LEGENDS OF THE DIGIDESTINED
Chapter 10 – First Victory
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"And so they come," murmured Boogeymon as his vision was temporarily blinded by blackness before returning back to normal. With all his minions knocked out by the Digidestined, he had lost all his means to see the world outside his fortress. He still did have some control over various digimon throughout the island, but it would be useless in his purpose now. Impervious, he stood himself straight with poise, and waited patiently for his adversaries to cross over the gate to face him. He would let them know that he was undaunted. He would prove that he was the one who would reign supreme over the island. And, he had one last surprise for them.
"There he is!" Boogeymon's head snapped up as he saw five adolescents coming into his view, with their partner digimon following them from behind.
"That I am," he said, and his voice echoed all over the area. "Finally we meet, Digidestined. I've been waiting for your arrival."
"That's Boogeymon?" muttered Darien in disbelief. "He looks… like a cartoon character!"
"FOOLS!" barked Boogeymon. "How DARE you insult me! You're here in my domain, and there's no turning back. You've stepped into a trap, and there will be no other end for all of you other than perish in my hand."
Boogeymon raised his trident and suddenly the whole fort was instantly covered with a magical blue dome, from the grounds until the highest tips of the tall twin towers. The dome crackled with white electricity, and let out a soft buzzing noise. The Digidestined tried touching the force field, only to be ending up being mildly electrocuted.
"Ouch!" cried Kira, rubbing her right palm with her left one. "That hurts!"
"I won't do that if I were you," said Boogeymon gleefully. "It will shock you to death if you touch them longer than you had just now. Now I have all of you trapped inside my domain. There's no escape from me."
"We'll break free of your stupid force field after we've done with you!" declared Max loudly.
"Do as you like," replied Boogeymon with his sardonic smile. "That is, if you can keep up with the amount of air inside this dome. Digimon don't need such ridiculous thing as air, but from what I gather air is essential for you foolish human. This dome has sealed everything inside here from being in contact with outside. Without air, the five of you will perish, and so will your partners as soon as you wilt."
"Is he serious? We need oxygen to breathe!" said Jon frantically.
"We'll battle him as quickly as we can," Dinohumon promised. "When he's gone, surely this dome will disappear as well."
"Are you sure?" asked Jon.
"Trust us," assured Dinohumon.
Quickly, the five destined digimon leapt towards Boogeymon, attacking together at once. Veedramon fired his V Nova Blast, followed by Grizzmon with his Crescent Dawn. Then Kyubimon morphed into a blue dragon specter and glided towards Boogeymon, with mystical autumn leaves swirling around her courtesy of Dinohumon. To add up with the attacks, Wizardmon generated several thunderbolts from his staff to electrocute Boogeymon. However, before any of those attacks could reach Boogeymon, the satanic digimon's eyes glowed bright scarlet and the intrinsic violet tattoos on his body glimmered.
"Ruby Eye!" he bellowed, sending rays of crimson lights from his eyes towards his opponents, hitting each and every one of them while nullifying all attacks at once. All of the destined digimon tumbled onto the grounds with their chests scorched by Boogeymon's attack.
"Let's try again!" shouted Veedramon. He quickly got up and instigated himself towards Boogeymon, showering him with quick punches. Boogeymon proved to be an equally good fighter as he received a punch with one hand, while evading another with his trident. Being smaller, Boogeymon was quicker than the bigger Veedramon, and his flying ability gave him an edge over the dragon digimon. Using his trident, he pierced Veedramon's skin at various places, causing the dragon to roar in pain before slapping the devil hard on the face. Boogeymon was about to retaliate when Veedramon's tail was slammed on his body. Angrily Boogeymon generated his Death Clash attack and blasted Veedramon on the chest, severely injuring the dragon. The mighty Veedramon then was toppled onto the ground, with bluish-white blood trickling out from his wound sites, while Boogeymon himself had small amount of blackened blood trickling from his mouth. However, the demon was smiling mockingly towards his defeated opponent.
"Weakling," he spat. "It's the end for you now!"
Boogeymon hovered closer to Veedramon, pointing his trident exactly towards his heart.
