Davis, Yolei, and Cody walked through the gates of the city park, looking for the others. For the first time in what seemed forever, the entire primary Digimon team was together... or it would be if they could find the others. Mimi had made a second visit back from America, having been alerted to everything that was going on by Sora over E-mail. This time, she came back through the wonderful flying skills of Imperialdramon. Not only that, but Matt's band was taking a week-long vacation and school was off as well. The group of three chattered on as they walked through the park looking for the others. It took a little while, but they found them hanging out near the public playground, lounging around on the unused equipment. TK was spinning Kari on a wheel when Davis got the urge to run after him and fume, but then he held back. TK and Kari had been together since they were little, and had fought side by side in battle for well more than he had, and after hearing their amazing stories about the battles with Devimon, Etemon, Myotismon, Venommyotismon, Metalseadramon, Puppetmon, Machinedramon, and Piedmon, he knew that there was no way his few accomplishments could really compare with theirs. Besides, Kari preferred TK's maturity, so if he was going to get her to like him, he would have to be mature as well. Hanging on the swing set was Sora, while Matt, Tai, Izzy, and Joe cluttered up one of the benches along the side. Mimi sat on one of the steel bouncy-animals, although she was chatting with Sora rather than bouncing. Ken stood alone, leaning against the slide quietly.
"Hey everybody! How's it going?!"
Yolei called out, running ahead of everyone with Poromon in her hands. As usual, she carried a knapsack over her right shoulder and, as usual, it was stuffed with food. She laid out the snacks, an amazing collection of sushi, salads, and mini meals, and they all started chowing down. At least... most of them did. Ken just stayed near the slide, his eyes closed. After munching down a rice ball, Davis looked at him.
"Hey, Ken, come on! Sit down with us!"
"No thank you, Davis. I'm not really hungry."
Ken turned his head to the sky, watching the clouds go by. Davis was about to try again when Tai turned and asked him,
"So how's it like?"
Davis dropped down the sandwich he had just picked up and turned to Tai, his eyebrow piqued up in interest.
"How's what like?"
"Being the leader of the digidestined."
For a moment, Davis didn't answer, not sure as to what to say. Tai interpreted this as his denial of being the leader and said,
"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you're not. You've been at almost every battle, and you, Flamedramon, Raidramon, and Exveemon have torn up almost as many enemies as Greymon, Metalgreymon, and Wargreymon have. You were even there to fight Malomyotismon, and you were the one who pulled everyone else out of their illusion worlds, a world that had trapped all the other digidestined."
Davis looked at Tai with a solemn look on his face, the first one they'd seen on him in weeks.
"I don't know, Tai. It's been... it's been a challenge. All this time, I've been trying to see how far my Digimon can grow, how powerful they can be. Yet... I can tell that there's something else... a fact that I'm missing."
Matt reached over and patted him on the back, smiling.
"You felt it too, huh?"
"Felt what?"
Matt reached over to his digivice and hooked it up to Izzy's laptop, the one he always carried around with him. Izzy seemed to understand where Matt was going, and he pulled up a file. Suddenly, Davis saw a number of 0's and 1's, along with video of the originals as kids. Cody, Yolei, and even Ken came over to see what was so interesting.
"What is it?"
Cody asked. Joe looked at him and smiled.
"You can't figure it out? Remember the story about Apocalymon? Watch."
After a burst of conversation between the group in the video, their chests started to glow with the sign of their crests, and their Digimon all digivolved to their highest level, even though they were all technically dead. Ken looked at Sora, who was sitting on the other end of the picnic basket.
"Apocalymon?"
Sora looked at him surprisingly.
"We haven't told you the story?"
"No. If you have, I wasn't listening."
Sora went on to explain what had happened in that life-changing battle with commentary from the others. She explained how Apocalymon used all the dead evil Digimon's attacks, how he had deconfigured their data, destroyed their tags and crests, and left them for dead. Then, she told them about their miraculous discovery in the digital afterlife, that their power was inside them, and not in any crest. Their love, knowledge, courage, friendship, hope, light, reliability, and sincerity were within them, and the crests just helped them see it. Using this power, they escaped and managed to defeat Apocalymon, their most powerful opponent.
"The power within, huh? You must have been great kids."
Ken started thinking of all of the evil he had done as the Digimon Emperor, and he was only jarred out of his thoughts when Kari laughed and shook her head.
"Not exactly, Ken. We learned that it was not our own power, but the power of our friends that accumulated through us. Although Tai was the owner of the crest of courage, he wasn't the only courageous one on our team. Sure, he was the most brave of us, but it wasn't enough. It was all of our courage that was focused within him that powered him, and that power reached us all."
"Wow."
Davis said, trying to imagine what must have been going through their minds.
"It must have been like the old musketeer saying. 'All for one and one for all.'"
Mimi nodded from her spot and smiled.
"Yup. That's exactly what it was."
Sora nodded and said,
"The fact that you're missing is simple. It's not the Digimon growing stronger. It's you."
After a moment of silence, the original digidestined's digivices started to activate.
"Wha..."
"What?"
"What's this?"
Izzy was the first to unclip his and look at it. He quickly reached over to his laptop and stopped the image from the Apocalymon battle, pulling up his e-mail.
"Woah, guys. Check this out! E-mail from Jenai. Haven't gotten that for a while. He says... oh... my..."
Joe reached over and grabbed his arm, shaking it a little.
"What is it, Izzy? Tell us!."
"It's Jenai... he says... he says that there's another control spire. It's sphere of influence ranges across the entire Digital World."
Ken looked down to the ground and whispered to himself.
"A... a control... spire. Not... not again."
Izzy closed his laptop and looked at the others.
"Guys, this is serious. According to Jenai, it's influence is far beyond that of normal control spires. I say we regroup at our homes and then meet at the school computer. If they're someone there in the room... it doesn't matter any more. We just blow our secret. This is too important."
Ken stumbled home alone, politely refusing to let anyone walk with him.
How can... how can this be happening?
He thought, his mind a distorted mess.
I... I destroyed them all. I'm not the Digimon Emperor any more!
He found that he had reached his door without noticing it and walked in quietly. Wormmon was eating some grapes on the table while his mom and dad were home.
"Ken? Ah, you're home! We're having your favorite tonight!"
Ken could barely think enough to speak.
"I... don't feel too good."
"Oh, honey, I'm sorry. Just go to your room and get a little rest. If you're not feeling better by dinner, I can bring you some medicine."
"A... All right."
Ken stumbled into his doorway, his mind a flurry of thoughts.
The Digimon Emperor... Control Spires... Dark Rings... Skullgreymon...Arena... Slaves...
But what was worse was the images that seemed to accompany these thoughts. He saw all the humiliating fights he had forced Digimon to enter into with each other. He saw all the times he had screamed at Wormmon and all the Digimon he had hurt. He even saw the time he had made Davis scrounge face-first in the dirt for the Ken to spare his friends, not knowing at the time they weren't real. All these memories... He could barely bear it. All the memories of the pain and suffering were too much.
"Ken?"
Wormmon asked, seeing that Ken was in pain.
"I've done so much, Wormmon. I've destroyed so much! I've tortured so many helpless Digimon, and I tormented my friends! Just look at me!"
He slammed his fist onto his bed in a tormented rage. Wormmon looked at him and shook his head.
