While BanchoLeomon and Examon were making heads or tails of what just happened, a soft growl escaped Dorugoramon’s metallic maw as the dragon slowly, if not shakily, pushed herself back up again by digging her feet into the asphalt. The beast showed no signs of wanting to back down in spite of her clearly weakened condition, her feral thirst palpable in the air around her. That said, it didn’t seem to act purely on instinct or bloodlust anymore, a sign that she was no longer the feral Digimon she once was. Fangs gritted and claws clenched, she looked at the two silently, as if acknowledging their presence and re-affirming their status as allies, then turned to the sky, brown eyes scanning for any threat in their sights, muzzle pointed towards the sky and a deep snarl signalling her alertness. “I smell a threat,” Zei said to the two. Her voice, normally gentle, if not a tad stoic, was gnarly and simmering with feral backdrop, as if a wild animal was pretending to be the normally-composed woman. “It smells of the ocean… Of [i]prey[/i].” Her steel claws began to burn with a light ember, sparks of fire coating every digit of her fingers. Her snarls grew louder like a revved up engine and her brown eyes brightened, its earthly hue seemingly shifting back to a lustrous, yet savage gold. ------ “So...this is happening.” BanchoLeomon muttered to Examon while raising an eyebrow at his draconic companion. “Who’s your friend? Another one of your subordinates? Didn’t see them back in the Digital World.” “Not exactly. In fact, I think she’d be offended if you asked her that.” Examon paused for a moment, contemplating exactly how to broker his little discovery to BanchoLeomon. A few moments more and he supposed that if anyone would be able to take it in without doing or saying something stupid, it would be BanchoLeomon; and thus, any elaborate method of explanation went out of the window. “That’s Dorumon and Zei in there. Alphamon hopped out of their body, what happened to D- what happened in the Tokugawa Building before everything went to hell triggered something.” “We’re missing Alphamon? Shit. So that DNA Digivolution you used against Imperialdramon is off the table, then?” “Well. You get one guess as to where she jumped.” “You? That’s convenient.” BanchoLeomon scoffed, twirling his sword around as he gazed up at the massive crystal in frustration. “We clearly have very different ideas of ‘convenient’,” Examon grumbled, before his lance appeared in his hands in tandem to BanchoLeomon’s swordplay. “But if it gives me- gives [i]us[/i] any kind of edge against this thing, I’ll take it.” “Going to get on with it, then? I’d like to not die today, thank you.” As it turned out, BanchoLeomon wasn’t the only one keen on not having to be at Death’s doorstep. Glancing from the corner of her eyes, Zei stopped snarling and turned to the two, golden eyes looking back and forth between the two. “Be quick, Siggy. [B]I want to kill[/b].” As if to emphasize her newly-gained bloodlust, she let her tongue slip out and licked the edge of her metallic maw. “By all means, after you,” Examon grumbled, as he produced his lance again. The jab was more to lighten the mood than anything; he had as much intent to kill whatever the crystal was as they did, but something about it sent a horrid chill through his body. It wasn’t only the sheer power it was giving off; there was something else in the sight of the thing that produced some kind of dread. As if the very sight of it reminded him of everything horrible that had happened in his life. Taking his remark as an invitation, Zei growled and spread her wings open before, with a quiet sweeping motion, took to the skies and, once again, turned her sights towards the crystal. There was an unmistakable air that sent her basic feral instincts into high gear, but that feeling was overshadowed by the rage now flowing without restraints. With a loud roar, the angry beast took the woman’s place again as she made a beeline for her floating target, claws blazing and golden eyes glimmering with bloodlust. “You always were an asshole, BanchoLeomon.” And with that last one-liner of vitriolic friendship, Examon blasted forwards as fast as his wings and power could carry him. Calling up every ounce of power he could pull from out of his body as he joined Dorugoramon in sounding his war cry, a strange and new golden light beginning to radiate from his body as he prepared to join the fight once again. “So…” BanchoLeomon noted to himself as two dragons flew off. “Still can’t fly. So there’s that.” He clicked his tongue, starting to search for an alternate way to reach the abomination in the sky.