The Royal War

by Silverwing7500

Its been three years since Marcus Daemon and co. saved the two worlds, and King Drasil and his Royal Knights have been enjoying a peaceful time. But things heat up when a new, unknown Digimon challenges Omnimon to a battle, and a war becomes imminent for the King and his knights soon afterwards. There's more to this mysterious Digimon and his unusual friends than meets the eye!

1. Part One: The Challenge

The Royal War

Part 1

The Challenge

"Hey, Omnimon," Gallantmon called. Gallantmon was a Digimon completely covered in red, gold, and silver pure Chrome Digizoid armor. The red visor on his helmet had two yellow eyes and a set of teeth on it, and a long strand of silver hair flowed out of the top. A Digital Hazard symbol was emblazoned in the center of his chest, and several Zero Units dotted his body. His right and left arms could transform into his lance, Gram, and shield, Aegis, respectively.

"The Swanmon Mail Service just came by, and there is a letter addressed to you," he announced.

"What is so important about it?" Omnimon enquired, approaching Gallantmon to take the letter in question. Omnimon was a tall Digimon covered in almost completely white armor and black limbs. He had blue eyes and no actual hands. His right hand was in the shape of a blue metal wolf head, strongly resembling that of a MetalGarurumon, and his left hand was in the shape of an orange metal dinosaur head, which bore a strong resemblance to that of a WarGreymon. Omnimon's left shoulder was flat and shield-like, red on the outside and orange in the inside with the Crest of Courage in the middle, while his right shoulder was blue and spherical with several yellow spikes on it. In the middle of his chest was the combined Crest of Courage and Friendship. He also wore a cape that was white on the outside and red on the inside. "Why would you need to tell me about it directly?"

"Because it appears to be a challenge," Gallantmon told him as he handed the letter to Omnimon.

"A challenge?" Omnimon echoed. "Why would anyone want to challenge me? And look- there is no return address."

"Well, there's not any reason to ignore it," Gallantmon remarked. "Go on, open it."

It was indeed a challenge to Omnimon, and as Gallantmon looked over his shoulder, Omnimon read. "I would like to have the honor of fighting you, Omnimon. Meet me at the lake two miles southeast of the Server Tree at sunrise tomorrow. If you do not come, then I will come to you. And if I win, I would like you to consider me joining the Royal Knights."

Gallantmon whistled as Omnimon closed the letter. "That challenger of yours seems to be bold to challenge the leader of the Royal Knights. And I wonder who it is? He did not leave a return address."

"We shall find out tomorrow," Omnimon said as he walked over to a ledge to look out over the land. From this high up in the Server Tree, he could see the lake that the challenger spoke of in the afternoon sunlight.

The Sever Tree was the home of King Drasil, a being considered to be a deity in the Digital World, and served as the home and headquarters of the Royal Knights, a group of powerful Mega Digimon that only revealed themselves to the outside world in times of crisis. The tree itself was were all of the digital information of the whole Digital World was connected and monitored by the Royal Knights. Omnimon himself was the current Royal Knight in charge of the entire force during the absence of Alphamon, the previous leader who went missing, without any explanation, quiet some time ago. Gallantmon was Omnimon's oldest friend in the Royal Knights, and the two of them share a close bond.

"So you're actually going to accept the challenge?" Gallantmon inquired as he joined Omnimon on the ledge.

Omnimon sighed as he turned his back to the lake. "I have a reputation to uphold as the leader of the Royal Knights, don't I?" he responded. "If word got out that I refused to accept a challenge, then I might lose some authority and respect from other Digimon. Besides, even if I wasn't a member of the Royal Knights, I probably would have accepted it anyways; no one has ever requested me to fight them, so my interest has been peaked."

"And if you happen to lose?" came a voice. The source of the voice became clear as a blue ball of light appeared in front of Omnimon and Gallantmon. It was King Drasil, the king of the Digital World and whom the Royal Knights served. The king has no real physical form, so the appearance that he normally takes it a simple ball of blue light.

