Well, I guess I'll be making up the rather long update (almost an entire month, due to my writer's block) with an extremely long chapter (9,000 words)! At least this concludes the battle and allows me room to do stuff the next chapter...

Then?

Then read on, of course!

DISCLAIMER: I own neither the game, original storyline or the script. I do however, own the newly edited plot and the expansions.

Digimon Continuity

Brave Tamer

Chapter 21

Goggle Paradox

:. ENIAC World - The Crevasse
105:25 AR, AKA 5 Days AR

"... Crow Swords!!" A single bright laser emerged from the twin Irakata Swords and drilled itself into the snake Digimon at point blank range. At the same time, Strikedramon charged at the Digimon and light sparked as Ryo scanned his card.

"Digi-Modify!..."

"Strike..."

"... Attack Plug-In A! Activate!!"

"... FANG!!" Strikedramon's flame blew up to proportions Ryo never though possible thanks to the card. The power boosted Strikedramon slammed into the overwhelmed snake Digimon, causing the Digimon to screech in agony at the combined pain of the two attacks. However, Strikedramon intended to make full use of his power boost. The dragon continued his attack. "Strike Barrage!!"

Strikedramon's ridiculously large flame dimmed to cover only his limps. It gave Strikedramon an eerie look with only his arms and feet lit, his face in complete shadow. Ryo would have shuttered... if it didn't hurt. The dragon first began with a punch in the Digimon's face, and then a kick, and before long, his limps were moving in such a frenzy that it hurt Ryo's eyes to try and follow his partner's movements.

The snake Digimon stood no chance at retaliating, for when he tried to counter Strikedramon with his tail, Karatenmon was there, fighting back the tail with his blades. The tail's movements were erratic and easy to block with only one blade, while the other Irataka Sword swiped at the connection between the flame-like blade of the tail and the main body of the Digimon.

Attacked at both ends, the Digimon finally launched an attack randomly. "Toltec Wind!!" A great gust blew from the tail and collided with Karatenmon, lifting the bird warrior to his feet and hit a hard wall.

"Karatenmon!" Strikedramon exclaimed in worry. The Digimon used that distraction to sweep his tail at Strikedramon, smacking the dragon aside and leaving a slight gash leaking data where the blade struck the unarmoured skin. Ryo grind his teeth, trying to keep calm and think of a plan. But his mind was a storm of panic, his attempts to calm himself failing. What do I do?! He mentally screamed as he searched through what little cards he had... which were merely a handful. None of these will help! Even though Karatenmon is here right now, they are still losing!

"Strikedramon! Karatenmon! We have to regroup with the others! It is the only way!" Ryo's voice echoed around the confined spaces of the cave, making certain that the two Digimon had heard... as did their foe. It ran against Ryo's gut to retreat, but fact was fact. They could not do this alone. They needed the others.

"Right Ryo! Karatenmon!"

By then, Karatenmon had already flown to Ryo, shard of crystal tucked in his belt and swords sheathed. Strikedramon raced away from the Digimon, while Ryo held his hands high and felt a jerk as Karatenmon's claws grabbed his forearms. Ryo felt the talons biting into his flesh, but Karatenmon took care not to grip too tightly, such that the sharp talons did not pierce the fragile skin. The boy felt pain course through him due to the strain on his old wounds. He was glad he did not have a role in holding on. Concentrating even now was hard.

The Digimon followed swiftly, slithering after them and sending attacks at both Strikedramon and his ride. Fortunately, the Digimon could only attack them one at the time. The sounds of battle raged ahead, and Ryo hoped that the others were not in too much of a jam to help.

Takato glanced around, the ghosts were still approaching as though nothing had happened. Completely oblivious with only the deletion of himself and Growlmon as their sole target. Takato managed a small smile. This was very advantageous to them. I never thought there would come a day when I actually become a true Tamer... Takato thought, thinking about what he was about to do next being the craziest or the best thing he was ever about to do... even including the events of the recent day.

With Growlmon's fire still acting like a torch, Takato used its like to guide himself up onto his partner's back. For the first time ever, he took out the High Speed Plug-In card and got ready to swipe it. I take it back... speed does come in handy sometimes. "Alright Growlmon! Let's go!"

Growlmon nodded his large head eagerly, already understanding Takato's plan. Kongoumon snorted. "You will never be able to escape me."

Takato allowed his smile to show further, though a tiny doubt ate at him, he ignored it. Doubts were something that he did not want at the moment. "No. We are not trying to escape at all. Give us your best shot!"

