Kei blinked as she saw the character model of the sleek, armored insect. "Did you come up with Stingmon?" she asked.
"That's true," HolyCalumon nodded out of her window. "I figured your friends could use all help they get. And now that the others are out of the action, Stingmon can back them up instead... as soon as the others are back to normal, he'll leave the group again, of course."
"So he's supposed to be a temporary party member?" Kei asked and rubbed her chin. "Not too bad... but the bad thing is that the insect enemies in the Green Hive will most likely be resistant against his attacks. Maybe we shouldn't use him as an additional fighter... at least not in the usual way."
"You have an idea?" HolyCalumon asked. "What do you have in mind?"
Kei smirked when she looked at Stingmon's extendable wrist stinger. "You know, that part reminds me of something..."
Ryo, Kitsunemon and Brawlmon followed Stingmon, carefully climbing down the steep slope, while he flew ahead of them.
"You'd think Kei would give us some floating platform or something like that to get to the bottom of the ravine..." Ryo frowned.
"You can talk," Kitsunemon grumbled. "Have you ever tried climbing when you're on four legs?"
"Be quiet!" Stingmon whispered. "We're getting close to the entrance... stay here, I'll take care of the Mothmon guard."
"A Mothmon?" Brawlmon asked. "I think we can take care of one of these guys."
"Maybe, but you don't want him to inform the other guards, do you?" Stingmon asked. "I didn't think so. We need to take him out quickly, silently and efficiently. Wait here, I'll be right back..." And he buzzed towards the entrance.
Brawlmon sat down on the ground and frowned. "Who does he think he is?" she muttered. She didn't like it if her fighting abilities were put down.
Stingmon landed in front of the entrance, a round hole in the high canyon wall, at bottom level. A Mothmon was standing there, not looking particularly happy about its job.
Knowing that most members of the Green Syndicate were feral and therefore not very intelligent, Stingmon gave him a very simple order, one that he would understand.
"You are dismissed. I will take over."
The Mothmon nodded and clicked its mandibles. Stingmon waited until it was gone, then he hid in the shadows next to the entrance. He had to wait for the Mothmon's true replacement.
He didn't have to wait long before another Mothmon was coming along the corridor. Stingmon stayed hidden until the Mothmon had come close to his hiding place.
And then hue struck.
As fast as a flash, he darted behind the surprised Mothmon's back and grabbed its neck in a choke-hold, so it couldn't warn its hivemates. Pulling his struggling enemy out into the open, Stingmon raised his right hand and extended the stinger. And then...
Kitsunemon closed her eyes when Stingmon impaled the Mothmon's neck with his stinger. "Oh god..."
Bralmon paled. "I know it was just a feral Digimon, but... seeing how he just killed it somehow worries me."
"Well, I am glad that he's on our side, that's for sure," Ryo exclaimed.
Dropping the limp body to the ground, Stingmon waved them to come over. When they arrived at the entrance, he whispered: "Now hurry! The next change of the guard won't be within the next half hour, but if somebody finds him, we should be far away by then."
"All right... but the next time we need to take a guard out, we do it my way," Ryo told him.
HolyCalumon was baffled. "That... wherever did you get that idea?" she finally stuttered.
"Only from one of the best games ever created," Kei grinned smugly. "A game full of tactical espionage action... starring the coolest of spies, Solid Snake!"
"Snake? SNAKE?" HolyCalumon shook her head. "You took inspiration from THAT game? Kei, we wanted to improve your friends' situation, not worsen them! I seriously hope you haven't planned on involving a nuclear-weapon-armed mecha..."
"Don't worry, I won't go that far," Kei quickly said. "I just felt... inspired, that's all. And if we are going to help our friends, why not do it in the fastest and most efficient way? Battles would only attract attention they do not want... and after all, these Green Syndicate members are all feral Digimon."
"Not all of them," HolyCalumon reminded him. "And they also work together with the South Pirates, all of which have been human before the change."
