Digimon Inheritance: A Heroic Lion's Turbulent Times (Finished)

[] Stick to lessons imparted by mayor MasterTyrannomon. Attempt to keep him from striking any vital while trying to induce a trade.



==Next is Verge's POV

Battling a speedy opponent such as this isn't particularly new, far from it. And whilst there are a variety of tactics available for dealing with them, you decide to stick to the tried and true methods imparted by MasterTyrannomon. Using a spell to provide assistance would be the most practical choice, but here and now that doesn't matter. You're going to fight this WereGarurumon as a martial artist, not only for the challenge itself, but the struggle that will assuredly force you to grow.

Obtaining the right frame of mind for your true style of combat is a balancing act. It requires dealing with with excitement, stress, wrath, worry… and more recently the revelations regarding your family that really makes you wants to hit something.

Which is where the mantra comes in. Most of it had come from a long-buried memory, one that had only come to the forefront with your evolution to Gryzmon. The first part, a calm *heart*; not bereft of passions such as wrath or desire, but in control of their power. And the second, a focused mind; sharpening your attention a razor sharp edge for true excellence in battle. However the last section was new, a truth only realized in in this life.

Calm heart. Clear mind. My Claws Are Heavy.

You take a single breath and ready an intercepting strike against the incoming champion, intent on using your superior reach to get the better of a clash. But the WereGarurumon changes course a nanosecond before impact, pushing off the air with one hand and slipping outside your guard. His claws slice a shallow furrow down the length of your right forelimb, a minor wound, but it makes his change in tactics clear.

With gritted teeth you snap the limb out, but your opponent merely ducks underneath the backhand and kicks off the empty space to reach your unguarded side. Another series of gashes appear on your torso as he flashes past and is immediately followed by shooting pain from your back. The speedy Ultimate bounces around your tightened guard, landing glancing strikes around your upper body wherever he can. You pivot around, predicting his course and lash out with a left jab, but the blow never lands. He avoid it just like the first and then gives you another pair of cuts.

A lesser champion would have been ripped apart under the furious assault. You are not a lesser champion.

His claws may be sharp, but your flesh is thick. Even when sunk in, they only manage to cause shallow injuries. What few swipes that do manage to reach deep find themselves rebuffed against a hardened metal frame. It all hurts of course, but for all his expended energy your enemy has caused very little real damage. Sure there's the data leakage to consider, but that will only help you in the coming time.

"Grr, fall down already mutant! I have other things to do!"

Strike all you wish. I am a shield. I will not falter.

The WereGarurumon begins to growl in frustration, realizing the true resilience he finds himself stacked up against but nonetheless presses on. The stubbornness is admirable in a way and given enough time this tactic could allow him to pull out an exhausted win.

But I will find victory in this duel, not you.

And that means finding a way to hit him.

Much like Wolfmon he seeks to use his superior agility and smaller size to strike unimpeded, but unlike the Legendary warrior he has a way to avoid bleeding off momentum. You can't depend on him having to using the ground for additional speed.

His trick of using air as a solid surface is confounding, it's different from flying you can tell that much. However you have seen the like once before, when Scratch left to provide a distraction against the Gloaming horde. Back then you couldn't understand how he was able to achieve such a feat, but here and now you have a prime example of the Ultimate's technique.

And it is a technique. If not for your choice to fight without relying magic, you'd have missed out on truly seeing the move in action.

It's faint, but you can feel the energy gathering just prior to every *step*. You can see the ever so faint shimmer as he solidifies the data underneath an appendage for naught but a moment, then shoves off the momentary construct as if it were a true platform. The urge rises to experiment, but another shot of pain is enough to remind you that you're currently in the heat of battle.

WereGarurumon blurs into your blind spot, driving another strike into one of your many wounds, then repeats the motion on your lower back. The wolf digimon had bounded away freely nineteen separate times, easily avoiding your counters. But now you have his measure.

This time when he kicks down to duck under your backhand, the older digimon leaps right into the path of your other claw. He intercepts the tip of one claw with his brass knuckles at the last moment. Silver alloy shears through the dull metal of his weapon and then into the furred flesh beyond, splitting the Ultimate's left hand in twain. A howl, one of pain emerges from his snout, the first one since your battle began. Satisfaction rises in your core as he he leaps back, eyes narrowed with fury.

And now. To finish this.

You drop to the knee of your wounded leg, feigning the counter to have been a last burst of energy and raise one shaking paw in a sloppy guard. Between the pain and actual data loss from your myriad wounds, it's not true deception. Just a little exaggeration.

The enemy charges down, his instincts refusing to let the opportunity pass by.

Which is exactly where you were hoping for.

"Garuru Kick!"

