Chapter 177: Déjà vu
"WarGreymon X!"
"MetalGarurumon X!"
The twin roars tore through the decaying metallic canyons of the ancient Metal Empire ruins. Dust and rusted shrapnel rained down from the crumbling structures as the battle between the two X-Antibody Mega Digimon raged on. It was exactly as Mizuki had predicted. Neither combatant held a single ounce of power in reserve. Every clash of chrome digizoid, every shockwave that buckled the steel earth beneath them, felt like a desperate purge of years of pent-up frustration and unspoken grief.
"Metal Storm!"
The heavy Gatling guns mounted across MetalGarurumon X's mechanized body spun up with a deafening, high-pitched whine. Empowered by the X-Antibody, his ballistic arsenal boasted a terrifying level of destructive force. Traditionally, this armament allowed him to dominate the battlefield through a flawless balance of pinpoint long-range sniping and devastating mid-range carpet bombing, all while maintaining the option for blistering rapid-fire suppression if an enemy dared to close the gap.
Yet, his innate combat doctrine usually dictated keeping his distance. Close-quarters brawling was never his forte, a fact that glaringly exposed his disadvantages when locking horns directly with a melee powerhouse like WarGreymon X. Under normal circumstances, the cybernetic wolf would have instantly engaged his thrusters, widening the gap to kite his opponent with agile, evasive maneuvers and relentless artillery fire.
But today was different. For some inexplicable reason, MetalGarurumon X had discarded every tactical advantage he possessed. He threw himself into the meat grinder, abandoning his familiar, calculated evasion for a brutal, point-blank slaughter.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
"Aaaaaah!"
The relentless roar of heavy ammunition ejecting from his barrels was entirely drowned out by MetalGarurumon X's own raw, tearing screams. He charged forward, muzzles flashing white-hot in the gloom.
Facing this frenzied, almost suicidal assault, WarGreymon X did not yield a single inch of ground. Instead, the dragon warrior's eyes burned with an intensity that eclipsed even the mechanical wolf's madness. He met the ferocity with a wilder, more primal savagery of his own.
"MetalGarurumon X!"
WarGreymon X dropped his guard completely. He leaned into the storm of bullets, trusting the absolute durability of his Gold Digizoid armor and his own monstrous physical vitality to weather the barrage. Sparks cascaded off his chest plates like a meteor shower as he forced his way through the hail of lead to launch his counter-offensive.
"Dramon Killer!"
The massive, twin-pronged gauntlets on his arms gleamed with lethal intent. This was not merely his signature weaponry; it was the physical manifestation of his ultimate strike.
Even before his digivolution via the X-Antibody, WarGreymon was feared across the Digital World as the absolute apex predator of all Dragon-type Digimon. Now, that conceptual lethality had been pushed to an apocalyptic extreme. MetalGarurumon X was a Cyborg-type, completely devoid of dragon data, but the sheer kinetic force behind those blades was enough to cleave mountains in two. Taking a direct hit would be catastrophic.
Recognizing the fatal threat of the descending claws, MetalGarurumon X abruptly halted his fire. He slammed his heavy Gatling guns together horizontally, forming a makeshift barricade across his chest.
Clang!
A blinding starburst of sparks erupted as the Dramon Killers gouged deep into the reinforced gun barrels. The cybernetic wolf ground his metallic paws into the ruined earth, barely managing to halt the dragon's momentum.
But WarGreymon X was far from finished. The muscles in his arms bulged, his thrusters flaring with azure fire.
"It's not over yet! Grit your teeth!"
Before the warning even fully registered, an overwhelming surge of kinetic force traveled down MetalGarurumon X's weapon. With a sickening screech of tearing metal, WarGreymon X ripped the defensive guard wide open.
Exploiting the sudden vulnerability, the dragon warrior pivoted on his heel. Using the momentum of his own swing, he delivered a brutal, spinning roundhouse kick directly into MetalGarurumon X's armored jaw.
"You bastard—"
The mechanical wolf's curse was violently cut short. Before he could even regain his balance, WarGreymon X followed through with a devastating sweeping strike, the flat of his gauntlet slamming into the side of MetalGarurumon X's head.
Struck across the face twice in rapid succession, the last frayed threads of MetalGarurumon X's restraint snapped. Absolute, blinding rage consumed him. He no longer cared about tactical spacing. He didn't even care about the lethal blowback of deploying heavy ordnance at point-blank range.
Internal cooling fans shrieked as his armor plates shifted and locked into place. Every single concealed missile pod and gun muzzle across his chassis snapped open, baring their cold, mechanical fangs directly at the dragon standing mere inches away.
[Warning! Warning! Minimum safe distance compromised!]
His internal targeting system flashed a frantic crimson alert across his optics.
"Shut up!" MetalGarurumon X roared, overriding the safety protocols.
"Cocytus Breath!"
WarGreymon X's eyes widened. "!?"
A deafening barrage of missiles erupted from the wolf's chassis, instantly swallowing both combatants in a blinding flash of detonation. Yet, the shockwave that tore through the ruins carried no scorching heat. Instead, a wave of absolute, sub-zero death washed over the battlefield. The air itself crystallized.
In the span of a single heartbeat, a colossal, jagged iceberg erupted from the epicenter of the blast, flash-freezing the center of the Metal Empire ruins and entombing both Mega Digimon within its glacial heart.
Watching the two titans vanish into the monolithic block of ice, Belle's delicate brows drew together in a tight frown. The sudden silence ringing across the battlefield felt heavy, almost suffocating.
