A/N: Been a while but here we are again. I like to think I'm getting better with updates so let's keep it up! Also I'm writing this as I listen to Harry Enfield's glorious song Loadsamoney. Check it out on youtube, it's definitely worth the listen. Anyway, let's get into the swing of things.
Gallantmon. That name swirled around in BlackWarGreymon's head over and over and over. Gallantmon. Every syllable enraged him, to the point that the name spinning around and around in his skull was hitting a knob, making a rattling noise that was unbearable. Arrogant, selfish, deceitful, and idiotic were some words that leapt to BlackWarGreymon's mind when he thought of the Royal Knight. He was hiding that X-Antibody, BlackWarGreymon was damn sure of it. That surge of energy, like he was being refreshed, entered him when Gallantmon had passed him. He felt that part of him lash out, he wanted to go berserk.
He didn't. But… BlackWarGreymon looked into a reflective part of the crystal. His eyes flashed red and the X on his chest pulsated. He clenched a fist so tight his arm shook with the tension. He wanted to hit the crystal, shatter it into millions of shards. He didn't want this… problem pushed on him. But when he was blasted into that tree…
He barely remembered a thing except that he woke up chained in that cell. He just remembered roars, thundering vibrations, Digimon screaming. BlackWarGreymon raised his fist, ready to hit that reflection. It seemed to be laughing at him, despite the reflection having its fist raised as well.
I want you to die. BlackWarGreymon thought hard to this mirror image. Whether it was hallucination or not, BlackWarGreymon saw it shift forms into his X-Evolution. It opened its maw and roared silently aloud, but it was deafening in his head. This is what he'd become. Not a protector anymore, just a monster. Something to fear, to be experimented on. To be used.
RAAAAAAAAAAH! The reflection roared in his head.
"GAAAAAH!" BlackWarGreymon screamed as he sent his fist flying into the crystal. It hit the crystal with a deep, vibrating bong, sending cracks along the face of this part of the room. The dark dragon warrior pulled his injured fist from the crystal, the face now having many faces, showing various X-Evolved BlackWarGreymon. The mega himself growled. "Get out of me."
Are you implying you want me out? What? BlackWarGreymon was taken aback, physically taking a step backward.
"What… how…" a deep laughter resonated throughout his skull.
You must be joking. We're one in the same, you can't remove me. I'm not some tumour to be cut out. I'm you. The many faces of X-Evolved BlackWarGreymon laughed again, sending that deep resonance throughout BlackWarGreymon.
"We're hardly one in the same. You're-"
A monster? Sure. They all seemed to say at once, as a whole, a hivemind. We're all monsters. You, the Royal Knights, your friends. It's in your species name. The many X-Evolutions scoffed at once. Don't simply toss me aside because you're afraid to embrace me.
"Embrace you?" BlackWarGreymon's voice dripped with disgust. The X-Evolutions snorted.
I'm not some evil monster. I'm just simply power. The power bestowed upon you by the X-Antibody.
"So you're self-aware?" BlackWarGreymon asked, semi-curious. The many faces shook their heads in unison.
No, just that part of your mind that knows what I am. But you're scared.
"I am no-"
You hate what you've become, you dislike what you're being used for, and you just want to go back to being a protector. It's almost… Tragic. The faces laughed again.
"Don't patronise me." BlackWarGreymon scolded, eliciting more deep laughter.
Apologies. But you're really only patronising yourself. The X-Evolution seemed to take on a smug tone. After all, I'm just the image your mind has given to this part of it. Nothing more.
"I want you out."
Unable to comply, unfortunately. I'm in here for a good while, probably the rest of your life. For the sake of both of us, I'll make it as… tolerable as possible.
"You're not doing a good job so far." BlackWarGreymon quipped. His X-Evolution laughed once more.
Regardless, expect to hear from me again. And with that the image faded from the crystal and the voice from his head just as the door to his cell opened. BlackWarGreymon turned and saw Magnamon flanked by Alphamon and Examon.
"Celestials wanna have a talk." Were the only words he spoke, his bodyguards shifting.
"Fine. I want to talk with them as well." BlackWarGreymon stepped out of his cell, ready to go face the Celestials.
