Corrupted Power [Mission] [5/5]

    "D'you think Yellow Tangs taste tangy?" Oh no. That was a trap. Kuu wasn't allowed to eat yellow tangs! This would make going to pet stores or aquariums extremely stressful, if the Kudamon thought that a live fish might taste good! But, with a fight soon to come, it wasn't like he'd get too much time to think on how edible the fish comparison of Maia was.

    Surely, that was for the best.

    Unlike the flying buzzsaw coming his way! While it had been a good thought to make sure the elevator remained unscathed, it also severely reduced Quetzalmon's ability to dodge. After all, if he did, wouldn't that just mean that the BladeKuwagamon would end up ramming itself into the thing carrying humans?

    Whirling himself into an upright position, the Armor Champion brought his tail in front of him, using the ornament as a sort of block once the BladeKuwagamon would connect. Of course, this wasn't perfect, as the Wind Guardian felt the ornament immediately jerk closer to his body, upon impact. Between that, and the electrical power in the blade that ran up Kuu's tail, he felt the attack begin to impact with his skin. Oh. That kind of hurt!

    And by kind of, Kuu really meant that it hurt. A lot. He wasn't particularly fond of being cut up! Or zapped! Though, at that same point, Dio might have noticed an ever-so-slight relief to his recent injury! "Why is everyone always so angry?" Quetzalmon whined, while leaning himself back to try to edge away from the blade monster that had already left a notable mark across the Digimon's mid-section. "I think it would be way more fun if we could settle our differences in a game of charades or something!"

    Except, nobody seemed to really like charades. Unless their prompt was 'murderer' or something equally unpleasant. Ah well. Not much to be done about it right now! Instead, he'd focus on trying to discourage the buzzing 'mon's current plan to saw him in half! Not that he should really have expected anything less from a literal flying knife. Beating his wings, the temperature coming off of them would soon seem notably colder, as icicles would begin to form in the air. With another flap, the ice would launch forward, clearly aimed toward the unpleasant creature in front of him. "Freezing Wave!"

    Meanwhile, his tamer would remain in the elevator, focusing on the fights. After what felt like far too much silence, she threw a glance to Amelie. "Are you staying in here, just in case everyone else fails?" Maybe a poor way to phrase it, but the blonde couldn't help but have just a bit of curiosity!

---

Kuu attempted, and mostly failed, to block Sparkling Buzzsaw. Took the vast majority of the intended damage.
Taking damage has activated his passive, By Whom We Live, which has selected Dio to assist.
Kuu used Freezing Wave on the BladeKuwagamon that attacked him.

Freezing Wave: Unleashes a small, bitter-cold wave of wind by flapping it's wings. Shards of ice can be found in the frozen gust, cutting into it's target.

By Whom We Live: During his posting turn, if Quetzalmon has taken damage, one nearby ally regains a minor amount of their health. If multiple allies are nearby, By Whom We Live will target who Quetzalmon perceives as the most injured ally nearby. Quetzalmon, itself, gains no boost from this. In fact, it kind of hurts!

OOC: Really sorry for the delay. I'll try and get back into it now.

---

As the elevator slowly continued to descend on its jury-rigged power supply, the battle raged on around them. Datamon and Kokabuterimon tried hard to pay attention on their job, and thanks to the efforts of their hired help, they were succeeding in doing so.

The BladeKuwagamon that was ensnared by Tawna was lunged toward her, and, when her attack hit, it would prove to deal fatal damage to the corrupted digimon. However, the corruption in these particular digimon was... different somehow. Ordinarily if a digimon tries to absorb another's destroyed data, well, they'd get stronger. But, this kind of absorption. It would be like if a healthy person ate something rotting and indigestible. If Tawna had any sense, she would cease attempting to absorb the BladeKuwagamon's data, as doing so would not power her up in any way, and would in fact sicken her and make her more vulnerable.

But still, one of the five had been destroyed, that much she had succeeded with.

Next was the BladeKuwagamon that faced Dio. An ordinary digimon might have been inclined to evade, but, these were not ordinary digimon. Instead, the mechanical insect digimon repeated the attack of one of its swarm, and proceeded to spin like a buzzsaw as a counter-attack. The two digimon would collide, and the intensity of Dio's flames would destroy the digimon, but, unless Dio had a means of avoiding damage, he would be struck in return.

The third BladeKuwagamon managed to strike Kuu, but in turn was unable to evade the Freezing Wave counter-attack. Its wings quickly froze, and the digimon did nothing more than fall down into the depths of Old Terminus, disappearing into the elevator shaft below. What would become of it, nobody knew, but it would no longer participate in the battle.