Both Royal Knights got down on one knee and bowed respectfully. "My king," Omnimon uttered. "I was not aware that you were listening."

"I know about everything that happens in this world," King Drasil reminded Omnimon. "Anyhow, what makes you think that you even need to dirty your hands on something as unimportant as a simple invitation of battle? You have more important tasks to worry about than something like that."

"Your honor, it is a matter of reputation," Gallantmon answered readily. "If Omnimon chooses to simply ignore a battle request, he might lose some respect from other Digimon."

"And if you happen to actually lose?" King Drasil inquired coolly. The change in tone was too easy for the two Royal Knights to not misinterpret; King Drasil had no doubt in his mind that Omnimon would win the battle.

"Then the Royal Knights shall gain a new member," Omnimon stated simply, keeping his eyes on the ground to avoid the king's burning stare.

There was a silence for a few moments, and then Gallantmon spoke up. "I could go with Omnimon," he said to King Drasil. Omnimon looked at Gallantmon out of the corners of his eyes, not daring to show any disrespect to their king. Gallantmon was looking straight at King Drasil. "I am curious about who this challenger is," Gallantmon continued. "Someone should probably witness the fight as to vouch for the winner. And if this is a trap, there will be one more Digimon to handle than the challenger will be expecting."

There was another silence for several seconds as King Drasil mulled over the options. Omnimon caught Gallantmon's eye, and Gallantmon winked. "Fine, the two of you can go," King Drasil finally announced. "Omnimon and Gallantmon, you two shall go and meet the challenger tomorrow at sunrise. I will stay here with the rest of the Royal Knights awaiting news. And if you happen to lose, Omnimon, I would like it if you brought the challenger here for me to see, if this is not some sort of trick."

"As you wish, my liege," Omnimon replied, bowing his head. "As the leader of the Royal Knights, I shall do my best to win."

ΩΩΩ

Late in the night, just before the full moon had reached the zenith of its arc across the sky, Omnimon found Gallantmon sitting on the same ledge where they had looked out across to the lake earlier that afternoon.

"You're still awake, Omnimon?" Gallantmon asked when he saw Omnimon approaching him, surprised. "There's not many hours left before the sun rises; you need to get as much sleep as possible before we have to leave at dawn."

Omnimon didn't speak until he had sat down next to Gallantmon. "To be perfectly honest, I couldn't sleep," he admitted to Gallantmon. "I've never been challenged to a fight before, and it sort of has me on edge. I couldn't stop the thoughts running through my head, so I decided to go out for a stroll around the Sever Tree to clear my mind. I saw you in here and decided to join you."

"This challenge is actually bothering you this much?" Gallantmon imposed.

Omnimon nodded. "It's been three years, ever since the fight involving the Human World and the Digital Worlds colliding, that I've felt this uneasy. I do not know why, but I have a strange feeling about this challenge."

"Is this one of your hunches?" Gallantmon asked sharply, turning to look at his friend. Omnimon was known to sometimes have preemptions about certain events that haven't entirely unfolded.

"No, it's nothing like that," Omnimon answered, shaking his head. He looked up at the full moon, taking in the starry sky. "It's just…I feel like something big is about to happen. Something that even us Royal Knights will be unable to stop."

"If it's worrying you that much, then why don't the two of us arrest the challenger when we meet him and interrogate his motives?" Gallantmon put in. "If what your gut is telling you is true, than the challenger is more than likely involved with that feeling you have."

"Once again, you're wrong about what I'm feeling," Omnimon sighed, tearing his eyes away from the sky and looking at Gallantmon. "The feeling I have isn't about the actions of my challenger, it's more like…what's going to follow the challenger."

At this point, Gallantmon became even more confused, so Omnimon put the topic aside. "Forget that I said anything about this," Omnimon said as he got to his feet. "I'm feeling better now that I've somewhat lightened this feeling pressing down on my chest. Thanks for listening to me ranting like that."

