A Stubborn Bounty [For Glory/NPC]

"Hm?"

Oh, hell - Angel already felt that something was up. Feeling that data signal in the air, the Renamon grit her teeth. Really, way out here, of all places?

Thankfully, the MagnaKidmon was at least making himself obvious! A moment after that ear perked, the sound of a distinct whistling floated on the wind, giving the Renamon a sense of direction of the threat. Without a moment's hesitation, she returned to Denryu's position, buckler in hand to divert any simple ranged attack. Just a moment later, a shot sailed right over her left arm, rending a dune several yards back into nothing but a cloud of sand and trash data.

"Bastard..." Angel already felt her fur bunch up into hackles, fangs bared at the threat, as Denryu assessed the threat from behind her. A flick of his Digivice revealed the name - 'Magna Kidmon' - but not much else. Still, he seemed to have a bone to pick with Metal Drive, confident enough to even grandstand his reason for being here.

"Hmph. You're going to be the one to decide if I roam free?" Angel blinked, hearing his tamer scoff at the thought. "Your best shot - your only shot - was that first bullet you wasted." Denryu gave the fox a firm pat on her shoulder, Angel giving a grin as she received the signal.

"Talk some more, why don't ya!" Bloodlust in her voice, Angel tensed her knees, kicked off the ground - and in that same instant vanished, reappearing a mere few feet in front of the gunner! Jetpack screeching behind and cutlass raised, the fox moved to rapidly cut the distance - intent on violently hacking through the opposing mega's shoulder with a downward strike!

---

Oh, it was more than fair to say that Denryu and Angel were a bit pissed at this, but who wouldn't be? Still, it didn't make them sloppy: Denryu's focus remained entirely on the battlefield, his Xros Loader held in his hand as he considered his opponent.

So, he has two options. Split from my partner as I am, he could very easily take a shot or a dive at me. If he does-

Tch, no dice? Maybe Angel was too much for the MagnaKidmon to handle. The cutlass swung mere inches from his armor, enough for the static to lightly cling to her adversary's armor. With his attention focused on the fox, he countered, a mass of black powder thrown right at Angel's face. However, the fox wasn't having it, simply raising her buckler to catch the center of that mass. A flick of her arm sent most of that gunpowder off to her side, at least avoiding being directly coated by the stuff!

"Like that will-"

BOOM.

Angel wasn't dense - she could smell the gunpowder and expected an explosion. Her intent was to simply force her way through it, and barge her way through to the Kidmon's neck. Mega-on-mega, she expected to take a few hits, but as the blast detonated, the fox found herself torn off the ground, flung backwards by a much more powerful explosion than she anticipated! She landed, skidding on her feet, even bracing the sword into the ground to root herself in place several yards away.

"Freaking hell..." Now whispering, speaking into an earpiece, Angel informed Denryu: "This fuck's a step up! We need Savage-"

"On it." Still calm, Denryu held out his Xros Loader, an additional three chips lighting up on his device: "Demon, Realize!"

An impressive mess of fractal code and data kicked up in front of him, a Devidramon appearing with two white cores entering its back. That leftover fractal code would wrap around his head, leaving him adorned with a mechanical helmet, as well as a wicked-looking eye in each of his palms. "That bad?"

"Back up Angel, prepare to Re-Xros." It didn't take much for the Devidramon to move, the demon quickly moving towards the Renamon's position. Angel herself, however, could do little more than a pot-shot: holding her shield arm out, she called forth a seed pod into her left hand, before hurling it up into the air. A moment later, it would break apart a good twenty feet in the air, hailing down a Diamond Storm right on the Kidmon's position!

---

Tch...

Good as it might have been, Angel still knew that she was on a back foot. The General had called forth Demon to help her catch up, but that left them in a vulnerable state. Until they actually managed to meet and Xros together, both Demon and Angel were individually weaker targets that couldn't stand up to the Kidmon on their own! Once more speaking to her earpiece, Angel hissed: "Move your ass, Demon. I can't blink to you yet!"

"Eyes forward, Angel."

Like the fox had to be told twice: Billy took his sweet time kneeling down, readying a much more powerful weapon than that gunpowder. "Demon, on you!"

"GRAUGH!" The Devidramon roared out, his claw sparking with a fierce electrical current. With one swipe of his claw, he threw that attack outward, a powerful bolt stretched out to try and meet that grenade in midair. Thanks to this, the attack would detonate somewhat early, a cloud of fierce smoke filling the desert area between them, the explosion singing the Renamon's arms and forcing the airborne Devidramon backwards. Damn it, how was she supposed to meet up with him at this -

"Angel. Seven o'clock, 16 meters. Turn and sprint. Devidramon, descend, use the sand as cover. Six o'clock, 10 meters. Don't speak, don't make more noise than you have to."

