A/N: So… it's been seven weeks now, huh?
Sorry it's taken so long for an update, you guys. I hope the uber-long chapter helps make up for that.
I think I'll stick to shorter chapters than this one from now on – I'm completely wiped out! I've been working on this thing and revising it almost every day!
I've tried changing my narrative style a little bit in this one. It'd be much appreciated if you could tell me whether it read better or worse.
Thanks guys.
…
April 9th, 2005
Saturday
The Digital World
All shut their eyes against the glow of the Digi-Port as it opened. They had stood before Izzy's computer screen with their shoes in their hands, but when next they opened their eyes it was to grassland which rolled on and on toward the horizon on all fronts. A gentle breeze swept over them, making the grass around their socks dance and tickle their feet.
They all immediately knelt down to slip their shoes back on, but Matt was still unhappy at Sora's insistence that they not wear them in the first place. He hadn't even realised that he was glaring at her until she glared right on back at him.
'I know what you're going to say, but you can't just walk around someone's house with your shoes on, Matt,' Sora said huffily as she tamped her covered feet into the ground. 'It's bad manners.'
'We got lucky this time,' Matt countered. 'We could've just as easily wound up in a swamp.'
'And just what good would sneakers be in a swamp? Swamps are usually waist-deep, in case you didn't know.'
'Could you guys stop?' Yolei pleaded, her stomach already flipping at the thought of squelching through mud in nothing but her socks. 'Ugh… I feel sick just imagining it.'
Davis rolled his eyes. 'Then don't go thinkin' about it, genius.' Yolei stopped dry-heaving long enough to lift a finger at him. He found it hilarious. 'Bad Grandma! Bad!'
'I hate you so much right now.'
'I'd hate to burst your bubble,' Izzy cut in, 'but we've already got enough problems on our hands without the four of you arguing.'
'You got that right,' said TK, taking in their environs. 'Just where in the world are we?'
'The portal's never been all that reliable,' said Izzy, cupping his chin in thought. 'Still, it's always placed us in the vicinity of where we were needed before.'
'You say that, but I'm not seeing any sign of bad guy around here,' said Tai. 'This has to be the wrong place.'
'It's unlikely that the Digi-Port would only now go on the fritz,' Ken told him, his breath ragged from his mad dash from the train station to the Izumi residence. 'Izzy's right: the portal would have taken us where we needed to go.'
'Uh-huh.'
'Tai,' Kari frowned.
'Yeah, yeah – I know,' Tai backtracked. 'This place just doesn't seem all that 'needy' if you ask me.'
Even TK was struggling to put a positive spin on the situation. 'I guess the portal was playing up… Should we go back and try again?'
'It wouldn't matter, dude.'
'Huh? Why's that, Davis?'
'Because there's no TV set,' Davis turned side-face as if he were surveying the ground at their feet. 'We can't open a gate without one, remember?'
The others quickly inspected their immediate surroundings, hoping that they could prove Davis wrong. This provoked a bit of a problem, however, when they realised that he had a point. No TV set rested by their feet, just as there hadn't been the last time they had come to the Digital World.
'Possibly,' Izzy wracked his brains to try and comprehend what had happened. 'Although we have opened portals without them in the past…'
'Not from this side we didn't,' said Sora. 'We've opened portals on our own, but that was from the Real World into this one – not the other way around.'
'Not to mention that we don't have a million Digivices to work with this time,' said Cody . 'We have ten.'
Ken mimicked Izzy and adopted a thinking posture. Both did their best to keep a level-head and think, but it was honestly much more difficult than either cared to let on.
That was when they caught sight of a sudden flash just out of the corner of their eyes. They turned as one to it, finding something where only a moment ago there had been nothing: a frame of light, shimmering like a pond in the sunshine. This alone would have been plenty strange enough, but it got even unusual when a man stepped out from within this light.
'It's Gennai!' they chorused.
'Ah – not quite,' the man waved his hands and had a strained smile on his face. 'I realise how it might look, but I'm not Gennai,' he lay a hand over his chest as if he were addressing foreigners. 'My name is Benjamin.'
Davis' face lit up at once. 'Oh! You're the Gennai who helped me and Veemon in New York!'
Benjamin's smile became a little more strained. 'T-that's right, but I'd prefer it if you didn't call me "the Gennai" – it's Benjamin.'
'Okay, we get it: you aren't Gennai,' Matt rubbed his throbbing temples. 'Would you mind telling us where he is?'
'My colleagues are all busy right now studying that gate you found,' said Benjamin, ignoring the glare that the blonde boy sent Izzy's way the moment he had said it. 'I should be getting back to them soon, but first I mean to get you all on your way.'
'But how could you know that we were way out here in the boonies?' Yolei asked him as she brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face.
'Your Digivices give off signals that allow them to track each other,' Benjamin explained. 'Does it really surprise you that we would be capable of doing this as well?'
'I… Well…'
'You did turn up quite far from where we had expected; we should count ourselves lucky that we were able to find you at all.'
'Okay…' Davis butted in, 'but how come we ended up comin' here in the first place?'
Matt's brow furrowed crossly. 'Now that's a good question.'
'It's to be expected; your Digivices respond to dark forces,' said Benjamin, slipping his hands behind his back. 'Your light and the darkness call to one another like magnets. Tell me: what would happen, then, should that darkness head in different directions?'
Izzy sighed. 'We've been pulled in somewhere between the two,' he answered. 'Is that what you're telling us?'
Benjamin nodded.
'Meaning we're nowhere near where we should be…' Sora pinched her eyes wearily. 'Typical.'
'Now, now – I did say that I was here to help,' Benjamin half-turned and dipped a hand into the shimmer as if it were as natural as testing bathwater. 'Think of it as an olive branch.'
Benjamin pulled his hand free of the light. Multiple questions popped into the minds of the Digidestined, but they didn't quite get the opportunity to put them to anyone before they were cut off by the small barrage of happy surprises that came running out one-after-the-other.
It was their Digimon partners.
'Agumon!'
'Hey – Veemon!'
These were overjoyed cries of Tai and Davis. The others weren't nearly as loud or obnoxious, but they, too, were elated at the sight of their partners and swept each of them up into their waiting embrace.
Tai laughed so hard his gut ached. He hadn't seen Agumon in months – something which applied just as much to the rest of the Digidestined as it did him. It had been the Christmas season when last they'd seen any of their partner Digimon. They had all expressed an interest in going on a world tour of that which they had spent all of their time saving – a request none of the children had neither the right nor the inclination to deny.
Still, in spite of the seriousness of the situation, they were all overjoyed to see one another after such a long time apart.
'How've you been?' Tai asked as he gave his favourite dinosaur a non-noogie.
'Hahaha… C'mon, Tai, quit it.'
'Sure thing, buddy.'
Cody was just as excited. 'How's the world tour been, Armadillomon?'
