Shinjuku, Matsuki Bakery
"Honey, come on!" said Takahiro anxiously. "We've got to evacuate, now!"
"No!" said Yoshie. "I'm not leaving! Takato and Kou haven't come home yet! What if… what if they come home and we aren't here? What if…"
"What if they come home and find this place and us crushed, Yoshie!?" exclaimed Takahiro. "What would they do then? I know you're worried, but we've got to make sure we're still around for them to come back to! Besides, chances are that wherever they were, they've already been evacuated like everyone else!"
"I'd listen to your husband, ma'am," said a police officer, stepping into the bakery. "We've got everything under control, your sons should be fine. So please, follow the officers outside to a safe location."
"Under control, my foot," thought Yoshie angrily. Her husband noticed the foul look on her face and leaned over to whisper to her.
"Listen, Yoshie, we'll follow them and if we don't see the boys, we'll go look for them ourselves. But we can't stay here… we're right in that thing's path," said the man. "Ok?"
"…alright, you win," said Yoshie. "Let's go. But if we don't see them in the next fifteen minutes, we're going to find them, and God help any who get in my way."
"Hey, if the military is lucky, they'll be behind that thing and you'll kill it for them!" said Takahiro, attempting to lighten the mood. It didn't work.
"Takahiro…" said the woman threateningly.
"Eh… let's… just go…"
###
Shinjuku, Demolished Bridge
Yet another shockwave from the battle going on in the city shook the already heavily damaged bridge. Under it, pieces began to fall off and slam into the ground below, some only narrowly missing the creature sitting underneath. However, despite the threat of being crushed, the creature didn't move a bit, even when a particularly large and jagged piece of debris landed only a few feet from him. He was hurt, he was tired, and by this point…
"I really don't care," thought Impmon, looking at the fragment of the bridge that had nearly crushed him.
"You missed," said the bruised imp, pointing at the jagged shard of concrete. "I'm over here! Ah, who am I kidding… I bet not even you would take me seriously. No one does. After all, why would they? I'm…" Impmon paused, hesitant to continue, before doing so anyway. "I'm… I'm just a weakling! I can't even Digivolve like those stupid, stupid pets that stay with those stupid humans!"
"You can Digivolve…" came a voice.
"Huh?" said Impmon, looking around, but seeing no one. "W-Who's there?"
"I am… a friend," said the voice. "I am here to help you, Impmon. What you say is not true… you can Digivolve, we all can. It is our power, not that of the humans."
"Tell that to that big horse Indramon!" yelled Impmon. "He pummeled me! He beat me like a drum and I couldn't Digivolve or do anything else to stop it! He…"
"…could do that because he had Digivolved to that level, without the help of a weak human," said the voice, cutting Impmon off. "Indramon was blessed by our Sovereign, just as we all were. We were all able to Digivolve without the aid of weak humans… all Digimon can. Have we not done so for ages?"
"Well…" Impmon started to say, but soon found himself unable to answer. This… voice had a point.
"Come with me, Impmon," said the voice as a bright light shone in front of the rookie as a digital portal opened. "Come with me… and you will gain the power you seek."
"I… I…" stuttered Impmon, trying to produce an answer. Could he trust this voice? Would it really give him the power to Digivolve? If it didn't, what would it do?
"But then…" thought the imp, "what do I care what it does? I've been sitting under here not caring whether I got crushed or not… what do I have to lose?"
With that thought, Impmon rose and walked into the light, vanishing without a trace.
###
Shinjuku, Shopping District
"Hold it, Hog Breath!" said WarGrowlmon, landing in Vikaralamon's path and spreading his arms wide. Above him, Rapidmon, Taomon, and DoruGreymon all took positions around the Pig Deva.
"Ewww, what's that smell?" taunted Rapidmon.
"He's a pig, whaddya expect?" said WarGrowlmon.
"This is definitely not kosher…" commented Taomon.
"Kosher? This guy's not sanitary under any dietary rules," said DoruGreymon.
"You got that right!" called Rapidmon. "So let's just get rid of him already!"