"No you didn't, Ken. Look at what you've done. You, me, Stingmon, Paildramon, and Imperialdramon have done so much. We've defeated Arukenimon, Mummymon, Black Wargreymon, even Myotismon's dark self inside your controllers' body. We even helped take out Malomyotismon. You've atoned for what you did, Ken."
Ken heard Wormmon loud and clear, but he wasn't listening.
How could I? How could I have done that to them? To my friends.
He remembered an illusion Malomyotismon put into his mind of the Digimon Emperor being tortured by the Digimon, and his brother still being alive... but it wasn't real. He and the Digimon Emperor weren't two separate people. Ken could barely stand it any longer, could barely hold on, when the room started to get brighter.
"What?"
"Ken... look at your hand."
Ken looked down and saw two lights, one on his chest and one on his hand. The one on his chest he recognized. It was the crest of kindness... but the one on the hand....
"What crest is it?"
Wormmon crawled closer to it and squinted.
"I've only heard of it, Ken. I think... I think it's the crest of forgiveness."
"Forgiveness..."
All at once, he started to come out of his dark depression, and his mind could only think one thought.
I may not be the Digimon Emperor, but I still haven't atoned for that. My friends aren't going to risk their necks on this one. The spires were my creations, and I'll destroy this one myself!
The desert was bleak and uninviting and the sky was pitch black, but it wasn't the kind of still black that a person might see at night on Earth. It was a swirling darkness that seemed to hang only hundreds of feet above him. He could only imagine the cause of it. He held Wormmon tight, pushing through the sandstorm that forced against him. As he walked and saw the darkness, it seemed to press down on him and his depression started to return.
What have I done? What am I doing here? Will I be able to destroy it? Can I bring myself to destroy my own creation. Have I really changed much from when I was the Digimon Emperor? Why me? What am I supposed to do?
Suddenly, a voice pierced the veil of thoughts that scoured through his brain.
What are you thinking, Ken? Look, I don't know what's wrong, but you are definitely different than you were back then. You are definitely not the kid who would make me grovel in the dirt for the lives of my friends.
"Davis?"
Suddenly, through the television Ken had come through, Davis phased into the Digital World, Veemon in tow.
"Ken, are you nuts?"
Ken looked away, towards the towering spire ahead of them.
"I have to destroy it, Davis. I won't let you guys risk yourselves for..."
"No, not that, dummy! I'm talking about accusing yourself of still being the Digimon Emperor!"
"What?"
"What do you think? That I didn't expect you to come?"
"That's not what I'm asking. How... how do you know my thoughts?"
"I'm not sure, really. I think... I think it has something to do with the DNA digivolves."
"Why?"
"Well, Sora said that it wasn't the Digimon that were digivolving, but us. So it makes a little sense that DNA digivolving would link u..."
Suddenly, the TV activated and the others spilled out. Everyone. Davis and Ken nearly jumped, turning towards the figures in the distance. The storm was starting to dissipate, so Davis and Ken could make out everyone. Davis called out to them,
"What are you guys doing here?!"
The voice of Tai called back to them from across the quickly-closing distance.
"The D3s! They told us that you two were in the dark zone!"
Finally, they were close enough that they didn't have to scream, and as the storm died down, they were able to see the control spire. It was larger than the usual ones, and it had a strange attachment at the bottom, a huge, metallic box. Ken took a step towards it when Davis touched a hand to his shoulder.
"Are you gonna be all right? You were about to go insane just a second ago."
"I'm... all right."
He looked up towards the spire, his hair kicked back by a gust of wind.
"That spire. I don't know what could be powering it without my D3 controlling it. I remember how it worked, though, and it can't keep us from digivolving. Even if it has enslaved the Digital World, it can't keep us from digivolving without my D3."
The others nodded and didn't waste a moment. It took only a moment for the group to transform. In the place of the old Digimon stood Angemon, Angewoman, Aquillomon, Ankylomon, Exveemon, Stingmon, Metalgarurumon, Wargreymon, Lilymon, Zudomon, Garudamon, and Megakabuterimon. Ken jumped onto Stingmon and, before the others could even start to mount their Digimon, shot off towards the spire. Davis could have sworn he'd seen a maniacal gleam in both their eyes... and he could somehow feel it. The DNA digivolve... he didn't waste any time contemplating. He jumped on Exveemon and shot off towards Ken, the others right behind him. Stingmon directly attacked the spire mercilessly, cutting deep gashes in the dark, oily surface, but every time he hit it, the spire would heal itself. Every time it did this, though, Ken just attacked it with even greater strength, an almost maniacal fervor. Davis didn't attack it so vehemently, though. Instead, he had Exveemon set down and blast the base, that silver block that surrounded the spire. The V Laser decimated the outer casing... to reveal a metal ring inside of it. Davis could feel Ken's apprehension as he fell back from his attack, falling in with the others. Izzy came up with the others, offering an explanation as usual.
"That ring must power the control spire. Look at the wires that lead from the ring to the spire itself. It's kind of strange, though, because I don't see how that ring could generate the sort of power that would explain the power that control spire..."
"OK. So that thing powers the control spire? Not for long!"
Stingmon, with Ken on his back, flew straight towards it, stopping ten feet from it. Ken could feel the evil radiating from the ring, and Stingmon slashed the metal. Suddenly, the inside of the ring imploded, leaving a hole that made the device itself look like a donut with a thin outside ring. Stingmon didn't back off on his assault, though. He dove into the ring, his claws outstretched.
"What does he think he's doing?"
Tai yelled, now riding Wargreymon straight towards the ring to serve as backup. Davis felt Ken's mind in the back of his own, and one of Ken's thoughts filtered through. He called out to Tai,
"The power! The dark energy isn't coming from the ring itself, but from the place where the ring leads to!"
"Leads to?"
Izzy yelled out,
"Of course! It makes perfect sense. The ring, like Myotismon's gate and the huge whirlwind in the sky that took Tai to and from the Digital World after our battle with Etemon, is a transport from one world to another. If one could feed the energy from a whole world into the ring, they could direct it into the control spire!"
There wasn't any more talk as the group passed straight through the ring into a world of blackness. Their digivices and D3s activated instantly, surrounding them in a yellow-gold field. Ken and Stingmon were still, both of them looking for a target. Davis dismounted from Exveemon and walked towards him.
"What's going..."
"Sh!"
Davis stopped in his tracks, looking around him.
"Can you see them?"
Ken asked. Suddenly, Davis could see shapes around him. There were forms all around him. Nine of them. Suddenly, the darkness seemed to disappear around these figures, and the original 8 gasped in terror.
"How?"
"What is..."
"We destroyed..."
"I'm going to kill you!!!!!!"
TK reached his digivice into the air and Angemon digivolved into Magnaangemon. Magnaangemon leaped at full speed, Excalibur activated, towards one of the figures, a dark, four-winged being wrapped in black cloth. One of the most recognizable parts of him was the hand. Four of his fingers were black, but in the middle... the finger was red. Magnaangemon reached up with his blade to slash at the figure when a silver Digimon with an X on his back and a staff with a bulleted end in his hand called out,
"Puppet Pommel!"
And a rain of silver and gold energy blasts slammed into Magnaangemon, sending him flying back towards the group. One of them walked forwards... but Davis recognized this one.
"Myotismon!"
This Myotismon looked like when the original Digidestined first killed him, except he was metal.
"Myotismon? Who's that? I'm Metalmyotismon!!!"
"Metalmyotismon?"
"You seem surprised. Welcome to the dark world!"
