The general's lust
chapter 7
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"I don't know what you did to Taiki, but give him back!" Demanded Shoutmon, turning to Lilithmon who only smirked in reply.
"Why?" She asked. "So you can hurt him again?"
"Have you gone even more nuts? We'd never hurt Taiki!" Called out Akari, before she asked in concern. "Taiki, don't you remember us? We're your friends."
"Don't listen to these liars. All they want to do is cloud your mind and strike while you have your guard down." Lilithmon said back, making Taiki nod in reply.
Lilithmon couldn't help but smile, seeing her words and the power of Taiki's new Xros Loader were keeping him under control, now all she had to do was deal with Xros Heart.
"Tankmon, fire away!" Lilithmon then ordered, watching on as Xros Heart and Blue Flare were overcome by the gunfire and forced to take cover behind mounds of garbage.
"Mega Machine Gun Arms!" The Tankmon called in unison, blasting away at the walls of junk, as well as Shoutmon, who managed to jump away from the attacks, before taking cover.
"What's going on? Why is Taiki acting like we're the enemy?" Shoutmon asked.
"I don't know, but I think it has something to do with that new Xros Loader." Ballistamon guessed. "Maybe it scrambled his memory banks?"
"So what can we do to help Taiki regain his memory?" Cutemon questioned from atop Dorulumon's head.
"If we destroy that Xros Loader, it may break whatever spell Lilithmon has cast over Taiki." Dorulumon said, making Shoutmon pull out his mic and ask. "Then what are we standing around here for?"
"Let's go save…" Shoutmon began to say as he jumped from his hiding spot, only to be tackled away by Dorulumon.
Confused, Shoutmon questioned in demand as he squirmed around, pinned underneath the wolf Digimon. "What are you doing?"
"If you had let me finish, I was going to say that destroying it may break Lilithmon's spell, but it could destroy Taiki's memories too." Dorulumon explained, causing Shoutmon to stop struggling and realize a rash attack wasn't the way to go to bring back their friend.
The army kept up their fire as Lilithmon watched with satisfaction.
However, she then noticed while Blue Flare was still in combat with SkullGreymon and SkullSatamon, AxeKnightmon was just standing in place.
'What's he up to?' Lilithmon asked herself. 'Is he afraid my blasts may dent his armor?'
However, what nobody knew was AxeKnightmon's secret agenda.
'I can feel it. The darkness in Taiki's new Xros Loader is growing stronger. And when the time is right, I will take that darkness and use it to complete my Darkness Loader.'
Meanwhile, as the battle continued, Taiki kept up a frown as he watched the shelling. He knew this should feel good, but it was the opposite.
"Something wrong?" Lilithmon then asked.
"No, I'll be fine." Taiki replied, even though that was a total lie.
Meanwhile, as Xros Heart remained pinned behind their trash walls, they knew it was only a matter of time before Lilithmon and her forces would break through, before breaking them.
"What do we do?" Sparrowmon asked, before she stated. "Their firepower is too much to handle without a Digifuse."
But she, along with the rest of Xros Heart were amazed when the Troopmon piloting the Tankmon were consumed in energy blasts and destroyed.
"What is this!? Who dares attack my Tankmon army?" Lilithmon demanded.
"We dare!" A male voice called out, making everyone look up to see that standing amongst the piles of trash was Puppetmon and his friends.
"Puppetmon!" Akari called out, happy to see him, as well as the ToyAgumon, Garbagemon and the two MetalMamemon.
"After what Xros Heart did for us, it's time we repaid the favour." One of the two MetalMamemon said.
"Right. And don't think for a second we're afraid, because we're not." Puppetmon stated, only for his nose to grow longer, showing he was lying.
But his determination to save his new friends was greater than his fear against the Bagra Army, making the puppet Digimon command. "Ok guys, attack with everything you have!"
"Toy Flame!" The ToyAgumon called out as they shot block-like fireballs at the Troopmon, which then exploded upon contact and wiped them out.
"Energetic Bomb!" The Metal Mamemon duo shouted as they both fired blasts of energy that knocked down several Tankmon.
