You And Me And Mr Skullface Makes 3 (Kouhei+Maia, H Sp Hunt]

"W-we can't kill anyone, can we?" Elliot's small, meek voice didn't fit his heroically built body in the slightest. Elliot's mind and heart alike raced as he looked at the fallen doll. What was even with this doll? Were those pained, straining noises it made cries of triumph, or howls of agony? Was it even alive? Would they have to kill it? It seemed like it would chase them through the entire facility if they didn't disable it in some way, as its climb through the elevator shaft indicated. Maybe it would refuse to leave them alone even when they left, chasing them to the ends of the earth like BlackWarGreymon did to Shi. Would this be their only option?

No. There had to be another option. Maybe escape, maybe chasing it off. Elliot was not about to have blood on his hands. As the Porcupamon once more lurched onto its feet, Elliot aimed his tail at it like some kind of fire hose. "S-stay back! Tailblazer!" he shouted, focusing hard and shooting a small jet of flames at the Porcupamon. At first it had the ideal reaction, sending the doll scrambling away and making fearful braying noises. For a second, Elliot thought this plan would actually work. He motioned for Kuu and Maia to make their way to the elevator, hoping they'd be able to descend before the Porcupamon ended up catching up to them. It was perfect! Then, however, the Porcupamon stopped running.

Instead it shambled over to the furnace, looking at it pensively before jamming both of its arms right into the furnace. Pained, moaning screams filled the air, Elliot fearfully demanding "What the heck is wrong with this thing?" It looked at its arms thoughtfully, the serene look on its face completely betraying the odd screaming noises it was making. Then it hefted them high like a berserker and charged Elliot, bringing both flaming hands right down onto his left shoulder. Several painful slams left the stunned boy down on the floor, attempts at blocking simply being smashed aside by the powerful plush.

It then turned toward Maia and Kuu. Was it pointing at them, or was that just Elliot's imagination? Regardless, it rushed furiously at the duo, both hands drawn back for a powerful clapping strike. Would it be able to smash both of them at the same time, or would Kuu be able to think of something quickly? Ideally, quickly would come soon, because the Troopmon were halfway to thawing out now. They pushed down impotently at the melting gel, trying to shove the slush away and force their way out of their prisons soon. How much more would have to melt before they were freed?

~~~~

It took a desperate drop of Isaac's sword to avoid the android's laser eye. In the attack's wake, the boy was forced to watch as his sword was reduced to mere ash. One down, one to go. He tossed his still-existing sword to his still-functioning arm, then hunched down and waited for another chance to push his offensive luck. The ProtoAndromon was sparking and twitching from the earlier beatdown, and Isaac knew just one more good hit would be able to bring this mess to an end. That's why it seemed the machine's priority had shifted from fighting off Isaac to preventing him from getting that last, fatal hit in.

With a smirk, the android's wires began to pull apart the maze of concrete and steel walls that made up the majority of the room. Before Isaac could even have a chance at interrupting, the android had completely boxed itself in. Atop the cage of concrete sat the rocket launcher that the ProtoAndromon earlier looted, swiveling back and forth like an automated turret. Isaac sighed as he realized the machine's plan of taking potshots at him from complete safety, and did the only thing he could in this situation; run. It proved to be a wise one when the rocket launcher fired at the ground beneath his feet, only a quick hop to the side stopping him from ending up like Kouhei.

From here, it was a deadly dance where one wrong step meant Isaac's end. All he could do was circle around the ProtoAndromon's bunker, searching for weak spots in the foundation and taking futile swings before the next rocket descended. Yasyamon's nimbleness allowed him to flip circles around the projectiles as they arrived, but how long could he keep up this dodge for? Isaac really, really didn't want to risk finding out. However, as he ran, he realized that perhaps Andromon's greatest weapon would also prove to be its greatest weakness. He gave up on his previous futile endeavor and instead stood as still as a statue, waiting for the android to even dare shooting at him.

It did, and this time Isaac was prepared for it. "Cross Slash!" With only one sword, the move barely had half of its power. Fortunately, that was just enough to detonate the incoming rocket. Smoke filled the air and rubble shot across the room, Isaac straining his eyes to see if his plan would end up succeeding. If it didn't, he was officially out of options. If it did, it might finally be time to bring this battle to a close.

One second, the Porcupamon was charging toward Maia and Kuu like a Digimon on a mission. However, after Kuu used his invisible strike, it seemed to be reclining back a bit. How completely strange. It wasn't until the plush monster's torso rolled off of its hips that the group would be able to notice that it wasn't leaning back at all. Instead it was completely bisected at the midsection, its disembodied legs still charging at Maia and Kuu before the exclusion was realized. They slumped to the ground at Maia's feet, as if their defeated foe was kneeling down in submission. With that, it seemed like the fight was finally over.

Or, at least half of it was. The torso of the Porcupamon stilled crawled forward, ghoulish coughing noises bouncing between the walls of the cold storage. However, by this point it was practically harmless. Stuffing leaked behind it as it advanced toward the group, moving at a pace that could only be described as glacial. Occasionally it viciously swiped the air in front of it, as if trying to strike Kuu and Maia down from afar. Whether the Porcupamon still had any energy left in it or not was a moot point, though, because unless Kuu wanted to get right in its face there was no way it could harm a fly in its current state.

Elliot, finally seeing an opportunity to escape, sprinted over and scooped up the Porcupamon's legs. It whistled to get the plush's attention, and then flung them into the hallway that once housed the Citrusmon. Immediately Porcupamon broke its focus on Maia, picking up the pace somewhat as it began chasing after its lower half. Elliot then returned to his friend's side, shuddering a little in disgust at what just happened. "That was so morbid," he squeaked, looking around as if hoping there would be a sink he could clean his hands in. "But at least we're all okay, right? Now all we need to do is hop on the elevator and get out of here!"

It seemed the Troopmon had heard him. Gel and water gushed to the floor as the closest to the furnace finally sloughed free of its prison. It let out a primal howl from its gas-masked maw, dragging the furnace closer to the other pillars in order to expedite freeing its brothers. "A-and we should probably do it now, too. I don't like the look of these guys at all," he added, weariness in his voice at relief cut short all too soon. They didn't seem to be paying Elliot and Maia mind right now, but what would happen if they tried to sneak past? Would they just end up surrounded by a vicious troop of Troopmon, or would they barely be able to sneak their way to success?

