Digimon: Dark Worlds

Metal empire's return | Chapter 40

(Blaine and Erik art is made by Anithecutiepie on Deviantart!)
"Yo!! Mom, dad, are you home?!" Taeka calls for their parents, as Lily shuts the door. They walk into the kitchen and living room, but see nobody.
"I know honey, but what if they-" Their mom suddenly then walks down the stairs, talking to their dad...As they look forward, freezing when they see the two.
"...Mommy? Daddy?" Lily and everyone else stands wide eyed and frozen, staring at each other silently.
"...MOM!! DAD!!" Taeka yells happily as everyone runs towards each other, forming a big group hug.
"Oh my goodness, my babies! I'm so glad you're all alright!" Their mom cries with relief. Everyone stays in the hug for a long moment, before finally letting go.
"See, honey? Told you they'd be fine!" Their dad smiles, rubbing their mom's shoulder soothingly, who smiles back. He then turns his head, looking at the Digimon. "Hey, and your little buddies are here too!" He waves to Lopmon and Dracomon, who happily wave back.
"So, mom, dad...What's going on in the cities right now?" Taeka asks.
"...Turn on the Tv." Their mom says, sighing. Everyone gives eachother concerned looks, as they all plop down on the couch...Turning on the TV. Immediately the TV is on the News channel, but oddly didn't show anything but a black, glitchy screen, with a headline: 'Robotic monsters have taken over the city. If you live in any of the cities listed, stay indoors or evacuate city IMMEDIATELY.'
Next to the message also included a list of cities.
"...Man. That doesn't make me feel any better." Taeka mumbles, running a hand through her hair. Suddenly then the phone rings, Taeka immediately running up to it and answering it.
Taeka: "...Hello? Erik? You must've seen the News too...Right?"
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Taeka: "Yeah, were all having a group call at 10 AM tomorrow to decide our next plan. Yeah...You too, Cora. Goodnight!" Taeka hangs up the phone, stretching and yawning.
"Man, I'm so tired..." Taeka looks outside at the sky, which was now pitch black. "You ready to go to bed, Dracomon?"
"Yeah, I'm exhausted! Let's go!" Dracomon responds, as the two run upstairs. Taeka quickly stops though when she walks next to Lily's room, walking up to her and Lopmon who were sitting on the bed.
"Yo, Lily, I just finished calling everyone, and they're all good." Taeka says, smiling. Lily is silent for a moment, until she suddenly reaches forward, hugging Taeka.
"...Thank you, Taeka. I'm glad you're here for me." Lily says. Taeka couldn't help but smile at her sudden affection, tightly hugging her back.
"No problem. Love you, sis."
"...I love you too."
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The next morning...
Erik walked out of the bathroom, just finishing up with a shower, drying his wet hair with a towel.
"Erik, honey, breakfast is ready! I made pancakes!" His mom calls from the kitchen. He then noticed Axel and ExTyrannomon sitting in the kitchen, and Labramon in front of the TV, all with their own plates of food.
"Yes, I'm so hungry!" Erik excitedly runs to the kitchen, prepping his own plate.
"...Mrs. Field, you sure it's not any trouble for me to stay here?" Axel asks, turning to Erik's mom.
"Oh honey, don't worry about it so much!" Mrs. Field exclaims. "If I had the money for it, I'd let you live here as long as you'd like, haha."
"Erik, come sit with me!" Labramon calls from the living room. Erik walks over to him, setting his plate on the coffee table...But ends up stepping in something sticky, noticing that there was syrup all over the carpet.
"Ew, Labramon, you got syrup all over the carpet!" Erik says, disgusted.
"Sorry, these pancakes taste so much better with a lot of syrup on them!" Labramon chomps at his food, Erik noticing that Labramon's pancakes were soaked with syrup, making a giant puddle underneath. "But look on the TV! They're talking about the Digimon!" Labramon points to the TV as Erik plops down on the couch, eating as he watches...Labramon was watching the News, with a breaking news headline:
'Live now: Powerful robotic monster causing chaos in Park Square.'
Alongside the headline, there was a shaky, overhead camera showing a familiar Digimon, which had a gun and was shooting everything in the park.