'Better 'n you woulda believed!' Armadillomon told him. 'I've seen a lot of the Digital World in my time, Cody, but now I've seen plenty more of it!' he spoke merrily, but his smile did falter a little after that. 'Whole lotta work, though. I might just be lighter 'n you are now!'
'We're thinking about heading out again once this is all over,' said Gatomon. 'You don't have a problem with that – right, Kari?'
'Of course not,' the girl smiled and pulled her in for another hug. 'I'm just sorry you had to make this little detour for our sake.'
'I'll always be there when you need me, Kari; you just say the word.'
'I'll be sure to keep that in mind.'
Matt was smiling also, looking his partner dead in the eye as he asked him: 'Are you feeling up to this, Gabumon?'
'You really need to ask at this point?'
'You're right,' he chuckled, getting to his feet. 'Sorry for the dumb question,' he said before gazing around at the other Digimon and savouring the moment of sentimentality – though it was in doing this that he noticed a couple of absentees and turned to Benjamin. 'How'd you know that we wouldn't need Palmon or Gomamon?'
'Your Digivices each give off a signal,' the agent repeated calmly. 'I sensed that two of you hadn't arrived and acted accordingly.'
No one contested the decision. The fact of the matter was that – without Mimi and Joe – the two could go no further than the Rookie-level. None of the present Digidestined were particularly happy with having them play benchwarmers this time around, but it was for their own safety. Trying to think up ways that Joe and Mimi's forgiveness could be earned for the unthinkable was one worry that they couldn't afford.
Benjamin smiled sympathetically. 'I understand how you must feel but believe me when I say that this is in everyone's best interests. Now, with that said-'
He pulled his arm through the air in an almost lazy sweeping motion, generating another two portals to either side of him.
'These will take you where you need to go,' Benjamin assured them. 'I've made it so that they should appear on your Digivices.'
Everyone quickly inspected the mapping function of their devices and found that he was right. Twelve blips were flashing on-and-off: their ten Digivices and the two portals which were meant for them.
'I assume you've already decided who's going where,' he paused briefly and allowed them all to nod back. 'Good. Now, once you've stepped through these portals I'll redirect them so you don't just end up coming back here. As I've just said, you can keep track of them via your Digivices, so you should have no trouble finding them once you're finished.
'Now I'll ask you the most important question of all: are you all ready?'
'Definitely,' Tai said without contest.
'Then I wish you luck, my friends. Make sure to be careful.'
…
?
The very instant the older kids and their Digimon partners stepped out from their portal, a chill bit them down all the way to their bones. It was far from freezing, but the four humans all had the same sudden yearning for coats.
'Man, it's cold!' Tai clenched his teeth and immediately began rubbing his arms for even a hint of warmth. 'Where the heck is this?'
It was no easy question to answer, for a thick fog clung to the air so densely that Tai almost mistook it for floating wool. After all his years in the Digital World, it would hardly have been the most jaw-dropping thing he'd ever come across. It was not so much cold as it was chilly, misting everyone's breaths so that it would blend in with the already thick veil.
Sora rubbed her own arms to combat the chill. 'Why is it we never have any warm clothes whenever we turn up in places like this?'
Matt made his way to her side, though he couldn't even pretend that he was feeling any warmer than his girlfriend did. Ever since his almost-becoming-a-snowman experience back when File Island had been fragmented, he'd never been very fond of even slightly chilly days.
'It isn't that bad, Tai!' Agumon told his partner in hopes of cheering him up. 'This isn't as bad as that time Frigimon gave us a piggyback!'
'Thanks for trying, Agumon, but you're not making it any better.'
'I'll say!' Tentomon buzzed with all four of his arms crossed. 'I'm not meant for this sort of climate!'
Tai rounded on him with his own arms folded. 'What, and the rest of us are?'
Biyomon moved as jerkily as a pigeon. 'T-T-Tentomon's right; the s-sooner we leave, t-the better,' she shivered. 'S-Sora, can we make this quick? I don't like it here…'
'You and me both, Biy; it is freezing.'
'It is?' Gabumon said quite innocently, ignorant of the jealous stares he and his fur coat were getting. 'Is it really that bad, Matt?'
Matt's sigh stretched out in front of him as it misted like a long and miserable note. 'Let's just try and stay on our toes.'
'I'm one step ahead of you,' said Gabumon, '… although I don't have any toes.'
The blonde sighed again. It represented a small, infinitesimal break in the conversation, but it was just long enough that something other than words filled their ears. Everyone put their guard up and gazed out blindly at the fog. They listened carefully for the noise and heard it more clearly the second time: it was the unmistakable creaking of a tree.
'Heads up, guys,' Tai whispered. 'We might have company.'
Judging from the sound of it, none of them felt the need to doubt this. It sounded a lot like listening to squeaky floorboards, only louder. Being prolonged proved helpful, for it didn't take the group long to pinpoint which direction it was coming from. In truth, having their ears trained on it also helped a lot in hearing another layer of noise underneath the creaking.
They could hear someone groaning.
'It sounds like somebody might be hurt,' Sora whispered uncertainly.
Matt lay a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. 'Don't let your guard down,' he told her quietly. 'For all we know, it could be the thing we're after making those noises to confuse us.'
'I'm not so sure about that,' said Biyomon. 'Whoever that is, they sound really hurt.'
Tai considered it a moment and glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the team.
'We won't know unless we go check,' he told them. 'Stick together and be ready in case things go south. Okay?'
The others all nodded, including Matt. He still had his reservations, but nonetheless decided to go along with Tai's plan – just so long as it was done cautiously.
Huddling up, the group slowly stepped out into the fog, using only what they could hear as their guides. They couldn't have taken more than ten steps in the direction of the sounds when they spotted a faint shadow just ahead of them. Its scale was huge, outdoing them both horizontally and vertically by a large margin. Nerve-wracking as this was, they pushed themselves to go forward an extra few steps. As the gap between was closed, the shadow took on a more solid shape and even a bit of colour. It was long and bulky, with rough skin and a bushy top to one side.
'A tree?' Sora blurted, annoyed with herself for getting so worked up about it. 'Why would a tree make all this noise?'
'That isn't a normal tree,' Tentomon told her, his tone lifting with what sounded like astonishment. 'That tree is alive!'
A dreadful feeling of nausea bubbled in the pit of Matt's stomach. The more he looked at the shape of the shadow, the more a certain unpleasant memory was stirred. Given the way Gabumon suddenly leapt in front of him, it seemed that his partner had come to same conclusion that he had. The blonde gnashed his teeth together as the groaning started once more. He had never forgotten the voice behind those pained moans, despite his best efforts to do exactly that.
'Cherrymon,' he growled to himself.
'Huh? You know this tree?' Tai blurted in surprise.
'… We've met.'
'So, who is he?'
'He used to be a friend of Puppetmon's.'
