(A/N: Ok, this chapter is a little shorter than I would have preferred, but last chapter was longer than usual, so it about evens out. Hopefully I'll be answering your questions in regards to what happened last chapter. I'll explain more in the Author's Note at the bottom.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 10: More Games
The light was slow to die down, as was the thundering sound of the blast, leaving a loud ringing noise in everyone's ears. The DigiDestined were left with temporary blurry vision and deaf ears.
As the seconds ticked by, their hearing and vision slowly returned to normal. They looked to the battle between Love Machine and the giant golden dragon Digimon, but both were nowhere to be seen. Davis' mouth moved in a question that went by unheard over everyone's ringing ears.
"Sorry, what was that?" Gennai asked, wiggling a finger around in his ear to try and rid it of the deafening clogged feeling.
"I said, what just happened?" Davis practically shouted, his voice coming through as their hearing returned to normal.
Gennai smiled. "Nothing much. I was just providing Love Machine with a distraction he couldn't resist while my other selves restored the Sovereigns' strength as much as they could. Oh, here's your D-Terminals back."
Yolei gave him a strange look as she and the others took back the devices. "But the Sovereigns, what happened to them? And Love Machine, and that golden dragon? What was it anyway?"
"Ah," said Gennai, "that was Huanglongmon, the Yellow Dragon of the Center. He's the leader of Sovereigns who watches over the entire Digital World. All four Sovereigns DNA Digivolve together in order to form him."
TK's eyes were as wide as saucers. "All four? That's amazing! You mean that more than just two Digimon can Digivolve together at once?"
Gennai chuckled. "Of course, if they're compatible. There are actually many forms of Digivolution other than the ones you guys have witnessed, and I'm sure more will be discovered in the future."
"Wow," said Cody, "someone born from the DNA Digivolution of all four Digimon Sovereigns must truly be a force to be reckoned with."
"Yeah, no kidding," Upamon agreed. "He completely vaporized Love Machine with a single attack."
Kari began looking around, as if she expected to find something. "But where did he go? How could a Digimon of that size just disappear like that?"
"Not to worry," Gennai reassured her. "Huanglongmon finished his duty of defeating Love Machine, so he simply separated into the four Sovereigns again, and now they've returned to their realms to recover from the battle. I think it's safe to say that Love Machine's strength was even greater than what they had expected."
"Boy, I'll say," Chibomon agreed. "Who'd have thought that that creepy little thing we met back in Primary Village would become so powerful."
"Speaking of which," Davis wondered out loud, "why'd they wait so long to come fight him anyway? I mean, the four of them have got to be some of the most powerful Digimon of all. Why do they even need us to keep the peace? Couldn't they just easily take care of any evil Digimon that start causing trouble?"
"They have their own duties and roles to fulfill," Gennai explained. "The Sovereigns are meant to watch over the Digital World and guide those in it, not get involved with everything that takes place. Just as your God doesn't directly get involved with what goes on in your world, the Sovereigns also act through others and work behind the scenes. This, however, was a special case where they were forced to step in. Love Machine had become too powerful, even surpassing them. They had to do something before it was too late."
"I get it," said Yolei. "If the Sovereigns fought all our battles for us, we'd become dependent on them and never learn to stand on our own feet."
"But when faced with a truly impossible situation, they came to our aid," Poromon finished for her.
Gennai chuckled. "Yes, something alone those lines. But even the Sovereigns' strength, as great as it is, is still limited. With all the evil Digimon causing trouble, the Sovereigns would always be fighting them off, and eventually they would run out of power. Their duties as rulers are too important to the Digital World for that to happen, so they rely on others."
Davis beamed. "Well, we're happy to be of service. We'll make sure nothing like this ever happens again. Right, Chibomon?"
"You got it, Davis!"
Ken stepped forward. "Love Machine may have been beaten, but we still haven't stopped him yet. Don't forget how quickly he developed. We need to get back to Primary Village before his Digi-Egg, or whatever he has, hatches and the whole thing starts all over again."
Leafmon looked up at him. "I don't think we need to worry about that too much. I doubt Elecmon will let that happen again. He's probably roaming around the village looking for Love Machine's Digi-Egg in case he reappears."
Gennai's expression became more serious. "Yes, I'm sure Elecmon is on top of things. Nevertheless, you're still right, Ken. We need to figure out what we're going to do with Love Machine while we still can. If he gets as strong as he did before, I don't think that-"
Something burst from his chest. A look of shock appeared on his face as screams of surprise came from the DigiDestined. Going into his back and sticking out his front was a ray of light, piercing straight through his torso.
"Gennai!" the DigiDestined cried.
