Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Digimon Tamers: The Next Level ❯ Episode 22: Battles for the City, Part 2 ( Chapter 22 )

As Mega Gargomon, Henry flew over the city, Justimon hitching a ride on his back, watching the buildings become blurs below him. To Henry, who usually looked at the bigger picture, it was more than just a city. It was a beginning, a start to introducing some semblance of culture to the normally uncivilized Digital World. With Digimon evolving closer to standard living beings, there was even a possibility of humans and Digimon experiencing true cohabitation. But, that was still far off in the future, and there were more urgent matters at hand.

 

"Henry," Terriermon said, concern entering his voice. "Is something wrong?"

 

"Oh," Henry answered, snapping out of his train of thought. "No, I was just thinking about... things."

 

"Henry, look!" Justimon called, tapping his foot on Mega Gargomon's armor.

 

Mega Gargomon looked forward in time to see twin blasts of energy streaking towards him. "Whoa! Justimon, hang on!" Frantically, Mega Gargomon executed a barrel roll, and the energy blasts streaked by him, fading in the distance. "What was that?" he asked, righting himself once again.

 

"We're under attack," Justimon said. "Something big too, from the look of it."

 

Nodding, Mega Gargomon powered up his jets, putting on a burst of speed. It wasn't long before the source of the attack came into view. It was a Digimon, a huge metal dragon, just about as tall as Mega Gargomon, with twin cannons on its back.

 

"Mugen Dramon," Henry said, recognizing it easily. "Also known as Machine Dramon. Mega level, Virus type. He's going to be a tough opponent. Justimon, back me up."

 

"Gotcha," Justimon said, hopping down to the ground.

 

Mega Gargomon came to a landing next to him, sizing up his opponent. "All right," he asked. "Who are you? Why are you attacking us?"

 

"Orders," Mugen Dramon snarled. "For the glory of our Master, I've come to destroy you all. It looks like I'll start with you two. Infinite Cannon!" Twin blasts of destructive energy arced from the cannons on his back and Mega Gargomon hastily put up a defense. He managed to deflect the blasts, but the force pushed him backwards, his feet digging deep grooves in the ground.

 

"Mega Gargomon!" Justimon called. But, as the smoke and dust cleared, he saw that his companion wasn't harmed. Mugen Dramon towered above him, and he knew he couldn't win power vs. power.

 

"Don't think I don't see you, you little gnat! Booster Claw!" With the roar of a jet, Mugen Dramon launched one clawed hand towards Justimon. He jumped into the air, avoiding the strike and landed on the claw when it stuck into the ground.

 

"Take this! Voltage Blade!" Justimon lightly ran up Mugen Dramon's extended up, his right arm morphing into an energy blade. Before he got halfway up, though, he heard a rushing sound as Mugen Dramon's other claw swatted at him. Unable to dodge in time, the blow took him full force and sent him crashing through a building. "D-damn," he said, struggling into a sitting position.

 

"Are you all right?" Mega Gargomon asked, rushing back into the fight. "All right, Terriermon..." Henry said with a scowl. "Showtime!" With that, he strode into a charge, heading straight towards Mugen Dramon.

 

"I don't think so! Infinite Cannon!" His attack lanced out again but Mega Gargomon was ready, holding his arms together in front of his face. The attacks hit hard, but he continued, and Mugen Dramon launched a second shot.

 

"Here we go!" As the attack struck once again, Mega Gargomon opened his arms wide, deflecting the shots. As he ran in, he drew his fist back, lashing out with a punch that caught Mugen Dramon on the side of the head, sending him lurching to one side. "Take this! Power Pummel!"

 

"Aarrgh!" Mugen Dramon howled as a blast of air pressure emanated from Mega Gargomon's wrist and sent him crashing sideways into the ground.

 

"And this!" Mega Gargomon continued, every missile port on his body opening. "Mega Barrage!" Missiles poured from his body, all launched at Mugen Dramon's prone form, enveloping the mechanical dragon's entire body in explosions and a cloud of dust.

 

"You think we got him?" Terriermon asked optimistically.

 

"Booster Claw!" From the smoke, Mugen Dramon's claw emerged, streaking towards Mega Gargomon's face.

 

"Accel Arm!" Justimon yelled as he jumped back into the fray. With his oversized arm, he punched away the claw, causing it to twist away and plow into a building. Withdrawing his claw, Mugen Dramon got back to his feet, battered but not beaten.

 

"Thanks, Justimon," Mega Gargomon smiled. "But, we have to move this fight before the city takes too much damage. Follow me!" Turning on his boosters to full, Mega Gargomon launched himself towards Mugen Dramon, catching the dragon's claws in his own hands and pushing with all of his strength.

 

Mugen Dramon powered up boosters of his own, matching Mega Gargomon strength for strength. But, while he was too busy repelling the push, Justimon ran in, leaping up at the mechanical dragon's head. "Accel Arm!" He connected with a solid uppercut, knocking Mugen Dramon off balance.