His clawed foot digs deep into your chest and digs down towards your core. The strike is precise, fast and deadly... but ultimately predictable. All it takes to move the lethal blow off course is a slight shift of your torso. Instead of shattering your most important section, his limb comes to a crashing halt against your gilded rib-cage. The bone cracks, its metal covering bending from force alone. But it's nothing more than another minor injury and you already have plenty of those.

Sharp Fangs!

Fear comes over the Ultimate's face as he realizes what's happened. The mon desperately pulls on his leg in an effort to free his limb-and is just a hair too late. Shining teeth snap shut around his knee.

Your jaws strain with all their might, driving the tips of your fangs deep into the WereGarurumon's resistant flesh. Your enemy struggles, slamming his spiked knee-pad into your snout, and using his remaining hand to tear at whatever he can reach. Having your nose shredded is agonizing, but you don't let go.

Something in his limb snaps, causing another howl, but you ignore it in favour of slamming him into the ground. In concert you bring your left claw down, crushing the foe's chest with the weight of your war-gauntlet.

Before you can follow up however, the Gloaming fighter opens his mouth and roars:

"Foxfire!" Your paw seeps down once more, this time to block the stream before it can reach your eye. He doesn't let the opportunity go by.

The Ultimate slams his free foot into your teeth with a desperate howl, shattering the enamel and finally freeing his crippled limb. You pursue the beast-man, but even with three limbs his agility simply outclasses yours. He drags himself up, barely managing to avoid a swipe and finds safety in the air.

"Bastard. Kill you. Grr, I'll kill you!"

Your only response is to rear back up and start the incantation for a healing spell.

"Enough!" The Stingmon whom had been attacking Beat shouts, hovering next to his crippled ally. "Our time is up. Fall back, they shall perish another time." Your enemy shoots a final glare your way, but nods and bounds away.

"Oh thank Daemon!" A very relieved sounding feminine voice calls out. You turn to look in in the direction and spot a-LadyDevimon.

FOCUS!

You come back to consciousness a score of meters away from your starting point, one arm up and futilely arcing towards a humanoid figure several dozen meters into the air. The very singed LadyDevimon ignores you entirely, instead biting her lip and looking back towards the smoking overgrowth. Sparks casually skips out of the burning forest, a smug grin plastered across his face. Aside from the crease on his chest from Beat's kick, your friend looks to be entirely unharmed. He even goes so far as to twirl his matchstick.

"Hehehe, what's the matter floozie, ya scared?" The fallen angel digimon flinches, flinches at his words, then turns to the Stingmon with a desperate look.

I do not understand. What did he do to strike such fear?

"C-can I not fight him next time?" For his part the insect digimon ignores the request completely, instead turning his attention towards the last member of his party.

"Aw, phooey." The Bastemon grumbles, stepping away from Pit's kneeling form. "How about I get you next time, nyah!" With that the womon puts the back of one paw on her hip and raises two digits is a *V*.


"D-darnit..." Pit groans, struggling to not fall. "We're not..." He trails off, as the Ultimate ignores his words and repeats WereGarurumon's feat, leaping up into the air to join the rest of Stingmon's assorted mon. As one the group makes their exit, flying up over the canopy and out of sight. You stare after the enemy squad, not daring to relax in case it's some sort of trick... but are jostled out of focus as a voice bellows out from the road.

"By the Ten! What's going on here!" Hanumon skids to a stop near Pit, pausing only to help hoist the angel up before looking around in confusion. "And Spirits above who were those mon?!"

"Mercenaries." Pit, mumbles weakly. "She told me... for-"

"Lies." Beat interrupts coldly, coming to stand beside the holy champion. "The Stingmon mentioned serving Astamon."

"Tch, told me they were bounty hunters." Sparks adds in with a shrug of his shoulders. "Though she coulda been lying." The armor-digimon snaps his fingers then points his focus at you. "Anything on your end Verge?"

My end?... ah.

"No." You reply, frowning up at the sky. "He spoke of no such allegiance or profession."

"So we've got three separate accounts. Friggen' fantastic." Sparks growls, before whirling on Hanumon. "Short of it, we just got attacked. Don't know who or why, but they're gonna get their butts kicked. Now what about the Agumon?" The guardian blinks at his words, then nods slowly.

"I confirmed that he left the temple and couldn't find the little twerp in any of his usual spots. Either he got himself lost again or those intruders got him." The ape-digimon shoots a worried look over his shoulder towards where Baromon's temple. "I must leave, the temple must be alerted." The Hanumon speeds off just as suddenly as he'd come, leaving your squad along once more.

Beat helps Pit sit down against a sapling, allowing your leader some rest.

The feeling of being watched. It is gone.

"Friends... what should we do. Next?"

"Tch, ain't it obvious?" Sparks replies, spitting to the side."Let's go pay *agent* Karatenmon a visit. I betcha she set us up."