And due to the Tankmon's body structure, it was impossible for the Troopmon to command them to back up
"Junk Chunker!" Garbagemon yelled, firing blasts of sludge from his cannon, blinding the Troopmon he hit and caused them to accidentally bump against the control panels they used to operate their Tankmon, which resulted in them destroying factions of Lilithmon's army.
Seeing the Tankmon that were no longer occupied by a Troopmon driver, Puppetmon got an idea as he then jumped forward, landing inside the cockpit of a decommissioned Tankmon, which then sprung to life.
And with that, Puppetmon turned the cranks, forcing the Tankmon to rotate 180 degrees and face the enemy, before pressing the buttons atop the controls, causing the Tankmon to fire.
"Hyper Launcher!" Puppetmon's Tankmon suddenly yelled, blasting several of Lilithmon's troops to pieces, shocking her, while amazing Xros Heart.
"Take out the Troopmon! Without them the Tankmon lose their source of control." Puppetmon called out, making his friends nod in reply.
"Seismic Speaker!" Called Ballistamon, after rushing out from behind the rubble.
His sonic blast sent two of the Tankmon crashing into each other, knocking out the Troopmon pilots and rendering the Tankmon obsolete. And allowing the MetalMamemon duo to take over the Tankmon.
Seeing her forces were being taken down and turned against her, Lilithmon yelled at the Troopmon. "Shoot them you fools!"
"Sorry, but we can't have that. Junk Chunker!" Garbagemon suddenly called out, firing several shots of gunk that got lodged within the Tankmon's cannon-like noses and caused them to only wind up blasting and damaging themselves, while blasting the Troopmon out of the cockpits, as well as Deleting them.
As the Troopmon and Tankmon were being destroyed or turned against each other, Shoutmon looked at Taiki and could see the confusion within the boy's eyes as he stared at his new Xros Loader.
"What do I do?" Taiki asked, looking at Lilithmon as it felt like his body and mind were in total conflict.
"Find a way to destroy them. Use your head and come up with a plan." Lilithmon yelled in a commanding tone.
Taiki looked at the Xros Loader in his hand and saw the Tankmon, before looking at Lilithmon, causing him to flick his goggles for some reason, as something clicked in his head.
Realizing the dangers and horrors that would come if Lilithmon was to Digifuse once again, Shoutmon knew he had to stop Taiki before it was too late.
That's when an idea of his own came to the dragon Digimon.
Running over to Zenjirou, Shoutmon grabbed Taiki's old Xros Loader, making Akari question. "Shoutmon, what are you doing?"
"Trust me. I think I have an idea to get Taiki back." Shoutmon replied, before running to the battle.
Dodging the blasts from both sides, as well as avoiding being crushed under the treads of the Tankmon, Shoutmon continued to charge forward, determined to reach his friend and set things right.
"Hey!" Shoutmon called out, getting the attention of Lilithmon and Taiki.
"You want this so badly? Then take it!" Shoutmon yelled as he leapt forward at Taiki, causing him to bring up his own Xros Loader in a subconscious way to defend himself.
This however caused both Xros Loaders to clash, creating a surge of light and darkness to consume Shoutmon and Taiki as they collapsed, staring blankly at the sky.
As they laid there, both saw images flash through their heads.
In Shoutmon's head, he watched as Taiki was restrained by Arkadimon while his memories were drained by Lilithmon and then was deceived on a dark path, while Taiki saw himself working with his enemies.
However though, he was smiling and felt good. In fact, they didn't seem like the kind to be his enemies at all.
But as both remained down, a dark smile appeared on Lilithmon's face.
'This is my chance.' She thought, reaching out to grab Taiki's old Xros Loader, only for it to repel her hand with a barrier of light.
She hissed from slight pain as Taiki and Shoutmon's bodies started moving.
While Shoutmon slowly awoke and sat up, he turned to see Taiki, his eyes still closed, while he was crying out, as if there was a whole conflict within his head that was unable to process the knowledge he had received from both sides.
"C'mon Taiki." Shoutmon called, placing his Xros Loader in the boy's free hand. "Remember who you really are and not who Lilithmon says you are."
