When the dust finally settled, Parrotmon—standing not far away—didn't seize the opportunity to deliver a fatal blow to Agumon.
Because it sensed clearly that its previous attack had been deflected by the suddenly appearing Renamon.
Or more precisely, Parrotmon had not felt the sensation of impact that should accompany a direct strike from its own lightning.
In other words, the lightningstrike it had unleashed, guided precisely by electromagnetic fields, had somehow missed…
It wasn't a funny joke. A bolt formed by electromagnetic forces instinctively locked onto biological magnetic fields. It was theoretically impossible to miss.
Yet facts were facts. Parrotmon clearly recognized that Agumon and the others were still alive.
Even more troubling than Renamon's bizarre ability, however, was Agumon's current behavior.
"ROAR!"
At the instant before the thunderbolt would have struck, Agumon—who had acted purely on instinct until now—had actually spread its body wide open, desperately shielding Tai and Kari beneath itself.
"Koromon?"
Glancing upward at Agumon's ferocious expression, Tai felt, for the first time, that this was still the same Koromon he'd always known—the same Koromon who couldn't even beat a cat, who pooped everywhere.
"..."
Standing silently at the forefront, Renamon glanced briefly behind at Agumon, but said nothing.
For Renamon, skilled as she was in illusions and trickery, just barely managing to misdirect Parrotmon's thunderstrike had been her absolute limit. She certainly couldn't guarantee another stroke of luck like that.
Fortunately, there was no need for Renamon to defend a second time—Agumon, having snapped back to its senses, had completely lost itself to rage.
"ROOOAAR!"
If Agumon's earlier actions had merely been instinctive self-defense, now it was fully berserk.
Whoosh!
A highly compressed orange fireball gathered and burned fiercely within Agumon's gaping jaws as it leaped high, lunging at Parrotmon like a true, raging dinosaur.
"Reckless fool."
This was Renamon's only comment about her temporary ally as she turned toward Tai and Kari.
"You two, get out of here now."
With that, Renamon motioned urgently for Tai and Kari to leave this soon-to-be battlefield, then swiftly turned to join the attack against Parrotmon.
...
"Screee!"
Seeing these two Rookie-level Digimon daring to bare their fangs at it, even Parrotmon couldn't suppress a surge of nameless rage.
Bearing the sacred "Holy Ring," Parrotmon was renowned for its calm demeanor. Although it was not naturally aggressive, neither was it a spineless Ultimate-level who'd meekly tolerate provocation. Once enraged, it wouldn't relent easily.
Unfortunately for Parrotmon, its opponents weren't simple Rookie Digimon.
Agumon was the first Digimon stranded in the human world, a mutation with abnormal evolution whose form and power far exceeded normal Rookies.
Without exaggeration, even compared to a properly evolved Champion-level Digimon, Agumon wouldn't lag far behind.
As for Renamon, that went without saying. As a Digimon from a far more powerful "future" Digital World, her evolutionary form was inherently superior to the Rookie-level Digimon of this era.
A stable data structure, abundant data resources, diverse data categories…
With superior evolutionary conditions absolutely impossible in this era's Digital World, Renamon's potential and future evolution paths far outstripped Agumon's.
Not to mention that even in her future Digital World, crowded with powerful Digimon, Renamon was among the few Rookie Digimon capable of challenging higher-level foes.
Thus, though Agumon and Renamon were still just Rookie-level Digimon, facing Parrotmon now, they displayed strength unimaginable even to normal Champions.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each charge stirred fierce clouds of dust; each landing cracked the cement roads beneath.
The surrounding air itself screamed as it was torn apart by the repeated collisions between the three Digimon.
"Screee!"
Realizing these two Rookie Digimon were far stronger than initially expected, Parrotmon revealed a rarely-seen expression of seriousness.
Using its own feathers as conduits, it guided a powerful electric current to form an electromagnetic barrier around itself—the first preparation Parrotmon made after entering full battle mode.
Immediately afterward, Parrotmon flapped its massive wings, breaking free of the disadvantageous ground battle to soar above, claiming the high ground.
Crackle… crackle…
At the same moment, crackling electrical arcs multiplied from faint hums to roaring thunder, raining down fiercely from above, targeting Agumon and Renamon still darting about on the ground.
—Mjölnir Lightning!
...
At precisely the moment Parrotmon's electric arcs transformed into bolts of lightning, marking the start of its serious battle against Agumon and Renamon…
"Koromon?"
Maybe the distant battle startled her awake, or maybe she'd simply slept enough.
Mimi, lying in bed, abruptly awoke—as if suddenly sensing something—and glanced toward her window.
Through it, Mimi saw bolts of golden lightning crashing from the sky and violently striking the ground.
"That's… Koromon fighting?"
Without any rational reasoning, Mimi's intuition told her clearly that Koromon was somewhere on that battlefield.
Why was it a "battlefield"?
Why was Koromon there?
Mimi didn't know and didn't understand. She simply instinctively recognized that the chaos was a result of Digimon fighting.
In fact, Mimi wasn't the only child witnessing the fight between these Digimon tonight.
Centered around that battlefield, seven other sleepless children in nearby apartment buildings also saw the same scene—and each made their own judgments and choices.
The oldest and most mature, Joe, immediately thought to call the police. Unfortunately, interference from an unknown magnetic field prevented his call from connecting.
Sora, currently brooding after an argument with her mother, opened her eyes wide in shock as she stared at the impossible giant parrot beyond her balcony.
Koushiro, sitting alone in his study, witnessed what should've been a tokusatsu show come to life—but with his superior observational skills, his attention quickly locked onto the electronic instruments now going haywire.
Yamato, waiting alone at home for his parents, immediately grabbed his younger brother Takeru, a vigilant expression quickly settling onto his face.
But the reaction from another pair of brothers seeing the same fight was entirely different from Yamato and Takeru's.
Osamu Ichijouji, the older brother, watched the distant battle unfold outside his window, excitement and longing visibly lighting up his expression.
Meanwhile, his younger brother, Ken Ichijouji, unable to suppress the terror gripping his heart, timidly shrank behind the door.