War

    Eventually, Cass came back. Did Katherine really not expect for the owl to have heard the brunt of their plan? When he was basically somebody who had informants across most of the world, to not know what happens on the insides of his very home? That seemed like a naive way of thinking, and that was, to say the least.

    "It might not be our finest plan, but in a situation like this one, it will have to do." Getting ready for engaging into such a dangerous mission thus far hadn't been all that exhausting; sure, there had been some arguments here and there, but overall it seemed like everyone had come to terms with what had to be done, and what were the risks involved in such a mission. That was what everyone ought to do, right? In any case... it seemed like the next thing the group was going to witness was an 'it's dangerous to go alone...' moment between Katherine and Cass. It seemed like the group had gotten yet another resource in their arsenal, just in case things got dicey. That was good to know!

    "You're implying that your previous digivice didn't look like a toy, you know?" The brunette couldn't avoid commenting, all while doing her best to suppress a snicker. "Nobody asked me, but I'd say that it's fitting with your personality. Especially considering that you just became a card gamer thanks to Cass; ain't that nice? Now you and Akemi can trade spares and stuff! A nice activity to bond over, right?"

    Pity they couldn't follow with that activity, at least for now. Time was of the essence, right? Everyone was ready to go, and Bastian was already prompting everyone to hurry up. That was a good thing; keeping the bad guys waiting was poor manners, anyway.

    At least Bastian seemed to have been pretty cooperative with her request. That was a good thing! Gingerly, the young woman took the cloaks within her hands, then smiled at the Ballistamon. "Duly noted. I'll make sure everyone enters in time. Don't worry about that one."

    Naturally, it seemed like she had been deemed as the leader of her own group? Surprising? Not in the slightest. Inconvenient? Just a bit. "It's gonna be a pain to lead anyone with any semblance of accuracy after I evolve, but you can be sure I'm gonna do my best at commanding the group."

    With that said... the only thing left was for the jamming group to be contacted, so Amelie took those moments to excuse herself and deliver that cloak to its prospective owner. Surely, she'd be back in time for the time everyone decided to open the portal cube.

"It looks striking in a good way. I'd suggest taking a good look at what those cards do--I had to learn how they worked in the middle of a fight, and that..." Akemi trailed off briefly. Though that fight was a literal bloodbath that ended in Anzu's favor, it was a headache and a half due to how zealous both combatants were at taking each other down a peg. "That wasn't pleasant." She concluded, still staring at the D-Arc with a smile.

...It looked like a toy but it still looked pretty cute.

And with any luck, they'd have that same zeal on their side during this endeavor. "Good call!" Anzu stated in agreement with Fei. "Ideally we want to minimize the risk of getting separated. Sooner we get started with this, the better it'll go, right?"

Plus, getting separated after teleporting somewhere was an unfortunate trope she kept seeing in the JRPGs she played. That was more than annoying, imagine that happening in this, the heist of the century! That'd be embarrassing! "...Try your best, Amy." was all Akemi had to say to that last statement that the frenchwoman made.

---

"Ah. Right." Naoko could be heard over the D-Terminal. "Yeah, we do have that card you gave us ready, so...I guess we're waiting on your signal, Bastian." This was probably the first time anyone present who's name was not Amelie Saboro had ever heard Toriya Naoko over anything, so...That might be jarring.

"What she said." Titania added on, quite simply. They were prepared to swipe the card and start the jamming the moment they received that signal, with the fairy handing the card and the reader over to the bunny hoodie-clad girl. Now it was just a matter of waiting.

---

Meanwhile, back at the planning room proper, Anzu seemed to know what Jazz was about to do, so she scrambled onto the head of the pig-girl. "Hey, hey!" Akemi stated in (feeble and useless) protest, "Jazz, you crazed hog, you're crushing me! Be careful with Kath, holy shi-"

Anzu was oddly silent, going in.

...And with that? They were gone. What lay on the other side? That was anybody's guess! Meanwhile, Nei simply floated over to Amelie, glancing up at the French spirit wielder. "...We should get going too. On your word, boss." The young rookie uttered. He wasn't sure what he was getting into, but he felt prepared regardless.

After some very brief introductions, the group had departed. The portal had closed and only Bastian and Cass remained in the room. Almost in unison, they let out a sigh. It didn’t matter if they were ready or not anymore, this mission had begun.

