Post by Zachary Scryer on May 5, 2016 21:09:49 GMT -5
The Spark of Friendship
It had been a peaceful night-- or rather it used to be till Panthermon woke Zachary up in the middle of the night. Dragged out of bed, he was woken up to both his digimon biting his blanket off and also by the relentless beeping of his D- Power. Checking it Zachary discovered two things. One, a digimon signal. Two, something else coming from the same direction. Despite Zachary's plea to go back to bed and deal with it in the morning, Panthermon was insistent.
And so, both Zachary and Panthermon snuck out and were now on the streets of New York City. A few people drove and past by on the streets-- in fact very shady looking people as well. However, for most of the time, Panthermon kept close for Zachary's protection. At times invisible, at times not, but always by Zachary's side.
"I hope you're happy for this," Zachary signed as they walked, following the digivice's signal. "This couldn't have waited till the morning?"
Panther didn't glance back at Zachary, as he kept his focus on his surroundings. "I'm sorry, but if we don't act on it now, someone else may find it. I can't explain why but it puts my fur on end just sensing it." he said.
Knowing his partner had a point, Zachary complied. At least during this time of night, they didn't need to worry about too many unwanted eyes. Still, they had to be careful.
All the while, Zachary continued to follow the beeping of his D-Power. They continued to follow the arrow of it till it reached a certain point. They were near one of the many corners of the block, overlooking a wide intersection in The Village.
They came to a stop near the street, and all the arrows on the digivice flashed, indicating they were on the target location.
"What the...?" Zachary said, looking at his D-Power. He shook it a couple of times, but the reading was still the same. It should have been where they stood, but no sign of a digimon or digital energy signature anywhere. "Why couldn't this thing come with an instruction manual?"
Panthermon looked around the quiet street. He , too, was perplexed by the lack of any activity around them. His senses were sharp and he could detect a digimon nearby, along with the strange power that emanated from it as well. "I know it's here somewhere, Zachary. I'm positive of it," the cat growled, still on his guard.
Lowering his digivice, Zachary looked around for any kind of sign. He opened his senses to hear or see anything, but in the city, there was always something going on in the city. The sound of a driving car, a siren in the distance, the hiss of steam from the steam vents or the clank of the rails from the subway...
"... Wait a minute," Zachary said as he looked around. Turning to his right, he saw one of the steam vents that go under the street. For a moment it was quiet, save for the soft rising of the steam into the cold night's air. Then, came the sound of the clanking of train tracks, followed by the rushing sound of movement below it.
"I get it! The subway," Zachary exclaimed, causing Panthermon to turn to him. Looking at his digivice, he saw as the arrows all converged, indicating it was where they were standing. "The signal is coming from below us, underground. It's probably in the subway tunnel," he explained.
Panthermon sniffed the ground below him, as if to see if he was accurate. "You're right... but how are we going to get down there?" the cat asked.
Zachary smiled as he pointed down the street. At the other end, there was one of the subway entrances, its stairs leading under the sidewalk and into the underbelly of the city. They knew where they needed to go now.
***
It wasn't too difficult to get into the subway for Zachary and Panthermon. Zachary was concerned that Panthermon wouldn't be able to get through without being spotted, but the cat was more than quick enough. Though he didn't bother with invisibility, he moved so fast and darted out of sight of the cameras and night staff of the subway, it wasn't even an issue for him.
By the time Zachary had gotten into the subway normally, Panthermon was already waiting inside the tunnel. Having to be careful, Zachary double checked to make sure no one would see him, or that any oncoming trains would hit him. Once he was clear, he jumped off the platform and entered the train tunnel.
The pair were then walking down the service walkways that ran along the train tracks. Bits of light flickered that light the way as they proceeded forward. Both Zachary and Panthermon cautiously looked around every crook and cranny for danger. "I can't believe I am saying this," Zachary groaned as they walked. "But this is actually the first time I actually prefer a crazy human popping up in these tunnels rather than a crazy digimon."
Panthermon growled at the comment, keeping his ears focused. "Don't worry. I don't hear anyone nearby. Human, at least, but we are getting closer," the cat replied as they followed the digivice signal.
After a bit of a walk down the tunnel, the digivice pointed to the left, entering a worn passageway with a broken track. Feeling it was safe, they proceeded down it and followed the signal. This time there was not much light, save sparks from the faulty cables of the walls. Curious, Panthermon looked around as they proceeded. "These tunnels look very worn out." the panther said, slowly stalking his way down the track. "What do you think this is?"
As they soon reached the end of the tunnel, it opened up to reveal a large, dome shaped room. He soon saw the machines nearby and tracks that ran along the walls. "Its an old train-turnaround" Zachary said, as he saw the room. "Supposedly, these tunnels were no longer used when the newer subway tracks and stations were built. There are networks of old tunnels and abandoned stations probably underground. " he explained.
The room was round, with the similar tracks that branched out to other tunnels. However, as they got into the tunnel, the digivice beeped and the arrows all converged to their present position. It was then he looked up and noticed the room. Despite the clear show of old cables, machines and worn platforms that designated this tunnel had not been used since the late 1960's- the key thing that caught his attention was the blue glow coming from the center of the room.
A bright light flickered, casting off several sparks of small blue electricity. It was difficult to see the source, but it remained stationary, not moving.
"What is that?" Zachary said as he approached the strange energy source. As he extended a hand and drew closer-- he immediately felt a sudden discharge. "YOUCH!" he shouted and quickly withdrew his hand. He had no burn, but the jolt to his hand was unmistakable. The energy had electrocuted him. If he had gotten closer, the jolt probably would of been much worse. "That stung...what is that thing anyway?" he grumbled.
Panthermon approached closer, his claws now exposed as he felt more anxious in this place. "I'm not sure. I never seen anything like it before. Still, that can wait. " he sniffed the ground and his ears twitched. As he did, his eyes grew into a more feral expression, that of a true jungle cat. "I sense digimon nearby. They are here," he growled.
Looking up in alarm, Zachary got out his digivice. He looked around at the other tunnels. There was nothing in them as he looked to the other parts of the subway turnaround room. Everything was still and quiet, from the brick walls to the empty machines nearby. With his back to Panthermon, he kept his guard up but was not seeing anything.
"I don't see anything," Zachary said, his eyes looking left and right for any movement. "Are you sure?"
"Positive," the jungle cat growled, his tail twitching with aggitation. "Can't you hear it? That buzzing sound... It puts my fur on end."
Buzzing noise? Zachary thought as he listened carefully. After a moment, he heard it. At first, he thought it was an echo of a passing train in another tunnel. However, as he listened, it came and went. A buzzing sound that was so subtle, it almost sounded like crickets in the night.
As Zachary continued to look around, his gaze went up... and that was when he saw it. The dome-shaped ceiling looked as black as night. At first he thought it was just the lightless ceiling-- but then he notice a small bit of movement, as if the black of the ceiling shifted. "Um, Panthermon?" Zachary said nervously, a sweat dripping down his neck. "Is it just me, or does the ceiling look like its moving to you?"
Alarmed, Panthermon looked up-- seeing the fragmentation in the black color to the ceiling.
KGRIKIKIKI!!!
The buzz became louder, like the swarm of several locus. Suddenly the blackness came falling down-- revealing to be many small creatures! They began to come down from the ceiling, having clung to it till now. Panthermon let out a clear panther's growl as the black creatures fell to the ground, landing on their feet and revealed themselves. The digimon gave a mix of a bug's screech, with a strange metallic sound.