"No! Veedramon!" cried Max, quickly rushing to his partner and jumped in front of the dragon. He now stood between the trident and Veedramon.
"Max… what are you doing? Move!" said Veedramon.
"No!" yelled Max. "I won't let him hurt you!"
Boogeymon sneered. "Suit yourself. If you're so impatient to die, then let me do the honors to assist you. Death…"
"Dragon Wheel!"
A blue-white dragon spirit suddenly blasted Boogeymon from behind, causing him to lose his aim of his trident. Kyubimon then materialized from the specter as she dropped on all fours onto the ground, and glared towards Boogeymon with her piercing blue eyes. Seeing that Boogeymon was still disoriented from the effect of her attack, she quickly lit all the tips of her nine tails, and attacked Boogeymon again with multiple white fireballs. They hit Boogeymon at close range, but to her surprise, they had barely hurt him.
"It cannot be!"
"Stupid fox!" spat Boogeymon angrily, rising to his feet. "Death Clash!"
Kyubimon tried to jump away to avoid the attack, but Boogeymon was quicker as he maneuvered himself with unrivalled agility to follow Kyubimon's movement. As the result she was blasted by hundreds of sharp energy projectiles generated by both Boogeymon's staff and wings, nearly knocking her out. She attempted to rise again and fight, but the severe attack took the toll onto her and she slumped back down, weakened.
"Let this be a reminder for anyone who dares to interfere me again," warned Boogeymon before turning back towards Veedramon. "Now, where was I?"
But before he could start generating his attack, the rumblings of the ground signaled to him that someone was approaching him again. It was Grizzmon, with Dinohumon surfing on his blades beside of him.
"We're not done yet, Boogeymon!" shouted Grizzmon, and fired his Crescent Dawn.
"Autumn Exorcism!" followed Dinohumon.
The two strong attacks knocked Boogeymon off his feet, causing the demon to be sent crashing on the ground. Not letting an opportunity to pass, Grizzmon soared onto the air and attempted to crush Boogeymon with his heavy weight. But Boogeymon quickly rolled up and fired his Ruby Eye straight towards the looming bear, stinging him on the body. The surprise attack caused Grizzmon to shriek in pain, and he lost his balance, causing him to fall back on the ground with a loud thud. Boogeymon got up and grinned with malice.
"When will you all ever learn?" he said mockingly, brushing up dirt and soil from his wings. He watched warily as Dinohumon readied his blades.
"We'll never give up!" declared Dinohumon. "Lizard Dance!"
Boogeymon quickly used his trident to counter Dinohumon's blades. The two fought it out for a while, and for a moment Boogeymon looked flustered as Dinohumon continuously slashing his blades onto him. He struggled to protect himself with his trident until he saw a flaw on Dinohumon's attack. With a simple yet forceful forward thrust of his trident, Boogeymon had captured two of Dinohumon's many blades, and wielded them to face Dinohumon. Brutally he slashed Dinohumon across the torso, causing the dino-man to roll onto the ground in pain.
Wizardmon stared in horror towards his fallen comrades, and quickly readied himself as Boogeymon turned his attention towards him.
"Now, all of your friends have fallen," said Boogeymon. "I'm giving you a chance now not to end up like them. Join me, and I'll spare your life. Challenge me and you will suffer the same fates as the others."
Gulping, Wizardmon took a step forward. "I'll take my chances."
"Then you are as brave as you are foolish," replied Boogeymon.
"You killed Impmon," said Wizardmon with more confidence. "I will avenge his death."
"Surely there's a misunderstood here," said Boogeymon with a sneer. "As I recall, it was you who absorbed his data."
"Yes, as he wished before he died," answered Wizardmon slowly, but then he added loudly the next sentence. "You have been controlling innocent digimon to do your every bidding, stripping them away of their free wills. You forced them to go against their nature. This will end here, and now, I'll make sure of that."
"Ungrateful turncoat! Have you forgotten who had taken you in, when no one would accept you? You're a misfit, and it was me who took you under my wings and granted you power to digivolve! Without me, you will still be the worthless, sniveling, black Poyomon!"
