'How the hell am I supposed to know what to do.' Kaji kept his thoughts to himself before the other boy, TK, seemingly brushed off the fact that his question was ignored as he went off after his partner past the large group of black metallic beetles. It was an apt question though, food was going to be a serious issue, and with the puddles of black goo and ruined landscape it was going to be scarce, particularly since the creatures around them didn't seem edible.
Though ultimately if their designated driver refused to share what little they did have, between both Kaji and the hothead they could easily force the issue, weird force fields or no. And when push came to shove if a few more of the others could grab a partner...
The black metal glinted with the little light that filtered in from the few holes in the roof of the building they'd hidden in. It didn't seem particularly special otherwise, but if it negated their being tracked it clearly would have uses. 'Then again if it negates our ability to see them that could easily cause all sorts of issues.'
Slowly the boy's arm clasped the metal piece between his fingers, before he found it snatched away by the strange wolf like creature.
"Sorry, but I'd prefer if you didn't mess with this." It said, before replacing it on the ground.
"What is it?" Kaji asked. He briefly entertained the thought of sitting on the ground to settle his nerves from the bus ride, but the thought of the other two still out there kept him upright. They couldn't stay long.
"Obsidian Digizoid." It said, before giving a brief laugh at the face Kaji made at the name. "I came across it a long time ago, and kept it with me since. Came in handy once the attacks started coming, I learned rather fast that I couldn't be detected by those guys as long as I had it on me."
'Lovely, we're not the only ones with these then.' Kaji glanced at the still static sonar screen, before taking a look around at the others. The biggest of the monsters seemed to settle around in an area about twenty feet around the piece of metal, while the smaller ones seemed to move about more freely. Saishi and Shin seemed to have attracted the attention of two of the more unique creatures among the group, while Ryan seemed to prefer being near his bus as a handful of metal capped fuzzy creatures and a dozen or so metal mice swarmed around it. TK and Sho had gone off into a discussion with the partnered Monodramon off near a set of pink blobs with wings, while the ever assaulted Hachi was receiving the rather innocent attention of some of the weird floating slimes that seemed to enjoy snuggling up against her, along with the bigger pink blobs with long antenna like ears that were nudging her legs.
The boy noted it as first time he'd seen her not get assaulted by something, though given the stare the lone partly hatched chick carrying a sword was giving her, that probably wouldn't last long. His gaze drifted to a few of the numerous floating slimes flitting about the area through the four giant bees hovering above them. After a moment he suddenly noticing they seemed to drift throughout the whole area of the building with no rhyme or reason. "Isn't that dangerous? What happens if they drift outside the range of that metal?"
"Poyomon are babies." The purple wolf said, before clarifying. "Since they don't have a lot of power their presence is small enough that even up close your digivices won't detect them. They aren't good for fights, but it makes spying a hell of a lot easier, particularly since they're so small and partly see-through."
"Don't they have names?" The cosplayer suddenly pipped in, between another one snuggling against her cheek, still blissfully unaware of the sharp look she was being given from behind. "Or are they all just called Poyomon?"
In response to her comment, all the creatures around here seemed to turn and stare at her as if she said the strangest thing in the world. Particularly disconcerting was the wide eyed stares of the small brown eyebrowed baby birds, which caused the poor girl to shrink back in herself.
"They don't need to." The wolf spoke up again, settling itself on a rock next to the black metal. "If you call out to one they'll know."
'That doesn't begin to make sense.' Kaji thought. Hachi looked a little unsure, before calling out to one.
"Poyomon?" She asked tentatively. The one floating near her head seemed to jiggle with delight before snuggling against her again.
Intrigued, Kaji spoke. "Poyomon." Two of the little slimes floating around jerked to a stop above the several red mammals with feathery tails. Both glanced at him for a moment, before frowning and floating away from his sharp glance. Kaji ignored it. "Okay, I guess they can tell then."
TK and Sho seemed intrigued by the sudden revelation as they made their way back with Monodramon past the collection of weird red penguins waddling around them. Both Saishu and Shin steadily moved past the idle group of strange looking clawed birds with green wings the wide eyed babies seemed to flock around, heading for Ryan and the bus while noticeably followed entirely too closely by two of the monsters. "More partners then...?" Kaji muttered to himself.
"You'll each probably want to get one soon, you won't survive long without them." The creature spoke up. The boy glanced at him, suddenly realizing the wolf thing looked agitated, steadily gripping his claws tightly and tapping against the rock with his foot. 'Waiting for something? I guess that's why we're all just standing around then.'
The creature glanced at him, suddenly becoming aware of the stare. "I didn't mean me by the way."
Kaji blinked, confused, before he ran over the conversation in his head again. "Not interested honestly." He responded.
The purple wolf grinned as it flexed its claws again. "You sure? I'm pretty strong."
"So? You've got your hands full with these guys." Kaji gestured to the assortment of creatures surrounding them. "I don't need that kind of partner."
"Ho." The wolf said, mockingly. "Then what kind of partner do you need?"
"Someone useful." He said, not missing a beat.
The purple creature's eyes narrowed, but before he could say anything, handful of yet more of the Poyomon suddenly filtered in from one of the holes in the roof of the building.
"Strabimon! Coredramon was just out there, but he suddenly turned around and left!" They said, flitting about worriedly.
The purple wolf, Strabimon, let out an annoyed glare. "Which one was it?" he asked immediately.
"Blue!" They responded.