"You little brat! Get away from my servant!" Lilithmon yelled as she launched her clawed fingers at Shoutmon.
Before they could reach him though, Taiki's body lurched forward and pushed him away as the clawed fingers pierced his back.
"See Taiki? She doesn't care about you. Everything she says has been a lie. We're not your enemy, she is. So snap out of it already so we can have our General and friend back." Shoutmon pleaded.
Taiki's body shook from the pain as Lilithmon's claws pulled out and his mind started to fill with the previous images, causing the light in the original Xros Loader he had received to grow stronger, showing he was beginning to remember who he actually was.
And before anyone could say or react, the light consumed Taiki's body, before soon dying down, revealing the General was no longer dressed in the dark clothing that associated him with Bagra, but was back to a copy of his old clothes.
The clothes he wore as Xros Heart's General.
Lilithmon was stunned as Taiki pushed himself up regardless of the wound. "What is this?" She questioned in shock and confusion.
"I am no servant to you or Bagra, I am Taiki Kudo!" Taiki screamed in a determined tone, fueling his Xros Loader, while Lilithmon's replacement Loader shattered to pieces and the darkness created from it released.
"Impossible. He resisted me again?" She remarked under her breath.
"And now to finish off where my friends started. Digifuse!" Taiki then called out.
"Shoutmon!"
"Ballistamon!"
"Dorulumon!"
"Sparrowmon!"
"Starmon!"
"Pitmons!"
"Digifuse!" They yelled as Xros Heart's power combined with Sparrowmon, making the new form call out in a strong tone.
"Shoutmon X5!"
With Shoutmon X5, Blue Flare and their armies defeated, Taiki said. "Now Lilithmon, this time it's over."
"How right you are." AxeKnightmon suddenly replied in a dark tone, before chuckling.
"What's so funny, metalhead?" Shoutmon X5 asked.
"What's funny is that while you all were foolishly gallivanting in this battle, I was waiting for the last of the darkness in that false Xros Loader to become mine." AxeKnightmon replied, holding out his hand and showing it contained a sphere of dark energy.
"What is that thing?" Taiki questioned.
"That's the blazing orb." Nene said in a shocked reply, as Sparrowmon added in her own tone of shock and nervousness. "And you know it can only spell trouble."
While Lilithmon, upon seeing it, commented. "I must find out where this guy shops for his weapons."
"Now to unleash the full power of the Darkness Loader! Enjoy, for it is the last thing you'll ever see! Dark Digifuse!" AxeKnightmon suddenly exclaimed, holding the darkness high into the air.
The fallen forms of SkullGreymon and SkullSatamon were then consumed by darkness, before the pair were forced into AxeKnightmon's very being, shocking everyone, even Lilithmon, as AxeKnightmon's axe grew red spikes, his Twin Lancer was surrounded by the skull and bones of SkullGreymon, and his power had grown to unimaginable levels.
"What's the matter, Lilithmon?" AxeKnightmon asked, before taking to the skies. "You look like you've seen your plans unravel before your very eyes."
"We had a deal, remember?" She asked, not wanting to face AxeKnightmon's new form.
"A necessary deception. Who needs you now that the Darkness Loader is operational? Allow me to show you what my power can do!" AxeKnightmon replied as he held up his spear and created a massive vortex of pure darkness, shocking all of Xros Heart, Blue Flare, Lilithmon and Damemon further.
AxeKnightmon then cast his hand forward, commanding his dark vortex right at all those before him.
"Wow, look at that thing. Time to go." Lilithmon said in a panicky tone, preparing to make a portal and run away. However, she was unable to.
"My powers." She said, looking at her shaking hands and guessing AxeKnightmon had drained her energy too.
Now she was trapped and unable to escape her demise.
"Guys, hit that thing with everything you've got." Taiki called out, before facing Lilithmon. "You too."
Hearing Taiki talk to her, Lilithmon asked. "Me? Do you expect me to take orders from you?"
"Not really, but if you don't want to wind up as nothing, I suggest you help us out." Taiki replied.