Having the Digimon identified did a lot to put them at ease. Of course, hearing Puppetmon's name was enough to keep them on-edge, but a phantom from their past wasn't the immediate concern, and neither were his former cronies – least of all wounded ones.
Tentomon hovered around and gave the felled tree a quick examination. 'Oh, my… He appears to be rather injured.'
They all took a cautious step forward so that they could see for themselves in spite of the fog. Cherrymon lay with his face just above the dirt. The wrinkled bark that made up said face was quivering, which gave off the squeaking sounds they had been hearing. He appeared to be in rather rough shape, if the hack marks covering his bark from top-to-bottom was anything to go by. It was as if a small army of axeman had really gone to town on the wizened old Digimon.
'Who did this to you?' Biyomon asked him. 'Are you still with us, Cherrymon?'
The bark opened in two places, revealing a pair of glowing yellow eyes. There was very little to them, yet somehow they could all tell that Cherrymon wasn't at all happy to see them.
'You… What are you doing here…?'
'Forget about that,' Tai observed the tree's wounds and shivered at the thought of how they would have felt were Cherrymon a human. 'What happened to you? Tell us and maybe we can help.'
'No…' the tree shook with what might have passed for a wince. 'Look, I've been round – and on – the block more times than you can count, kid. Leave me be.'
'Did you get in a fight with someone?' asked Sora.
'Why? He some friend of yours?'
'That's not something one of our friends would do,' she snapped quite heatedly. 'What did this Digimon look like?'
'Some oversized beetle,' Cherrymon grimaced. 'Started wrecking my whole forest, so I took my boys to go and went to kick it out… Cut through us like we were paper… I'm the only one who made it out…'
'An oversized beetle,' Izzy repeated to himself. 'That can only mean GranKuwagamon.'
'You said this was a forest, right?' Tai asked him. 'Which way do we go to find this thing?'
'You mean you bozos don't recognise this place?' Cherrymon chuckled, though it might also have been a spate of pained gagging. 'Heh… Not that there'll be much to recognise soon enough. Heh-heh-heh…'
'This is important!' Tai thundered, disregarding the idea that he needed to retain some sort of bedside manner. 'Which way do we go?! We need you to tell us that, Cherrymon!'
'Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh… heh-heh… Hrugh… O-oh…'
And with that final utterance, Cherrymon evaporated into a cloud of data bytes in front of their very eyes.
'Cherrymon…' Biyomon mumbled, a sad note in her voice.
Still, there was work to be done. They couldn't afford to get side-tracked, and it was Tai's job to make sure that they didn't, even at the cost of sounding heartless. That was the burden he had to bear as leader.
'Tough it out, you guys,' he said, sensing the same natural sadness in the others that he himself felt whenever they had to witness a Digimon die. 'If we don't focus up, then the same'll happen to someone else.'
'But Tai, we can barely see each other in all this fog,' Izzy argued. 'This goes way beyond what people usually mean by a 'needle in a haystack'.'
'Actually, it looks as if Cherrymon might have given us a hand with that,' Matt told them, pointing down to where Cherrymon had just been lying.
As morbid as it was, it seemed rather fortuitous that the old Digimon had been as heavyset as he had been. It looked as if he had been dragging himself through the forest, judging by the shallow trench he had left behind, running on like a pathway into the shroud of white.
'Odds are that that's our ticket to GranKuwagamon,' Matt suggested, feeling it a safe bet to assume so. 'What do you think? It's got to be worth a shot, at least.'
'You've got me there,' Tai conceded, thinking the idea over for a long moment. 'Looks like our only option is to follow it for now,' he said, gesturing for the others to remaining close. 'C'mon, guys; it looks like we've got some walking to do.'
…
?
It didn't matter how many corners they rounded or what street they would walk the length of, for the younger kids were every bit as lost as their teammates were. Distance may have separated them, but both groups' lack of direction was a problem shared.
What set them apart was that while the older kids had emerged in the heart of a forest, their peers had done so in a city. Buildings boxed them in on all sides, leaving only narrow streets and even narrower alleyways with which to traverse it. So inconvenient was its architecture that the pathways and roads seemed almost as if they had been an afterthought – something the architect simply happened to have included in his blueprints. It was the sort of cramped and uncomfortable place only a sardine could love.
Between this lack of living space and the almost-smothering smog which clung to and coloured its sky grey, it seemed the only 'natural' thing about the city was that it would stand silent; a fact that Davis finally tired of.
'Talk about a ghost-town, huh?' he grumbled while his gloved fingers scratched at his scalp.
Yolei rounded on him at once.
'Don't even joke about that; you know that stuff freaks me out.'
'Yeah, yeah – I know: a Bakemon came and snatched you back then,' Davis then said in a much lower voice: 'I've only had to hear you whine about it a gillion times…'
'I'm this close to smacking you upside the head, Davis!'
'Take your best shot, grandma!'
'Stop it – both of you!' Hawkmon cut in, matching their pace so that he could walk in-between them. 'Can you at least try to get along, or will Veemon and I have to separate you?'
'He was making fun of my glasses!' Yolei started, indignant.
'Can it not wait until later? Now isn't a good time to be fighting one another.'
'-Fine!
-Fine!'
'Good,' Hawkmon huffed before adopting a more serious tone. 'That aside, something has been bothering me for quite some time now: every window that we've passed has been empty.'
'That's true,' Cody said suddenly, as if he had just been thinking the exact same thing. 'I can't even imagine a town being this quiet, let alone a city as big as this one.'
Ken ground to a halt, his face taut with worry.
'Do… Do you think that might have gotten here too late?'
TK stopped as well, his response sharp and unequivocal. 'We don't know that. It's a little early to start jumping to conclusions.'
'You say that, but-'
'TK's right, Ken,' Davis pitched in. 'We're in the Digital World, where what you see isn't always what you get.'
Wormmon agreed whole-heartedly. 'Don't worry, Ken; I know this place is kind of spooky, but we have our friends with us. It doesn't matter what we find if we find it as a team, don't you think?'
'… Mm,' the boy took a deep breath to help himself unwind a little. 'I'm sorry, Wormmon. You shouldn't have to deal with someone like me who's a walking panic-attack waiting to happen.'
'Yeah – that's Gomamon's job,' Gatomon said it in all seriousness, and was rather surprised that it roused a laugh out of the group. 'I don't get it; what are you all laughing for? Kari?'
Her partner smiled down at her, wiping a tear from her eye. 'It's nothing, Gatomon. We're just being silly is all.'
The group made to press ahead, but Cody didn't budge. He had been the only one too distracted to join in with the laughter. Like an anchor, he brought those pulling ahead of him to a stop as well. His four-legged partner twisted round to face him.
'Something botherin' you, Cody?'
'I enjoy walking as much as anyone, but that isn't the reason we came here,' he broached. 'Just looking from street-to-street will only wear us out before we find either of them.'
