Author's Note: This chapter marks more of a transition chapter as we gear up for the next major arc. We've had some allies we haven't checked in on in a few months, so how about we get to that, shall we?
Geckovitch scowled as he heard the latest news. According to Igamon, a strange red substance had been appearing almost overnight and overtaking towns throughout the Folder Continent. Not even Hospitown was spared, and since the red blob moved into the town there hadn't been any communication from Doctor Jijimon at all. Suffice to say, this new menace was bad news, and the general population of Folder knew it. Mostly, it existed only in rumors or superstitious mutterings, but after Daemon and Arkadimon the entire continent was a little quick to blame any occurrence on demons or abominations. And since they believed a dark influence was behind the problems, they turned to the armies of Holy Angel Castle to help them, just as they always had.
Unfortunately, the armies of Holy Angel Castle were far from the force they had been through most of Folder's history. While the war against Daemon ultimately ended in a victory thanks to the help of the DigiDestined, the toll was enormous. He had always served as more of an advisor to HolyAngemon instead of a fighter, but now he was forced to take charge of the army. And army was a term used only loosely, as apart from himself, HolyAngemon, and Igamon they didn't have any Digimon beyond the Rookie level. Worse, the only Rookies they had were the ones like Leo, who had dedicated the entirety of their new lives towards training for battle.
Even if HolyAngemon would have allowed it, Geckovitch would never have sent his handful of Rookies out to fight against something he didn't even understand. And HolyAngemon had enough problems dealing with the corruptive legacy of his battle with Arkadimon. As such, Geckovitch only sent out token scouting parties in response to requests for help, and made sure HolyAngemon was kept out of the loop as much as possible. At least that had proven to be easy, as HolyAngemon had sequestered himself in a distant wing of the castle and asked not to be disturbed until he was certain he wouldn't bring harm to those around him. The simple fact of the matter was Holy Angel Castle was in no position to keep Folder secure, and unfortunately this meant they simply were unable to respond to the requests for help.
For what felt like the hundredth time, Geckovitch ordered Igamon to scout a new area instead of sending help to his previous assignment. Igamon always looked reluctant to do so, but to the Champion's credit he didn't argue. After all, he was just as aware of the facts as Geckovitch was, and while he didn't like abandoning a town in need he knew there was simply nothing they could do. Only HolyAngemon knew how to call to outside worlds for help, so until he was ready Folder would have to fend for itself.
Just as Igamon was about to head out, however, a Patamon flew into the meeting room in such a hurry that he didn't manage to fully stop himself and bounced off the wall. When the scout had finally regained his bearings and caught his breath, he quickly gave his report. He had been returning from scouting in the desert when he came across a small band of refugees lead by Gon, protector of the Net Ocean. Unfortunately, they were on the run from an advancing wave of the red mass, and barely keeping ahead of it. The aquatic Digimon were leading the enemy right to the gates of Holy Angel Castle in their bid for a safe haven.
Hearing this, Geckovitch clenched his fists. He knew he couldn't fight the mysterious substance, so a rescue mission was out of the question. If the refugees came to Holy Angel Castle and brought the substance with them, the entire castle would be overrun, preventing Digimon on Folder from being reborn. Which left no choice but to turn the refugees away before they made it to the castle. Doing so would most likely mean ordering them to their deaths. But if it came down to a handful of refugees or the light of the future, Geckovitch knew which one he had to save.
"Igamon, stay at the castle. I'll go to these refugees myself. We cannot let this castle fall to the red menace, and thus we must turn its approach away. This castle represents the hope of this world, and that hope must be protected even if we must sully ourselves to do so. I won't ask anybody to accompany me- their deaths are my burden to bear." Before Igamon could protest, or Geckovitch could talk himself out of what he was about to do, the Ultimate level headed for the exit. However, despite his haste, he hadn't left the room before a commanding voice called out to him.
