Griff4815
No. 1 Grovyle Fan
(Continued from the previous post)
-
Meanwhile, Dorbickmon and VictoryGreymon continued standing guard out in the hallway. Dorbickmon stood at the end of the hallway; he leaned against the corner of the wall that separated the set of stairs leading down and the hallway that connected to the main one at a right angle. All had been quiet since they arrived. Regardless, he kept a careful eye on the stairs that led up from the lower floors.
The minutes passed and he waited for Paildramon and GrandisKuwagamon to finish. He still didn’t fully trust the mercenary, but he felt a bit better about it given the fact that GrandisKuwagamon would cooperate with them since it would be in his own best interests. He was definitely being more cooperative than when they had first started, at least.
Suddenly, Dorbickmon’s muscles became rigid and he stood up straight. A tingle of anticipation jolted through his body. His senses became even more alert. His violet irises narrowed and wheeled towards the base of the stairs.
He heard the sounds of approaching Digimon. He could make out a set of footsteps pattering rhythmically from the hallway below. Serving as a counter-melody to the footsteps was the low reverberations of an engine. As the pair grew nearer, he could hear a pair of voices, one low and one higher.
Dorbickmon hid his body behind the corner and peered his snout around it to stare down the set of stairs. He raised his hand up and gestured to VictoryGreymon at the other end of the hall. Upon seeing Dorbickmon’s signal, VictoryGreymon frowned and nodded, getting ready to act in an instant.
The dragon mercenary saw a mass of blue metal emerge at the base of the stairs. His eyes widened when he saw Bolgmon stop in front of the stairway. Blitzmon walked up beside him and began to look up the stairs. Dorbickmon promptly hid behind the wall and took a step back, not yet retreating, but not letting himself be seen.
“I can’t believe these cheap bastards still haven’t put in a ramp for tank treads,” Bolgmon complained. He expelled high pressure steam from vents underneath his body to make himself hover. He lifted the front part of his body so that his mechanized treads lifted on top of the edges of the first few stairs to give him traction. Once he was sure of his footing, he began tentatively driving up the set of stairs. “Making me do this every time… That’s discrimination! It’s wheelism. This isn’t very damn accessible!”
Blitzmon sighed and followed after him. “Just slide evolve into your Blitzmon form…” he suggested.
“No, it’s a matter of principle!” Bolgmon complained, slowly making his way up the stairs to Dorbickmon’s level. “Besides, it takes up energy and I don’t want people confusing me with you.”
“Nobody will ever have that problem, Bolgmon,” Blitzmon dryly responded.
Dorbickmon swore under his breath. They must be headed to their office. That was bad for Paildramon and GrandisKuwagamon. Even worse, he wouldn’t be able to stall the mercenaries because if they saw him, they’d recognise him and then a big fight would break out. He still contemplated the benefits of just attacking the pair, beating them to a pulp, and questioning them afterwards, but they were strong opponents and this wasn’t a good location for a fight. They might end up levelling the whole floor.
The dragon mercenary took off down the hallway, hailing VictoryGreymon to hide as he ran.
-
Back inside the office, GrandisKuwagamon continued going through the file cabinet. His crimson eye studiously inspected the contents as he flipped through the folders swiftly.
After a few moments, he sighed and closed the drawer. It was clear to him that there wasn’t anything there. He looked over at Paildramon, who was behind him, examining the contents on top of the desk. “Damn it… Looks like we’re **** out of luck,” he explained. “I don’t think Blitzmon and Bolgmon have been here yet. There’s no records or invoices of any of our jobs over the past few months. Blitzmon always keeps them. I know our hideout got ransacked, but I’m pretty sure he kept extra copies with him…”
Paildramon frowned with disappointment. “I see… Then it looks like we’ll have to wait around until they do get here,” she supposed. “We’ll come back another time.”
Before GrandisKuwagamon could reply, there was a sharp and rapid knocking on the office door. “Paildramon! It’s Blitzmon and Bolgmon! They’re coming!” Dorbickmon’s voice announced urgently, trying to strike a balance between loud enough for them to hear his warning, but quiet enough not to alert Blitzmon and Bolgmon.
The red eyes of both Paildramon and GrandisKuwagamon both widened at this announcement. “What?” Paildramon demanded.
“You’ve got forty five seconds before they’re up! Hurry! Get outta there!” Dorbickmon warned them. Unable to wait around for fear of getting seen himself, Dorbickmon bolted down the hallway to the opposite end where VictoryGreymon was. He grabbed VictoryGreymon by the arm and hauled him around the corner.
“W-What about Paildramon and Grandis?” VictoryGreymon asked worriedly.
“Shh. Stay outta sight, Vic. They can probably escape. If they get seen, we’ll go and back them up,” Dorbickmon explained in a hushed whisper.
Back inside the office, GrandisKuwagamon and Paildramon were scrambling.
“****!”GrandisKuwagamon hissed. He quickly closed the file cabinet and tossed the jar of honey back into one of the desk drawers. He made sure to remove all evidence that they had been there.
Paildramon jogged over to the door of the office and looked over at GrandisKuwagamon. “Hurry! We don’t have much time,” she insisted.
“We can’t go out that way!” GrandisKuwagamon hurriedly retorted. “We don’t have the key to be able to lock the door from the outside. They’ll know someone’s been inside and then we’ll lose our chance.” He quickly but meticulously put everything back the way that he found it. “Hurry, lock the door and kill the lights.”
Paildramon grimaced and locked the door from the inside before flipping the switch to the room’s electricity. She heard the sound of Bolgmon’s engine and tank treads at the end of the hallway, gradually coming nearer. “The window,” she responded, spotting another method of escape. She jogged over and tried pulling up the window, but found that it wouldn’t budge and that the glass would break if she pushed any harder.
“Not that one!” GrandisKuwagamon said in a harsh whisper. “That one’s jammed!”
By now, they could both hear the mechanical purring of Bolgmon’s engine just outside the room. Paildramon narrowed her eyes and grabbed GrandisKuwagamon by the arm. “There’s no time,” she whispered. “Here.”
Without giving him a chance to protest, she pulled him over to the closet and bundled them both inside. She pressed her winged back up against the wall and pulled GrandisKuwagamon’s back against her chest, pulling his pincer-adorned face down to give her enough room to slide the door closed.
“Pail-mm!” GrandisKuwagamon’s objections were silenced by Paildramon’s hand, and she brought her other arm around his chest to hold him in place. There was barely enough room for their statuesque bodies in the meter-wide closet, especially with their wings and the other contents of the closet filling up the space. Nevertheless, they were able to fit in without attracting attention.
“Shh,” she quietly hushed him. GrandisKuwagamon exhaled and obeyed, beginning to concentrate on keeping as quiet and stealthy as possible.
The pair went silent as they heard the clicking caused by the unlocking of the door. The door swung open, signalled by the soft whine of old hinges. The darkness of the room disappeared as the lights flickered on once again. The sound of footsteps and tank treads filled the office as the pair of mercenaries entered.
“Well, it doesn’t look like we got broken into while we were gone,” Blitzmon observed as he stepped into the office. “It looks the same as ever. Lucky for us.”
“Sure does,” Bolgmon agreed, rolling inside and moving his cannon arm to close the door behind him. “Guess thieves are smart enough to know what’ll happen to them if they steal from us. Hahah…”
At the mere sound of his former friends’ voices, GrandisKuwagamon became irrationally angry. His chest churned with fury, his blood boiled, and his muscles tightened. The wound was still fresh and open, the blood still hemorrhaging. He couldn’t forget their betrayal of him so easily. Their very voices served as a reminder, like needles to his chest that caused wrath to course through his veins. His mind became hot and his pincers twitched aggressively. Despite this raw and intense anger, he was able to keep himself under control.
“It’s still a mess. I need to clean up,” Blitzmon said, walking across the office to the desk. Paildramon and GrandisKuwagamon both became rigid as he passed in front of the closet, his shadow visible through the cracks. Fortunately for them, he didn’t open it.
Blitzmon began sorting through the desk papers and started organizing them. He placed his bag on the desk and pulled out a few more documents that he set beside the pile.
Bolgmon rolled over to the center of the room, stopping at the other side of the desk. “Should I check the mailbox for new job offers?” he suggested.
“Don’t bother, Bolgmon,” Blitzmon stated decisively. “With our contract still ongoing, we won’t have time for any other jobs. He says he’ll be getting more than enough money soon, so when he does, we’ll be set.”
GrandisKuwagamon couldn’t help but narrow his compound eye at this. So they were still continuing with their client’s contract after all… He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised, since both Blitzmon and Bolgmon were all for continuing with the lucrative contract, while he was the one sceptical about continuing. He quietly wondered if that was one of the reasons why they decided to use him as bait against the Royal Knights. Was it to get him out of the way so they could do what they want? These thoughts of doubt only fueled his anger.
Paildramon narrowed her eyes. She could feel the warm air of GrandisKuwagamon’s breaths increase against her palm. Sensing his anger, she held him tighter to prevent him from doing anything reckless.
“Hah, and with Grandis gone, that means more money for us!” Bolgmon exclaimed with an unabashed chortle.
These words ignited a fire inside of GrandisKuwagamon. His anger surged and began to numb his mind and overtake his commonsense. He began fighting against Paildramon’s hold, breathing hard as he tried to burst out of the closet. He was desperate to wipe the smile off of Bolgmon’s face.
Paildramon glowered and pulled GrandisKuwagamon back, keeping one arm around GrandisKuwagamon’s waist while moving the other arm underneath GrandisKuwagamon’s shoulder to keep him from reaching to open the door. It was difficult, but she held him back with all of her might. She moved her face close to his ear and whispered as lowly as she possibly could.
“Stop. Control yourself,” she whispered in but a breath. “Focus, GrandisKuwagamon.”
This seemed to bring GrandisKuwagamon to his senses. He knew she was right. He couldn’t let his emotions control him. He couldn’t succumb to anger. He couldn’t lose control…
GrandisKuwagamon’s bitter gaze softened and his crimson glow in his eye dulled. His harsh, furious breaths became deep and tranquil. He stopped resisting Paildramon’s hold and his muscles became relaxed and serene. He entered a nearly meditative state inside of himself. It was something that he often did when he wanted to center himself and control his body, mind, and emotions.
Paildramon closed her eyes and remained vigilant. She slowly raised her hip cannons past either side of GrandisKuwagamon’s body and pointed them at the closet door in case she needed to use them.
“…Shut up, Bolgmon,” Blitzmon bitterly said to the large tank Digimon. He looked up from the papers and gave him a cool look with his green eyes. “I’m not happy about what happened. GrandisKuwagamon was a good teammate and has been our friend since childhood. We were together ever since what happened… I only went along with your plan because our lives were on the line at that point and I knew that he could handle himself.”
“Tch, some friend he was. He was only out for himself; he didn’t care about us!” Bolgmon fired back. “We’re better off without him, Blitz.”