The others either looked away or looked to each other as this set in. A problem they hadn't anticipated was the distinct lack of mass destruction or even the sounds that went with it; it was so quiet, in fact, that they could hear a slight breeze run through the streets every now and then like blood pumping through someone's veins. The city was still, as if it were a snapshot given shape but not life.
'Hmm… Now that'cha mention it, it is kinda boring out here…' Veemon looked down the what remained of the umpteenth street they'd walked down since getting here and sighed. 'He might be right about this one, Davish.'
His partner more than matched his sigh and then folded his arms. 'I've seen enough scary movies to know that splittin' is just askin' for trouble,' he said before smirking at Yolei. 'Heh. And you thought those things'd just rot my brain.'
'I was right, wasn't I?'
'Why, you-!'
'Humans can be so silly,' said Patamon.
Hawkmon's wings were akimbo; he couldn't have put it better himself.
'Given at least one of them is a Mega, you'd think that they would take this a little more seriously,' Gatomon huffed, her tail swishing with the sharpness of a whip. She was about to stress this point when she noticed out of the corner of her eye that someone's attention was somewhere else entirely. 'The same goes for you as well, Veemon, so you'd better listen up!'
Veemon tensed as if waking from some trance.
'Are you ready to take this seriously or what?'
'W-well, I was just…'
'You were just what?'
Veemon straightened up like a soldier in a line-up. 'I-I-I was just thinking maybe we could try asking the guy over there for directions, I swear!'
Gatomon scowled. 'What guy? In case you didn't notice, there's nobody here.'
'There's not?' he pointed down the street. 'Not even the guy over there?'
'Like I just said, there's-'
Her criticisms were forgotten the instant she and the others traced the reptilian's line-of-sight. A tall and stocky human man with grizzled hair was standing further down the sidewalk, window-gazing. He was dressed in the yukata and sandals of a lost festival-goer, yet he also wore straw sode over his shoulders and a wakizashi in his sash. Unshaven and unkempt, he seemed a strange fellow to meet in an empty city, particularly with the bland festival mask he'd attached to one side of his head.
'I'm… drawing a blank here,' Yolei couldn't take her eyes off of him. 'Who is that?'
'I haven't the faintest idea,' Hawkmon said, placing himself in front of her. 'He does certainly look like a human-'
'That isn't saying much,' Gatomon cut in. 'I look human too when I Digivolve.'
'Same here,' said Patamon, fluttering ahead of TK.
'Well, he can't be a human,' said Armadillomon. 'He's as grown-up as Oikawa was, an' look at all the trouble that fella caused getting here – we woulda noticed somethin' like that.'
'Then he must be a Digimon,' Cody deduced.
'Could be, though that'd mean that he's a lot more dangerous than he looks.'
'Are you sure?' Davis said sceptically. 'I mean, what if he just lives here?'
'Because lots of people have entire cities to themselves,' he heard Yolei whisper, irritating him beyond caution.
'It's not like we're gonna find out just standin' here,' he manoeuvered himself around Veemon before anybody registered what he was doing. 'Hey, buddy! Think you could give us a hand with somethin'?'
'Wha-? Davis!' he heard Yolei squeak with some satisfaction. 'You idiot! Get back!'
The others were calling after him as well, but he ignored them. It was too late and he was too riled up to stop now, so he figured that he might as well push forward.
'I know you can hear me! Hey!'
The man's eyes shifted to Davis without his body following. It was as if he were a statue – a trait Davis and he shared the instant his gaze fell upon him. The boy swallowed, transfixed by eyes that would have made Medusa green with envy.
'A child?' his voice was low and raspy with seeming underuse. 'You have business with me?'
'U-uh… Kinda?' Davis blurted as his friends rushed to his side. 'First off, what are you? Are you a human or a Digimon?'
'A Digimon,' he said forthrightly.
TK took a cautious pace forward. 'If you're a Digimon, would you mind telling us your name?'
'Oyabumon; what's it to you?'
The blonde racked his brains, but he couldn't remember ever hearing that particular name before. A glance toward Patamon was enough to tell him that his partner was drawing a blank, too.
'Your friend mentioned that you needed help,' said Oyabumon, finally turning his body to face them. 'Isn't that right?'
'We're looking for a Digimon,' said Kari anxiously. 'Have you seen anyone else today?'
'I might have and I might not have,' the man was noncommittal. 'As I said: what's it to you?'
'We don't really have time to explain,' Davis cut in. 'We need to find 'em, and quick.'
'As the case may be,' Oyabumon said coolly, 'but I don't have to find them at all, so are you really in a position to argue?'
'What-?!'
'Please don't fight each other,' Kari beseeched the pair. 'We only want to find this Digimon before it hurts anyone; we don't have any hidden agenda, if that's what you're worried about.'
Oyabumon's eyes settled upon her. As with Davis, the girl tensed up if in reflex, but she didn't back down. She could be every bit as stubborn as Tai if she needed to be.
A moment passed in silence, but it was to be Oyabumon who would blink first.
'I saw a puppet creature not that long ago,' he divulged with a sigh. 'It wore a purple robe and had big golden arms; is that the one you're talking about?'
'That sounds like the small one!' Cody exclaimed. 'Which way was it headed?'
'It wasn't headed anywhere,' Oyabumon sniffed and pointed down the street. 'You'll find it about mile in that direction. The city's badly-damaged in that area, so it's hard to miss.'
'It isn't moving?' asked Ken, to which the man stiffly shook his head. 'Why not?'
'I had no need to ask, so I didn't.'
'Well… at least we know where it is now,' said Yolei, trying to put a positive spin on things. 'C'mon – the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go home.'
Apparently taking this as his cue to leave, Oyabumon walked on by them all, ignoring the alert glares the partner Digimon were giving him as he went.
Even though his back was turned to them, however, Kari made a point of bowing. It was only common courtesy.
'Thank you for all your help.'
He neither stopped nor turned, offering little more than a gruff 'Hmph' in reply.
Yolei wasn't impressed and grumpily folded her arms. 'What's his problem?'
'Now, now; he told us what we wanted without making a big deal out of it,' TK tried to play the appeaser. 'So, no harm done, right?'
'Wrong. I'm willing to put up with a lot, but bad-manners isn't one of them – one Davis is bad enough.'
'Your manners aren't exactly all that great either, grandma.'
'Okay, that does it! C'mere-!'
Yolei made to throttle Davis and he prepared to defend himself when the city was suddenly overcome with a loud and drawn-out rumbling.
'W-what the-?!' Davis exclaimed as Yolei toppled into and brought him with her to the ground. 'Hey, are you okay?!'
She rolled off of the top of him, shrieking: 'What's going on?!'
The others all struggled to stay on their feet and dropped down to the ground; Patamon was the sole exception. Born and raised in Japan, all of the children knew exactly how devastating an earthquake could be – it was something all Japanese students had drilled into them at school.