"No." BlackWarGreymon stared up at the Celestials, angered by their answer. Seraphimon stared down at him. Though how a Digimon could look down on you with a metal mask over his face was beyond the mega. However, the word still hung in the air.
"You can't be serious." BlackWarGreymon replied, knowing that it wasn't the best option.
"We are." Ophanimon interjected. "We can't just simply accuse a Royal Knight of holding the X-Antibody based on questionable feelings.
"But I know he has it!" BlackWarGreymon protested hoping to reach at least one of them. Unfortunately even Cherubimon shook his head. BlackWarGreymon's hopes fell.
"We can't' simply look into every accusation." Cherubimon reasoned. "Especially when it comes to the Royal Knights." BlackWarGreymon was taken aback. They couldn't be serious.
"You should take those accusations even more seriously!" he protested, louder. "They're held to a higher standard! They should be scrutinised more!" BlackWarGreymon didn't look behind him to his Royal Knight bodyguards but they said nothing. The Celestials look at each other, almost as if the concept was confusing. BlackWarGreymon felt his rage boiling up.
They're not stupid, just make mistakes. Leaders do that. He suddenly heard the voice in his head. Before he could respond it floated away, as if it had never been there. The mega felt his eye twitching. This was ridiculous. He wasn't going to change their minds.
"Thanks for your… time." He forced the last word out of his mouth before turning and walking to his looming bodyguards, who stood on either side of Magnamon. The Golden Knight stepped aside as BlackWarGreymon walked past, his form tense. Magnamon bowed, as did the other two, and left. They quickly caught up with BlackWarGreymon and Magnamon sidled up beside him.
"They don't always listen." He commented after a moment's silence. BlackWarGreymon's eyes shot to Magnamon in irritation. The Golden Knight, to his credit, didn't falter. "But listen, maybe-"
"No. They're right. Why blame Gallantmon for anything." BlackWarGreymon felt that spark of rage again. "Why blame anyone when we can experiment on the monster. That's way more valuable."
"I'll talk to them. They might hear my word since I'm a Royal Knight." Magnamon tried to sound reassuring but it wasn't working. "It's worth a try." He attempted reassurance again after a few moments. By that point they'd reached BlackWarGreymon's cell.
"Thank you Magnamon. However I need to think things over." He stared into the cell, at the shattered crystal face. "A lot of things." He walked in and the crystal closed, shutting him in dim light.
Gallantmon stared at the pedestal. Atop it sat the X-Antibody in all its glory. He'd been here for hours, thinking. Nothing really came to mind. Aside from what he could do about his theories.
It'd been years but Gallantmon had never strayed. He knew what he was after and he was going to take it. The Celestials weren't going to take action, so he wanted to do it for them. He was one of their Royal Knights. It's only his duty to make sure that the land was at peace. Yes.
Gallantmon stood and grabbed the X-Antibody in his hands. He stared into it, as if it would provide all the answers. And it might in fact do so, in due time. However, that'd have to wait. Gallantmon set the orb back down on the pedestal and returned to sitting and staring.
That BlackWarGreymon… he was certainly an issue. If he could feel the presence of the X-Antibody on Gallantmon when he'd had it in his chambers, then his connection was a strong one. One that would prove most troublesome. If Gallantmon wanted to carry out his plans, he'd need to be rid of that annoying Virus type. And his two friends who were oddly chummy with the Celestials. They'd need to go as well. Gallantmon stared into the reflective crystal faces. He saw many of himself and sighed.
He almost wished he could speak to them, to conduct planning sessions. However such fantasies were that of a child. Gallantmon was no child. He was a Royal Knight who protected the Celestials. He turned back to the X-Antibody. However, they were becoming stale. Stagnant. Archaic.
Maybe it was time for a change. A change that he could bring. Then maybe he wouldn't be ridiculed, attack, berated, or any number of dishonours that had been heaped upon him over his time as a Royal Knight. The temptation to simply let his forces be run over during the War was so great after Imperialdramon had let him have it. Gallantmon put forth a logical solution, but Imperialdramon had over reacted. But he was out of the picture. How, Gallantmon wasn't sure. But he was gone, unable to interfere.
Soon, but not now, was the time to strike. Soon. Gallantmon stared into the reflections again and could've swore he saw a dark flicker in them. Yes.