"You better be asleep when I come to get you at dawn," Gallantmon called after Omnimon when Omnimon had reached the entrance to the room. "I'll have a Sorcerermon come to your room in a half hour to put you to sleep if you aren't already by then."

Omnimon raised his hand in silent farewell and left his old friend alone under the starry sky.

ΩΩΩ

It was dawn when Gallantmon entered Omnimon's chambers to awaken him. He found Omnimon out cold at his desk with a copy of the Server Tree's Digimon Records in front of his head.

Sorcerermon must have not given Omnimon any warning before casting the sleeping spell. Gallantmon though as he uncorked a little vial of pure spring water that he was holding. In order to wake up a Digimon under a sleeping spell, water was vital for the process. Gallantmon unceremoniously splashed all of the water onto Omnimon's face.

A little later, Gallantmon once again entered Omnimon's chambers to find Omnimon downing a few mouthfuls of food and water. "It's almost time," Gallantmon declared as Omnimon drained the last of the water from his mug.

"I'm ready when you are," Omnimon told him after he had swallowed his last mouthful of water, placing the mug back down on the desk top.

While the two Royal Knights made their way towards the nearest exit in the Server Tree, they passed by several of the other Royal Knights in the passageways. A few of them muttered, "Good luck," to Omnimon as they stepped aside to let their leader go by.

The sky was a light grey as the two of them exit the Server Tree, and the stars on the lightening horizon were winking out one by one. "Let us be off," Omnimon declared, and the two of them took off in the sky.

"Hey, Omnimon," Gallantmon called over the howling wind, "are you ready for this?"

"As ready as I can be, I believe," Omnimon replied. "How about you, Gallantmon?"

"I'm just curious about who this challenger is and how strong he is."

"We'll find out soon enough," Omnimon remarked. "We're here."

The two Royal Knights landed on the lakeside. It was a rather large lake, surrounded by forest on all sides. As the Royal Knights stood waiting patiently, the sun peeked over a mountain in the distance. A bird began to sing, and more and more birds joined the first as the sun rose higher. When the sun broke away from the top of the mountain, Omnimon crossed his arms. "He's late," he growled.

"No, wait- listen," Gallantmon cut in, leaning over with a hand to the side of his head. Omnimon listened, and after a moment, his arms fell back to his sides. The birds had fallen silent, too.

There was music- an unearthly, harmonious melody. Just from listening to it, Omnimon could feel himself relaxing, the tension in his battle-ready body loosening itself. Omnimon also had a feeling that there was a certain power behind the music. As if answering his thoughts, sprouts shot out of the ground all around the lake and grew taller, unfurling their leaves. As the buds on the tips of the plants grew and expanded, a figure stepped out of the forest. When the sunlight hit the figure, the buds exploded into gold, blue, and purple wildflowers all around the lake, creating a very beautiful sight.

The figure was a tall, purple, dragon-like Digimon almost completely covered in blue armor with gold trimming. He wore a white vest-like piece of clothing with blue trimmings on his back, chest, and stomach that was held in place by three orange diamond-shaped clips that connected it to the armor on his upper body, and his head was completely incased in a silver helmet with large, gold spikes at the top. There were zigzag-shaped gaps that resembled two long rows of sharp teeth at the front of the helmet to allow air inside. There were also two small, circular holes directly underneath the spot where the nose was. The end of his tail, which had three spikes at the end, was armored as well, and his feet had two toes on the front and one on the back. Sprouting from the armor on the end of his tail were three short, orange spikes, and there was one long, orange spike on each of his knees. His wings were blue with stiff, white skin stretched between the blue spines that were connected to a thicker, black spine on the top of each wing. In one hand, he held an over-sized lance on a gold staff with a golden dragon head on the bottom, and in the other hand, he held a leaf to his gaps in his helmet in front of his mouth, which was the source of the music.