A look of surprise and pain was painted on his face as he dropped to his knees, then fell face forward to the ground. The golden arrow sticking out his back dissolved into light particles and disappeared, leaving him with a wound in his back and chest. The DigiDestined rushed to his side to carefully turn him over.
Gatomon's eyes were wide with horror. "That arrow…" she whispered. "That was my Angewomon form's Celestial Arrow attack."
"But…" TK muttered, "but that means that…"
They looked up in the direction the arrow had come from. There, hovering in the sky, was Love Machine in his form prior to the giant monster made of the millions of avatars. Huanglongmon's attack hadn't destroyed him, it had only reverted him back to his previous form.
The A.I.'s thumb and index finger were extended in the gesture of a gun after having shot the arrow. Bringing his hand to his grinning mouth, he moved his head slightly in a motion to suggest he was blowing the smoke away from a recently fired gun.
"Love Machine," Ken growled. "He's still alive."
Yolei's eyes were wide and fearful. "But how? How'd he survive that attack?"
"Looks like even Huanglongmon underestimated him," Cody surmised.
"More like even he wasn't strong enough to beat him," Poromon reluctantly added.
Love Machine came down from the sky and landed a distance away. He pointed a finger at the wounded Gennai and shook it, as if silently reprimanding a naughty child.
Despite the situation, Gennai couldn't help but grin. "Yes, you're right. Looks like it's your victory after all, my friend. I played my best hand, and I lost."
He began coughing, spitting up some blood in the process as Kari put pressure on his wound to try and stop the bleeding.
"We need a doctor," she said, "or some Digimon with a healing ability."
Davis looked around at where they were. "I don't think that's all that likely."
"Where's his copies?" Chibomon asked.
Gennai coughed some more. "They won't be able to help. They used up all their strength to heal the Sovereigns."
"That's it!" Cody cried. "We need to call the Sovereigns back! How do we do it?"
TK's fists clenched. "I don't think that's an option. Gennai said they had to return to their realms to recover. I don't think they have enough strength to come back and fight, not even with Love Machine in his current form."
Gatomon's eyes shifted back to Love Machine, the horror in them from earlier now replaced with fury. "Then I'll fight!" she declared, rushing forward. She pointed at the A.I. threateningly. "I'll be your opponent!"
Kari jumped up from Gennai's side. "Gatomon, you can't! He's too strong!"
The cat Digimon didn't even bother to look back at her. "Then what should we do? Just give up? Just roll over and die? No way, I can't do that. I'm still in my Champion form; I'm the only one who can still fight."
Patamon jumped off TK's shoulder and flew to her side. "I can fight too. I may not be of much use, but at least I can do more than blow bubbles; no offence guys."
"None taken," the In-Training and Baby Digimon replied, secretly grateful that they wouldn't have to keep fighting the A.I.
Love Machine cocked his head to the side, seeming to consider the two Digimon. Leaving his staff to stand on its own beside him, he held up his hands until they were level with his chest. Energy began gathering in between his hands, and a golden ball of light appeared.
"No…" Gennai moaned. "No, not that."
Davis noted the panicked look on Gennai's face. "What? What is it?"
"That attack, it's Huanglongmon's Taikyoku attack; the one he was just hit by. It's a devastatingly powerful attack that disassembles everything it hits into the two extremes of light and darkness until there's nothing left!"
The DigiDestined looked at the attack Love Machine held. With such a disastrous attack, it was no wonder Love Machine, even as strong as he had been, had been reduced from his colossal giant form back down to his current one.
"If that attack hits the ground," Gennai continue, "then this entire continent will be completely obliterated. There will be nothing left."
Patamon glared at the A.I. "As if I'd let that happen. Boom Bubble!"
The attack burst against Love Machine's chest. He glanced down to where it hit, then looked back at the two Digimon and raised the gathering of energy over his head to unleash it.
"No you don't!" Gatomon cried. "Cat Laser!"
She fired a beam at him. It struck the A.I. in the face, snapping his head back. For a few moments, he remained still with his head staring up at the sky, as if the attack had actually done some damage, then moved it to look back at them again, a mocking look in his eye. He cracked his neck arrogantly and prepared to fire his attack.
Taking a deep breath, Ken took a step forward. "I thought you had a more competitive spirit than that!" he shouted at the A.I.
Love Machine's attention shifted from Gatomon and Patamon to him, and he cocked his head to the side questioningly.
"Don't you like games?" Ken asked. "Or do you just quit in the middle of it You might have he upper hand now, but Gatomon and Patamon are still willing to keep going. Yet you're just going to put an end to the game before it's over. Some gamer you are. Where's your fighting spirit? The game isn't over until a winner is decided. Or are you just being a poor sport because Gennai and Huanglongmon got the jump on you? Come on, Love Machine, let's finish this for real."