"Rapid Fire!"
The green android Digimon gave the battle an explosive start, letting loose two missiles from his arm cannons. They curved through the air, impacting with Vikaralamon's sides and causing the pig to grunt in pain.
"Bad move, bunny!" growled the Deva.
"Boar Bog!"
The pig tilted his head - or rather, his face, as it was hard to tell where his body ended and his head began - up towards Rapidmon, and unleashed a large cloud of some sort of black, foul-smelling substance that quickly covered the Ultimate level rabbit and held him in place. Before it could do any real damage to him, however, Taomon unleashed her attack.
"Talisman of Light!"
Quickly painting a symbol in the air, the shaman swung her brush and used the spell to free Rapidmon.
"Thanks, Taomon!" yelled Rapidmon. "You give art appreciation a whole new meaning!"
"It'll take more than my brush to stop this Deva…" said Taomon.
"Well, could you at least paint him a new face?" laughed Rapidmon.
"I heard that!" yelled the pig, advancing forward.
"Well, the truth hurts!" called DoruGreymon.
"Metal Meteor!"
The dragon's attack raced through the air, colliding with the pig's back. The Deva roared in pain and looked up at DoruGreymon to retaliate.
"Boar Bog!"
"He's erupting, get away from him!" called Takato from the sidelines.
"DoruGreymon, dodge!" yelled Kou.
"Looks like someone's sprung a leak!" said WarGrowlmon, jumping into action and slicing the bog apart before it could reach the other draconic digimon. Immediately afterwards, the boosters on his back activated and the armored dinosaur began flying forwards.
"Plasma Blades!"
But Vikaralamon had been hit enough; he wasn't going to let it happen again.
"Fusion Ball!"
Just before WarGrowlmon's blades made contact with the Deva's face, Vikaralamon fired a large, orange energy ball from his mouth. But instead of exploding, it carried WarGrowlmon backwards before landing on the street and pinning the Ultimate level dino below it.
"Aw, nuts…" said WarGrowlmon, grunting in pain.
"Don't worry buddy, I'm coming!" yelled Takato, running to his partner. Kou watched him go worriedly, but knew he had to remain with his own partner.
"Boar Bog!"
The Deva's battle cry called Kou's attention back to the battle. All three of the Tamers' remaining Digimon had been trapped in the black sludge of Vikaralamon's attack.
"He got all three of them!" said Henry.
"No way, they've gotta break out somehow!" said Rika.
"Heheheh, now you're…wh-what!?" gasped Vikaralamon, suddenly stopping his declaration as the sky began to tear open.
"Oh, now what?" yelled Henry, looking at the sky.
"Looks like your pal Yamaki ripped open the sky again!" said Rika angrily.
"Man, as if this day wasn't bad enough!" said Kou, looking around at the horrible state of affairs.
"And it's only getting worse," thought Henry as he continued to look at the sky.
"We've got to get them out of there, but all these cards are useless!" said Rika.
"Maybe… maybe it doesn't matter what card we use," said Henry.
"What?" said Kou, "What are you talking about? We can't just give up!"
"Hear me out," said Henry. "The cards have really only helped us when we believed they would. So maybe… all we have to do is believe in ourselves, and in our partners."
"…well, it's worth a shot," said Rika, drawing a card. "And this is the perfect card to try it with! Both of you have Radiant Faith cards?"
"Yup," said Henry, pulling it from his deck.
"You bet!" said Kou, holding up the card, which showed a picture of Willis's Golden Digi-Egg. Some fans said it was the Egg of Faith, others Destiny, but whichever it was, the card was still called Faith. Despite his preference for everything Angemon and T.K.-related, this card was actually one of his favorites.
"Then let's do it!" said Rika.
"Digi-Modify! Radiant Faith, Activate!"
At the Tamers' calls, all three Ultimates broke free of their prison with a flash of light, but then the unexpected happened. Just as Rapidmon and Taomon were about to call their attacks, DoruGreymon let loose a mighty roar and charged straight into Vikaralamon, the light still surrounding him. The impact was so powerful that the pig was visibly pushed back by a distance nearly equal to its own length before DoruGreymon's body bounced back and hovered back between his fellow Ultimates.