As the music hit one final, wavering note, the dragon knight Digimon removed the leaf from his helmet. "To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure if you were going to show up or not, Omnimon," he spoke. "And not only did you show up early, you brought Gallantmon with you, too. How nice. If I'm going to be a Royal Knight, I'll need to be more punctual."

"Identify yourself and state your business with me," Omnimon ordered.

"Identify myself?" the Digimon repeated, throwing the leaf onto the winds. "I don't think so. You won't need to know my name unless I am to be a fellow member of the Royal Knights. However, my business with you, Omnimon, is a different story. I want to test myself and see how strong I have become after training for the past five years. The Royal Knights are the only ones around who could actually provide a challenge for me. I also want to see if I am good enough to be a Royal Knight."

"Identify yourself," Omnimon restated.

There was silence for a moment, but the Digimon finally answered. "My name is Equistedramon."

ΩΩΩ

Omnimon was thrown off guard for a moment by the sudden change in Equistedramon's attitude. In that moment, Equistedramon disappeared from Omnimon's line of vision, and suddenly, Omnimon felt the tip of Equistedramon's lance on his throat. Gallantmon turned to look at Omnimon and his eyes widened in shock at the sight.

"It looks like round one goes to me," Equistedramon whispered just loud enough for Omnimon and Gallantmon to hear. "Would you like to go for round two?" Equistedramon jumped back, and Omnimon took a deep, shuddering breath.

"You certainly move fast, Equistedramon," Omnimon admitted. "You completely disappeared from my sight."

"That's just the tip of the iceberg," Equistedramon told him. He disappeared again, and then a large group of Equistedramon seemingly appeared to surround Gallantmon and Omnimon as the afterimages from Equistedramon's speed became visible. "I can go a little faster, if you want," came Equistedramon's voice.

"Impressive," Omnimon observed while Gallantmon looked around them in amazement. "Gallantmon, why don't you step back? I think I'm going to enjoy this."

"Yes sir," Gallantmon responded, who then leapt high in the air and floated there, looking down on the fight below. Omnimon raised his right hand, and the metal wolf head, which was the head of a Digimon called MetalGarurumon, opened its mouth, and a cannon mouth stuck out. "Supreme Cannon!" Omnimon shouted, firing a large orange ball of energy from the cannon at one of the afterimages. All of the afterimages except for the one in the path of the energy ball disappeared.

"Dragon's Breath!" Equistedramon called, and a large blue flame shot out of the gaps in his armor covering his mouth. The blue flames hit the energy ball in midair, enveloping it and sending it straight up in the air, forcing Gallantmon to move out of the way. The resulting explosion was massive, and the shockwaves were felt by the Royal Knights still at the Server Tree, including Magnamon, a Digimon that looked like a blue lizard with golden armor. As Magnamon raced through the passageways to an opening in the Server Tree, he met up with Crusadermon, a Digimon covered in pink armor with yellow, ribbon-like weapons.

"It would appear that Omnimon's fight is getting explosive," Crusadermon commented as she and Magnamon ran side by side down the passageways.

"If you ask me, this is getting out of hand," Magnamon remarked as they left the passageways and came out onto a ledge that faced the lake. A large, black cloud had formed over the lake, and lightning was lacing through it. Thunder was constantly booming, making Magnamon's ears ring.

"Maybe we should go and check on Omnimon and Gallantmon," Crusadermon suggested as the cloud dissipated. "This fight seems to be pretty serious."

"There's no need," Magnamon assured her. "I heard that King Drasil sent Leopardmon to keep an eye on the fight, and to also end this challenger of Omnimon's if there is actually a chance of Omnimon losing."

"So King Drasil went behind Omnimon's back?" Crusadermon asked. "Still, Leopardmon is a perfect choice for that kind of job. He's better at stealth than any other Digimon I know."