The fourth of the mechanical insectoids merely stared at Ravenna as she posed her question, but it prompted no answer other than nonsensical clicking. It would have been made clear that either these opponents did not intend or were not able to answer. But a possible conclusion could be reached, that these digimon were not operating under their own control.

But still, Ravenna's attack on it was enough to put it out of its misery. Already weakened from other attacks, it lacked the stamina to remain whole, disintegrating just like the others.

That just left the last, disoriented BladeKuwagamon. Its four swarm companions now absent, it began to buzz around the air, like a horizontal figure-8. Faster and faster it went, until it was obvious that the symbol meant 'infinity'. And thus, it let off its strongest attack, sending thunderbolts bursting in all directions, filling the elevator shaft with booming thunder.

The lightning would strike quickly in many directions, but blindly. Larger targets, and those with metal on their person would be easier hit, but those that did not would have a higher chance of evading. Unfortunately for a moment, the elevator shuddered to a halt as Datamon was affected by the burst of energy. Kokabuterimon was not though.

Regardless, it seemed there was one last BladeKuwagamon to deal with here. Hopefully it would be done quickly.

---

BladeKuwagamon A is struck by Freezing Wave. It can no longer fly and falls to the depths below, out of battle.
BladeKuwagamon B counter-attacks Dio's Nightmare Vision with Sparking Buzzsaw. It is destroyed in the impact but would aim to deal damage unless countered.
BladeKuwagamon C is struck by Ravenna's Energy Syphon. However, its Corrupted Data prevents any health being restored from the strike.
BladeKuwagamon D is still disoriented and agitated. It uses Dynamo Burst, aiming at all active fighting digimon.
BladeKuwagamon E is struck by Succulent Kiss and is destroyed. But cannot be absorbed due to its Corrupted properties.

Dynamo Burst - BladeKuwagamon discharges all of its remaining electricity in a burst that deals electric damage to all combatants within 100ft. Has a higher chance of hitting large, armored targets. Small unarmored targets have a higher chance of dodging. After this attack, cannot move for a turn. Can only be used once.

---

Datamon was struck by Dynamo Burst and receives some lightning damage. Kokabuterimon evades being damaged.

Much to Dio's surprise, as the fight continued he could feel his (admitedly superficial) wounds closing, a wave of relief washing over him as they did. Seems someone on the team had cared enough to offer him some support.
Unexpected? Yes, but still appreciated. He'd have to thank whoever was responsible for it later.

As he lunged for the BladeKuwagamon in front of him, the insect did not relent, instead charging the panther head on with no regards for its safety, spinning rapidly in his direction.
Dio clenched his teeth in pain as the blade like wings sliced into his unprotected flesh, leaving a cut in his chest and across his face. The feline still continued with his charge however, his flames burning away the corrupted digimon's body like a lighter against butter.

The BladeKuwagamon bursted apart, bits of corrupted code scattering all around. Obviously Dio didn't come out of it unscathed, breathing heavily and wincing a bit because of his new injuries. That last attack had hurt more than anticipated, but he couldn't let it show, specially not while the fight was still going on!

Only one of the corrupted bugs remained, and it seemed it was launching one last big attack in a final effort to try and destroy the opposition, a wild discharge of lightning bursting and decimating the shaft. He had to admit, it was quite an impressive display for a lone bug.

The streaks of lighting shoot out in many directions, the Dark Lord having to rapidly back off with a jump to avoid being hit once again. For once, being so lightly armored was a benefit, as the lightning seemed to be focusing on the bigger targets. While worried for the human's (or at least Carlos') well being, it was clear the lightning didn't seem to be aimed for them, instead seemingly aiming for the digimons, so far only succesfully the Datamon.

From this range however he couldn't do anything else against the insect for the time being, other than hope it would be dealt with in a timely manner before it did more damage.

---

Dio is healed by Kuu's By Whom We Live but almost immediatelly injured by the BladeKuwagamon's Sparking Buzzaw. He still manages to avoid the following Dynamo Burst.

Cooldowns: 

Nightmare Vision (1/3)

    Well, Ravenna wasn't really wrong. Fish was pretty healthy to eat! Or something. And didn't taste too bad! But, Maia was pretty glad that nobody was going to go into detail of the flavor of a Maia-based fish. Kuu was less enthused by this, but he didn't have time to try to harass Amelie about the subject!

    And, it seemed that the focus was needed! After all, how else would Kuu have successfully brought down one of these terrible bugs? "Kay, bye!" Quetzalmon chirped, peering downward. That BladeKuwagamon was totally fine. He just needed a nap or something! And probably didn't just fall to its digi-death!