A strangled growl escaped him as picked up the black metal from the ground before turning to groups surrounding him. "It's her, change of plans. We've got to head them off before they get to the docks." He turned to address the group of Poyomon directly. "Go and tell the other group we don't need them to send us the message anymore. Since Coredramon went back she's probably focusing on getting out fast."
"What's going on?" Saishu started as the Poyomon group left, before the Strabimon turned to Ryan instead.
"We're probably going to need this thing to get there quicker. Falcomon are fast and the Kokuwamon and the Funbeemon can at least fly, but Elecmon and Muchomon won't get there before they cross the bridge." The purple wolf let out a groan. "This is why I wanted to force a confrontation on the docks, but if it's her she'd focus on getting the captured there first before attempting to overwhelm us."
Ryan gave a quick thumbs up, despite clearly not understanding all of what he meant. "All aboard then."
"Good." The wolf replied, before turning to the collected group again. "Falcomon, go ahead of us. Hit and run, try to scatter them away from the captured group. Avoid direct confrontations with any of the adults she brought along, and try to make sure they don't cross the bridge. Especially avoid direct contact with Coredramon. We won't be far behind." Once he finished, the half dozen or so clawed birds sudden bolted off far more than their frames gave them credit for.
"All other child levels get on, you humans too if you're up to it." Strabimon gave a quick look over TK and Monodramon, before turning his gaze over to Saishu and Shin. Finally his eyes ended on their new partners. "Though you three especially have to come. Right now you're our trump cards."
The group of roughly 20 filed into the bus quickly as Strabimon went over his last orders. "You lot will be fine as is. You should be able to be detected till you hit child, so make sure to stay safe." He gave a small smile as the last of the group entered the bus, followed by the group of humans.
"We'll be back as soon as we can." He said, gripping the black metal tightly before finally entering himself as Ryan closed the door and they set off.
~*~
"Wait, so what's going on" Saishu repeated, pushing his new partner aside a bit into the pile of Elecmon crammed next to them.
"The group that was captured earlier were taken by one of the Dark Chosen."
Kaji suddenly perked up, pushing aside one of the giant bees which decided to float right in front of his face. "The who?"
"A bunch of humans with partners like you, only they've been the ones behind wrecking the place." Strabimon covered his ears as Saishu's partner gave a yell of righteous fury before the little chick continued for him.
"They're made up of ten members after the great sins." He said darkly, gripping the hilt of his sword awkwardly behind the eggshell that still remained on his lower half. "The one who was partnered to the blue Coredramon was given the aspect of Greed."
"I thought there was seven sin-"
"That's irrelevant." Strabimon continued. "What matters here is that while Greed isn't the strongest of the Dark Chosen, she's smart. She'll see the Falcomon we sent ahead coming and will be prepared for it. We need to get in fast and make sure she doesn't get the captured group into the docks."
"What's so important about the docks?"
"The transportation the Dark Chosen use can't take much beyond digimon directly under their control just anywhere. To corrupt them they have to get the to the docks to take them directly." One of the Funbeemon chimed in. "That's the only reason we've managed to figure why they don't just take those they've captured away with them the moment they caught them." It said, a hint of sadness in its voice.
"Basically if we manage to get them to escape before they get there, we win." Strabimon continued. "Unfortunately Greed's going to be entirely aware of that and is fully prepared to keep that from happening. The Falcomon I sent ahead should be fast enough to buy us a few moments so long as they aren't led into a direct fight, but if she sends her partner things could get ugly real fast."
The chick, Hyokomon, gave a small grimace at the comment. The purple wolf gave the small creature a quick pat. "Knowing her she might keep her partner skyward to see us coming though. So long as we get there fast it won't matter either way, we only really need to hold them off for a few minutes. From what the Poyomon reported before you guys showed up, she has Four adults supporting her, which normally would be an issue but with the Elecmon supporting the Kokuwamon we have a good chance of being able pull it off."
He turned to the three partnered tamers before giving a soft grin. "And of course with you three we might even be able to defeat her."
"What about the other two we saw on the scanners though?" Shin asked.
Strabimon turned to him. "You'll be able to see as soon as we arrive. I'll be first out, the Muchomon will cover me as the Elecmon and Kokuwamon start our main offensive, while the Falcomon hopefully take care of the captured. Once I'm clear, your digivices should work normally."
He paused a moment, before turning to each of them with a serious expression. "If things go sour, no matter what, do not engage in direct combat with Greed. Focus on escaping in this thing." Strabimon said, staring at each of them in turn. "I can't allow any of you to die here, no matter what."
Kaji grimaced slightly. 'So death is pretty likely then.'
"Sorry to interrupt the stirring pep talk, but we've got the enemy forces at 12 o' clock." Ryan suddenly pipped up from the front.
"Get ready, stick to the plan!" Stabimon yelled as he scanned the window. The quick flashes of green told him the Falcomon were still alive, at least for now. "Can this thing go any faster." He asked Ryan.
"Possibly, but I'm not sure if I can-"
"Do it."
~*~
When the bus came flying off the edge of an overturned building and sailing over the squad of PawnChessmon, it was only natural that it rammed so hard into the group of Hagurumon that two of them were deleted before they even hit the ground.
The careening bus managed to force itself to stop a few moments later, just barely keeping from tipping over as the remaining four it the ground hard. The door to the bus opened before they could even bother to struggle themselves upright, leaving them with barely even a chance to blink before the attacks came.
"Licht Nagel!"
"Gear Stinger!"
With the sudden combined assault from the five attacks, another two of the gear like creatures burst into data.
"Move! Stick to the plan, let's head them off." The Strabimon yelled back to the rest of the group of digimon now filing out of the bus as he jumped into the fray.