Kongoumon narrowed his eyes, suspicious. "Fine then, if that is what you want! Power Gun!!"

Takato quickly aligned the card with the slot on his D-Power and slid it through. "Digi-Modify! High Speed Plug-In B! Activate!!" Growlmon glowed, allowing a second's hesitation to let the blast come closer before he thrust his entire weight to the side and began a sprint perpendicular of the blast of lightning.

The six yellow blasts that merged into one powerful one trailed Growlmon, while Takato held on tight, surprised at the speed that Growlmon could run when enhanced by the card. Meanwhile, he tried to take out another card without losing his grip, which proved extremely difficult.

In Growlmon's wake, the ghosts were disappearing one by one upon contact with the powerful lightning attack. No trace of them remained even. Ahead, Growlmon was slashing his way through the ghosts, not wanting to find out the consequences of what should happen if they came in contact with the attack. Takato was sure that they wouldn't turn into dust, but it was sure to hurt... a lot. Slashing at the ghosts made them intangible as they allowed the attack to slip through them, and did not become tangible in time for Growlmon to have already ran right through them. It was a simple task of holding out his bladed arm while running.

Takato also found out two things. Kongoumon apparently did not care for the fate of the ghosts, and that the ghosts did not seem to have brought their brains with them into the afterlife. "Growlmon! Get ready!" He told his partner, painstakingly aligning the card with its slot, Growlmon's need for haste leaving him in a hard position to try and stay on the dino dragon. "Digi-Modify! Attack Plug-In A! Activate!"

Growlmon glowed slightly, before he skidded to a halt in what could be considered as a 'ghost-free' zone, his Dragon Blade disappearing as he did. The Power Gun attack rushed at them, while Growlmon opened his mouth, an overcharged flame already burning. "Pyro Blaster!!" The effect was immediate. Growlmon's large feet dug into the ground as he was pushed back by the power of his attack. The two attacks collided beautifully, creating a dazzle of lightworks that undermined the destruction that followed. Both blasts defected upon contact with each other toward the sides, fire and lightning combining in a deadly combination that left the ground bearing deep, long scars. The Digimon spirits conjured up by Kongoumon were not spared either. If they had blood and flesh, Takato was certain those would be all over the floor of the crevasse as well.

"Go Growlmon!" Takato cheered. "You can do it!"

Kongoumon tried to hold his ground, but his feet just wasn't meant for such a stand-off. The friction between his feet and the ground could not anchor him and he lost his footing, the combined forces of the two attacks sending him into a wall metres away while Growlmon managed to stay rooted to the ground due to his weight, size and large feet. "Yeah!" Growlmon rejoiced, though it was slightly prematurely.

"Grr... you will pay for that," Kongoumon growled, lifting himself from the rubble.

"Uh oh."

Daisuke was looking all around, trying to find some sign of his partner in the complete darkness. Suddenly, a roar that hurt his eardrums rang throughout the cave, forcing Daisuke to cover his ears.

Daisuke saw to his amazement that the mist seemed to be disappearing, as though the roar had chased it away. The clearing of the fog resulted in Flamedramon's barely burning touch being visible. Daisuke began to rush toward his fallen partner, heart in extreme worry, before something else caught his attention.

Flamedramon's waning flame was no longer the brightest source of light in the crevasse. In contrast, Flamedramon's fire could be negligable in the light of the new source. It was orange in colour, also outshining yet another source of white light emerging from a similarly coloured Digivice. The most astounding part about the orange light was the warmth. It were as though he were standing in the sun of summer rather than in a crevasse where there was barely enough light to see, fighting for his life. It was not uncomfortable, unlike how the humid made the sun of the summer. It were as though he had been in a freezer for a long time and finally stepped out to embrace warmth. It was a good feeling.

Silhouetted by the light, was an awfully familiar metal dino, whom he had seen not too long ago, even though it was a dark version of it. MetalGreymon. Daisuke realised with a shock that he had just witnessed the power of the Crest of Courage. Out of the corner of his eyes, Flamedramon was also getting to his feet, but had apparently been captured by the awe of the Crest. Daisuke had also forgetten all about his predicament. It was so magnificent.

Never had he realised how the power of the Crest had captured all the original Chosen as well as their enemies before. Seeing it before him made what his friends told him of it... they did not even begin to describe the power he was feeling, and he was not even near it. He had a feeling Pharaohmon was feeling next to helpless in the light of this power as well...

