Ayame's Chronicles- A Change on the Wind, Part 1
#8 of Ayame's Chronicles
After the late night events involving some rocky foes, Takami's team did not go unnoticed. Today was the day they could reap the fruits of their labor. You may add music if you see a scene where it is appropriate.
Next morning at breakfast, Takami was yawning more than usual due to the lack of sleep they all received. Suri was sitting in the corner, finishing off her seventh cup of coffee and Rua was simply cleaning out the buffet of all things protein.
Takami was about to fall face first into sticky pillow of waffle until a slam on the table startles him awake. When he looks up, it's none other than a returning student from the previous week. "Hey newbies, sleep well?" he asks, now drawing attention of half the people sitting in the area.
Takami frowns and mumbles angrily about waffles. Chad simply ignores it and went on his rant. "The next time you feel the urge to run around campus in the middle of the night, DON'T. You get busted and we_ all_ suffer, GOT IT?" He slams his fist down into the stack of waffles that were almost a pillow and squirts syrup all over his own shirt, causing several people to laugh.
While Chad was ranting, Takami had gotten up and was already half way out of the noisy breakfast hall. He is stopped at the door by the head counselor. 'Crap, did we do something wrong already?!' He thinks to himself as he wakes up address her. "S-something the matter ma'am?"
Ms. Izuru shifts her glasses up with her pinky. "At 2:24 this morning, a digital field appeared in section 2-A of the campus. This was an assignment of the returning students to handle, but somehow, your group beat them to it. The rouge Digimon consisted of three rookies capable of digivolving to champion, but were defeated anyways. I'd like to see you and your group in my office in half an hour." She then turns her back to him and starts walking away. "Don't be late," she added while Takami turns to the now silent cafeteria. Everyone knew if the head counselor called anyone out, it wasn't any light news.
Rua, Takami and Suri along with their Digimon arrive in the Izuru's office five minutes before they were told to meet, fully clothed and looking like nervous wrecks.
"Ah, glad to see all of you could make it. I'm guessing Takami filled you in on what I'm questioning, correct?" she asks and was answered by five quick nods. "Good. Now getting straight to the point, explain to me how three first-years and their rookie Digimon took down three champion-level Digimon."
Suri speaks up first, "Well, our digivices started going off in the middle of the night and we followed a map to them. When we got there, our Digimon made a series of coordinated attacks with little instruction from us. They said something about naturally being able to synergize well in battle afterwards," After she finishes speaking, she sinks back into her chair.
"So three rookies made a combined effort to take down three champions?" Izuru asks, shifting her gaze to Rua and Takami, who automatically sit up even straighter, "With no active modification programs in their partner's digivice or prior strategizing?"
"Actually, from the way they were working... I'm guessing each of us took time to individually train our Digimon on how to work together... So this is the fruits of our labor," Rua answers, trying to not make eye contact.
"... Interesting... Very interesting..." Izuru turns from them and opens a file cabinet. She ruffles through various folders and then tosses a blue folder on the table and it slides towards them.
"What's this?" Ayame asks, leaning over Takami's head.
"That is a file on an assignment I was going to assign to a returning team. They could easily get it done, but you all seem like a more interesting group to watch," Izuru replies with a smile as Takami opens it. There were three chips in a pocket of the folder and a typed list. "This mission will require you to enter the digital world and investigate a forest. There have been a report on increased commotion within it, most likely caused by Digimon gone rouge. Eventually, they would enter our world and do the same. If possible, detain them from entering our world and find the cause of it. Any questions?"
Rua picks up a chip and examines it, "Just what are these chips for?"
"The chips are used for not only transferring your mission status back to us, but also for transportation back to here, communicators for tamers and most of all: data storage. When a Digimon is defeated, you remember seeing them explode into what looked like dust, right? Well this chip scans and collects that data then saves it. With the saved data, you could restore the Digimon and any damage to the terrain caused by it. So please don't lose them."
They all nod, slide the chip into the slot of their digivices (which caused them to glow and adapt to the new system), then take their leave of Izuru's office. When they were out, Izuru smiles to herself. 'Don't disappoint me... Takami Kusajiki.'
Takami's group arrive at what seemed to be a large cabin and enter it, then proceed through the door at the bottom of some stairs. Once inside, they are completely shocked to find a futuristic lab, filled with supercomputers, several large display panels with graphs too difficult to understand, and large tubes connected to several hundred wires running to various computers.
"What the crap?! Why is the U.S. Pentagon in a camp?!" Rua asks while looking around.
Takami walks closer to the large tubes. "I guess things here are more than meets the ey-"
"You make that reference and I will throw something sharp and painful at you," Suri interrupts.
A woman in a lab coat walks up and greets them. "So you must be the ones taking the digital dive today. Please step into the central chamber and don't touch anything inside." She gestures to the one whose doors just opened. "When you are ready to return, just contact us and we will extract you. Good luck."