"You will do no such thing, Geckovitch. My castle makes a poor symbol of hope if we must sacrifice innocent lives to maintain it." With this, HolyAngemon stepped into the room, and even though he knew his master's condition Geckovitch couldn't help but stare. The once pure white robes HolyAngemon wore were now charcoal gray, except for a bare patch over the jet-black scar where Arkadimon had stabbed him. In addition to this, his hair had gone from blonde to silver. However, the most evident change was to his wings. Instead of the two majestic wings of his priest mode, HolyAngemon had lost his left wing entirely. His right wing hadn't fared much better- while it remained at full size, all the feathers had turned black, and each sudden movement by HolyAngemon caused a few more feathers to fall out. They grew back quickly enough, but the wing was obviously diseased.
HolyAngemon noticed Geckovitch staring, but considering how long it had taken for him to adjust to his new appearance he couldn't blame his advisor. Still, there wasn't time to waste standing around gawking. "You need not worry, Geckovitch. Though I have been corrupted, I have managed to seal away the demon within. In fact, this corruption may be a blessing. I sensed an acute wrongness approaching, similar to the feeling Arkadimon induced. Were it not for that, I would have remained hidden away until it was too late to save anybody. Now, we must depart."
Geckovitch immediately jumped to follow his master's order, but stopped upon further considering the situation. "Do you need me to carry you, Lord HolyAngemon? I imagine flight is difficult on that wing, and we are a bit pressed for time." HolyAngemon waved away the objection. "I assure you, that will not be an issue. I sequestered myself for so long in order to ensure I could seal away the darkest of my power without sacrificing my ability to Digivolve." After saying this, HolyAngemon was obscured by a gray light, showing the corruption extended even to the process of his Digivolution. As such, Geckovitch was not as surprised as he would have been on seeing HolyAngemon's Dominimon form.
The giant shoulder plates that had once been the main feature of Dominimon's armor had shrunk down and turned to a worn-down silver color. Apart from his helmet and the wrist guard on his left hand, however, these were the only pieces of armor that remained, as Dominimon now wore a long black cloak with matching boots. Just like they had been in his MagnaAngemon form, however, these changes seemed positively minor compared to his new wings. He was once again missing half of his wings, having only the lower pair and the upper right wing remaining of his original six wings. The wings had also changed in appearance, looking like black versions of his wings in MagnaAngemon's Battle Mode instead of the divine golden wings of his previous appearance.
While the arrangement of three wings seemed almost as detrimental to flight as only having one wing, the angelic Digimon still managed to fly with only a slight reduction in speed, forcing Geckovitch to quickly fall behind as they travelled in the direction of the refugees. As he panted trying to keep up with his master, the ShogunGekomon could only hope HolyAngemon's battle prowess was affected as negligibly as his speed had been. After all, his only form of attack had previously been the holy blade Excalibur, and all this talk of corruption and demons wasn't exactly encouraging to HolyAngemon's ability to generate such a weapon.
When Geckovitch finally caught sight of the refugees, HolyAngemon had already started rounding them up. Unfortunately, instead of being grouped together like they had been according to the Patamon scout, they had all spread about in panic. A few had stuck close to Gon, but the rest had fanned out in all directions except backward towards the tide of chaos in the form of encroaching red mass. It wasn't too hard to guess the cause. In his current state, HolyAngemon resembled an attacking demon more than the force of salvation most of Folder Continent expected him to be. Normally, that wouldn't have been too much of an issue, as HolyAngemon's name alone would carry enough wait that other Digimon would at least be willing to listen to an explanation. However, since the chaos had spread and was approaching the stragglers from multiple directions time to explain the situation to the refugees was a luxury HolyAngemon and Geckovitch couldn't afford.
Seeing a Crabmon had somehow managed to get entirely surrounded by the chaos, HolyAngemon knew he had to act quickly. If he just flew in and grabbed Crabmon in an attempt to fly him to safety, the Crustacean Digimon would probably panic and attack him. So, the only option would be to clear an escape path. He called for his Final Excalibur, but was surprised by the result. Instead of the green holy blade, his sword materialized as a gray glow that extended almost twice as long as he was tall. Doubtlessly such a weapon would be unwieldy in single combat, but in the current situation it should work just fine.