“So you say… So, we’re better without him… Tell me, Bolgmon, do you have access to void space? Can you teleport us from one place to another? Can you conceal our approach in a veil of mist?” Blitzmon countered pointedly. He stared at Bolgmon for his response, his eyes like daggers.
The mechanised insect failed to give one. He frowned, looking away with a mixture of stubborn defiance and chastised sheepishness. “Uh…”
“No, you can’t, genius. And thanks to your ill-conceived plan for petty revenge – and don’t try to deny that that’s what it was – we‘re down a useful member who was vitally important to our operations. He was our primary means for infiltration and exfiltration. You have resented him for several months recently, and you let your emotions and your ego get the better of you,” Blitzmon responded, his words cold, harsh and direct. “I’m tempted to try and smooth things over with him next time I see him – if we ever see him again, that is. Maybe I can convince him to come back with us... And you’ll be as contrite as I tell you to be if I do decide to. Is that understood?”
“Like hell, I will…” Bolgmon muttered under his breath, defiant, but not enough to argue with Blitzmon.
Blitzmon gave him a sharp look before he turned away to start sorting the papers into the file cabinet. “Doesn’t matter now. Make yourself useful for a change and make some coffee…” he said, gesturing to the table at the far right corner of the office where a pot, a coffee grinder, and a filter was.
As Bolgmon grumbled and rolled in front of the closet to reach the table, Paildramon glanced at GrandisKuwagamon. She wasn’t sure how Blitzmon’s words were affecting him. He had a soft, thoughtful frown on his face.
GrandisKuwagamon mulled over what Blitzmon had said. He wasn’t expecting that kind of remorse and regret from him. He had expected him to be cold and cynical about it – unrepentant like Bolgmon was. It frustrated him. He had a sick, twisting feeling in his stomach. He was still furious at them. He was especially angry at Bolgmon for orchestrating the whole thing, but he was also angry at Blitzmon for opting to save his own hide. However, Blitzmon’s anger and regret caused clouds of doubt to form inside of Grandis’ mind.
Should he be mad at them? Could he overlook what they did? Should he try to reconnect with them? Should he keep going with his current course of action? What would be best for him and what emotions should he listen to? GrandisKuwagamon sneered as he thought.
“Coffee’s boiling,” Bolgmon spoke up a minute later, having heated up the water using his cannon arms. He began steeping the ground coffee into the water. “So, when do you want to head out to the Gloaming Fields? Did he say when he wanted to meet us there?”
Both Paildramon and GrandisKuwagamon perked up at the mention of not only a destination, but a ‘he’. They continued remaining silent and listening intently.
“He said whenever was convenient over the next week. He and the Demon Lords will be staying there at least for the short term,” Blitzmon explained. “Let’s leave the day after tomorrow.”
“Works for me,” Bolgmon responded. “Some place in the Desolate Moors, specifically, right?”
“Yeah. You can find it, right?” Blitzmon asked him.
Bolgmon put a cup of coffee on the desk for Blitzmon to take. “Obviously. I know all the maps by heart,” he responded. “…So, what do you think of working for the Demon Lords? Never thought we’d be working for some religious nutjobs who tried to drop a whole Sky Colony.”
“’With’ the Demon Lords,” Blitzmon corrected. “They aren’t the ones paying us. As long as Bagramon keeps bankrolling us, I don’t care who we have to work with. The Demon Lords haven’t done anything to us, so it doesn’t matter to me.”
“Yeah, I guess not. Might even be fun. I hear some of them are pretty wild,” Bolgmon said with a sharp cackle. “Guess we’ll see if it’s possible for former angels to be fun or not.”
“Try to stay focused,” Blitzmon told him before downing the hot coffee in a few, quick gulps. He exhaled and placed the cup down before turning around and sliding the cabinet drawer shut. “Come on. I want to go by the shops before they close for the night. We need to buy a safe for the office now that our hideout’s gone. I want a double-locked one.”
“And you expect me to carry that ****, don’t you?” Bolgmon said with a groan.
“Yes. And I don’t want to hear a single complaint. It shouldn’t be a problem unless you’ve gotten weak,” Blitzmon goaded him, grabbing his bag from the desk and swinging it over his shoulder.
Bolgmon sighed and pivoted around, slowly driving by the closet where GrandisKuwagamon and Paildramon were hiding. “You’ve been busting my bolts all day…” he complained exasperatedly.
“Stop *****ing,” Blitzmon told him, walking around the desk. As Bolgmon opened the office door, Blitzmon turned and gazed at the closet.
The cobalt insect man frowned and approached the sliding closet door, tentatively raising his hand towards the handle. GrandisKuwagamon and Paildramon both froze. GrandisKuwagamon clenched his fist while Paildramon aimed her hip cannons in anticipation. They held their breath as he reached for the door.
Blitzmon hesitated, his hand stopping a few centimeters away from the door handle. He looked over at Bolgmon. “Do you think it’ll be cold tonight? I’m debating bringing a jacket,” he stated.
“It’ll be fine. It’s Dark Point. The sun’ll warm things up once it sets,” Bolgmon responded. “Don’t be a wuss and come on.”
Blitzmon looked back at the closet door, staring at the exact point where Paildramon and GrandisKuwagamon were hiding. His eyes narrowed slightly. After a few moments of deliberation, he retracted his hand. “…Fine,” he said, turning away. “Let’s go.”
Blitzmon walked over to Bolgmon and turned the office lights off. The pair of mercenaries opened the door and proceeded to leave the office. Blitzmon locked the door behind him and they made their way back down the hallway to the descending stairs.
GrandisKuwagamon and Paildramon remained in tense silence for awhile longer. They listened carefully to make sure the two mercenaries had left. They could hear Bolgmon’s engine slowly fading as the two azure bugs headed down the hallway. As soon as the dulcet hum of the engine dissipated, the two Digimon finally breathed the sighs that they had kept trapped in their lungs for what seemed like ages.
“Finally…” Paildramon whispered.
“Yeah…” GrandisKuwagamon agreed. He looked over his shoulder at her. “…So, P… I know I have a nice body, but are you ever gonna stop hugging me? I’d like to get out now,” he asked with a soft, ****-eating grin. “Unless… you’ve got a thing for almost getting caught?”
Paildramon levelled a cool, flat gaze with him and wordlessly released him from her arms. “Make sure it’s all clear,” she told him firmly.
GrandisKuwagamon slowly and cautiously opened the closet door and peered out into the office. It was dark, but he could see that there was nobody there. He exhaled and stepped out, prompting Paildramon to do the same.
Suddenly, there was a knocking on the office door that caused them to spin around.
“Paildramon! Grandis! It’s me!” Dorbickmon called in from the other side of the door. “Are you guys in there? You okay?”
“Yes, we’re here. We’re fine,” Paildramon told him. “We’ll go out the window. We’ll meet you outside in five minutes, okay? Be careful of Blitzmon and Bolgmon on the way down.”
“Yeah, got it. We’ll see you two down there,” Dorbickmon responded before walking off to get VictoryGreymon.
Paildramon frowned and looked at GrandisKuwagamon. “That was a fortuitous encounter…” she said, looking at him.
“Yeah…” GrandisKuwagamon agreed, walking over to the file cabinet. He took out of the most recent file that Blitzmon had just put in. He looked the sheet over carefully. “They listed the client as nameless. They did say Bagramon though, right?”
“That’s what I heard. Do you know him?” Paildramon asked him.
“Never heard of him. I guess that’s who’s been hiring us,” GrandisKuwagamon responded, putting the file back and closing the cabinet. He walked over to the window to the right of the central window and opened it. “Here. Ready to go?”
Paildramon nodded and climbed over the window sill, ducking under the raised window as she got into position. She leapt out into the evening air, just as the golden light of the setting sun began to shine horizontally across Dark Point. She flapped her draconic wings and hovered in place, waiting for GrandisKuwagamon to follow her.
GrandisKuwagamon climbed out of the window just large enough to fit his body. He started beating his insect wings rapidly to keep him aloft. Once hovering outside the window, he closed it behind him with a solid pull.
With both of their bodies now basked in the amber sunlight of the setting sun, they turned to look at each other. “Let’s go down and meet with the others,” Paildramon said to him, angling her body forwards and beginning to fly down towards the still dark streets.
“Yeah,” GrandisKuwagamon agreed, pitching forwards and flying down at a diagonal angle as well. “So, what next?”
“We should have enough information. We’ll let the others know what we found and then we can go back to the inn. We should stay the night and leave tomorrow morning,” she explained.
GrandisKuwagamon nodded and quietly flew alongside the dragon as they descended. He scanned the area below for signs of Blitzmon and Bolgmon. He didn’t know how he felt about them at that moment, but he knew that now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.
He just focused on what was in front of him and what he was able to do. Right now, that was meeting up with the others and completing their mission.
-
Twenty minutes passed since the investigation team met up at their assigned meeting place. They managed to evade Blitzmon and Bolgmon, and they proceeded to wait for a short while before venturing out onto the streets. Once comfortable that it was safe to go out, the four began walking down commercial side streets that were less busy than the main streets. These streets often contained bars, food shops, and other retail stores. They continued following these streets back towards the inn that they were staying at.
The darkness of the night lingered in the sky immediately overhead, with a pair of crescent moons looming large in the starry sky. The sun continued to dip over the western horizon, shining a deep, pink and orange light across Dark Point’s harbour. Although night encroached from the east, the buildings around them were all graced with warm, golden highlights.
VictoryGreymon led the way down the dimly lit street, with only the soft, receding rays of light as a guide. In his left hand was the massive Dramon Breaker, which he let rest on his left shoulder. In his right hand was an extra large kebab of spiced meat on a skewer, with yoghurt and spicy chili sauces drizzled over the top of it. He ate his dinner hungrily and happily. “Mmm! Who would have thought you could get Mesozoic Kingdom cuisine up here!?” he exclaimed with a broad smile, his taste buds and stomach satisfied. “I love trying exotic foods!”
GrandisKuwagamon picked his teeth with a wooden skewer as he walked behind VictoryGreymon, at a casual pace with Paildramon and Dorbickmon. “We’re having an Adult-level conversation here, V,” he sarcastically said.
“Oh, sorry,” VictoryGreymon responded, innocently looking over his shoulder at them as he took another bite of meat and nommed on it.
“So… who the hell is Bagramon?” Dorbickmon asked between chews of a large shank of barbequed meat in his hand. “I never heard of him.”
“Neither have GrandisKuwagamon and I,” Paildramon replied. She took a bite of her own meat kebab and looked forward at VictoryGreymon. “Have you, VictoryGreymon?” she asked, swallowing before questioning him.
“Yeah, as if the team meathead is going to know,” GrandisKuwagamon sardonically proposed, grinning ahead at VictoryGreymon.
VictoryGreymon frowned and looked upwards, looking pensive. “Hmm… Actually…” he pondered aloud. “Bagramon… Oh, isn’t he one of the fallen angel Digimon who rebelled against the Three Great Angels during the Heavenly War? Yeah, I’m pretty sure he helped the Seven Great Demon Lords… He was the Archangel of Death, I think,” he offered up with innocent nonchalance. “…Right?”
