The Coward's Way Out (Hunt)
Aug 30, 2018 0:53:05 GMT
Post by Tadayoshi Teppei and Silence on Aug 30, 2018 0:53:05 GMT
Tadayoshi recognized the increased scrutiny on him the next time he wandered into Commandramon's old home village. The irst time Yoshi was completely inconspicuous, the second time only mildly suspicious. Now he knew he was being watched closely, scrutinized by the Troopmon patrolling. Yoshi wanted to warn those in his Xros Loader, tucked in his back pocket and obscured - barely - by an untucked shirt, about the new development, but while two Troopmon were breaking off their posts to follow the boy, he knew he couldn't utter a single word without being taken in... if he was lucky. Even worse, Tadayoshi was just approaching his destination: Hagurumon's dwelling.
It wasn't lost on Tadayoshi that there was an unusual number of Troopmon patrolling the intersection in the street. It's not gonna happen, the young man decided as he walked straight past the dwelling, It's like Commandramon thought: Hagurumon's been made. There's no way they're still there. So Tadayoshi continued on toward the edge of the town, hoping to continue his old ruse of pretending to be another passerby. It became apparent as he got there, however, that the presence keeping an eye on him never once decreased since he had strolled by the Hagurumon residence. It's not just them. I'm marked, too. Yoshi at least thought he'd get to pass back out of the village limits, but the two Troopmon there all raised their guns at the sight of him, which prompted the other two who'd been tailing him to follow suit.
"Stop right there!"
"Digi-cross!" Like a cowboy in a western, Tadayoshi rapidly drew his Loader and attempted to complete the fusion before he was full of more holes than an argument for a flat Earth. Of course, Troopmon have never been known to be the brightest of digimon. That may have been why by the time any of them fired a single shot, Commandramon and Renamon had crossed to become Sealsdramon.
Sealsdramon himself was swift enough to deploy a, "Smoke Cloak!" which was simply a grenade he threw at his own feet that instantly puffed out a cloud of thick, dark smoke. It was only at this point that Troopmon weapons finally began firing, but none of them had a chance of hitting the assassin digimon or his General through the cloud, at least since Yoshi had wisely assumed a prone position. Sealsdramon then drew four of his knives from the many pouches on his armor and began to toss them one-by-one at the spraying and paying Troopmon until the sounds of weaponfire had died down - all of which happened before the smoke cloud could even dissipate.
"What now?"
"Hagurumon was never here, and we were expected. That means they've been captured or destroyed."
Tadayoshi gulped. "Destroyed...?"
"It's unlikely. They could have only taken them recently, and they'll probably try to get information out of them about us before they resort to that."
"But they don't know anything!"
"Yes... that is what concerns me." Hagurumon may not have been one of Commandramon's former allies like Renamon was, but he was a sympathizer to them and, occasionally, slipped tips whenever he thought he couldn't get caught. More recently, after the old group was scattered, Commandramon turned to Hagurumon, the only digimon he thought he could trust and contact at the time, for help modifying Tadayoshi's Xros Loader to stabilize an Incomplete Xros enough for Commandramon to assume the form of Submarimon long enough to be useful, not to mention much less painful.
This was a fact for which Tadayoshi now felt extremely crushing guilt. It was he who smuggled Commandramon through the village to Hagurumon so that the gear digimon could risk getting caught meeting with them... which most likely led to the scenario presented in front of the army now. "General!"
"Huh?" Yoshi showed his hand by shaking his head and reacting surprise when called by Sealsdramon, demonstrating he wasn't completely focused due to his own personal guilt.
"Compartmentalize," Commandramon counseled, "The prison camp is to the north of here. Normally it's only for digimon who can't come through on their 'taxes' or their family members, but Hagurumon..."
"Do you...?" Tadayoshi struggled with asking the question, but he then acknowledged, "OK. Compartmentalizing," which calmed him down enough to ask, "Do you think they can make it in there?" Tadayoshi had his own personal doubts about Hagurumon's safety Sealsdramon bit his lip but didn't answer immediately. "That doesn't make me feel better!"
"Let's not allow that test to take place," Commandramon resolved.
"Do you...?" Tadayoshi struggled with asking the question, but he then acknowledged, "OK. Compartmentalizing," which calmed him down enough to ask, "Do you think they can make it in there?" Tadayoshi had his own personal doubts about Hagurumon's safety Sealsdramon bit his lip but didn't answer immediately. "That doesn't make me feel better!"
"Let's not allow that test to take place," Commandramon resolved.
"No! No, absolutely not! I refuse!" That might sound like Hagurumon's response to interrogation, but they weren't nearly so strong as to resist that. Luckily, they were successfully liberated from the prison camp before they could break, meaning they hadn't been there very long given their famously weak constitution. Even more fortunately, Yoshi and Sealsdramon even managed to liberate a few other prisoners in the camp before they had to flee for their lives, though it was an unlucky break that none of them were Commandramon's old allies. These were just innocent citizens who had no place in the dino digimon's crusade. Ironically enough, it was Hagurumon's weak constitution that was the reason why, when Commandramon offered Hagurumon a spot alongside himself and his General, the gear digimon adamantly declined. "Your war has already hurt me enough! Please, I just want to run away and never come back."
"Do you think that's possible?" Commandramon asked arrogantly, leaning back on a tree in the middle of the forest he'd evacuated the group to, "Any other escaped prisoner might get away with that, but you have intelligence on us - or, so the Black Army believes. Now they've seen you escape with us. They will never stop hunting you until you are captured or destroyed."
"But we can protect you," Renamon added in, standing high over Hagurumon almost as if she were trying to intimidate them herself. "In fact, we're the only ones who can protect you. Do you think you could make it two miles before getting caught again?" Tadayoshi frowned as he watched Hagurumon shudder in terror, an action he didn't think possible of a being made of metal, but it happened just before his eyes.
"Renamon, please," Commandramon calmly pushed back, apparently unhappy with her scare tactics. "But she's right, Hagurumon. I promise you, I will never let anything happen to you. Our General Tadayoshi is someone to believe in."
That made the gear digimon look to Tadayoshi, who, when put on the spot, awkwardly smiled and deflected, "Uh... what he said." Poor Hagurumon looked like they wanted to just break down and cry, which made Tadayoshi wonder if they even could cry. Well, they can shudder, so maybe they can cry? I still can't tell where the line-
"Fine!" Hagurumon cried after a minute of considering, "Just- I don't know how to say it, but-"
"We will keep you safe," Commandramon promised, "And you will not be a part of any battle you deem too dangerous. In fact, I admire that about you; courage without caution is just recklessness." Hagurumon sure didn't feel very admirable right about then, but at least they didn't have to worry about deletion at any time... they hoped.
Word count: 1,205
Acquired: Xros partner Hagurumon