Joint post with Ducklett time! Thanks Ducklett!
Dontae raised his shovel in defense as he tried to size up the new digimon that appeared. Dinohumon, a champion digimon. It was obvious that dealing with this new digimon was going to be difficult. But how would that go? So far they had been ripping through the other corrupted easily, but this one appeared stronger and was wielding actual weapons.
The champion smirked as he pointed his cleaver at the male human. "So you're the little runt causing so much commotion, I take it? I was hoping for something with a little more bite," the Dinohumon sneered. Still, he walked slowly towards the three clustered together and ignored the rocks that struck his body. Artemis stamped her feet, getting ready to fight, but her tamer tentatively stood his ground.
"Happy to disappoint you," Dontae commented. He tightened his grip on his shovel. Perhaps the champion digimon hadn't seen Paopao, so that's why he wasn't focused on Kit. Or maybe he was after him for something else-- Looking down at Kit, the male did his best to address her without much hesitation. "Think you can call for Paopao from here? We'll need as much help as we can get for this one."
Kit glanced at Dontae. She spun a nightstick in one hand. "Well... yeah, I can. Probably... but..." She hesitated to do it. Her face tightened with dismay. "What about your friend? Will he last that long?" She steadied her footing and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm the adrenaline in her blood. If she had too much or it came all of a sudden, it might trip her up. She couldn't risk that with Dontae and Artemis' lives on the line. Not to mention if Carlos saw...
There's not a thing to worry about, she reminded herself. You're a small target and that's a big blade. It can cause a lot of damage, but it's unlikely he's as flexible. I just have to make sure he doesn't hit. She glanced at Dontae. Does he know that? "Artemis," she suddenly said, her voice oddly calm. "Can this guy move all that fast when he's attacking?" She wasn't too worried about him listening and interrupting. The Digimon, if he was as smart as he looked, would already know this. It wouldn't mean he could counter it though. Not that easily against more than one opponent.
"That's difficult to say," Artemis stated bluntly, "Dinohumon aren't normally lithe, but they still have agility. No telling if the corrpution changes that. I should still be quicker as long as I stay on my toes." She seemed uninterested in the specifics; if Dontae had to guess she was focused on keeping the champion digimon away from both of them. That would be disastrous: all three of them trying to gain the digimon's attention at the same time. But that didn't mean he was going to let either of them try and put themselves in danger to protect him. He wasn't the strongest fighter, but he wasn't going to be a coward. He stopped staring into space as he heard a stone smack the metal of his shovel.
"Something tells me that Bakura's behind this shower. He's not dying any time soon," Dontae half-muttered to himself before looking down at his partner, "Artemis, if you can stay a step ahead of him it might be best for you to distract him. At least until Paopao or someone else gets here Kit and I can jump in and out of the fray to chip away at him." He was sure that Gil might have needed more time to rest up, but that giant dinosaur form could come in handy. Digivolution was what it was called, right? Could Artemis do that? So far his own digivice had been really quiet, so he was going to go with "not yet". At this point he was even starting to hope that that weird guy with the crown would come out of the building to help, too.
"So what's it going to be, runt?" Dinohumon asked, reaching over his shoulder for his second cleaver, "Are you going to start it? Or should I just finish it? I'm getting pretty tired of you three whispering over there!"
"He's pretty confident with this; that's worse than the axes," Dontae deadpanned, "As long as Bakura stays still he should be fine; we could probably afford more muscle out here."
Kit raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly. "Got it then." Putting two fingers in her mouth, she let out a high-pitched whistle. Then she knelt carefully. "If we go with your strategy Dontae..., try to watch my back, kay?" She smiled at him and winked. "I can hit a bit rough, but if one of those swords gets me, I'm a goner you know? Your shovel could take a better hit than these" She gestured to her batons. "I'm counting on you guys."
"You," she informed the Dinohumon with a smile. "Talk too much."
Meanwhile, Paopao whipped her head around. She had heard that clear as day. "Kit!" Without hesitation, she bolted down the building steps, rushing back to her partner's side as quickly as physically possible.
The champion digimon gritted its teeth as Kit made her first remark towards him. Bringing his weapon arm closer to his body, he raised the other one and charged for the female human. "Let's see what you have to say with my weapon in your back!" the champion digimon said as he leaped into the air. He proved to be fast, but Dontae trusted that Artemis would be faster.
"Artemis, intercept!" Dontae commanded. Obliging, the Lunamon fired off a Tear Shot. The Dinohumon managed to contort himself in such a way that he avoided the attack, but as he corrected himself in the air the rabbit-digimon closed the distance between her and the champion.