The three Digimon behind him all stared at him with shock, a piece of meat even falling out of Dorbickmon’s incredulously-open mouth. GrandisKuwagamon tilted his head and stared at VictoryGreymon with a disbelieving stare. “…Are you serious?” he deadpanned. “How the hell do you know that…?”
“Huh?” VictoryGreymon responded, still looking over his shoulder as he walked down the sidewalk. “Oh, I read all about the Heavenly War! It was the first conflict where the Royal Knights and the Warrior Ten teamed up together! I definitely read about it; it was such an important war since it ended with the Night of Falling Stars,” he explained animatedly.
Paildramon smirked victoriously at GrandisKuwagamon and walked forwards. “Thank you, VictoryGreymon. You have a good head for Royal Knight-based history,” she responded appreciatively.
“Haha! Wow, I do? Thanks!” VictoryGreymon exclaimed, his cheeks blushing and rubbing his right palm against the back of his head, inadvertently getting some dripping yoghurt sauce in his red hair. “Nobody ever told me that I had a good head for anything before. Oh, except for ramming stuff.”
GrandisKuwagamon palmed his face. “I don’t believe this…” he muttered, stunned that he was proved wrong despite all reasonable logic.
“Actually, I remember hearing something else about Bagramon too,” VictoryGreymon mused, bringing his half-eaten kebab stick to his lip as if he was stroking his chin. “I heard that Bagramon is DarkKnightmon’s brother…” VictoryGreymon’s eyes suddenly widened and his face turned bright red. He looked at Dorbickmon with guilt and wondered if he made a huge faux-pas. “Oh, uh… Sorry, I…”
Dorbickmon grinned a bit at VictoryGreymon. “It’s fine, Vic… We worked together, yeah, but we weren’t exactly best buddies… In fact, we turned on each other in the end…” he remembered. His scaly brows dipped into a frown. “DarkKnightmon, huh? …Where did you hear that? He never mentioned a brother to me.”
“I don’t know for sure…” VictoryGreymon made sure to clarify, still looking over his shoulder as he walked down the sidewalk. He was approaching grotty bar where raucous yells and cheers could be heard all the way out on the street. “It was just a rumour I heard, so I don’t—“
“Look out, VictoryGreymon!” Paildramon called out to him.
Not looking where he was going in the slightest, VictoryGreymon spun his head around too late. He crashed into a tall, lanky body of crimson bone. “Gah!” VictoryGreymon sputtered, stumbling clumsily further into the SkullSatamon who was leading a group out of the noisy bar and onto the sidewalk.
“And then—HEY!” the undead Digimon shouted as he was greeted by a mass of dragon muscle. He ended up stumbling back into the tavern wall and spilling his beer all over his body, soaking his loincloth and his leather pants. To add insult to injury, VictoryGreymon’s half-finished kebab flew into the air and landed on the SkullSatamon’s black, skull-like face.
VictoryGreymon managed to catch himself and stepped back. He looked up and saw the furious, murderous gleam in the SkullSatamon’s hollow eyes, further accentuated by the yogurt and chili sauce dripping down his undead face.
“Oh, um… sorry!” VictoryGreymon nervously stammered, instinctively raising his hands up. “Really sorry! Here, I’ll see if my friends have a napkin—“ He turned abruptly to the left to face his three teammates, but as he did, he forgot that he was still holding his sword against his left shoulder. As he did a one eighty spin, the Dramon Breaker came wheeling around and the blunt end of the sword whammed into the side of the SkullSatamon’s head.
After receiving a painful clonk from the giant piece of metal, the SkullSatamon stumbled into his group of demon friends, who were crowded in the bar’s doorway upon trying to leave. The SkullSatamon made an unearthly hiss as he was caught by the NeoDevimon behind him. Wincing from the throbbing in his skull, the undead demon stood to his feet and glared bloody murder at VictoryGreymon.
“Oh, you are dead, lizard…” he promised him, his voice raspy and scathing. He rubbed his head and glanced behind him, into the bar. “Gang…?”
The SkullSatamon summoned his gnarled, wooden staff and stepped out onto the sidewalk. Following him outside were more than just the handful of Digimon that stood in the door. Twenty demon and undead Digimon came pouring out of bar, lining up imposingly on the whole street. They all glared daggers at not just VictoryGreymon, but Dorbickmon, Paildramon, and GrandisKuwagamon too, as if they were a rival gang who stepped onto their turf.
Among their ranks were numbers of Adult and Perfect level Demon and Undead Digimon. This included Devimon, Boogiemon, NeoDevimon, DeathMeramon, Mephismon, Phelesmon, Bakemon, Astamon, and LadyDevimon.
Upon hearing the countless footsteps behind him, VictoryGreymon tensed up and slowly looked over his shoulder with wide, green eyes. He started sweating profusely at the sight of all the demon and undead Digimon baying for his blood. The hapless Greymon offered the only reprieve that he could. “Uh… I’m really sorry…!” he offered, smiling sheepishly. Sensing their violent intent, he started creeping forwards, back towards his friends. “We’ll just… get out of your way… and you can go back to enjoying your night…”
GrandisKuwagamon glared at VictoryGreymon and the demons behind him. “Idiot! They’re the Dark Area demons… Nightmare Soldiers…” he hissed, taking a step backwards and clenching his fists.
“Heh… Looks like we’re in for a fight…” Dorbickmon mused, cracking his knuckles and smirking as his adrenaline began to pump.
“There’s too many of them…” Paildramon pointed out, narrowing her eyes and also retreating a step. She raised her guns towards the group. “We can’t fight that many, Dorbickmon.”
“Even if they’re lower levels, I can’t fight that many without my abilities,” GrandisKuwagamon agreed, sneering at the situation. “I told you this inhibitor virus was a bad idea. Damn it…”
VictoryGreymon made his way over to his three teammates and turned around nervously holding his sword in front of him and taking a defensive posture. “We really don’t want to fight…” he beseeched in a desperate attempt to mediate with the demons.
“What do you want us to do to them, Viscount?” a NeoDevimon asked the SkullSatamon.
“Make them suffer a bit…” the SkullSatamon ordered, glowering and raising his staff towards the four. “Attack! Nail Bone!” He slammed the head of his staff into the ground and sent out a streak of blood red light that cut across the road, cutting between GrandisKuwagamon and Dorbickmon.
Paildramon glared as she watched the twenty demons surge towards them. “Run!” Paildramon ordered as energy surged down the barrels of her hip cannons. “Hurry! Desperado Blaster!”
With those words, she began firing from the two machine guns attached to her hips. Rapid fire beam bullets slammed into the ground in front of the demons, suppressing them with the ricochet blasts.
“Damn it!” Dorbickmon snarled fierily, not wanting to turn tail without at least a bit of a fight. He raised his reptilian arm and summoned the Tyrant Collbrande in a devastating burst of sweltering flames. “Burning the Dragon!”
He stabbed his sword into the middle of the street and sent powerful tremors down the length of the street, causing several of the demon Digimon to lose balance and topple over. Suddenly, the flames of his sword ignited and a giant block of rock suddenly pierced through the ranks of the demons, sending three of them flying ten feet into the air.
“Okay, go! Dragon Breath Tonic Fire!” Dorbickmon yelled. The flame symbols on his pectoral muscles burned with fiery energy before exploding in two, powerful streams of scorching flames.
The dual jets of fire slammed into the middle of the road where the demons were. A small, concentrated explosion erupted between the demons that shook the windows of the pub and lit up the dark street like a flare.
“Run!” Dorbickmon yelled, turning around and bolting up the road.
“I don’t think so!” the SkullSatamon ordered, pointing with his staff. “Chase them down and break them! Nail Bone!” He fired another beam from his demonic staff towards the group.
VictoryGreymon grunted and stepped forwards. He raised the three-bladed Dramon Breaker horizontally in front of his body. Suddenly, the two outer blades snapped outwards at forty five degree angles, and the v-shaped crossguard bent backwards to ninety degree angles. He held the transformative sword in front of him with the blunt face of the blade outwards, towards the coming attack. “Victory Charge!” he shouted, suddenly creating a giant, three dimensional, hexagonal energy barrier from the three tips of the sword.
The fiery, crimson beam slammed into the barrier dead-center. VictoryGreymon dug his feet into the ground, bracing against the attack. The shield held firm, causing the attack to deflect off and end up shooting in front of the gathered demons, creating a powerful explosion that sent them staggering back.
“GrandisKuwagamon, VictoryGreymon, let’s go!” Paildramon shouted, firing off another burst from her guns. She spun around and dashed after Dorbickmon.
“G-Got it!” VictoryGreymon shouted, making the blades of the Dramon Breaker snap back to their original, parallel position. He began running after them as fast as his brawny body would allow.
GrandisKuwagamon sneered and turned around too, feeling useless in this situation without his weapons. As much as he was itching to fight, he supposed the only thing he could do was retreat. “Damn it…” he hissed, sprinting up the street after the others. He quickly outpaced VictoryGreymon and began to beat his wings in preparation for flight.
VictoryGreymon grimaced and ran as fast as he could to catch up with the others. He was the slowest of the group, even without the fact that he wore heavy plate armour and a carried a massive claymore. He looked over his shoulder and saw the demons burst through the dust and smoke, swarming after him. He felt fear tug at his heart when he saw all of demon Digimon closing in on him. He looked forwards and saw his three companions outpacing him, and they were getting further away. He began to get desperate.
“Deep Sorrow!” a NeoDevimon shouted, flying high into the night sky. He flapped his crimson wings and unleashed black gale winds down around VictoryGreymon, sending small cracks into the street around him.
“Gah!” VictoryGreymon hollered, the winds against his back causing him to stumble and trip over his own legs. His toe claws caught one of the cracks in the street and he came crashing down on the ground. He slammed into the pavement with a loud clamour and his arms, chest and cheek stung from the impact. He lay on the ground, his body shaken up by the sudden fall. “Ugh…!” He turned around and saw the demon Digimon rushing towards him.
GrandisKuwagamon, the one furthest behind Dorbickmon, heard VictoryGreymon’s shout and the clatter of armour. He turned around and saw VictoryGreymon lying flat on the ground, his sword lying a meter in front of him. The mercenary spotted the demon Digimon running towards him. They were closing in on him.
GrandisKuwagamon grimaced. He debated what he should do. He could go and help him, or he could leave VictoryGreymon there. He considered just leaving the hapless dragon. He was the idiot who got the demons angry in the first place, after all. He would just be getting what he deserved, and using VictoryGreymon as a scapegoat would get the demons off of the rest of their backs.
The insect thought about it. There was also the fact that if GrandisKuwagamon got too far away from Paildramon by trying to help VictoryGreymon, he would get electrocuted. His paralyzed body would be left at the demons’ mercy to do what they pleased with. If he stayed, he would just be putting himself in the same situation as VictoryGreymon. Why would he grab someone who was drowning only to be pulled down as well? There was no real logical reason for him to help VictoryGreymon.