"The... Dark World?"
Tai asked. Kari stepped forwards.
"Who are you? You are NOT Myotismon! We destroyed you!"
"Wrong!"
Another one of the figures illuminated.
"Piedmon!"
But it wasn't Piedmon exactly. This Piedmon was a ghost of sorts, like the original Piedmon, but transparent.
"Yes, little children, it's me. I've been looking forward to getting my keychains back."
"But how...?"
Matt asked, still mounted on Metalgarurumon. Another character was illuminated. It was Machinedramon!
"You children are such fools."
Again, a light came down and another figure seemed to come out of the shadows. Metalseadramon!
"Yeah, you stupid kids. Well, you can't get it, so I'll tell you!"
The lights illuminated all of the others now, before Metalseadramon started his tale. Metaletemon, Skullgreymon, and Dark Wargreymon. He looked a lot like Black Wargreymon... but there was an evil to Dark Wargreymon that was at a level Black Wargreymon never reached.
"You see, when we were first killed, we became part of Apocalymon. That was a real downer, but we were powerful... until you killed him. Normally, we would have gone back to Primary Village, but Myotisfreak over there had his own plans and, through his own manipulations, had Ken become the Digimon Emperor, so Primary Village was lost. Because of our dark nature, we were collected here as a group. This world was first good... but we quickly changed that. The force of our collective darkness mutated some of us beyond Mega, such as those like Armorpuppetmon, Metapiedmon, Metalmyotismon, and Beelzemon who, as TK noticed, is the digivolved form of Devimon. Our power grew stronger with their growths, and that formed Dark Wargreymon and Skullgreymon. We've been plotting for years... and our end goal?"
They all stepped forward, the ones with weapons pulling them out.
"YOUR DESTRUCTION!"
They all attacked at once, in a flurry. All of the ultimates and champions were unable to dodge, and were caught in the barrage of the River of Power, Crimson Lightning, Puppet Pommel, Dark Claw, and Dark Terra Force. The collective explosion was so great that it made a rift in the field of space-time itself, reducing all the Digimon but Wargreymon, Metalgarurumon, Magnaangemon, Exveemon, and Stingmon to their in training forms. The others had miraculously been spared the assault and they all split up. Wargreymon struck out after Metalseadramon, having destroyed him before, only to find himself caught in mid-air by Dark Wargreymon. The two engaged in mortal combat, Metalgarurumon jumped after Armorpuppetmon. Metapiedmon and Armorpuppetmon took him on together. He didn't stand a chance. Magnaangemon tried to attack Beelzemon, but was instantly devestated by a blast from both Skullgreymon and Beelzemon on both sides. The three of them instantly went back to their in training forms, unconscious.
"No!"
"Wargreymon!"
"How can this be?!"
Davis and Ken were back to back, Exveemon and Stingmon next to them. All of the enemies focused on them, noticing that two had escaped their onslaught. Before they could even hope to escape, they were surrounded. Suddenly, Metalmyotismon raised a hand for the others to stop.
"I want to deal with these two."
He walked forward, the others stopping reluctantly. Ken and Davis both figured that the only thing that kept them back was that Metalmyotismon, if he was more powerful than Malomyotismon, could destroy them all easily. Metalmyotismon stopped walking and, for a moment, there was utter silence. Suddenly, from behind him, stepped a boy. It wasn't any ordinary boy, though. It was the Digimon Emperor! Metalmyotismon reached out with his black whip and, in a single slash, decimated Exveemon and Stingmon. Then, he said to his creation,
"Do with them as you please... Ken."
Ken's knees gave way on him, the contradiction and fear echoing through his mind.
How is he alive.... He's not... How could... But what...
Then, his thoughts started to dwell again on all the evil he had done as the Digimon Emperor. All the torture and destruction... all the pain he had caused in his simple greed and desire to escaped from the real world. His mind flashed to when he lost his brother... and when he lost Wormmon. Through his thoughts, he heard Davis call out,
"Don't you dare do that to Ken, you worthless piece of Vampire trash!"
Ken looked up towards Davis and saw, to his amazement, that Davis was facing the Digimon Emperor and Myotismon eyebrow was raised. Myotismon laughed as he asked,
"What? And you are going to battle your enemy? The one who's smarter, stronger, faster... and you think you can succeed? All right. Go ahead. Ken, destroy him. "
Every time Metalmyotismon said 'Ken,' Ken felt as though a knife crossed through his chest. Then, there was the whip snap. He popped up at the sound and the Digimon Emperor, his whip in hand. Ken couldn't place the source, but it seemed as though Davis had gained new strength from somewhere. He couldn't explain it... but he had only seen this strength once, when he had fought TK as the Emperor.
"Go ahead, Emperor. Strike me."
"You know, Davis, they say that at the point the whip strikes, it is going at the speed of sound. Let's see if that's true."
The Emperor brought the whip up and snapped it down, striking Davis straight in the cheek... but Davis didn't even flinch.
"Wha..."
Davis didn't say anything. In a rush, he jumped towards the Digimon Emperor, his fist cocked. Ken could see a faint glow start to radiate from Davis' chest. Then, everything seemed to clear up. He was watching Davis do to the Digimon Emperor what TK had done to him... but he wasn't in the wrong. He had punished himself enough, and it was time to get over it. He stood up, his D3 in his fist. As Davis got up from the now-unconscious Digimon Emperor, Ken saw the mark of Courage on Davis' chest... and the mark of Forgiveness on his own. The other Digimon started to wake from the power radiating from the crests.
"Wha..."
"What's going on?"
Davis and Ken looked at each other, a look of fire in both their eyes.
"Let's"
"do"
"it!!!!!"
Both of them seemed to erupt with power at the same time, as they bought lit on a fire that didn't destroy them. The radiance itself allowed the others to digivolve back to their rookie levels, and everyone was riveted looking at the two. Stingmon and Exveemon looked and each other and nodded. As the two Digimon started to DNA digivolve... something happened. The fires from Davis and Ken reached out farther and farther until it absorbed Paildramon as he was forming... and then it came back into their bodies, Paildramon gone. A picture of a gun appeared on both Davis and Ken's D-Terminals and they both tapped a button on it. A bright light filled the air around them, causing the evil Digimon to shout in pain. When the light had settled... Ken and Davis weren't who they were before. In their hands were blasters that looked much like Paildramon's weapon, except they radiated energy. Strapped onto the both of them was Paildramon's armor, and a miniature version of Singmon's spike armor shoulders. Their chest were muscular, far more than normal, and their hair changed to white and grew down to the middle of their back. They were both standing in the same position, their arms at either side and a blaster at each hand, and both their heads were down. For a moment, all of them just stood there, awed at the sudden transformation. Both their heads jerked up at the exact same time to reveal completely white eyes with no pupils. The grin they wore on their faces didn't make much sense considering their situation, but it was infectious anyway. As one they spoke, their thoughts joined together in such a way that it sounded as though they were one person.
"Metalmyotismon. You and your allies are going to find yourselves sorely disappointed in your plans. We are the Digidestined; and there is nothing you can do to hurt us. NOTHING!"
They both broke forward at the same time, their weapons aimed to either side. Their speed was amazing, far greater than anything the enemy could hope to accomplish. Not only that, they worked as one organism, their movements precise and calculated. Metalmyotismon barely dodged a blast as the Davis, back to back with Ken, fired over his shoulder, an inch from Ken's face without Ken even flinching. Machinedramon ran forward, calling out,
"Giga Cannon!"