"You are an evil being, Boogeymon. I shall have no qualm in fighting you, even if you did raise me, although you've never cared for me. For the sake of my friends, this island, and all the Digital World, I will make sure that your reign ends here!"
Wizardmon then chanted a protective spell to protect himself from any of Boogeymon's attack. His body was coated with an invisible yellow light, which let out a faint glow. He looked totally enchanting with the yellow aura covering his body. His green eyes fixed with grim determination, Wizardmon then raised his staff onto the air, and called out his first attack.
"Thunder Blast!"
The sun-shaped end of the staff crackled with jolts of electricity, and burst in yellow sparks of lights. Wizardmon swung his staff forward and charged towards Boogeymon, and fired the attack on the demon. Boogeymon quickly used his trident to block the attack, and soon the two were involved in a fierce brawl. Boogeymon launched his signature attack, but the aura around the young wizard blocked the attack from harming him. Wizardmon then retaliated with Magical Game, generating out spheres of green magical fire onto Boogeymon's face. The demon screamed in agony, and kicked Wizardmon forcefully on the stomach. Then suddenly Wizardmon's aura faded, his spell could only last for a short period of time.
"Luck be with me," said Boogeymon with a grin. "Ruby Eye!"
This time, Wizardmon received the full blow of the attack and yelled loudly as the red laser attack penetrated his clothes, burning a hole through it before making way to his body. Wizardmon jumped away as quickly as possible and deflected the laser back at Boogeymon with his staff. Quickly he muttered a spell to heal himself from Boogeymon's attack, and the wound inflicted on his chest was slowly cured. However to his astonishment, the wound didn't cure completely. No more blood was trickling from it, but Wizardmon could still feel the sharp pain coming from it. He frowned, and realized that Boogeymon's power was far too great compared to himself. He took a deep breath, and prepared for another round.
"Do you think Wizardmon is a match for Boogeymon?" asked Jon.
Kanto nodded. "I have full confidence in him. He'll win this."
"Our own partners aren't doing so well," observed Darien. "They're hurt badly."
"Is it just me… or the air is feeling stuffy?" asked Kira, rubbing her throat. "It's so hard to breathe…"
"The air!" exclaimed Jon. "It's depleting. The dome is blocking all the air and we don't have much time. I.. I'm having difficulty in breathing…"
Max frowned. "Man! We're not coming here only to die because of out of air! There must be something we can do."
"Wizardmon!" cried Kanto, his face paled considerably as he clutched his throat as well.
The wizard heard the call of his partner, and realized what was going on. The Digidestined were in grave danger. He had to finish the battle quickly.
"Boogeymon! Remove the dome, now!" he growled. "It's me you want to battle, not them!"
Boogeymon's face contorted into a sinister grin. "Perhaps you don't understand my intentions yet, Wizardmon. I plan to eliminate all of you, and that means including the Digidestined of yours as well. Why do you think I erected this dome in the first place? Humans and their need of air… hah! It'll be the end of them. How ironic, don't you think?"
"Thunder Blast!" shouted Wizardmon, and aimed his attack towards the force-field. His attack was deflected by the dome, without causing a dent on it.
"It's useless to attempt to destroy it, Wizardmon," said Boogeymon, smiling evilly.
"Wizardmon…" Wizardmon paled upon hearing his partner's pleas, which was sounding weaker and more desperate. He wouldn't be able to destroy the dome. Then, one by one, the Digidestined began to drop on their knees. Their faces were pale and sweaty, and they looked as if they were struggling to hold their breaths. Over the background, Boogeymon was laughing gleefully, enjoying the whole ordeal. The other destined digimon, aware of their partners' plights, quickly struggled to get up from the ground. As hastily as they could possibly move, the four of them gathered together near a wall of barrier, and used the lasts of their powers to generate a powerful attack onto the barrier. The barrier crackled temporarily as the attacks collided with it, before a huge explosion ensued and the barrier was gone. A powerful rush of air resulted, and slowly but gradually, the Digidestined were able to breathe again. Then, the four destined digimon de-digivolved back into their Rookie forms as they had used out all of their powers.
"It can't be," muttered Boogeymon angrily. "IT CANNOT BE!!"
