden?"

 

Hearing the whistle of Black Were Garurumon's claws, Valkyrimon brought his arm up to block. He turned his head, watching as the claws began to dig into the bracer on his arm. It was then that he caught sight of something around the dark Ultimate's wrist. He only managed to get a brief glimpse of it, but that was enough for him to recognize it as a D-Band.

 

"So, that's it," Kazu said. "A D-Band." He brought his sword down, aiming for Black Were Garurumon's chest but, once again, the wolf had disappeared before the strike. Though Black Were Garurumon had managed to connect several times, the wounds were shallow, barely penetrating the armor.

 

"Still hanging on, huh?" Black Were Garurumon smirked, pausing briefly to gloat. "All right then, it's time I get serious. Kaiser Nail!" Black Were Garurumon clawed at the air rapidly, sending a blade streaking towards Valkyrimon.

 

With a grunt, Valkyrimon turned, narrowly avoiding the attack, and swung his sword around once more. Momentarily caught by surprise at the speed of the evasion, Black Were Garurumon barely managed to leap backwards, Valkyrimon's sword only managing to catch the strap of the wolfen Ultimate's shoulder armor. Growling deeply in anger, Black Were Garurumon removed the armor, tossing it to the ground. "That was close..."

 

"Shit," Kazu cursed, breathing heavily. "Almost had him, too." Straightening up, Valkyrimon brought his blade up, settling back into a fighting stance. "It's time I got serious too."

 

"Kaiser Nail!" Valkyrimon charged forward as a second vacuum blade arced towards him. He dodged to one side and continued, dropping his sword low to his side. Black Were Garurumon charged in behind his attack, and, when Valkyrimon's sword came up in a slash, he dodged, spinning around to the Mega-level warrior's back. "Garuru Kick!" Expecting Valkyrimon to dodge, Black Were Garurumon was shocked when the warrior took the hit on his back, a shockwave carving a plough in the armor.

 

Valkyrimon let out a brief, sharp cry of pain but, having expected Black Were Garurumon to avoid the first attack, brought his sword whipping around, the spin of his body adding to the force of the swing.

 

Cursing loudly, Black Were Garurumon quickly brought his hands together, catching Valkyrimon's sword between them. Grunting, Black Were Garurumon pulled with all of his strength, hoping to rip the weapon out of Valkyrimon's grasp. However, his grin of triumph faded quickly, as the sword began to rapidly get colder.

 

"Fenrir's Sword," Valkyrimon called out softly, a blue, icy aura forming around his blade. Before his eyes, ice crystals began to form on Black Were Garurumon's hands as his struggles to claim the weapon slowed down. "If I were you," Valkyrimon informed his opponent, "I'd let go before I lost my hands."

 

Abruptly, Black Were Garurumon let go of the sword, howling in pain as ice continued to creep slowly up his arms. "D-Damn you," he growled, his fangs beginning to chatter from the cold. His arms dangling frozen and all but useless, Black Were Garurumon refused to relent. "G-Garuru... Kick!" He lashed out with his foot, another shockwave rending the air.

 

Sighing, Valkyrimon ducked under the attack, bringing his sword flashing up. It carved a rut diagonally across Black Were Garurumon's torso, the wound quickly icing over. Black Were Garurumon let out a loud howl before his data began to break up, and he faded from existence.

 

"Damn it all," Kazu said, Valkyrimon punching the ground. "I didn't want to have to kill him." Was he no better than Justimon... or rather, whatever had made Justimon act so mercilessly?

 

"I'm sorry," Guardromon replied, "but, I don't think Black Were Garurumon would have been satisfied with anything less than a fight to the death."

 

"You're probably right. Still, it doesn't make me feel any better."

 

As the adrenaline wore off, Kazu began to sharply feel the pain of the blow that Black Were Garurumon had struck on his back. As he gritted his teeth, Valkyrimon was surrounded by a bright glow as the Biomerge came to an end. "Ahh, God," Kazu grunted. "That hurts!"

 

Guardromon examined the wound, noting with some relief that it was shallow, Valkyrimon's armor having absorbed the brunt of the blow. "Well, it's not life-threatening," Guardromon reported. "But, it is beginning to bleed. We need to get you some help."

 

"A-all right," Kazu sighed. "Let's go back." He tried to find a position for his back that eased the pressure and pain, but with only partial success. Guardromon helped him up and Kazu took a seat on the robot's arm as he engaged his jets and headed back to the castle.

 

 

******

 

 

Meanwhile, back in the Real World, Yamaki sat up in bed and, out of sheer force of habit, reached for the pocket of his jacket that hung on the bedpost. The habit came from the days when he still used to smoke, before quitting shortly after joining Hypnos. Cursing silently, Yamaki let his arm drop back onto the covers. He rose, turning to sit on the side of the bed, and took a silver lighter from the bedside table. Even though he didn't smoke anymore, he still kept it, finding comfort in the repetitious sound of it opening and closing. Click chink. Click chink. Click chink.

 

The sound of the lighter woke Riley, who stirred under the covers. "Mitsuo, honey," she said sleepily. She sat up, pulling the covers tighter around herself. "What's wrong?" She knew that whenever her fiancé began to play with his lighter, it meant that he was worried about something.

 

"I'm just thinking," Yamaki replied distantly. "Those kids are off in the Digital World, and I can't think of a damn thing to do that can help them. The last time, I gave them a communicator to take with them, but now..."

 

"Mitsuo..." Riley said, smiling slightly. "Maybe... Maybe this time, you'll have to leave it to them. Last time you had the resources of Hypnos behind you, but now..."

 

Yamaki sat up straight with a start, loudly clicking his lighter closed. "Wait a minute... That's it! Damn, why the hell didn't I think of that sooner! There's probably some useful information in the Hypnos computers," he said, getting up and looking around for his pants.

 

"But, they would have changed the access codes by now."

 

"You forget," Yamaki grinned in triumph, putting on his pants and shirt. "I programmed most of the systems there myself. I made sure to put in several well-hidden back doors just in case something happened. I doubt if they've found them all. Riley, I need to borrow the van."

 

Riley nodded and grabbed her purse, taking out her keys and tossing them to Yamaki. He snagged them out of the air and slipped them into his pocket. "Mitsuo," she said, concerned as Yamaki shrugged into his shoulder holster.

 

"Don't worry." Yamaki drew his gun and pulled the slide back before removing the magazine. "I'm just going to see some old friends who can help." He snapped the magazine back into place, holstered the gun and slipped his jacket on, shifting it a little to disguise the bulge of his weapon.

 

"Be careful, honey," Riley said, and Yamaki gave her one more lingering kiss before the former agent went out the door. She watched him go, her face a mixture of pride and concern before her head fell back onto the pillow and she drifted back to sleep.