Back at the lake, Equistedramon and Omnimon were facing off, sliding in and out of battle stances, circling one another. Abruptly, Equistedramon stood up straight. "Sorry, Omnimon," he called out, "but I need to take care of something really quickly. Give me a moment, okay?" Omnimon stood up straight, too, looking puzzled as Equistedramon pointed his lance into the forest. A small ball of white light appeared on the tip.

"Sleeping Dragon!" Equistedramon cried. A thin beam of light shot out of the ball at the tip of the lance and penetrated the edge of the forest. There was an audible grunt, and then a crash as something fell out of the trees.

"That was Leopardmon, wasn't it?" Omnimon questioned, coming to stand next to Equistedramon.

"Correct," Equistedramon stated. "I would have to think that you king sent him to watch us, and to possibly help you if you were in trouble." Equistedramon looked at Omnimon with his solid yellow eyes, realizing in the while that they were the same height. "Do not worry about him: I just put him to sleep. He should wake up in a day, more or less." Equistedramon turned to look back into the forest.

"Transcendent Sword!" Equistedramon turned to find the tip of a sword, black with silver edges and Digicode written in yellow down the middle of the blade, on his throat, just like how Equistedramon had won the first round. The blade protruded from the mouth of the dinosaur head, which resembled the Digimon called WarGreymon, on Omnimon's left hand.

"That's unexpected," Equistedramon commented calmly. "I didn't expect the leader of the Royal Knights to take advantage of a conversation to gain the upper hand in a fight."

"I would believe that this round goes to me," Omnimon remarked as he stepped back. "Shall we move to the tie-breaker match?"

"Sure," Equistedramon replied. "But first, aren't we forgetting something?"

Omnimon looked confused. "What are you talking about?" he inquired. "What could we have possibly forgotten?"

Equistedramon smiled underneath his helmet, a motion that, not to his surprise, went unnoticed by Omnimon. "We forgot to eat breakfast!"

ΩΩΩ

Gallantmon looked on in disbelief as the two Digimon below put away their weapons and shook hands. Equistedramon looked up at him. "Hey, Gallantmon!" Equistedramon called out. "Do you want to come down here and join Omnimon and me for breakfast?"

Gallantmon blinked, taken aback by the unexpected question, but after a moment, he flew down to join the two fighters.

"Okay, what would you two like to eat?" Equistedramon inquired after Gallantmon joined him and Omnimon on the grassy shore of the lake. "There's an easy supply of Digibytes, Meat Apples, and fish around and in the lake."

"I wouldn't mind some Meat Apples," Gallantmon put in.

"I would prefer Digibytes," Omnimon added.

"Then I'll have some fish," Equistedramon concluded. "There is a whole grove of Digibyte and Meat Apple trees a short distance south of here." Equistedramon put his lance down in the wildflowers. "Let's meet back here in a bit." And with that, Equistedramon dove into the lake.

Omnimon and Gallantmon soon returned with their meals, but Equistedramon had not returned yet. While they waited for him, they began to talk about the unusual Digimon.

"I've never heard of a Digimon named Equistedramon before," Omnimon said after swallowing a mouthful of the grain-like Digibytes that grew on trees in honeycomb-like containers, "and I would remember if there was a Digimon by that name in the Royal Knights' Digimon Records back at the Server Tree because I have gone through it so many times. The Royal Knights have been around since early times; how could we not know about all the different Digimon out there?"

"That just goes to show that we do not know everything about the world," Gallantmon commented, staring at the silver Meat Apple in his hand. He then looked out over the lake. "Speaking of Equistedramon, where is he? He hasn't surfaced once since we've been sitting here. I do hope that he is doing fine."

Just then, a section of the lake near the center started to froth and bubble as if it was boiling. As the two Royal Knights leapt to their feet, the surface of the water broke, and Equistedramon jumped into the air yelling a war cry, holding a huge fish above his head.

"What's up?" Equistedramon inquired, landing in front of Omnimon and Gallantmon. "Why are you two staring at me?"