Not only Boogeymon was angry, but Wizardmon now was trembling in fury. His green eyes blazed and his teeth gritted together.
"How dare you…" he muttered. "They were almost killed! I won't forgive you for such a vile act!"
ToyAgumon, Bearmon, Renamon and Kotemon were momentarily dazed, not knowing what to do as they had reverted into Rookies. They struggled to get on their feet again and made their way towards Wizardmon. It was then that ToyAgumon remembered something.
"The powers from Tentomon and the others," he said. "We still have them. We've lost our powers, but their powers remain in us. Let's use it now!"
"How exactly are we going to do so?" Renamon demanded wryly.
"I don't know," replied ToyAgumon. "Let's gather around Wizardmon, he's the only Champion left. Maybe he can call upon the power and use it to battle that demon."
Renamon was silent, thinking of the possibility that ToyAgumon's hasty plan could actually work. But it was Kotemon and Bearmon who voiced their agreements, and together they made their way towards Wizardmon. As they approached Wizardmon, suddenly their bodies began to glow in bright white lights. Wizardmon was puzzled by the sudden event, but he himself was glowing as well.
"I knew it would work," said ToyAgumon happily.
"What's going on?" asked Wizardmon.
"Wizardmon, you are our only hope left. Gather our powers together and deliver the final blow to that horrid demon now!" said Renamon.
Wizardmon nodded, and began chanting a spell while having his staff rising upwards. Thunders began to crackle on the sky as their bodies glowed brilliantly together. At the same time, the Digidestined found out that their Digivices were also pulsing, and quickly they took them out from their pockets and aimed towards their partners. The Digivices then let out beams of white lights, engulfing all the destined digimon except for Wizardmon. The four destined digimon felt their powers leaving them, and as they grew smaller they watched the white lights entering Wizardmon's body. The young wizard digimon glimmered brilliantly and hovered over the air. Then, like a flash of lightning he made a rush towards Boogeymon, who had to cover his eyes due to the blinding light. Wizardmon felt himself changing; he was growing taller and stronger, and his staff morphed into a magnificent silver sword.
"What's all this!" demanded Boogeymon, covering his eyes with his hands. "Where are all this lights coming from?"
Wizardmon's new silver sword blazed with fire as he was getting closer to Boogeymon. He roared a loud cry and made a forceful clean slash towards Boogeymon before zooming past him. Boogeymon didn't feel a thing at first, but then he recoiled in horror as he saw what Wizardmon's attack had done to him. His trident was broken into half, and was beginning to decompose into data particles. He then looked down and saw that his body was cut in half over the abdomen region; there was a trail of fine white lining on his stomach. Boogeymon screamed as he felt himself decomposing from the insides. Red data particles left his body, and slowly Boogeymon realized that he was nearing his end.
"I'm not alone!" he shouted desperately as he felt his life fading away. "There will be more of the Legion of Darkness out there! They will avenge my death! Good can never prevail. Evil shall reign supreme!" With that, he laughed a maniacal laugh. It was a haunting laughter, from one that had lost all hope but full of determination for revenge. It sent shivers down the spine of everyone around there.
Wizardmon felt himself shrinking back to his original size, and that his silver sword had turned back into his sun staff. He looked at Boogeymon with grim satisfaction, as data left the demon's body and legs. Only his head was visible, and Boogeymon was still smiling. It was a sinister smile, and for a moment Wizardmon felt himself shuddering.
"This is not the end, Digidestined!" he vowed, and closed his eyes as the last remaining of him flew all over the air. "This is NEVER the end!" echoed his voice all over the air. Then, the twin towers began to crumble down towards the ground and combusted into blacken data particles as well. Digidestined and digimon were momentarily stunned until it dawned to them; they were victorious! They had banished Boogeymon. Database Island was finally freed from the forces of evil.
"We've won!" Kira, Jon and Kanto shouted happily, and rushed to retrieve their partners, with Max and Darien following closely behind.
