Digimon Story: Rainbow Traverse -- Chp 9

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"Thing?" echoed Gargoylemon, finally turning his attention away from his nemesis. "What thing?"

"There were others aboard that shouldn't have been," said Kyubimon. "Had the whole crew in a panic?"

Ike and Garg stood there, and while Al couldn't see Ike's face, he knew all too well it was a perfect reflection of the blond's space cadet of a partner. Everyone present could tell the exact moment the two connected the dots when they shot their shoulders up and started screaming.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Aw DAMMIT!!" said Ike. "We screwed up!!"

"How were WE supposed to know?!" asked Garg, covering his eyes as he threw his head back. "DAMMIT!!"

As the two began trying to out-bitch the other, 81 remained unfazed by it all, instead choosing to talk to the calmer Tamer team like nothing had happened. "I'll ask around to get the details, but seeing how most of the crew's up here, they've either been taken care of, or ran off n' away."

Alemana sighed and then gently pet the side of Kyubimon as he nodded to #81 “I thought as much. I’d appreciate it. Now then..” he would then look at Hookmon, and slowly approach him. “We have a few things to talk about. I only heard the last of what Gargoylemon was saying.. but I have my own issues with you that will be resolved tonight as well.”

Looking back at Ike and Garg, he would then called out. “Hey, Could you watch that tied up guy while me and Kyubimon talk to Hookmon?”

"Hmph, and what would those be?" asked the captain.

Without waiting for him to finish, Kyubimon about-faced and kicked Hookmon square in the chest, causing him to lurch over and hit the deck, arms wrapped around his sides.

"That was for the automated turrets," she said coolly.

While he didn’t feel sympathy for the Captain, he deserved it, but the boy would still wince behind his mask. (“Glad I’m not him right now.”) he mused to her, before then kneeling down to look at him. “Well you did deserve that. But let’s talk about something that interests you, yeah?”

Hookmon was too busy fighting between growling and moaning as he turned onto his side, his titular hook keeping his hat from falling off.

"Talk, Hookmon," warned the nine-tailed fox.

"Speak and be done with it!" he spat, glaring up at Alemana. "Or is this your way of gloating?"

And that was when he would pullout the strange device. “Is that anyway to talk to the person who recovered your property?”

The captain's eye went wide. His arm-cannon shifted away, replaced by arm and trembling hand as he reached out to touch the device.

"My astrolabe!" he said. "Wha-what have you DONE to it?!"

Gasps erupted from all the Sailormon and even Gargoylemon, as they heard Hookmon's words.

Ike glanced about the deck. "Astrolabe?" he echoed.

"Not just an astrolabe," said #81. "That there's the key to Hookmon's enterprise!"

"It's how he an' the ship're able to travel between Servers, boss! You tellin' me Hi-Vision broke it?!"

"Impossible!" snapped Hookmon. "It's made of digizoid! No Champion-level digimon, no matter how powerful or leashed to a tamer they may be--could have possibly even put a dent in it!"

“Well… it was broken when we recovered it. If it is that tough.. I don’t have any idea how it could’ve been broken like this.” He said as he looked at Kyubimon.

(“Do you think we actually did break it..?”)

He then looked at Hi-Vision “.. but he can answer that question.”

"It's a faaaake!!" wheezed the captain, grabbing the object just to crush it between his fingers.

"Of course it's a fake," said Sunny. "Wish I'd known sooner. Knew it was too easy..."

"Wait," said Ike. "So you came here to steal something you thought was real, and neither you nor Hookmon ever thought about making a decoy?"

("You know what this means?") asked Kyubimon to Al, as if she already knew the answer.

“Fake? Wait.. if you didn’t plant a decoy.. and you didn’t realize it was fake until after you got it… then who stole it?”

(“Do you think there is a third player?”)

("Without a doubt in my mind.")

"#1!" barked Hookmon. "#1! Where is he?!"

As if snapped awake from idleness, Sailormon #2 raced over to his fallen captain. "Sir," he said, saluting. "You told #1 to stay with MachGaogamon after we left the police station, remember?"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT I TOLD HIM!! SOMEONE GET ME A PHONE THIS VERY INSTANCE!!"

"So much for playin' it cool, huh, Hook?" said Gargoylemon, folding his arms as he smirked.

“What would #1 have for this Situation?”

"He's the only one with a spare keycard to the Paradiso's vault!" said #2, again saluting, only to catch himself as Hookmon struggled to his feet.

"If Hi-VisionMonitamon was able to get in without it," said Kyubimon. "Wouldn't it be safe to assume it's already been unlocked?"

Hi-Vision gave a cold laugh. "I didn't need a keycard to get in," he said. "All I did was lockpick the blast doors."

"Don't insult my intelligence, you glorified oscillator! My security system is the best that money can buy! Three sets of locks were set up before the keycard is required!"

"And I'm telling you, no keycard came into the equation! I got through the locks and found nothing else to deal with inside!"

“Hmmm… either way we should get ahold of MachGaogamon too, and let him know what’s happened.” Alemana said as he then leaned against Kyubimon.  “But what else could’ve been stolen.. there was more than Sunny running around your boat.”

With Hookmon overthrown, and Gazimon finally at peace with his past, not even the oncoming typhon felt like a threat to the tamers and their digimon. But questions abounded on the nature of the heist. With one thief in tow, how many remained? Who else knew of Hookmon's prized possession? What else resided within the vault of the SS Paradiso?

What none realized, however, was that all the while, another set of eyes watched from behind Hi-Vision's broken screen. Far from the coastline, deep beneath the earth, a Mo'omon knelt behind his chieftain. Multiple screens lit the dark room as Varamon as sat cross-legged before them. With the push of a button, the footage froze, the Dragon flashing a grin.

"Lose this frequency," he said. "Our dealings with Hi-VisionMonitamon are at an end."

" 'Ae, Chief Varamon. And what of the artifact? Should we send warriors to retrieve it?"

"'A'ole. I already know who has it. That fact alone is worth more than what was spent to manufacture the bomb and pay our mercenary hoaloha combined." Varamon pressed another button on his remote. One by one, the screens before him changed to showcase images of different digimon: MachGaogamon, Hookmon, Pua'amon, Kukuimon, Gargoylemon, Gazimon, Kyubimon, and Renamon. Cold-blooded eyes stared transfixed on the vulpine, a low chuckle reverberating within the chieftain's chest. "At last, a worthy opponent..."

Like a living mountain waking from sleep, the ground trembled as Varamon rose to his feet, corded muscles taut as he rolled his shoulders and neck.

"Time to make an introduction."

CHAPTER COMPLETED

Firestorm in Paradise! +2 EXP + 3 DP
Old Friend's Reunion! +1 Inspiration
Black Ops. Diplomacy! +1 EXP + 1 Inspiration
He's a Pirate! +1 EXP
Prime Time Ninja Show! +1 DP
Crimebuster +1 EXP +1 DP +1 Inspiration

Total: 5 EXP, +5 DP, + 3 Inspiration!