Various workers around the lab sat at different computers and began typing rapidly, updating on the little things that were accomplished. Takami and his team recalled their Digimon into their digivices and stepped into the tube. The doors close with a low hiss and a bright yellow light engulfed the three tamers. The screens being worked at by the lab people now have a red gate turn green and just like that- the tamers were gone.
In the digital world
From the blue sky, a beam of yellow light dropped rapidly towards the ground. However, instead of going in a straight line, the light divided into three, splitting the tamers up to different edges of the forest, leaving them to somehow keep the escaping Digimon at bay, and making their way to the center to relocate each other. The tamers are now isolated, only able to depend on themselves and their digimon.
Takami was the first to land. He appears in what seemed like a meadow with somewhat tall grasses and many strange flowers, whose fluttering in the breeze made them seem almost alive. 'Well this makes things more complicated...' he thinks to himself as he let out Ayame.
"Where are the others?" Ayame asks while looking around and twitching her ears, trying to find any trace of them.
"Guess they landed somewhere else. So I guess we go towards the center of the forest and hope to meet up, right?"
Ayame nods but then turned to a group of flowers. "Takami, I think we should be careful here..."
"Why? If any Digimon tried to attack I'd think they stand out here in a meadow..."
"You'd be surprised. Digimon are indigenous to where they blend in the most," she said as she tosses a diamond shard at the flowers which caused them to scatter rapidly. "See what a mean?!" Ayame took a fighting stance as three small Digimon appear in front of them. They all resemble plant stems with arms and flowers on their head.
Takami pulls out his digivice. "Floramon, rookies. They seem easy enough. Just look out for their Paralyzing Pollen; that stuff can really mess you up."
Ayame smirks and disappears right before their very eyes, leaving the Floramon baffled. She reappears in the center of their group. "Power Paw!" Ayame yells as her fists and feet erupt in a deep blue flame and proceeds to send the Floramon in different directions with just a single strike.
The Floramon are taken by surprise but didn't seem worried at all. "Ayame, why aren't they panicking?"
"Don't know, but I really don't want to find out," Ayame charges the closest one who used vines from their hand to not only throw her off balance, but also to evade her charge and caused her to slide in the grass. They all group back together, laughing. Ayame gets up with a snarl, "Lucky shot..." She charges again, only to get countered by six thick vines smacking her down. "Okay, that one hurt a little..."
Takami continues watching as Ayame struggles on. 'She can't take this forever! What should I do- oh... wait!' He reaches for his digivice again and presses the button furthest to the right, which makes the screen turn green. "Digi-Modify: Broadsword activate!" The digivice glows briefly as it accesses a program within the device, then releases a swirl of data to Ayame's right hand and forms a medium-sized steel broadsword.
"What the heck?!" Ayame looks lost at to what just happened but then shrugs it off and blocks the next onslaught of vines easily. "I like this modification~"
Takami smiles, "I added it in my spare time when no one was looking. Thought it might come in handy one day."
Ayame now charges the Floramon again, thwarting their blocks with the sword which slices and dices their vines effortlessly. She was almost in striking distance when they all nod to each other and separate in five different directions. While in mid-air, they all yell, "Paralyzing Pollen!" and caused the area Ayame was in to be clouded by a thick mist of hazy yellow pollen and causes her to fall to the ground.
'Damn! Should have seen that coming...!' Ayame yells internally, since she couldn't fully move her body for another good fifteen seconds. And the worst had yet to come; the Floramon started shining brightly and started growing. 'Double damn! I can barely handle them all at rookie! How can I handle five champions by myself...?'
The five Blossommon land around the incapacitated Ayame. Takami couldn't help but be worried at their sudden digivolution and then thinks back to when Ayame first digivolved. He gulps and then clenches his right hand into a fist. 'Please, please work... for the sake of Ayame!' He ran towards one Blossommon whose back was turned towards him and delivers a jumping uppercut to the back of its head. The struck Blossommon was sent flying towards two more and were knocked back into the forest trees. Takami stood smiling at where it once stood. "Looks like I still- huh...?" He looks at his hand he struck it with but saw no digisoul. "I don't get it... why isn't it here?!"
While he was looking down the other two Blossommon swung two large vines toward him, getting his attention and making him dodge and moved him closer to Ayame, who was still down.
Elsewhere, Izuru was busy watching her screen in her office. 'Okay Mr. Kusajiki, show me your fighting passion. Show me you are worthy of your digisoul...' Takami was trying his best to avoid the swinging vines of the Blossommon while the previous three emerged out of the forest. 'Crap, this isn't good... First things first: Get Ayame out of here.' He lifts Ayame over his shoulder, and continues dodging while fleeing towards some trees for cover, but trips over a root and collapses, Ayame landing next to him from the impact of the fall.