Yet before they could think back to their preparatory training, the shaking slowed and just as quickly stilled.
'Over already?' Davis panted, his forehead slick with a building sweat. He joined the others in getting back to his feet. 'Are earthquakes usually that quick?'
'Not any that I've heard of,' Cody breathed as if speaking too loudly might set off another. 'Did something set that off?'
Once again, Veemon pointed out something the others had missed entirely.
'Hey – what's that?'
'Huh?' Davis looked to what he was indicating. 'You see somethin' on the roof?'
He gazed up at the rooftops at the end of the street, but he could see nothing he would class as unnatural – aside from the colour of the sky.
'I don't see whatever it is you see, Veemon.'
'That's 'cause you're looking in the wrong place – look up.'
'Look up at… Wait… What's that?'
It was difficult to make out against the backdrop of the grey, smoky sky, but something was there. Davis squinted at it, trying to make out its shape. To him, it looked like nothing more than a black dot, yet for some reason it stuck out like a dead bit on a computer screen. The others saw it as well, but they seemed just as uncertain about it as he was.
But then Gatomon and Hawkmon – who had by far the best vision out of the group – recoiled from whatever it was they saw.
'It's them!' Gatomon hissed.
'We'd be wise to Digivolve,' Hawkmon seconded, pleading with his confused partner. 'Yolei, there isn't time to explain – help me Digivolve!'
'Uh, r-right!' Hawkmon never got so agitated, so she knew that it had to be serious. She rummaged through her pocket at once and got out her Digivice. 'Just say the word!'
'The word!' Veemon exclaimed as he and the other Digimon hurried on ahead while the kids got their devices ready as well. In an instant, they were all lost within a familiar golden glow.
'Hawkmon, Digivolve to… Aquilamon!'
'Armadillomon, Digivolve to… Ankylomon!'
'Patamon, Digivolve to… Angemon!'
'Wormmon, Digivolve to… Stingmon!'
'Veemon, Digivolve to… ExVeemon!'
They broke free of the light, larger and better-prepared for a fight. Some were big enough now to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the buildings on either side of them, but it wasn't enough to make moving difficult. Gatomon was the lone exception, having remained in her Champion state for the time being.
The dot was growing bigger with each passing second until – finally – everyone could make out what Gatomon and Hawkmon had recognised at a distance: it was the creature that had been accompanying GranKuwagamon.
'I'll take care of this!' Ankylomon launched forward, twisting his bulky body round; his mace-like tail tore into the building next to him, but failed to halt his momentum. 'Tail Hammer!'
The attack hit its mark like the well-timed swing of a baseball bat. Much like a baseball, the enemy's force was negated, rebounding it off of the sidewalk and into the street. The road held, but its surface around the point of impact riddled with cracks like a stricken eggshell.
Davis and Yolei's mouths fell agape. 'Holy-'
'-crap.'
Davis chuckled, pumping a fist in the air. 'Heheh! How'd you like that?'
ExVeemon spoke without turning. 'It's not gonna be that easy, Davis.'
'We can't take any chances,' Aquilamon, too, was too big to turn around. 'Quick – while it's still down! Digivolve us again!'
'You don't got to tell me twice!' Davis held his Digivice aloft. 'Let's do this, Ken!'
The raven-haired young man nodded and matched Davis. The devices in their hands were still for a moment, but then they began to vibrate and we again overcome with light. The others did the same with the same result; the six Champions radiated with the shine of evolution once more.
At that precise moment, a pair of large golden stingers stabbed into the asphalt, pulling the creature free of its shallow crater.
'Desperado Blaster!'
A salvo of energy blasts rattled their foe as a rainstorm lashes against a window. It both trembled and recoiled in equal measure as it was met with blast after rapid blast. Despite this, however, it did not fall back; its giant stingers held firm as if rooted in the road.
'Kachina Bombs!'
Shakkoumon's naval opened, sending forth multiple clay tiles toward their enemy. True to their name, the tiles exploded either upon impact on upon colliding with one of Paildramon's energy blasts. The fireball generated swallowed the monster whole, shrouding it within the smoke and the heat. The pair ceased their attacks and watched closely for any sign of movement.
It happened quicker than they could react: the fire was sudden swept aside and the enemy leaping forward with a stinger raised and ready for stabbing.
Silphymon leapt into action and – with strength uncommon for one her size – shoved her friends out of the stinger's path. The pair of them slammed into the walls and shattered shop windows, but they were out of immediate danger, but now the strike had a new target.
But Silphymon was unafraid, armouring herself in a burning pink aura.
'Static Force!'
Silphymon leapt back, her energy clinging to air as substitute.
The creature plunged its stinger into the heart of the stand-in without a second thought and – like a conductor – led the energy right back into itself. Its entire body was bathed in the energy and began spasming violently as if electrified. It neither screamed nor cried out at the pain, but it was clearly experiencing some.
But it was no time for celebration.
Despite the twitching, the creature raised it 'arms' high and then brought them down suddenly as if they were cleavers. The force was immense, dispelling the energy that trapped it completely; the wind this whipped up rushed forth in all directions, breaking the surrounding windows from bottom-to-top. The road fractured badly, the cracks now stretching all the way onto either sidewalk.
The Digidestined were completely swept off their feet, with their partners only just managing to remain on theirs.
'Ugh, man…' Davis tried to get up off of his back, but the fall had completely taken the wind out of him. 'Okay… One and two and-'
'Cable Catcher!'
'Upsie-dais… Huh…?'
What was this that Davis was looking at? He had sat up, only to find a large black dot hovering before his eyes.
The colour drained from his face the instant he realised that it was the point of a stinger. It was frozen in place not three inches from the bridge of his nose. Were it not for Paildramon, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that it would have found its mark.
Paildramon pulled back on his cables and flung the monster toward the end of the road and into the building that stood there. The shop's window shattered at once, spitting out a heap of rubble and a pillar of dust. It had clearly been a strong impact.
'Davis!' Kari knelt down at his side. 'Davis, speak to me! Davis!'
'… H-huh?'
He'd hardly heard her – his heart was hammering too hard to. He sat still for a moment, his brain still digesting what a split-second's difference might have meant. That had been far too close for comfort. Davis wasn't exactly a stranger to hostile Digimon, but this one had just actively singled him out and tried to-!
'Davis!'
'I-I'm fine,' he lied, though the sweat running down his pale face seemed to tell them a different tale. 'I said I'm fine… Don't worry about it, Kari.'
'Are you sure?'
'Yeah… Just gimme a minute and I'll be good to go.'
She was far from convinced but said nothing of it. She was just relieved that he was talking at all. The others were every bit as frightened as she was; simply seeing it from a distance had been scary enough, let alone what it must have been like to see it up close…
Davis swallowed and could feel the saliva trailing down his throat – it was bone-dry. He took one breath and then a second before attempting to stand. His legs trembled beneath him as if the ground were still shaking. He stumbled, but thankfully Ken was there to hold him steady.