Upon closer inspection, as several of them began to surround them, it appeared to be strange small robot-beetles! Each one was black save for their yellow lit-up eyes, with metallic pincers on their heads and claws. Looking at the number, they easily could of been over twenty of them, if not more.
Zachary checked his digivice, and immediately the data appeared about them. "Kokuwagamon-- Rookie machine digimon. Data type. Special attack: Mini Scissor Claw and Power Surge. " Zachary read it aloud, and glanced at the mechanical insects. "There are so many of them."
"These pests feed off electricity," Panthermon informed, his head darting around as the digimon began to surround them. "They were probably drawn by the power of that energy source." However, as they talked, the mecha-beetles began to grow more agitated, the sparks from their pincers starting to flash-- signaling they were about to attack. " And they are not happy we intruded on them. Zachary, find cover!" the panther warned.
"POWER SURGE!!" the digimon shouted in unison. From their pincers on their heads, bolts of electricity shot out at the human and his digimon.
"Scatter!" Panthermon warned. Zachary and Panthermon quickly ran in opposite directions, right as the bolts of electricity struck the ground they once stood. Panthermon ran to the left and Zachary ran right-- looking for somewhere safe to stick near the fight.
Naturally, the Kokuwagamon were drawn to Panthermon, the digimon being a real threat to them in terms of power next to a human being. Many of them quickly pursued the black digimon, but a few choose to chase after Zachary as well-- running after him.
"Oh crap," Zachary gasped and ran, heading for the end of the room to get away.
Sprinting about now, evading the digimon chasing after him, Panthermon caught the view of Zachary being pursued in the corner of his eye. They would be his first priority. "SPIRAL FLAME!!" he roared, shooting out a spiraling blast of fire from his mouth. The stream shot across the room, and with sharp precision, nailed the Kokuwagamon in the back as it chased after Zachary. The blast exploded, knocking into the others as well.
Seeing that Panthermon took out the digimon chasing him, he turned and looked to see his situation. While Panthermon was faster, easily sprinting ahead of the chasing black beetles, he was far outnumbered. And Zachary didn't know how to make Panthermon digivolve yet. He gritted his teeth as he reached into his pocket, drawing out his digimon cards.
"Hang on Panthermon, " Zachary said as he quickly raised his digivice. Crossing his arms, he had the card in one and his digivice in the other. He then brought the two before him and slashed a card through. "Digi-modify! Snowagumon's Frozen Wind-- Upload!" he shouted.
From across the room, Panthermon felt the familiar sensation. The two had used this card before, utilizing another digimon's element to give him an edge. "FROZEN WIND!!" Panthermon roared and focused his breath behind him. As he ran, he looked to a cluster of machine beetles and with his exhale-- a gust of icy wind swept across the area.
The Kokuwagamon were suddenly frozen in place. Not solid, but ice caked over their bodies, making them unable to move for the time being. However, he was at best able to freeze only 5 bettles, while others were still around, and quickly gaining on him.
"Panthermon, look out!" Zachary shouted, seeing them coming up from behind.
A snarl escaped the black panther digimon as he was pretty much running laps around the room to keep the kokuwagamon from catching him. As he ran, his claws became a deeper shade of black, energy coursing off of it. "SHADOW CLAW!" Panthermon's shout was followed as he lunged towards a few of his attackers, and swiped his claws at them. A black crescent slash flew out towards the machines, striking some. The one in front of him was immediately destroyed, its data exploding into bits. However, the others were far from done as they continued to close in on him.
"There's too many of them!" Panthermon snarled as he had been lucky enough to strike a second with his claws, but more of them soon began to coordinate attacks.
"MINI SCISSOR CLAWS!!" the machines said in unison and each one volted forward, trying to clench down on Panthermon with their claws.
Eyes wide with alert, Panthermon pounced from where he stood and sprinted away again. The machines struck the ground, piling on top of the other as they missed, but soon got up and chased after him again.
Zachary grimaced as he looked around. The other kokuwagamon were learning about Panthermon's speed and maneuverability as more began to try to pincer him from another angle around the room. There were about 15 remaining, and it was too many for one rookie to handle alone. "Panthermon, get out of there! We can't defeat them all!" he shouted in concern. It was only a matter of time, and then they would come after him as well.
"Just stay there," Panthermon shouted back, his eyes still focused on the nearest of the machines. "SPIRAL FLAME!!" he roared, launching another jet of fire at them.
While Panthermon was powerful for your average rookie digimon, he couldn't handle such overwhelming numbers by himself. Zachary looked with a tremble in his eyes. "What should I do?" Zachary gasped, looking at his collection of cards he had. "I don't have anything that can handle that many digimon at once or of that type," he groaned.
As Panthermon soon fought off another attacking digimon, the ones he had frozen in place finally broke free. They let out cries as the ice snapped free from their metal bodies and they could move again. Panthermon was too busy with the others, never seeing the ones approaching!
"LOOK OUT! BEHIND YOU!!" Zachary shouted.
"MINI SCISSOR CLAWS!!" the Kokuwagamon shouted and slammed for Panthermon.
WHAM!! Panthermon turned in time, but couldn't dodge as three of the machines smashed into him with their heads. The panther gave a shout of pain as he was thrown airborne.
The cat fell to the ground, tumbling a bit, but soon regained his footing and was on all fours again. "SPIRAL FLAME!!" he roared, attacking the same ones that struck him.
The battle had only been about a minute in time, and already Panthermon had sustained damage. Even as he attacked, he could sense the others coming up behind him. "Zachary!" Panthermon growled, both verbally and through their mental connection. "Leave! Get out of here before they notice you. I can handle this!" he said stubbornly, wanting Zachary out of harm's way before the Kokuwagamon got wise to him.
Zachary's eyes widened at this. He wanted him to run for safety and get out of there, but he couldn't. "What are you crazy?! I can't leave you here!" Zachary shouted.
"SHORT CIRCUIT!!" a few of the digimon screeched, firing off bolts of Electricity out at Panthermon. The speedy digimon dodged the first two, but the third came from his left and struck him in the backside, causing him to let out a cat-like cry of pain.
The damage was adding up, as Panthermon was now struggling from different direction attacks, both by the metal claws and the electric shocks.
Zachary trembled, his desire to survive strong as he wanted very much to run and get away from this horrible place. The threat of death was real now... however, all the more as he watched Panthermon fight for his sake and his own , at the same time, he couldn't ignore his friend. When it came down to it, Zachary was powerless to help in this situation.
"GRAAAA!!" Panthermon cried as another Mini Scissor Claw sent him flying back. He skid on his side across the floor, landing near the center of the room where the sparking energy source was. The blue flickers of lightning lit up the area, revealing the number of bruises and scrapes Panthermon had gotten. Though disguised by black, some of his wounds were visible. "Zachary... run... now...!" he growled, fighting to stand again.
The digimon began to gather towards the panther. As they did, sparks of electricity danced between them. They were beginning to power up for another "Short Circuit" attack. If they attacked together, the damage would be stronger than one could alone!
Still, unable to accept defeat, Panthermon struggled to raise back to his feet. The cat had become sluggish with his accumulated wounds. He glared at the spark of electricity forming, knewing he had to dodge if he could.
"SHORT CIRCUIT!! TZZZZT!!" THe Kokuwagamon buzzed and released the stream of electricity! It traveled through the air towards Panthermon....