"Whoa!" yelled Rapidmon, eyes wide. "What kind of card did Kou use on you!?" Taomon just looked at the dragon, amazed at the burst of power.
"…well?" said Rika. "For once I'm with Rabbitmon, what was that?" Kou didn't respond, he just stared at his partner in amazement.
"What just happened…?" wondered the boy. "Did I do something different? I…"
"Hat-Boy!" yelled Rika in Kou's ear. "Back to reality please! What did you do? That was great!"
"Uh…" stammered Kou. "Thanks… it was just my Radiant Faith card, I don't know why…"
"We're gonna have to figure it out later!" exclaimed Henry. "Look at the Digimon!"
Rika and Kou both looked up at their partners and were horrified. Their partners' data was becoming unstable, and they looked ready to break apart at any moment.
"Strength… draining…" said Rapidmon weakly.
"Ergh…" gasped Taomon. "I can't let it end like this…"
"Talisman Spell!"
Taomon held up a paw and a small, red symbol appeared in it. She threw it downwards and it extended to form a shield around the three Ultimates in the air, stabilizing their data. DoruGreymon had to squeeze, but on the ground below, the Tamers breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Wow, that was close…" said Kou.
"Something bad's going on up there…" said Rika, turning to look at the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, where the gash in the sky seemed to originate.
###
Shinjuku, Hypnos
"All systems at full power sir," reported Tally.
"Hehehe, full power, I love to hear that," said Yamaki. "Watch closely, Janyu. The world is about to change forever."
"I've seen enough," said Henry's father, glancing at the screen displaying the battle his son and his friends were in.
"Face it, there's nothing you can do to stop this," said Yamaki as Janyu left the room. As soon as he exited, Janyu was confronted by two of the building's security guards.
"I'm sorry sir, but you aren't allowed to leave this room," said one of them.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to do this," said Janyu, still walking.
"Sir, I'm asking you not to take another…"
He didn't finish that sentence.
Janyu quickly put his daily Tai Chi practice to good use, immediately knocking the man who was speaking unconscious and doing the same to the other when he tried to attack.
"Sorry," repeated Janyu, before his walk became a full run down the hallway. "I'm coming Henry!"
###
Shinjuku, Shopping District
"Earth to Takato!" yelled Henry, shaking his friend who was staring hopelessly at his trapped partner.
"Guilmon…" muttered the gogglehead.
"We can still help him!" said Henry.
"I'm so afraid of losing him…" said Takato sadly.
"What?" said Rika. "What's this all about?"
"Every time he Digivolves, he changes… not just physically, but mentally. He becomes wild and violent. I'm glad he's powerful now but I'm afraid he'll change to the point he won't even know me anymore, and…"
"You aren't losing anything, gogglehead," said Rika. "Everyone grows up eventually Takato, its natural. Taomon could be the most powerful Digimon ever but she's still my best friend."
"Really?" said Takato.
"Of course!" said Kou. "Besides, he's still just a bread-snarfing doofus on the inside."
"Yeah, that's what I was gonna say," said Henry.
"Well… that's true," said Takato.
"So snap out of it!" said Kou and Rika simultaneously. Kou glanced at her before quickly looking away, for some reason embarrassed that they had said the same thing at the same time. Lucky for him, Rika didn't notice.
"…yeah, thanks guys," said Takato. "Now let's win this."
Before they could win anything, however, dozens of smaller rifts appeared in the sky apart from the large one from the Metropolitan Building. From each one a green beam of light descended to the ground. One covered Vikaralamon and his form started to become distorted and move upwards. One hit Taomon's shield, causing it to start breaking down. Another hit WarGrowlmon, still trapped under Vikaralamon's orb, and he started to suffer the same fate as the Deva.
"Henry, a LITTLE HELP PLEASE!?" yelled Rapidmon, the idea of deletion by green-beam-from-sky-rip not very appealing to the cyborg rabbit.