---

Those who had entered the portal, even if they had gone in separated groups, would experience similar sensations. A bright light blinded all of their senses and they held no notion of themselves for around half a minute. It was definitely not as uncouth as being unconscious, but there was definitely discomfort involved.

That blinding light would eventually go away and find itself replaced by the murkiness of a room. The Decoy Group was spread laying across the floor. None of them was hurt, no pain or any other strange sensation on them. They were… alive, which meant the IDD program had not erased them. But… were they inside the Dogma Tower?

Upon inspecting the space around them by using the scarce moonlight going through the window, Fei would notice this was a quite roomy environment. It looked like… the insides of a living room, not too different from the one they were in some minutes ago, just… very less illuminated than Cass’ library. Along with the Lekismon, the rest of the members would be up and ready to move immediately.

“It’s dark outside.” It was Boru’s voice the first to break the silence inside the room. The Psychemon seemed concerned while looking through the window. “I don’t feel like we were asleep for long.”

“I don’t think we were asleep at all.” Fei fixed that statement for her disciple. “We have no reason to think time works the same inside of… this place as it does in our world. We’re definitely not in Terminus anymore.”

Even if what laid beyond the window was a fairly industrialized landscape, it was clear this was not the metropolis they had come from. The buildings were a lot smaller, the streets and vehicles were something probably only Amy would recognize, considering its similarities with the human world. Lights outside were not abundant, so any further details of the city were not easy to see from the two-story building they were on.

“There is a city inside the Dogma Tower?”
“I wouldn’t be too surprised, considering what Bastian said.”

Before their conversation could go on further, the sound of steps reached their ears. “This way.” Something that intended to be a whisper could be heard coming from down the street, right below the window they were looking through some seconds ago. A group of four shadowy figures was running through the back alley. Being led by one, the group stopped around the backdoor of the building right in front of the one the Decoy Group was currently occupying, positioning themselves strategically to enter, almost as if they were in some type of gangster raid.

“What are those…?” Boru’s question was interrupted by the sound of one of these figures kicking the door open. In less than a second, bursts of gunshots had plagued the environment. The light issued by each of the rounds shot by the four gangsters revealed their appearance to the group watching through the window.



Whatever was inside that warehouse, these Astamon seemed to be trying to kill it.

Although the possibility of Katherine and the rest of her group being in there crossed Fei’s mind for a second, this idea was quickly dismissed by two Cerberumon jumping out of the targeted warehouse and right towards two of the Astamons. The other two who weren’t being devoured by the beasts tried to fend them off, only to be forced to dodge bursts of yellow energy coming from inside the building, being shot by something the Decoy Group couldn’t quite see from their position.

What in the world was going on!?

The sound of someone opening a door on the floor below probably indicated some of these gangsters were looking for refuge from the counterattack in the building the Decoy Group was occupying right now.

“With such a commotion happening right next to us, not like I was expecting we wouldn’t end up involved somehow.” Two spheres of purple energy lightened up around Fei’s hands. “What are your orders, leader?” She glanced at Amelie for a second.

“Hey. Misu. Can you hear me? Please answer if you do.” It was at that moment when Amelie would hear Bastian’s voice coming from her digivice. “What’s the situation?” Good. It seemed like they still had some communication with the robot.

---

Katherine had received more or less the same message coming from the Ballistamon. The curly-haired girl was dusting herself up after appearing on the floor of a lonelier and definitely less frenzy alley. Compared to the one right next to Amelie and the others, everything was a haven. The apparent "peace" around the Gem Group probably indicated they were quite far from the Decoy Group, which was probably not a bad thing.

“We can hear you, Bastian.” The green-eyed whispered while extending her hand to help Akemi stand up. Her windows trailed off to look at Jazz, who was, with Anzu on her head, peeking to see the street outside. “It’s like… a city, out here. It doesn’t look like Terminus, though.” The hog whispered. “I don’t see any human or digimon walking on the street, but I still can hear noises coming from the buildings. What is this place?” She wondered.

“We’re in some type of city." Katherine reported to the robot.  "It looks quite massive. I assume it's one of the floors of the Dogma Tower. I wonder which one, though.” The teenager looked down at her own body and let out a sigh in relief. “We seem to be in one piece… which means we probably avoided the IDD program.” That was a good thing. You know, being alive and all of that.