.......
.... and something struck the person that threw himself in front of the attack.
"GHAAAAAA!!" Zachary screamed as the electricity struck his back, blasting against him and off away as the electricity seared against his jacket.
Panthermon's eyes went wide with shock and horror to see Zachary throw himself into the stream, his arms out . He was protecting Panthermon, having taken the hit from the Kokuwagamon attack to save him.
The shock ended, causing Zachary to feel stiff and tingly. He fell to his knees as smoke danced off his back, his coat slightly charred from the electricity. Ragged breaths escaped Zachary as he fell to his hands now, trying to endure the pain of the electricity. By sheer luck, his jacket was made from non-conductive material , so some of the damage was diverted, but it didn't make the shock hurt any less. Still, the look on Zachary's face showed something in addition to pain. It was relief.
"You... YOU IDIOT!!" Panthermon snarled at Zachary, this time it being his turn to be concerned as he saw Zachary kneel in front of him. "What the hell were you thinking, throwing yourself in front of that attack! You could of been killed!!" he snarled.
Zachary didn't answer, his breath ragged. As this happened, the Kokuwagamon looked on, confused by the sudden interruption by the human.
"Get out of here! I am a fighter, a digimon! I can handle this by myself!" the cat snarled.
"I don't care..." Zachary coughed, his tone weak as he finally got the breath to speak again. Raising his head, his hair revealed his face-- showing a smile on his face. A small but clear smile on his face. "It doesn't matter... if your strong or not. It doesn't matter if I can fight or not, either. "
Panthermon snarled at Zachary, trying to get him to leave. There might still be time for him to run. "There is no reason for you to die for me! Fighting is my reason for being. I am content if I am deleted here. I can be reconfigured. YOU CAN'T! "
"I TOLD YOU, I DON'T CARE!!" Zachary shouted this time, being the one to stop Panthermon from talking. His hand gripped his Digivice tightly, almost tight enough to break it. "We are partners, and ... partners stick by each other." he smiled once again, showing a compassionate look to the panther. " Right, Panthermon?"
The panther was now genuinely silent. He had been a very independent digimon, having been the guiding hand to Zachary as a Digimon Tamer. He had no issue being a fighter, and even the risk of deletion didn't scare him. He had already passed once before. But now, as Zachary confronted him, saying how he wasn't going to let him do that, he was genuinely shocked.
"So it doesn't matter how dangerous anything is," Zachary said as he finally got the strength to kneel up, feeling some sensation back in his body again. "There is no way in hell I'd leave anyone I care about behind. I'd rather die than betray my friends like that!"
Suddenly, the energy source nearby released a loud, high pitched scream of energy. The glow intensified and more bolts of electricity jolted outward. They arched over Zachary and Panthermon, striking the Kokuwagamon nearby, repelling them by the blasts of the mysterious energy. Zachary had ducked his head, but soon looked up, seeing the brilliant spark glow brighter than ever. Panthermon looked as well, perplexed by the sudden eruption of energy.
Zachary's digivice started to beep erratically, but he didn't hear it over the sound of the mysterious spark. As this happened, while Zachary thought for a moment it was a trick of the light-- the spark began to move towards them! The glow began to lessen slightly, and the electrical discharged stopped. After a bit of time, a shape could be seen, levitating inside of the spark. It was roughly the shape of a football as Zachary and Panthermon observed it. Upon closer inspection, the light lessened to reveal it was a black shaped object with 'teeth' like patterns of yellow on its side and a blue symbol similar to the yin-yang with two wings out of it. Finally, a strange spike like a lightning-shaped blade stuck out from the top.
"You have got to be kidding me," Zachary gasped, looking up to the object emitting that much electricity and power. He recognized it, but it was just fiction. "That can't be real."
Panthermon's eyes fixated on it and finally sensed it. He knew not what it was called, but he knew what it was. A mighty power that was awaiting one to take. But it didn't just let anyone take it, it seemed. It was awakened and responded with Zachary's own feelings.
"No more real than us Digimon, huh, Zachary?" Panthermon chuckled lightly despite his state.
He knew what it was-- the Digiegg of Friendship. it was part of the card game, and also the television show, but it was pure fiction. The fact it was now here in front of him, and even responding to him, made him feel like he was in the middle of a bad joke. "The Digi-egg of Friendship? Seriously!?" Zachary asked.
As if to answer him, the Digiegg soon drifted lower and hovered in front of Zachary. Unable to argue against such a strong gesture, Zachary slowly reached out his hand and touched it. The force holding the egg in the air vanished, allowing it to rest in his hand. However, the glow of the digiegg continued to shine and light up the room.
The Kokuwagamon began to become restless. It seemed they were agitated that the electric energy they had gathered around now found a new owner. Now they seemed keyed to retrieve it once more, even if violence was necessary to do it. With a grunt, Panthermon rose up to his feet. "Zachary, whatever you think you can do with that thing, I suggest you use it. All I know it's an incredible power. And if it can help you, I suggest you don't, as you humans say, 'hit a gift horse in the mouth' ." he growled, getting ready to defend his tamer from another attack.
Looking at the digiegg in his hand, Zachary shook his head for a moment. He didn't want to believe this was real, but he was out of options. "I really hate being cliché... but here goes nothing...," Zachary said and took a deep breath. He held out the digiegg and pointed it at Panthermon. "Let's go! Digi-Armor... ENERGIZE!!"
Electricity suddenly jolted from Zachary's hand as the digiegg released a tremendous glow and the bolt of lightning struck Panthermon. The digimon's body was consumed by the energy, his shadow the only thing showing through the bright flash. However, what should of been painful felt energizing. From inside, Panthermon's eyes flashed again with a feral gleam as he felt the energy course through his body.
"Panthermon-- Armor Digivolve to...!" he growled as the electricity became black in color! The electricity shaped itself around panthermon's shadow-- slowly changing as the time passed. It became bigger, bulkier, strange bolts of lightning seemed almost to solidify as the energy no longer was consuming Panthermon, but emanating from him!
Finally, the lightning fell from him, revealing a far bigger jungle cat. This time it was a tiger of black fur, with ash-grey stripes. He was wearing rather strange and heavy black armor, just as black as his fur. Steaks of blue-colored lightning decorated his armor, showing the armor parts to be upon his claws, shoulders, a mask over his face, lower back, rear sides, and at the end of his tail. And on those armored parts, the same lightning-shaped blades were there, glinting and sparking electricity of their own. On the shoulder guards of the large cat, was the crest of Friendship on it, showing the power he had been drawing from.
"... BAHGEERAMON!!" the cat roared, discharging a sudden burst of black lightning from his body, causing a grand flash throughout the room.
The discharge of lightning startled the Kokuwagamon nearby as they looked to find their enemy had changed. He had Armor Digivolved. Lowering his arm to guard his eyes from the intense lightning show, Zachary looked to see his digimon partner, now under a brand new transformation.
"P-Panthermon? You okay?" Zachary asked, confused. "How do you feel?"
A soft growl escaped the giant black tiger, being now as tall as Zachary was, if not, taller. "I am Bahgeeramon now," the cat growled, his eyes however focused on the Kokuwagamon around him. "As for how I feel... " A soft chuckle escaped him, his claws flexing from his large paws. "...Fully-charged."
