Author's Note: Since this story is almost done I'm giving it top priority. So in theory it should be done before then end of this week.

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon.

Chapter 10: The Lord of Pride

Lucemon sat on the throne in the ancient temple near the location where he had released Magidramon, his legs crossed and his head propped on his left hand. All he needed to do was wait. Megidramon would do much of his work in destroying the Digital World for him, and then Lucemon would move the dragon to the human world to continue his work. Then Lucemon would remake both worlds into worlds that were perfect and free of corruption. It was only a matter of time, and not even the Harmonious Ones or the Digidestined could stop him. As Lucemon sat, Team Excalibur and the Tamers had arrived.

"Ah Alphamon, I see you've finally arrived." Lucemon said with a confident smirk and effeminate voice. "I have to say I'm impressed by your newest set of generals. Though I do miss AncientGreymon and AncientGarurumon. It's a shame I had to destroy them."

"I will make you pay for their deaths foul one!" Alphamon proclaimed.

"You are of course welcome to try my old nemesis." Lucemon replied in an amused tone. "But just like before you will fail, and this time you will be destroyed for good."

"Can the talk, it's time to kick some ass!" Marsmon cried as he charged at Lucemon.

Lucemon pointed his right arm at Marsmon, and before war god Digimon knew it he was trapped in a black sphere. Orbiting around the sphere was an equally large cube made of gold light. The cube rotated around the sphere faster and fast and kept moving closer and closer until it hit the sphere and caused a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared, Marsmon was still standing, though he looked badly hurt.

"Well, well, you survived that attack." Lucemon said as he got up from the throne. "There aren't many Digimon who can you know. Let's just see how much punishment you can take."

With that, Lucemon charged at Marsmon and hit him with a lightning fast barrage of punches. The last punch was a devastatingly powerful one delivered to Marsmon's chest, which ended up hurling him into a pillar. Marsmon was still conscious, but did not have the strength to get back up, not that it didn't stop him from trying.

"How disappointing." Lucemon said as he walked towards the fallen Marsmon. "I was hoping you'd be more of a challenge. Ah well, I'll be merciful and finish you off quick."

Just as Lucemon was about to launch another attack, Justimon hit him with a flying kick. The lord of pride seemed relatively unharmed, but his attention was diverted away from Marsmon.

"You want a challenge, try fighting me!" Justimon dared the demon lord.

"The one who conquered Millenniummon, Yes you probably would be more of a challenge." Lucemon said as he maintained his confident expression. "Let's just see what you're made of."

Before Lucemon could launch an attack he was hit in the leg by an arrow made of ice. As Lucemon pulled the arrow out, he saw that it was Dianamon who had fired it. Dianamon joined Justimon on the battlefield. Lotosmon followed close behind her and began healing Marsmon with a white light from her Caduceus.

"Why not take all of us on?" Dianamon dared Lucemon. "Or is the great leader of the Seven Lords afraid of fighting more than one opponent at a time?"

"I'm not sure whether you're very brave or just foolish." Lucemon laughed. "But as I said before, if you think you can defeat me you're welcome to try."

With that Lucemon fired off a Grand Cross attack at Justimon and Dianamon. Both Digimon were able to dodge it, and in an instant Justimon countered with a ball of electricity fired from his mechanical fist. Lucemon was hit in the face, but took little damage. Lucemon began to charge at Justimon, but was hit by four multicolored fox spirits launched by Sakuyamon. QueenChessmon then charged in and hit Lucemon in the stomach with her mallet. Seraphimon and Ophanimon then joined the battle, with Seraphimon hitting the demon lord with a cluster of fireballs, and Ophanimon hitting him with a beam of light from her javelin. At last Alphamon charged it and slashed at Lucemon with his sword. It seemed that his attack, Seraphimon's, and Ophanimon's, were the only attacks that did any real damage, yet Lucemon recovered very quickly.

"So you finally joined in Alphamon." Lucemon said with a surprisingly delighted expression. "Why don't we settle things once and for all?"

"We shall indeed settle things Lucemon!" Alphamon proclaimed. "And before this day is over, you will be vanquished!"

And with that the great battle finally got going. Alphamon, Seraphimon, Ophanimon, QueemChessmon, Dianamon, Justimon, and Sakuyamon were launching everything they had at Lucemon. Meanwhile Lotosmon was continuing in her efforts to heal Marsmon. The only other member of the team not joining the battle was HiAndromon, who stood as if he were waiting for something.

Meanwhile, Tai's group was still struggling against Megidramon. The attacks of their four Mega level Digimon were having very little effect on the dragon. At the same time they were taking massive damage from Megidramon's flame attacks and earth-shattering roars. As the battle waged on, Davis and Ken's determination finally allowed Imperialdramon to change to Paladin Mode. The dragon warrior then began slashing at Megidramon with his sword. Slowly cracks of white light began appearing on Megidramon's chest where the sword was hitting him.