"Decayer Reign!!" ... or not.

The twin beams of light surged for the silhouette of MetalGreymon. With agility that Daisuke didn't know the giant flying metal dinosaur had, MetalGreymon flew for the sky... or the ceiling, avoiding the attack completely. Daisuke was glad that the viral MetalGreymon he fought did not have such agility. Otherwise he would never gotten even close to the Dark Ring, much less destroy it, even on Raidramon.

"Go MetalGreymon! Now's your chance!!" The souce of the orange light shouted in Taichi's voice. Still in the air, MetalGreymon dived for the Demon Man Digimon, claw at the ready.

"Trident Arm!!"

"Digitomb Defence!!" Daisuke witnessed two halves of a tomb materialise out of mid-air directly in front and behind of Pharaohmon, and then slammed shut on him, creating an all round protection. With a loud screech, MetalGreymon's claws ran over the Chrome Digizoid tomb, burying it into a wall once again. Like before, the cover of the tomb immediately flew out to reveal an uninjured Pharaohmon... chuckling. Daisuke didn't know mummies could still chuckle, and he didn't like it. "You never learn."

Daisuke felt a claw rest on his shoulder and immediately tensed up, but then turned around to realise it was only Flamedramon holding onto him for support. Daisuke rushed under his partner's arm, holding the warrior of courage up. "Daisuke," Flamedramon said weakly, he could see cracks in the armour, and Flamedramon was meant to be the Armour Digimon of Courage! "We need to find a way to take away that defence. Otherwise, none of our attacks will get through.

Daisuke nodded in reply, biting on his lip to forestall the need to ask for the condition of his partner. Talking, he could hear, was a pain to the dragon already. That meant bad things, and Daisuke didn't want to worsen them with useless talk. "I know. But any ideas?"

Flamedramon's mouth was about to open in reply when both of them caught sight of a white and blue light headed their way... fast. "What is that?"

Daisuke shrugged... or tried to, seeing how Flamedramon's weight was making even that simple gesture hard to accomplish. "I don't know," he said instead, squinting his eyes for a better view. He needn't, for a few seconds later, it was all made clear. The white light was Ryo hanging from Karatenmon, while the blue was Strikedramon himself, completely aflame. Daisuke pointed at the approaching allies, face set in a happy grin. "I think we found our help."

Flamedramon, however, was not convinced. "I don't think so Daisuke..." Flamedramon squinted as well, suspicious, though Daisuke did not know why. After a pause, he continued. "... I think they are being chased."

"Chased?" Daisuke said, part question, part to convince himself. His spirits went from ceiling high... to rock bottom. Literally. Flamedramon had to be the one to hold him up. "How many of these guys are there?!" He asked no one in particular, frustrated.

"I think Takato is facing one himself, and he doesn't have any help," Flamedramon speculated, though Daisuke wished he hadn't. He felt his spirits drop even further, if it was possible to be further than rock bottom, he was there.

"I wish this day would just end."

Ryo forced himself to see past the pain and found himself staring at the most beautiful thing he thought he had ever laid eyes on: light. Orange light. It felt a lot like the white light of Digivolution, it felt like it was relieving his pain, healing him. Ryo squinted to see what was the source of the light, but before he could, Karatenmon was rocked by a gust of wind, shaking him periously.

"Karatenmon!! What's going on?" Ryo shouted above the wind that was blowing into his face due to the speed that Karatenmon was travelling. The air smelled and tasted bad too.

"He's catching up!... I think the others are up ahead!" The bird warrior answered.

"I know!" Through the bright orange light, he could see silhouettes of Daisuke and Flamedramon, the latter leaning heavily on the former. Smiling, Ryo was about to call out to them when he saw another silhouette... and awfully familiar one, one that he had fought not so long ago... "METALGREYMON!! He's here!"

"Who?!" The Digimon carrying him asked.

"MetalGreymon! He's the one me and Daisuke fought against just now! I can't believe he's here!" Ryo declared in disbelief. It seemed practically impossible. But it also seemed that ZeedMillenniummon loved to unleash difficult Digimon at them. MetalGreymon was harder than anything he believed both him and Daisuke faced before. What better Digimon to use? Due to the light silhouetting MetalGreymon, Ryo failed to notice one important thing... MetalGreymon was a different colour, and his eyes were not the crazed mad ones of the previous MetalGreymon. It was also too bad Daisuke failed to mention that MetalGreymon's true identity as Taichi's partner... too bad.

