Chapter Text
Chapter 7: Assassin Of The Desert! A V-Tamer's First Steps!
Tsurugi and Agumon watched the sun slowly rise on the horizon.
“SkullScorpionmon should be close now, Agumon. I hope you’re ready.” Tsurugi looked at his partner.
“My belly is full and I’m well hydrated! I’m ready, boss!” Agumon punched his palm.
“Nice! We’ll take down SkullScorpionmon and get that V-Tamer Tag for sure!” Tsurugi cheered.
The two continued to walk for a good while before coming upon large stone ruins encircling a small patch of sand. They exchanged glances.
“Looks like this is it.” Tsurugi looked towards the sun. “The sun still hasn't risen completely yet. So don’t be afraid of getting hot during the fight.”
“Oh believe me boss, I’m gonna erupt with flames of determination!” Agumon rubbed his hands together.
“Alright, Agumon! Let’s go beat this guy!” Tsurugi and Agumon jumped over the ruins.
The second they landed, the sand began to move, shifting up and down like ocean waves. Tsurugi and Agumon exchanged glances.
A huge creature erupted out of the sand. It was a gigantic white scorpion with absolutely no flesh. Its long tail ended with a sharp spike.
“Who dares to come to SkullScorpionmon’s domain?” SkullScorpionmon hissed.
“We do! Tsurugi Tatsuno and his partner-”
“-Agumon 2006!” Agumon and Tsurugi raised their fists.
“A Tamer. Far from the first I’ve buried in these last few days.” SkullScorpionmon scoffed. “Though, I admire that you waded through the desert. The other Tamers had flying Digimon that did all the work for them. Lazy bums.”
“You’ll find that we’re a lot tougher than the average Tamer, SkullScorpionmon! We’re here for that V-Tamer Tag, and we’ll get it no matter what!” Tsurugi pointed at him.
“Just try.” SkullScorpionmon let out a roar causing a flurry of sand.
“Agumon!” Tsurugi shouted.
“I’m ready, boss!” Agumon narrowed his eyes at SkullScorpionmon.
“DIGIVOLVE!” Tsurugi ordered.
Agumon began to grow large.
=+=
Izzy, Tadashi, and a man with two children sat around the office.
“So detective, what did you want to discuss?” Izzy leaned forward in his seat.
The detective directed their attention to the children. “Yu and Ami here told me that their friend Tsurugi is locked in Net Battle. Now I’m wondering, how do you two plan on fixing this?”
“Well, there’s no simple answer there.” Tadashi admitted. “From what we can tell, the only way out for everyone is to beat the game.”
“If that’s what you’re going with, how can I help them?” The detective patted Yu on the shoulder.
“I don’t know. No one can get into the game or out of it-at least, the latter can’t be accomplished without ending up ill.” Izzy reminded them.
“Sending someone on our side in would be useful…assuming they were a Tamer themselves.” Tadashi coughed.
“Honestly, detective, children, we’ll keep working to help all of the children, but the best thing you can do for your friend is pray for their safety.” Izzy nodded.
“I see…” The detective sighed.
“Can we at least check on Tsurugi somehow?” Ami and Yu walked over to Izzy.
“Uh…well, we can see how he and his Digimon are doing.” Izzy quickly brought up a menu. He scanned a list of hundreds of kids before finding Tsurugi’s name.
He clicked on it, bringing up the pitch-black screen that only had Tsurugi and Agumon’s healthbars.
“Hey-they’re losing health!” Yu pointed at the screen. Everyone else gathered around him.
=+=
Greymon slid through the sand. He let out a noise of frustration.
“Can’t keep up?” SkullScorpionmon dove into the sand again, his tail chasing behind him.
“Keep running, Greymon! Don’t let him get the drop on you!” Tsurugi ordered from atop a stable rock.
“I know, boss! But I can’t hit him! He keeps hiding!” Greymon stomped through the sand, clearly being slowed down by the terrain.
“I’ll think of something, just keep dodging and hitting him when you can!” Tsurugi shouted. Greymon nodded.
“I hope your Tamer is a quick thinker…” Greymon turned to the voice. “Because you’re not going to survive otherwise!” SkullScorpionmon appeared behind Greymon.
“Greymon, watch out-”
“Pinch Of Pain!” SkullScorpionmon jabbed Greymon in the chest.
“Ah-Mega Flame!” Greymon popped a fireball into his face. SkullScorpionmon flinched, but he was mostly unaffected.
“I have nothing to burn, fool!” SkullScorpionmon fell back into the sand.