 

"Rrrahh!" Henry and Terriermon yelled, pushing Mugen Dramon backwards. His feet carved huge ruts in the ground, but couldn't provide enough traction to keep him from being driven away from the city.

 

Mugen Dramon flipped over backwards, managing somehow to land on all fours on the ground, sliding to an eventual halt. "That's some impressive power," he grudgingly admitted. "Now I see how you Tamers were able to beat my comrade, Black War Greymon."

 

"So, he was a friend of yours?" Ryo said. "I guess that means you're working for this Kurouji guy as well, right?"

 

“Him?” Mugen Dramon chuckled. “I take orders from no human. No matter, let's finish this.” Mugen Dramon charged, bringing his full mass to bear on Mega Gargomon, his claw thrusting forward. “Booster Claw!”

 

Mega Gargomon deflected the oncoming attack, the claw carving a gouge in his armor, and drew back, punching for Mugen Dramon's face. But the mechanical dragon ducked under the strike and lowered his shoulder, driving it into Mega Gargomon's chest. As Mega Gargomon staggered back, Mugen Dramon followed it up with another blast from the cannons on his back. “Infinite Cannon!”

 

Unable to regain his balance enough to dodge, Mega Gargomon took the blast full on his chest armor and he flew backwards, back arching, before crashing heavily into the ground.

 

“Mega Gargomon!” Justimon yelled. With his partner at least temporarily out of commission, Justimon sized up his opponent. Mugen Dramon was at least four times as tall as he was, but size could also be turned into a disadvantage. “Let's go!”

 

 

******

 

 

Yamaki slammed the lid of the garbage can down, his old clothes lying in the bottom of it. He had done everything short of changing his hair color to avoid detection, knowing that Hypnos probably still had men looking for him. He had parked Riley's van outside the city, going by taxi to a clothing store, buying new clothes and dumping the old. It might have been overly cautious of him, but he paid for everything using cash to avoid leaving a trail that Hypnos could easily trace.

 

Yamaki hailed a cab, going over everything in his mind. In order to do what he planned, hacking into the Hypnos system, he needed the use of a powerful network, and there was only one man that he knew who could help. "The University, please," Yamaki told the driver. The man he needed to find was Janyuu Wong.

 

 

******

 

 

Kenta awoke to sounds of pure pandemonium coming from everywhere around him. What the heck was going on? Leaving Marine Angemon still asleep, Kenta peeked outside the room, nearly getting bowled over by one of the Gotsumon.

 

"Oh, Mister Kenta, I'm sorry," Gotsumon bowed. "But, if you'll excuse me..."

 

"Wait," Kenta said quickly before the rookie could run off. "What's going on?"

 

"The city is under attack, and the rest of the Tamers, minus Master Takato, are out fighting. Right now, we're in the middle of an evacuation of the city."

 

Nodding, Kenta ducked back into his room, letting the Gotsumon rush away. Lightly slapping the last traces of sleep, Kenta crossed the room, shaking Marine Angemon awake. "C'mon guy, time to get up."

 

"Kenta..." Marine Angemon squeaked sleepily. "Too early."

 

"I know buddy," Kenta smiled fondly. "But, there might be injured Digimon that need our help."

 

Yawning deeply, Marine Angemon rose into the air, perching on Kenta's shoulder. "'Kay. Let's go." Together, they made their way into the central courtyard.

 

 

******

 

 

Finally, Yamaki arrived at his destination, the University where he suspected he could find Janyuu. Paying the cab driver, Yamaki turned to observe the site. The first thing that he noticed was a pair of men in black jackets and dark sunglasses. Yamaki froze, recognizing them as Hypnos agents. Acting as casual as he could, Yamaki walked past the doors, glancing in at the atrium.

 

As he expected, there was a desk not too far in where a man sat, checking the ID of people who entered the university. Leaning against the desk, talking to the security guard, was a third Hypnos agent. Yamaki kept walking but cursed to himself about his bad luck. Of course, Hypnos would think of looking for him wherever Janyuu was.

 

"Ah, excuse me," a voice from behind Yamaki said, causing the man to start in surprise. He turned, his hand nervously moving towards his gun, but it was just a delivery man. "Could you tell me where this is?"

 

"Uhh," Yamaki said, at a loss for words. He looked down at the package that the young man held, an idea quickly coming into his head. He didn't recognize the name, but the address was for the university. "Oh? Ahh, deliveries are made around back. I'll show you."

 

"Oh, thank you very much!" the man smiled. Yamaki gestured towards the alley that went beside and behind the main building. He entered the alleyway, Yamaki following close behind him. But, as he kept walking, something didn't feel right. "Umm, are you sure this is the right way?"

 

"Sorry about this," Yamaki said. Before the delivery man could turn, Yamaki lashed out with the butt of his pistol, catching the man on the back of his neck, causing him to slump, unconscious, to the ground. Wasting no time, Yamaki relieved him of the package, his ID, and his uniform. Feeling sorry, Yamaki slipped a hundred dollar bill into the young man's pocket. "For your troubles... and the uniform."