As a flurry of massive yellow blasts came out of his two guns. Davis and Ken both jumped up high into the sky, Machinedramon's blasts missing them completely and nearly nailing Metapiedmon. TK stood up, his D3 in his hands, smiling.
"We're winning! Come on guys! There's still some hope!"
Kari came up from behind him, smiling when suddenly, a light came out of the ring entrance, lighting them both. The crests of Hope and Light lit up in them, and the burst of energy digivolved Patamon and Gatomon into Magnaangemon and Magnaangewoman. Magnaangewoman was a lot like Angewoman, except she was cloaked in a crimson armor cloth around her whole body.
"Magnangewoman? That's not what you digivolve to..."
"It doesn't matter now, Kari. It's time to FIGHT!"
Suddenly, the D3s exploded, and in their places were a golden and silver D3. The flare surrounded them, and TK and Kari both said at the same time,
"It's time!"
The light that enveloped Ken and Davis surrounded them both, and absorbed Magnaangemon and Magnaangewoman. When the world again reestablished itself, Ken and Davis came back from their sparring to meet up with the new ones, and new they were. Both of them had grown black hair that spiked backwards. Both of them were armored in a crimson colored version of Magnangemon's clothing and in each of their hands was a glowing blade like Excalibur, but with a curved blade and handle. In the same one-voice that Davis and Ken had, they said,
"The darkness can't touch this."
The four of them swept through the enemy forces, their weapons blazing. A gunshot hit Metaletemon, causing him to fly back into Armorpuppetmon who was trying to hit Ken with his Puppet Pommel, failing miserably. Beams of light from Ken and Davis' blasters slammed into almost all of the opponents, reducing Skullgreymon, Beelzemon, Machinedramon, Armorpuppetmon, Metaletemon, and Metalseadramon to dust quickly. TK and Kari moved blazingly fast, their blades moving glows that crossed from their opponents and back in less than a second. Dark Wargreymon was using all of his power trying to fight back the onslaught of these two when he could barely see them. He raised his fist-claws, creating a golden-orange fire sphere, trying to make it large enough to allow for a little error.
"Dark... Terra... Force!"
Dark Wargreymon launched the orb towards the blurs and, at first, though he might have caught them when the two blurs came together at the exact spot where the sphere smashed. The dust cloud stretched across the entire Dark world, a mushroom cloud that nothing could have survived.
"They are destroyed."
As the dust settled, though, the emptiness revealed TK and Kari standing there, their D3s in front of them, generating a forcefield that even the Dark Terra Force couldn't destroy. Dark Wargreymon stepped back, his eyes widening, his claws coming up to defend himself. The duo smiled together, then cocked their swords back for a stab.
"That guard... it's not going to help."
The duo moved so fast Darkwargreymon didn't even feel the blades entering through his chest plate.
"This is impossible!"
Metapiedmon yelled, finding laser blasts firing at him from all angles. It was all he could do to dodge them, but he couldn't do it forever. One of the stray blasts hit him leg, causing him to double over, his knee giving way. Like sharks led to a bleeding prey, Davis and Ken stopped, Davis to Metapiedmon's direct front and Ken to his rear. The D3s started to glow and a stream of energy flowed from the D3 to the guns. As one, they lifted up their blasters... and fired. There wasn't even enough left of Metapiedmon to reconfigure.
Together, the four of them surrounded Metalmyotismon, their weapons raised. Strangely... he chuckled. The four didn't lower their guard or even flinch, but it seemed as though they were starting to lose their confidence.
"You digidestined are more powerful than I thought. Far more powerful. However... I'm afraid your victories must end. Darkness cannot be destroyed."
For a moment there was nothing when, suddenly, it appeared as though there were 20 Metalmyotismons. The group wasn't phased, and they systematically started eliminating the illusions when, suddenly, one of the illusions reached out its whip and sliced it at TK's crimson armor, causing him to fly forwards, out of sight of the others. The illusions disappeared and now, there was only Myotismon.
"1 down... 3 to go."
Davis and Ken both nodded to each other, and snapped their heads to the side, their hair growing up at amazing speed and wrapping around Metalmyotismon's fists. Kari came towards Metalmyotismon, her Excalibur in her hands, ready to slice Metalmyotismon from shoulder to hip, but she never got there. Metalmyotismon's body split into four separate parts that all launched in different directions. The two fist headed directly to either side, Ken and Davis barely able to hold them still. Kari found herself hit in the chin by Metalmyotismon's head, and she stumbled back. The parts came together again, and Metalmyotismon grabbed the hair that was holding him still and sending an electrical shock down to strike Davis and Ken. As it got halfway, though, Kari's violet Excalibur sliced through the hair, causing the energy wave to stop in its tracks. Metalmyotismon turned his attention to her, since she was now weaponless, and created his multiple illusions again. Ken and Davis tried, united, to blast the real Metalmyotismon but they couldn't identify which one he was. Then, one of the Myotismon's broke out of the group to strike at the statue-still Kari... when he suddenly found himself stopped in midair, a yellow blade sticking through his chest.
"But... I destroyed... you."
TK smiled along with Kari and pulled out the blade as Metalmyotismon collapsed.
"You may not get this yet, Myotismon, but you cannot kill the digidestined."
Ken and Davis walked in sync, their guns raised. Through the scanner included in Paildramon's facemask, they saw that Metalmyotismon was starting to reestablish.
"He's not dead yet."
Together, they raised their blasters and, without a second thought, blasted. If he wasn't dead before... he was after they were done. As Metalmyotismon started to vaporize, though, they heard his voice call to them.
"You are strong, digidestined. Even if I never succeed in defeating you, though, I must always try. It is my destiny. Our struggle is eternal, and there is no final chapter to eterni..."
Then the voice faded.
As a group, the digidestined both new and old went back through the ring, looking at the Digital World restored now that the power of the Dark World wasn't fueling the spire. Just to be sure, though, they demolished the spire, a single blast from Davis' blaster causing the thing fell back to the dust from whence it came. For a moment there was stillness before the light. After everything returned to normal, Davis, Ken, TK, and Kari looked like they did before, and Patamon, Wormmon, Veemon, and Gatomon were back. As the spire hit the ground, Ken smiled.
"It is finished."
Crossing back to the real world, the group met back up at the park where they were the day before, this time sitting on the benches in the center. Tai walked up to Davis and shook his hand.
"There's no doubt about it now. You are the leader of the digidestined."
Davis smiled and leaned further back in the chair.
"No I'm not, Tai."
Before Tai could object, Ken said,
"Davis is right. If they're anything to be learned from this, it's that only as a,"
"Group acting as,"
"One can we truly,"
"Be digidestined."
"I am not the leader, we,"
"All are."
The others were shock still, looking at the couple. Davis looked at Ken and they both smiled and nodded, looking at the others.
"TK and Kari probably know, but they haven't told you. We're still linked, like we were in battle. It's not as powerful of a link, but it's still there."
TK and Kari nodded, holding each other's hand.
"We're bound,"
"Together for-"
"Ever."
After a moment of silence, the group started to laugh out loud, congratulating, questioning, anything that felt appropriate. While the group was complimenting Kari and TK for their exploits, Davis thought,
She's happy. That's what's important. I may have lost her, but it's for the best.
You are more mature than before, Davis.
Probably your influence.