At that moment, the blades of upon Bahgeera's armor flashed with energy and lightning discharged from them. With a roar of his own like a true tiger, he suddenly lunged forward, taking off like lightning itself! In a flash, he had charged right through the line of machine digimon--
-- and a couple of them disintegrated into nothing! The electric flash had cleaved right through them, reducing them to data once more.
Glancing back, Bahgeeramon sneered at the small machines. For the big tiger, it was time for serious payback. Alarmed by the strength of the new cat digimon, the other digimon quickly scattered, attempting to reform and come up with a new strategy.
"You can run, but you can't hide," the tiger growled and his blades upon his armor began to glow again. "Zachary, whatever you do, don't move," he warned.
Zachary looked but kept his footing firm. He didn't intend to move. However he observed as Bahgeeramon's armor began to discharge powerful jolts of electricity.
"STORM PREDATOR!!" he roared-- and in a flash of lightning, he was gone!
Right before his eyes, it was as if the entire room was full of electricity, dancing all around Zachary and the other Kokuwagamon. Zachary crouched low and covered his head as the lightning flew-- but it wasn't lightning. It was Bahgeeramon! He was moving so fast, he was like a living lightning storm. He was moving so fast and bouncing off the walls. All the while, the shrill cries of Kokuwagamon filled the air along with the sparking lightning, With each second, one of the enemy digimon would be disintegrated. In truth, Bahgeeramon had slashed through them with his bladed-armor, striking faster than they had time to even react.
It lasted for ten seconds before Bahgeeramon re-emerged, skidding along the ground with claw marks in the ground. Realizing it was over, Zachary looked around, noticing a great reduce in the number of enemies. In fact, almost all of them were gone! "S... So fast..." Zachary gasped, shocked by how armor digivolving actually made such a difference.
However, while it appeared that the enemy was descimated... one remained.
Though having slashed through many of them, Bahgeeramon had missed one Kokuwagamon, who had been positioned difficulty to slash through at the angles he was sprinting around during 'Storm Predator'. It was alone now, but then it let out a screech and discharged electricity in a strange 'war cry'.
Suddenly, the disperced data from the defeated Kokuwagamon reacted. First it drifted in the air and then began to move towards him. The little machine began to absorb the bits in the air, quickly gathering them and entering his body.
"What the..?" Zachary gasped.
Bahgeeramon growled as he observed it. "It's absorbing the data from his allies. Crude," Panthermon cursed.
The Kokuwagamon absorbed the last bit, then its body glowed with energy. It became a blinding light and changed, growing bigger and its structure more sturdier. It soon became the size of a train car in height, and had a strange shape of a body. As the light faded, it revealed its true form-- becoming a strange, bi-pedal, humanoid like tank! It had a tank's lower track with a strange torso, gun-shaped arms, and a head with a maw-- and a cannon for a nose!
"Aw crap!" Zachary groaned as he quickly checked his Digivice. The screen appeared, revealing the data to be indeed-- Tankmon. "Tankmon. An android machine, Digimon. It's champion level!"
Bahgeeramon growled as his eyes behind his mask narrowed to the tank. As Tankmon took full form, he aimed his guns at Bahgeeramon.
"Careful!" Zachary shouted, lowering his digivice. "If he shoots off too much explosives, he could severely damage the tunnels and collapse it on us!"
"I got it covered," Bahgeeramon growled, his body radiating electricity already. As this happened, the flickering lightning became black in color, an unnatural hue if there ever was one. Zachary gasped at the change as he saw this occure, and as Tankmon raised his guns to fire his missles at Bahgeeramon.
"BLACK LIGHTNING CANNON!!" the tiger roared, and from his mouth, a strange, black beam of lightning energy ripped through the air. It struck right into Tankmon, causing a mechanized, loud howl of pain from the digimon.
Whatever attack the tank was going to make-- it didn't fire. Black lightning ran up and down his body, as if the black bolt of electricity had paralyzed him. Its movements of its arms and head became jerky, as if trying to pull free of it. "This ends NOW!!' Bahgeera roared, and charged forward.
Bahgeera lunged up into the air, reaching high into the air and towards Tankmon. The blades on his body glowed once more as energy charged up once again. "OVERLOAD!!" he roared, releasing the mighty cry into the air and echoing off the walls. It was then Bahgeeramon's whole body released a mighty burst of lightning in all directions. Zachary braced himself as he got low, trying to avoid the blast. Luckily it went over his head, but Tankmon was another story.
As if drawn to him-- many of the bolts struck Tankmon. His entire body lit up with the lightning, causing a mighty scream of agony. This lightning, while Zachary couldn't tell had a special effect upon the digimon. Made of metal, the whole creature was like one big lightning rod, making the lightning more effective against it.
Bahgeeramon was now on top of the tank, his armored claws were digging into the creature as the lightning continued to electricute him. Finally, after a large cry of agony-- Tankmon burst apart into bits of metal and data-- soon bit by bit dissolving into the air just like its kin.
The lightning soon died and Zachary looked to see Tankmon dissolve into data. The fight was over, but not before Bahgeeramon arched his back and head. The bits of data slowly drew towards him as he proceeded to download the data of the digimon he defeated. Zachary watched silently as Bahgeeramon took in the last bit of Tankmon's data, and finally stopped. The large tiger turned to Zachary and slowly walked over to him.
Zachary was a bit taken aback as he saw the large tiger clad in sharp pointed armor, but as he was a foot away, the tiger stopped and stood facing his friend. "Zachary..." the tiger growled, his tone calm as he looked at his tamer. Despite it being his friend, Zachary couldn't help but sweat a bit as the giant tiger looked like he could swallow him in just two bites. However, the words he said made it clear what he wanted. "... Thank you."
The human blinked as he looked to the giant armored tiger. "Um... why? I didn't do anything."
Bahgeeramon shook his head. "No, Zachary," the tiger said. "When I became Bahgeeramon, I understood. I couldn't of become this form without you. You're compassion and friendship gave me strength. I never understood just how special that can be. "
Getting over the shock of the giant tiger and the battle, Zachary smiled a bit as he slowly reached out a hand for his partner. Despite how fearsome and even how sharp his armor looked, he reached over to where the masked ended and scratched the tiger near the head. A soft growl escaped him, showing gratitude as Zachary petted the giant tiger. "Hey, you protected me all this time. It's only natural I do the same. That's what friends do," he replied.
As he withdrew his hand, Bahgeeramon's form began to glow with blue light. Taking a step back, Zachary witnessed as the digimon's form was consumed by light, and then the same bolt of electricity that transformed him shot out of him. It went to Zachary and into his digivice.
The silhouette of light soon returned to reveal Panthermon, in his true form. However, Zachary looked to his digivice. The Crest of Friendship showed up on the screen, signaling the energy of the digi-egg he had obtained. What happened next surprised him. Inside the card reader of the digivice, a light appeared and from the screen, the light took shape. Before he knew it, the light faded to reveal a digimon card, stuck in the card reader. A gasp escaped Zachary as he took the card and pulled it out.
Zachary looked at the card and couldn't help but look surprised. He didn't realize the digivice could materialize a card like that, but seeing the card, it made sense. The card was a customized one, showing the digi-egg of friendship. "Panthermon..." Zachary said, looking at the card.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Zachary replied with a smile. Putting the new card into his pocket, he turned to his panther digimon. "Come on, lets go home-- before mom realizes I am not home in the middle of the night."
The End.