"Oh no..." Labramon whimpers. "That's...Armormon." The two carefully watch the screen, as Axel and ExTyrannomon also walk over to watch. In the middle of Armormon's rampage, he suddenly stops, looking towards the camera...Then he aims his gun directly at the camera, and fires...The camera then roughly falls down, followed by some loud crashing noises...Then the screen goes black, everyone staring with wide-eyed horror.
"Uh...Can we just pretend we didn't see that?" Axel quietly mumbles.
"Uh...Yeah..." Erik responds.
"Erik...If Armormons here, and all the other Digimon are robotic..." Labramon says. "Doesn't that mean this group is..."
"...The Metal empire." Erik finishes.
"Metal empire? What's that?" Axel asks.
"I'll explain later, but..." Erik turns to the clock at the wall, looking at the time. 9:53 AM. "It's almost time for the group call. I gotta finish my food!" Erik suddenly then takes a big chomp out of his pancakes.
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Everyone spoke to eachother on the phone.
Blaine: "Yeah, if Armormons here, and every Digimon thats here is a robotic one, that makes sense that it's the Metal empire."
Axel: "What are we gonna do then? They've already taken over the whole city, what if they take over the other states as well?"
Cora: "What if we all split up? Then we can all cover different areas, and take out Digimon much faster."
Lily: "Ooh, good idea! Can it be the same group as yesterday? Me and Taeka, Axel and Erik, and Blaine and Cora!"
Erik: "Sure, thats cool with me."
Lopmon: "One of the groups should find and defeat Armormon, since he must be the one who's leading all of this."
Taeka: "Ooh, I wanna be the one to find Armormon!"
Dracomon: "Yeah! Don't worry guys, we got this."
Ryudamon: "Alright...Good luck to everyone then."
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Blaine slips his backpack on and opens the door, him and Ryudamon ready to leave...
"...Blaine. Wait just a second." But his Master speaks, stopping him.
"Hm? What is it?" Blaine asks.
"We have something important to talk about...You remember the promise I made to you when you first left for the Digital World?" Master asks.
"Er, no..." Blaine impatiently taps his foot, looking outside the door. "Master, is this gonna take long? My friends need me right now-"
"Sit down, Blaine. Your friends can go a few minutes without you." He says sternly. Blaine sighs, closing the door and him and Ryudamon sitting across the table from him. An awkward silence grows between the two for a moment, before master sighs.
"The promise I made to you...Remember when you first left, and I told you that your last name isn't your real one?" Master asks.
"...Ohh, yeah, I think I remember that now..." Blaine says, thinking.
"Well, I think now's the time to finally tell you your real last name..." Master says, pausing for a moment. "Your real last name...It's Takao. Blaine Takao."
"Takao? Hm..." Blaine is silent, thinking for a moment. "You never explained to me why it was changed though."
"Well, that's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about." Master says. He's silent for a moment, before taking a deep breath. "But before I explain that, first I have to talk about your parents...And what happened to them before you were born."
"My...Parents? You must've known them pretty well then..." Blaine says. "What were they like?"
"I knew them a lot more then you'd think. They're both very kindhearted people, but...Somebody out there took advantage of their kindness." Master states. Blaine cocks his head, confused. "I'll explain. Back many years ago, before you were born, your parents owned a pretty big company, and had a lot of money." Master states. "They had a business partner...A friend, one close enough to them that they trusted him entirely, even considering him to be family...But it turned out that man had different intentions then they thought. When your mother was pregnant with you, and close to giving birth...Your parents, alongside this man, had an important task where they had to transfer all of their money to a high-security bank. Well, they had trusted this man to bring the money there all by himself...But instead of delivering the money...He ran away with it, keeping it all to himself." Blaine gasped quietly in shock at this statement.
"Woah...Did they ever get their money back?" Blaine asks.
"No, sadly they never did..." Master responds. "Police officials searched around the country for many months, but couldn't find a single scrap of evidence as to where the man went. They went from being rich, to being near broke enough to almost end up on the streets. You were born shortly after this, but your parents realized that they didn't have the money to take care of you, so...They gave you to me. I moved here to New York to raise you. And your parents, they were so embarrassed about what happened, that they told me to never tell you about this until you were older. Also told me to do whatever I can to separate any connections. Gave you the fake last name Austin, which is actually your father's real name, to replace your real one, Takao...Told you to call me Master, when in reality...I'm actually your Grandfather." This single word...Grandfather. It shocked Blaine to his core, his eyes widening in complete and utter shock.