'Hah… Hah…' Davis dashed the sweat from his brow as he panted. 'This guy isn't playin' around…'
'Davis, maybe you should sit back down-'
Were it not for the adrenaline, he might have heeded his best friend's advice – but right now he needed to keep his head in the game. This was no time to be scared stiff.
'If he wants to play that way, then so can we!' he snapped, squeezing his Digivice tight so that his trembling hand wouldn't drop it. 'Ken?'
'Are you sure that you're-?'
'Ken.'
Ken wasn't comfortable with the idea, but he couldn't let that stop him. Davis had it far worse than he did, so it wouldn't have been right to let him down. He squeezed his Digivice.
'Alright… Paildramon!'
Their partner straightened up, his body exuding golden light.
'You heard them, you guys!' TK shouted. 'Keep that thing busy!'
Said "thing" had just emerged from the rubbly remains of the shop as Silphymon and Shakkoumon rocketed over to greet it.
'Static Force!'
'Justice Beam!'
Powerful blasts slammed into the nameless being but failed to move it; its stingers were crossed before it like a human's arms.
'Kachina Bombs!'
Clay tiles again rushed forth, albeit flying much lower and even sliding across the road like hockey pucks. They accumulated at the creature's 'feet' in what looked like a small mound. All they needed was ignition, which Silphymon was only too happy to provide.
'Static Force!'
The explosions went off one-after-the-other like a set of firecrackers, creating a bigger and bigger fireball with every new detonation. Heat swept over the Digidestined suddenly, hotter even than that of a blazing furnace. Everything within the blast radius was splashed with flame and speckled with embers. Choking black smoke swirled, reaching higher and higher for cooler air.
Shakkoumon and Silphymon stood rigidly, eyeing the fires like patrons of art in a museum – critically. They searched for the slightest hint of movement inside the haze. It had been quite the blast, but they doubted that it would be so easy.
As the light dimmed, the Digidestined took heart at the sight of the titan took shape before them: it was Imperialdramon, evolved all the way into his Fighter Mode.
'Yeah!' the sight helped calm Davis' nerves a little. 'Go and teach this joker a lesson!'
'You've got it – hm?!'
No sooner was he ready for battle when something burst forth from the smoke. It was a dark sphere, no bigger than a volleyball, but it moved far faster than any volleyball that he'd ever seen. He only just managed to catch the thing, and only then did he realise its heft; it felt as though Imperialdramon had tried to catch and asteroid with his bare hands. His palms ached and his fingers tingled numbly. He could almost feel his elbows creaking with the strain of holding the thing back. Digging his toes into the asphalt did little to help – it was pushing him back regardless, a little bit at a time.
He was just feet away from the kids. They needed to move, but there was hardly any room to move. The street was too narrow and Imperialdramon too big.
Yolei suddenly remembered the Phys. Ed volleyball classes she hated. 'P-PUSH IT UP!' she screamed. 'UP!'
Imperialdramon heard her, but it was no use. Every muscle and fibre were at their limit just holding it back, let alone trying to alter its course.
But just as he could feel his arms giving in, the sphere pulled back in reverse. With the weight gone, Imperialdramon fell to a knee as a curious wind rushed at his back.
It was Shakkoumon. The living doll's compartment was again open, this time sucking in air like a vacuum. The sphere lost its shape as the energy was taken in. The compartment shut, and steam hissed out of the doll's head.
But something wasn't right.
The living doll froze like a statue. For a moment nothing happened, but the next his mighty metal body became crinkly like tinfoil. Black arcs flashed about the metal, making it even more wrinkly still.
'Shakkoumon!' Cody tried to run, but Yolei didn't let him get very far. 'Yolei, what are you doing?! Let me go! I have to help him! Let me go!'
'No! You'll just get yourself hurt!'
'No, I won't! Let go of me!'
'Ugh! Cody, stop! I need a hand over here!'
Ken rushed over to help, and so did Kari. Cody put up an impressive fight, considering that the three were bigger than he was.
But that fight ended as light flooded his eyes and then vanished just as quickly. Shakkoumon was gone, and what remained of him lay unconscious on the sidewalk.
'Patamon!'
'Upamon!'
Neither responded and seemed unlikely to for quite a while. Whatever the attack had been, it had certainly appeared to have done a number on both.
Silphymon leapt first across the street to grab them, and then once again to where the children were gathered. TK and Cody immediately took their partners into their own hands. They tried again and again to wake them up, but to no avail. They were out cold.
'G-guys… It's still…'
Yolei pointed, trembling, to the very thing none of them wished to see.
The sudden gust had thinned out the fires just enough that they could all see quite clearly what stood at their heart. It stood there with its stingers used as stilts, seemingly unconcerned with the tongues of flame licking at it. Given that it wore a large purple cloak like a Bakemon, it appeared quite flammable, and yet none of the flames seemed to be doing anything. It wasn't even singed, let alone on burning.
Like the colour in his face, Davis' adrenaline drained away. 'N-no way… That thing's fire-proof?!'
Panic replaced courage at the sight. None of the kids could believe that three Ultimate-level Digimon had managed to do so little damage. Their only remaining hope made to stand, but he found even that much to be a struggle. Imperialdramon thought about Patamon and Upamon. Had they not taken the full-brunt of that attack in his place, then he would have come undone in their place.
But his time was short. He could already feel his union dissolving, meaning that his next attack was make or break. He determined this just as Silphymon appeared at his side.
'Can you still fight?'
'For now,' he wheezed, trying to recall the last time he was so short of breath. 'That last attack really took it out of me.'
'I can tell just by looking at you.'
The dragon-king might've laughed had he the energy for it.
'So, then: what should we do? Any bright ideas?'
Imperialdramon nodded. He had one attack in him at most, which narrowed his list of choices down to one.
'Get it as high as you can,' he instructed.
'Yeah? Then what?'
'Get as far away as you can.'
She balled her fists so tightly that the nails dug into her palms. She balled them tighter still as the creature pulled itself free of its fiery pit.
'… It'll be there; just make it count.'
A sudden gust rushed through the street as Imperialdramon shot up into the sky. Within an instant he was hovering high above the buildings with his eyes fixed upon the monster below. He could see it leaning back, as if holding his gaze.
It didn't seem to realise its error until Silphymon planted her foot deep in its mid-section. It doubled-over as if winded, though without a gasp it was difficult to tell.
'HAAAA-AHHH!'
Silphymon's fists became blurred until they became indistinct, pulling back and throwing them so rapidly that it looked as if she had several. They rattled off her opponent so quickly that it reacted as if under machine-gun fire. It continued jerking even after she had dropped down and drawn back a fist down by her hip. It was wreathed in a pink aura.
