"Agumon, digivolve to… WarGreymon!"
In Agumon's place stood a draconic, Tyrannosaur-type, humanoid Digimon clad in super-metal armor. Chrome Digizoid plates covered his helm, shoulders, lower abdomen, and feet. On his back, a shell emblazoned with the Crest of Courage unfolded into wings he could use to fly; those wings could also transform into the ultra-hard Brave Shield. The twin gauntlets on his forearms were the Dramon Killers—claws that are the bane of Dramon-type Digimon (granting him a 1.5× attack boost against them). While devastating against Dragon-types, they were a double-edged sword that could endanger him too. Compared with the bulk of typical Tyrannosaurids, his compact frame held power rare even among Megas—a strong, scarce Digimon said to evolve when a true warrior awakens to his mission after countless battles. His signature technique, Terra Force, concentrates the energy of the atmosphere into a single point and fires. He also strikes in a spiraling rush called Brave Tornado, and can unleash a blast of flame from his mouth—Nova Blast.
Tai exhaled deeply, stood, and clenched his fist, feeling power surging through every part of him. Though the dark energy he'd absorbed and converted had been channeled into Agumon to trigger a Mega evolution, the remnants left in Tai alone had strengthened him considerably. He was now stronger than Etemon; while he still couldn't match Myotismon, escaping Myotismon's grasp would be easy.
Looking at WarGreymon, the knot in Tai's chest finally loosened. At last—WarGreymon. Now many of his plans could move forward; no more tiptoeing like before. "Machinedramon, you'd better not have harmed Kari," he thought. "Or I won't let you go."
With a snap of his cloak, Tai turned for the exit. "We're leaving, WarGreymon. Datamon, you're in charge of the Metal Empire for now. If anything changes, I'll notify you—then deploy our full force to attack the Steel Empire."
"Understood, Lord Tai."
Tai strode out. WarGreymon hurried after him. Silence settled over the underground chamber again, leaving only Datamon staring after them, a red gleam flickering in his eye.
High above the ground, Tai watched the landscape scud by in silence. WarGreymon flew at his side, glancing his way now and then without speaking. At last he made up his mind, drew closer, and said, "Tai, I can go alone. It's too dangerous for you."
Tai smiled and looked at him. "Just the two of us won't beat the Dark Masters. But I didn't come to die. If it comes to it, I brought enough surprises to make them choke on it. Hmph. I'll show them what I can do." A dangerous light flashed in his eyes.
They flew on in quiet until the Steel Empire's capital came into view. Tai let out a breath. Flying felt great—flying this long didn't. He didn't dare open a gate; otherwise they could have jumped straight here. But without knowing the situation, opening a portal rashly was an invitation for intruders. And shutting it down was a pain. He resolved to simplify the transport system so it could be opened and closed at will.
They walked into the city—skyscrapers everywhere. None of the iconic human buildings from the original stood here; so the climactic battle from the source must not have taken place in the Steel Empire's capital.
The city was quiet, in true machine-metropolis fashion. Nothing moved most of the time, but the instant orders were issued, the whole place would activate at once. Like Tai's own city, everything belowground was hollow: at a command, countless mechanical soldiers would rise on elevators all at once.
A Hagurumon rounded a corner. WarGreymon stepped in front of Tai, taking a fighting stance.
"Lord Machinedramon invites you," said Hagurumon, turning toward the city center.
"What do we do?" WarGreymon asked over his shoulder.
Tai considered. "Follow him. Let's see what Machinedramon wants."
They entered the largest structure in the city core; doors slid open and shut in sequence as they passed. Through the corridors, countless Hagurumon and other mechanical Digimon labored. Their combat power wasn't high, but the city couldn't function without them—they kept its systems running.
They stepped into a colossal hall. The most striking sight was Machinedramon's massive body—damaged in places, with flocks of Hagurumon and repair Digimon constantly swapping parts. In moments, he was fully restored.
"Leave us," came Machinedramon's synthesized voice. The mechanical Digimon filed out. WarGreymon squared up again, ready to meet him.