"What...So you're telling me...We've actually been related this whole time?" Blaine says, his voice sounding a bit shaky.
"Yes. I do apologize for never telling you, but...I made a promise to your parents, and I had to keep it. I did tell you about our family's connection to the ancient samurai warriors though, didn't I? That katana I gave you was actually a family heirloom that belonged to your mother." Master states. Blaine feels a pang of guilt in his chest, remembering that the same Katana had been broken by Laylamon. He looked around nervously, not knowing what to say.
"But enough of my rambling. You've got important duties to deal with now, right?" Master states, completely switching up the conversation.
"I guess, but I-"
"Go on, then! I don't want to keep you waiting any longer." Master states. Blaine silently sits there, thinking, before quickly shaking his head, him and Ryudamon standing up and opening the door.
"Uh, thanks, Master..." Blaine says, walking out the door. "Or should I say...Grandpa."
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Caturamon and ExTyrannomon fought a couple of Mekanorimon, easily overpowering them as Axel and Erik watched cautiously.
"One more time...Where the heck is Armormon?!" ExTyrannomon angrily snaps at one.
"Must...Not...Tell..." The Mekanorimon speaks in a robotic tone. "Must...Initiate...Master Plan...Succsessfully..."
"...Master Plan? What are you talking about?" Erik asks.
"ANSWER US!!" ExTyrannomon yells.
"Must...Initiate..." The Mekanorimon repeats the same phrase over and over.
"Erik, this is useless..." Caturamon growls. "They're not gonna tell us anything."
"Alright..." Erik sighs. "Just take them out then."
"TREASURE HAMMER!!"
"BLACK MATTER!!" In an instant, they both attacking, poofing both the Mekanorimon.
"Ugh...What were those Mekanorimon talking about? A master plan?" Axel says, thinking.
"I don't know, but maybe we can find more Digimon that can tell us..." Erik says, looking towards the city buildings. "It's been...A bit harder to find them then I thought, though." Axel doesn't respond, turning away to think for a moment.
"...Axel? Are you alright?" Erik asks, snapping Axel out of his thoughts.
"Huh? Uh, yeah, I'm good...Let's just find some more Digimon, see what else we can find out."
"...Yeah. Let's go."
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Cora and Mummymon were surrounded by a big group of Digimon: Multiple Megadramon, and even more Guardromon. He was noticeably losing, struggling to stand up now.
'Where the heck is Blaine? He should've been here by now...' Cora thinks to herself. She can only watch in horror, as the Megadramon all ready an attack...
"...LEGENDARY DRAGON BLADE!!" When suddenly Hisyaryumon comes through, striking all the Megadramon at once, Blaine quickly running up next to Cora.
"Blaine, where the heck have you been?! We're so outnumbered here!" Cora worriedly snaps.
"I-I'm so sorry, I just..." Blaine huffed, out of breath as he paused, Mummymon suddenly reverting back to BlackGabumon and crashing into Cora's arms. Meanwhile, Hisyaryumon was surrounded by the Megadramon, clearly outnumbered.
"DARK SIDE ATTACK!!" All the Megadramon fired at once, all the attacks damaging Hisyaryumon enough to send him crashing into a nearby forest area.
"We're too outnumbered here, we gotta run and hide!" Cora worriedly says. The two dash into the woods quickly, before the Digimon notice anything. Blaine quickly finds the knocked out Ryudamon on the ground and picks him up, as everyone ducks under a short tree, holding their breaths as they hear the Digimon flying and walking around nearby. Cora looks at a nearby bush, motioning to Blaine as they crawl inside of it, now fully out of sight.
"Ugh, this is hopeless, what to we do now?!" Blaine worriedly says. Cora starts to lean towards the ground, but is suddenly stopped when something is in her way...Or someone. A small, familiar Digimon was curled up in a ball next to them.
"Commandramon? Is that you?" Cora asks. Her voice quickly gets his attention, as he jolts up to look at them.
"Uh, yes...Why are...You two hiding here?" Commandramon asks, his voice sounding noticeably shaky.
"We should be asking you the same thing." Blaine says. "I thought you worked for the Metal Empire?"
"I did...Do, but I..." Commandramon looked away, his body shaking nervously. "I...I can't do this. I don't know how I never noticed it before, but this Empire is horrible." Commandramon says. "The way they just...Destroy everything...Without a care for others. I am supposed to be helping with this project, with the Master Plan, but I can't do it. But I'm already in trouble after helping you all out last time, and I don't know what they'd do if I..." Commandramon's voice trailed off, sounding like he was nearly to tears.