"How can we help when even that Deva's about to be torn apart…" said Henry.
"Henry!"
The blue-haired boy quickly turned to his side, where the voice had come from.
"Dad…" said the Tamer, astonished his father was there. "I… need help."
###
Shinjuku, Hypnos
"Juggernaut is entering its final phase," said Yamaki. "In a few minutes, Digimon will be history." The man looked up at the glowing screen and grinned. Everything he had worked for was coming to pass. His best program was working flawlessly, and the threat to mankind was to be eliminated in short order.
Or so he thought.
Suddenly, the screen became covered in binary code, the zeros and ones engulfing everything else on the screen. Yamaki gasped in shock.
"Why is this happening?" he demanded.
"Hard to say sir!" reported one of the men working. "It's a code that's overwriting Juggernaut from a layer of data somewhere deep in the net."
"That ancient machine language again…" said Yamaki, flicking his lighter. "Reverse Assemble!"
"Decoding now, sir!" said Riley, her hands becoming a blur on her keyboard.
"There's no way I'm letting this go wrong now," thought Yamaki. "I'm too close for a bunch of zeroes and ones to stop me!"
###
Shinjuku, Central Park
"What do you want!?" said Kenta as he and Kazu stepped in front of Jeri protectively. The strange kid from before was back again, but the look on his face was... different. It was more determined, and infinitely more creepy. He wanted something, and wasn't going to stop until he got it.
"Hmm…" muttered the boy as a smile far too large to be natural appeared on his face. In Jeri's arms, Calumon shrunk back and put his hands over his head protectively, as if expecting an attack.
"He's shaking…" thought Jeri as she looked at Calumon nervously. Holding him tighter, she turned her gaze to the boy and couldn't help but take a step back when their eyes met. Something was wrong.
"As simple and pathetic as you are, you humans created us, and the world we live in…" said the boy, still smiling. "You polluted your world and then started messing with ours. We had no choice but to evolve and adapt just to survive."
"…you still haven't said what you want!" said Jeri with a little fear in her voice.
"The only way to protect our world is to destroy anything that threatens it, and you ignorant children have something that can help us," continued the boy. "You hold the key and you don't even know it! At this point, we really don't care if you humans want to wipe yourselves out. We've got plans, my foul friends, and you're in the way! And that's a problem."
###
Shinjuku, Hypnos
"Shut him up!" ordered Yamaki. For some reason, the boy's every word was relayed to the Hypnos control room from the moment the decoding had finished. "What in the world is going on here? What kind of "key" is it talking about?" Yamaki flicked his lighter several times. Things were going downhill, fast.
###
Shinjuku, Central Park
"Hehehehehehehe…" laughed the boy as he slowly started walking towards the three partnerless children.
"G-Go away!" stammered Jeri, taking a step back in fear. The boy stopped, turned his head around in a perfect three hundred sixty degree spin, and pointed two fingers at her.
"Well then, give me what I want!" he said, smiling even more.
"I can't go back there please don't make me go don't let them take me please Jeri please!" cried Calumon, too scared to form separate sentences out of his words. He grabbed hold of Jeri's clothes as tight as he could.
"Dude, you can't have Calumon!" said Kazu, taking a step forward.
Suddenly, one of the green beams from Juggernaut struck the boy, and in the flash of light, he changed. In place of his clothes was the same armor they had seen Devas wearing, and his body took on many monkey like features. He was no human boy.
"I am Makuramon," said the new Deva with a smirk. "BA-CAAAAAAA!"
The monkey's screech shook the park and broke the green beam covering his form, and he leapt into the air.
###
Shinjuku, Shopping District
"My shield's almost gone!" yelled Taomon, her own form becoming as blurred as the shield's.
"We need help!" said DoruGreymon.
"Help? We need a miracle!" said Rapidmon.
"We've gotta help them!" said Rika.
"But… what can we do?" said Kou, looking at the ground.
"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do, kids," said Janyu. "Juggernaut's at full power. It… won't be long now."