(OOC Note: The use of a Digi-egg card is only cosmetic. It shouldn't be counted towards the 5 card limit, but a personal touch I wanna have for this case, especially since there is no D-terminal in this site. Word count: over 6k. )
It had been a peaceful night-- or rather it used to be till Panthermon woke Zachary up in the middle of the night. Dragged out of bed, he was woken up to both his digimon biting his blanket off and also by the relentless beeping of his D- Power. Checking it Zachary discovered two things. One, a digimon signal. Two, something else coming from the same direction. Despite Zachary's plea to go back to bed and deal with it in the morning, Panthermon was insistent.
And so, both Zachary and Panthermon snuck out and were now on the streets of New York City. A few people drove and past by on the streets-- in fact very shady looking people as well. However, for most of the time, Panthermon kept close for Zachary's protection. At times invisible, at times not, but always by Zachary's side.
"I hope you're happy for this," Zachary signed as they walked, following the digivice's signal. "This couldn't have waited till the morning?"
Panther didn't glance back at Zachary, as he kept his focus on his surroundings. "I'm sorry, but if we don't act on it now, someone else may find it. I can't explain why but it puts my fur on end just sensing it." he said.
Knowing his partner had a point, Zachary complied. At least during this time of night, they didn't need to worry about too many unwanted eyes. Still, they had to be careful.
All the while, Zachary continued to follow the beeping of his D-Power. They continued to follow the arrow of it till it reached a certain point. They were near one of the many corners of the block, overlooking a wide intersection in The Village.
They came to a stop near the street, and all the arrows on the digivice flashed, indicating they were on the target location.
"What the...?" Zachary said, looking at his D-Power. He shook it a couple of times, but the reading was still the same. It should have been where they stood, but no sign of a digimon or digital energy signature anywhere. "Why couldn't this thing come with an instruction manual?"
Panthermon looked around the quiet street. He , too, was perplexed by the lack of any activity around them. His senses were sharp and he could detect a digimon nearby, along with the strange power that emanated from it as well. "I know it's here somewhere, Zachary. I'm positive of it," the cat growled, still on his guard.
Lowering his digivice, Zachary looked around for any kind of sign. He opened his senses to hear or see anything, but in the city, there was always something going on in the city. The sound of a driving car, a siren in the distance, the hiss of steam from the steam vents or the clank of the rails from the subway...
"... Wait a minute," Zachary said as he looked around. Turning to his right, he saw one of the steam vents that go under the street. For a moment it was quiet, save for the soft rising of the steam into the cold night's air. Then, came the sound of the clanking of train tracks, followed by the rushing sound of movement below it.
"I get it! The subway," Zachary exclaimed, causing Panthermon to turn to him. Looking at his digivice, he saw as the arrows all converged, indicating it was where they were standing. "The signal is coming from below us, underground. It's probably in the subway tunnel," he explained.
Panthermon sniffed the ground below him, as if to see if he was accurate. "You're right... but how are we going to get down there?" the cat asked.
Zachary smiled as he pointed down the street. At the other end, there was one of the subway entrances, its stairs leading under the sidewalk and into the underbelly of the city. They knew where they needed to go now.
***
It wasn't too difficult to get into the subway for Zachary and Panthermon. Zachary was concerned that Panthermon wouldn't be able to get through without being spotted, but the cat was more than quick enough. Though he didn't bother with invisibility, he moved so fast and darted out of sight of the cameras and night staff of the subway, it wasn't even an issue for him.
By the time Zachary had gotten into the subway normally, Panthermon was already waiting inside the tunnel. Having to be careful, Zachary double checked to make sure no one would see him, or that any oncoming trains would hit him. Once he was clear, he jumped off the platform and entered the train tunnel.
The pair were then walking down the service walkways that ran along the train tracks. Bits of light flickered that light the way as they proceeded forward. Both Zachary and Panthermon cautiously looked around every crook and cranny for danger. "I can't believe I am saying this," Zachary groaned as they walked. "But this is actually the first time I actually prefer a crazy human popping up in these tunnels rather than a crazy digimon."
Panthermon growled at the comment, keeping his ears focused. "Don't worry. I don't hear anyone nearby. Human, at least, but we are getting closer," the cat replied as they followed the digivice signal.
After a bit of a walk down the tunnel, the digivice pointed to the left, entering a worn passageway with a broken track. Feeling it was safe, they proceeded down it and followed the signal. This time there was not much light, save sparks from the faulty cables of the walls. Curious, Panthermon looked around as they proceeded. "These tunnels look very worn out." the panther said, slowly stalking his way down the track. "What do you think this is?"
As they soon reached the end of the tunnel, it opened up to reveal a large, dome shaped room. He soon saw the machines nearby and tracks that ran along the walls. "Its an old train-turnaround" Zachary said, as he saw the room. "Supposedly, these tunnels were no longer used when the newer subway tracks and stations were built. There are networks of old tunnels and abandoned stations probably underground. " he explained.
The room was round, with the similar tracks that branched out to other tunnels. However, as they got into the tunnel, the digivice beeped and the arrows all converged to their present position. It was then he looked up and noticed the room. Despite the clear show of old cables, machines and worn platforms that designated this tunnel had not been used since the late 1960's- the key thing that caught his attention was the blue glow coming from the center of the room.
A bright light flickered, casting off several sparks of small blue electricity. It was difficult to see the source, but it remained stationary, not moving.
"What is that?" Zachary said as he approached the strange energy source. As he extended a hand and drew closer-- he immediately felt a sudden discharge. "YOUCH!" he shouted and quickly withdrew his hand. He had no burn, but the jolt to his hand was unmistakable. The energy had electrocuted him. If he had gotten closer, the jolt probably would of been much worse. "That stung...what is that thing anyway?" he grumbled.
Panthermon approached closer, his claws now exposed as he felt more anxious in this place. "I'm not sure. I never seen anything like it before. Still, that can wait. " he sniffed the ground and his ears twitched. As he did, his eyes grew into a more feral expression, that of a true jungle cat. "I sense digimon nearby. They are here," he growled.
Looking up in alarm, Zachary got out his digivice. He looked around at the other tunnels. There was nothing in them as he looked to the other parts of the subway turnaround room. Everything was still and quiet, from the brick walls to the empty machines nearby. With his back to Panthermon, he kept his guard up but was not seeing anything.
"I don't see anything," Zachary said, his eyes looking left and right for any movement. "Are you sure?"
"Positive," the jungle cat growled, his tail twitching with aggitation. "Can't you hear it? That buzzing sound... It puts my fur on end."
Buzzing noise? Zachary thought as he listened carefully. After a moment, he heard it. At first, he thought it was an echo of a passing train in another tunnel. However, as he listened, it came and went. A buzzing sound that was so subtle, it almost sounded like crickets in the night.
As Zachary continued to look around, his gaze went up... and that was when he saw it. The dome-shaped ceiling looked as black as night. At first he thought it was just the lightless ceiling-- but then he notice a small bit of movement, as if the black of the ceiling shifted. "Um, Panthermon?" Zachary said nervously, a sweat dripping down his neck. "Is it just me, or does the ceiling look like its moving to you?"
Alarmed, Panthermon looked up-- seeing the fragmentation in the black color to the ceiling.
KGRIKIKIKI!!!
The buzz became louder, like the swarm of several locus. Suddenly the blackness came falling down-- revealing to be many small creatures! They began to come down from the ceiling, having clung to it till now. Panthermon let out a clear panther's growl as the black creatures fell to the ground, landing on their feet and revealed themselves. The digimon gave a mix of a bug's screech, with a strange metallic sound.
