A Tale of a Bean and a Nerd [Anzu] [Career]

Granted, waiting in the mouth of a tunnel wasn't probably the best idea, but at least her figure would be easily recognized... unlike the form that Anzu was currently donning at the moment. A bit on the edge due to the digimon not sporting her typical Tsukaimon form, Amelie guessed that being beside a huge wolf-vampire over a little bean would get some time to get used to.

But it would happen eventually. Especially since —for reasons the brunette honestly couldn't fathom—, the Sangloupmon seemed to have a better disposition with her than with... most other people, including her tamer. It was both baffling and flattering, the second being the reason why Amy didn't pay a lot of attention to the sudden shift in attitude.

"Ah, hi Anzu! I hope you've been well." The teenager made a small pause, taking in the information. "It's a pity that Akemi won't be able to come with us, but... I guess that's for the best, considering the nature of our mission."

Deep down, she knew that this was a rather... grisly solution to their predicament, even if that didn't make that any less necessary. "Just to be sure, I take you're already fully acquainted with the end goal of our small outing, right? I know you two offered to come despite the conditions, but it won't hurt to ask one more time. Are you sure you want to come?"

As idealistic as their vision was, the truth still rang true; they were going to kill digimons by the dozens just so they'd stop being annoyances to their construction effort. Amelie herself wasn't going to force anyone on that position, and that's why she felt like she needed that last confirmation before proceeding.

But, once that was taken care of... she'd begin to advance towards the insides of the tunnel. "Do you remember the general layout of our plan, or would you like a reminder? We have quite a bit of time before reaching the entrance of the City, and it isn't like I'm in a hurry to bomb a settlement, either."

In all honesty, the brunette didn't know a lot about Anzu either, and this was a bit of an effort to bridge that gap. A small chat, among other things!

To say that Amelie was impressed with Anzu's conviction was a bit of an understatement; silently, she nodded to the wolf's words as they began to traverse the tunnels. Their journey wouldn't be overly long, but enough for a small briefing on the crucial details of the mission. "I'm glad that Akemi is doing well, and that she's taking her studies seriously. As much dedication I'd like to demand from my future officers, reaching the point of obsession is definitely something that'd concern me greatly. Once we get black, please wish her good luck in her oncoming exam."

A small smile formed on the brunette's face afterward. "Don't worry; considering our situation, we'll get plenty more opportunities to blow places up. Akemi will be more than welcome to join any future ventures. That much can be taken for granted."

Of course, considering they survived the first one! It wasn't like Amy doubted their chances, but one never knew when an unexpected contingency would spring up. Destiny could really be inopportune at times.

"So, in short; we frankly have no idea about where this place actually is, but we can determine a rough location given where the attacks to your boys happened. If we follow this tunnel, it should lead us directly there." After a small pause, she continued. "We'll try to be stealthy and delete the least amount of digimons we can, just so we don't raise suspicion, then we get to the city's heart, arm the device and hope not much happens before everything explodes. Of course, we exit through a portal before the explosion, for obvious reasons. I know it's simple, but sometimes, that's the most effective way to tackle things."

They'd reach the city's borders any moment now. "So... any questions before we begin?"

This would be interesting! To say the least.

Amelie just proceeded to wave off Kemi's potential concern; even if she wasn't here to hear about her response, that didn't make it any less outlandish! "Nah, I'm not a dictator. She's free to administer her time in any way she sees fit, even though I commend her responsibility with the cause. Not a very common trait on somebody as young as she is."

Not like her presence was necessary as long as Anzu was here, anyway; in fact? A flimsy human being around would probably make the whole process go a good deal slower than what it should be, and add unnecessary risks to the whole endeavor. All in all, it was better for it to be this way.

"Just tell her that she owes me a cup of tea once all of this is over. And that she has to kick that exam's butt."

The brunette could understand where Anzu came from; quite honestly, humans had the potential of being so weird and make no sense at all from time to time; that was puzzling, even to a member of the species! But that wasn't something important at the moment. Frankly, Amy hadn't expected for the Sangloupmon to be so protective towards the DexDorugamons; it was almost as if they hadn't enslaved them or... something of the like? It wasn't like she was sure of how that had worked, but she was glad that it had.

They really had been quite reckless back then. "That's the spirit." The teenager's voice became progressively lower after that remark. "We're nearing their location, so... this should be a simple deal. We get in, and if anyone notices us, we just silence 'em before they make any fuss. Our objective is getting to the center of the settlement and locate its main building. Or a place where we can drop the bomb, really. Now... give me a second."