The A.I. stared at him for several seconds. The attack he held slowly died out as he lowered his hands. Grabbing his staff, he turned his attention back to Gatomon and Patamon, pointing it at them in challenge.
The DigiDestined breathed temporarily sighs of relief that Love Machine had decided to cease his attack for now. It seemed they had managed to buy themselves some more time.
"That was some quick thinking, Ken," Cody praised.
"Thanks," he muttered. "I'd hoped Love Machine's competitive spirit would make him want to continue. He may enjoy games, but he also doesn't like to lose."
"And he can't be declared the winner if he ends the game before its finished," Gennai finished in understanding. "Well done. But as things stand, the odds aren't exactly in our favor."
"At least he managed to stop Love Machine from destroying everything," Davis pointed out. "Even if we do lose, maybe he won't use that attack afterwards. Maybe we'll have at least done that much."
Gennai shook his head. "We can't chance it. We have to stop Love Machine here and now. No matter what it takes."
He raised his hand, and a gold aura surrounded his body. The same aura appeared around Gatomon and Patamon as well, and their strength began to return.
"Hey, I can feel my strength returning," said Patamon.
"Yeah, me too," said Gatomon.
The DigiDestined looked at Gennai worriedly.
"Gennai, what are you doing?" Cody demanded.
"Giving them whatever strength I have left," he replied.
"You can't!" Yolei shouted. "Not with that injury! If you give up any more of your power, then you'll-"
"It's too late for me anyway," Gennai told her. "At least this way I can still be of some help. It's up to you now, my friends. Good luck."
His body glowed brightly with a golden light, then burst into data particles and vanished. And with that, Gennai was gone. Their long time friend and mentor had just disappeared without a trace.
The DigiDestined couldn't believe it. Gennai had been with even the previous generation of DigiDestined since practically the beginning of their adventures in the Digital World. Even long before the DigiDestined had ever came to be, he had been there, aiding and guiding the forces of good. They had thought that he would always be there for them.
"Gennai…" Kari whispered as tears ran down her cheeks. "Gennai, no…"
"He's gone," TK muttered, equally as stunned. "He's really gone."
"No!" Yolei cried, openly weeping. "He can't be!"
Davis' nails dug into his palms as he shouted his grief to the sky. "GENNAI!"
Love Machine watched their reactions with interest, but his attention soon shifted back to Gatomon and Patamon as the two glowed with the light of Digivolution.
"You'll pay for this, Love Machine," Patamon swore. "This may all just be a game to you, but to us, it's all real. We'll make sure no one else suffers because of you."
"And don't think you can take advantage of us by making us Dark Digivolve," Gatomon told him. "We're not going to let our anger get the best of us. We're in this to protect our friends. Gatomon Digivolve to… Angewomon!"
"Patamon Digivolve to… Angemon! Angemon Digivolve to… MagnaAngemon!"
(A/N: So, yes, a very sad ending there. Poor Gennai, but a monumental part of a hero growing into their role is the loss of their mentor; I read that somewhere in a book on literature. But at least he was able to give Gatomon and Patamon some power. They may only be at the Ultimate level, but MagnaAngemon and Angewomon are both uniquely strong Digimon that are close in strength to Megas. Also, even though Love Machine is incredibly powerful, even he gets tired and weak eventually, and he has been fighting a lot. Speaking of which, I'd like to bring up Huanglongmon {or Huanglongmon for his Japanese name}. If you've seen Season 6, I'm sure you'll remember his appearance as Dorbickmon's steed. This Season actually greatly reduced his power and size from what it truly is to the point where it was pretty much insulting. He's not the only one they did that to for that Season. Another example was MarineDevimon, who was only about a head taller than Nene and barely strong at all, yet in all other appearances, such as in Daemon's Corps, he's immensely powerful and is the size of a building. They also made much weaker Digimon a lot stronger than they should be, to the point where they had Rookies and Champions holding their own against Megas. I honestly have no idea what they were thinking with Season 6. Really, go look Huanglongmon up on the Digimon website, and you'll see how powerful he really is. He's created from fusing all four Sovereigns together, is over twice the size of Azulongmon, and is strong enough to destroy and recreate the Digital World at will. He's even been called a god himself, and there's only like 3 Digimon that are stronger than him. So, yeah, in his brief appearance here, I had him as he truly is. Anyway, stay tuned for the final confrontation with Love Machine. He still has all the attacks he's learned, but hopefully he's been weakened enough for MagnaAngemon and Angewomon to defeat him.)