Soon.
"No! No please-" the Ogremon's pleas were cut short as the spike pierced his skull, dissolving his body, leaving his Fractal Code, which was absorbed by LadyDevimon. She felt re-energised as the data filled her being. He arm returned to its natural shape and she took a deep breath. She'd be hunting Ogremon all night and she'd only encountered four. It was surprisingly exhausting work.
The population had declined drastically since the war as the species was known for attempting guerilla tactics on the Celestial forces. However those attempts turned quickly into "attack", resulting in horrific Ogremon losses, among other Digimon that attempted such things. Especially when the target happened to have a Royal Knight present. Then whatever Ogremon were there were massacred.
As a result, there were various Ogremon tribes scattered around the Digital World. Beelzemon had just ordered LadyDevimon to commit genocide to end the species. She looked at her hand, which had eliminated four. Any normal Digimon would've felt something about this kind of situation, ending a species. Killing off an entire group of Digimon. Remorse, regret, anything really. LadyDevimon closed her had into a fist before crouching and leaping up into the air, taking flight. She didn't feel anything, just Beelzemon's order in her head.
Admittedly her mind drifted towards Lilithmon. The witch was obviously up to something. What exactly was a bit vague to LadyDevimon, a summoning of something big. Something…. Ancient. That cave felt ancient, like it has formed long ago with those things in there placed way back when. The time of the Olympos XII was far too long ago for anyone to remember. But they just disappeared, and at some point the Celestials became the rulers of the Digital World and the Seven Demon Lords became their ultimate rivals.
Then the Royal Knights… they protected the Celestials but LadyDevimon wondered if there was more to them. During the war they pulled off some feats that should've failed, such as their defeat of Belphemon. Among other victories. LadyDevimon looked down, scanning the ground as she flew past, checking for any Ogremon. She spotted none yet, but a scent crossed the air. She sniffed and it smelled of body odor and other smells LadyDevimon wasn't sure she wanted to decipher. She followed the scent, as that's what the Ogremon she had slain back there had smelled like.
She curved to the left and the scent grew stronger. LadyDevimon increased her speed, blazing through the sky towards a mountain range. One mountain of which, held a bright light on its side. LadyDevimon flew in, soaring above the village before landing. She confirmed it as an Ogremon village, several were around a fire, stoking it, saying things loudly but hard to make out. LadyDevimon descended, landing behind the group gently. One noticed her.
"Hey! Who're you!" the rest turned and saw LadyDevimon standing there, her left arm forming the pike that would end them.
"No one important. Just passing through." She replied non-chalantly before dashing forward, braining the closest Ogremon on her spike before absorbing his Fractal Code. As his club fell to the ground, the other Ogremon were visibly worried. LadyDevimon lifted her arm.
"I'd suggest making peace now." She said, striding forward slowly. "Before the inevitable occurs." The Ogremon, getting over their initial shock, raised their clubs and charged the lone Devil Woman. She smiled as they approached her. Her arm shot out and retracted several times, cutting down the Ogremon within seconds, their Fractal Code being absorbed by LadyDevimon. She finished and looked around, several other Ogremon had left their homes and were advancing on this lone demon, ready to take revenge for their fallen brethren.
"This is too good." LadyDevimon sighed to herself before she started forward, towards the group of soon to be deceased Ogremon.
WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon were sitting atop a balcony as the night fell, the stars coming out in full force. There were few discernable shapes in the many twinkling lights in the sky but that wasn't the goal of these two. WarGreymon leaned against the crystal wall while MetalGarurumon was standing up, looking into the stars as if they had an answer. They didn't. But the wolf was intent on staring at them for some odd reason or another. He opened his mouth but was cut off quickly by his companion.
"If you say you're worried about him I'll toss you off the ledge." WarGreymon casually threatened, not much meaning behind it. MetalGarurumon could fly, so throwing him in the air was pointless. WarGreymon just slide his gauntlets off and inspected them.
"But we can't just sit here, who knows what he could be going through." MetalGarurumon turned. "Besides you heard how his session with the Celestials went, he's-" WarGreymon held up a hand.
