Battlefield (Nakamura, Paige, Jin) [Spirit Hunt]

At Tomomi's suggestion, Elliot promptly pressed every button he could on his D-Scanner. It didn't respond, except for the beeping at timely intervals it had been doing for the entire conversation so far. He shot a sad look at the device, a little disappointed that he wasn't able to pull out any cool tricks for the group. "No luck. I am sorry," he said, as if he even knew what was being talked about at the moment. He didn't entirely understand what was being said, other than that finding them would help the group out a lot.

Knowing that Paige felt more comfortable with English as well helped him feel much better. At least, if push came to shove, there was somebody who could speak more complexly to. However, before he could respond to the fact, the group started snapping into action. The fireball sprouted an entire candle beneath it, and the tiny cat head began bravely jumping into the fray. The boy had no choice but to follow along, and hesitantly hobbled after the approaching Digimon as he looked toward the smoke. Slowly but surely, the smoke began to clear.

"I am telling you, there is nothing here."

The voice was unmistakable as it pierced through the fog. Elliot's face practically lit up. "Isa-" he started to shout, but quickly hushed himself as the smoke finally blew away. What else could you do but fall silent when you notice a tank-like figure, about the size of a professional wrestler hunched over a tiny go-kart, hovering behind your brother?

Too late. The tank drove between the two, letting out an uproarious laugh. "It's rainin' 'umies over 'ere! If it ain't me lucky day!" he guffawed, the two gun-toting dinosaurs climbing off of his tank-like base. "Maybe they got more shinies for us.

Shake 'em down, Boyz!"

The dinosaurs laughed as they advanced toward the group, not even bothering to keep their guns raised. These Digimon were a bunch of babies, and the humans were all so tiny! What would they have to fear?

Isaac tried to open his mouth to speak, and at least shout a warning to Elliot, but Kraktoof whacked him with a gun barrel to the face. He shot the tank a nasty glare, but decided not to open his mouth further. "When'd I say you could speak? Not 'til we find the loot, that's when! Wave that beepy around, make yourself useful." Begrudgingly the boy obliged, holding his Digivice skyward and waving it back and forth. It still beeped at regular intervals, but seemed to speed up slightly when held northward. The boy pointed forward, only for Kraktoof to grab him and drive off in that direction.

"Lookit 'em, Smith! They think they can 'urt us!" The two dinosaurs guffawed as they watched the two tiny Digimon limply attack them. Did these humans really think they'd back down so easily? Two of them didn't even have Digimon, and only one of them had a Digimon of any actual note. As far as Kraktoof's Boyz were concerned, this was gonna be an easy one. They'd take all of these humans' possessions, bring them right back to the boss, and be rolling in the dough. It'd be great!

Then things started to change. The candle changed forms again, now a lizard completely combused into flame  Then one of the humans changed, and while a lion cub wasn't the most intimidating form it sure beat out a lightly-armed human on the threat scale. The numbers advantage had evaporated, and the scales had finally tipped in favor of Team 'Umie. One of the dinosaurs shot the other an uneasy look. "Kraktoof ain't payin' us enough for this," he muttered.

"Quit the bellyachin', Wesson!" Smith shouted. "A job's a job, and I ain't lettin' these 'umies come between us and our bits."

"Right. Right. 'ead in the game, ol' boy," Wesson muttered to himself. He gave himself a few slaps to the face to psych himself up, then lifted his gun high. "Lets give 'em 'ell! Lead Storm!" "Burst Bomber!" Wesson got one knee to brace himself before wildly firing his assault rifle into the group. While his gun was very imposing looking, anyone actually hit would find it much more like BB pellets than actual bullets. The grenade Smith hurled as he stood behind his battle brother, on the other hand, seemed a much more present threat. Its beeping reached a fever pitch as it rolled to the ground, a warning that any second now it'd go boom.