HolyAngemon slashed his new blade at the ground, expecting to cut a swath through the chaos. However, it worked even better than he expected, leaving a thin fissure in the ground as the chaos disappeared from the area three feet in any direction from the blade. Testing a theory, the slowly twitched his blade to the side, and watched the chaos retreat before its advance even though it hadn't been touched by the attack. It hadn't been damaged in the slightest, but it was almost like it was afraid of him. HolyAngemon smirked. He had to fight off an extreme feeling of revulsion in order to approach the chaos, but his duty to the people of Folder allowed him to push through the fear and fight anyway. This chaos seemed to have the same feeling, only without anything to drive it beyond its own fear. The pain and corruption from his confrontation with Arkadimon would be well worth it if it allowed him to stand against this new threat to the Digital World.
HolyAngemon withdrew his blade- he knew this sword was different than Excalibur, but he had yet to name it- and flew closer to the ground. Seeing the chaos give him a wider berth than it had given his sword, he immediately began planning for the future. After all, if it wouldn't get anywhere near him, he could easily rescue Digimon cut off by the chaos just by standing near them. And while he wouldn't be able to permanently protect more than a handful of Digimon this way, there was a place that would be safe: Daemon's old castle. After all, the chaos was avoiding him due to Arkadimon's influence. How would it react to the location where Arkadimon's remains still existed?
While HolyAngemon made use of the benefits of his new form, Geckovitch was having less success. His Samurai Tone attack was fairly effective at pushing back the chaos, but as a sonic attack it would be difficult to stop the attack at a certain distance. So, he had to be very careful of the direction he launched his attack in order to clear a path to a stranded Digimon without blasting them as well. Between all the hopping he had needed to do just to get out here and the acrobatic jumps and turns he had to perform while attacking, exhaustion was starting to set in for the Amphibian Digimon. When he got through this, he'd have to start putting himself through training again. He'd definitely gotten out of shape since when he first became HolyAngemon's advisor.
After rescuing a Gotsumon wearing swimming trunks, Geckovitch took a moment to catch his breath and check on the progress of the rescue mission. HolyAngemon must have convinced the refugees he was an ally, as they were no longer looking at him with fear. In fact, he seemed to have a plan to get everybody out safely, as he was gathering everybody together at Gon's position. Whenever he would dart out to pick up another straggler, any Digimon with a ranged attack would start blasting at the chaos. It didn't seem to do any damage, but the attacks at least seemed to keep the chaos pushed away until HolyAngemon would return, and the chaos avoided the angel seemingly of its own accord.
With only a few stragglers left, Geckovitch ended his break. At the current pace, he would just have to save this one last Penguinmon and by that time HolyAngemon would have collected the rest. At least by this point, Penguinmon had calmed down enough to start attacking the chaos on his own instead of cowering in fear, so Geckovitch wouldn't be alone in his effort to clear a path. Using his Samurai Tone, he cleared a path to three feet away from Penguinmon, well within jumping distance. Just one more rescue, and he could go back to the castle and enjoy some much needed rest.
Geckovitch hopped towards the clearing with Penguinmon, only to feel a strong tug on his leg in midair. He looked down to see a red cable reaching out of the chaos and latching on to his leg. It was the last thing he would ever see, as he died before he even hit the ground. Penguinmon briefly panicked and screamed as something large and red crashed into him, but while the initial contact was made by Geckovitch's body the chaos followed soon after. HolyAngemon turned to the source of the noise just in time to see one of Geckovitch's horns glinting in the sunlight before the chaos buried it.
Seeing the death of his advisor, something within HolyAngemon snapped. He felt a swelling of power within himself, and was only dimly aware of channeling that power towards the chaos where Geckovitch had been buried. Only when the power exploded into an orange orb did HolyAngemon finally regain enough awareness of what had happened. For a brief moment, the seal keeping the darkness within him at bay had wavered, and it allowed him to unleash a new attack. And whatever this attack was, the chaos seemed to absolutely hate it. While it had moved away from his sword and his mere presence, the chaos was now in full-blown retreat from the entire area.