"Listen." He said before lowering his hand "if you keep this up you'll worry yourself sick. It's always been your issue." MetalGarurumon frowned but WarGreymon continued. "But calm down a bit. Believe me I'm concerned as well but worrying is not going to get us anywhere." WarGreymon slipped his gauntlets back on. "I say we focus more on Gallantmon, keep an eye on him."
"Are you-" MetalGarurumon growled before continuing. "Are you really serious? Gallantmon's obviously hiding things but-"
"That's why we keep more of an eye on him. After all if things get hairy we can do our thing." It'd been a good while since they'd DNA Digivolved but both agreed it was better for their image.
"And what if things do get iffy? MetalGarurumon challenged. "How do you think BlackWarGreymon will react when he realises we're the one keeping Gallantmon in line. Or rather were. Now he's running rampant but I suspect it's been that way for a good while without our knowledge." MetalGarurumon sighed and WarGreymon nodded. They'd suspected Gallantmon for a good while but even their influence was limited with the Celestials.
"And what if the worst happens? If Gallantmon does have the X-Antibody and does attempt a coup, what then? We could try to eliminate him, but we'd never match up." WarGreymon locked eyes with his comrade.
"I know." MetalGarurumon looked away. "Then the Celestials would send BlackWarGreymon to avoid dirtying their hands." MetalGarurumon let out a rough sigh.
"Imperialdramon was right. The Celestials, while noble, aren't wholly pure." WarGreymon admitted. "Cherubimon was taken over by Darkness until he was saved. Who's to say it won't happen to the others?" MetalGarurumon turned on him.
"Their intentions are pure!" he said.
"The road to darkness is paved with good intentions." WarGreymon countered. "I'm not saying they will." His eyes looked up. "But I'm saying it's possible." He looked back to MetalGarurumon, who had cooled down some.
"Fine. We wait, keep an eye on Gallantmon. But we have to make sure BlackWarGreymon is okay." He eyed WarGreymon, who nodded.
"I agree, his mental state isn't completely…. Stable." WarGreymon frowned. "I'm not entirely sure he'll be able to control it if things go south." MetalGarurumon nodded.
"You've seen the rumblings all around the Digital World. You know things are gathering." MetalGarurumon stared out into the world.
"Of course. We need to tell the Celestials about it. Without revealing ourselves just yet." WarGreymon stood. "After all we still need to find Imperialdramon, not even the Celestials know about that."
"I know." MetalGarurumon agreed. They both stared out into the vast Digital World. Mountains, canyons, forests, deserts, it had everything. And yet something loomed over it all. This sense of something not being right. "He's still alive, I know it." MetalGarurumon sighed.
"We both do." WarGreymon agreed. "That's why we're looking for him. He didn't die, he's just missing. And it's our duty to find him. Whether anyone says he's dead or not." The day Imperialdramon went missing was a month before Omnimon disappeared. Their search was long and arduous but they were determined to find Imperialdramon.
He'd gone missing out of nowhere during a peace keeping round. The Celestials had searched and found nothing incredibly incriminating, even the Seven Demon Lords were still locked in their cages. And yet…
"They're stirring." WarGreymon commented. "I know it, things have changed in the oddest ways."
"Agreed." MetalGarurumon sniffed the air. "I don't like it."
"No one does." WarGreymon turned to head inside. "But we have to get some sleep." He stepped down and through the open entrance alone, MetalGarurumon not following. That was fine, he liked being on his own at times. They'd spent so much time as two Digimon that MetalGarurumon was taking advantage of it as much as possible.
WarGreymon understood that.
"He's still unaware." Seraphimon reported at the council table. Cherubimon and Ophanimon paid close attention. "We should do our best to keep him in the dark. If he figures out what we have in store he could revolt. He's already unstable due to that X-Antibody."
"I agree." Ophanimon replied. "However what of Gallantmon? BlackWarGreymon's accusations were most disturbing."
"I say we keep an eye on both." Cherubimon offered. "We have the WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon keep their eye on BlackWarGreymon and we have a tail for Gallantmon." Cherubimon folded his hands. "I can even volunteer a possible option."
"Let's have someone we can all agree on." Seraphimon reasoned, resulting in a slight frown from Cherubimon. "Someone Gallantmon won't detect easily."