The white lights faded, and four smaller digimon emerged from where ToyAgumon, Bearmon, Renamon and Kotemon used to be. One of them was a round pink ball with expressive red eyes and long pink ears. The second one was an orange furball with a straight grey-black horn on his head and a pair of red-brown eyes. The third one was a purple digimon wearing a two-horned metallic helmet. He also had red-brown eyes and a bushy tail striped with purple and white. And finally, the fourth digimon was slightly different from the others. While it was the same tiny size as the others, it was standing on its four stubby legs, while the others had no legs at all. It had clear blue eyes, yellow fur and a bushy tail.
"Hi!" all the four smaller digimon greeted exuberantly while Wizardmon nodded with a smile. "We did it!!"
They promptly introduced themselves as the In-training forms of ToyAgumon, Bearmon, Renamon and Kotemon. The pink ball was Koromon, the digimon with the horn was Tsunomon, the yellow digimon with stubby legs was Viximon and the purple digimon with a helmet was Kapurimon.
"You guys look so cute," commented Kira as Viximon went to her. She lifted Viximon up and hugged her.
"Congratulations," said Jon, and picked up Kapurimon. "You're the greatest!"
"Wizardmon?" Kanto called, and the wizard promptly went to him. "Just now… you've changed. You were taller, and you had a sword. Did you digivolve?"
"I'm not sure," answered Wizardmon. "I've never heard of any level past Champion. Maybe there is, but I've never met any. But back then, all I know was to defeat Boogeymon and free this island. Somehow the white lights had given me all the power I needed."
"And took away ours," chirped Koromon, who was now being held by Max. "Not that I mind though, I haven't been in this form for so long."
"Me too," said Viximon thoughtfully. "I have been Renamon for nearly a year now. This is the first time I devolved back to my In-training form."
"Not us," said Kapurimon brightly. "Tsunomon and I digivolved into Bearmon and Kotemon only a month before you guys arrived."
"Hey, look up there!" cried Tsunomon excitedly. The others paid heed to his call, and saw that the data particles from Boogeymon and the twin towers were spiraling against each other. Boogeymon's data were red in color, while his towers were black.
"What do we do with those data?" asked Koromon.
Wizardmon replied with a sigh. "They are too corrupted. Perhaps I should destroy them with my spell."
The data suddenly were suspended into the air, held by invisible forces. Before the Digidestined and the digimon could figure out what was going on, the coiled data crumbled onto the ground, and were absorbed by the grounds.
"There you go, the solution for the data. I suppose there is no harm from this?" said Max.
"I don't think so," answered Wizardmon uncertainly. "I certainly hope so, though."
"Hey, by this way we're sure for real that Boogeymon isn't going to come back ever again," said Kapurimon cheerfully.
"Remember what he said when he was going to be deleted?" asked Tsunomon. "What did he mean by saying that he wasn't alone? Are there more of him out there?"
"Great, there goes our ticket to going back home," Darien murmured silently. When Tsunomon looked up to him, he quickly thought of something to amend his sentence. "What I meant was… I thought we're going to go back home after Boogeymon is defeated. But since there's more of him out there… wherever there is… maybe we should stick around some more. Right?"
"Right you are, brother," said Kira. "What are we going to do now?"
"Maybe we ought to see what happen to the possessed digimon?" suggested Jon.
"I hope they're all okay," said Kanto. "Hopefully the spell is gone, now that Boogeymon's no more."
As if on cue, they suddenly heard noises coming towards them. One by one, the said digimon come into the gate, which was the sole remnant of what had left from Boogeymon's reign. Leomon was there, looking dazed. Beside him was Ogremon, who had his hands crossed over his chest, looking grumpy. They were followed by the other digimon, all looked equally confused. The Digidestined rushed to greet Leomon, happy that he was safe.
"What happened to us?" asked Leomon. "The last thing I remember was being at File Island…"
The Digidestined began to fill them with all the details they had forgotten while they were under the Curse of the Crimson Eye's possession. The digimon were horrified to learn that they had been possessed, but relaxed instantly when they heard that Boogeymon was no more. They promptly apologized for everything they had done while not in their right state of mind; well all with the exception of Ogremon, who was looking annoyed.
"Don't you think I'm gonna mellow out now! Leomon, I still have a score to settle with you," he said, readying his cudgel.