The upper-cut was such that the air itself rippled like water. The entire area seemed to shake, so it didn't surprise anyone that the marionette-like creature was sent high into the open air.
Like the others, Yolei held a hand before her eyes against this second gust, but having her glasses meant that she could peek through her fingers. It was enough to put an anxious smile on her face.
'You did it!'
'Not yet!' Silphymon told her as she leapt up after it. Having a fair idea which attack Imperialdramon intended to use, she could tell at a glance that it wasn't nearly high enough yet. 'Eat this!'
Silphymon slapped the heels of her palms together and readied her energy as she rocketed beyond the building tops. The creature twisted helplessly in mid-air as she pushed the energy into its back.
'Static Force!'
The sphere burst and forced the two apart. It wasn't too much higher that it rose, but it would have to be enough. Silphymon twisted herself into a nose-dive as she fell for a quicker getaway. In light of what was about to happen, it seemed a good idea to not stick around.
Her timing couldn't have been more perfect. Imperialdramon – hovering some distance away for his own safety – had just finished channelling everything into his core. The mouth of his dragon chest-plate opened, revealing a core shining like a star and thrumming with untold energies.
'Giga Crusher!'
The pitch sharpened. It sounded almost as if the energies were screaming a demand for release.
Imperialdramon dared to presume success, and it was in that very instant that he lost sight of his target.
The blast had been a blink away when, suddenly, the creature wasn't so far at all. It was as if he were witnessing a skipping video: in one instance the strange being had been distant and stunned, and the next it was placed well-within striking-distance. It had one of its 'arms' drawn back, so it clearly knew that as well.
How in the-?!
But it was too late to think, and much too late to stop. The next thing he knew was a stinger being thrust at his core, and then the sound of a loud 'CRACK'.
…
'Nova Force!'
WarGreymon spun so fast that he looked like a red cyclone as he bounced off of GranKuwagamon's skull.
The beast stumbled, the trees beside it snapping like twigs as it tried to stay on its feet.
The battle had raged for just two minutes, and it didn't seem likely to last much longer. It had all started so suddenly that the Digimon and their partners were all hopped up on adrenaline. One moment they had been following Cherrymon's trail, and in the next they'd been caught off-guard by GranKuwagamon's charging at them like a goring rhino.
Nevertheless, the numbers game had quickly become too much for it.
WarGreymon stopped spinning and landed alongside his fellow Digimon in the defensive line separating the enemy from their partners. The fog swirled all around them as if spectating, kept at bay by the sheer weight of their attacks. What had only moments ago been unbroken woodland was now a large clearing in the forest. Felled trees were strewn about like a child's discarded toys.
It was the fourth time GranKuwagamon had been knocked down, and the fourth time that it got right back up again. It swiped and swung wildly like a dazed boxer. What few thoughts it had in its head looked to have been knocked out of it by the last attack. It roared its terrible roar, but it didn't frighten the Digimon or the children; the menace was gone, leaving only the desperate cry of a monster who'd realised that it had picked the wrong fight.
'Everyone!' WarGreymon rallied. 'Attack at the same time!'
'Horn Buster!'
'Wing Blade!'
'Metal Wolf Claw!'
'Terra Force!'
GranKuwagamon charged headlong into the blasts as if it were the quarterback of a one-mon-team. Perhaps it meant to break on through, but it didn't get very far at all before it dissolved into a cloud of data bytes.
With the immediate threat dealt with, the light of de-Digivolved flashed as fog started creeping on back into the clearing.
'That was great!' Tai grinned from ear-to-ear, pulling Agumon into a tight hug. 'I wish the younger guys in my soccer club were half as coordinated as you guys were! Good work, everybody!'
Agumon nuzzled his partner. 'It was nothing.'
'You're telling me,' Matt patted Gabumon on the shoulder, but he couldn't ignore the niggling feeling he had that something wasn't right. 'Is it just me or did that seem a little too easy?'
Gabumon was happy for the praise but couldn't understand the appraisal. 'What do you mean, Matt? Did I do something wrong?'
'Not at all,' said Matt. 'Just thinking aloud is all.'
'So, what are you thinking, then?' asked Tai. 'Better out than in, right?
'Tai…'
'You know what I mean,' he could almost feel Sora's eyes boring through him. 'C'mon, Matt: out with it.'
'I'm just saying that something kinda off; we've never beaten a Mega this easily before.'
'Yeah…' Sora sighed, suddenly not so certain. She noticed the look Tai then gave her, and she didn't like it one bit. 'I'm not saying this just to agree with Matt,' she snapped at him. 'All the Mega-level Digimon we've ever fought have thrown us around like ragdolls and this one didn't.'
Izzy's lips pressed into a thin line. 'Hmm… Perhaps it's more a case of it 'couldn't'. It's entirely possible that GranKuwagamon simply wasn't all that strong in the first place.'
'You're telling me!' Tentomon buzzed. 'Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I felt as if I could've taken that big bully on all by myself!'
'Me, too,' said Biyomon, albeit in a much less overstated way. 'To be honest, he wasn't nearly as scary as I thought he would be.'
'We could have we caught him napping,' Gabumon suggested.
'But it had just hurt Cherrymon when we found him,' Agumon pointed out.
'Oh… right.'
'In any case, I'd say that we've more than done our part for the day,' said Izzy. 'We can discuss this later – preferably somewhere without so much fog in it.'
'You won't hear me complaining,' Tai mumbled, grabbing his Digivice. 'Let's see now… The map says the portal's back… that-a-way.'
'Or we could just follow back the trail,' said Matt, pointing.
'Either works in my book; no reason to stick around here.'
…
Davis didn't recall falling, but for some reason he couldn't get back up. He would try to push himself off of his belly, but then gravity would yank him right back down again. There was a lump in his throat he feared might be his breakfast. He tried to swallow it but would have had better luck at swallowing a whole apple.
When he spoke, it was in choked whispers. 'Guys… Guys, you there?'
'We're still here,' he heard TK groan from somewhere close by. 'Ugh… My head's ringing like a bell…'
There were some scraping noises around him - most likely the others attempting to get up.
'Ugh… I think I broke my everything…' Yolei exaggerated, feeling at her lenses to ensure that they weren't broken. 'What happened?'
'There was an explosion.'
They all tensed at a voice much too husky to be one of theirs. Those who weren't already up to their knees practically sprang up at the sound of it with their eyes zeroing in on the speaker, stood in front of them with his back turned.
TK coughed. 'You were still here?'
'Clearly,' Oyabumon glanced back over his shoulder at them. At least, that's he seemed to do; it was hard to tell with a mask pulled over his face. 'But enough about that; you should leave now while you still have the chance.'
'I don't understand,' Ken told him. 'What happened to us?'
Oyabumon's gaze shifted upwards and theirs in turn.
'W-what?' Davis leaked air like a punctured balloon. 'Ah… huh…?'