"Someone we can agree will do the task without hesitation." Ophanimon added. "I vote we have Shurimon be Gallantmon's tail."
"Shurimon?" Cherubimon asked, curious but slightly smug. "He's merely a Champion, he'd hardly be a match for a Royal Knight."
"The goal, Cherubimon, is not to battle Gallantmon or we'd do it ourselves" Ophanimon chided. "It's about tailing. Observing, not fighting. We need a tracker who can relay information to us on a regular basis and stay hidden. Shurimon is more than capable of doing all that."
"However, Ophanimon" Seraphimon interjected "I would ask of his ability to truly remain hidden against Gallantmon's senses. After all Royal Knights are trained to know when they have tails."
"This Shurimon has been trained by various Royal Knights in stealth tactics so I say we have little reason for Gallantmon to figure out he has a tail." Ophanimon smiled lightly. "In fact, our hopeful is here right now." Cherubimon and Seraphimon looked around the bright chamber until a figured appeared out of the corner. He wore a loose white linen jump suit with several belts around his waist. His face was obscured by a hood and face cloth, exposing only bright yellow eyes. His head held a belted headband that had the Crest of Sincerity upon it, with a tuft of red from behind. Two leaves extended from his shoulders, covering his arms until he revealed them. Both his arms and legs were green and spring-like, both hands and feet gripping triple bladed shuriken while a massive, four pointed one was strapped to his back.
"My word!" Cherubimon exclaimed, surprised at the sudden appearance of the imposer.
"I am Shurimon." He said, his voice low, bowing as he said it.
"My fellow Celestials, I present Shurimon. He should me more than enough." Ophanimon held a hand to the bowing Digimon.
"Excellent stealth skills, even we couldn't detect him." Seraphimon seemed impressed, which seemed to irritate Cherubimon slightly.
"Granted, that is true." He admitted. "Perhaps he'll be able to tail our Royal Knight after all. Will he be able to enter the Knight's chambers?"
"Of course." Ophanimon explained. "However it'll be difficult, Gallantmon is most observant when in his private study. Though I believe Shurimon should be able to at least get in and see what is going on."
"Interesting." Seraphimon mused, pondering his choice. Cherubimon seemed to now have a face of begrudging agreement.
"So what are your opinions?" Ophanimon asked, curious.
"I say he is our best choice." Seraphimon replied, his approval appreciated.
"For now." Cherubimon countered. "But I'll agree if only to see how he truly works out." Cherubimon eyed Shurimon, who seemed indifferent to the choice.
"Then it is agreed." Seraphimon announced. "Shurimon shall follow Gallantmon and report his findings as he goes." Said Digimon bowed once again.
"Thank you my lieges." His low voice echoed throughout the chamber before he seemed to vanish.
"I do hope, for your sake, that he works out Ophanimon." Cherubimon said before disappearing in a flash of light.
"Pay no mind to Cherubimon right now." Seraphimon calmly reassured his companion. "Though remember we are all equals on this council." He reminded her before disappearing as well. Ophanimon remained for a few moments, her fingers drumming her crystalline chair. Shadows flickered in the faces of the crystals for a second before fading.
"What kind of world do we live in where we can't even trust our holy protectors?" Ophanimon lamented, gripping her arm rest tightly, her anger slowly boiling up until she supressed it. No, no time to have anger cloud her mind. If Gallantmon was planning something it'd open up a whole can of worms with the Royal Knights as a whole, even making them unsuitable to be protectors.
Ophanimon wanted very badly for Gallantmon to be innocent so that she wouldn't have to exile one of their powerful Knight and so she could keep her faith in them. But it wavered with every passing moment, ever since they'd gotten reports of that BlackWarGreymon. She'd proposed Shurimon since she knew he could be relied upon to bring them the truth.
But what if the truth was something she didn't want to face? What if the truth was Gallantmon planning to stage a coup and overthrow the Celestials. Or what if he was planning to stop BlackWarGreymon if he went berserk and wasn't stopped in time? But wouldn't that fall to WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon? Too many questions, too many variables, not enough solid facts or answers. Ophanimon felt her anger rise up again, this time at her lack of knowledge. She gripped the crystal arm rest of her throne so hard that the gem cracked under the stress before shattering in her hand. She held up her gauntleted hand as crystal shards fell from it.