"Too slow!" Artemis taunted as she swung a kick at the Dinohumon's face. It was light, but the blow connected and gave Dontae enough time to swing the flat side of the shovel into its stomach. Landing on the ground, the champion digimon tried to swing a wild blow at the male. He managed to step back in time, and Artemis followed through with her job. "What's wrong? Can't handle two humans and rookie?" She laughed as she hopped off the champion and proceeded to dodge the flurry of swings that came her way. True to her word she was able to scamper, leap and roll out of the way before she was in danger of being hit. It was almost as if she was dancing to the vibes on the battlefield.
"Kit!" Kit paused for only a second to grin. Then she ducked to the ground as Paopao charged, leaping towards Dinohumon with a snarl. She lunged toward the Champion's legs. Kit smiled to herself as Artemis moved, nodding firmly to herself. She stepped back for a few seconds before ducking under a violent swing. Paopao grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and yanked her aside, throwing the girl up on her back without a second thought. Paopao was not a particularly fast individual, but she made up for it by being a ridiculous tank. She let out a particularly fierce howl of Retribark.
Kit hoped that the other two could get out of the way. From watching earlier, Retribark seemed not to discriminate who to hit. "Wait a second Paopao," she murmured gently.
"Kit," she protested as the blade loomed closer. "What are you thinking?"
Lark smiled shyly. "Don't worry. It's going to be okay. Just wait and see. Now go for it!" Paopao lunged forward, leaving Kit to duck into her partner's back, avoiding a painful sword strike. "Phew," she murmured. "Aim for the legs again, kay Paopao?"
The champion stood its ground as the Retribark attack shook the ground. While it didn't seem to do too much, it was enough to stun the Dinohumon for a second. That gave Artemis time to get away and avoid the attack. Dontae also stepped out of the way, but a rogue stone deflected by Paopao's attack smacked the side of his head. The sudden daze and the rumbling earth beneath him was enough to make him falter and land on his back.
"Owowowow... did someone get the plate number off that taxi?" Dontae muttered to himself. He was glad that he recognized that what he said made no sense; a sort of self-check to see if the blow knocked him senseless. He could feel blood drip from his forehead, though. Today was a bad day for his skull.
Artemis giggled as she continued to evade attacks. So far the worst blow was friendly fire. She was worried that her partner was hurt, but as he got back to his feet he seemed fine enough. I can play doctor later! That will be fun! the digimon thought; an extra pep in her movements as she thought about handing out lollipops and applying cute bandages to people.
Kit lunged forward as Dinohumon froze. This was a dangerous move by far. However, she couldn't really depend on Artemis too much. She had to protect Dontae. The girl acknowledged that had to be the absolute top priority. So she dove close to the Dinohumon and stabbed the hilt of a baton towards its jaw. It had tough scales, no doubt about that.
Paopao yowled her dismay. "Kit get away from there!" Her human did not listen for a moment, scrambling to roll to the side. Whether the attack hit or not, she was sure of one thing: he was a swordsman. And he was one who faced forward.
"Stupid girl!" the Dinohumon cursed as Kit's attack hit him in the jaw. Focusing all its rage on the female human, it lunged for her as she tried to get away. Vertically slashing downwards, the sound of metal scraping metal sounded in the air.
"I'm sorry; guess I got in the way," Dontae bantered half-dazed. Standing over Kit, he had braced himself and used the metal part of the shovel to shield himself against the attack. He had put the weight of his body behind the shovel, shoulder pressed against the other side of the metal, to keep himself from being overpowered. As the champion digimon unearthed the blade from the shovel, divided unevenly by the blow, the part not connected to the pole fell to the ground with a hollow clatter. It revealed a rip in the male's coat and some blood flowing from a shallow gash. "... that should be covered by my last tetanus booster."
"Grrr.... you too!!" the dinohumon growled as he kicked Dontae in the chest. Caught off guard, the male staggered back before falling to the ground again. "I'm going to enjoy this kill." Raising the cleaver to the air, the champion digimon prepared to hack into whomever got in the way. Before he could lunge, bubbles began falling from the sky.
"Spiral Cascade!!" came Artemis' voice. Dontae turned his head to see the Lunamon in a high-velocity pirouette. Her four large ears were glowing a deep blue, and from them a full-circle wall of bubbles spiraled into the air before falling around the champion digimon. There had to be thousands of them.
In awe, the male remained stationery on the ground as he watched the attack continue. A few bubbles managed to break from the cycle and land on the champion digimon. When they did, he flinched as they each burst with a pop that sounded like a fire cracker exploding. "An exploding bubble trap...!" Dontae gasped as his mind processed the event taking place.