“Dang it…” Tsurugi wiped some sweat off his head. “SkullScorpionmon hits rarely, but each hit hurts Greymon and we can’t retaliate. We’ll lose at this rate!”
“Get out here you coward!” Greymon snarled.
“Very well!” SkullScorpionmon came out of the sand and whipped Greymon across the face quickly. Greymon shot another fireball, missing SkullScorpionmon as he fled.
“Aw man. That stupid tail hits too quickly!” Greymon whined. “If he didn’t have it, I could totally beat him!”
Tsurugi’s eyes jumped. “SkullScorpionmon is too fast for us because of the sand. But if we could just force a confrontation, then Greymon might have a chance. But SkullScorpionmon’s tail is too fast for Greymon, so we’d also have to remove it before then.”
“Ready to surrender?” SkullScorpiomon popped out of the sand. He threw a pincher forward, which Greymon actually managed to catch in time.
“Greymon is fast enough to fight SkullScorpionmon once SkullScorpionmon loses his advantage.” Tsurugi noted internally. “It’s just like Tai’s fight with MarineDevimon!” He realized.
“I won’t give up! Mega Flame!” Greymon shot a stream of fire straight into SkullScorpionmon’s face. SkullScorpionmon let out a small whine of pain.
“Then I hope you’re at least ready to die!” SkullScorpionmon quickly smacked Greymon with his tail and ran again.
“Greymon!” Tsurugi called out.
“Yeah, boss?” Greymon glanced at him while running around the arena.
“Block an attack and grab his tail! You need to rip it off as quickly as possible!” Tsurugi pretended to pull something out of the air.
“Huh?” Greymon looked at him with questioning eyes.
“After that, keep the pressure up on him and make sure he can’t retreat into the sand!” Tsurugi nodded.
“Alright, boss! I’ll do my best!” Greymon nodded back.
“Here I come!” SkullScorpionmon shot out of the sands. He swung his tail straight at Greymon, who managed to block with his hard helmet in time.
“You’re not running this time, jerk!” Greymon grabbed the tail as it tried to return to its resting position.
Tagiru Chikara by Psychic Lover
“Hey! Let go!” SkullScorpionmon began to struggle.
“Not this time! Now, you’re gonna fight fair!” Greymon kicked SkullScorpionmon in the face while holding onto his tail. As SkullScorpionmon reeled, Greymon very forcefully tugged on the tail, managing to flip SkullScorpionmon onto his back.
“Alright! Go for it, Greymon!” Tsurugi cheered.
“On it, boss!” Greymon planted one foot on the tail as he pulled the tip of it.
“Hold on! Hold on!” SkullScorpionmon flailed.
“This is where the fight starts!” Greymon ripped the tail in two. SkullScorpionmon squealed in pain as he jumped back to his feet.
“Now, Greymon! Move in with everything you got!” Tsurugi threw his hand forward.
“Here I go!” Greymon shot a fireball into SkullScorpionmon’s face to disorientate him. As flames nipped at SkullScorpionmon’s vision, he flailed his pincers around in an attempt to protect himself.
Greymon dodged each wild swipe before uppercutting SkullScorpionmon. SkullScorpionmon narrowed his eyes on Greymon.
“Pinch of Pain!” SkullScorpionmon struck Greymon in the side, making him slide across the sand.
“Atomic Tail, Greymon!” Tsurugi quickly ordered.
“Bam!” Greymon shot SkullScorpionmon in the face. He regained his footing and jumped at SkullScorpionmon. He punched him straight in the face, causing a few cracks to appear on the scorpion’s skull.
“Ow!” SkullScorpiomon swung at Greymon again. Greymon moved back, getting grazed by the attack, which still hurt a good bit.
Both of the Digimon panted at each other.
“Now, Greymon! Finish this with Horn Strike! Go all in!” Tsurugi yelled.
“Alright, boss!” Greymon rushed at SkullScorpionmon. “Horn Strike!” He pulled his head back.
“I won’t go down easily!” SkullScorpionmon leapt at him. “Pinch of Pain!”
SkullScorpionmon met Greymon’s helmet with his pincer. A shockwave flew out from the confrontation.
The two stood still for a few seconds before a quiet cracking noise was heard.
“Hmm…” SkullScorpionmon took a step back. “Not bad, Tamer.” He commented.
His arm shattered into tiny pieces. SkullScorpionmon fell over, his data beginning to waste away.
“Nice job, Greymon!” Tsurugi clapped.