"But… what about Guilmon?" asked Takato, staring at his trapped partner.
"Hey guys, look!" yelled Henry, pointing to the sky. Makuramon was flying towards the Hypnos building, where the rips in the sky were originating from, with a small orb in his hand. With a grunt, he threw it into the center of the energy above the building, causing it to overload.
###
Shinjuku, Hypnos
"What's going on!?" demanded Yamaki as the screens cracked and computers broke. Sparks were flying everywhere.
"Complete failure sir!" said one of the fleeing scientists. "The Juggernaut stream is flowing backwards. This whole place could go up like a bomb at any moment, we have to evacuate!"
"There's got to be something we can do!" said Yamaki angrily. "Shut it down and start it up again!"
"That's impossible at the point sir, the whole program's been corrupted!" said the scientist as he turned to leave. As he exited the room, he added one last comment. "It's over sir. Get out while there's still time."
Yamaki angrily punched one of the nearby computers in response. Was everyone leaving him?
"Yamaki."
The man looked up and saw only one person remaining in the room. And even she was by the exit.
"…Riley, go on," said Yamaki in defeat, "get out of here."
"…good luck!" said the woman as she ran out the door, tears forming in her eyes. Yamaki turned away from the door and looked around at his ruined project. Juggernaut's core was about to explode. The room around him was collapsing. There was nothing he could do to stop any of it. He was powerless. But then… he finally realized.
"They aren't."
###
Shinjuku, Shopping District
The large concentration of energy above Hypnos, unable to stay together any longer, burst apart in a gigantic explosion, shaking Shinjuku more than any of the previous quakes had. But while the Tamers struggled to stay standing, the Digimon, Partners and Deva alike, broke free of the distorting green beams with a new strength.
It was time for Round Two.
"I'm back humans!" announced Vikaralamon. "Still want to play?"
"We've got to get out of here!" said Janyu, pointing away from the battle zone and grabbing onto Rika when she didn't budge.
"But… Taomon…" said the girl.
"She'll be alright Rika, come on," said Henry's father, attempting to get her to follow him. But she still wouldn't move. "Come on Rika! I can't let you get hurt!"
"But…"
"Dang it Rika!" said Kou, running back to Mr. Wong and his fellow Tamer. "They'll be fine, they're Ultimates! But we have to get away from here or we'll get caught in the crossfire! At the very least we need to move somewhere safer than this!"
"But Kou…"
"I guarantee you that DoruGreymon will make sure that absolutely nothing happens to Taomon! Now let's go!"
Not giving her time to come up with an excuse, Kou grabbed her by the wrist and ran, forcing her to do the same. Janyu took off after them, Takato and Henry joining when the other three caught up to them.
"I don't know what happened," said Taomon, "but I'm ready to fight again. And so's the pig."
"And so are they!" added Rapidmon, pointing at a formation of military helicopters that was closing in on Vikaralamon and firing their missiles at the beast. Though every single missile hit, all they served to do was provoke the Deva and cause him to begin firing his Fusion Ball attack at helicopters. Fortunately, they were able to avoid the orbs but the city around them was taking heavy damage. As the copters continued their assault, Janyu and the Tamers down on the ground were still running as fast as they could.
"Takato!" called a voice, causing the group to stop and look to the other side of the street. Kazu, Kenta, and Jeri (who was still clutching Calumon tightly) were looking back at them.
"Guys, where have you been?" asked Henry.
"We were with that creepy kid!" answered Jeri. "He's really one of the Deva Digimon!"
"What!?" said Rika, pulling her arm from Kou, who didn't even realize he was still holding her wrist. The boy's eyes widened for a moment as she pulled away, but he decided to worry about his impulsive action later. He had to focus on the situation at hand.
"Yeah," continued Kenta. "And he said some pretty weird stuff!"
Before Kenta could continue, an explosion rocked the street as the military continued its assault on Vikaralamon. Janyu, in response, ran across the street to the three non-Tamers to take them as well.
"We're all in danger if we stay here," said the scientist, "come with me, we have to hide."