"So that means he's the bad guy huh?" Karatenmon said as he flew lower, going slower and thereby allowing his words to be heard over the dying wind. "Got it." Karatenmon set him down as gently as the Digimon could, before shooting toward MetalGreymon.

"Trident Arm!!" MetalGreymon charged at another Digimon, whom Ryo presumed to be Agumon's Digivolved form.

"Not so fast!" Karatenmon exclaimed, drawing his swords. "Irataka Swords!!" Karatenmon slammed both blades into the right side of MetalGreymon, in other words MetalGreymon's more fleshy side. The metallic dinosaur let out a roar of pain, while Ryo felt his heart ache a little. He did not know why. Was it pity? Ryo shook his head. He did not think he would pity a Digimon that had tried and failed to take his life.

Before he could further ponder the mystery, he was blown into the dirt by an extremely powerful gust of wind. It most likely came from the Digimon that had been chasing them. Ryo quickly rolled to his left, driven by instinct and adrenaline. He was beginning to wonder why he did when the sharp point of the snake Digimon's tail was abruptly thrust into where his head once was... and the blade was so near that he could see his reflection on it. And the tail was already full of stains, meaning that he was too near the blade for comfort.

He forgot about the Digimon still chasing after him specifically.

A mistake he might not live to make again.

I so hate this.

Takato browsed through his cards double time, trying to find one to help. All the cards he could use, which excluded too powerful Ultimate and Mega cards, were useless. However, Takato refused to use the Ultimate and Mega cards. Growlmon could not take them. But is there any other way to win?

Another Power Gun attack impacted on Growlmon, bringing tears to his eyes. Takato felt each impact, each attack that Growlmon was hit with. He hated to make difficult decisions! He had always left it to others, but recently, since he got Guilmon, he had been forced to make choices that he had never made before. Now however, he had been forced to decide whether was it worth the risk to hurt Guilmon... to win. Is it worth it? What if Guilmon doesn't turn into Gigimon this time, but becomes an egg again? The very thought of it made his heart ache.

"Takato... help..." Growlmon said weakly, the torch he had on his paw showing him barely being able to hold his data together. Takato clenched his fists, in a dilemma.

"Once I finish with you, I will take your human," Kongoumon said. "Power Gun!!"

Takato didn't stiffen in fear, for he was already afraid for Growlmon's fate. Hurriedly, Takato swiped an Offence Plug-In N and a Defenxe Plug-In F, in hopes that they would help Growlmon. Energy was sapped from one part of both him and Growlmon to power the next attack and defence. His mind was elsewhere.

The Digimon he himself had created, was about to be deleted. He could not stand even the thought of it. The last time he had used the MetalGreymon card, it was purely because of the adrenaline that pushed away his need to think. It was as though at that time, he had gone feral, much like how Guilmon did. All thought and emotion driven to one sole purpose: Defeating the enemy.

However, like Guilmon's feral mode, it made him not care about those around him, oblivious. Takato completely forgot that Growlmon at that time may not be able to handle two Ultimate attacks one after the other in his Champion form's body, more so due to how recent Growlmon had gained the ability to access that level. Growlmon also needed time to get used to the form, before he could go to greater heights. How he ever forgot such important things... Takato shuttered.

But now the choice was before him. He could face the immediate deletion of Growlmon before his eyes, or watch as the oversurge of power killed Growlmon slowly... and painfully. Growlmon moaned again in pain. "Takato..."

The said boy shut his eyes, trying to block out the sound. He could not decide. How could he? Both ways were wrong, both ways lead to the possibility of Growlmon's deletion. Then, logic hit him like a solid brick to the head. If I let this go on, Growlmon will surely be deleted... I have to take this chance... even if it means... hurting Growlmon...

Takato took out his deck, and this time, he searched through the cards he had excluded. Growlmon fought on without the help of his Tamer, trying his best to hold off his inevitable defeat by dodging, blasting and slashing back.

Behind him, Takato felt the heat of Growlmon's Pyro Blaster, but when he looked up from his search and saw how small the attack had become, he quickened his search. Painstakingly, he held each card to the dim light of Growlmon's little fire, only to put it back into the deck again in frustration.

Finally, he stumbled onto a single card that brought a smile to his face. A single card that was everything he needed to defeat Kongoumon. "Growlmon! I have it!!" Takato thrust the card in the air to show his partner.

"Okay Takato... but can you hurry up?" Growlmon said as he managed to barely counter yet another Power Gun attack with his Pyro Blaster. "I don't think I can take another hit."