As HolyAngemon watched the red blob interspersed with various cables shrink away, he felt a brief desire to chase after it and continue attacking. However, the presence of Gon and the other refugees stopped him from going on this blind charge. It would be best to get them and any other Digimon he could find to the safety of Daemon's old castle. Along the way, he would also have to stop back at Holy Angel Castle to send a message to the Sovereign and the DigiDestined. Even with the advantages of his corruption, he knew he wouldn't be able to turn back this red tide on his own. It would be best to call in backup and potentially warn the rest of the Digital World of this new threat. Only when he had done his duty protecting Folder and the rest of the Digital World could he focus on revenge. Then again, somebody would have to travel around the continent and round up as many survivors as possible, and if he just so happened to run into the chaos again he wouldn't turn away a chance to master his new abilities…
Matt hesitated for a second at the door to the apartment complex. Truthfully, a small part of him would rather be stuck with Cody and the others in military custody than have to deal with this current ordeal. However, that would be another excuse added to the long list of things that kept stopping him. And he was sick of overthinking this. If he just talked to someone about it, that might give him the push he needed to finally go through with it. He just needed someone to listen and maybe give some advice. The DigiDestined wouldn't be able to help him with this particular problem, and his dad wasn't very good at this kind of thing, which really left only one choice. Finally steeling his resolve, Matt pressed the intercom button labelled Takaishi and let his mom know he was coming to visit.
Almost as soon as he said this, Matt heard his mom's worried reply. "Is everything okay? Did something happen to TK?" Matt couldn't exactly blame her for jumping to that conclusion right away. While he certainly had a better relationship with his mom than he used to, he still wouldn't say he was super close to her. But he knew where that worry was coming from, so he responded quickly. "Everything's going about as well as can be expected. I'll explain when I get inside, but this is more of a personal visit. Can you buzz me in please?"
Once the door opened, Matt had a long elevator to think of the quickest way to explain the situation and ensure her that TK would be fine. At least TK would be easy to cover- if he wasn't home, that meant he was still in the Digital World along with Kari, Patamon, Gatomon, and the Sovereign. Considering Lucemon could attack anywhere, there really wasn't a way to make sure he was safer than that. The problem would be explaining the recent situation, especially since he only knew the basics himself.
He had gotten four messages from Cody and that was all the information he had. The first said there was a swarm of Digimon attacking the stadium and he might need some backup, while the second said there was a rampaging Mega level and he would need some backup immediately. However, the third message cancelled the previous two, explaining Lucemon must have blocked the signal and the fight was over. It also mentioned he was being taken into JSDF custody for questioning and medical attention. While those three had all arrived at the same time- presumably whenever Lucemon's barrier stopped working- the fourth came much later. Cody said he couldn't reveal a lot of information, but told everybody not to worry. Mari and Armadillomon would be out of commission for a while, but everybody was supposed to make a full recovery.
Matt knew his mom would immediately want to start investigating this story. While originally he wanted her to look past that, now he thought it might just be the best possible solution. Matt knew Cody wasn't the quickest to trust people, so the JSDF must have done something to convince Cody they were on his side for him to tell everyone not to worry. Still, just because they had convinced Cody didn't mean they had convinced Matt. He didn't think there was anything he could do- he didn't know where Cody was, and even if he did know he didn't exactly want to attack an army base and prove all the Digimon haters right- but maybe his mom could do something. She could find out what was going on and expose it to the public if need be.
Surprisingly, Matt found it easy to convince his mom that TK was safe. She had long grown used to both of her sons being needed to save the worlds, so she had immediately jumped to the worst conclusion when Matt showed up out of the blue. With that initial worry taken care of, she moved on fairly quickly. However, Matt found her other reaction fit right in to his prediction. As soon as he filled her in on Cody's story, she started rattling off contacts she could use to get the full story. As she was rattling off potential ways the JSDF was breaking the law by taking Cody and some other minors into custody, Matt knew he'd have to cut her off if he ever wanted to get to the real issue that brought him here in the first place. It was a sensitive issue, so he'd have to be sure to bring it up gently…
"Hey, Mom, how did you know you were ready to marry Dad?" Matt cringed at how blunt the question was. He hadn't meant for it to slip out like that. At first, she just looked confused, but then a knowing glint came to her eye. However, beyond that her face was a bit hard to read. On top of the mixed emotions that came with her son thinking about getting married, she knew her own marriage falling apart had left some deep scars for Matt. He had gotten a lot better since he first went to the Digital World, but time couldn't really heal all wounds. And Hiroaki wouldn't be much help in this situation- when it came to struggling with emotions sometimes, Matt really took after his father.