~~~~

Isaac grinned wickedly behind his mask as the smoke cleared. His plan couldn't have worked any more perfectly. The ProtoAndromon was buried up to its chest in rubble from the fallen concrete, leaving its head perfectly exposed and its body completely walled in. It tried to pull its wires free to take the wall down, but they had all been pinned down in rubble as well. Even with the mechanical speed and precision the android had access to, it was reduced to a mere sitting duck in the face of this trap. Its main offense was taken away, its main defense was now its prison, and the emergency power supply it was running on was quickly dwindling down. The prototype was now completely out of options, and Isaac finally had the chance to secure the revenge had longed for.

Would it really be right, though? As he stared down the helpless robot, he realized the time he was wasting here would just make it more likely Elliot and Maia would end up getting into trouble. He already had what he came for, and now he was just wasting his time and energy on mere catharsis. Maybe it was what Kouhei would have wanted, but with the adrenaline rush fading Isaac realized it wasn't what he had wanted out of the situation at all. The android's eye was flickering red as it tried to charge up a laser blast again, but only feeble sparks were being produced. At this point, Isaac wouldn't even have the satisfaction of toppling a hard-fought opponent. He would just be an executioner. After much thought, he turned away from the robot, disdainfully muttering "None of this is worth it."

Now it was time to begin the long and arduous journey of retracing his steps.

"Direct ro- Oh. Ooooooh." Elliot's voice shrank somewhat as he slowly caught on to Kouhei's plan. It was every bit as destructive as he expected it to be. It was hard to be surprised after he so viciously mauled the Troopmon. It seemed pure destruction was the main purpose of this form, and Elliot made a mental note to stay far away from it while it did its thing. Hopefully, Kouhei would have a little bit more restraint the next time they worked together!

"I swear," Isaac said as he watched Tyrannosaurus Wrecks smash through the facility like a sledgehammer through butter. "That thing freaks me out. Thank god its on our side." At the very least, Isaac hoped the strange bestial hybrid was on their side. The fact that they weren't turned into dinosaur snacks as soon as the Troopmon were gone was a good indication of that fact, but the form seemed downright unstable compared to most spirit user forms either brother had seen so far. Really, they just had to stay on Kouhei's good side. Maybe then they'd be okay.

"It's better than the rest of this place, at least," Elliot said. The boy made his way through the tunnel, his bad leg making it a little bit harder to climb out of the facility than he'd like. Still, he was doing admirably well at escaping it. It helped that most jagged edges or debris were also promptly described by the force of nature known as GreyKnightsmon.

Isaac left shortly thereafter, smiling at Maia. "We sure dodged a bullet with that one, didn't we?" he asked, referring to pretty much the entire chaotic day in general. "After this we've earned one hell of a break." Maybe he'd call her up in a few days to hang out. The two certainly deserved a chance to unwind after this mess. For now, though, the number one priority was leaving. Soon all of the brave adventurers would have been gone and a calm would have finally fallen over the facility.

Except for a ghastly moaning noise. An all-too familiar shadow loomed over the open hole that Kouhei tore open. After a few seconds it took a pensive step, the first one it had ever made outside of the facility's metal walls. A tiny bit of stuffing was left in its wake.

Fin?