    This experience gave Amy one more reason to never try acid in her life; this trip hadn't been pleasant at all, but at least it hadn't involved an ultimely end.

    So, where had the decoy group landed? Apparently, everyone was in the same place, which was both a good way to check that everyone was more or less fine, and also a pretty convenient outcome; organizing the party like this would be pretty easy, even if... it'd require some quick thinking. It wasn't hard to observe that a pretty interesting situation was afoot.

    "It's a group of Astamon. And, apparently... they're on the backfoot on a fight that involves a group of Cerberumon, despite the former raiding the building where the latter were located." Hana relayed in a matter-of-factly tone; her eyes were set on the scene that was unfolding and that soon would reach their own location. "Intriguing. We should get ready fast; the ruckus is nearing our location, and its ETA is fairly soon. What's the plan, Amy?"

    That probably would've answered Borus' questions, while also reinforcing Fei's request for leadership. The brunette took a deep breath before she began to speak. "We're remaining out of this conflict until we can learn what's it about; whether its a rebellion in the ranks of the Dark Army or some kind of revolutionary group trying to overthrow them, information is key. Once we can discern what's happening, we'll move to act in a more concise manner."

    For now, it'd be time to observe; there would be plenty of fighting in the future, so jumping at the first opportunity without actually knowing what was going on would be beyond reckless.

    The judgment was taken just in time for Bastian to Pipe in through the communication. Quite convenient! "Bastian. The whole decoy group is safe and sound; we've arrived to a warehouse of sorts and are currently witnessing how two groups are fighting against each other. Do you have anything on what might be causing this? We're gonna observe the situation and then act accordingly; we're preparing to hide. Send the necessary information to Fei or Hana; I'm evolving."

    As ring of fractal code promptly enveloped Amy's hand, she gestured for everyone to draw closer. After slashing it through her D-Tector, her visage was replaced by Heraldmon's. Everyone in direct contact with the aberration would then turn invisible.

    I don't know how effective this will be, so keep yourselves in high alert; the more we can go undetected, the more we can assess the situation. It's going to be an invaluable edge going forward.

    Not the most exciting entrance, but it seemed like the Cerberumons and Astamons had that one covered in spades.

Nei had managed to recuperate from jumping into whatever this was well enough, and he had been following Fei, Boru and Amy closely since they awakened. "I think staying out of sight for the moment might be our best option..." Luckily for the Tapirmon, Amy had just the right idea for this job as she evolved, with the Tapirmon moving to keep a hand on the creature.

Felt weird, but at least they could hide, right?

We're hidden for the moment, but I don't know what we should do about that group down there...I could've made an illusion to hide us, but this works a lot better. They're suspicious though...Maybe we could wait until one group's winning and swoop in to beat them both up?

Nei was no fighter. Hence why he was pitching this idea to the team (and Heraldmon).

---

"The entrance to the next floor could be anywhere..." Akemi hadn't notice she had misplaced her hat, but when Kath placed it back on her head, the brunette blinked for a moment, before she smiled and reached out to ruffle the Spaniard's curls briefly before she went to examine the alley proper.

She nodded towards Kath when she held up the card, before nearly jumping at the sounds of a scuffle that quickly reached them, in the form of a Mikemon jumping on Jazz's head! With the pig-girl's latent fire spirit manifesting to fend the cat off, she jumped at Akemi.

Mikemon would've succeeded if it weren't for the fact Anzu launched herself off of Jazz's head when the fire began, and flew in front of Akemi to shield her! "GAH! You orange piece of Data shit, what the actual fuck are you doing? Hell, who the FUCK ARE YOU?" Ah, yes. The signature move any self-respecting Tsukaimon knows at their core.

Bad Message.

Probably wouldn't do much, though, right?

So… what had been the result of Anzu’s own attack against their cat attacker?

The Mikemon and the Tsukaimon clashed in the air, both of them being jotted backward. Although the bean had been propelled significantly harder against the wall compared to the attacking feline, he didn’t seem to be immune to her skill.