Leomon groaned, and backed off. "I don't have any interest to fight you today, Ogremon. We will settle this at another day."
"No! We'll fight now!"
Before Leomon could answer, Wizardmon suddenly walked past him and thrust his staff straight onto Ogremon's neck.
"Wizardmon!" Kanto gasped. "What are you doing?"
"If you're going to fight, then fight me! I have a score to settle with you!" said Wizardmon, in a tone that set fear into Ogremon's mind. "I've defeated Boogeymon, and I will not hesitate to do the same thing to YOU as well, should you give me more than a reason. Given that you're under the curse, I believe that you're not to blame. But don't think I'm going to forgive you for taking away Impmon's life."
Ogremon paled instantly. "What do you mean? Have I… killed this Impmon?"
The look in Wizardmon's eyes answered his question immediately. The wizard quickly lowered his staff and backed off.
"Go!" barked Wizardmon, but his voice sounded somewhat sad. "Just go." He turned around and joined his friends.
Ogremon stood for a while, motionless. He wasn't a good digimon to begin with, and this wasn't the first time he had caused the deletion of a digimon. By looking at the little Viximon's piercing glare, he was reminded to the time when he, as three little Goburimon, had caused her friends to be deleted. He had even absorbed their data, which was a bane for all digimon. Though he did feel remorse now, but it was too late. No one would accept him any longer. With that, he turned his back and quickly set forth down the mountain, and he was gone.
"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" asked Kira.
"He deserves it," replied Viximon, vexed. "After what he did to the Yokomon, he deserves it."
"Well, why the long faces now?" asked Koromon. "We've defeated the bad guy already. The island is now free from the horrible curse. Isn't this the time to celebrate?"
"Now you're talking," said Leomon. "Let's head back to the Primary Village."
"You better have a good reason for contacting me. I do not like to be disturbed in this hour!"
"Forgive me Dragomon, but I have news from you."
"Speak! Do not waste my time."
"My crew and I are now at the Database Island. We were actually coming to your domain to deliver the supplies you were asking earlier, but we've caught up in a minor difficulty with the Niximon that are residing inside the ocean. The ship is being repaired as we speak, so there might be a slight delay."
"It is not of my concern. Do you not know that if you are late in delivering the supplies, then the payment will be reduced. And did you say you are in Database Island now?"
"Yes. Does the name of the island ring a bell?"
"I believe so. It is where my fellow Legion of Darkness brother lives."
"Get this, Dragomon. The prophesied Digidestined are here, and they are now fighting this Boogeymon. Your brother, I presume?"
"What? The Digidestined? Why am I not informed about this? See to it that you assist Boogeymon in his battle against the Digidestined."
"Hold it right there, Dragomon. Firstly, there isn't stated in our contract that I would do your bidding. My task is only to deliver you supplies that you need and we so happen to have. For a payment. And secondly, from what I heard of these Digidestined, they are a force to be reckoned with. One digimon I met spoke highly of them."
"This must not be! I am going to sense my brother's presence to see to see how he fares… What is the meaning of this? It cannot be! There must be a mistake. I could not sense him anywhere."
"From where I'm standing now, there seems to be a huge firework in action just recently on top of the highest peak of this island."
"It seems to me that Boogeymon has already lost. How unfortunate, and it is a great shame for the Legion of Darkness."
"Yeah whatever, I don't exactly have high regards on this Legion of Darkness."
"How dare you speak in such manner about the Legion of Darkness?"
"I'm a free mon, Dragomon. While the rest of the world bows to the Legion of Darkness, we pirates roam the sea."
"Do not be so sure of yourself, Hookmon. It is only a matter of time before the sea will also fall under the Legion of Darkness's power. For now, I have a proposition for you."
"If it involves an extra sack of gold, then I'm all ears."
"We shall see about that. I want you to bring the Digidestined to me. Gain their trust to leave the island, and bring them to me."
"That's a huge task Dragomon. I expect big reward for this one."
"That is our policy, Hookmon. Reward for success, punishment for failure. But do not fail me, Hookmon! Now leave me in peace."
"I won't fail. Hookmon out."