"Well, we'll just be careful not to delete those that are more intelligent than those Mothmon," Kei sighed. Maybe HolyCalumon was right and an assassin-like Solid Snake impersonator wasn't really what they needed. But at least it got them inside.
Cyberdramon opened his eyes. "He's here..." he murmured. "Ryo..." A wide grin appeared on his face. "I knew he'd come to me... I just didn't expect it to be so soon."
A bulky, heavily armored figured stepped up next to him. "What's the matter, 'big leader'?" it hissed. "Having second thoughts about our invasion? Someone as powerful as you shouldn't be afraid of a bunch of weakling Digimons and humans."
"By no means, Lord Antlermon," Cyberdramon said while opening his eyes. He looked carefully at the upright walking beetle with the deep purple carapace and the two huge antlers that were protruding from his mouth. "I have just thought about what I am going to do with this place when I'm the sole ruler of all."
"A true leader would be out there, leading his troops on to victory!" Antlermon shouted, trusting two of his deadly-looking scimitars up into the air. "When I was still the king, I would lead every single storm on those pathetic, yellow human-lovers..."
"You seem to forget that I am your king now!" Cyberdramon growled as he stood up from the seat that once belonged to Antlermon himself. "I challenged you for your throne, and you failed to even graze me. I let you live as my servants, but keep in mind that I can always change my mind about that. You are a strong warrior, but I don't need your help with ruling these feral insects."
Antlermon glowered at his new leader, but he then reluctantly sheathed his weapons again. He might not agree with the way this guy was leading his own swarm, but at least he was doing it efficiently... and he certainly wanted to live to finally see their victory over the accursed Yellow Syndicate.
"You may want to prepare yourself for the arrival of some guests," Cyberdramon then spoke up.
"What kind of guests?" Antlermon grumbled. "I never welcome anybody in my hive..."
"In MY hive, you mean. And they are not just guests, they are allies of the Yellow Syndicate you hate so much."
"Intruders?" Antlermon instantly reached for his scimitars again. "I will drive them out, one by one!"
"You will do nothing like that," Cyberdramon snarled. "I need them alive... at least one of them. You will tell your mindless little drones to impede their progress a bit, so they won't get suspicious. But in the end, I want them to reach this place. The boy will be mine... you can take care of his little friends. I don't care about them. Ryo always tended to surround himself with too many friends... while he only needs me..."
"Oh, I will take care of them..." the bulky insect commander grumbled. "But will they at least put up a challenge? It's boring when my prey goes down too early..."
"Oh, you will find that they are quite formidable opponents," Cyberdramon said.
Antlermon chuckled. "Excellent..." he hissed. "There's nothing like a good battle... but in the end, I will stand victorious! I, Antlermon, leader of the Green Syndicate... um, I mean... second-in-command..."
"I see you're starting to learn your place," Cyberdramon smirked. "Now don't bother me again until they have arrived... I have many things to ponder..."
Antlermon would have liked to strangle that impudent usurper, but he just nodded and went back to his post.
His post... like he was just a regular soldier... how degrading...
Cyberdramon, for his part, was enjoying this game immensely. Not only wouldn't the other Tamers bother him, he and Ryo would already be the rulers over a whole island for themselves. It was disappointing that those two girls didn't get the injection, but at least he managed to diminish their numbers.
He chuckled. "Oh yes... and with the digital field I put up around the whole island, nobody on here will be able to digivolve until I take it down again... meaning their little friends are stuck as babies! Now Ryo can see how big of a help they can be..."
'Ryo has a great heart, that's why he has so many friends,' a tiny voice from inside his head exclaimed. 'That's something you would never understand, or you wouldn't try to force Ryo into being your partner...'
"Quiet, you irritating little pest!" Millenniummon grumbled as he tried to ignore Monodramon's omnipresent voice.
Kei frowned when she looked at the screen. She didn't like what she saw. "What do you say, Holy?"
HolyCalumon tilted her head. "I say that it was about time you used that 'Villain Scry' option. Seems like we are just in time to prevent our friends from stepping into his trap."
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Shritistrang
(Posted Wed, 16 Jan 2008 20:44)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.