Machinedramon looked at Tai and WarGreymon with a faraway expression. As the moments passed, arcs crawled over his body, sparking more and more—then cut off.
Swarms of repair units and Hagurumon reappeared, swapping out damaged parts—this time more than before. Watching, Tai realized the earlier damage must have happened the same way. He still didn't understand why.
Repaired once more, Machinedramon focused on Tai. WarGreymon tensed again.
"No need to worry," Machinedramon said. "I'm not your enemy."
Tai stepped forward. "Is Kari here?"
"Kari…" Machinedramon tipped his head as if searching his memory. "My memory banks contain that name—and Tai. Most vivid is a whistle. But I can't recall details. When I try to retrieve them, I fall into a logic loop."
"Then why did you send me that whistle?" Tai asked.
"Send a whistle?" Machinedramon sounded puzzled. "Unknown. There is no record of such an operation."
Tai frowned. There was no reason for Machinedramon to lie—but then how? A bad feeling prickled. He thought a moment and started toward Machinedramon.
"Tai, don't," WarGreymon warned, blocking him.
"It's fine," Tai said. He stepped up to Machinedramon's towering frame.
Machinedramon lowered his head. "Why does your name feel familiar?" he murmured—perhaps to Tai, perhaps to himself.
Tai drew a long breath and placed his hand against Machinedramon's plating. Machinedramon didn't move, watching Tai. WarGreymon watched Machinedramon, ready to strike at the slightest twitch.
Tai closed his eyes and sank his focus. Zeros and ones swirled around his palm and seeped into Machinedramon's body. Machinedramon's gaze stayed fixed on him, as though dredging something up.
Shadows. Images. A storm of shattered scenes flew past Tai's inner eye—so much information he could barely keep up. He caught his breath. "These are Machinedramon's memories?"
Then the fragments halted, circling Tai.
"This is…" His head swam. How could this be possible?
The first image: a boy and a girl crouched around a Tokomon, with a cat beside them. A whistle hung from the girl's neck. The next: a colossal Agumon—Greymon—carrying a little girl as he blasted flame at a roadside phone booth. The next: a massive Greymon fighting a Parrotmon, a broken bridge behind them; under the bridge, a young boy held a small girl. The next: the girl blew her whistle, and Greymon staggered to his feet. Then: mechanical arms ringed Greymon, bolting on devices. Next: a vast clot of darkness with two huge cannons jutting out; darkness poured into a bound MetalGreymon while more arms installed yet more machines.
Tai spread his hands. Two lights streamed out, pulling the loose shards in. The fragments gathered around him and began to reassemble, flowing into a coherent reel.
From it, Tai grasped Machinedramon's life. When the Digital World formed, interdimensional rifts kept opening near it. Some data drifted loose and coalesced. After absorbing human network data, it became a Digi-Egg that wandered the net for ages before, drawn by a mysterious force, entering a family's computer. Unable to escape, it shed a segment of data to break free.
Under the influence of the powers within Kari and Tai, it evolved. At last, an Agent of the Digital World retrieved it. But on the way back, a massive dark aggregate reached out with a Devimon's taloned hand and snatched it into a giant factory. Black-clad workers remodeled it into MetalGreymon. After flooding it with dark power, they rebuilt it again—into Machinedramon. The memory cut out. When it resumed, he was assuming command of the Steel Empire—one of the Dark Masters.
A dark force had sealed the memories from before the conversion and implanted directives: seal the Four Sovereigns at all costs, and open the firewall.
Tai took his hand back from Machinedramon. Knowing Kari was safe, he let himself breathe. But the mastermind behind all this left him deeply uneasy.
WarGreymon rushed over as Tai opened his eyes. "Tai—are you all right?"
"I'm fine."
Machinedramon approached. "Tai."
WarGreymon stepped in front of him. "What do you want?"
Tai checked him with a hand. "It's okay—he's not our enemy."
"I remember now," Machinedramon said. "Thank you."
"It's all right. Machinedramon, do you have anything on the dark aggregate that rebuilt you?"
"No."
WarGreymon listened, lost, about to ask—when the air itself split.
A sharp, slicing sound—and a cry with it: "Double Stars!"
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