Matt's conversation was interrupted by a series of beeps from his D-Terminal. Since he had his D-Terminal set to only alert him when he received an urgent message, something big must be happening in the Digital World. He saw two messages, one from HolyAngemon and one from the Sovereign. HolyAngemon was asking for their help with a new threat on the Folder Continent, while the Sovereign acknowledged HolyAngemon's message but were instead calling every DigiDestined with a Crest to deal with a global problem. While Matt hadn't been hesitating to help before, this last bit of information made him hurry. The Sovereign weren't exactly happy to let Neo and the Alias III off the hook so easily after working with Daemon. If the Sovereign were willingly asking them for help, Lucemon must have made an overt move against the Digital World.
Quickly thanking his mom for listening and trying to help, Matt headed to TK's room to use a Digital Gate. While in theory it was possible to use any computer now that a D3 wasn't needed to open a gate, setting up the program still took time. So, the DigiDestined all had older laptops left in their room for the sole purpose of having a convenient gate to enter and exit the Digital World at any time. Considering the time difference and the urgency of the situation, it would be better for Matt to use TK's computer than try to set up a gate on his mom's. These were the only thoughts on Matt's mind as he opened TK's door, only to pause a second in surprise and immediately slam it shut.
Matt had been expecting TK and Kari to be the first ones to the meeting at the Digital World. After all, his mom had said TK hadn't come back yet, and they had been with the Sovereign the whole time in the Digital World. However, he hadn't been counting on the simple fact that TK and Kari could have gotten back without leaving the room, so his mom wouldn't know they were here. Had he thought of that and knocked before entering, he wouldn't have walked in on Kari pinning TK to the bed in a shirtless make-out session.
TK and Kari didn't seem to notice when Matt walked in, but from the sounds of surprise that came after the slamming of the door Matt was pretty sure they noticed him leave. There may have been a time crunch to get to the Digital World, but there was plenty of time to let TK and Kari get dressed first. And that would at least give him time to figure out how to handle this. Knowing them, TK and Kari would almost be too embarrassed to function for a little bit, and if Tai found out about this things would only get worse. Matt was convinced that deep down Tai was happy for TK and Kari, but considering his overprotective streak it wasn't worth the risk.
As expected, when TK finally opened the door neither he nor Kari were willing to so much as look in Matt's general direction. Still, Matt reserved to right to make any comment until there wasn't a major crisis going on in the Digital World. Catching sight of a line of hickies forming on TK's neck, however, he realized he would have to buy some more time. Quickly coming up with a new plan, he sighed.
"All right, listen. I was here visiting mom. Kari was back at her place, and fell asleep explaining why she never heard the alert from her D-Terminal. She didn't answer TK's message, so he went to pick her up while I went ahead to the meeting. You two just so happened to be wearing scarves or turtlenecks when you arrived in the Digital World." The fact that Matt was blatantly covering for them only served to make TK and Kari even more embarrassed, but Matt took that response as agreement before heading to the Digital World. As he went through the gate, he allowed himself a small smile. TK and Kari now owed him, and he knew exactly how he was planning on calling in that favor…
Murmukusmon sighed as he looked down on the lone prisoner remaining in Lucemon's cells. He wasn't normally one to care, but the sight of the Meramon bound in black chains while all his memories were projected on the wall was simply too pitiful to ignore. Truthfully, he had used to dream about something like this. As someone who could flawlessly imitate any Digimon form, he had wanted to push his infiltration ability even further. He still remembered all the times he had been exposed from failing to answer questions correctly or acting differently than his mark usually did. Having access to the full memories of a subject would finally allow the true perfect imitation he had always wanted.