"Hey, calm down Commandramon, it's ok..." Cora comforts him, soothingly rubbing his shoulder. "If that's the case, why don't you just join us then?"
"You...Really think that'd be fine?" Commandramon asks.
"Of course it would be. We can protect you from the Empire..." Blaine says. "And in return, maybe you can help us with any information you know about the Master Plan."
"Yeah..." Commandramon stands up, taking a deep breath. "That would be nice...Thank you." Everyone nods, as BlackGabumon and Ryudamon suddenly jolt back up. Everyone peeks out of the bushes, looking at the Megadramon flying around.
"You know what? Screw saving energy..." Blaine grumbles, staring down at his Digivice. "Let's just go straight to mega and get this over with." Cora nods in agreement, their Digivices glowing.
"RYUDAMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO...OURYUMON!!"
"BLACKGABUMON WARP DIGIVOLVE TO...PHAROHMON!!"
The two mega Digimon immediately then charge at the Megadramon.
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Lily and Taeka run rapidly through the paths in the park, Coredramon and Turuiemon following close behind. They turn a corner and stop quickly when they see him...Armormon. Armormon was shooting at the trees, as a Megadramon circled around him in the sky.
"HEY, ARMORMON!!" Taeka yells at him, as they all step forward, Armormon halting his attacks and noticing them.
"Ah, I recognize you Digidestined children..." Armormon says, as he glared at Lily. "Especially you, little girl. I remember you taking our egg of love." Coredramon steps in front of everyone, but Turuiemon steps even further, glaring fiercely at Armormon.
"Wait, Coredramon...Let me take him." Turuiemon says. Coredramon looks surprised for a moment, before nodding.
"Alright...I'll fight Megadramon then while you do that." Coredramon says.
"COREDRAMON DIGIVOLVE TO...WINGDRAMON!!"
"TURUIEMON DIGIVOLVE TO...ANTYLAMON!!" Wingdramon immediately charges at the Megadramon, the two fighting midair, while Antylamon steps closer to Armormon.
"BUNNY BLADES!!" Antylamon immediately strikes, hitting Armormon multiple times.
"Ha! You really think your prissy attacks can hurt me, little rabbit?!" Armormon cackles. "JUSTICE STRIKE!!" Antylamon manages to barely block the attacks with her hand blades, Armormon being surprised by this.
"We're so much stronger then the last time we fought, Armormon..." Antylamon says with a low growl.
"Yeah, and we're not running away like last time!" Lily yells.
"ELECTRO SHOCKER!!" Antylamon strikes, the shock doing a lot of damage. Meanwhile, the Megadramon suddenly crashes to the ground, poofing to dust, as Wingdramon floats down next to Armormon. Armormon's body was now limp with weakness, as he was surrounded by Antylamon and Wingdramon.
"It's over now Armormon..." Wingdramon growls. Armormon suddenly starts laughing quietly, only confusing everyone.
"...Heh...You may have gotten me now, Digidestined, but as long as our Master Plan works, my death today shall not matter in the slightest." This statement only confused everyone even more, looking between each other.
"Master Plan? What are you talking about?!" Taeka yells angrily.
"HA! You seriously think I'd tell you?!" Armormon laughs. Antylamon and Wingdramon glare at him with fury, as they suddenly unleash their attacks on him.
"DRAGON'S ARROW!!"
"BUNNY BOMBER!!" Both the attacks create a small explosion that engulfs Armormon...Immediately poofing to dust. Both the Digimon revert back to their rookie forms, looking clearly exhausted. Everyone looks around at the park, not seeing a sign of any other Digimon.
"Well...Should we all just go back home? And rest for now?" Taeka asks. The two look down at their partners, scooping them into their arms.
"Yeah..." Lily responds. "They gotta rest now."
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Taeka and Lily walk inside the house, as they plop their partners onto the couch to rest.
"Hey you two, I think your friend Erik was calling earlier." Their mom suddenly calls from the kitchen, and almost on cue, the phone starts ringing. "That must be him now." She says, as Taeka and Lily run to the phone, answering it.
Taeka: "Yo, Erik! You alright?"