    Or, at least, that's what Kuu was going to say to help him feel less bad about someone falling to their potential death, when his tamer had a fear entirely revolving around such a thing!

    Maia was more focused on her conversation with Amy, however, and had managed to miss seeing such a fate befall the foe. More importantly, she noticed that she may have made the spirit user uncomfortable! Oops! That hadn't been her intent! Listening to the quiet explanation, the teen gave a small hum of understanding. "I appreciate that you've thought about that," the blonde responded, tone hushed. "A lot of people act without thinking about the consequences." Was that a jab at anyone she knew?

    On top of that, was it a hypocritical thought if it was, considering that someone that was practically her extension was fighting bladed monsters and trying to leap in front of lightning?

    Being both decorated in armor, and trying to keep as much of the elevator blocked from the electric burst, it made Kuu a perfect target for the attack to strike. The holy Digimon gave a small wheeze, faltering briefly as wings almost stopped beating. Giving a dazed shake of his head, the Armor Champion managed to keep himself airborne. "Ow," he stated, slowly, sounding far less uncomfortable than he actually was.

    To further the hypocritical statement? A card swipe, to offset the fact that nobody, including her own partner, seemed capable of attacking. "Kuu." Blue eyes of the armor Digimon flickered toward the elevator, remaining in a position where he could attempt to defend the elevator if need be. Or, perhaps, to remain in a position where he knew he could still engage the target from. "Activate: Togemon's Needle Spray."

    Thankfully, it was an instruction that he didn't have to place much effort into. Tilting his head downward slightly, the green fluff that graced the Digimon's head and neck suddenly prickled upward, shifting into a more spike-like appearance. Soon, the hair began to separate from its host, jetting toward the BladeKuwagamon. At least if Kuu didn't have the mentality to think of what he could do under the circumstances, his tamer was going to give him something to work with!

    Hopefully, somebody else would be able to make sure Datamon was alright, since Maia was far more focused on her partner at this point.

---

Kuu was struck by Dynamo Burst! He is notably dazed from damage sustained, but Maia's card swipe of Togemon's Needle Spray has allowed him to still target the final BladeKuwagamon.

Cards Remaining: 4/5

Card Name: Togemon
Type: Digimon, Champion
Rank: Silver
Duration: 1 Post(s)
Effect:
Needle Spray: Target Digimon's hair, feathers or scales grow sharp and tough, and are fired at the opponent in rapid succession.

With the last attacks striking and destroying the last remaining BladeKuwagamon, there was a ringing silence for a moment. No further hostiles appeared, and the group were allowed to finish their descent in the elevator shaft. They would finally arrive at the bottom, locking in the platform with a loud "clank"ing noise.

The scenery of the bottom of this part of Old Terminus was like that of a huge underground junkyard. Rusted metal, incomplete buildings, bare concrete and rebar... panels of wood and glass, even puddles of water and oil that had accumulated from the drippings above.

But from the elevator platform, there was a path ahead. Datamon waddled to the front of the group, jumping off first.

"Alright, I think this is the right way forward" he said. "Let's move along quietly, hopefully no more of those buggers are around". He would lead them forward through the underground mess, until they would approach something that appeared like a giant door in a vertical cliff face. Signs such as "VITRIFICATION ORDER" and "DO NOT ENTER" were scattered everywhere, but Datamon hoped that they were just there for decoration. It was doubtful though, this was probably some old digital world facility that had been sucked into the chaos that was Old Terminus. But, what choice did they have? This was the only path he knew that led to the power plant, and their only chance of cleansing this corruption.

Soon, he would come to a powered lever. He nodded to KoKabuterimon to do a similar powered data hack that they had done on the elevator to activate it. They did so, and the lights in the room flashed as the giant door ahead of them began to rise. The huge ring of chrome digizoid lifted from the ground, revealing the entrance ahead of them. And, when the flashing lights and mystery of the path ahead faded, there they saw the truth.

A small push door with a folding chair collapsed on its side.

"Well, ah, I guess that's where we enter" Datamon said, inviting the group onward. Here there was little more than a long passageway in the stone and steel of the underground. To their side, Datamon noticed something.

"Ah, gosh, I haven't seen something like that in years" he remarked. "An EDRS. Emergency Digital Restoration Shower. Why, all it needs is a bit of power, bit of data hacking and it'll restore you up to full health! A vital apparatus for any respectable science facility. If you like, Kokabuterimon and I can activate it and we can all recover from that... incident on the elevator".

