Butter-Fly Effect

Well, that fight's probably going to take a while. You should get on with what you came into this mess to do. "Come on, let's get over to Izzy," You say, ushering the ToyAgumon in what you believe to be the general direction of MegaKabuterimon. After all, there can't be that many giant insectoid shapes on the field.

"Where are we going?" One of the Rookies asks.

"We're going to see my friend Izzy."

"Is he another DigiDestined."

You nod. "Actually, depending on what Tai and Matt are doing, Izzy might currently be the strongest out of our group." Ultimate Digimon aren't exactly unimpressive- if what you've been told is accurate, it took several months for your predecessors to get one that wasn't a Dark Digivolution.

Admittedly, part of that was apparently them being scared to try after what happened on the first attempt, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that Izzy seems to have gained power faster than they did, though you have no idea why.

...Probably the fact that you keep throwing yourselves into dangerous situations. Or because he'd been studying this world for years by the time he got his Digivice. Either of them would do it pretty well, you think.

Does it particularly matter either way? No, probably not.

"Huh. Is he really powerful?"

"You see that MegaKabuterimon over there?" You ask, pointing through a gap in the fighting once you can see the red of his shell. "That's his partner Digimon. This is the second time he's used that form so far."

The ToyAgumon start muttering things that give a general impression that they think Izzy's really cool. "So, we're going over there?" TK asks. "What if the Deltamon follows us?"

"Then it becomes MegaKabuterimon's problem." There's a flash of light near you, and laser cuts by just a bit too close for comfort. "Mostly. We should... probably get to him before Deltamon's aim gets better." The children- okay, one child and five Rookies, not that you see much of a difference- nod and follow you through the space that the most recent laser has cleared.

Sure, it might make you more of a target, but you'd prefer not to run too close to the things that might step on you. You're pretty sure being crushed by a careless dinosaur would be the least dignified way you can think of that the Digital World could kill you that didn't involve a Sukamon. As you run, you keep looking back to make sure Birdramon and Angemon are all right.

Deltamon seems to have decided that Birdramon isn't enough of a threat to bother with at the moment, which you find sort of insulting. He and Angemon, meanwhile, appear to have started just firing lasers at each other. Given how quickly he moves to block each time, you'd say Angemon's got the fight mostly under control.

Also, less chance of giant lasers getting closer to you than they need to be, that's generally something that you want. The fight does appear to be moving in your direction, but you're almost to relative safety, so that doesn't really matter as much.

...It appears a lot of Digimon had the same idea as you did, and are now hanging around Izzy and MegaKabuterimon. Almost certainly for the sake of being near an Ultimate- you're pretty sure Izzy would never even think to try to win other Digimon over with sheer force of personality, let alone succeed at it.

He notices your approach once you get to the general area around his partner that the fighting stops. "Sora, TK. I see you've brought some more... where are your partners?"

You point in the general direction of Deltamon, who has both started to slow down, and stopped caring about where his laser blasts go. If he cared in the first place. You're still not too sure on that. "I... don't think we have to worry about the fighting continuing much longer." If only because everyone that's noticed so far seems to have switched their priorities to avoiding the crazy Digimon. Honestly, you can't blame them. You're doing the same thing, after all.

Even if you left your partner there.

It's fine, she can take care of herself. She's not even a main target.

Not that that's saved anyone else. She's dodging the lasers pretty well now, but once she gets tired... no.

No, it's too dangerous. Everything is, really, but this is something that could be solved by her getting stronger.

And you're always the cause of that. It's become simple to you by now, Digivolving Biyomon into Birdramon not with any personal risk to yourself- after the first time, anyway- but with how much you care about her.

Because that's where your power comes from. Rikuto outright told you that, but it took you almost a year to fully realize exactly what it was.

It's love.

That's why it's your Crest. A Crest which is now glowing, and somehow, you know exactly what to do now that it is.

Your Digivice turns red- funny, how did you not really notice Izzy's turning purple before now?- and there's another, equally scarlet glow across the field.

Years ago, you knew what your Digimon's name was whenever she entered a new form without really having to be told it. That pattern holds true now.

Garudamon. You aren't sure what that means, what any of her new powers are, but you're sure you'll have time to figure that out later. Once Deltamon has been dealt with, along with the rest of the fighting.

"You should hurry back over there," Izzy tells you. Like your feet weren't already moving back in that direction the second you fully understood. This is your partner, and you want to see what she can do now as close up as you possibly can.

That's where you belong, after all.

Of course, a new strategy is probably needed... Though you don't really know how your partner fights now, so you'll just have to go with whatever sounds best at the time.


Sora's DS: 650/840


[ ] Garudamon should stay higher in the air. Deltamon can't do anything meaningful to her that way.

[ ] You want to see what Garudamon can do in melee combat. It would take some of the pressure off of Angemon.

[ ] ...Can she actually do anything on the ground in this form? That would be a useful skill to have...

You're used to the idea of your Digimon fighting high up in the air. Really, where else would she fight, with a body shaped like that and a lack of close-range options that don't involve ramming into the opponent?

Unlike Birdramon, however, Garudamon has hands. Clawed ones, probably capable of slicing through an opponent like butter if she so chooses. Devimon managed it, after all, and he was only a Champion.
Against a Digimon that's almost certainly weaker is probably a good chance to test out your partner's new abilities, actually. Particularly when you already have backup on the field.

"Try getting a little closer, Garudamon!" You suggest once you're actually close enough to do so. As always, she follows orders, diving in to slash at her opponent with her claws.

Deltamon takes the opportunity to hit her with a laser. She barely seems to notice it, though you can't be entirely sure until you know what her cues are, in this form. Which is something you're probably not going to figure out right in the middle of your first battle, particularly when you're still trying to avoid the worst parts of the battle due to being human, and therefore fragile.

While Deltamon's back is turned, Angemon takes the opportunity to hit him with a laser of his own. The three-headed Digimon ignores him in favor of trying to claw Garudamon. The emphasis there, of course, being on trying, because there's really not a lot he can do against an Ultimate who has taken comparatively much less damage.

Particularly when said Ultimate's claws are much more powerful. Garudamon strikes at the main head, and the Deltamon explodes into data and vanishes.

It hits you that you've never actually seen your partner finish off another Digimon before. You don't know what happened to that Parrotmon from all those years ago, though the fact that it was an Ultimate while your side was a pair of Champions generally slants your ideas to survival. And since you got to the Digital World, you've been avoiding combat when possible.

It'd be wrong to say you don't feel anything about it. As many fights as you've gotten into, you'd never been the one to end it before. It just... makes it more real. That all those times you got into combat, you really were putting your life on the line.

There's an explosion to the side, and you remind yourself that there's still a fight going on around you. Garudamon lands in front of you, though she's a lot larger than you'd expected Biyomon's Ultimate form to be.

"Sora, are the others all safe?"

You nod. "I got the ToyAgumon and TK over to Izzy and MegaKabuterimon. They should be fine there." The fighting's mostly dying down now, so you assume you've collected most, if not all of the Digimon that want to get away from Locomon. Now, they just need to get to the part of the track that isn't connected, and everything should work out just fine.

Not that you've figured out what your role in that is going to be, or anything.


Sora's DS: 600/840


[ ] You could lead the way. Your Digimon can fly, after all, and she's not exactly easy to miss.

[ ] You could stay behind, and intimidate the mercenaries into not following. You've got an Ultimate, they're generally Champions, it should work out.

[ ] You could follow the main mass of railroad workers, and make sure no Digimon falls behind the rest of them. It'll be safe enough, if nothing attacks you while your back is turned.