Digimon Story: Rainbow Traverse -- Chp 24

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Rena scrutinized the monitors, her eyes narrowing. "That still doesn't explain why a hyperlink is forming between here and there," she said. "Is it something natural to the Network? Why would the node need us to type in hyperlinks if that's the case?"

“I dunno.. but I seriously doubt this is ‘natural’..”

A klaxon sounded, there and then, pulling the pair's attention back to the screens. "++Alert++" said the voice. "++Unidentified user inbound from hyperlink number five. Security measures remain offline. Risk of malware insertion at seventy-five percent-cent-cent-ceeeeeennentnetnet++"

The holoscreens shuddered and glitched, sparks of electricity dancing between the displays as all activity on them froze like a bad connection. Renamon's ears shot up, the vulpine looking skyward as a whistling noise came in earshot. Both she and Al looked up just in time to see orange comets smash through a patch of sky or otherwise streak through the gaps as they came crashing down to earth. All of them in the direction of the new hyperlink!

"Get down!" said Rena, grabbing Al as the ground shook on impact.

“Excuse me—?”

He didn’t say more, getting pulled away by Renamon just as the comets came crashing down

“Well we can throw the idea of peaceful cohabitation out the window in this neighborhood!”

"Al, we need to move! If I digivolve I can try and deflect the comets, maybe give you enough time to fix the node's security system!"

“Right! Do it babe!” Al said as he looked around, trying to find at least some cover

Al's digivice shined bright as Renamon became enveloped in rings of digicode, her cocoon's glow challenging of that of the fireballs descending upon the node.

"Renamon, digivolve to—KYUBIMON!!"

Wreathed in billowing flames, the ninetails galloped at full speed, never slowing even as comets crashed all around her. Smoke belched from the craters, blanketing the fields in ash and gloaming embers. Only by his link with her did Al know his partner still lived, feeling the rush of wind in her fur as though he were running by her side. Yet from the smoke, four trails were torn as the foxwives took flight, the elemental vulpines deflecting what fireballs careened towards Alemana.

For Al, there was little cover beyond the burning craters. Shielded from the heat by Kumon's blessing, there was too much distance between the nearest hole and the glitching admin controls for him to use both.

Alemana had too much faith in Kyubimon to ever believe that a few burning rocks could destroy her.. so as the smoke cleared and he caught a glimpse of Jennifer and Charlotte flitting through the air.. he only smiled as he took a sprinting charge towards the holo console.

(“Never a dull moment, Ever!”)

[Hmm... first, roll me Athletics. Then roll me Computers at a -7 penalty]

[Athletics: 1,6,4 + 9 = 20
Computers: 6,1,6 + 9- 7= 15]

Ears ringing from the constant bombardment, Al kept his balance as he dashed for the holoscreens, his eyes focused away from the literal firestorm above.

The console was a mess. Most of the screens were glitched out, and the ones that weren't had little relevance to the node's security functions. Not to be denied, Al got to work on typing commands, relying on memory as he changed the main monitor to one of the smaller, still-functioning screens. Success! Though now squinting at a monitor to his right, the tamer found camera footage that brought up a new holoscreen. The feed was pixelated, but as the image was magnified, the graininess cleared to give depth and shape to something between the node and hyperlink number five. It had wings whose tips were flecked in reds, oranges and gold. A bird? No, it had a long, slender tail, yet it also had talons that burned like molten rock. There was so much smoke in the way...

As he worked, Al’s eyes squinted at the glitching displays, a small exclamation of success as he got a clearer picture at what was happening. As he saw what was coming, his eyes snapped up to look at Kyubimon (“We’ve got company coming! Some weird bird.. lizard.. lava thing!”) he said as he then looked back at the screens

Let’s se if he could try to block its progress!

Kyubimon huffed as she heard Al's thoughts. Flanked by the ponytailed Kirsten and Jennifer, the great fox sprinted up the node's only road. And up... and up. A smirk crossed her face; despite the angles at which she ran, she felt no pull towards the ground, the node's gravity centering her on the tarmac. At one point, she ran upside-down, her twin foxwives diverting what comets neared the impossible road. All save one. Eyes wide, Kyubimon readied to jump as the fireball came straight at her. Her ears twitched, hearing a sudden warbling noise, then a shift in the 'ground'. As if alive, the road stretched, arched, and unspooled, letting the comet fly through its loops without ever touching it, though Kyubimon was forced to claw deep grooves in the strip's surface to avoid running off the path.

On Al's end, the moment the road became animated was when another holoscreen opened up.

"++Road map activated++" said the console's synthetic voice. "++You may now alter at your convenience++"

The screen showed a grid layout of the node's only road, both from a horizontal and birds' eye perspective. Putting a finger to it, Al saw the portion of road he touch shift as if being stretched. Combined with the sudden lurch he felt from Kyubimon, he turned and saw the very same shift happen as she continued to run.

("Al!)" she thought. ("The road's moving! Are you doing this?!")

Al gave a hitch of worried breath.. but then he released a sigh of relief as Kyubi was unharmed. In truth he hadn’t necessarily intended to manipulate the road.. but with the first alteration.. then the second one he just did a grin slowly spread across his face. “Okay, that’s fucking rad..” he muttered as he skimmed over the map, and then glanced at the road: a plan was taking shape.

(“Yep, that was me! I have control of the Road! And I think I know what we should do with it!”)

("If it helps us reach the target, I'm all ears!")