So, GrandisKuwagamon turned around and prepared to continue running after Paildramon and Dorbickmon, who hadn’t noticed VictoryGreymon fall yet. They didn’t need to know that he saw VictoryGreymon fall. He beat his wings and bent his legs, preparing to push off the ground…
…But he stalled.
Something was niggling at his insides…
GrandisKuwagamon turned his head and looked over his shoulder. He saw VictoryGreymon trying desperately to get up, but finding himself unable to do it quickly enough. He could see the swath of cackling demons descending on VictoryGreymon, only several meters away from him now. He could see the fear and desperation in VictoryGreymon’s eyes…
What would he be if he left him to his torturous fate? He’d just be scapegoating VictoryGreymon to save himself. He’d be no better than what Blitzmon and Bolgmon, and what they did to him. And then there was that other thing…
He clenched his fists and kept staring at VictoryGreymon. VictoryGreymon spotted GrandisKuwagamon, his wide, vulnerable eyes wordlessly asking him for help. GrandisKuwagamon’s eye locked with his. He began to look away and pretend he hadn’t seen him.
But…
“…Damn it!” GrandisKuwagamon shouted, spinning around and charging back towards VictoryGreymon. “Paildramon! Cover me and VictoryGreymon! He’s down!”
At this, Paildramon came to sudden halt and spun around to see what he meant. To her horror, she saw that VictoryGreymon had fallen far behind, and was on his hands and knees, recovering from a fall. “VictoryGreymon!” she exclaimed. Thinking quickly, she looked at Dorbickmon. “Dorbickmon! Suppressing fire! Desperado Blaster!”
Dorbickmon stopped and pivoted, snarling as he realised the situation. “****! Dragon Breath Tonic Fire!” he roared, firing a pair of fiery torrents from his chest.
The beam bullets and swaths of flames tore down the dark street and slammed into the ground in between the VictoryGreymon and the charging demon gang. The pavement erupted with fire, beam bursts, and fragments of cement, providing GrandisKuwagamon with the sufficient cover that he needed to get in close.
GrandisKuwagamon sprinted over to VictoryGreymon and came to a sliding stop beside him. He felt the heat of the flames behind him, but he focused. He moved quickly, lugging VictoryGreymon’s hefty arm over his shoulders and helping him stand to his feet.
VictoryGreymon pulled the Dramon Breaker up and stood on shaky feet. He looked at GrandisKuwagamon with a nervous but grateful smile. “Th-Thank you, Grandis…” he murmured with heartfelt appreciation.
“Forget it. Come on, we’re flying,” GrandisKuwagamon hurriedly told him. He started beating his x-shaped insect wings and began flying into the air. After the initial lodestone of VictoryGreymon’s weight holding him down, he was relieved to feel VictoryGreymon fly on his own and carry his own weight.
The black mercenary began lugging VictoryGreymon through the air along with him to speed their escape. As he flew up the umbrous street, GrandisKuwagamon hazarded a glance over his shoulder. He saw Viscount SkullSatamon and the demons racing after them. A few attacks whizzed by them, just narrowly missing them and embedding themselves in the streets.
He grunted and looked ahead at Paildramon and Dorbickmon. “Hey, Dorbickmon! How about a wall or something! Just leave it to the Digmon to deal with!” he called out, flying as fast as he could.
“Coming right up!” Dorbickmon announced, swinging the infernal Tyrant Collbrande over his head before plunging it into the ground. “Burning the Dragon!”
A massive wall of rock suddenly burst out of the street and raised itself twenty feet into the air. The rock barrier came up behind GrandisKuwagamon and VictoryGreymon, but ahead of the pursuing demon Digimon. The stone wall took up the entire street from building to building. The only way past was over it or through it, slowing the demons down considerably.
GrandisKuwagamon took the reprieve to land beside Paildramon and Dorbickmon with VictoryGreymon at his side.
“We’re leaving Dark Point now,” Paildramon swiftly said, panting and watching the stone wall cautiously. “We’ve drawn too much attention to ourselves.”
“I’m sorry…” VictoryGreymon apologised shame-facedly, rubbing the side of his neck.
“It’s fine. We got what we came for anyways,” Paildramon assured him. “But we should leave quickly before the authorities show up.”
“Let’s go. I know the quickest way out from here,” Dorbickmon agreed, swiping his arm out and extinguishing the Tyrant Collbrande in a cascade of whimpering embers. “Come on!”
As Dorbickmon took off up the street, the other three ran after him. “Won’t argue with that…” GrandisKuwagamon muttered, bringing up the rear.
The sun set in the western horizon and shadows of the night overtook the city. The investigation team of four shook off their pursuers and escaped down the curving, intertwining roads of the city. Like shadows in the night, they evaded notice and slipped out of the city under the cover of darkness.
The covert team left Dark Point behind them and melded back into the night.
-
The team of four, exhausted, emerged out of the eastern side of Analog Forest. They stumbled upon the place that they used as a campsite the night before. They recognised the log that they used as a bench and the fire pit full of charred pieces of wood and ashes. The darkness of the campsite was dimly illuminated by a TV that was embedded inside a tree trunk.
The group stopped around the campsite to catch their breath. Paildramon sighed and looked at her three teammates. “Let’s take a quick break…” she suggested between heavy breaths. The other three obliged, leaning against the large trees around them. “What do you think? Should we stay here for the night?”
“They wouldn’t chase us this far, right…?” VictoryGreymon asked, looking back into the forest.
“Nah…” GrandisKuwagamon responded. “Let’s keep going. I don’t really feel like waiting around.”
“Yeah, let’s stick it out,” Dorbickmon agreed. “We can stay at an inn in Falconhead once we get there. It beats sleeping on the ground again.”
Paildramon nodded. “Alright…” she concurred, standing up straight and stretching her stiff muscles.
GrandisKuwagamon caught his breath and remained leaning against the tree. He gazed over at Paildramon contemplatively. He glanced away, a slight frown on his face.
Finally, the dark insect man grunted and stood up from the trunk. He strode over to Paildramon and stopped in front of her. “Uh… Hey. Have a minute?” he asked, folding his arms.
Paildramon’s ruby eyes shifted over to meet him. “Huh? Sure,” she obliged him, walking a few steps over to the side of the campsite.
GrandisKuwagamon walked with her and raised his hand to rub his black fingers through his orange hair. “So… Uh…” he began, his voice uncharacteristically apprehensive. He lowered his arm and grunted, looking away from the dragon Digimon. “Thanks…” he managed to choke out.
Paildramon blinked and cocked her eyebrow. “Pardon? For what?” she asked, both unsure what he was referring to and surprised to actually hear him thank anybody.
“You know… for stopping me,” he clarified sheepishly. “When I wanted to beat the **** out of Bolgmon and Blitzmon.”
“Oh, that… You’re welcome. It wouldn’t exactly have been smart for me to let you do that,” she responded.
GrandisKuwagamon grunted and folded his black arms across his carapace. “Still… I should’ve had more self-control,” he explained bitterly. “That doesn’t normally happen to me.”
“We all have moments like that…” Paildramon assured him. She gazed at him studiously. “GrandisKuwagamon… About what Blitzmon said…”
GrandisKuwagamon’s crimson, compound eye trailed down to the ground as he thought about it. “You mean about him wanting to reconcile?” he asked. He gazed into the dark of the forest. “…Part of me was tempted, I admit. It’d be easiest to go back to them after I’m free, even with Bolgmon there, hating my guts. We have a lot of history. We go way back and we know how each other works. …But… I don’t think I can go back to them again. I can’t trust them again. Dunno if I can even forgive them.” He looked up at Paildramon and grinned informally. “So, you can relax. You don’t have to worry about me trying anything shady…”
Paildramon stared at him and nodded. “Good…” she responded. “Although, on a personal level… I’m sorry that you can’t reconcile with your friends.”
GrandisKuwagamon exhaled before looking at her and putting on a smirk. “You have a ‘personal level’? That’s news to me,” he teased her. “I thought you were in professional mode non-stop.”
“Heh,” Paildramon managed a chuckle, grinning. Her gaze drifted away from GrandisKuwagamon and she stared past him, at something behind him.
GrandisKuwagamon turned to see VictoryGreymon walking over to him. Plastered onto VictoryGreymon’s snout was a big, gracious smile from ear to ear.
VictoryGreymon stopped in front of him. “Um, Grandis…” he began, his deep voice tender and a bit awkward. “I wanted to say… Thank you for rescuing me!” he exclaimed, rushing forwards and pulling GrandisKuwagamon into a big, warm, crushing hug.
GrandisKuwagamon’s body tensed and his legs and wings twitched as he was lifted off of his feet. He felt a few cracks in his body. “Ugh… V… Let me… go!” he wheezed, arching his back and squirming in his grip.
“Oh… sorry,” VictoryGreymon said, softening his hug before letting him go a few moments later.
GrandisKuwagamon dropped to the ground, brushing his carapace off. “You are so lucky I can’t use my pincers…” he warned him.
“Seriously, thanks though…” VictoryGreymon said to him, smiling sweetly. “You really went out of your way for me…”
Dorbickmon wandered over, gazing at GrandisKuwagamon with a broad, ****-eating grin. “Yeah, look at you. Mister Hero…” he teased. “Who would’ve thought that the bug was capable of helping somebody other than himself? I’m actually impressed.”
GrandisKuwagamon glared at them, his cheeks burning slightly. He folded his arms and turned his back to VictoryGreymon indignantly. “Tch… Don’t get used to it, lizard. I’m not bailing your *** out every time you do something stupid like piss off violent demons or trip over wind. You’re on your own next time,” he explained to him standoffishly.
“I know. I won’t,” VictoryGreymon assured him with a smile. “You’re definitely the hero of the day, though. Maybe you could even join the Order at this rate! Haha.”
Dorbickmon and Paildramon both chuckled. GrandisKuwagamon turned and shot them both a glare. “And you two are free to shut up…” he told them, although with a trace of a self-aware grin on his lips.
After a moment, GrandisKuwagamon sighed and scratched the back of his head. “So, can we get going already?” he asked them, trying to temper his smirk. “There’s no point hanging around.”
“Sure,” Paildramon agreed, starting to walk. “The sooner we get to Falconhead, the sooner we can rest. We deserve one, after all the hard work that we did.”
“I’m gonna need a huge breakfast tomorrow morning,” Dorbickmon mused as he began walking alongside Paildramon.
VictoryGreymon smiled at GrandisKuwagamon before shouldering the Dramon Breaker and following them as well.
GrandisKuwagamon didn’t immediately follow them. His grin faded and he looked over his shoulder, back towards Dark Point. He turned his gaze down to his bare, ebony hand, which he closed into a tight fist.
Rather than contemplating, the insect mercenary followed after his team. They weren’t Black Pincer Company, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that... His crimson eye frowned softly and he followed the three Digimon. He tried to put aside his feelings of uncertainty. There wasn’t much else he could do about it anyways.