Ayame slowly rose as the effects of the pollen wore off, standing a little shaky though. Takami returns to his feet after her. "Ayame, for some reason I can't get a digisoul anymore!" Ayame frowns and crouches low to the ground.
"Guess I'll have to go without one. Diamond Storm!" Ayame launches a barrage of shards at the opposing Blossommon. The one in front was surprised and got the full blunt of the attack. Ayame smirked at the crystal's explosions. "That's one do-..." The smoke clears and revealed that the attack almost no effect at all. Also the Blossommon behind it extended one of its vines and yelled, "Spiral Flower!" One of the biting heads of its tentacles launches itself and spun towards Ayame and Takami, knocking them both back through trees. Unfortunately, Ayame took the blunt of the attack and was nearly incapacitated.
Takami rises once again, although his ankle hurt, most likely from a sprain. The first Blossommon raised its vine high above Ayame and slams it down while yelling, "Thorn Whip!" Takami can only in horror as the vine seems to descend in slow motion towards his fallen Digimon. In his mind, he flashes back to when a Gotsumon loomed over Ayame as a Viximon; the panic he was first hit with, then the overwhelming adrenaline combined with the will to keep his partner safe...
Right before the vine comes in contact with Ayame, it was stopped, letting her to look up in shock. Takami is standing over her, fist raised and glowing. His digisoul is burning brightly and took the Blossommon's attack as an opportunity to toss it back towards the approaching four others. He smirks as they all looked baffled after landing several meters further away. "I think we can even the playing field now, right Ayame?"
She smiles as she rose to her feet again, somehow feeling energized from Takami's sudden burst of emotion. "You know what to do, right?"
Takami takes out his digivice from his back pocket and raises his right hand high. "Digisoul..." He brings it down to his digivice which glows bright blue from the screen, and letters in green spelled out 'Digivolution'. Takami then focuses his digisoul into his digivice and yells, "Charge!" A flurry of data erupts from the screen and envelops Ayame, forming a dome of data. First, she shifts onto all fours as her body elongates and her limbs thicken. Her very bone structure shifts to that of a quadruped and her tail splits at the base into nine longer ones. The tips of her tails and her paws were engulfed in a mystical dancing flame. The final bit of her transformation ended when she received a red-and-white ribbon with bells around her neck, and finally the shell of data exploded, revealing the now champion-level fox Digimon.
Takami stares in awe at Ayame's new form. She said with a slightly deeper but still gentle voice, "So this is what it's like at my champion level... Kyubimon... I like it." She turns to a Blossommon that tried to sneak behind them and lunges forward. "Koshugeki!" she exclaims as she headbutts it, sending a powerful shockwave of psychic energy through it, causing it to explode into an egg. "There's one down, four more to go."
The remaining four Blossommon use caution and knew it would be dangerous to engage Ayame head-on. One launches another vine towards Takami who was standing behind Ayame. The vine was caught in the jaws of Ayame then yanked towards her and delivered another Koshugeki, bringing enemy numbers down to three. The Blossommon spread out of her range and started extending their vines to each other, then across the battlefield between Takami and Ayame, making a grid of spiny vines to limit their movements; even the slightest movement near them could be dangerous.
Takami carefully scrolls through a menu on his digivice. "Ayame, can I assume you have a ranged technique of some sort?"
"You could say that," she replies. "Why, you have an idea?"
Takami smiles as he reaches a certain program listed and the screen turned green. "Indeed I do. Digi-modify- Attack Boost N Activate!" Ayame felt an overpowering deluge of energy flow throughout her body. 'Well this is definitely different! Here goes nothing,' Her tails spread as she produces flames on the tips of them. The flames grew brighter than the usual Kyubimon's and hop along the tail tips as if they were dancing. "Fox Tail Inferno!" The flames take on a life of their own as each of them race down the vines of the Blossommon, incinerating everything they were connected to in a blue flame, quickly covering the distance to the sources and simultaneously scorches all three of them at once, reducing the last 3 floral digimon into eggs. Takami scans their data into his digivice and let out a relaxed sigh as Ayame extinguished any lingering flames.
Takami plops down on a charred log with a huff, "Well that was certainly a rush, wasn't it?"
Ayame walks over and nudges him with her nose. "Don't tell me that tired you out. How is your ankle?"
"It doesn't hurt as much now, but I can fix it with a first aid kit I packed. But I think you're taking your victory too lightly."
"And why is that? I simply defeated the enemy." She smiles softly as she rests her head on his lap. "Plus my last attack didn't have enough power to take all of them down alone, so it was a team effort."
Takami smiles more and pet her head gently. "So together, we defeated five champions... I call that a victory of the day."
Ayame reverts back to her rookie form as her first digivolution to champion depleted a lot of her energy. "To clarify, Blossomon are ultimate level. We took out 5 ultimate level digimon." They took a few minutes to rest before setting off to find their teammates, unable to help but wonder what kind of predicaments they could be in.