I wouldn't say that. After all, we are great because we are one.
I miss her, though. Now, there's no chance that I might get to marry her.
You love her, Davis, but sometimes love doesn't always work out. She loves TK and they're bonded forever. You can't change that.
And I don't want to. I guess it's all right. After all, I have my friends, and there are always more fish in the sea.
You will always have us, and I'll always be there.
Friends forever, Ken.
Friends forever.
TK. This is amazing.
Yes it is, Kari, I must admit. Bonded forever.
I wonder how Davis feels.
He's probably all right. He's been acting a little more mature lately.
True. This is so wonderful.
Yes, Kari, it is. Together forever.
I love you, TK.
I know.
"Hey everybody! How's it going?!"
Yolei called out, running ahead of everyone with Poromon in her hands. As usual, she carried a knapsack over her right shoulder and, as usual, it was stuffed with food. She laid out the snacks, an amazing collection of sushi, salads, and mini meals, and they all started chowing down. At least... most of them did. Ken just stayed near the slide, his eyes closed. After munching down a rice ball, Davis looked at him.
"Hey, Ken, come on! Sit down with us!"
"No thank you, Davis. I'm not really hungry."
Ken turned his head to the sky, watching the clouds go by. Davis was about to try again when Tai turned and asked him,
"So how's it like?"
Davis dropped down the sandwich he had just picked up and turned to Tai, his eyebrow piqued up in interest.
"How's what like?"
"Being the leader of the digidestined."
For a moment, Davis didn't answer, not sure as to what to say. Tai interpreted this as his denial of being the leader and said,
"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you're not. You've been at almost every battle, and you, Flamedramon, Raidramon, and Exveemon have torn up almost as many enemies as Greymon, Metalgreymon, and Wargreymon have. You were even there to fight Malomyotismon, and you were the one who pulled everyone else out of their illusion worlds, a world that had trapped all the other digidestined."
Davis looked at Tai with a solemn look on his face, the first one they'd seen on him in weeks.
"I don't know, Tai. It's been... it's been a challenge. All this time, I've been trying to see how far my Digimon can grow, how powerful they can be. Yet... I can tell that there's something else... a fact that I'm missing."
Matt reached over and patted him on the back, smiling.
"You felt it too, huh?"
"Felt what?"
Matt reached over to his digivice and hooked it up to Izzy's laptop, the one he always carried around with him. Izzy seemed to understand where Matt was going, and he pulled up a file. Suddenly, Davis saw a number of 0's and 1's, along with video of the originals as kids. Cody, Yolei, and even Ken came over to see what was so interesting.
"What is it?"
Cody asked. Joe looked at him and smiled.
"You can't figure it out? Remember the story about Apocalymon? Watch."
After a burst of conversation between the group in the video, their chests started to glow with the sign of their crests, and their Digimon all digivolved to their highest level, even though they were all technically dead. Ken looked at Sora, who was sitting on the other end of the picnic basket.
"Apocalymon?"
Sora looked at him surprisingly.
"We haven't told you the story?"
"No. If you have, I wasn't listening."
Sora went on to explain what had happened in that life-changing battle with commentary from the others. She explained how Apocalymon used all the dead evil Digimon's attacks, how he had deconfigured their data, destroyed their tags and crests, and left them for dead. Then, she told them about their miraculous discovery in the digital afterlife, that their power was inside them, and not in any crest. Their love, knowledge, courage, friendship, hope, light, reliability, and sincerity were within them, and the crests just helped them see it. Using this power, they escaped and managed to defeat Apocalymon, their most powerful opponent.
"The power within, huh? You must have been great kids."
Ken started thinking of all of the evil he had done as the Digimon Emperor, and he was only jarred out of his thoughts when Kari laughed and shook her head.
"Not exactly, Ken. We learned that it was not our own power, but the power of our friends that accumulated through us. Although Tai was the owner of the crest of courage, he wasn't the only courageous one on our team. Sure, he was the most brave of us, but it wasn't enough. It was all of our courage that was focused within him that powered him, and that power reached us all."
"Wow."
Davis said, trying to imagine what must have been going through their minds.
"It must have been like the old musketeer saying. 'All for one and one for all.'"
Mimi nodded from her spot and smiled.
"Yup. That's exactly what it was."
Sora nodded and said,
"The fact that you're missing is simple. It's not the Digimon growing stronger. It's you."
After a moment of silence, the original digidestined's digivices started to activate.
"Wha..."
"What?"
"What's this?"
Izzy was the first to unclip his and look at it. He quickly reached over to his laptop and stopped the image from the Apocalymon battle, pulling up his e-mail.
"Woah, guys. Check this out! E-mail from Jenai. Haven't gotten that for a while. He says... oh... my..."
Joe reached over and grabbed his arm, shaking it a little.
"What is it, Izzy? Tell us!."
"It's Jenai... he says... he says that there's another control spire. It's sphere of influence ranges across the entire Digital World."
Ken looked down to the ground and whispered to himself.
"A... a control... spire. Not... not again."
Izzy closed his laptop and looked at the others.
"Guys, this is serious. According to Jenai, it's influence is far beyond that of normal control spires. I say we regroup at our homes and then meet at the school computer. If they're someone there in the room... it doesn't matter any more. We just blow our secret. This is too important."
Ken stumbled home alone, politely refusing to let anyone walk with him.
How can... how can this be happening?
He thought, his mind a distorted mess.
I... I destroyed them all. I'm not the Digimon Emperor any more!
He found that he had reached his door without noticing it and walked in quietly. Wormmon was eating some grapes on the table while his mom and dad were home.
"Ken? Ah, you're home! We're having your favorite tonight!"
Ken could barely think enough to speak.
"I... don't feel too good."
"Oh, honey, I'm sorry. Just go to your room and get a little rest. If you're not feeling better by dinner, I can bring you some medicine."
"A... All right."
Ken stumbled into his doorway, his mind a flurry of thoughts.
The Digimon Emperor... Control Spires... Dark Rings... Skullgreymon...Arena... Slaves...
But what was worse was the images that seemed to accompany these thoughts. He saw all the humiliating fights he had forced Digimon to enter into with each other. He saw all the times he had screamed at Wormmon and all the Digimon he had hurt. He even saw the time he had made Davis scrounge face-first in the dirt for the Ken to spare his friends, not knowing at the time they weren't real. All these memories... He could barely bear it. All the memories of the pain and suffering were too much.
"Ken?"
Wormmon asked, seeing that Ken was in pain.
"I've done so much, Wormmon. I've destroyed so much! I've tortured so many helpless Digimon, and I tormented my friends! Just look at me!"
He slammed his fist onto his bed in a tormented rage. Wormmon looked at him and shook his head.
"No you didn't, Ken. Look at what you've done. You, me, Stingmon, Paildramon, and Imperialdramon have done so much. We've defeated Arukenimon, Mummymon, Black Wargreymon, even Myotismon's dark self inside your controllers' body. We even helped take out Malomyotismon. You've atoned for what you did, Ken."
Ken heard Wormmon loud and clear, but he wasn't listening.
How could I? How could I have done that to them? To my friends.
He remembered an illusion Malomyotismon put into his mind of the Digimon Emperor being tortured by the Digimon, and his brother still being alive... but it wasn't real. He and the Digimon Emperor weren't two separate people. Ken could barely stand it any longer, could barely hold on, when the room started to get brighter.
"What?"
"Ken... look at your hand."