Ken's eyes went as wide as tennis balls at the sight. 'This… can't be…'
Not one of the Digidestined remained in a stunned stupor when they saw it.
Imperialdramon was falling.
A smoking heap, he fell like an asteroid and crashed hard into the street beneath him. The ground trembled a little with his landing, kicking up quite the dust cloud in his wake.
Neither Davis nor Ken could quite believe it. 'IMPERIALDRAMON!'
Kari gasped. 'Where's Silphymon?'
'Hm?' Oyabumon turned, revealing that his arms were full. 'Do you mean them?'
He held both Poromon and Salamon in his arms. Yolei and Kari quickly took them off his hands and tried to wake their partners up, but neither of them did. Both were breathing softly, but that was the extent of it. Like Upamon and Patamon, nothing their partners said would help rouse them.
'They were caught in the blast by the time I'd reached them,' said Oyabumon, shifting his mask back to its original position. 'It's nothing a little rest won't fix.'
Yolei and Kari gave up on trying to wake their partner Digimon up. They could tell just from looking at them that Oyabumon was right. Nothing seemed to wake them, and it was best not to push them too hard.
'Wait,' said Cody, 'where did that monster go?'
The humanoid Digimon jerked his head upward. 'See for yourselves.'
They did so, and they didn't like what they saw.
The creature hovered in place high above them, looking conspicuously unharmed. It was more than just the height of it; it didn't even look as if it's robe had been tattered. Given its proximity to the blast, it didn't seem possible that it could have come away unscathed; Imperialdramon lay smoking in a shallow crater, yet it was still floating as if nothing had even happened.
'I think you piqued its curiosity,' Oyabumon told them. 'Perhaps slipping away isn't an option after all.'
It certainly seemed to be the case, for gravity sudden retook the creature and brought it crashing back down. It struck at the ground with its stingers and stuck its landing flawlessly.
Retreat no longer seemed like a bad idea – not even to a hothead like Davis. Whatever this creature was, it was clearly much more than they could handle without backup. They needed to go back to the drawing board lest they ended up on the chopping block.
'Guys, we can't stay here!' TK's shouted.
'Are you out of your mind?!' Davis yelled right back, fighting his own gut instinct to run. 'We can't just cut and run without Imperialdramon!'
Ken was frightened, but no less determined than Davis was. He'd lost Wormmon once, and he wasn't about to lose him again.
TK looked over to the downed titan, doing his utmost to keep his cool.
This isn't good, he thought to himself. We need to get out of here, but… Why haven't they turned back to normal?
There could be no question that Imperialdramon was badly hurt, yet somehow, he was still holding himself together. Too damaged to fight and too heavy to carry away, TK just couldn't see how they could possibly take him and run – not unless he separated, and fast.
Oyabumon had the coolest head of them all by far; he even went so far as to sigh as if the whole thing were something trivial.
'He hasn't the strength left to fight, but just enough to keep that form,' he tutted. 'How unhelpfully durable… Hm?'
The creature was up to something, throwing its stingers up into the air. Black electricity arced from one to the other, rising between the two and giving shape to another black sphere at the stingers' tips. Before it had been the size of a volleyball, but this one was thrown prematurely when it was no bigger than a golf ball.
Oyabumon immediately reached for his mask but stopped short of pulling it over his face. A barrier had appeared between him, the children and the oncoming sphere, though not the kind he had intended. He'd not expected that one so big could be so quick.
'Imperialdramon?!' the children gasped together.
His armour had shattered in the blast and his skin was badly bruised and even broken in places, but there could be no mistake about who he was. Without a moment's pause he threw his hands forward and grabbed for the sphere. With much of his armour lost, it was all-too-easy to see how knotted his back and shoulders became from the effort.
But that wasn't all. Oyabumon narrowed his eyes up at the dragon-knight's broad shoulders, seeing the kind of faint flicker one might expect of a dying neon light.
'What is that?'
Imperialdramon didn't know what it was either; he could feel a strange warmth in his shoulders and wasn't sure whether it was just a side-effect of getting caught up in his own blast. He'd felt it while he'd lain in that crater. The blast was such that it ought to have put him down for the count, but that heat alone had kept him awake and aware.
Nothing weighed Imperialdramon's right arm down, so he could only assume that he'd lost his blaster. Even so, something told him that it didn't matter; he felt a very new and very strange instinct, telling him that he could repel the sphere without it.
That was when he felt the unknown heat travelling down his arms and into his hands. Suddenly, the sphere didn't feel heavy at all.
Imperialdramon was confused, but he wasn't about to waste an opportunity that was likely his last. He dared to draw back a fist and slammed it into the ball's surface with everything he had. It reshaped itself around his fist with its colour quickly changing from the deepest black to the lightest white. With this, the sphere bounced off of his knuckles and was sent hurtling back to its maker. The creature didn't even seem to realise what had hit it until after it had already been lost within the ensuing explosion.
It was at this moment that the fusion finally dissolved, leaving DemiVeemon and Leafmon behind in place of the titan they had been.
'Hahaha!' Davis hurried over with Ken in tow. 'You did it, buddy! You actually did it!'
'Davis, we have to get out of here!' Ken reminded him. 'That thing's managed to tough out a lot worse than that!'
'No, the boy's right,' Oyabumon told him. 'It's done.'
Ken remained sceptical. 'How are you so sure?'
'I can't see it anymore; I assume that you know what that means in this world, correct?'
'Even if you say that…'
'Hmph,' Oyabumon walked right on by him. 'As you wish. Wait here.'
Unlike Ken, Yolei was much more willing to believe that the monster was gone. 'Thank God that's over…' she sighed, adjusting her hold of Poromon. 'Is everyone okay? How are the Digimon holding up?'
'They should be okay,' Kari assured her with Salamon cradled in her arms. 'They're just worn out from all the fighting; it's nothing a little sleep won't fix.'
'How about you, Davis,' TK asked carefully. 'I mean, you had a pretty close call back there…'
'I can't complain – after all, these guys did all the hard work.'
'Still-'
'I said I'm fine.'
'Whatever you say.'
The Digidestined took to celebrating as best they could without disturbing their partners' well-earned rest. Only Ken wouldn't take part in it, his eyes fixed upon Oyabumon's back as the humanoid Digimon inspected the site of the explosion. To the boy's surprise, however, Oyabumon suddenly jumped into the crater and out of vision. He wasn't long, though, jumping back out onto the fractured road with something slung under his arm. Ken's eyes bulged when he recognised what it was.
It was a human boy.
…
A/N: And… done!
This was by far the most tiring chapter I've ever done. Multiple rewrites and a whole bunch of ideas have pushed me to a new record: 10, 980 words!
Not to seem like an old man, but I think I'm going to have a couple of days rest now. Please enjoy and – as ever – feel free to comment with what you liked and didn't like. Your opinion is much-appreciated and very educational in the long run.
See you guys next time.