Upon closer inspection, as several of them began to surround them, it appeared to be strange small robot-beetles! Each one was black save for their yellow lit-up eyes, with metallic pincers on their heads and claws. Looking at the number, they easily could of been over twenty of them, if not more.
Zachary checked his digivice, and immediately the data appeared about them. "Kokuwagamon-- Rookie machine digimon. Data type. Special attack: Mini Scissor Claw and Power Surge. " Zachary read it aloud, and glanced at the mechanical insects. "There are so many of them."
"These pests feed off electricity," Panthermon informed, his head darting around as the digimon began to surround them. "They were probably drawn by the power of that energy source." However, as they talked, the mecha-beetles began to grow more agitated, the sparks from their pincers starting to flash-- signaling they were about to attack. " And they are not happy we intruded on them. Zachary, find cover!" the panther warned.
"POWER SURGE!!" the digimon shouted in unison. From their pincers on their heads, bolts of electricity shot out at the human and his digimon.
"Scatter!" Panthermon warned. Zachary and Panthermon quickly ran in opposite directions, right as the bolts of electricity struck the ground they once stood. Panthermon ran to the left and Zachary ran right-- looking for somewhere safe to stick near the fight.
Naturally, the Kokuwagamon were drawn to Panthermon, the digimon being a real threat to them in terms of power next to a human being. Many of them quickly pursued the black digimon, but a few choose to chase after Zachary as well-- running after him.
"Oh crap," Zachary gasped and ran, heading for the end of the room to get away.
Sprinting about now, evading the digimon chasing after him, Panthermon caught the view of Zachary being pursued in the corner of his eye. They would be his first priority. "SPIRAL FLAME!!" he roared, shooting out a spiraling blast of fire from his mouth. The stream shot across the room, and with sharp precision, nailed the Kokuwagamon in the back as it chased after Zachary. The blast exploded, knocking into the others as well.
Seeing that Panthermon took out the digimon chasing him, he turned and looked to see his situation. While Panthermon was faster, easily sprinting ahead of the chasing black beetles, he was far outnumbered. And Zachary didn't know how to make Panthermon digivolve yet. He gritted his teeth as he reached into his pocket, drawing out his digimon cards.
"Hang on Panthermon, " Zachary said as he quickly raised his digivice. Crossing his arms, he had the card in one and his digivice in the other. He then brought the two before him and slashed a card through. "Digi-modify! Snowagumon's Frozen Wind-- Upload!" he shouted.
From across the room, Panthermon felt the familiar sensation. The two had used this card before, utilizing another digimon's element to give him an edge. "FROZEN WIND!!" Panthermon roared and focused his breath behind him. As he ran, he looked to a cluster of machine beetles and with his exhale-- a gust of icy wind swept across the area.
The Kokuwagamon were suddenly frozen in place. Not solid, but ice caked over their bodies, making them unable to move for the time being. However, he was at best able to freeze only 5 bettles, while others were still around, and quickly gaining on him.
"Panthermon, look out!" Zachary shouted, seeing them coming up from behind.
A snarl escaped the black panther digimon as he was pretty much running laps around the room to keep the kokuwagamon from catching him. As he ran, his claws became a deeper shade of black, energy coursing off of it. "SHADOW CLAW!" Panthermon's shout was followed as he lunged towards a few of his attackers, and swiped his claws at them. A black crescent slash flew out towards the machines, striking some. The one in front of him was immediately destroyed, its data exploding into bits. However, the others were far from done as they continued to close in on him.
"There's too many of them!" Panthermon snarled as he had been lucky enough to strike a second with his claws, but more of them soon began to coordinate attacks.
"MINI SCISSOR CLAWS!!" the machines said in unison and each one volted forward, trying to clench down on Panthermon with their claws.
Eyes wide with alert, Panthermon pounced from where he stood and sprinted away again. The machines struck the ground, piling on top of the other as they missed, but soon got up and chased after him again.
Zachary grimaced as he looked around. The other kokuwagamon were learning about Panthermon's speed and maneuverability as more began to try to pincer him from another angle around the room. There were about 15 remaining, and it was too many for one rookie to handle alone. "Panthermon, get out of there! We can't defeat them all!" he shouted in concern. It was only a matter of time, and then they would come after him as well.
"Just stay there," Panthermon shouted back, his eyes still focused on the nearest of the machines. "SPIRAL FLAME!!" he roared, launching another jet of fire at them.
While Panthermon was powerful for your average rookie digimon, he couldn't handle such overwhelming numbers by himself. Zachary looked with a tremble in his eyes. "What should I do?" Zachary gasped, looking at his collection of cards he had. "I don't have anything that can handle that many digimon at once or of that type," he groaned.
As Panthermon soon fought off another attacking digimon, the ones he had frozen in place finally broke free. They let out cries as the ice snapped free from their metal bodies and they could move again. Panthermon was too busy with the others, never seeing the ones approaching!
"LOOK OUT! BEHIND YOU!!" Zachary shouted.
"MINI SCISSOR CLAWS!!" the Kokuwagamon shouted and slammed for Panthermon.
WHAM!! Panthermon turned in time, but couldn't dodge as three of the machines smashed into him with their heads. The panther gave a shout of pain as he was thrown airborne.
The cat fell to the ground, tumbling a bit, but soon regained his footing and was on all fours again. "SPIRAL FLAME!!" he roared, attacking the same ones that struck him.
The battle had only been about a minute in time, and already Panthermon had sustained damage. Even as he attacked, he could sense the others coming up behind him. "Zachary!" Panthermon growled, both verbally and through their mental connection. "Leave! Get out of here before they notice you. I can handle this!" he said stubbornly, wanting Zachary out of harm's way before the Kokuwagamon got wise to him.
Zachary's eyes widened at this. He wanted him to run for safety and get out of there, but he couldn't. "What are you crazy?! I can't leave you here!" Zachary shouted.
"SHORT CIRCUIT!!" a few of the digimon screeched, firing off bolts of Electricity out at Panthermon. The speedy digimon dodged the first two, but the third came from his left and struck him in the backside, causing him to let out a cat-like cry of pain.
The damage was adding up, as Panthermon was now struggling from different direction attacks, both by the metal claws and the electric shocks.
Zachary trembled, his desire to survive strong as he wanted very much to run and get away from this horrible place. The threat of death was real now... however, all the more as he watched Panthermon fight for his sake and his own , at the same time, he couldn't ignore his friend. When it came down to it, Zachary was powerless to help in this situation.
"GRAAAA!!" Panthermon cried as another Mini Scissor Claw sent him flying back. He skid on his side across the floor, landing near the center of the room where the sparking energy source was. The blue flickers of lightning lit up the area, revealing the number of bruises and scrapes Panthermon had gotten. Though disguised by black, some of his wounds were visible. "Zachary... run... now...!" he growled, fighting to stand again.
The digimon began to gather towards the panther. As they did, sparks of electricity danced between them. They were beginning to power up for another "Short Circuit" attack. If they attacked together, the damage would be stronger than one could alone!
Still, unable to accept defeat, Panthermon struggled to raise back to his feet. The cat had become sluggish with his accumulated wounds. He glared at the spark of electricity forming, knewing he had to dodge if he could.
"SHORT CIRCUIT!! TZZZZT!!" THe Kokuwagamon buzzed and released the stream of electricity! It traveled through the air towards Panthermon....
.......
.... and something struck the person that threw himself in front of the attack.