Omnimon and Gallantmon looked at each other, then looked back at Equistedramon.

"That's a rather large fish," Gallantmon finally said.

"Seems to be a big meal, if you ask me," Omnimon added.

Equistedramon had turned his back to the Royal Knights and had begun to clean and gut the fish with his claws over the edge of the lake. "You're right, Omnimon," he answered. "It does seem to be a big meal. However, even though this was the biggest fish I could find in the lake, it's actually a really tiny meal, compared to what I usually eat."

The two Royal Knights looked at each other again. "But that has to be at least fifteen pounds," Omnimon observed.

"Like I said, it's really small." Equistedramon finished cleaning the fish. "Dragon's Breath!"

A blue fire engulfed the fish, cooking it. The smell of cooking meat suddenly filled the air. Equistedramon cut of his flames, and the fish reappeared, perfectly cooked.

Just as Equistedramon was about to start on his fish, Gallantmon stepped in. "Hey, Equistedramon," he called. "Can you help me out with my meat apples?" He held up one of the silver apples.

Equistedramon looked at Gallantmon, and then the teeth-like gaps in his helmet visibly widened. Gallantmon dropped the apple and jumped out of the way just in the nick of time.

"Dragon's Breath!" The blue flames covered the small pile of silver apples for a second before dying out, leaving the apples a tarnished silver color.

Gallantmon walked back over, his cape flapping angrily. "You could have warned me before torching the apples," he told Equistedramon.

"Would you have preferred them raw?" Equistedramon asked. He sniffed the air, then added, "Well, enjoy yourself. I can smell hamburger and hotdog among those apples." And then Equistedramon started on his fish.

Omnimon and Gallantmon watched in part amazement, part disgust as Equistedramon inhaled the fish. Within five minutes, the bones had been picked clean and thrown into the lake. Equistedramon belched, leaned back on a tree, and began the tedious task of picking his teeth clean through the gaps in his helmet with a claw.

"Excuse me for my lack of manners," he muttered. "Eating without any peers around that care for five years can do that to a Digimon."

"Indeed," agreed Gallantmon. "You are going to have to work on your manners before meeting King Drasil. It is not a good idea to get on the king's bad si—!"

"Look out, Omnimon!" Equistedramon suddenly shouted, jumping to his feet. He rushed at Omnimon and shoved him over just as a red and yellow beam shot out of the forest. The beam hit Equistedramon squarely in the chest.

ΩΩΩ

"Equistedramon!" Omnimon cried as he got to his feet. He ran to stand next to Equistedramon, who was down on one knee and hand, the other hand over the spot where the beam had hit him. "Are you all right?!"

"I'll be fine," Equistedramon wheezed as Omnimon helped him to his feet. "Sorry about shoving you, but if you had been hit by that, it would have been it for you."

"What was that?" Gallantmon asked.

"I know that attack very well," Equistedramon said as he let go of Omnimon and stood on his own. "It was more than likely a Gizumon-XT. That beam destroys any Digimon it hits and permanently deletes their data."

"Gizumon-XT?" Omnimon repeated. "Aren't those the Digimon that the human Kurata created and attempted to destroy all the Digimon with them just because he was afraid of us? I thought he was defeated by Marcus Damon and his friends three years ago! Why are the Gizumon-XT sill around?"

"There are still a few stragglers around," Equistedramon informed him as he bent over to pick up his lance. "They're also still programmed to delete Digimon and take their digital energy. I always make sure to take care of them whenever I come across one. I thought I got the last one a year ago." He looked into the forest. "Come on out here, Gizumon-XT!"

For a second, nothing happened. Then, a tall figure stepped out into the open. It was machine-like in appearance, with a purple sphere for the head with a red eye in the center and a smaller, yellow eye directly on the top left of the first eye. On top of its head was a small rectangular grey box with an orange light in the middle. The arms were made of flat, green cord-like bands with black connectors evenly spaced out down the length of the cords. Under the head were three grey spheres on top of one another with two perpendicular black rings on each sphere. Its legs were very similar to its arms.