With that, the four Digimon continued their long journey back to Castle Albion…
-
Meanwhile, Dorbickmon and VictoryGreymon continued standing guard out in the hallway. Dorbickmon stood at the end of the hallway; he leaned against the corner of the wall that separated the set of stairs leading down and the hallway that connected to the main one at a right angle. All had been quiet since they arrived. Regardless, he kept a careful eye on the stairs that led up from the lower floors.
The minutes passed and he waited for Paildramon and GrandisKuwagamon to finish. He still didn’t fully trust the mercenary, but he felt a bit better about it given the fact that GrandisKuwagamon would cooperate with them since it would be in his own best interests. He was definitely being more cooperative than when they had first started, at least.
Suddenly, Dorbickmon’s muscles became rigid and he stood up straight. A tingle of anticipation jolted through his body. His senses became even more alert. His violet irises narrowed and wheeled towards the base of the stairs.
He heard the sounds of approaching Digimon. He could make out a set of footsteps pattering rhythmically from the hallway below. Serving as a counter-melody to the footsteps was the low reverberations of an engine. As the pair grew nearer, he could hear a pair of voices, one low and one higher.
Dorbickmon hid his body behind the corner and peered his snout around it to stare down the set of stairs. He raised his hand up and gestured to VictoryGreymon at the other end of the hall. Upon seeing Dorbickmon’s signal, VictoryGreymon frowned and nodded, getting ready to act in an instant.
The dragon mercenary saw a mass of blue metal emerge at the base of the stairs. His eyes widened when he saw Bolgmon stop in front of the stairway. Blitzmon walked up beside him and began to look up the stairs. Dorbickmon promptly hid behind the wall and took a step back, not yet retreating, but not letting himself be seen.
“I can’t believe these cheap bastards still haven’t put in a ramp for tank treads,” Bolgmon complained. He expelled high pressure steam from vents underneath his body to make himself hover. He lifted the front part of his body so that his mechanized treads lifted on top of the edges of the first few stairs to give him traction. Once he was sure of his footing, he began tentatively driving up the set of stairs. “Making me do this every time… That’s discrimination! It’s wheelism. This isn’t very damn accessible!”
Blitzmon sighed and followed after him. “Just slide evolve into your Blitzmon form…” he suggested.
“No, it’s a matter of principle!” Bolgmon complained, slowly making his way up the stairs to Dorbickmon’s level. “Besides, it takes up energy and I don’t want people confusing me with you.”
“Nobody will ever have that problem, Bolgmon,” Blitzmon dryly responded.
Dorbickmon swore under his breath. They must be headed to their office. That was bad for Paildramon and GrandisKuwagamon. Even worse, he wouldn’t be able to stall the mercenaries because if they saw him, they’d recognise him and then a big fight would break out. He still contemplated the benefits of just attacking the pair, beating them to a pulp, and questioning them afterwards, but they were strong opponents and this wasn’t a good location for a fight. They might end up levelling the whole floor.
The dragon mercenary took off down the hallway, hailing VictoryGreymon to hide as he ran.
-
Back inside the office, GrandisKuwagamon continued going through the file cabinet. His crimson eye studiously inspected the contents as he flipped through the folders swiftly.
After a few moments, he sighed and closed the drawer. It was clear to him that there wasn’t anything there. He looked over at Paildramon, who was behind him, examining the contents on top of the desk. “Damn it… Looks like we’re **** out of luck,” he explained. “I don’t think Blitzmon and Bolgmon have been here yet. There’s no records or invoices of any of our jobs over the past few months. Blitzmon always keeps them. I know our hideout got ransacked, but I’m pretty sure he kept extra copies with him…”
Paildramon frowned with disappointment. “I see… Then it looks like we’ll have to wait around until they do get here,” she supposed. “We’ll come back another time.”
Before GrandisKuwagamon could reply, there was a sharp and rapid knocking on the office door. “Paildramon! It’s Blitzmon and Bolgmon! They’re coming!” Dorbickmon’s voice announced urgently, trying to strike a balance between loud enough for them to hear his warning, but quiet enough not to alert Blitzmon and Bolgmon.
The red eyes of both Paildramon and GrandisKuwagamon both widened at this announcement. “What?” Paildramon demanded.
“You’ve got forty five seconds before they’re up! Hurry! Get outta there!” Dorbickmon warned them. Unable to wait around for fear of getting seen himself, Dorbickmon bolted down the hallway to the opposite end where VictoryGreymon was. He grabbed VictoryGreymon by the arm and hauled him around the corner.
“W-What about Paildramon and Grandis?” VictoryGreymon asked worriedly.
“Shh. Stay outta sight, Vic. They can probably escape. If they get seen, we’ll go and back them up,” Dorbickmon explained in a hushed whisper.
Back inside the office, GrandisKuwagamon and Paildramon were scrambling.
“****!”GrandisKuwagamon hissed. He quickly closed the file cabinet and tossed the jar of honey back into one of the desk drawers. He made sure to remove all evidence that they had been there.
Paildramon jogged over to the door of the office and looked over at GrandisKuwagamon. “Hurry! We don’t have much time,” she insisted.
“We can’t go out that way!” GrandisKuwagamon hurriedly retorted. “We don’t have the key to be able to lock the door from the outside. They’ll know someone’s been inside and then we’ll lose our chance.” He quickly but meticulously put everything back the way that he found it. “Hurry, lock the door and kill the lights.”
Paildramon grimaced and locked the door from the inside before flipping the switch to the room’s electricity. She heard the sound of Bolgmon’s engine and tank treads at the end of the hallway, gradually coming nearer. “The window,” she responded, spotting another method of escape. She jogged over and tried pulling up the window, but found that it wouldn’t budge and that the glass would break if she pushed any harder.
“Not that one!” GrandisKuwagamon said in a harsh whisper. “That one’s jammed!”
By now, they could both hear the mechanical purring of Bolgmon’s engine just outside the room. Paildramon narrowed her eyes and grabbed GrandisKuwagamon by the arm. “There’s no time,” she whispered. “Here.”
Without giving him a chance to protest, she pulled him over to the closet and bundled them both inside. She pressed her winged back up against the wall and pulled GrandisKuwagamon’s back against her chest, pulling his pincer-adorned face down to give her enough room to slide the door closed.
“Pail-mm!” GrandisKuwagamon’s objections were silenced by Paildramon’s hand, and she brought her other arm around his chest to hold him in place. There was barely enough room for their statuesque bodies in the meter-wide closet, especially with their wings and the other contents of the closet filling up the space. Nevertheless, they were able to fit in without attracting attention.
“Shh,” she quietly hushed him. GrandisKuwagamon exhaled and obeyed, beginning to concentrate on keeping as quiet and stealthy as possible.
The pair went silent as they heard the clicking caused by the unlocking of the door. The door swung open, signalled by the soft whine of old hinges. The darkness of the room disappeared as the lights flickered on once again. The sound of footsteps and tank treads filled the office as the pair of mercenaries entered.
“Well, it doesn’t look like we got broken into while we were gone,” Blitzmon observed as he stepped into the office. “It looks the same as ever. Lucky for us.”
“Sure does,” Bolgmon agreed, rolling inside and moving his cannon arm to close the door behind him. “Guess thieves are smart enough to know what’ll happen to them if they steal from us. Hahah…”
At the mere sound of his former friends’ voices, GrandisKuwagamon became irrationally angry. His chest churned with fury, his blood boiled, and his muscles tightened. The wound was still fresh and open, the blood still hemorrhaging. He couldn’t forget their betrayal of him so easily. Their very voices served as a reminder, like needles to his chest that caused wrath to course through his veins. His mind became hot and his pincers twitched aggressively. Despite this raw and intense anger, he was able to keep himself under control.
“It’s still a mess. I need to clean up,” Blitzmon said, walking across the office to the desk. Paildramon and GrandisKuwagamon both became rigid as he passed in front of the closet, his shadow visible through the cracks. Fortunately for them, he didn’t open it.
Blitzmon began sorting through the desk papers and started organizing them. He placed his bag on the desk and pulled out a few more documents that he set beside the pile.
Bolgmon rolled over to the center of the room, stopping at the other side of the desk. “Should I check the mailbox for new job offers?” he suggested.
“Don’t bother, Bolgmon,” Blitzmon stated decisively. “With our contract still ongoing, we won’t have time for any other jobs. He says he’ll be getting more than enough money soon, so when he does, we’ll be set.”
GrandisKuwagamon couldn’t help but narrow his compound eye at this. So they were still continuing with their client’s contract after all… He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised, since both Blitzmon and Bolgmon were all for continuing with the lucrative contract, while he was the one sceptical about continuing. He quietly wondered if that was one of the reasons why they decided to use him as bait against the Royal Knights. Was it to get him out of the way so they could do what they want? These thoughts of doubt only fueled his anger.
Paildramon narrowed her eyes. She could feel the warm air of GrandisKuwagamon’s breaths increase against her palm. Sensing his anger, she held him tighter to prevent him from doing anything reckless.
“Hah, and with Grandis gone, that means more money for us!” Bolgmon exclaimed with an unabashed chortle.
These words ignited a fire inside of GrandisKuwagamon. His anger surged and began to numb his mind and overtake his commonsense. He began fighting against Paildramon’s hold, breathing hard as he tried to burst out of the closet. He was desperate to wipe the smile off of Bolgmon’s face.
Paildramon glowered and pulled GrandisKuwagamon back, keeping one arm around GrandisKuwagamon’s waist while moving the other arm underneath GrandisKuwagamon’s shoulder to keep him from reaching to open the door. It was difficult, but she held him back with all of her might. She moved her face close to his ear and whispered as lowly as she possibly could.
“Stop. Control yourself,” she whispered in but a breath. “Focus, GrandisKuwagamon.”
This seemed to bring GrandisKuwagamon to his senses. He knew she was right. He couldn’t let his emotions control him. He couldn’t succumb to anger. He couldn’t lose control…
GrandisKuwagamon’s bitter gaze softened and his crimson glow in his eye dulled. His harsh, furious breaths became deep and tranquil. He stopped resisting Paildramon’s hold and his muscles became relaxed and serene. He entered a nearly meditative state inside of himself. It was something that he often did when he wanted to center himself and control his body, mind, and emotions.
Paildramon closed her eyes and remained vigilant. She slowly raised her hip cannons past either side of GrandisKuwagamon’s body and pointed them at the closet door in case she needed to use them.
“…Shut up, Bolgmon,” Blitzmon bitterly said to the large tank Digimon. He looked up from the papers and gave him a cool look with his green eyes. “I’m not happy about what happened. GrandisKuwagamon was a good teammate and has been our friend since childhood. We were together ever since what happened… I only went along with your plan because our lives were on the line at that point and I knew that he could handle himself.”
“Tch, some friend he was. He was only out for himself; he didn’t care about us!” Bolgmon fired back. “We’re better off without him, Blitz.”