"GHAAAAAA!!" Zachary screamed as the electricity struck his back, blasting against him and off away as the electricity seared against his jacket.
Panthermon's eyes went wide with shock and horror to see Zachary throw himself into the stream, his arms out . He was protecting Panthermon, having taken the hit from the Kokuwagamon attack to save him.
The shock ended, causing Zachary to feel stiff and tingly. He fell to his knees as smoke danced off his back, his coat slightly charred from the electricity. Ragged breaths escaped Zachary as he fell to his hands now, trying to endure the pain of the electricity. By sheer luck, his jacket was made from non-conductive material , so some of the damage was diverted, but it didn't make the shock hurt any less. Still, the look on Zachary's face showed something in addition to pain. It was relief.
"You... YOU IDIOT!!" Panthermon snarled at Zachary, this time it being his turn to be concerned as he saw Zachary kneel in front of him. "What the hell were you thinking, throwing yourself in front of that attack! You could of been killed!!" he snarled.
Zachary didn't answer, his breath ragged. As this happened, the Kokuwagamon looked on, confused by the sudden interruption by the human.
"Get out of here! I am a fighter, a digimon! I can handle this by myself!" the cat snarled.
"I don't care..." Zachary coughed, his tone weak as he finally got the breath to speak again. Raising his head, his hair revealed his face-- showing a smile on his face. A small but clear smile on his face. "It doesn't matter... if your strong or not. It doesn't matter if I can fight or not, either. "
Panthermon snarled at Zachary, trying to get him to leave. There might still be time for him to run. "There is no reason for you to die for me! Fighting is my reason for being. I am content if I am deleted here. I can be reconfigured. YOU CAN'T! "
"I TOLD YOU, I DON'T CARE!!" Zachary shouted this time, being the one to stop Panthermon from talking. His hand gripped his Digivice tightly, almost tight enough to break it. "We are partners, and ... partners stick by each other." he smiled once again, showing a compassionate look to the panther. " Right, Panthermon?"
The panther was now genuinely silent. He had been a very independent digimon, having been the guiding hand to Zachary as a Digimon Tamer. He had no issue being a fighter, and even the risk of deletion didn't scare him. He had already passed once before. But now, as Zachary confronted him, saying how he wasn't going to let him do that, he was genuinely shocked.
"So it doesn't matter how dangerous anything is," Zachary said as he finally got the strength to kneel up, feeling some sensation back in his body again. "There is no way in hell I'd leave anyone I care about behind. I'd rather die than betray my friends like that!"
Suddenly, the energy source nearby released a loud, high pitched scream of energy. The glow intensified and more bolts of electricity jolted outward. They arched over Zachary and Panthermon, striking the Kokuwagamon nearby, repelling them by the blasts of the mysterious energy. Zachary had ducked his head, but soon looked up, seeing the brilliant spark glow brighter than ever. Panthermon looked as well, perplexed by the sudden eruption of energy.
Zachary's digivice started to beep erratically, but he didn't hear it over the sound of the mysterious spark. As this happened, while Zachary thought for a moment it was a trick of the light-- the spark began to move towards them! The glow began to lessen slightly, and the electrical discharged stopped. After a bit of time, a shape could be seen, levitating inside of the spark. It was roughly the shape of a football as Zachary and Panthermon observed it. Upon closer inspection, the light lessened to reveal it was a black shaped object with 'teeth' like patterns of yellow on its side and a blue symbol similar to the yin-yang with two wings out of it. Finally, a strange spike like a lightning-shaped blade stuck out from the top.
"You have got to be kidding me," Zachary gasped, looking up to the object emitting that much electricity and power. He recognized it, but it was just fiction. "That can't be real."
Panthermon's eyes fixated on it and finally sensed it. He knew not what it was called, but he knew what it was. A mighty power that was awaiting one to take. But it didn't just let anyone take it, it seemed. It was awakened and responded with Zachary's own feelings.
"No more real than us Digimon, huh, Zachary?" Panthermon chuckled lightly despite his state.
He knew what it was-- the Digiegg of Friendship. it was part of the card game, and also the television show, but it was pure fiction. The fact it was now here in front of him, and even responding to him, made him feel like he was in the middle of a bad joke. "The Digi-egg of Friendship? Seriously!?" Zachary asked.
As if to answer him, the Digiegg soon drifted lower and hovered in front of Zachary. Unable to argue against such a strong gesture, Zachary slowly reached out his hand and touched it. The force holding the egg in the air vanished, allowing it to rest in his hand. However, the glow of the digiegg continued to shine and light up the room.
The Kokuwagamon began to become restless. It seemed they were agitated that the electric energy they had gathered around now found a new owner. Now they seemed keyed to retrieve it once more, even if violence was necessary to do it. With a grunt, Panthermon rose up to his feet. "Zachary, whatever you think you can do with that thing, I suggest you use it. All I know it's an incredible power. And if it can help you, I suggest you don't, as you humans say, 'hit a gift horse in the mouth' ." he growled, getting ready to defend his tamer from another attack.
Looking at the digiegg in his hand, Zachary shook his head for a moment. He didn't want to believe this was real, but he was out of options. "I really hate being cliché... but here goes nothing...," Zachary said and took a deep breath. He held out the digiegg and pointed it at Panthermon. "Let's go! Digi-Armor... ENERGIZE!!"
Electricity suddenly jolted from Zachary's hand as the digiegg released a tremendous glow and the bolt of lightning struck Panthermon. The digimon's body was consumed by the energy, his shadow the only thing showing through the bright flash. However, what should of been painful felt energizing. From inside, Panthermon's eyes flashed again with a feral gleam as he felt the energy course through his body.
"Panthermon-- Armor Digivolve to...!" he growled as the electricity became black in color! The electricity shaped itself around panthermon's shadow-- slowly changing as the time passed. It became bigger, bulkier, strange bolts of lightning seemed almost to solidify as the energy no longer was consuming Panthermon, but emanating from him!
Finally, the lightning fell from him, revealing a far bigger jungle cat. This time it was a tiger of black fur, with ash-grey stripes. He was wearing rather strange and heavy black armor, just as black as his fur. Steaks of blue-colored lightning decorated his armor, showing the armor parts to be upon his claws, shoulders, a mask over his face, lower back, rear sides, and at the end of his tail. And on those armored parts, the same lightning-shaped blades were there, glinting and sparking electricity of their own. On the shoulder guards of the large cat, was the crest of Friendship on it, showing the power he had been drawing from.
"... BAHGEERAMON!!" the cat roared, discharging a sudden burst of black lightning from his body, causing a grand flash throughout the room.
The discharge of lightning startled the Kokuwagamon nearby as they looked to find their enemy had changed. He had Armor Digivolved. Lowering his arm to guard his eyes from the intense lightning show, Zachary looked to see his digimon partner, now under a brand new transformation.
"P-Panthermon? You okay?" Zachary asked, confused. "How do you feel?"
A soft growl escaped the giant black tiger, being now as tall as Zachary was, if not, taller. "I am Bahgeeramon now," the cat growled, his eyes however focused on the Kokuwagamon around him. "As for how I feel... " A soft chuckle escaped him, his claws flexing from his large paws. "...Fully-charged."
At that moment, the blades of upon Bahgeera's armor flashed with energy and lightning discharged from them. With a roar of his own like a true tiger, he suddenly lunged forward, taking off like lightning itself! In a flash, he had charged right through the line of machine digimon--
-- and a couple of them disintegrated into nothing! The electric flash had cleaved right through them, reducing them to data once more.