“I only won because you were helping, boss!” Greymon smiled at his Tamer.
“Both of you…” SkullScorpionmon muttered. “With my death…the other Ultimates grow stronger…and it will continue like that until the fifth Ultimate is defeated…”
“We’ll be ready!” Tsurugi and Greymon said at the same time.
“We’ll see…” SkullScorpionmon closed his three eyes. “Well fought…”
SkullScorpionmon burst into data. The data halted midair and came together in a bright flash of light.
OST End…
Right in front of Tsurugi and Greymon’s eyes formed a V-Tamer Tag. The sand stopped moving around them.
“Alright!” Tsurugi walked forward and grabbed it. “This one is the Tag of the…Desert? That wasn’t in the manga.”
“Nice tag, boss!” Greymon complimented as he began to shrink. Soon enough, he turned back into Agumon.
“Yeah. But…” Tsurugi stared at it. “Am I the only one who will have this tag? I beat SkullScorpionmon, so no one else can get it like that. Nobody can rob me, so the only other option would be to team up with me.”
“Do you think we’re gonna end up with some pals then, boss?” Agumon asked hopefully.
“That would be nice. And this tag gives us some protection from being attacked, I think.” Tsurugi grinned.
They both jumped as the sand began to move up and down like ocean waves.
“What the?!” Tsurugi and Agumon jumped away from the arena.
SkullScorpionmon popped out of the sand again. “Who dares to invade SkullScorpionmon’s land?”
“What the heck? We beat you already!” Tsurugi pointed at him.
“Huh?” SkullScorpionmon looked at Tsurugi. “No. I’ve defeated other Tamers, but I haven’t even fought you yet.”
“But what about this then?” Tsurugi showed the V-Tamer Tag.
SkullScorpionmon halted for a second. “You have already defeated SkullScorpionmon in combat before and have his tag. Do you wish to battle SkullScorpionmon again?” He asked robotically.
“Uh…” Tsurugi and Agumon looked at each other. “I guess SkullScorpionmon respawns so other people can get his tag. Aww, then we’re not that cool.”
“Hey, as far as we know, we were the first ones to beat him, boss!” Agumon patted him on the arm.
“Yeah. Come on, Agumon! Let’s get back to Baromon and the others!” Tsurugi and Agumon ran away from the arena.
SkullScorpionmon watched the two run off. He shrugged before retreating into his sand pit.
=+=
Izzy and the others watched Tsurugi’s Agumon’s health bar slowly regenerate.
“Agumon lost a lot of health during that fight.” Yuu frowned.
“Boys and their fighting.” Ami sighing.
“Hold on a second! Look at Tsurugi!” Tadashi pointed at the screen.
Around Tsurugi’s neck was a necklace. And connected to that necklace, was a V-Tamer Tag.
“He got one of the tags!” Izzy realized.
“Let me check something.” Tadashi quickly typed some things on his computer. He quit as a panel came up.
On it were several Tamers. Many of them had big 0s next to their faces, but Tsurugi and a few others had 1s.
“This screen shows game progression. It looks like Tsurugi and a few others have already managed to get a tag!” Tadashi let everyone look at it.
“Alright, Tsurugi!” Yuu cheered.
“Huh. I guess he and Agumon were at least fighting for something good.” Ami sighed.
“Well, I’m sure one of those kids is bound to win.” The detective crossed his arms. “Alright. I guess there really isn’t much that can be done on our part.”
“Sorry detective Inui. We promise that we’ll solve this as soon as possible.” Izzy reassured him.
“I hope Tsurugi gets out of this okay…” Ami mumbled.
“Yeah. All he wanted to do was play story mode.” Yu shook his head.
“I promise we’ll help him, Yu, Ami.” The detective patted Yu on the shoulder. “I might have a friend who can help, but they’re very busy nowadays. Still, I’ll call if I find anything that might be useful.”
“That would be helpful…” Izzy coughed.
Tadashi cleared his throat. “Nevertheless, thank you for taking time out of your schedule to come here. We’ll continue working to save everyone in the game. We promise.”
“Thank you.” The detective nodded.
The detective left with Yu and Ami. Tadashi and Izzy returned to looking at the game progression screen.
“So many kids are losing health out there.” Izzy shook his head.
“As long as one of them can succeed, the rest will be saved.” Tadashi commented.
“Let’s hope they know how to work together then.” Izzy sighed.
“I wonder who will win?” Izzy and Tadashi mumbled.
To be continued. 2127 words.