"Is it over?" she murmured.
"No. Not yet," Mizuki replied, his voice calm and steady. He shook his head and slowly raised a hand, pointing toward the frozen monument.
Following his gaze, Belle narrowed her eyes. Deep within the translucent blue depths of the ice, a faint, rhythmic vibration had begun to take hold. The massive iceberg was trembling.
A sharp crack echoed through the ruins, followed by a web of deep, white fissures spider-webbing across the frozen surface. Before either of them could brace themselves, a muffled roar built into a deafening crescendo.
With a catastrophic explosion of shattered ice and freezing mist, the glacial prison blew apart!
"Great Tornado!"
A roaring vortex of golden energy drilled through the sky. It was WarGreymon X. By spinning his body at supersonic speeds with his Dramon Killers extended, he had transformed himself into a living drill, forcibly shattering the Cocytus Breath confinement. The sheer rotational force of his escape had caught MetalGarurumon X in its wake, acting as a devastating counterattack.
The golden tornado dissipated, and WarGreymon X landed heavily on the fractured earth. He looked up just in time to see his oldest friend crash violently through a rusted steel pillar before collapsing in a heap of mangled metal.
A deeply conflicted, almost pained emotion flickered behind WarGreymon X's fierce eyes. He lowered his gauntlets, his chest heaving.
"MetalGarurumon X... what exactly are you doing?" he demanded, his voice echoing over the groaning wreckage. "Flailing your weapons around like a cornered fool? Is this the fighting style you've insisted on preserving until now?"
"Cough... cough... I..."
A harsh, metallic rasp scraped from MetalGarurumon X's throat. While the Great Tornado had narrowly missed his Digicore, the physical trauma inflicted upon his chassis was catastrophic. Sparks bled from severed cables, and a terrifyingly large, jagged crater had been gouged directly into his chest plating.
Trembling violently, the cybernetic wolf pressed a heavy paw against his ruined chest. Hydraulics whined in protest as he forced his battered frame upward, struggling to stand on trembling legs.
He lifted his head, his optical sensors flickering dimly as he locked eyes with the dragon.
"Is this... how you felt?"
WarGreymon X's breath hitched. His eyes widened subconsciously beneath his helmet. A sudden, suffocating tightness gripped his chest—a phantom ache that had absolutely nothing to do with his physical injuries.
"You bastard—"
"Alright, enough talk, WarGreymon X," MetalGarurumon X interrupted, his voice weak but laced with an iron-clad stubbornness. He bared his metallic teeth in a strained, bloody grin. "You aren't the type to get wishy-washy on me now, right? The battle between us isn't over yet!"
With a final, desperate roar, MetalGarurumon X lunged forward. His movements were clumsy, his targeting systems completely shot, as he stumbled blindly toward the golden dragon.
Watching the pathetic, agonizing charge, WarGreymon X fell utterly silent. His grip tightened around the hilts of his Dramon Killers until the metal groaned. That suffocating, uncomfortable sensation in his chest was swelling into an unbearable pressure.
He didn't dodge. He simply swung his arm.
A dull, sickening thud echoed across the ruins.
MetalGarurumon X was blasted backward like a broken toy, skidding across the dirt and debris.
"Enough," WarGreymon X growled, his voice thick with an emotion he refused to name. "The battle between us is over. In your current state, it is physically impossible for you to win against me."
"Impossible to win... huh..."
Lying in the crater of his own impact, MetalGarurumon X let out a dry, rattling chuckle. Shards of his once-impenetrable armor and broken weapon fragments lay scattered across the scorched earth around him. His internal diagnostics were screaming, a chorus of critical failure warnings eroding the very edges of his consciousness.
Yet, against all logic, against the absolute certainty of his own destruction, the cybernetic wolf dug his claws into the dirt. Inch by agonizing inch, he forced himself to stand once more.
"I know..." he wheezed, his joints locking into place with a sickening grind. "I know..."
He drew in a long, shuddering breath of the ash-choked air. Slowly, he raised his heavy head. His optical sensors were cracked and bleeding static, but the gaze he fixed upon WarGreymon X was piercingly clear.
"But..." MetalGarurumon X whispered, the words carrying the weight of a thousand unspoken regrets. "But... you guys still went up there anyway..."
Time seemed to stop. WarGreymon X froze, his breath catching painfully in his throat.
The final piece fell into place. He finally understood the source of that agonizing, suffocating tightness in his chest. He finally understood what MetalGarurumon X was trying to show him.
It was exactly as the wolf had said.
Looking at MetalGarurumon X's battered, broken form—standing defiant in the face of absolute, impossible power—WarGreymon X saw a ghost. Wasn't this exact posture, this exact suicidal stubbornness, a perfect mirror of how he and his fallen comrades had looked? Back then, after suffering a crushing, hopeless defeat at the hands of Yggdrasil's Royal Knights?
Even when their bodies were covered in fatal wounds. Even when failure was a mathematical certainty. They had stood unshaken in the ruins of their world, welcoming their inevitable annihilation without a single ounce of resentment or regret.
They had stood tall, broken and bleeding, and bared their unyielding blades toward the false god residing high above in the heavens.
A tremor wracked WarGreymon X's armored frame. He lowered his head, the shadows of his helmet hiding his eyes as the weight of the past crashed down upon him.
"MetalGarurumon X..." he choked out, his voice cracking under the strain of a grief too heavy to bear. "...you magnificent bastard..."
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