However, now that he finally had access to his dream source of information, he wasn't nearly as impressed. First, wading through enough memories to replicate a Digimon's mannerisms was tedious at best. Since he had to watch everything under the watchful eye of the cackling madman enabling said projection in the first place, any semblance of joy he might have found was quickly eliminated. Second, getting to know so much about Meramon was starting to stir up the little bits of empathy he still felt. But even if he hadn't connected with Meramon on any level, Murmukusmon knew enough about his ruler to know that he could easily be the one in chains while Lucemon probed through his mind. Now he could easily see why Astamon had grown more and more reckless in his defiance of Lucemon- the Demon Lord had been mad before, but with the power of the gods he could take this madness to new heights.
Still, Murmukusmon didn't let any of these thoughts show on his face as he turned to face Lucemon. "Forgive me, my lord, but I fear I no longer have time to prepare. If I am to attend this meeting, I will need to leave immediately. Meramon is only a minor player, so I needn't worry too much about speaking and must only concern myself with listening." Murmukusmon surprised even himself with this last statement. To him, the third reason he hated the current situation was spoken loud and clear beneath those words: this wasn't necessary. He was good enough at disguises that he would have pulled this mission off without Lucemon's little experiment. Still, the Demon Lord either didn't notice or didn't care, as he started chuckling.
"Ah, I forget how you mortals are bound by the laws of time. Always marching forward, never able to stop, turn around, or step outside of it entirely. Yes, you should go. I have some plans to attend to, after all. I have some old friends who I'm sure are dying to see me again. After all, to some of them it's been six years since we've so much as talked. I would hate for any interruptions, so be sure to keep an eye on any likely uninvited guests."
Murmukusmon bowed before leaving, returning to the Digital World in the appearance of the Champion level Digimon. He would keep track of attendance for Lucemon, and even report on the obvious reactions the DigiDestined would have to knowledge of Lucemon's little plague. After all, he was the best at infiltration, and keeping that title meant he had to go above and beyond the call of duty. Still, that didn't mean he had to report on everything he would see. There might be some things that would be much more interesting if they could surprise the Demon Lord. And with Lucemon's observational powers, he could always find out for himself at any time. Anything Murmukusmon reported might as well be a waste of time, so why bother revealing all the details?
Author's Note: We get a quick check in on the Folder Continent, and it is not looking good for the Digimon there. They haven't had time to recover from Daemon's campaign a short while ago, and now the D-Reaper is spreading to take over anything. About the only advantage they have is, much like the D-Reaper in Tamers was afraid of things it couldn't understand, this version of the D-Reaper also ignores things beyond its ability to comprehend. This time around, instead of plant life the D-Reaper is avoiding anything related to Arkadimon- which works to HolyAngemon's benefit that he was corrupted during the fight with the legendary glitch. As for his new appearance and abilities, you may need to play some ominous Latin chanting in the background to get the full effect- if you know his inspiration, you'll know precisely which song would be best. I'll reveal more about it later once HolyAngemon better understands his own abilities.
Then we jump back to the real world to see a couple of scenes I was inspired to write due to Valentine's Day- though not exactly a recent Valentine's day considering how long it took me to write the story. I figured since Matt and Sora have been dating for a solid 6 years, they would at least be thinking about getting married by this time. Of course, since Matt isn't the best at always expressing his emotions and his parents' marriage didn't work out, he's in a bit of an awkward situation and needs some advice. The fact that it let me at least have Natsuko and Matt have a conversation was just a bonus. Of course, the family bonding probably wasn't meant to include walking in on his brother like that, but I'm sure Matt will be knocking before entering more often from now on.
Then we get a brief glimpse of Murmukusmon as he's following Astamon's lead of subverting Lucemon's rule more openly. Of course, outright rebellion would be suicide, but if he just so happens to forget a certain detail or two from the meeting in his report, and that detail gives the DigiDestined an advantage…
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter and please tell me what you thought of it!