Lark frowned at him nervously. "I said watch my back, not lose your weapon," she murmured anxiously. "You'd better stay back for now, kay Dontae? Get out of his range as fast as you can. Or you definitely won't make it." She examined the bubble trap curiously, watching them float. She paused, thinking aloud. "Would it hurt that much if they all popped at once, or would it make him angry?" She wasn't sure she wanted to find out.
"Mm... Artemis, how long will that last for?" She was licking her lips, scooting away from the approaching bubbles. It as a good move, but it put both sides at a standstill. After all, if they attacked, they would get hit too.
"Until I run out of energy or I get dizzy..." Artemis stated weakly. By the sound of it she was approaching both fast. Dontae remembered her talking about a third, more exhausting, attack that she had. This certainly looked like it.
What was the best course of action? Blow it up or wait it out? If Artemis got too tired and had to rest their strategy would have to change on the spot. If it wasn't enough to incapacitate the Champion digimon they lost the time to wait for others. Among other possible losses worse than time. What if all the bubbles popped at the same time? Maybe the sound would get someone's attention.
"And if they're popped indirectly-- that could do it! Retribark! Kit, back away with Paopao and have her attack the wall with Retribark!" Dontae instructed hurriedly. At the same time, he himself started to inch away from the shield and towards Artemis. She was a safe enough distance away.
Kit grinned. It was a savage little smile, which, although rare, was good enough for her. "I was hoping you would say that. Paopao!" She scurried back as Paopao let out a loud howl, Retribark echoing across the ground. "Watch your head!" she called to Dontae, dragging her partner back as the sound wave burst.
She grimaced to herself. They seriously needed something stronger. It wasn't that they weren't hurting it, but the trouble was they had to kill it! And... that wasn't working out too great.
Dontae took cover as the Labramon's attack started a chain reaction. The force behind the shockwave pushed the wall of bubbles and disrupted their descent. Becoming unstable, the bubbles started to burst. They collided with the champion digimon's body. A pained roar sounded from the center of the chaos, but it eventually became drowned out by the sound of the thousands of explosive bubbles.
After what felt like minutes of a fireworks show Dontae finally stopped blocking his hears and sat upright. A fine fog of dust surrounded the spot where the Dinohumon stood. There wasn't a trace of hope that that was the end of the champion digimon, but it was at least stunned by the combination attack. Hopefully it was on the ropes.
Artemis gradually slowed down her spin. The glow from her ears dimmed as her body slowed to a stop. Opening her eyes, she saw Dontae feet away from her. Wobbling over to him, he caught her as she slumped into his lap. Her hands trembled as they clung to the male's coat. "Did I get 'em?" the Lunamon asked. Her body quivered as she was lifted into the male's arms.
"You sure taught him a lesson. That was incredible," Dontae said with a small, proud smile. He knew it wasn't enough to finish the champion off, but it was certainly taking it a while to show itself. Whatever happened, it wasn't worth forcing Artemis to exert herself more than she already had. Nodding to herself, the digimon nestled up to Dontae before her body enveloped in a pure white light. Dontae stared in surprise as Artemis' body changed. Instead of her rabbit-like rookie form, as the new light faded she now appeared as some kind of pale-blue raindrop.
"... I'm so tired..." Artemis yawned, her eyes lazily looking up at her tamer. Dontae nodded as he grabbed his broken shovel and got to his feet. He took a few steps away from the dust cloud anticipating Dinohumon. There was no way Artemis could fight like that.
Kit observed this with mild curiosity. "Do you turn into one of those too Paopao?" she said to her dog. The Labramon shook her head. "Oh... so, what do you turn into?" Despite her nonchalance at the moment, Lark's eyes flickered between the dust cloud and them again. She noted Dontae's wounds and Artemis herself. "Are you okay Paopao?"
"For now?" inquired the Digimon rhetorically. "Yes. If you are, always." The white dog turned in the direction of the two on the ground. "Do you want me to...?" She hoped not, she really, truly hoped not.
"Mm..." Lark agreed. Looking down at Dontae, she retied her hat around her neck. "You need to get out of here. Paopao is going to take you guys to the safe place and come back. Don't argue." She spoke these words firmly before Dontae could even start. "You guys did good. The least I can do is get you guys out of here. Those friends of yours... I'll get them that way too. Don't look back, don't come back, and if I don't..." She smiled. "Look for Jake. Please."
Paopao let out a whine as Kit threw the keys into Dontae's hand. "Get on her back. Please."