 

Slipping quickly into his new disguise, Yamaki ran back to the entrance of the alley, peeking around the corner and looking for the Hypnos agents. When he saw them begin to walk his way, Yamaki hastily grabbed a cigarette butt from the ground, lighting it and pretending to take a puff, leaning back against the wall. The agents passed him by, barely even glancing into the alley. Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Yamaki turned the corner, ready to enter the university, hoping that his disguise would let him in safely.

 

 

******

 

 

“Booster Claw!” Mugen Dramon launched his claws as Justimon charged at him, but the warrior managed to sidestep, heading right between the dragon's legs. Before Mugen Dramon could turn around, Justimon leapt onto his back, landing right between the cannons. "Get off!" Mugen Dramon howled, shaking wildly to dislodge his unwanted rider.

 

Justimon hung on for dear life, looping his arm around one of the cables that powered Mugen Dramon's cannons. He grinned as an idea came into his head, and he transformed his arm into its energy blade configuration. "Voltage Blade!"

 

Yelling with rage, Mugen Dramon turned, slamming his back into a nearby cliff face, trying to crush Justimon against it. He whipped around to find Justimon on the ground, slumped against the rock. "Die, insect!" he howled in triumph, preparing to strike.

 

"I don't think so!" Mega Gargomon called, his armor deeply pitted and smoking. Mugen Dramon's earlier assault had hurt, but he was able to recover. Twin trails of smoke rose from the back of Mega Gargomon's shoulders. "Gargo Missile!" With a loud roar, he launched his missiles, fins extending as they streaked towards Mugen Dramon.

 

Caught by surprise, Mugen Dramon turned, the missiles impacting one after the other into his side. He howled in pain, his ruined left arm spinning into the dirt. "Damn you! Infinite Cannon!"

 

Justimon groaned, the sound becoming a laugh as Mugen Dramon's cannons exploded on his back. When the expression on the dragon's face turned from anger to utter shock, Justimon taunted, "What did you think I was doing back there? A picnic?"

 

Blinded with anger, Mugen Dramon turned, about to try and finish Justimon off with his remaining arm. But, Mega Gargomon was quicker, rushing in and grabbing Mugen Dramon's head. "Take this!" Yelling, he slammed the dragon's head into the cliff, the gun barrels on his wrist spinning up to speed. "Rolling Thunder!" The sound of Mega Gargomon's gun barrels discharging one after the other was deafening, and a cloud of smoke and dust quickly rose.

 

Mugen Dramon's body slowly slumped to the ground but, as the smoke cleared, it was revealed that his head was no longer attached; Mega Gargomon was holding it in his hand. "Whew," Henry said, breathing a sigh of relief. He looked for a second at the rather grisly contents of his hand and tossed it to the ground with a grimace. Mugen Dramon's body quickly broke up into data and disappeared, his severed head and arm fading last. Mega Gargomon turned to look at the cliff face, noting that his attack had carved a massively deep hole in the stone. "That was one tough opponent..."

 

"I'll say," Terriermon agreed. "That last attack of his hurt so much, my ears are still numb!"

 

Glowing, Mega Gargomon split back into Henry and Terriermon, Justimon having already done so. Extending a hand, Henry helped Ryo to his feet. "Hey, great job back there," Henry complimented his friend.

 

"Thanks..." Ryo mumbled, brushing dirt from his clothes. "I'm just glad I was able to keep my head during the fight. C'mon, Monodramon, let's go back."

 

"Sure thing, boss!" Monodramon said brightly, falling in step behind them. "Hey, did you see? We kicked butt out there!"

 

Ryo gave a faint smile, patting his partner on the head. It was hard to tell from the way he acted as Monodramon that Cyberdramon was completely ruthless in battle. But, still, Ryo could feel the knot of anger deep within him, a spark that threatened everything around him if he wasn't careful. His one comfort was that being around friends helped him handle it. "Yeah, we sure did, buddy. We sure did..."

 

 

******

 

 

If Jeri heard the noises that swirled around her, her sleeping form gave no sign of it, her head cushioned by Takato's arm. In her dreams, she found herself back in time, to when she had said what had felt like one final goodbye to Takato. She found herself floating above the scene in the park, looking at all of the partners. The only ones absent were Rika and Renamon, but she had later learned that Renamon had left the night before

 

"I don't want to let you go," dream Jeri said, holding dream Takato's hands in her own, tears streaking down her face. "There has to be something we can do."

 

"I wish there was," Takato replied sadly, tears also streaming down his face. "But, all I can do is give you the same promise I made to Guilmon years ago. We will meet again, I promise you." Takato lifted his finger, wiping the tears from Jeri's eye, and bent in to kiss her softly on the lips.

 

The soft sound of a groan brought Jeri back to wakefulness, and she slowly lifted her head. On the bed, Takato began to move and his head turned towards Jeri, his eyes coming open. "Ohh," he said softly. "Good morning, Jeri..."