“I remember… that technique.” Katherine muttered, acquiring a fighting stance, just like Jazz.
“Anzu!” The hog pointed a hand at her best friend. “Was that the best you could think of!? Do you really think that will stop a surprise ambusher!?”

The Cho-Hakkaimon’s question was answered immediately by the sound of… the Mikemon crying.

“T-That’s so rude…!”

Jazz couldn’t help but sweatdrop. “Come on! What kind of loser would fall for that!?” She now directed the accusing finger to the cat.
“H-Hey!” Katherine refuted. N-Not that she had fallen for that before or anything.

The effect seemed to have worn off quite fast, though. The Mikemon was now blinking and looking at Akemi and Katherine. “What kind of Humanoids are you?” She muttered. “... And why are you helping the humanoids!?” She questioned Anzu now.

“You mentioned that humanoid thing before.” The Cho-Hakkaimon was now the one blinking while she tilted her head. “What are you talking about?”

It was then when another message from Bastian came in. Explaining some of what was going on. The group would listen to it closely.

What would be their conclusions after that?

---

“W-Well… I don’t have any technique that can turn me invisible. I also don’t have a technique that makes me grow on size to destroy the roof.” Fei responded to Amelie’s statement while staring at the obliterated ceiling “W-Wait…!”

“How are you inside our head!?” Both Boru and her master only now seemed to realize they were having a conversation through sheer thoughts

“Amazing…” For the Lekismon, who thought she had seen everything in this world, a digimon species she didn’t know was quite impressive. And especially one with the skill of this thing! “Heraldmon, huh? I wonder where this digimon came from…” Once Nei had told her the name of the monster, Fei took a moment to think about its origins.

Not that she would have much time for that, though! The invisible squad would move to another roof to observe the battle happening in the warehouse that laid below the ceiling they had just destroyed, trying to find an explanation for this conflict.

The battle unfolding in front of their eyes would continue. The Astamons, now joined by Devimons and Pidmons tried to fend off the Cerberumons, whose army also included Boarmons and Garurumons now. While the battle turned more intense, some of the digimon actually stared disintegrating into bits of data. Instead of vanishing into the sky, this data seemed to be moving through the sky to some specific point in the city.

“Where is their data… going?” Boru asked himself inside his head.

Meanwhile, Fei kept studying the elements taking part in the gruesome face-off. “Humans against… beasts?”

Her deduction would be confirmed in a matter of seconds. Just after she reached this conclusion, Bastian got in contact with the group again. And, just like during the previous contact, both groups would be able to hear the message in its entirety.

“I have bad news… and good news. And bad news, again. I still haven’t been able to fix the line between the two groups. Something is blocking it from inside the tower. But…

I did manage to launch a probe through your digivices. I detected a massive amount of energy coming from somewhere inside that floor. It’s constantly moving and rebuilding data. It actually matches perfectly with an element located in one of the training floors that used to exist when I was there. After studying the situation for a bit longer, I think I can tell the floor you’re in with almost full certainty, so listen closely:

You landed on the first floor of the Dogma Tower. This is known as the Man vs Beast floor. As you probably have noticed by now, the floor's main attraction is a never-ending clash between Humanoid and Beast digimon to control the territory. When I was a member of the Dark Army, that floor used to consist of the same premise, under a very primitive scenario. I can tell the environment and the digimon of the war evolved through time like a regular ecosystem. I assume a city was built at some point and the conflict escalated. When I used to train there, the digimon just fought one another on a meadow. Now they're fighting by using strategy. I assume they divide into groups and try to take control of specific areas. Although we can't actually know how time works in the Dogma Tower, we can probably say these digimon have been fighting for years.

Sadly… I don’t know where the gate to the next floor might be. You must find that yourselves, Gem Group. If there are any members of the Dark Army training in there, you should find a way of going undetected.

... Oh! What I can give you is a little tip. I remember there is one basic rule about the Man vs Beast floor: The battle must be equalized. When one of the factions, humanoids or beasts, are winning, the Dark Army soldiers training on that floor will go in that direction to equalize things. So, if you want to cause a distraction for the Dark Army soldiers, you might want to help one of the factions and create a misbalance that they need to fix."

… What I don’t know is how you can do that without the Dark Army finding you when they get there.

That sounded like a problem.

“Anyways.” Bastian concluded. “Good luck.”