Ken looked down and saw two lights, one on his chest and one on his hand. The one on his chest he recognized. It was the crest of kindness... but the one on the hand....
"What crest is it?"
Wormmon crawled closer to it and squinted.
"I've only heard of it, Ken. I think... I think it's the crest of forgiveness."
"Forgiveness..."
All at once, he started to come out of his dark depression, and his mind could only think one thought.
I may not be the Digimon Emperor, but I still haven't atoned for that. My friends aren't going to risk their necks on this one. The spires were my creations, and I'll destroy this one myself!
The desert was bleak and uninviting and the sky was pitch black, but it wasn't the kind of still black that a person might see at night on Earth. It was a swirling darkness that seemed to hang only hundreds of feet above him. He could only imagine the cause of it. He held Wormmon tight, pushing through the sandstorm that forced against him. As he walked and saw the darkness, it seemed to press down on him and his depression started to return.
What have I done? What am I doing here? Will I be able to destroy it? Can I bring myself to destroy my own creation. Have I really changed much from when I was the Digimon Emperor? Why me? What am I supposed to do?
Suddenly, a voice pierced the veil of thoughts that scoured through his brain.
What are you thinking, Ken? Look, I don't know what's wrong, but you are definitely different than you were back then. You are definitely not the kid who would make me grovel in the dirt for the lives of my friends.
"Davis?"
Suddenly, through the television Ken had come through, Davis phased into the Digital World, Veemon in tow.
"Ken, are you nuts?"
Ken looked away, towards the towering spire ahead of them.
"I have to destroy it, Davis. I won't let you guys risk yourselves for..."
"No, not that, dummy! I'm talking about accusing yourself of still being the Digimon Emperor!"
"What?"
"What do you think? That I didn't expect you to come?"
"That's not what I'm asking. How... how do you know my thoughts?"
"I'm not sure, really. I think... I think it has something to do with the DNA digivolves."
"Why?"
"Well, Sora said that it wasn't the Digimon that were digivolving, but us. So it makes a little sense that DNA digivolving would link u..."
Suddenly, the TV activated and the others spilled out. Everyone. Davis and Ken nearly jumped, turning towards the figures in the distance. The storm was starting to dissipate, so Davis and Ken could make out everyone. Davis called out to them,
"What are you guys doing here?!"
The voice of Tai called back to them from across the quickly-closing distance.
"The D3s! They told us that you two were in the dark zone!"
Finally, they were close enough that they didn't have to scream, and as the storm died down, they were able to see the control spire. It was larger than the usual ones, and it had a strange attachment at the bottom, a huge, metallic box. Ken took a step towards it when Davis touched a hand to his shoulder.
"Are you gonna be all right? You were about to go insane just a second ago."
"I'm... all right."
He looked up towards the spire, his hair kicked back by a gust of wind.
"That spire. I don't know what could be powering it without my D3 controlling it. I remember how it worked, though, and it can't keep us from digivolving. Even if it has enslaved the Digital World, it can't keep us from digivolving without my D3."
The others nodded and didn't waste a moment. It took only a moment for the group to transform. In the place of the old Digimon stood Angemon, Angewoman, Aquillomon, Ankylomon, Exveemon, Stingmon, Metalgarurumon, Wargreymon, Lilymon, Zudomon, Garudamon, and Megakabuterimon. Ken jumped onto Stingmon and, before the others could even start to mount their Digimon, shot off towards the spire. Davis could have sworn he'd seen a maniacal gleam in both their eyes... and he could somehow feel it. The DNA digivolve... he didn't waste any time contemplating. He jumped on Exveemon and shot off towards Ken, the others right behind him. Stingmon directly attacked the spire mercilessly, cutting deep gashes in the dark, oily surface, but every time he hit it, the spire would heal itself. Every time it did this, though, Ken just attacked it with even greater strength, an almost maniacal fervor. Davis didn't attack it so vehemently, though. Instead, he had Exveemon set down and blast the base, that silver block that surrounded the spire. The V Laser decimated the outer casing... to reveal a metal ring inside of it. Davis could feel Ken's apprehension as he fell back from his attack, falling in with the others. Izzy came up with the others, offering an explanation as usual.
"That ring must power the control spire. Look at the wires that lead from the ring to the spire itself. It's kind of strange, though, because I don't see how that ring could generate the sort of power that would explain the power that control spire..."
"OK. So that thing powers the control spire? Not for long!"
Stingmon, with Ken on his back, flew straight towards it, stopping ten feet from it. Ken could feel the evil radiating from the ring, and Stingmon slashed the metal. Suddenly, the inside of the ring imploded, leaving a hole that made the device itself look like a donut with a thin outside ring. Stingmon didn't back off on his assault, though. He dove into the ring, his claws outstretched.
"What does he think he's doing?"
Tai yelled, now riding Wargreymon straight towards the ring to serve as backup. Davis felt Ken's mind in the back of his own, and one of Ken's thoughts filtered through. He called out to Tai,
"The power! The dark energy isn't coming from the ring itself, but from the place where the ring leads to!"
"Leads to?"
Izzy yelled out,
"Of course! It makes perfect sense. The ring, like Myotismon's gate and the huge whirlwind in the sky that took Tai to and from the Digital World after our battle with Etemon, is a transport from one world to another. If one could feed the energy from a whole world into the ring, they could direct it into the control spire!"
There wasn't any more talk as the group passed straight through the ring into a world of blackness. Their digivices and D3s activated instantly, surrounding them in a yellow-gold field. Ken and Stingmon were still, both of them looking for a target. Davis dismounted from Exveemon and walked towards him.
"What's going..."
"Sh!"
Davis stopped in his tracks, looking around him.
"Can you see them?"
Ken asked. Suddenly, Davis could see shapes around him. There were forms all around him. Nine of them. Suddenly, the darkness seemed to disappear around these figures, and the original 8 gasped in terror.
"How?"
"What is..."
"We destroyed..."
"I'm going to kill you!!!!!!"
TK reached his digivice into the air and Angemon digivolved into Magnaangemon. Magnaangemon leaped at full speed, Excalibur activated, towards one of the figures, a dark, four-winged being wrapped in black cloth. One of the most recognizable parts of him was the hand. Four of his fingers were black, but in the middle... the finger was red. Magnaangemon reached up with his blade to slash at the figure when a silver Digimon with an X on his back and a staff with a bulleted end in his hand called out,
"Puppet Pommel!"
And a rain of silver and gold energy blasts slammed into Magnaangemon, sending him flying back towards the group. One of them walked forwards... but Davis recognized this one.
"Myotismon!"
This Myotismon looked like when the original Digidestined first killed him, except he was metal.
"Myotismon? Who's that? I'm Metalmyotismon!!!"
"Metalmyotismon?"
"You seem surprised. Welcome to the dark world!"
"The... Dark World?"
Tai asked. Kari stepped forwards.
"Who are you? You are NOT Myotismon! We destroyed you!"
"Wrong!"
Another one of the figures illuminated.
"Piedmon!"
But it wasn't Piedmon exactly. This Piedmon was a ghost of sorts, like the original Piedmon, but transparent.
"Yes, little children, it's me. I've been looking forward to getting my keychains back."
"But how...?"
Matt asked, still mounted on Metalgarurumon. Another character was illuminated. It was Machinedramon!
"You children are such fools."
Again, a light came down and another figure seemed to come out of the shadows. Metalseadramon!