The General's assessment was calm, and immediately, Demon and Angel took to those orders - the Devidramon slipping down into that cloud of sand, Angel bolting beneath its temporary cover. Denryu, thankfully, had the advantage of seeing the explosion from the back, and could direct his partners together with this simple instruction.

He was calm - for now. But if Kidmon's thoughts on him being a 'stuck-up loner' got out, well, that might change rather quick!

---

That he has time to take this so casually... tch.

Denryu was drawn into a laser-like focus of the situation at hand - both he and his partners were in danger of this threat, and he couldn't afford to let his emotions get the better of him. After so many years in the Digital World, so many close calls, the General knew how to handle himself... but Billy's words were starting to grate on him.

As for the battle, well, an absolute torrent of bullets began to rain down through that pile of sand and smoke! Giving a tsk through his teeth, Denryu spoke once more into the microphone: "Demon, arms up. Angel, brace below, be ready for Savage." The gunman's words seemed to go ignored, Denryu flicking open a box at his waist to quickly draw forth a card:

"Gaiamon, Activate!"

"Ultimate Adamas!" Extending both of his claws upward, a circular metal plate conjured itself into the air, the bullets above ricocheting off, the buffeted sound below like hail on a tin roof. It did what it meant to: it bought time, as two lights faded away from the Xros Renamon's form. Demon himself would turn into three cores, each sinking into the briefly weakened fox's back.

As the shield faded, and the sand and smoke faded away, the MagnaKidmon would be greeted with a different sight. Above, and to his left, was a Knightmon kneeling on the back of a MailBirdramon, gliding over to the General's position.

More interesting, of course, was the new X5 form standing at ground level, a wicked grin crossing Angel's face. She was no longer a simple Renamon wearing additional armor, no: hur fur was now black and wild, her claws in the shape of a wicked demon's, with long metal nails protruding from their length. A fox mask - adorned from a Renamon - rested on her left shoulder.

And her sheer red eyes locked right onto the gunner's position. Spreading her newfound demonic wings, she gave them one powerful beat, carrying herself a few feet into the air.

And still the Kidmon mocked them. Join a group? Meet with other people? Though Denryu stayed silent, the fox barked out: "Don't act like you know anything about this, ya damn loon. Look down on us for even a second and I won't hesitate to separate that head from your shoulders!"

---

There it was again: 'There's no reason to go it alone'. 'Get some friends'. Denryu heard it, but all Billy was telling him to do, at least in his perception, was one thing:

'Fall in line'.

"Be quiet."

For the first time in a long while, Denryu felt the emotion of the situation in his chest, a blisteringly powerful Digisoul surrounding the Xros Loader as he took hold of it. To accept the MagnaKidmon's words would be to deny those that had been with him through all of this. But he didn't expect a simple bounty hunter to look into these details, now, did he?

Angel, still grinning from the new high of power, found herself glaring hungrily in the MagnaKidmon's direction. "Tch... now you've pissed him off." And what was this, a straight-line shot in her direction? The rifle made it remarkably easy to predict the angle - all that 'Savage' had to do here was judge the timing. As soon as that energy met at the central point - and the gunner even gave a tell with his words - the fox made a move of her own.

Kohenkyo!

Savage could do it, too! A blink put her forward and to the right, easily out of range of the main bullet's path as that deafening blast filled her ears - but regardless, Savage kept going! This time, she was far more direct, approaching Billy head-on, aiming to grasp around his front side with her outstretched right claw!

Testing that Black Powder of his again? Denryu didn't mind the fox's approach to this, but up to this point, Kidmon held all the momentum. Save a scratch with the Diamond Grenade, all of their techniques to this point had been 'all defense'. One way or another, Savage had to turn the tides, here!

---

Finally - Savage managed to close the gap, and even get a good grip on Billy's armor! So long as the MagnaKidmon was in her range, she could work on slowly picking him apart. All she had to do now was keep the momentum and -

"Tch!" Of course it wouldn't be that easy. With one arm pulled away, the Renamon saw just what he was aiming for - a short kick right to the side of her ribs. Savage raised an arm to stifle the kick, feeling that metal leg right down to her bone.

"Don't tense up - forward!"
"Oh, hell!"

That gun was leveled right at her chest! Gritting her teeth, the Renamon kept one arm up to guard, using her second to charge a crimson ball of crackling electrity, before hurling it right into the air. Immediately after that, the repeated blasts would strike, visible strands of data beginning to leak from her left arm as she was thrust backwards.

However, this damage wasn't for naught: as the Renamon held herself about five feet above the ground, that hurled ball of energy would finally trigger into a ferocious sparking electrical storm, one that could continue Angel's assault even if she was incapacitated. The storm would give a crimson flash, a bolt of lightning hurling down to strike the MagnaKidmon wherever he was in the air.

Savage, tensing her wings, started to whisper into her microphone, sharing a few words with her General. Going hog-wild didn't seem to be getting her anywhere.

"... Alright, understood. Time to 'storm the castle'."

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