"Aye" You nod along. "But we should listen, perhaps she did warn us of a Gloaming squad. Mayhaps she underestimated their boldness?... but why would we pay her exactly?"

"Spirits below."

"Sounds... good." Pit mumbles. You look at the beaten angel and wince. His fight hadn't been kind, bruises scratches and... he even has a few holes that look suspiciously like bite marks. Which would probably explain why he's so drained.

Healing first then.

===

Stats:
Strength: 3712.00->3719.00
Fortitude: 3054.75->3073.50
Endurance: 2921.25->2933.75
Agility: 2662.25->2673.25
Special: 3040.25
Spirit: 2543.50->2548.25

Skills:

• General Fighting: 125.00/180->126.25/180
• Martial Arts, Maul (Gryzmon) Style: 68.00/180->70.50/180
• Void Step, 1/??? [Learnt]

===

Article:

Enemy WereGarurumon

Strength 3900
Fortitude 3100
Endurance ??? (Likely to be around the level of fortitude)
Agility 4200
Special 2900
Spirit ??? (Likely to be high given his movement technique)

===Authors note! Righto! I'm going to do my best to get the last snippet out tonight as well. I hope this update was satisfying to you all!

"Shit."

Harpymon's shop... or at least what's left of it, is smouldering. There's little of the square building left but a few shattered timbers. Everything else has been scattered around as tiny pieces of burnt shrapnel, now embedded in the ground and neighboring structures. You can't help but wince at the wreckage, wondering what could have caused such senseless destruction. However at least the local Witchmon look to have been successful in preventing a fire from spreading out over the town.

The smoky air is heavy with scent of medicinal herbs, burnt paper... and worst of all cooked feathers. Not the worst thing your nose has ever picked up, but it bears grim tidings for the Agents ultimate fate.

"Friends we're... too late."

"Hrm." Sparks murmurs, from your shoulder. "Yeah, maybe she didn't sell us out after all."

"Aye/Yes."

Champions and rookies alike crowd around the site, jostling to get a better look at the destruction. Though that all changes as the Ogremon from before barrels in, his club held high.

"Get back all of you! We don't know what happened here and I'm not letting any of you idiots get yourselves killed for a look!" The townsmon follow his command, with the exception of a single Goblimon that actively steps closer in open defiance. But all that nets him is a being picked up by his mohawk and tossed back into the crowd. You wince at the rough treatment... while Sparks lets out a satisfied chuckle.

"Nyah! I think I know what happened here!" A BlackTailmon calls out waving towards the far larger champion.

"Great, one of you." Ogremon groans, pressing a hand to his face."Blah, just skip the stupid catchphrases and tell me what you know, darn shadow-wannabees."

"What? Skip the Nyah's?! But they're the cutest part!"

"Rgh."

"Ah, phooey. Spoilsport." She groans, kicking over a pile of ash. "Well ny-yeah. It looks to me like she was storing Chikarax crystals here! And then they blew up! *Pew*!"

... I do not believe they make that sound. Would it not be more of a *bam*?

"Chikarax? What by the twenty spirits is that? Some sort of explosive?"

Or a *boom*.

"Yep they explode! And big too! Just look at this here!" She shouts, tapping her tail against a beam of wood that had crashed halfway through the neighbor building.

"That doesn't make a lick of sense stalker. She was a dam-darn healer."

Or mayhaps a *kerchow*... no maybe not that. Focus! They're talking.

"D-spirits above? I'm not an expert on them! I'm a cute kitty! Believe me!"

"She is cute." A Wizardmon from the crowd agrees.

"Ogremon sir!" A Witchmon shouts waving her broom to get the champion's attention. "I got some from her yesterday! Harpymon said it worked as a substitute for energy in spells!"

"So she was right, now I just look like an idiot. Great. Eh, screw it. Then we're done here!" He shouts waving his club up again. "Disperse before I start cracking skulls!" This threat seems to get the population going and soon they start to clear out. Pit breathes a sigh of relief and turns to face the rest of you with a happy smile

"That's a relief isn't it friends! That means there wasn't foul play! The acc- the Gloaming wasn't responsible for this."

And why would that make you cheery?

"Ain't right." Sparks murmurs. "Ya need a lot of heat or pressure to set them off. Just improper storage wouldn't do it."

Yes. That is correct.

"Which means a digimon set them off."

"Verily."

"Oh..." Pit mumbles, slumping down to a knee. "Then... the Gloaming?"

"Nyah! Don't be so sad choir boy!" The BlackTailmon exclaims leaping directly into the angels personal space. Your leader flinches back at the sudden intrusion, reflexively moving a hand up to his shoulder where bite-wound had been. "You won't have to be worried for long. Nyahahaha!"

"Tch, back off *kitty*." Sparks growls, pointing the blue end of his matchstick at the tiny champion. "Already scared off one floosie today, not afraid to burn a second either." Azure fire springs to life at the end of his focus for emphasis, making the champion stiffen.