Knowing she had no choice, Lilithmon groaned in an annoyed tone. "Fine. I'll help you brats."
"Good." Smiled Taiki, before calling out. "Digifuse!"
"Lilithmon!"
"Tankmons!"
"Digifuse!"
Lilithmon watched as her body glowed alongside some of the Tankmon that were still around and had survived the battle, or were under management of Xros Heart, as she and the Champion Digimon lights became one.
Her robe and black leather outfit digitized and were replaced by a tight fitting ensemble that was colored in a combination of green and brown, the same that the Tankmon had as their original paint jobs.
Her right hand was covered with a machine gun arm while her left shoulder was equipped with a cannon barrel, leaving her amazed at the power she felt, before she was unable to hold back and announced. "Lilithmon: Commando Mode!"
With a new force added to their arsenal, Taiki called out. "Ok guys, don't hold back!"
"Great Sword of Victory!"
"Giga Destroyer!"
"Crocodile Cannons!"
"Pollen Blaster!" Ivymon yelled out, firing pollen spheres at the darkness, hoping to help her friends and to continue to prove her value and strength to Kiriha.
"Sharp Shrapnel Cannons!" Lilithmon exclaimed as she fired a large wave of purple coloured spikes from her machinegun hand, which exploded upon contact with AxeKnightmon's attack and helped push back the vortex with Xros Heart and Blue Flare's power.
Continuing to give everything they had, the three teams soon pushed the darkness back before it erupted and exploded, destroying the tower Nene was trapped in and much of the surrounding area.
Luckily for Taiki and the others, the blast was just out of their range and nobody was harmed.
"It's over." Shoutmon X5 said, turning back into Shoutmon and the others.
"For now. But that's not the last we've seen of AxeKnightmon." Kiriha commented.
"And not the last you've seen of me."
Everyone turned to see Lilithmon, who had ditched her Commando Mode, causing the Tankmon she had Digifused with to fade away, open up a portal and was about to leave.
And even though she was an enemy Taiki, being polite, said to the female General. "Thanks for your help back there. We couldn't have done it without you."
"Don't mention it." Lilithmon replied as she turned around and then said to him in a serious tone. "I'm serious, don't ever mention this to anyone. Just because I helped stop AxeKnightmon from destroying you doesn't make us friends, I only did it to make sure he didn't wind up destroying your Code Crowns. Next time we meet, we are enemies and I will defeat you." Lilithmon stated, before she and Damemon entered the portal and left the Dust Zone.
But with her departure, Taiki couldn't help but smile and think. 'Lilithmon, you may act all tough but I know that somewhere deep inside there is good in of you.'
"Taiki!"
Taiki turned to see Shoutmon, Akari and the new friends they made in the Dust Zone approach and surround him, all happy to have him back.
"Guys!" Taiki called back happily, before commenting. "I see you made some new friends."
"Yes, I am Puppetmon. And it was truly a privilege to fight with your friends. I just wish we didn't have to fight you first." Puppetmon said, in which his nose stayed the same size.
"Yeah, after what Akari and Zenjirou said about you, it felt wrong raising arms against you." Garbagemon stated.
"That's ok. I'm just glad to be back." Taiki replied.
"And since you are, it's only fair you got a welcoming gift." Akari then said, holding out her hands and showing she had the Dust Zone's Code Crown.
"The Code Crown?" Taiki asked, making Akari nod and reply. "Yeah, it was no biggie. Just had to fight a monster train to get it."
"You know what this means, Taiki." Puppetmon then asked, before he said. "The Dust Zone belongs to you now."
Taiki, though flattered, smiled and replied. "Well it would, but I'm going to leave it here with you."
Hearing that amazed Puppetmon, the MetalMamemon, ToyAgumons and Garbagemon.
And having to ask, Puppetmon spoke up. "You would do that?"
"After helping my friends, you deserve it." Taiki replied in a friendly tone, handing the Code Crown to Puppetmon, who was truly grateful.
"Thank you, Taiki. You truly are the wise and kind hearted General your reputation lives up to." Puppetmon said, making Taiki smile.