“So you say… So, we’re better without him… Tell me, Bolgmon, do you have access to void space? Can you teleport us from one place to another? Can you conceal our approach in a veil of mist?” Blitzmon countered pointedly. He stared at Bolgmon for his response, his eyes like daggers.
The mechanised insect failed to give one. He frowned, looking away with a mixture of stubborn defiance and chastised sheepishness. “Uh…”
“No, you can’t, genius. And thanks to your ill-conceived plan for petty revenge – and don’t try to deny that that’s what it was – we‘re down a useful member who was vitally important to our operations. He was our primary means for infiltration and exfiltration. You have resented him for several months recently, and you let your emotions and your ego get the better of you,” Blitzmon responded, his words cold, harsh and direct. “I’m tempted to try and smooth things over with him next time I see him – if we ever see him again, that is. Maybe I can convince him to come back with us... And you’ll be as contrite as I tell you to be if I do decide to. Is that understood?”
“Like hell, I will…” Bolgmon muttered under his breath, defiant, but not enough to argue with Blitzmon.
Blitzmon gave him a sharp look before he turned away to start sorting the papers into the file cabinet. “Doesn’t matter now. Make yourself useful for a change and make some coffee…” he said, gesturing to the table at the far right corner of the office where a pot, a coffee grinder, and a filter was.
As Bolgmon grumbled and rolled in front of the closet to reach the table, Paildramon glanced at GrandisKuwagamon. She wasn’t sure how Blitzmon’s words were affecting him. He had a soft, thoughtful frown on his face.
GrandisKuwagamon mulled over what Blitzmon had said. He wasn’t expecting that kind of remorse and regret from him. He had expected him to be cold and cynical about it – unrepentant like Bolgmon was. It frustrated him. He had a sick, twisting feeling in his stomach. He was still furious at them. He was especially angry at Bolgmon for orchestrating the whole thing, but he was also angry at Blitzmon for opting to save his own hide. However, Blitzmon’s anger and regret caused clouds of doubt to form inside of Grandis’ mind.
Should he be mad at them? Could he overlook what they did? Should he try to reconnect with them? Should he keep going with his current course of action? What would be best for him and what emotions should he listen to? GrandisKuwagamon sneered as he thought.
“Coffee’s boiling,” Bolgmon spoke up a minute later, having heated up the water using his cannon arms. He began steeping the ground coffee into the water. “So, when do you want to head out to the Gloaming Fields? Did he say when he wanted to meet us there?”
Both Paildramon and GrandisKuwagamon perked up at the mention of not only a destination, but a ‘he’. They continued remaining silent and listening intently.
“He said whenever was convenient over the next week. He and the Demon Lords will be staying there at least for the short term,” Blitzmon explained. “Let’s leave the day after tomorrow.”
“Works for me,” Bolgmon responded. “Some place in the Desolate Moors, specifically, right?”
“Yeah. You can find it, right?” Blitzmon asked him.
Bolgmon put a cup of coffee on the desk for Blitzmon to take. “Obviously. I know all the maps by heart,” he responded. “…So, what do you think of working for the Demon Lords? Never thought we’d be working for some religious nutjobs who tried to drop a whole Sky Colony.”
“’With’ the Demon Lords,” Blitzmon corrected. “They aren’t the ones paying us. As long as Bagramon keeps bankrolling us, I don’t care who we have to work with. The Demon Lords haven’t done anything to us, so it doesn’t matter to me.”
“Yeah, I guess not. Might even be fun. I hear some of them are pretty wild,” Bolgmon said with a sharp cackle. “Guess we’ll see if it’s possible for former angels to be fun or not.”
“Try to stay focused,” Blitzmon told him before downing the hot coffee in a few, quick gulps. He exhaled and placed the cup down before turning around and sliding the cabinet drawer shut. “Come on. I want to go by the shops before they close for the night. We need to buy a safe for the office now that our hideout’s gone. I want a double-locked one.”
“And you expect me to carry that ****, don’t you?” Bolgmon said with a groan.
“Yes. And I don’t want to hear a single complaint. It shouldn’t be a problem unless you’ve gotten weak,” Blitzmon goaded him, grabbing his bag from the desk and swinging it over his shoulder.
Bolgmon sighed and pivoted around, slowly driving by the closet where GrandisKuwagamon and Paildramon were hiding. “You’ve been busting my bolts all day…” he complained exasperatedly.
“Stop *****ing,” Blitzmon told him, walking around the desk. As Bolgmon opened the office door, Blitzmon turned and gazed at the closet.
The cobalt insect man frowned and approached the sliding closet door, tentatively raising his hand towards the handle. GrandisKuwagamon and Paildramon both froze. GrandisKuwagamon clenched his fist while Paildramon aimed her hip cannons in anticipation. They held their breath as he reached for the door.
Blitzmon hesitated, his hand stopping a few centimeters away from the door handle. He looked over at Bolgmon. “Do you think it’ll be cold tonight? I’m debating bringing a jacket,” he stated.
“It’ll be fine. It’s Dark Point. The sun’ll warm things up once it sets,” Bolgmon responded. “Don’t be a wuss and come on.”
Blitzmon looked back at the closet door, staring at the exact point where Paildramon and GrandisKuwagamon were hiding. His eyes narrowed slightly. After a few moments of deliberation, he retracted his hand. “…Fine,” he said, turning away. “Let’s go.”
Blitzmon walked over to Bolgmon and turned the office lights off. The pair of mercenaries opened the door and proceeded to leave the office. Blitzmon locked the door behind him and they made their way back down the hallway to the descending stairs.
GrandisKuwagamon and Paildramon remained in tense silence for awhile longer. They listened carefully to make sure the two mercenaries had left. They could hear Bolgmon’s engine slowly fading as the two azure bugs headed down the hallway. As soon as the dulcet hum of the engine dissipated, the two Digimon finally breathed the sighs that they had kept trapped in their lungs for what seemed like ages.
“Finally…” Paildramon whispered.
“Yeah…” GrandisKuwagamon agreed. He looked over his shoulder at her. “…So, P… I know I have a nice body, but are you ever gonna stop hugging me? I’d like to get out now,” he asked with a soft, ****-eating grin. “Unless… you’ve got a thing for almost getting caught?”
Paildramon levelled a cool, flat gaze with him and wordlessly released him from her arms. “Make sure it’s all clear,” she told him firmly.
GrandisKuwagamon slowly and cautiously opened the closet door and peered out into the office. It was dark, but he could see that there was nobody there. He exhaled and stepped out, prompting Paildramon to do the same.
Suddenly, there was a knocking on the office door that caused them to spin around.
“Paildramon! Grandis! It’s me!” Dorbickmon called in from the other side of the door. “Are you guys in there? You okay?”
“Yes, we’re here. We’re fine,” Paildramon told him. “We’ll go out the window. We’ll meet you outside in five minutes, okay? Be careful of Blitzmon and Bolgmon on the way down.”
“Yeah, got it. We’ll see you two down there,” Dorbickmon responded before walking off to get VictoryGreymon.
Paildramon frowned and looked at GrandisKuwagamon. “That was a fortuitous encounter…” she said, looking at him.
“Yeah…” GrandisKuwagamon agreed, walking over to the file cabinet. He took out of the most recent file that Blitzmon had just put in. He looked the sheet over carefully. “They listed the client as nameless. They did say Bagramon though, right?”
“That’s what I heard. Do you know him?” Paildramon asked him.
“Never heard of him. I guess that’s who’s been hiring us,” GrandisKuwagamon responded, putting the file back and closing the cabinet. He walked over to the window to the right of the central window and opened it. “Here. Ready to go?”
Paildramon nodded and climbed over the window sill, ducking under the raised window as she got into position. She leapt out into the evening air, just as the golden light of the setting sun began to shine horizontally across Dark Point. She flapped her draconic wings and hovered in place, waiting for GrandisKuwagamon to follow her.
GrandisKuwagamon climbed out of the window just large enough to fit his body. He started beating his insect wings rapidly to keep him aloft. Once hovering outside the window, he closed it behind him with a solid pull.
With both of their bodies now basked in the amber sunlight of the setting sun, they turned to look at each other. “Let’s go down and meet with the others,” Paildramon said to him, angling her body forwards and beginning to fly down towards the still dark streets.
“Yeah,” GrandisKuwagamon agreed, pitching forwards and flying down at a diagonal angle as well. “So, what next?”
“We should have enough information. We’ll let the others know what we found and then we can go back to the inn. We should stay the night and leave tomorrow morning,” she explained.
GrandisKuwagamon nodded and quietly flew alongside the dragon as they descended. He scanned the area below for signs of Blitzmon and Bolgmon. He didn’t know how he felt about them at that moment, but he knew that now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.
He just focused on what was in front of him and what he was able to do. Right now, that was meeting up with the others and completing their mission.
-
Twenty minutes passed since the investigation team met up at their assigned meeting place. They managed to evade Blitzmon and Bolgmon, and they proceeded to wait for a short while before venturing out onto the streets. Once comfortable that it was safe to go out, the four began walking down commercial side streets that were less busy than the main streets. These streets often contained bars, food shops, and other retail stores. They continued following these streets back towards the inn that they were staying at.
The darkness of the night lingered in the sky immediately overhead, with a pair of crescent moons looming large in the starry sky. The sun continued to dip over the western horizon, shining a deep, pink and orange light across Dark Point’s harbour. Although night encroached from the east, the buildings around them were all graced with warm, golden highlights.
VictoryGreymon led the way down the dimly lit street, with only the soft, receding rays of light as a guide. In his left hand was the massive Dramon Breaker, which he let rest on his left shoulder. In his right hand was an extra large kebab of spiced meat on a skewer, with yoghurt and spicy chili sauces drizzled over the top of it. He ate his dinner hungrily and happily. “Mmm! Who would have thought you could get Mesozoic Kingdom cuisine up here!?” he exclaimed with a broad smile, his taste buds and stomach satisfied. “I love trying exotic foods!”
GrandisKuwagamon picked his teeth with a wooden skewer as he walked behind VictoryGreymon, at a casual pace with Paildramon and Dorbickmon. “We’re having an Adult-level conversation here, V,” he sarcastically said.
“Oh, sorry,” VictoryGreymon responded, innocently looking over his shoulder at them as he took another bite of meat and nommed on it.
“So… who the hell is Bagramon?” Dorbickmon asked between chews of a large shank of barbequed meat in his hand. “I never heard of him.”
“Neither have GrandisKuwagamon and I,” Paildramon replied. She took a bite of her own meat kebab and looked forward at VictoryGreymon. “Have you, VictoryGreymon?” she asked, swallowing before questioning him.
“Yeah, as if the team meathead is going to know,” GrandisKuwagamon sardonically proposed, grinning ahead at VictoryGreymon.
VictoryGreymon frowned and looked upwards, looking pensive. “Hmm… Actually…” he pondered aloud. “Bagramon… Oh, isn’t he one of the fallen angel Digimon who rebelled against the Three Great Angels during the Heavenly War? Yeah, I’m pretty sure he helped the Seven Great Demon Lords… He was the Archangel of Death, I think,” he offered up with innocent nonchalance. “…Right?”