"…no," said Takato, clenching his hands into fists.
"What?" asked Henry, surprised.
"I'm done hiding," said Takato with a determined look in his eyes. "No matter how strong our Digimon become, they're still our friends."
"Yeah," agreed Henry, nodding.
"And right now, our friends need us more than ever," continued Takato.
"Definitely," said Rika.
"Then what are we waiting for?" said Kou. "Let's get back there and fight!"
"What happened to 'let's get out of the crossfire?'" teased Rika.
"Guess I'm easily swayed," admitted Kou with a grin. "Ready, Takato?"
"Yeah," said Takato. "Let's do it!"
By the time Janyu turned back around to face the Tamers, they had already began running back towards the battlefield. Once they had reached the fight, however, they quickly found themselves in the same situation as before: they were standing off to the side as the Digimon tried their hardest to stop the Deva's rampage. It seemed hopeless, until Takato unveiled his "master plan."
He ran up to where WarGrowlmon was still trapped, took a deep breath… and yelled.
"RRRRAAAAHHHH!" screamed the boy with all his might, over, and over, and over.
"W-What's he doing?" said Rika. "Has he gone insane?"
"No, look!" gasped Henry, pointed at the orb WarGrowlmon was imprisoned under. It was starting to rise.
"RRRRAAAAHHHH!" roared the cyborg dinosaur, echoing his partner. He rose up and slashed the Fusion Ball apart, scattering its data and finally setting himself free. Takato let out another yell, and WarGrowlmon once again responded with a roar and activated his jets. Before the big Deva even realized WarGrowlmon had rejoined the fight, the Ultimate level cyborg was in his face and lifting him off the ground by his tusks. The other three Digimon, and their partners, watched in awe.
"What's going on here?" said Rika, confused.
"It must be… their connection," said Kou. "Takato told me that when Guilmon first became WarGrowlmon, it felt as if there was a physical connection between them. He could literally feel WarGrowlmon's power. He must be using that connection to make him stronger!"
"Whoa…" said Henry. "Well then guys… lets give it a shot too!"
"Yeah!" said Kou.
"Let's do it!" said Rika.
The three of them focused on their partners, and like Takato, unleashed their battle cries.
"Raise your snout and say 'ah!'" said WarGrowlmon, lifting Vikaralamon even higher as the pig began firing Fusion Balls in a futile attempt to fight back. "Rapidmon!"
"Gotcha, WarGrowlmon!" called Rapidmon as he launched into the sky and took aim at Vikaralamon's attacks.
"Rapid Fire!"
Not a single Fusion Ball hit a building, helicopter, Digimon, or even the ground. Rapidmon, with Henry's power, shot down every last one mere seconds after it came from the pig's mouth.
"You're up, Taomon!" yelled Rika.
"Right!" responded the fox.
"Talisman of Light!"
Brandishing her brush, Taomon painted her attack in the air and launched it into the sky, using her magic to seal many of the remaining rifts.
"Alright!" cheered Rika. "Good job Taomon!"
"WarGrowlmon!" yelled Takato. "Let's finish it!"
"Yeah, Takatomon!" responded the dinosaur. "Alright you… roll over!" The Deva soon found himself doing just that, as WarGrowlmon tightened his grip on his tusks and forced him onto his side.
"Kou!" called Takato. "Let's take him together!"
"Alright!" responded Kou. "DoruGreymon!"
"Right, Sir Kou!" said the dragon, flying over to WarGrowlmon. "Guil, let's finish this porker!"
"Right, Doru!"
"Take… him… down!" yelled the Matsuki brothers together as their partners unleashed their attacks.
"Atomic Blaster!"
"Metal Meteor!"
The two attacks tore into Vikaralamon, and with one final roar, the Deva's data burst apart.
"Phew…" said WarGrowlmon. "That was one mean sausage machine…"
"Oh boy…" said Janyu as he, Kazu, Kenta, Jeri, and Calumon finally caught up to the Tamers. "This is… a disaster…" He looked over to where Henry was standing, and breathed a sigh of relief that his son was okay before looking at Takato, who was panting.