"Yeah, you stupid kids. Well, you can't get it, so I'll tell you!"
The lights illuminated all of the others now, before Metalseadramon started his tale. Metaletemon, Skullgreymon, and Dark Wargreymon. He looked a lot like Black Wargreymon... but there was an evil to Dark Wargreymon that was at a level Black Wargreymon never reached.
"You see, when we were first killed, we became part of Apocalymon. That was a real downer, but we were powerful... until you killed him. Normally, we would have gone back to Primary Village, but Myotisfreak over there had his own plans and, through his own manipulations, had Ken become the Digimon Emperor, so Primary Village was lost. Because of our dark nature, we were collected here as a group. This world was first good... but we quickly changed that. The force of our collective darkness mutated some of us beyond Mega, such as those like Armorpuppetmon, Metapiedmon, Metalmyotismon, and Beelzemon who, as TK noticed, is the digivolved form of Devimon. Our power grew stronger with their growths, and that formed Dark Wargreymon and Skullgreymon. We've been plotting for years... and our end goal?"
They all stepped forward, the ones with weapons pulling them out.
"YOUR DESTRUCTION!"
They all attacked at once, in a flurry. All of the ultimates and champions were unable to dodge, and were caught in the barrage of the River of Power, Crimson Lightning, Puppet Pommel, Dark Claw, and Dark Terra Force. The collective explosion was so great that it made a rift in the field of space-time itself, reducing all the Digimon but Wargreymon, Metalgarurumon, Magnaangemon, Exveemon, and Stingmon to their in training forms. The others had miraculously been spared the assault and they all split up. Wargreymon struck out after Metalseadramon, having destroyed him before, only to find himself caught in mid-air by Dark Wargreymon. The two engaged in mortal combat, Metalgarurumon jumped after Armorpuppetmon. Metapiedmon and Armorpuppetmon took him on together. He didn't stand a chance. Magnaangemon tried to attack Beelzemon, but was instantly devestated by a blast from both Skullgreymon and Beelzemon on both sides. The three of them instantly went back to their in training forms, unconscious.
"No!"
"Wargreymon!"
"How can this be?!"
Davis and Ken were back to back, Exveemon and Stingmon next to them. All of the enemies focused on them, noticing that two had escaped their onslaught. Before they could even hope to escape, they were surrounded. Suddenly, Metalmyotismon raised a hand for the others to stop.
"I want to deal with these two."
He walked forward, the others stopping reluctantly. Ken and Davis both figured that the only thing that kept them back was that Metalmyotismon, if he was more powerful than Malomyotismon, could destroy them all easily. Metalmyotismon stopped walking and, for a moment, there was utter silence. Suddenly, from behind him, stepped a boy. It wasn't any ordinary boy, though. It was the Digimon Emperor! Metalmyotismon reached out with his black whip and, in a single slash, decimated Exveemon and Stingmon. Then, he said to his creation,
"Do with them as you please... Ken."
Ken's knees gave way on him, the contradiction and fear echoing through his mind.
How is he alive.... He's not... How could... But what...
Then, his thoughts started to dwell again on all the evil he had done as the Digimon Emperor. All the torture and destruction... all the pain he had caused in his simple greed and desire to escaped from the real world. His mind flashed to when he lost his brother... and when he lost Wormmon. Through his thoughts, he heard Davis call out,
"Don't you dare do that to Ken, you worthless piece of Vampire trash!"
Ken looked up towards Davis and saw, to his amazement, that Davis was facing the Digimon Emperor and Myotismon eyebrow was raised. Myotismon laughed as he asked,
"What? And you are going to battle your enemy? The one who's smarter, stronger, faster... and you think you can succeed? All right. Go ahead. Ken, destroy him. "
Every time Metalmyotismon said 'Ken,' Ken felt as though a knife crossed through his chest. Then, there was the whip snap. He popped up at the sound and the Digimon Emperor, his whip in hand. Ken couldn't place the source, but it seemed as though Davis had gained new strength from somewhere. He couldn't explain it... but he had only seen this strength once, when he had fought TK as the Emperor.
"Go ahead, Emperor. Strike me."
"You know, Davis, they say that at the point the whip strikes, it is going at the speed of sound. Let's see if that's true."
The Emperor brought the whip up and snapped it down, striking Davis straight in the cheek... but Davis didn't even flinch.
"Wha..."
Davis didn't say anything. In a rush, he jumped towards the Digimon Emperor, his fist cocked. Ken could see a faint glow start to radiate from Davis' chest. Then, everything seemed to clear up. He was watching Davis do to the Digimon Emperor what TK had done to him... but he wasn't in the wrong. He had punished himself enough, and it was time to get over it. He stood up, his D3 in his fist. As Davis got up from the now-unconscious Digimon Emperor, Ken saw the mark of Courage on Davis' chest... and the mark of Forgiveness on his own. The other Digimon started to wake from the power radiating from the crests.
"Wha..."
"What's going on?"
Davis and Ken looked at each other, a look of fire in both their eyes.
"Let's"
"do"
"it!!!!!"
Both of them seemed to erupt with power at the same time, as they bought lit on a fire that didn't destroy them. The radiance itself allowed the others to digivolve back to their rookie levels, and everyone was riveted looking at the two. Stingmon and Exveemon looked and each other and nodded. As the two Digimon started to DNA digivolve... something happened. The fires from Davis and Ken reached out farther and farther until it absorbed Paildramon as he was forming... and then it came back into their bodies, Paildramon gone. A picture of a gun appeared on both Davis and Ken's D-Terminals and they both tapped a button on it. A bright light filled the air around them, causing the evil Digimon to shout in pain. When the light had settled... Ken and Davis weren't who they were before. In their hands were blasters that looked much like Paildramon's weapon, except they radiated energy. Strapped onto the both of them was Paildramon's armor, and a miniature version of Singmon's spike armor shoulders. Their chest were muscular, far more than normal, and their hair changed to white and grew down to the middle of their back. They were both standing in the same position, their arms at either side and a blaster at each hand, and both their heads were down. For a moment, all of them just stood there, awed at the sudden transformation. Both their heads jerked up at the exact same time to reveal completely white eyes with no pupils. The grin they wore on their faces didn't make much sense considering their situation, but it was infectious anyway. As one they spoke, their thoughts joined together in such a way that it sounded as though they were one person.
"Metalmyotismon. You and your allies are going to find yourselves sorely disappointed in your plans. We are the Digidestined; and there is nothing you can do to hurt us. NOTHING!"
They both broke forward at the same time, their weapons aimed to either side. Their speed was amazing, far greater than anything the enemy could hope to accomplish. Not only that, they worked as one organism, their movements precise and calculated. Metalmyotismon barely dodged a blast as the Davis, back to back with Ken, fired over his shoulder, an inch from Ken's face without Ken even flinching. Machinedramon ran forward, calling out,
"Giga Cannon!"
As a flurry of massive yellow blasts came out of his two guns. Davis and Ken both jumped up high into the sky, Machinedramon's blasts missing them completely and nearly nailing Metapiedmon. TK stood up, his D3 in his hands, smiling.
"We're winning! Come on guys! There's still some hope!"
Kari came up from behind him, smiling when suddenly, a light came out of the ring entrance, lighting them both. The crests of Hope and Light lit up in them, and the burst of energy digivolved Patamon and Gatomon into Magnaangemon and Magnaangewoman. Magnaangewoman was a lot like Angewoman, except she was cloaked in a crimson armor cloth around her whole body.