Before the Gizumon-XT could take another step, Equistedramon disappeared from Omnimon's side. An instant later, he reappeared in front of the Gizumon-XT and drove his lance deep into the Gizumon-XT's head, right where the eyes were. Equistedramon jumped back, with his spear still in hand, just before the Gizumon-XT exploded into innumerable tiny pieces.

"That takes care of that," Equistedramon puffed as he landed next to Omnimon. He grunted and fell to one knee, hand once again on his chest.

"Equistedramon!" Gallantmon cried. "You're not fine at all! We need to get you some help!"

"I'm telling you, I'll be fine," Equistedramon grunted, brushing away helping hands and getting to his feet on his own. "I've been hit by those beams before and survived, so I think I'll be fine now."

"How come you haven't been deleted yet?" Omnimon questioned. "You just said it yourself: Digimon who have been hit by a Gizumon-XT immediately disappear forever!"

"I'm not sure myself," Equistedramon admitted. "There's pain, but there's nothing really to worry about. I guess I'm immune, but I don't know why it's just me." He looked at Omnimon. "Are you ready to finish our fight?"

"You're in no condition to fight," Omnimon protested. "And in my opinion, you have already proven yourself to be worthy of the title of a Royal Knight."

"Bah, I'm just fine. And I'm not going to join the Royal Knights unless I defeat you. Let's finish this."

"If you're sure about this," Omnimon conceded. "Gallantmon, go ahead and step back."

"Yes, sir," Gallantmon said, jumping back up into the sky.

Equistedramon and Omnimon looked at each other in silence, unspoken words being exchanged between the two. But as the peace couldn't last forever, Equistedramon drew his lance while Omnimon drew his sword, and the two met head to head, sparks flying and thunder crashing whenever the two met.

ΩΩΩ

It was sunrise the next morning by the time the fight finally ended. King Drasil and the five other Royal Knights still at the Server Tree knew the fight was over when Gallantmon came to bring them to the scene of the fight.

"So, Gallantmon," King Drasil began, "can you tell us who won? And where is Omnimon?"

"You should all come and see for yourselves," Gallantmon told them, completely ignoring King Drasil's query. "It is truly a sight to behold."

"Hold on, Gallantmon," Magnamon cut in. "You did not answer King Drasil's question. Where is Omnimon?"

"Have faith, my dear friend," Gallantmon replied. "You'll see when we get there."

So Gallantmon, King Drasil, and the five other members of the Royal Knights all began to head towards the lake, or rather, what use to be the lake.

King Drasil and the five Royal Knights who stayed at the Server Tree didn't get much sleep the night before due to the fact that large-scale explosions were heard, and even felt, throughout the majority of the night. Now they could see the devastation caused by the fight.

The lake was gone. An explosion at the river where the water exited the lake had caused all the water in the lake to rush out, completely draining the lake causing it to look very much like a large crater. Smaller craters dotted the lake bottom and the surrounding area, and much of the nearby forest had been destroyed. In the middle of the lake bottom, inside a large crater, laid Omnimon and Equistedramon, side by side. The armor on both Digimon was dented and rented in a multitude of places, although there wasn't a single scratch on Equistedramon's exposed skin. The blade that protruded from Omnimon's left hand had shattered, and Equistedramon's lance had broken in half.

Gallantmon, King Drasill, and the other Royal Knights landed next to the two injured Digimon. Another Digimon with black and white armor, yellow hair, and a pair of small, white wings was bent over Omnimon, but straightened up when Gallantmon and the others landed.

"Leopardmon," Gallantmon said. "How are they doing?"

Leopardmon shook his head. "Both of them got hurt pretty badly, but Omnimon got the worst of it. We actually might lose him at any time with the condition he's in."