"If you're sure, sir..." Kokabuterimon said, a little doubtful that it would still be functional after all this time.

"But of course, I'll test it on myself first" Datamon said. Supposing that there was little point in arguing it, Kokabuterimon did his duty in powering the EDRS, and then Datamon activated it. It seemed to work as intended, a shower of light green-blue sparks fell on him, and Datamon's scorch marks from the earlier attacks seemed to fade, and he grinned as the pain disappeared.

"I guess that's proof it works!" he said. "Anyone that wants a healing, feel free to take a shower here, no need to strip by the way, I know you humans are sensitive to that sort of thing... it works through clothes" he broke off, realizing he sounded kinda off by saying that.

But still, this was the chance to recover from the previous battles for the trials that laid ahead.

Soon and much to Dio's relief the remaining corrupted insect would be taken care off, allowing the somewhat weary digimon to finally catch their breath. If this fight was a sign of things to come down below, this was going to be an...interesting assignment, at the very least.

As Tawna retreated back to the safety of the elevator the dark lord followed suit, slinking back into said elevator with grace before sitting next to Carlos' side, flinching ever so slightly as he did so, his recently made cuts still hurting somewhat. The white haired man was understandably worried, and he knelt close to the panther petting the digimon's head whilst he inspected the wounds up close.

"Geez, Dio. How you're feeling?" His words of worry seemgly fell on deaf ears, as the large cat barely seemed to notice, too busy licking his own wounds to reply anything other than,

"Fine. Stop worrying."

Clearly he wasn't gonna get anything more than that out of his partner, so he too chose to keep quiet all the way down. Well, at the very least nobody else seemed to be injured either. It was too early to celebrate of course, but things were looking up for now.

Other than the ever present feeling of being watched and the general ominous and foreboding feeling of their dank surroundings, nothing bad happened to the group once they got off the elevator and began following after the Datamon and his assistant, soon reaching what was probably the entrance to their destination, inside of which they would come across a most unusual find: some sort of odd contraption that, according to Datamon could heal their injuries. Seemed too good to be true, but Carlos wasn't about to turn down such a useful find.

"I'm fine, thanks. Dio could probably use some of that shower though."

"Tch, I've no need of healing, tis but a mere scratch. Leave it for someone that needs it more." The panther scoffed, seemingly sounding offended at the possibility that he, the Dark Lord himself would ever need help. Clearly, that was the Element of Pride talking, and Carlos wasn't exactly content with that reply.

"Don't you dare act tough now, Dio, you're in no shape to put your ego above your well being." He turned to face the Datamon before saying "Do your best with him Doc, even if he complains."

The Dark Lord never stopped glaring daggers in Carlos' direction after that comment, but did not say another word, silently hoping this detour wouldn't take long and that they would be able to resume their journey into the facility soon.

    Victory! Shaking the last bit of static from his body, the Quetzalmon made a turn in the air, to follow the other partners that were boarding the elevator again. To save some room -- and to fit on his tamer without utterly crushing her -- the Digimon quickly reverted to its rookie form, and draped himself back around his tamer's neck and shoulders. And, since everyone else seemed to be concerned about their partners, Maia rubbed the Kudamon's face with her index finger. "You okay?"

    "A little shocked, I think!" The fox stated, while giving a positive nod, "but I lived!" Thankfully.

    It would be really awkward if Kuu had died this early on in a mission, and just left Maia to question how to handle the rest of it.

    Thinking of awkward, who would have thought that birds had such good hearing? Ah well, at least Ravenna seemed pretty positive toward that conversation. Maia would definitely remember it, in the case she needed to catch someone's attention later on, though! That bird's hearing could end up being a lifesaver! Literally!

    Trying to ignore the signs telling the group to do the opposite of their current plans, Maia paid more attention to watching for creepy crawlies. At least, until they reached the EDRS. Now, she was staring at the Kudamon on her shoulder, who was making varying groaning sounds. "But Maia!" Kuu whined, despite not hearing a thing from the girl. "But I don't wanna!" Still, his tamer wasn't actually saying anything! "You can't make me!"

    Really, Maia could considering their size difference. But, it wasn't like she was trying to do anything yet!

    "You know I don't like-- fine! Just so you stop nagging!" This warranted a slightly confused shrug from the blonde, who honestly had no idea what her partner was going on about. Still, he hopped off of her, and went to restore any lost energy through the shower. At least Dio wasn't the only one that was going to do it, then! Maybe, the Kudamon just wanted to feel rebellious like everyone else's partners! Nobody else had willingly taken one of the restoration showers, after all! Kuu wasn't about to be the only one!