"He means it stalker." Ogremon joins in, sounding more than a little amused at the while situation.

"I'll go." The BlackTailmon sighs in dejection, taking a careful step away from the tired Pidmon. However she still can't resist giving your holy friend one last wink before bounding off."

"Friends... Lord in heaven I think that was the Bastemon who attacked me."

"Feh/Ya think?" Sparks and the Ogremon pause, then shoot each other a mutual glare.

"I've tolerated those stalkers staying here since Baromon wanted it." Ogremon growls, putting his club back into the loop on his belt. "But the old bastard must be getting senile." With that he seizes Pit by the arm and roughly drags the angel back to his feet. "Don't let yourself get pushed around like that meat. Officers are supposed to be tough."

"You know about my rank? Are you part of Bulwark?"

"Huh? Nah, Cyberdramon filled me in." Ogremon explains with a wave of his hand. "Now listen up. You Choir Boys are pretty strong for new meat, but the Stalkers aren't messing around. I'm guessing you survived one encounter right?"

"Aye."

Wait! he knows? How?!

"That is true."

"Verily, but what's that got to do with you?"

"Nothing. Yet. If not for that idiotic rival I wouldn't even be here. Damned lions. Why can't any of them learn to keep their promises. Eh, whatever. I am here. If you meat made it through then it's because their leader was feeling merciful. Don't be stupid and push your luck a second time. Stay out in the open or in the fort until it's time to leave. Those Stalkers won't openly break the pact."

The Stalkers... Stingmon and his squad. It makes sense.

"Uh right! Think you. Sir!" Pit replies, instinctively throwing a salute. Which causes Ogremon to roll his eyes and Sparks to sigh. "I wouldn't normally do this, but feh. The boy somehow managed to make triple the needed stew. Are any of you hungry?" A low growl rips through the area, as your stomach shifts at the promise of food.

"Yes."

"Blegh, of course you're hungry."

"Of course friend Ogremon! We're-"

"I'm not your friend meat."

"Uh. Of course Ogremon... sir! We can come!"

=

Which is how you find yourself by the caretaker building, licking out a cauldron for the food inside. The rest of your squad eats more *cleanly* using actual spoons and bowls. An advantage that comes from having thumbs and not being enormous. But at least you get the most concentrated part of flavour.

"Had better." Sparks grumbles, picking at his portion. "This doesn't have enough friggen' seasoning."

"Advisor Sparks! Don't say that! Elecmon the stew is-"

"Aw shut up. Yeah the boy needs to work on his recipe but it's free food. Don't complain and don't lie about it being good."

The caretaker in-training doesn't hear the exchange, he's too busy napping next to the firepit. Something Ogremon corrects by flicking a lump of dirt at the sleeping rookie. He awakes with a panicked squeak, then rears up to attention.

"Yes Ogremon sir!"

"Go fetch the music. It's naptime and the new meat are still running around. Fix it."

"Yes sir!" The red digimon exclaims before hopping off towards the smaller of the two structures. It's faint but... you swear you hear an annoyed "Hrmph." from him. In turn that brings a pang of nostalgia to your core.

"Feh, he'd sleep half the day away if I let him."

You can sympathize with that. Naps are good and you haven't been able to get nearly enough of those recently. Not with all the traveling.

The *music* as Ogremon put it turns out to be a series of ten hollow tubes strapped in parallel that go from what you guess to be half a foot long, to one third of that at the shortest. At first you're a bit skeptical of what kind of sound such an instrument can produce, but the melody Ogremon's apprentice manages to produce from blowing in the holes is actually... relaxing. The various multi-coloured blobs actually start to settle down and fall to sleep under the tune.

For some reasons Sparks stiffens noticeably on your shoulder, but you ignore it in favour of just listening. It's only thanks to a poke from Beat that you avoid falling off into slumber.

The afternoon is still long and before heading back to the Bulwark fort you:

===Choose One:

[] Ask Ogremon for a spar: You're confident in your victory through power alone but... something about his attitude makes you think the champion might actually be strong enough to pose a challenge. Plus, a mon this old should be very experienced in combat, perhaps he could help your own skill grow.

[] There is a technique you need to practice: *Void Step* as you've nicknamed it internally allowed that Ultimate to walk, run and push off nothing. You have a very, very vague idea of how it works and now you have the time to experiment and test it out.

[] Talk to *Boy* the Elecmon: Ogremon's apprentice seems like a nice enough rookie. You wouldn't mind talking to him, learning why he wants the posistion... and maybe testing his mettle. Caretakers can't be weak after all.

[] Write in.

===Authors Note: I planned to get this out last night, but the dialogue expanded a wee bit more than I thought. Hopefully this morning update should suffice. I want to try and get another out tonight if possible!