Old Ones Return (V)

*Cameron connects his D-power, and after its transformation he steps aside*

Kylie:<Yeah, everyone should.>
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Lyra:<I don't think we can sneak into a high security government building.>

<...Nothing happened. I suppose I haven't pushed you far enough yet.>

*He squeezes his hand together with a sound like breaking glass. When he opens it again, his palm is smoking, & Hitomi's Digisoul is gone.*
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E"He said we could just download it wirelessly, once one of us had it."

T"Can we just get out of this basement? It's freezing down here."

*Thiera has adopted the international hold-your-arms-&-shiver pose.*
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*After he breaks the wall, they respond by throwing canisters of knock out gas through the hole, & then running for additional cover.*
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"Hey, some of it's available to the public."

Salamon: "Hitomi..."

Azuma: "Bastard!"

Azuma runs at Drasil taking another swing at it.

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Taiyo: "I guess it is a little chilly."

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Strikedramon grabs Hideki and heads upstairs.

Hideki: "Settle down..."

Lyra:<I think they might recognize me. Or something. But, hey, we can give it a shot.>
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*Kylie fiddles with her digivice, trying to send the stuff to the others*

*He is again knocked away as the others come back from their mission.*

<...Why did it fail?>

E"Why did what fail? What's going on?"
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*They can hear the agents cautiously climbing the stairs, & also Hideki is getting burned because Strikedramon is still hot.*
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"Well, we'll just wear disguises."

Azuma takes to rushing Drasil again, MagnaAngemon flying down to intercept it.

MagnaAngemon: "Azuma, stop! Charging blindly at it will not solve anything."

Azuma: "He killed her. If you can't do anything about it, then I will."

MagnaAngemon: "I can help you."

Azuma: "Then Biomerge, damn it! Biomerge or step down."

Taiyo: "He killed...."

Taiyo looks across the room to Hitomi and Salamon.

MagnaAngemon: "There is nothing I can do for you if your mind is clouded by anger."

And so MagnaAngemon steps down, leaving Azuma to rush recklessly at Drasil.

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Strikedramon sets Hideki down in his room where he stumbles about to find the window while Strikedramon goes to intercept the agents at the top of the stairs.

Kylie:<Hitomi?!>

*She runs over and checks for a pulse*
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Lyra:<Alright, sure.>

*Sure enough, she has none.*

E"You did what?"

Drasil<I did this.>

*He reaches into Taiyo's back, withdrawing a pink Digisoul, & leaving her unconscious & slumped over Hitomi.*

Drasil<One of you is going to Biomerge, even if it is the last one standing!>

A<I told you he was crazy!>

*Agumon fires a Pepper Breath at him. Both attacks are harmlessly deflected by golden lightning.*

E"Stop this, NOW!"

Drasil<The only way you have a chance to stop me is if you Biomerge! Do you understand? She'll die if you don't!>

*Instead, Euryale slashes the armor card & Agumon digivolves to MetalGreymon, ignoring the fact that he barely fits into the room. They both punch him. As the blows clash with his energy shield, MetalGreymon wreathes his in fire & Euryale produces her katar, but both still end up being tossed back. The wall groans under MetalGreymon's weight & the snapped-off blade of Euryale's katar lands beside her.*
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*They resume shooting him.*
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*So Ikkakumon de-digivolves & Tsune stuffs him in her backpack.*

"We just need to get across the street to a clothing store. Then we'll buy coats, scarves, hats, sunglasses, anything that covers us up. Wear a burqa, if you have to."

Renamon moves Taiyo out of the way, putting her with Hitomi. Defeated, MagnaAngemon falls back.

Salamon: "Can't you do something?"

MagnaAngemon: "I can't bring back the dead."

Salamon: "Then fix that idiot partner of your's brain. He's just going to be like them if he keeps this up."

Sure enough, Azuma is persistent in trying to shank God.

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Strikedramon roars and Darkness Wave.

*Cameron guesses he's probably next, so he and Biyomon go ahead and biomerge, making the space issue a whole lot worse*

Kylie:<No...>

*They pretty much knock out a wall to do this. MetalGreymon rotates, his tail smacking off of Drasil's force field. DemiDevimon jumps from Thiera's shoulder & Digivolves, firing a blast of darkness at Drasil. Meanwhile, Thiera runs over to hold Azuma back, before his dumb ass gets obliterated by all of these attacks.*

D<How can he take all of that & still be unaffected?>

A<He must have a limit!>

E"Please, you don't have to do this!"

Drasil<Apparently I do.>

*He also crushes Taiyo's Digisoul, at which point Euryale closes her eyes, her shoulders heaving with sobs. She grits her teeth &, behind her, darkness boils away MetalGreymon's flesh, leaving behind SkullGreymon.*

Drasil<This is not the Mega that I wanted.>
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*Hideki is now accomplice to a murder.*
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*At the store across from the park, Tsune selects a brown trench coat, a red scarf, a black ski cap, & sunglasses.*

"I think these look inconspicuous enough."

*Lyra picks out a blue sweater, knit cap, and a pink and blue scarf*

<I hope so.>
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*Ornismon roars and fires its eye lasers. Meanwhile Kylie wipes the tears from her face, then almost jumps when Lunamon touches her hand*

Lunamon:<We'll be alright, we always are!>

*Kylie grabs hold of Lunamon's hand/paw, then steps forward*

<You all help rescue us, now we'll help rescue you!>

Azuma: " Let me go!"