The three Digimon behind him all stared at him with shock, a piece of meat even falling out of Dorbickmon’s incredulously-open mouth. GrandisKuwagamon tilted his head and stared at VictoryGreymon with a disbelieving stare. “…Are you serious?” he deadpanned. “How the hell do you know that…?”
“Huh?” VictoryGreymon responded, still looking over his shoulder as he walked down the sidewalk. “Oh, I read all about the Heavenly War! It was the first conflict where the Royal Knights and the Warrior Ten teamed up together! I definitely read about it; it was such an important war since it ended with the Night of Falling Stars,” he explained animatedly.
Paildramon smirked victoriously at GrandisKuwagamon and walked forwards. “Thank you, VictoryGreymon. You have a good head for Royal Knight-based history,” she responded appreciatively.
“Haha! Wow, I do? Thanks!” VictoryGreymon exclaimed, his cheeks blushing and rubbing his right palm against the back of his head, inadvertently getting some dripping yoghurt sauce in his red hair. “Nobody ever told me that I had a good head for anything before. Oh, except for ramming stuff.”
GrandisKuwagamon palmed his face. “I don’t believe this…” he muttered, stunned that he was proved wrong despite all reasonable logic.
“Actually, I remember hearing something else about Bagramon too,” VictoryGreymon mused, bringing his half-eaten kebab stick to his lip as if he was stroking his chin. “I heard that Bagramon is DarkKnightmon’s brother…” VictoryGreymon’s eyes suddenly widened and his face turned bright red. He looked at Dorbickmon with guilt and wondered if he made a huge faux-pas. “Oh, uh… Sorry, I…”
Dorbickmon grinned a bit at VictoryGreymon. “It’s fine, Vic… We worked together, yeah, but we weren’t exactly best buddies… In fact, we turned on each other in the end…” he remembered. His scaly brows dipped into a frown. “DarkKnightmon, huh? …Where did you hear that? He never mentioned a brother to me.”
“I don’t know for sure…” VictoryGreymon made sure to clarify, still looking over his shoulder as he walked down the sidewalk. He was approaching grotty bar where raucous yells and cheers could be heard all the way out on the street. “It was just a rumour I heard, so I don’t—“
“Look out, VictoryGreymon!” Paildramon called out to him.
Not looking where he was going in the slightest, VictoryGreymon spun his head around too late. He crashed into a tall, lanky body of crimson bone. “Gah!” VictoryGreymon sputtered, stumbling clumsily further into the SkullSatamon who was leading a group out of the noisy bar and onto the sidewalk.
“And then—HEY!” the undead Digimon shouted as he was greeted by a mass of dragon muscle. He ended up stumbling back into the tavern wall and spilling his beer all over his body, soaking his loincloth and his leather pants. To add insult to injury, VictoryGreymon’s half-finished kebab flew into the air and landed on the SkullSatamon’s black, skull-like face.
VictoryGreymon managed to catch himself and stepped back. He looked up and saw the furious, murderous gleam in the SkullSatamon’s hollow eyes, further accentuated by the yogurt and chili sauce dripping down his undead face.
“Oh, um… sorry!” VictoryGreymon nervously stammered, instinctively raising his hands up. “Really sorry! Here, I’ll see if my friends have a napkin—“ He turned abruptly to the left to face his three teammates, but as he did, he forgot that he was still holding his sword against his left shoulder. As he did a one eighty spin, the Dramon Breaker came wheeling around and the blunt end of the sword whammed into the side of the SkullSatamon’s head.
After receiving a painful clonk from the giant piece of metal, the SkullSatamon stumbled into his group of demon friends, who were crowded in the bar’s doorway upon trying to leave. The SkullSatamon made an unearthly hiss as he was caught by the NeoDevimon behind him. Wincing from the throbbing in his skull, the undead demon stood to his feet and glared bloody murder at VictoryGreymon.
“Oh, you are dead, lizard…” he promised him, his voice raspy and scathing. He rubbed his head and glanced behind him, into the bar. “Gang…?”
The SkullSatamon summoned his gnarled, wooden staff and stepped out onto the sidewalk. Following him outside were more than just the handful of Digimon that stood in the door. Twenty demon and undead Digimon came pouring out of bar, lining up imposingly on the whole street. They all glared daggers at not just VictoryGreymon, but Dorbickmon, Paildramon, and GrandisKuwagamon too, as if they were a rival gang who stepped onto their turf.
Among their ranks were numbers of Adult and Perfect level Demon and Undead Digimon. This included Devimon, Boogiemon, NeoDevimon, DeathMeramon, Mephismon, Phelesmon, Bakemon, Astamon, and LadyDevimon.
Upon hearing the countless footsteps behind him, VictoryGreymon tensed up and slowly looked over his shoulder with wide, green eyes. He started sweating profusely at the sight of all the demon and undead Digimon baying for his blood. The hapless Greymon offered the only reprieve that he could. “Uh… I’m really sorry…!” he offered, smiling sheepishly. Sensing their violent intent, he started creeping forwards, back towards his friends. “We’ll just… get out of your way… and you can go back to enjoying your night…”
GrandisKuwagamon glared at VictoryGreymon and the demons behind him. “Idiot! They’re the Dark Area demons… Nightmare Soldiers…” he hissed, taking a step backwards and clenching his fists.
“Heh… Looks like we’re in for a fight…” Dorbickmon mused, cracking his knuckles and smirking as his adrenaline began to pump.
“There’s too many of them…” Paildramon pointed out, narrowing her eyes and also retreating a step. She raised her guns towards the group. “We can’t fight that many, Dorbickmon.”
“Even if they’re lower levels, I can’t fight that many without my abilities,” GrandisKuwagamon agreed, sneering at the situation. “I told you this inhibitor virus was a bad idea. Damn it…”
VictoryGreymon made his way over to his three teammates and turned around nervously holding his sword in front of him and taking a defensive posture. “We really don’t want to fight…” he beseeched in a desperate attempt to mediate with the demons.
“What do you want us to do to them, Viscount?” a NeoDevimon asked the SkullSatamon.
“Make them suffer a bit…” the SkullSatamon ordered, glowering and raising his staff towards the four. “Attack! Nail Bone!” He slammed the head of his staff into the ground and sent out a streak of blood red light that cut across the road, cutting between GrandisKuwagamon and Dorbickmon.
Paildramon glared as she watched the twenty demons surge towards them. “Run!” Paildramon ordered as energy surged down the barrels of her hip cannons. “Hurry! Desperado Blaster!”
With those words, she began firing from the two machine guns attached to her hips. Rapid fire beam bullets slammed into the ground in front of the demons, suppressing them with the ricochet blasts.
“Damn it!” Dorbickmon snarled fierily, not wanting to turn tail without at least a bit of a fight. He raised his reptilian arm and summoned the Tyrant Collbrande in a devastating burst of sweltering flames. “Burning the Dragon!”
He stabbed his sword into the middle of the street and sent powerful tremors down the length of the street, causing several of the demon Digimon to lose balance and topple over. Suddenly, the flames of his sword ignited and a giant block of rock suddenly pierced through the ranks of the demons, sending three of them flying ten feet into the air.
“Okay, go! Dragon Breath Tonic Fire!” Dorbickmon yelled. The flame symbols on his pectoral muscles burned with fiery energy before exploding in two, powerful streams of scorching flames.
The dual jets of fire slammed into the middle of the road where the demons were. A small, concentrated explosion erupted between the demons that shook the windows of the pub and lit up the dark street like a flare.
“Run!” Dorbickmon yelled, turning around and bolting up the road.
“I don’t think so!” the SkullSatamon ordered, pointing with his staff. “Chase them down and break them! Nail Bone!” He fired another beam from his demonic staff towards the group.
VictoryGreymon grunted and stepped forwards. He raised the three-bladed Dramon Breaker horizontally in front of his body. Suddenly, the two outer blades snapped outwards at forty five degree angles, and the v-shaped crossguard bent backwards to ninety degree angles. He held the transformative sword in front of him with the blunt face of the blade outwards, towards the coming attack. “Victory Charge!” he shouted, suddenly creating a giant, three dimensional, hexagonal energy barrier from the three tips of the sword.
The fiery, crimson beam slammed into the barrier dead-center. VictoryGreymon dug his feet into the ground, bracing against the attack. The shield held firm, causing the attack to deflect off and end up shooting in front of the gathered demons, creating a powerful explosion that sent them staggering back.
“GrandisKuwagamon, VictoryGreymon, let’s go!” Paildramon shouted, firing off another burst from her guns. She spun around and dashed after Dorbickmon.
“G-Got it!” VictoryGreymon shouted, making the blades of the Dramon Breaker snap back to their original, parallel position. He began running after them as fast as his brawny body would allow.
GrandisKuwagamon sneered and turned around too, feeling useless in this situation without his weapons. As much as he was itching to fight, he supposed the only thing he could do was retreat. “Damn it…” he hissed, sprinting up the street after the others. He quickly outpaced VictoryGreymon and began to beat his wings in preparation for flight.
VictoryGreymon grimaced and ran as fast as he could to catch up with the others. He was the slowest of the group, even without the fact that he wore heavy plate armour and a carried a massive claymore. He looked over his shoulder and saw the demons burst through the dust and smoke, swarming after him. He felt fear tug at his heart when he saw all of demon Digimon closing in on him. He looked forwards and saw his three companions outpacing him, and they were getting further away. He began to get desperate.
“Deep Sorrow!” a NeoDevimon shouted, flying high into the night sky. He flapped his crimson wings and unleashed black gale winds down around VictoryGreymon, sending small cracks into the street around him.
“Gah!” VictoryGreymon hollered, the winds against his back causing him to stumble and trip over his own legs. His toe claws caught one of the cracks in the street and he came crashing down on the ground. He slammed into the pavement with a loud clamour and his arms, chest and cheek stung from the impact. He lay on the ground, his body shaken up by the sudden fall. “Ugh…!” He turned around and saw the demon Digimon rushing towards him.
GrandisKuwagamon, the one furthest behind Dorbickmon, heard VictoryGreymon’s shout and the clatter of armour. He turned around and saw VictoryGreymon lying flat on the ground, his sword lying a meter in front of him. The mercenary spotted the demon Digimon running towards him. They were closing in on him.
GrandisKuwagamon grimaced. He debated what he should do. He could go and help him, or he could leave VictoryGreymon there. He considered just leaving the hapless dragon. He was the idiot who got the demons angry in the first place, after all. He would just be getting what he deserved, and using VictoryGreymon as a scapegoat would get the demons off of the rest of their backs.
The insect thought about it. There was also the fact that if GrandisKuwagamon got too far away from Paildramon by trying to help VictoryGreymon, he would get electrocuted. His paralyzed body would be left at the demons’ mercy to do what they pleased with. If he stayed, he would just be putting himself in the same situation as VictoryGreymon. Why would he grab someone who was drowning only to be pulled down as well? There was no real logical reason for him to help VictoryGreymon.