Erik: "Yeah, I'm glad you're alright as well...Me and Axel just got back home."
Lily: "Hey Erik, did any Digimon you fought today say something about a Master Plan?"
Erik: "Yeah actually..."
Taeka: "Same with us! Did you find any information on what the heck the Master Plan is supposed to be exactly?"
Erik: "Sort've...Blaine called me earlier and said that he and Cora found Commandramon while they were fighting today...And that he knows what the Master Plan is."
Taeka: "Woah, seriously? What is it then?!"
Erik: "He never told me, he actually wanted all of us to meet at Blaine's house tomorrow at 12 so we can all talk about it together, then we can make a plan as well."
Taeka: "Ohhh, yeah, that makes sense. Were all pretty tired right now, anyways. yawn. We'll see you tomorrow then!"
Everyone: "Alright...Goodnight!
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(!!TW!! THIS SCENE CONTAINS SOME MENTIONS OF ALCOHOL AND PHYSICAL ABUSE, YOU'RE FREE TO STOP READING HERE IF THAT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE!!)
Both Cora and BlackGabumon yawned and stretched simultaneously, looking pretty exhausted.
"Yeah, we definitely gotta go to sleep now..." Cora says. "We gotta make sure we get there early tomorrow! But let me go brush my teeth first..."
"Alright, I'll meet you in the bed then!" BlackGabumon excitedly rushes to her bedroom and closes the door, as Cora goes to the bathroom and quickly brushes her teeth. She walks into the living room, heading towards her room...But stops, suddenly noticing her mom on the couch, who was nervously fidgeting with her hands.
"Hey mom, you alright?" Cora asks, stepping towards her. Her mom is silent for a moment, sighing.
"Cora, honey, can you please sit down? We need to talk." Her mom says. Cora looks confused, sitting down next to her. Her mom talks a few deep breaths, looking clearly nervous and upset.
"Mom, what's going on? Am I your trouble?" Cora nervously asks.
"...No...Cora, do you remember that promise I made to you? Before you left for the Digital World?" She asks.
"Er, no, not really..." Cora says.
"It was...About your father." Her mom says. "I was gonna...Tell you about him. Cora, when you were younger, do you, uh...Remember anything...That your father did?" Cora was silent for a moment, thinking.
"I think...He used to drink...And yell at you a lot...Right?" Cora asks. Her mom sighs heavily, trying her best to stay calm.
"Yes, but...That was only a small part of it." She says. "Your father, he...He drank so much, took so much of our money towards his addiction. One day, I decided to have a talk with him about his problems, and...He...He hit me. A lot." Her mom's body was shaking nervously, being close to tears. "After that, he would...Hit me...Almost...Every...Day. This went on for...Over a year or so, before I decided I had enough. I found a house far away from him, and in the middle of the night...I took you and your grandmother...And got as far away from him as we could." Her voice cracked, now feeling tears stream down her face. "But I...I got so paranoid your father would find us...Find...Me again. That's why we've...Moved houses so much. I..." Her mom wipes some tears off, holding her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry..." She sobs quietly, Cora worriedly looking over as she hugs her mom gently.
"Mom, it's ok, you don't need to say any more. I understand." Cora says softly, as the two tightly hug each other for a few minutes. Her mom's sobbing starts to get a bit lighter, as she wipes her eyes off.
"Cora, I...I don't want you to blame yourself at all for what happened. This was between me and your father, and you just so happened to get caught in the middle of it. Honestly, you were the only good thing that came out of that relationship, and I...I'm sorry you never got to know your father because of it." Her mom says, sniffling as they let go of each other.
"It's fine, mom...I wouldn't wanna know dad anyways if he treated you like that." Cora says, her mom giving a light smile.
"Well...Thank you, honey. You should probably head off to bed now." Her mom says.
"You sure you'll be fine?" Cora asks.
"Yeah, I just...I think I need some alone time now. But thanks for listening." The two hug each other, before Cora stands up off the couch, heading towards her bedroom.
"Goodnight honey, I love you." Her mom says.
"Yeah, mom, love you too...Goodnight." Cora says, quickly walking into her room and closing the door. BlackGabumon hops off the bed, quickly running to Cora.
"Cora, are you alright?" BlackGabumon asks. Cora quickly wipes a tear off her face, before giving a somewhat forced smile.
"Yeah, BlackGabumon...I'll be fine."