Unceremoniously, Amy brought her infini-store and handed a small, spherical device to the wolf; it'd be temporarily in her possession, even though it was harmless until armed. Luckily. What would happen next was obvious; bringing her D-Arc, the girl proceeded to go through the steps to evolve into Stridermon.

Gently, the aberration extended one of its tendrils, intending to take the bomb back. Upon contact with the Sangloupmon's fur, a message was relayed directly into her mind, even though the voice speaking it was quite different from Amelie's; it was raspy and almost unnaturally deep. "Let's get going; if you want to communicate with me, just touch my body and think the words up. I know it's weird and it takes some time to get used to, but that's just how this thing works."

After waiting a couple of seconds for a potential answer, the digimon disappeared into the darkness, advancing right into their next quest.

It was funny how they could maintain a casual conversation like this while amid a covert mission to essentially blow up a settlement —or die trying— was underway. It felt rather nice. "Intel reports say that the enemy settlement has been alerted of a possible attack coming their way, so they've stationed their supposedly strongest fighters near a factory, or something of the like. I'd like to assume that's where we should focus our efforts. If we can plant the bomb there and get out safely, our mission will more or less be a success."

The brunette made a small pause, thinking about the no less important second question. "Why, of course. If it's tea, it's gotta be French Earl Grey. Few blends can hope to even compare, if you ask me."

Of course, chitter-chatter time was over as soon as Amy evolved, her visage becoming invisible in the darkness. Just as she had predicted, the settlement's entrance was more or less where the reports had signaled. Slowly, and capitalizing on the fact that she could trespass unseen, the digimon rapidly made its way towards the way where the heart of the settlement was located.

Stridermon could see everything; the factory, and its defenders; a Leomon donning a pretty strange outfit, a Meramon, a blue Coredramon, a Fangmon, a BlackTailmon, a Sangloupmon a Dexdorugamon, and a strange, gem-adorned rabbit.

Somehow... that sight seemed oddly familiar, but it wasn't like she cared about random feelings. It was time to get to work. Slowly, she made contact with Anzu again. "They're far more than what I expected, but that's fine. You'll have to set up the device while I distract them. Then you can seize that to ambush any of those digimon. I trust in your judgment."

Once again, the bomb was passed to the wolf while the aberration prepared to engage into the defenders. This would be fun.

Anzu's own questions probably made sense; Amelie herself would've probably asked about them too, if it weren't because she was very sure about their accuracy, and because it overall didn't affect their mission. They'd still make the place explode no matter what. At this point, something amazing had to happen for that destruction to be stopped.

Least to say, that was quite unlikely. The inhabitants of this place had already proven they were beyond redemption, and that could only mean one thing; it was time to purge them.

After they split, Stridermon set her sights on one of the many guardians —the Frangmon, especifically—, and dived in her its visage rapidly morphed into Heraldmon's; with a loud smashing sound, the fight had begun and the distraction was underway.

Setting the explosives wouldn't take Anzu a lot of time; the most difficult task, for sure, was not getting overwhelmed while the device armed itself up. And... considering how outnumbered Amy was, that seemed like a very real possibility.

But it wasn't like she cared; attacks flew left and right, digimons fleeing while others engaged her. Just according to the plan.

Her armored visage shone in the distance, a giant cage trapping pretty much everyone inside. Nobody would get in or out until the city's fate was decided; that much was obvious now.

This would be interesting, if anything!

The plan was working just as intended, even if the BlackTailmon that had been among the settlement's 'defenders' had decided that maybe it wasn't that good of an idea to remain in order to defend the city. All the better, at least for Amelie! One enemy less meant that there was one less distraction to take care of.

Still, that wouldn't make the oncoming fight any easier; for now, she focused on mauling the Fangmon as quickly as she could everyone else was regrouping to begin a counteroffensive. It took her a relatively short amount of time, but once the wolf had been injured enough to render him mostly unable to fight, his body had been thrown to the side while Heraldmon faced the rest of the defenders.

First step had gone out perfectly, and now there were two defenders that had either fled or been mostly neutralized, even if many more remained. By now, maybe Anzu would be done with most of the set-up, hopefully? If that was the case, some help at taking out these would be greatly appreciated. Getting the Meramon would of the way would be pretty good, considering how much of an annoyance he was being at the moment.