"Ha… ha… well…" said the boy between breaths, "that… was… a scream…"
"No kidding bro!" said Kou, walking over to Takato and putting a hand on his back. "But hey, it worked! Mom would be proud of a yell that powerful!"
"Ha," said Takato, grinning, "she would, wouldn't she?"
"Takato!" called Jeri suddenly. The Tamers turned around to see Jeri, Kazu and Kenta running towards them happily. They glanced at each other and smiled. The long fight for Shinjuku was finally over.
Or so they thought.
Suddenly, a shadow leapt down from a nearby building and swept Calumon from Jeri's arms before leaping away.
"What the?" gasped Henry.
"Help!" yelled Calumon, causing all to turn in his direction and discover the identity of the shadow. The poor little in-training was firmly locked in Makuramon's grip.
"You wouldn't give me what I came for," said the monkey Deva with an evil grin, "so I had to take it. This creature doesn't belong here, and it's my duty to escort him home."
"Give him back, monkey boy!" demanded Rika.
"Calumon's our friend, we won't just let you take him!" said Takato.
"Uh-huh," said Makuramon, nodding. "Well, in that case… ba-bye!"
Before any of the Tamers could react, Makuramon leapt into the air.
"Calumon!" yelled Kou, holding up his hand even though he knew he couldn't reach the little Digimon. "No!"
"You evil ape!" came a heroic voice from a nearby rooftop. "You think you can just kidnap whoever you like!? You're the one that doesn't belong!"
"Leomon!" called Jeri, pointing to the lion Digimon she had been convinced was her partner several days ago. Leomon ran forward and jumped off the building at Makuramon, drawing his sword. Makuramon, however, flipped over him and propelled himself off the champion's back, sending himself towards the last sky rift. Behind him, an enormous silhouette appeared, shaped like a bird, and fired needles past Makuramon that embedded themselves into Leomon as he dropped to the ground.
"Leomon!" called Jeri again, extending her hand towards the fallen champion. Suddenly, an orb of golden light appeared in front of it, taking the girl by surprise. She hesitated for a moment, but after one look at Leomon, she reached into the light and grabbed hold of its center, causing it to fade and reveal a new, yellow-rimmed D-Arc. "My own Digivice…"
"Is… it real?" asked Janyu, stepping closer to the girl and looking at the device. Jeri said nothing in response, but immediately pointed it at Leomon. Its screen shone brightly before firing a beam of light at the champion that washed over him, deleting the needles and healing his wounds.
From above, Makuramon observed these events as he disappeared into the rift, returning to the Digital World. To him, it didn't matter that there was a new Tamer. She could be crushed just like the rest of them. No, what mattered was that he had accomplished his mission. He had Calumon in his grasp. With one final cackle, the last rift closed, and the battle was truly over.
On the ground, silence reigned over the Tamers and their friends. Jeri was sitting beside Leomon, who despite being healed had not regained consciousness. Kazu, Kenta, and Janyu were nearby, watching over her and looking around at the destruction that surrounded them. The Ultimates had de-digivolved back to rookies and were beside their partners, who were standing in the middle of the street as a group, looking to the sky where their friend had disappeared. The sounds of sirens in the distance finally broke the silence.
"Our town… has been destroyed," said Rika, finally looking away from the sky and in the direction of a building that could have collapsed at any moment.
"Our friend's been taken, and we couldn't stop it…" said Henry. "We've got to save him, but how?"
"…we've gotta go," said Takato.
"Huh?" said Kou. "You don't mean… to the…?"
"Yeah," said Takato, nodding. "We have to go to the Digital World. It's the only way to save Calumon!"
"Ah… okay…" said Henry. "But how are we gonna do that?"
"Same way we do everything," said Rika. "We wing it."
"Yeah, we'll come up with something," said Takato. "We have to."
"Well then," said Kou. "Digital World, here we come! Devas, prepare yourselves! The Digimon Tamers are coming for you!"
