***
“Increase power levels to one point three.”
An electric hum reverberated around the room. He twitched.
The man opposite him tapped his foot in anticipation. The results were looking good.
“Status?” he barked.
A young research assistant studied a piece of paper being released from the printer. “All life signs normal. Brain activity increasing by sixteen percent. He appears to be waking up, sir.”
The man grinned sardonically. “Good. I hope he remembers where his loyalties lie.”
***
MetalArmadillomon crept towards the slightly ajar door and looked at it curiously. Gouge marks were all over it. Gently, he pushed the door open. The room, like most of the rest of the ship, was a dirty red and black metal room with a large daylight bulb strapped to the ceiling. Aidan’s room was covered in scratches and large dents. The digimon himself was lying on the bed with his eyes open, but looked distracted by deep thought. Feeling nervous, MetalArmadillomon coughed quietly to get his attention. Aidan jumped and sat bolt upright, glaring at MetalArmadillomon.
“S-sorry to interrupt, sir, I was just-“
Aidan sighed. “No... you weren’t interrupting.”
“Um... I just wanted you to know that I’m really grateful for you saving me today. I... would have been killed if it weren’t for you.”
Aidan’s grim expression softened slightly. “No problem. Just don’t make a habit of it.”
“I won’t.” He turned to go, but saw the deep scratches in the door. “Um...?”
“Hmm?” Aidan grunted, scratching his cheek.
MetalArmadillomon gulped and looked at Aidan’s mirror. More gouge marks. “What’s your name?”
“My name’s Aidan.” The digimon replied, his expression softening further.
MetalArmadillomon smiled, but didn’t know what else to say. Now probably wasn’t the best time to try and start a conversation. “I’ll see you later, Aidan...” he said quietly.
“See ya.” Aidan murmured.
* * *
In the sky, several large serpent-like shapes were following the base. Huge metal wings cast ominous shadows on the water down below. Their eyes glowing red, they quickened their pace, growling with bloody anticipation...
* * *
MetalArmadillomon wandered about the ship, investigating various rooms and trying to find a way back to the big room. All of the corridors looked the same. Eventually, he came to a door marked ‘Izzy’. Curious, he gently pushed open the door. A blinding light flooded the room; he had to shield his eyes just to squint. It began to dim a little, and he braved a stroll inside. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light, he could hardly believe what he saw.
The room was massive, at least twenty feet high. Every inch of the walls was covered in an iridescent blue metal that glowed in the light. In the centre of the room were two cone-like structures, one hanging down from the ceiling, the other reaching up from the floor. Suspended in the centre was the source of the light- a large white crystal. It felt as if it was giving off more than light- MetalArmadillomon could almost feel a tingling sensation through the floor. It was a strangely familiar sensation, almost as if trying to remember a long-forgotten memory.
“It’s probably just the energy,” he thought to himself, shivering slightly.
He remembered the broken spike on his back. Sighing in disappointment, he walked over to the metal wall and studied his reflection. To look at, he was one of the more attractive digimon. At least, that’s what he thought. A black and grey colouring of Armadillomon, he was quite a lot larger than his sandy counterpart- almost three feet high with his spines up. His tail had three curved blades at the end. Usually he kept them closed to avoid accidents.
He was relieved to finally be out of the compound. They kept throwing him into ridiculous experiments and sticking needles into him. Lifting up the plates on his front legs, he could see some of the scars. Shuddering at the thought, he laid them back down and looked at himself in the metal. His purple eyes shone brightly in the light of the crystal, and his black steel shell glinted dangerously. He raised his spines to survey the damage to his broken one. Strangely, all of the spikes were there. No broken ones. He strained his neck round the to see if it was just a trick of the light. Still no broken one.
“Strange...” he murmured.
From the other side of the room, he heard an angry voice. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
MetalArmadillomon jumped and looked round. “S-sorry. I was lost.”
A man with long red hair in a wheelchair skidded up to him. He was wearing a ripped green shirt over an orange T-shirt with faded black stripes. “I’ve not seen you around here before. Have you just arrived?”
“Yes. I’m MetalArmadillomon.” He held out his claw for the man to shake. He smiled and shook it heartily.
“Koushiro Izumi. Call me Izzy.”
“Hi Izzy.” He looked at the crystal in curious awe. “What is that?”
Izzy moved some of his hair out of the way of his eyes and cleared his throat. “We don’t know exactly what it is,” he sighed, turning back to look at it. “It was found somewhere on a beach near the Digimon continent. We use it as a power source for the ship. It tends to fluctuate a bit, so I’m here to regulate the temperature and do maintenance.”
“Ah.” MetalArmadillomon looked at Izzy’s legs. They were bandaged tightly to the legs of the wheelchair. “What happened to your legs?”
Izzy half-smiled. “Eight years ago, we were battling against some of the Sentient’s forces in one of our early attempts to overthrow them, and we weren’t doing that badly until the humans turned up. We probably would have won if they hadn’t butted- our plans in disarray, we scattered, and unfortunately I strayed into the line of fire.”
They both fell silent.
“There aren’t many people who can say they’ve survived a building fall on them.” Izzy laughed.
MetalArmadillomon wished he hadn’t asked. He didn’t know what to say. His jaw clenched with anger. Why did this have to happen? Just as he felt he was about to explode with rage, a rather confused-looking Tentomon buzzed into the room.
“Hello there!” he said cheerfully, crashing onto the floor. MetalArmadillomon jumped clear of Tentomon’s crash and picked him up. “Thanks. Of course, I meant to do that.”
Izzy smiled at Tentomon. “You okay, pal?”
“Sure thing, Izzy. I’ve recalibrified the exhumator, examinicated the transmogrifier and adjusted the green thingy. I think that’s right, anyway,” he buzzed excitedly. A look of great concentration swept over Izzy’s face for a few seconds, before turning into a confused smile.
“Thanks, Tentomon. Don’t overwork yourself.”
Suddenly, the ship jolted forwards, sending Izzy flying into the wall. He grabbed the radio receiver next to the door and yelled into it. “What kind of flying do you call that?”
Matt picked up the other end. “We hit something,” he barked.
“Must have been some bird..” Izzy murmured gravely. Suddenly, a blur of screams burst through the intercom. Through the frantic shouts, Izzy heard the word ‘Gigadramon’.
MetalArmadillomon, filled with anger for the Digimon Sentients, sprinted out of the room, determined to stop them from destroying the children on the ship.