But the cheerful nature was gone once more when Kiriha spoke.
"Taiki, now that the battle's over, you and I are enemies again. That means no mercy." Kiriha said as he walked off, while Ivymon followed him closely.
"Wait." Taiki called out. "If we join forces we could…"
However, Taiki was unable to finish as Kiriha boarded MailBirdramon's back, before taking off to the next Zone.
"So much for that." Akari said.
"Yeah, but at least we have Nene with us." Zenjirou stated.
"Yeah, and I know we'll meet Kiriha again." Taiki replied.
"I'm just glad you're back." Spoke Shoutmon.
"I am too." Starmon said.
"Us as well." The Pitmons all replied, making Taiki smile again at the friends he had.
-Meanwhile, in Bagra's base-
Lilithmon sighed as she walked back into her own room and sat on her bed, angry at the failed plan.
"The second time he broke my control. He's much stronger than I really thought." She grumbled to herself, before she looked at the blood on her claws and felt odd when she remembered Taiki's wound from it.
'He got it from me. All because of me.' Lilithmon thought with what felt like quilt for some reason.
And being top of the Bagra Army, she had never felt guilty about any of her actions beforehand.
Why now?
'We should have ravished his body when we had the chance.' Spoke her Inner voice.
Normally she would have agreed, but her response was different than even what she expected.
"That's something he'd never forgive." Lilithmon confessed to herself.
'Oh? And since when do you worry about what others feel?' Her Inner voice then asked.
"I… don't know." She remarked with surprise in her voice.
'Well stop it. You are not some weak willed girl. You are the one in charge.'
"That's right. I am ruthless and cold-hearted. I won't allow some child to make me feel any different." She remarked, clenching her bloodied fist and causing some of it to spill on the floor. 'Next time we meet Taiki. You're mine, one way or another.'
-Back with the group-
After showing their gratefulness, Puppetmon and his friends boarded their Trailmon and headed off to fulfil their promise to make the Dust Zone a better Zone for all, Xros Heart was left to themselves.
"Man, I am glad that's over. Now I know how you must've felt Nene." Taiki commented to the latest to join their team. "Uh, Nene?"
But she didn't reply as the brunette was too focused on the thoughts of her brother and what AxeKnightmon had done to him.
Using the silence, Akari turned to Taiki. "So what happened while Lilithmon was controlling you?"
"I can't remember that much." Taiki confessed. "I remember her tricking me into thinking you guys were the ones who wrecked my clothes, and my head."
"But the rest is just a blur." He then said, forgetting that Shoutmon was working as a spy for Lilithmon, how she had some 'fun' with him before he got his dark uniform and actually encountering Lord Bagra.
"That's ok. We're just glad you have your old memory back." Shoutmon stated in reply, which made Taiki nod and smile.
While Taiki and the others were all cheerful, Nene, who was staring at her black Xros Loader suddenly held it up and call out. "Yuu, I will save you. Zone Transfer!"
But, to Nene's confusion, nothing happened.
"Why didn't it work?" Sparrowmon asked, before her Monitamon emerged from the Xros Loader.
"Something's wrong. I…" Nene could only say, as it was at that moment Nene wobbled on her feet before falling to the ground.
"Nene!" Sparrowmon called out in concern, alerting Taiki and the others.
"Nene?" Taiki called to her in concern too, but got no response, making him ask Sparrowmon and the Monitamon. "What happened to her?"
"Her vitals indicate extreme fatigue excavated by chronic sleep deprivation." One of the Monitamon said in reply.
"But Miss. Nene should be fine if we can get her to the Warrior Zone for proper treatment." Another spoke up.
Concerned for her, Taiki replied. "That's it then. Let's go there right away."
"But how?" The first Monitamon asked, before explaining. "Miss. Nene's Xros Loader isn't working."
"We'll use mine." Taiki replied, before hold up his Xros Loader and calling out. "Zone Transfer!'
With that command, Taiki's Xros Loader glowed, creating a portal before the four humans, while Nene was hoisted on Zenjirou's back, the three remaining stepped in, determined to help their new ally and friend.