"Magnangewoman? That's not what you digivolve to..."
"It doesn't matter now, Kari. It's time to FIGHT!"
Suddenly, the D3s exploded, and in their places were a golden and silver D3. The flare surrounded them, and TK and Kari both said at the same time,
"It's time!"
The light that enveloped Ken and Davis surrounded them both, and absorbed Magnaangemon and Magnaangewoman. When the world again reestablished itself, Ken and Davis came back from their sparring to meet up with the new ones, and new they were. Both of them had grown black hair that spiked backwards. Both of them were armored in a crimson colored version of Magnangemon's clothing and in each of their hands was a glowing blade like Excalibur, but with a curved blade and handle. In the same one-voice that Davis and Ken had, they said,
"The darkness can't touch this."
The four of them swept through the enemy forces, their weapons blazing. A gunshot hit Metaletemon, causing him to fly back into Armorpuppetmon who was trying to hit Ken with his Puppet Pommel, failing miserably. Beams of light from Ken and Davis' blasters slammed into almost all of the opponents, reducing Skullgreymon, Beelzemon, Machinedramon, Armorpuppetmon, Metaletemon, and Metalseadramon to dust quickly. TK and Kari moved blazingly fast, their blades moving glows that crossed from their opponents and back in less than a second. Dark Wargreymon was using all of his power trying to fight back the onslaught of these two when he could barely see them. He raised his fist-claws, creating a golden-orange fire sphere, trying to make it large enough to allow for a little error.
"Dark... Terra... Force!"
Dark Wargreymon launched the orb towards the blurs and, at first, though he might have caught them when the two blurs came together at the exact spot where the sphere smashed. The dust cloud stretched across the entire Dark world, a mushroom cloud that nothing could have survived.
"They are destroyed."
As the dust settled, though, the emptiness revealed TK and Kari standing there, their D3s in front of them, generating a forcefield that even the Dark Terra Force couldn't destroy. Dark Wargreymon stepped back, his eyes widening, his claws coming up to defend himself. The duo smiled together, then cocked their swords back for a stab.
"That guard... it's not going to help."
The duo moved so fast Darkwargreymon didn't even feel the blades entering through his chest plate.
"This is impossible!"
Metapiedmon yelled, finding laser blasts firing at him from all angles. It was all he could do to dodge them, but he couldn't do it forever. One of the stray blasts hit him leg, causing him to double over, his knee giving way. Like sharks led to a bleeding prey, Davis and Ken stopped, Davis to Metapiedmon's direct front and Ken to his rear. The D3s started to glow and a stream of energy flowed from the D3 to the guns. As one, they lifted up their blasters... and fired. There wasn't even enough left of Metapiedmon to reconfigure.
Together, the four of them surrounded Metalmyotismon, their weapons raised. Strangely... he chuckled. The four didn't lower their guard or even flinch, but it seemed as though they were starting to lose their confidence.
"You digidestined are more powerful than I thought. Far more powerful. However... I'm afraid your victories must end. Darkness cannot be destroyed."
For a moment there was nothing when, suddenly, it appeared as though there were 20 Metalmyotismons. The group wasn't phased, and they systematically started eliminating the illusions when, suddenly, one of the illusions reached out its whip and sliced it at TK's crimson armor, causing him to fly forwards, out of sight of the others. The illusions disappeared and now, there was only Myotismon.
"1 down... 3 to go."
Davis and Ken both nodded to each other, and snapped their heads to the side, their hair growing up at amazing speed and wrapping around Metalmyotismon's fists. Kari came towards Metalmyotismon, her Excalibur in her hands, ready to slice Metalmyotismon from shoulder to hip, but she never got there. Metalmyotismon's body split into four separate parts that all launched in different directions. The two fist headed directly to either side, Ken and Davis barely able to hold them still. Kari found herself hit in the chin by Metalmyotismon's head, and she stumbled back. The parts came together again, and Metalmyotismon grabbed the hair that was holding him still and sending an electrical shock down to strike Davis and Ken. As it got halfway, though, Kari's violet Excalibur sliced through the hair, causing the energy wave to stop in its tracks. Metalmyotismon turned his attention to her, since she was now weaponless, and created his multiple illusions again. Ken and Davis tried, united, to blast the real Metalmyotismon but they couldn't identify which one he was. Then, one of the Myotismon's broke out of the group to strike at the statue-still Kari... when he suddenly found himself stopped in midair, a yellow blade sticking through his chest.
"But... I destroyed... you."
TK smiled along with Kari and pulled out the blade as Metalmyotismon collapsed.
"You may not get this yet, Myotismon, but you cannot kill the digidestined."
Ken and Davis walked in sync, their guns raised. Through the scanner included in Paildramon's facemask, they saw that Metalmyotismon was starting to reestablish.
"He's not dead yet."
Together, they raised their blasters and, without a second thought, blasted. If he wasn't dead before... he was after they were done. As Metalmyotismon started to vaporize, though, they heard his voice call to them.
"You are strong, digidestined. Even if I never succeed in defeating you, though, I must always try. It is my destiny. Our struggle is eternal, and there is no final chapter to eterni..."
Then the voice faded.
As a group, the digidestined both new and old went back through the ring, looking at the Digital World restored now that the power of the Dark World wasn't fueling the spire. Just to be sure, though, they demolished the spire, a single blast from Davis' blaster causing the thing fell back to the dust from whence it came. For a moment there was stillness before the light. After everything returned to normal, Davis, Ken, TK, and Kari looked like they did before, and Patamon, Wormmon, Veemon, and Gatomon were back. As the spire hit the ground, Ken smiled.
"It is finished."
Crossing back to the real world, the group met back up at the park where they were the day before, this time sitting on the benches in the center. Tai walked up to Davis and shook his hand.
"There's no doubt about it now. You are the leader of the digidestined."
Davis smiled and leaned further back in the chair.
"No I'm not, Tai."
Before Tai could object, Ken said,
"Davis is right. If they're anything to be learned from this, it's that only as a,"
"Group acting as,"
"One can we truly,"
"Be digidestined."
"I am not the leader, we,"
"All are."
The others were shock still, looking at the couple. Davis looked at Ken and they both smiled and nodded, looking at the others.
"TK and Kari probably know, but they haven't told you. We're still linked, like we were in battle. It's not as powerful of a link, but it's still there."
TK and Kari nodded, holding each other's hand.
"We're bound,"
"Together for-"
"Ever."
After a moment of silence, the group started to laugh out loud, congratulating, questioning, anything that felt appropriate. While the group was complimenting Kari and TK for their exploits, Davis thought,
She's happy. That's what's important. I may have lost her, but it's for the best.
You are more mature than before, Davis.
Probably your influence.
I wouldn't say that. After all, we are great because we are one.
I miss her, though. Now, there's no chance that I might get to marry her.
You love her, Davis, but sometimes love doesn't always work out. She loves TK and they're bonded forever. You can't change that.
And I don't want to. I guess it's all right. After all, I have my friends, and there are always more fish in the sea.
You will always have us, and I'll always be there.
Friends forever, Ken.
Friends forever.
TK. This is amazing.
Yes it is, Kari, I must admit. Bonded forever.
I wonder how Davis feels.
He's probably all right. He's been acting a little more mature lately.
True. This is so wonderful.
Yes, Kari, it is. Together forever.
I love you, TK.
I know.