"Calm down." She whispered to herself, holding her hand out and concentrating, her powers gathering the crystal shards and repairing the arm rest to brand new, albeit with new faces. Her anger was getting the better of her, just don't think about it. Ophanimon took a deep breath before looking around at the empty chamber. Surprising how big it was when she was alone. She sat there another minute, thinking before disappearing in a flash of light.
"Seventy-four…" LadyDevimon mused as her pike pierced the chest of the next Ogremon she ran into in this village. Few remained by this point, houses had been turned to rubble in the ensuing carnage, and various bits and pieces of Ogremon lay on the ground as spoils of war. They stopped coming at her around the time she hit the forty-three mark. They started screaming in fear at the sight of her around sixty-seven.
"Come out, come out, where ever you are." LadyDevimon crooned as she stalked the pathways of the small village. Suddenly a scurrying could be heard to her left. She turned her head and looked down a grungy alley. It was narrow and dark, a very obvious spot to hide, for one reason or another. LadyDevimon smirked as she made her way slowly down the alley. The crackling of fires dimmed some as she went in, the darkness covering everything in the alley. The Demon Woman walked for a minute before hitting a dead end.
"Now!" someone yelled. LadyDevimon looked up and saw a group of six Ogremon leaping down from the roofs.
Clever little trolls, aren't they? LadyDevimon thought as she quickly counted them. She outstretched her hand.
"Evil Wing!" she said, dark bat-like creatures flying out from around her, latching onto the group, catching fire, and burning the Ogremon slowly to nothing.
"Gaaaaah!" they all screamed and writhed on the ground as they landed around LadyDevimon in a morbid circle. The fires burned with great intensity, lighting up the alley with death. One by one the screaming stopped and Fractal Codes slithered their way towards LadyDevimon who accepted them graciously. They refilled her energy quickly and she let out a sigh.
"So good." She muttered to herself as she looked to the alley entrance. A group of ten Ogremon were there. She counted them quietly to herself. "Eighty." She muttered.
"Get her!" one of them yelled, and they charged down the alley, two at most due to the narrowness of the alley. LadyDevimon smirked, raised her left hand, and fashioned it into a pike.
"Black Wing." LadyDevimon whispered as she flew towards the group, spearing two on her arm on the first strike. "Eighty-one, eighty-two" she muttered, pulling her arm out before impaling the one next to her to the wall. "eighty-three" she turned to the remaining seven and launched some of her bats again. They hit four of them. "Eighty-four, eighty-five, eighty-six, eighty-seven" she stalked towards the remaining three, who backed out of the alley, stumbling over themselves to escape this demon. LadyDevimon, on the other hand, flew at them with renewed vigour, her arm piercing the closest one and turning him into mere energy. "Eighty-eight" She sent a bat at the closest one after that. "Eighty-nine" she muttered as she stalked towards the final Ogremon.
"No, please, I Yield! I yield!" he screamed as her arm glowed in the firelight with deadly certainty.
"Nine-"
"Please! Please spare me!"
"-ty" LadyDevimon thrust her spike through the Ogremon's skull, killing him, turning him into Fractal Code for her to absorb. She did so with satisfaction. She looked around at the destruction she had just wrought, a whole village razed to the ground, the inhabitants annihilated in genocide, and no survivors. LadyDevimon flew up above the village, giving it one last glance, before flying off to search for more.
One Ogremon looked up from the trees below to see LadyDevimon flying away. He'd avoided the destruction of his village by running when she annihilated the first group when she landed. He'd been lucky to survive. But what to do now? The Ogremon stared up at the sky long after LadyDevimon had passed, as if the stars would give him an answer. They didn't. He sighed, his chest aching from being a coward. He would avenge his village, he would. He promised himself that.
He'd find a way.
A/N: And there you guys go, sorry for the wait. Had a few issues that made me skip days, finger injuries make typing surprisingly difficult and painful. However I hope you guys enjoyed. I've been thinking about the length of this story and I'm not entirely sure how long it'll be. But it will be a good journey, I hope, from beginning to end. Read, review, follow, and favourite.