So, GrandisKuwagamon turned around and prepared to continue running after Paildramon and Dorbickmon, who hadn’t noticed VictoryGreymon fall yet. They didn’t need to know that he saw VictoryGreymon fall. He beat his wings and bent his legs, preparing to push off the ground…
…But he stalled.
Something was niggling at his insides…
GrandisKuwagamon turned his head and looked over his shoulder. He saw VictoryGreymon trying desperately to get up, but finding himself unable to do it quickly enough. He could see the swath of cackling demons descending on VictoryGreymon, only several meters away from him now. He could see the fear and desperation in VictoryGreymon’s eyes…
What would he be if he left him to his torturous fate? He’d just be scapegoating VictoryGreymon to save himself. He’d be no better than what Blitzmon and Bolgmon, and what they did to him. And then there was that other thing…
He clenched his fists and kept staring at VictoryGreymon. VictoryGreymon spotted GrandisKuwagamon, his wide, vulnerable eyes wordlessly asking him for help. GrandisKuwagamon’s eye locked with his. He began to look away and pretend he hadn’t seen him.
But…
“…Damn it!” GrandisKuwagamon shouted, spinning around and charging back towards VictoryGreymon. “Paildramon! Cover me and VictoryGreymon! He’s down!”
At this, Paildramon came to sudden halt and spun around to see what he meant. To her horror, she saw that VictoryGreymon had fallen far behind, and was on his hands and knees, recovering from a fall. “VictoryGreymon!” she exclaimed. Thinking quickly, she looked at Dorbickmon. “Dorbickmon! Suppressing fire! Desperado Blaster!”
Dorbickmon stopped and pivoted, snarling as he realised the situation. “****! Dragon Breath Tonic Fire!” he roared, firing a pair of fiery torrents from his chest.
The beam bullets and swaths of flames tore down the dark street and slammed into the ground in between the VictoryGreymon and the charging demon gang. The pavement erupted with fire, beam bursts, and fragments of cement, providing GrandisKuwagamon with the sufficient cover that he needed to get in close.
GrandisKuwagamon sprinted over to VictoryGreymon and came to a sliding stop beside him. He felt the heat of the flames behind him, but he focused. He moved quickly, lugging VictoryGreymon’s hefty arm over his shoulders and helping him stand to his feet.
VictoryGreymon pulled the Dramon Breaker up and stood on shaky feet. He looked at GrandisKuwagamon with a nervous but grateful smile. “Th-Thank you, Grandis…” he murmured with heartfelt appreciation.
“Forget it. Come on, we’re flying,” GrandisKuwagamon hurriedly told him. He started beating his x-shaped insect wings and began flying into the air. After the initial lodestone of VictoryGreymon’s weight holding him down, he was relieved to feel VictoryGreymon fly on his own and carry his own weight.
The black mercenary began lugging VictoryGreymon through the air along with him to speed their escape. As he flew up the umbrous street, GrandisKuwagamon hazarded a glance over his shoulder. He saw Viscount SkullSatamon and the demons racing after them. A few attacks whizzed by them, just narrowly missing them and embedding themselves in the streets.
He grunted and looked ahead at Paildramon and Dorbickmon. “Hey, Dorbickmon! How about a wall or something! Just leave it to the Digmon to deal with!” he called out, flying as fast as he could.
“Coming right up!” Dorbickmon announced, swinging the infernal Tyrant Collbrande over his head before plunging it into the ground. “Burning the Dragon!”
A massive wall of rock suddenly burst out of the street and raised itself twenty feet into the air. The rock barrier came up behind GrandisKuwagamon and VictoryGreymon, but ahead of the pursuing demon Digimon. The stone wall took up the entire street from building to building. The only way past was over it or through it, slowing the demons down considerably.
GrandisKuwagamon took the reprieve to land beside Paildramon and Dorbickmon with VictoryGreymon at his side.
“We’re leaving Dark Point now,” Paildramon swiftly said, panting and watching the stone wall cautiously. “We’ve drawn too much attention to ourselves.”
“I’m sorry…” VictoryGreymon apologised shame-facedly, rubbing the side of his neck.
“It’s fine. We got what we came for anyways,” Paildramon assured him. “But we should leave quickly before the authorities show up.”
“Let’s go. I know the quickest way out from here,” Dorbickmon agreed, swiping his arm out and extinguishing the Tyrant Collbrande in a cascade of whimpering embers. “Come on!”
As Dorbickmon took off up the street, the other three ran after him. “Won’t argue with that…” GrandisKuwagamon muttered, bringing up the rear.
The sun set in the western horizon and shadows of the night overtook the city. The investigation team of four shook off their pursuers and escaped down the curving, intertwining roads of the city. Like shadows in the night, they evaded notice and slipped out of the city under the cover of darkness.
The covert team left Dark Point behind them and melded back into the night.
-
The team of four, exhausted, emerged out of the eastern side of Analog Forest. They stumbled upon the place that they used as a campsite the night before. They recognised the log that they used as a bench and the fire pit full of charred pieces of wood and ashes. The darkness of the campsite was dimly illuminated by a TV that was embedded inside a tree trunk.
The group stopped around the campsite to catch their breath. Paildramon sighed and looked at her three teammates. “Let’s take a quick break…” she suggested between heavy breaths. The other three obliged, leaning against the large trees around them. “What do you think? Should we stay here for the night?”
“They wouldn’t chase us this far, right…?” VictoryGreymon asked, looking back into the forest.
“Nah…” GrandisKuwagamon responded. “Let’s keep going. I don’t really feel like waiting around.”
“Yeah, let’s stick it out,” Dorbickmon agreed. “We can stay at an inn in Falconhead once we get there. It beats sleeping on the ground again.”
Paildramon nodded. “Alright…” she concurred, standing up straight and stretching her stiff muscles.
GrandisKuwagamon caught his breath and remained leaning against the tree. He gazed over at Paildramon contemplatively. He glanced away, a slight frown on his face.
Finally, the dark insect man grunted and stood up from the trunk. He strode over to Paildramon and stopped in front of her. “Uh… Hey. Have a minute?” he asked, folding his arms.
Paildramon’s ruby eyes shifted over to meet him. “Huh? Sure,” she obliged him, walking a few steps over to the side of the campsite.
GrandisKuwagamon walked with her and raised his hand to rub his black fingers through his orange hair. “So… Uh…” he began, his voice uncharacteristically apprehensive. He lowered his arm and grunted, looking away from the dragon Digimon. “Thanks…” he managed to choke out.
Paildramon blinked and cocked her eyebrow. “Pardon? For what?” she asked, both unsure what he was referring to and surprised to actually hear him thank anybody.
“You know… for stopping me,” he clarified sheepishly. “When I wanted to beat the **** out of Bolgmon and Blitzmon.”
“Oh, that… You’re welcome. It wouldn’t exactly have been smart for me to let you do that,” she responded.
GrandisKuwagamon grunted and folded his black arms across his carapace. “Still… I should’ve had more self-control,” he explained bitterly. “That doesn’t normally happen to me.”
“We all have moments like that…” Paildramon assured him. She gazed at him studiously. “GrandisKuwagamon… About what Blitzmon said…”
GrandisKuwagamon’s crimson, compound eye trailed down to the ground as he thought about it. “You mean about him wanting to reconcile?” he asked. He gazed into the dark of the forest. “…Part of me was tempted, I admit. It’d be easiest to go back to them after I’m free, even with Bolgmon there, hating my guts. We have a lot of history. We go way back and we know how each other works. …But… I don’t think I can go back to them again. I can’t trust them again. Dunno if I can even forgive them.” He looked up at Paildramon and grinned informally. “So, you can relax. You don’t have to worry about me trying anything shady…”
Paildramon stared at him and nodded. “Good…” she responded. “Although, on a personal level… I’m sorry that you can’t reconcile with your friends.”
GrandisKuwagamon exhaled before looking at her and putting on a smirk. “You have a ‘personal level’? That’s news to me,” he teased her. “I thought you were in professional mode non-stop.”
“Heh,” Paildramon managed a chuckle, grinning. Her gaze drifted away from GrandisKuwagamon and she stared past him, at something behind him.
GrandisKuwagamon turned to see VictoryGreymon walking over to him. Plastered onto VictoryGreymon’s snout was a big, gracious smile from ear to ear.
VictoryGreymon stopped in front of him. “Um, Grandis…” he began, his deep voice tender and a bit awkward. “I wanted to say… Thank you for rescuing me!” he exclaimed, rushing forwards and pulling GrandisKuwagamon into a big, warm, crushing hug.
GrandisKuwagamon’s body tensed and his legs and wings twitched as he was lifted off of his feet. He felt a few cracks in his body. “Ugh… V… Let me… go!” he wheezed, arching his back and squirming in his grip.
“Oh… sorry,” VictoryGreymon said, softening his hug before letting him go a few moments later.
GrandisKuwagamon dropped to the ground, brushing his carapace off. “You are so lucky I can’t use my pincers…” he warned him.
“Seriously, thanks though…” VictoryGreymon said to him, smiling sweetly. “You really went out of your way for me…”
Dorbickmon wandered over, gazing at GrandisKuwagamon with a broad, ****-eating grin. “Yeah, look at you. Mister Hero…” he teased. “Who would’ve thought that the bug was capable of helping somebody other than himself? I’m actually impressed.”
GrandisKuwagamon glared at them, his cheeks burning slightly. He folded his arms and turned his back to VictoryGreymon indignantly. “Tch… Don’t get used to it, lizard. I’m not bailing your *** out every time you do something stupid like piss off violent demons or trip over wind. You’re on your own next time,” he explained to him standoffishly.
“I know. I won’t,” VictoryGreymon assured him with a smile. “You’re definitely the hero of the day, though. Maybe you could even join the Order at this rate! Haha.”
Dorbickmon and Paildramon both chuckled. GrandisKuwagamon turned and shot them both a glare. “And you two are free to shut up…” he told them, although with a trace of a self-aware grin on his lips.
After a moment, GrandisKuwagamon sighed and scratched the back of his head. “So, can we get going already?” he asked them, trying to temper his smirk. “There’s no point hanging around.”
“Sure,” Paildramon agreed, starting to walk. “The sooner we get to Falconhead, the sooner we can rest. We deserve one, after all the hard work that we did.”
“I’m gonna need a huge breakfast tomorrow morning,” Dorbickmon mused as he began walking alongside Paildramon.
VictoryGreymon smiled at GrandisKuwagamon before shouldering the Dramon Breaker and following them as well.
GrandisKuwagamon didn’t immediately follow them. His grin faded and he looked over his shoulder, back towards Dark Point. He turned his gaze down to his bare, ebony hand, which he closed into a tight fist.
Rather than contemplating, the insect mercenary followed after his team. They weren’t Black Pincer Company, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that... His crimson eye frowned softly and he followed the three Digimon. He tried to put aside his feelings of uncertainty. There wasn’t much else he could do about it anyways.
With that, the four Digimon continued their long journey back to Castle Albion…