Renamon trembles at the sight of Taiyo's DigiSoul being destroyed.

Salamon: "Not her too..."

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Hideki: "Strikedramon, what did you do?"

Strikedramon: "I protected you and your home."

Hideki: "That didn't sound like they ran away."

Strikedramon: "They were hostile. And persistent."

Hideki: "I told you to stand down. We can't be here anymore."

T"You can't walk into all of that, you'll be killed!"

*Thiera struggles to hold on.*

<"They say you can't always have what you want.">

*Ornismon's eye lasers put a crack in King Drasil's forcefield. Euryale lashes out as if to grab it. King Drasil looks at it for a moment, not noticing that SkullGreymon is making the same movement, his fingers curling around the energy field. King Drasil's forcefield glows hot from the compression, but ultimately wins out as the bones of SkullGreymon's hand are demolished by gold lightning strikes. Euryale grabs her hand & draws it to her chest, opening her mouth wide in a guttural shout. While she's doing that, SkullGreymon breathes a plume of dark fire at the crack. Seeing it straining against the weakened shield, LadyDevimon shoots eye lasers, & the combined attack pierces it, striking him in the shoulder & sending him flying into the wall with a grunt. Beneath his flesh, he has grid lines, much like a Digimon. SkullGreymon then leans over, its missile igniting.*

Drasil<Calm down, it was merely a ruse.>

*He holds out his hands & the Digisouls fly out of them, returning to their respective bodies. Both girls awaken with a gasp, & large head & chest aches.*

Drasil<Do you see now? Your friends are safe. Now cease this foolishness.>

*SkullGreymon does not cease his foolishness. The missile flies, striking its target in the chest & smashing him through several walls, before finally exploding with a mushroom crowd near the data stream. At this point, Thiera's grip fails, & she falls over.*

T"Did...did you just kill him?"

*Euryale falls against the wall, rubbing her head. Nearby, SkullGreymon reverts to an unconscious Koromon, the chunks of giant bones dissolving into darkness.*

E"I...I don't know. Why were we...? Oh gods, Taiyo!"

*She tries to run to her, but promptly falls over.*
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*Strikedramon is now Monodramon, as all of the bullet wounds forced him to revert. Hideki is able to open his eyes for a few seconds at a time.*
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*Tsune pays for her clothes & heads back into the dressing room.*

*As does Lyra*
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*Orniamon reverts, then everyone but Kylie runs over to the two girls. Kylie instead tries to help Euryale up*

Lunamon:<Can you hear me?>

Taiyo: "Huh...wha?"

Taiyo jumps as she's suddenly hugged by Renamon.

Taiyo: "What happened?"

Azuma breaks away from Thiera and runs over to Hitomi, embracing her. He is growled at by Salamon.

Hitomi: "What happened? Why are you crying?"

Azuma: "I'm sorry."

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Monodramon: "They wouldn't have settled for chasing us away."

Hideki: "Humans die in this world. They dom't dissolve into data or anything right away. Right now there's a pile of bodies on the stairs and there's nothing we can do except run."

Hideki sets to patching up Monodramon.

*Euryale thanks Kylie, but leans most of her weight on the wall, because let's face it, Kylie can't hold her up.*

E"Turns out that King Drasil's a sick bastard. He pretended to kill you, hoping that it would force us to Biomerge to protect you."

D<And, uh...they didn't.>

T"Hey, that is inappropriate!"

E"This may sound like I'm being defensive, but I honestly don't believe that it could have worked. This must be why BanchoLeomon refused to tell us how to Biomerge. Trying to force it doesn't work. We made a mistake. Agumon was right about the Sovereigns knowing best....could you--?"

T"Oh, right!"

*Thiera runs to where Agumon is & picks him up. Turning him over in her hands like a basketball, she inspects him.*

T"I think he's uninjured."
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*Tsune comes back out wearing the trenchcoat, the scarf covering most of her face, & the hat & sunglasses covering the rest. Assuming that Lyra has already emerged....*

"We'll have to take the bus, it's too far to walk."

*Lyra is similarily covered*

<Alright.>
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*At least she's trying*

Kylie:<i..I think we should get out of here in case he comes back.>

Taiyo: "...What?"

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When the wounds are patched up, Hideki opens the window and they set to making their escape.

E"I'll explain more later. I agree with Kylie, let's get out of here. Does that map that he put on your D-Power show any kind of back door?"
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*After a painful fall, they find themselves running along the sidewalk. A lone Hypnos agent gets out of an unmarked car, pointing a gun at them. By this point, they're already about 30 feet away from him. Also, a bus is rounding the corner.*

<Halt!>
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*They can see the scene above outside of their window.*

*Lyra point out the window*

<Oh shit.>
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*Kylie checks the map*

Taiyo: "Okay...?"

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They take off away from that guy.

*In the basement, at the end of the hall they were in, is unmistakably a train station.*

E"Remember that thing that King Drasil said about being able to remove souls?"
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*As luck would have it, he find himself running towards the next bus stop as the bus, well, stops.*

*Everyone continues on*
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Lyra:<Should we, uh, go after him?>

Renamon: "He removed their souls."

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Dragon in tow, he gets on the bus, not having time for that other nonsense.