Elliot immediately ran from the grenade, then hit the floor. What else could he do? He had no partners, no protection, and couldn't turn into a lion like the older teen apparently could. All he could do was stay as far away from the action as possible and hope his new friends would be safe. The lingering feelings of uselessness still burned in his chest. Fortunately, it seemed like the Commandramon were far more interested in fighting off the opposing Digimon than executing some scared child. If he didn't make a peep, maybe they'd keep on ignoring him.

~~~~

Isaac and Kraktoof continued rolling on, turning whenever the beeping started going quiet again. It always seemed fairly simple of a path. North, then west. North, then west. It was a simple rhythm, and Kraktoof found himself humming a military march as he made the travel. Eventually, however, he grew a little suspicious. "This beepy ain't pointin' where I think it's pointin', is it?" he asked.

The boy blinked, uncomprehending. "You tell me. I've never been here before," he retorted.

"Well, I think you're tryin' to lead me to-" The Tankmon fell silent as he nearly rolled right over a cliff. The Digivice's beeping began to reach a fever pitch as the two looked down, realizing they were sitting at the top of a gigantic chasm. Tankmon seemed to pale slightly and reversed, getting as much space from the chasm's end as possible.

"Knew it. We're at the Crater."

Elliot could feel a slight swish of air as Wesson's claw shot out, grasping for the collar of his shirt. He cringed and closed his eyes, but as he slowly pried them open realized that he was remarkably un-grabbed. In fact, Wesson wasn't even facing him anymore, the Commandramon's attention completely shifted toward Kami. The Flarizamon was now standing tall over his brother-in-arms, who could barely make a sound besides a dry wheeze from the incredibly painful attack. The dinosaur's tactical jacket had completely been rended, red-hot metal outlining the gashes as steam rose from the wound. If not for the armor, a direct hit like that would've knocked out the Rookie for sure. He clutched his gut, taking a knee as he tried and failed to stand.

"Bleedin' 'ell, this 'urts," Smith choked out. "Think you were right on this'un. I ain't dyin' just to shake down a bunch of little brats for pocket change." Wesson ran over to Smith's side, extending a hand to try and help his comrade up. As he got Smith back onto his shaky feet, he turned to Kami. "Don't think you and your 'umies won this one yet. Kraktoof's tougher and rougher than both of us combined," the Commandramon said. He then began to walk off, supporting Smith against him. They took one look at the treadmarks left in the Tankmon's wake from earlier, and proceeded to walk as far in the opposite direction as possible.

Immediately Elliot walked over to Paige, giving the girl and her cat a worried look. "Are you okay?" he asked her in English, voice still trembling somewhat from nerves. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt helping me. I'm so sorry." He then turned to Tomomi and Kami, going over the words in his head as he switched back to Japanese.

"Thank you all so much. You did not have to do that, but it means a lot that you helped," he said, a shaky smile spreading on his face. He pointed to the treadmarks going off in the distance, pale patches sticking out quite obviously through the charred grass. "I think Isaac is over there. I will go find him now. You do not have to come with me. I do not want any of you to get hurt."

He turned to the treadmarks, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't bring himself to start walking. He just stared intently at them, taking in a deep breath as he tried to steel himself. All he could do was think about how badly this would likely end for him.

~~~~

Kraktoof continued to linger at the edge of the crater. "I've been livin' off this thing's trash for a whole now," the Tankmon said to Isaac. "Big showdown 'appened 'ere. Loads of shinies for lootin'. But I ain't settin' foot in that crater. Not gonna risk pissin' off the big nasty bastard who made it. Who knows when 'e'll be back to finish the job?"

Isaac couldn't help but look down as well. He wasn't afraid of heights, but the sheer depth of the crater was starting to make his stomach churn. At first glance it was nothing, just a giant black bowl of dirt, rocks, and ash. However, on closer inspection, there seemed to be almost a pattern to the destruction. Some areas looked smoothed out, as if to serve as foundations. Others looked to be divided up into smooth ridges. Was this crater necessarily just some big act of destruction, or was there something far more planned for it?

Whatever the case, as he stared into the abyss his Digivice began beeping more rapidly. Kraktoof turned to him in exasperation, roaring "Are you gonna shut that thing up, or what?" However, Isaac said nothing. He only moved the Digivice across the chasm, listening for the beeps to speed up slightly as he turned it. Whatever they were looking for, it was obviously getting pretty close. "I don't know. I guess it won't stop until you find your 'shiny.' " Kraktoof let out an irritated grumble but refused to move. As Isaac listened to the Tankmon, he could swear he was mumbling something under his breath to try and psych himself up.

If he could get down into that hole, maybe he could finally shake his camouflaged captor.