"Isn't there anything we can do to help them?" Crusadermon queried.

Leopardmon shook his head again. "I've treated them as best as I could, but when I did a quick digital scan, Omnimon's code was going haywire. I've only ever see the digital code do something like that when the Digimon is about to die, but that was ten minutes ago. By all rights, Omnimon should be dead already. His will to survive and live is incredible!"

Just then, Equistedramon moaned. "Hey, Equistedramon is coming around!" Gallantmon cried as Equistedramon slowly opened his eyes.

"Hey, Omnimon," Equistedramon muttered. "Are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here Equistedramon," Omnimon responded.

Leopardmon stiffened with shock. "What? Omnimon is awake as well?! But he shouldn't even be conscious right now!"

"I think it is safe to say that this fight ended in a draw." Equistedramon murmured, as if he hadn't heard Leopardmon speak at all.

"No, Equistedramon, you won," Omnimon told him, who also hadn't reacted when Leopardmon spoke. "I barely have any strength left to even move. I can even feel myself slipping away right now."

"That's not going to happen." The change in Equistedramon's tone surprised everyone, changing from a voice of exhaustion to a voice filled with determination and strength. Equistedramon further surprised them by sitting up and grabbing the two halves of his lance.

"What are you doing?" Omnimon asked, lifting his head up just a bit off the ground.

"Saving your life," Equistedramon answered, getting to his feet. He picked up Omnimon with one hand and slung him over his shoulder. In one jump, Equistedramon leapt out of the lake and onto the grass where he, Omnimon, and Gallantmon had enjoyed breakfast the day before. Omnimon had been propped up on a tree trunk by the time King Drasil and the Royal Knights joined him and Equistedramon.

"To be able to do that while in the condition he is in," Leopardmon whispered to Gallantmon. "Equistedramon is a very stubborn and tough Digimon."

"I know, and he was injured before his last bout with Omnimon," Gallantmon whispered back. "He got hit by a beam from a Gizumon-XT and still managed to give Omnimon the beat-down."

Equistedramon was staring at the two halves of his lance that were in his hands. The two halves began to glow with a golden light, and Equistedramon threw the two halves into the air. "Dragon's Clockwork!" Equistedramon shouted, his hands still above his head.

The two halves of Equistedramon's lance froze in mid-air, then began to spin like the hands of a giant clock in reverse. A loud ticking sound reverberated through the air, and with each tick, golden light pulsed outwards from the two halves of the lance, illuminating everything in a golden halo.

Then the music started.

Everyone, who had been looking up at the halves of the lance, looked down to see that Equistedramon was playing a leaf that he was holding to his helmet. It was the same glorious and harmonious music he played when he first met Omnimon and Gallantmon. With every note he played, the golden light grew brighter and brighter. When the melody hit the most beautiful note, there was a bright flash of golden light, and everyone covered their eyes. When they opened them again, there was a beautiful sight before their eyes.

No evidence of the fight remained. The craters were gone, the trees of the forest had regrown, and the lake was a lake again. A million points of golden light floated through the air like fireflies.

There was a grunt, and everyone turned to see Omnimon getting to his feet, without a scratch on him or his armor. All signs of damage had disappeared from Equistedramon, too; both he and Omnimon had completely healed.

The music hit the final, wavering note, and Equistedramon lowered the leaf from his helmet. The golden light faded, and Equistedramon's lance fell to the ground, whole again.

"How do you feel, Omnimon?" Equistedramon questioned, extending a hand towards him.

"I feel just fine, thank you," Omnimon replied, grabbing Equistedramon's hand and shaking it. "And it is my honor to extend an invitation to you to join the Royal Knights, Equistedramon."

Equistedramon's helmet shifted very slightly, and Omnimon realized that Equistedramon was smiling underneath his helmet. "It would me my honor, Omnimon."

"Then the Royal Knights welcome you as our newest recruit, Equistedramon."