Omnimon, Hououmon, and HerculesKabuterimon kept the dragon distracted while Imperialdramon continued his assault. With one final and powerful slash from Imperialdramon, the cracks spread all over Megidramon's body and caused the dragon of destruction to finally shatter apart. Megidramon was no more, but the four Digimon were so exhausted after the battle that they reverted back to their In-Training forms. Tai and the others went over to retrieve them.

"Well, it doesn't look like we'll be helping out Team Excalibur." Ken said with a rather grim expression.

"But we can't let Kari and those other guys fight Lucemon alone!" Davis exclaimed.

"We don't have a choice." Matt pointed out. "None of our Digimon are up to any more fighting right now."

"Don't worry, Team Excalibur will win." Tai declared as he looked on towards the temple where the battle with Lucemon was taking place.

Back at the temple, Team Excalibur continued their assault on Lucemon. Lotosmon had since healed Marsmon and the two had joined in on the battle. But even with their added help, the demon lord of pride still proved to be quite powerful. Lucemon had taken some damage, but it seemed minimal. QueenChessmon hit Lucemon on the side of his head with her mallet, but not only was Lucemon unfazed he hit her with a Grand Cross attack that knocked her to the ground.

"You are beginning to annoy me." Lucemon said with an irritated expression as he walked towards the fallen QueenChessmon. "For that, you shall be the first to die."

Before Lucemon could make a move, Alphamon dashed in and slashed the demon lord across the chest with his sword. The slash was a bit more powerful than the ones from before.

"Touch her and I will cut you to pieces fiend!" Alphamon declared in Arthur's voice.

Within QueenChessmon, Gwen was blushing heavily.

"It seems that I've hit a nerve." Lucemon laughed. "Well if you're so eager to protect that girl, then you can die first!"

Just as Lucemon was about to launch another attack he suddenly found himself surrounded by a black sphere exactly like the one that had surrounded Marsmon earlier, and just as before there was a large cube of golden light orbiting around the sphere. The cube began rotating faster and coming in closer until it collided with the sphere and caused a large explosion. The smoke cleared and Lucemon was still standing, but he had taken a great deal of damage. Shocked by what had just happened to him, Lucemon glanced around and saw HiAndrmon with his right arm outstretched towards him.

"I believe you recognize that attack." HiAndromon began as he lowered his arm and walked calmly onto the battlefield. "I copied it when you used it on Marsmon. Of course after analyzing it I discovered that it seems to cause a random amount of damage. So I decided to wait until you had already taken a great deal of damage to use it."

"You mean… you planed this?" an enraged Lucemon asked.

"We had hoped that after doing the damage we did, the attack would be enough to destroy you." Alphamon explained. "It did not work out exactly as we planed, but it seems that you're on your last legs. This ends now!"

With that the team began launching everything they had at Lucemon. It seemed that Lucemon was taking actual damage. Marsmon began hitting the demon lord with several punches and kicks that seemed to be part of a complex move, which finished when Marsmon slammed both his fists into the ground. From the place where Marsmon hit came a pillar of fire that hit Lucemon with a devastating effect. The demon lord collapsed to his hands and knees.

"You… insects!" Lucemon spat in a low demonic voice. "You dare to use my own attack against me. I will make you pay for that!"

"You are unable to do so." Alphamon told him. "You're too wounded to continue Lucemon. This battle is over."

"Not yet… Alphamon." Lucemon said as an evil grin slowly began to appear on his face. "I still have one more little trick up my sleeve. I never thought… I would have to use it, but it seems… I have no choice now."

With that, Lucemon began chanting a spell in the hideous language of the Seven Lords. He suddenly began to glow with a red aura and rise into the air. Six orbs of colored light suddenly appeared and began orbiting around him. One was orange, one was yellow, one was green, one was blue, one was indigo, and the final orb was violet.

"What're you trying to pull now?" Marsmon demanded. "What the hell are those balls?"

"These 'balls' as you put them are what remains of my fallen comrades, their essence if you will." Lucemon explained. "When each of them died I collected their powers to use in the unlikely event I would be in a situation like the one I'm in now. I never thought it would actually come to this, but by absorbing their powers I shall evolve and become unstoppable. Prepare yourselves for your demise!"

With that the orbs entered Lucemon, and after the demon lord cried out from being infused with so much power he erupted into a pillar of black flames that shot into the sky. It soon became clear to Team Excalibur that the real battle was about to begin, and none of them were sure if they would survive.

Author's Note: If anyone reading is familiar with Digimon Frontier, then you can probably guess what Lucemon is turning into. Incidentally, I tried depicting Lucemon a little differently than from how he was depicted in Frontier (since it's a different universe and all). Some of Lucemon's personality in this story is based on Friza from Dragon Ball Z, and that thing where he switches from a child-like/effeminate voice to a low demonic voice was inspired by the Powerpuff Girls villain known only as "HIM".

Well, there's only one chapter and most likely an epilogue to go, so stay tuned. In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.