Glancing back, Bahgeeramon sneered at the small machines. For the big tiger, it was time for serious payback. Alarmed by the strength of the new cat digimon, the other digimon quickly scattered, attempting to reform and come up with a new strategy.
"You can run, but you can't hide," the tiger growled and his blades upon his armor began to glow again. "Zachary, whatever you do, don't move," he warned.
Zachary looked but kept his footing firm. He didn't intend to move. However he observed as Bahgeeramon's armor began to discharge powerful jolts of electricity.
"STORM PREDATOR!!" he roared-- and in a flash of lightning, he was gone!
Right before his eyes, it was as if the entire room was full of electricity, dancing all around Zachary and the other Kokuwagamon. Zachary crouched low and covered his head as the lightning flew-- but it wasn't lightning. It was Bahgeeramon! He was moving so fast, he was like a living lightning storm. He was moving so fast and bouncing off the walls. All the while, the shrill cries of Kokuwagamon filled the air along with the sparking lightning, With each second, one of the enemy digimon would be disintegrated. In truth, Bahgeeramon had slashed through them with his bladed-armor, striking faster than they had time to even react.
It lasted for ten seconds before Bahgeeramon re-emerged, skidding along the ground with claw marks in the ground. Realizing it was over, Zachary looked around, noticing a great reduce in the number of enemies. In fact, almost all of them were gone! "S... So fast..." Zachary gasped, shocked by how armor digivolving actually made such a difference.
However, while it appeared that the enemy was descimated... one remained.
Though having slashed through many of them, Bahgeeramon had missed one Kokuwagamon, who had been positioned difficulty to slash through at the angles he was sprinting around during 'Storm Predator'. It was alone now, but then it let out a screech and discharged electricity in a strange 'war cry'.
Suddenly, the disperced data from the defeated Kokuwagamon reacted. First it drifted in the air and then began to move towards him. The little machine began to absorb the bits in the air, quickly gathering them and entering his body.
"What the..?" Zachary gasped.
Bahgeeramon growled as he observed it. "It's absorbing the data from his allies. Crude," Panthermon cursed.
The Kokuwagamon absorbed the last bit, then its body glowed with energy. It became a blinding light and changed, growing bigger and its structure more sturdier. It soon became the size of a train car in height, and had a strange shape of a body. As the light faded, it revealed its true form-- becoming a strange, bi-pedal, humanoid like tank! It had a tank's lower track with a strange torso, gun-shaped arms, and a head with a maw-- and a cannon for a nose!
"Aw crap!" Zachary groaned as he quickly checked his Digivice. The screen appeared, revealing the data to be indeed-- Tankmon. "Tankmon. An android machine, Digimon. It's champion level!"
Bahgeeramon growled as his eyes behind his mask narrowed to the tank. As Tankmon took full form, he aimed his guns at Bahgeeramon.
"Careful!" Zachary shouted, lowering his digivice. "If he shoots off too much explosives, he could severely damage the tunnels and collapse it on us!"
"I got it covered," Bahgeeramon growled, his body radiating electricity already. As this happened, the flickering lightning became black in color, an unnatural hue if there ever was one. Zachary gasped at the change as he saw this occure, and as Tankmon raised his guns to fire his missles at Bahgeeramon.
"BLACK LIGHTNING CANNON!!" the tiger roared, and from his mouth, a strange, black beam of lightning energy ripped through the air. It struck right into Tankmon, causing a mechanized, loud howl of pain from the digimon.
Whatever attack the tank was going to make-- it didn't fire. Black lightning ran up and down his body, as if the black bolt of electricity had paralyzed him. Its movements of its arms and head became jerky, as if trying to pull free of it. "This ends NOW!!' Bahgeera roared, and charged forward.
Bahgeera lunged up into the air, reaching high into the air and towards Tankmon. The blades on his body glowed once more as energy charged up once again. "OVERLOAD!!" he roared, releasing the mighty cry into the air and echoing off the walls. It was then Bahgeeramon's whole body released a mighty burst of lightning in all directions. Zachary braced himself as he got low, trying to avoid the blast. Luckily it went over his head, but Tankmon was another story.
As if drawn to him-- many of the bolts struck Tankmon. His entire body lit up with the lightning, causing a mighty scream of agony. This lightning, while Zachary couldn't tell had a special effect upon the digimon. Made of metal, the whole creature was like one big lightning rod, making the lightning more effective against it.
Bahgeeramon was now on top of the tank, his armored claws were digging into the creature as the lightning continued to electricute him. Finally, after a large cry of agony-- Tankmon burst apart into bits of metal and data-- soon bit by bit dissolving into the air just like its kin.
The lightning soon died and Zachary looked to see Tankmon dissolve into data. The fight was over, but not before Bahgeeramon arched his back and head. The bits of data slowly drew towards him as he proceeded to download the data of the digimon he defeated. Zachary watched silently as Bahgeeramon took in the last bit of Tankmon's data, and finally stopped. The large tiger turned to Zachary and slowly walked over to him.
Zachary was a bit taken aback as he saw the large tiger clad in sharp pointed armor, but as he was a foot away, the tiger stopped and stood facing his friend. "Zachary..." the tiger growled, his tone calm as he looked at his tamer. Despite it being his friend, Zachary couldn't help but sweat a bit as the giant tiger looked like he could swallow him in just two bites. However, the words he said made it clear what he wanted. "... Thank you."
The human blinked as he looked to the giant armored tiger. "Um... why? I didn't do anything."
Bahgeeramon shook his head. "No, Zachary," the tiger said. "When I became Bahgeeramon, I understood. I couldn't of become this form without you. You're compassion and friendship gave me strength. I never understood just how special that can be. "
Getting over the shock of the giant tiger and the battle, Zachary smiled a bit as he slowly reached out a hand for his partner. Despite how fearsome and even how sharp his armor looked, he reached over to where the masked ended and scratched the tiger near the head. A soft growl escaped him, showing gratitude as Zachary petted the giant tiger. "Hey, you protected me all this time. It's only natural I do the same. That's what friends do," he replied.
As he withdrew his hand, Bahgeeramon's form began to glow with blue light. Taking a step back, Zachary witnessed as the digimon's form was consumed by light, and then the same bolt of electricity that transformed him shot out of him. It went to Zachary and into his digivice.
The silhouette of light soon returned to reveal Panthermon, in his true form. However, Zachary looked to his digivice. The Crest of Friendship showed up on the screen, signaling the energy of the digi-egg he had obtained. What happened next surprised him. Inside the card reader of the digivice, a light appeared and from the screen, the light took shape. Before he knew it, the light faded to reveal a digimon card, stuck in the card reader. A gasp escaped Zachary as he took the card and pulled it out.
Zachary looked at the card and couldn't help but look surprised. He didn't realize the digivice could materialize a card like that, but seeing the card, it made sense. The card was a customized one, showing the digi-egg of friendship. "Panthermon..." Zachary said, looking at the card.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Zachary replied with a smile. Putting the new card into his pocket, he turned to his panther digimon. "Come on, lets go home-- before mom realizes I am not home in the middle of the night."
The End.
(OOC Note: The use of a Digi-egg card is only cosmetic. It shouldn't be counted towards the 5 card limit, but a personal touch I wanna have for this case, especially since there is no D-terminal in this site. Word count: over 6k. )