"You don't have to. Just let him attack you. I have a plan." Takato said confidently, but kept himself from going all the way to his own 'feral mode'. Nonetheless, he allowed the surge of adrenaline to run... seeing how he might have to do some running himself soon. Growlmon nodded, obviously his confidence was infectious.

"Daisuke!! Flamedramon!!" Strikedramon exclaimed in joy when he reached the two. "Am I glad to see you!"

"Strikedramon!" Daisuke gave the Champion a grin, one that he could not help despite the situation. "Where's Ryo?"

Strikedramon stopped, and turned back, seeming to be cursing himself for neglecting his partner for so long. Behind him, Ryo was in the dirt, towered by a shadow in the form of a snake. "Flamedramon," The said Digimon could see the struggle and effort that Strikedramon put in to keep panic from his voice. "Do you think you can help?"

Flamedramon moved away from Daisuke, trying his best to ignore the pain that shot through him due to Pharaohmon's attack, and stood on his own two feet. "No..." He grunted. "But I can try."

Daisuke looked like he was about to protest, but kept silent. Flamedramon was grateful for the gesture, for he could not find any more patience and will to argue about this. Flamedramon knew that Daisuke was worried about his condition, but also that the latter would leave no friend behind, regardless of how recent this friend was. The gogglehead nodded instead. "Go... and do your best!"

If there were any music playing, it would have been confident and dramatic. Both Flamedramon and Strikedramon bent their knees, and sprung toward the shadow that was the enemy.

"Fire Rocket!!"

"Strike Fang!!"

Orange and blue fires neared the Digimon, but with a sweep of a tail, they were repelled. Both warriors somersaulted and landed on their feet. Both of them were already out of breath.

"This is not the way. We have to do something else!" Flamedramon said through grind teeth, both out of pain and frustration.

"But what?" The Champion asked, shoulders sagging in defeat. Flamedramon understood. He had once felt this kind of not being able to do anything, unable to help anyone, especially his partner.

"I don't know..." Flamedramon said, frowning. He looked back to previous battles he had in the past, browsing through them absentmindedly. Without thinking about what he said next, he continued. "Ryo is usually the one who does the strate..." Flamedramon suddenly stopped mid-sentence, shocked.

Strikedramon's head shot up in alertness. "When did you..." The rest of Strikedramon's words, however, were lost to understanding. Flamedramon was suddenly open to a void of memories he never knew existed. They came at him, so fast, so quickly. It might have hurt, but he was beyond that. He was so deep in his sub-consciousness that he did not feel such feelings anymore. Awe replaced it. The sudden access to so many memories that he could hardly believe was his was staggering. Part of him registered that he had fallen to his knees.

Ryo...

Flamedramon was thrust with so many that he had somehow forgotten that it was impossible to see all at once. He only had glimpses of the memory before another took its place, eager to show itself to him. Through the short glimpses, he gathered two things. One, he had once been the partner of Ryo Akiyama, the boy that he was supposed to save. Two, Ryo Akiyama was a great strategist. The greatest he had ever known in his short life, even with the extended memories. Gennai, a being whom the extended memories reintroduced to him, had said the same once.

His vision swam before him as the flow of the memories began to fade. The flow was not rough, but had come smoothly, and went smoothly. Flamedramon heard echoes of Strikedramon's and Daisuke's voices calling his name. He shook his head to clear it, and then he focused. The memories had brought with them not only recollections of the past, but even a plan... a plan to defeat their enemy. It was as clear as day. It was not exactly a plan... but a tactic that he had remembered Ryo using with him. Flamedramon did not remember everything, but he remembered enough. I know what to do... thank you memories!

"Insects! Try this for a plan! Power Gun!"

"Takato..."

Takato allowed his grin to spread even wider. "Get ready, Growlmon!" He aligned his card up with the card slot. "Digi-Modify! MagnaAngemon's Heaven's Gate! Activate!!"

Growlmon's eyes widened for a split second as an Excalibur sword materialised on Growlmon's wrist. The sword had a mind of its own, guiding Growlmon's arm into a circle directly in front of him. A portal to nothingness opening in the path of the Power Gun attack. The gate sucked in the attack, and began to suck in Kongoumon as well.

"What? What kind of an attack is this?!" Kongoumon asked in surprise and fear. Kongoumon, however, still had enough wits to dig his Vajras into the ground, preventing the holy vacuum from sucking him in.

Takato held on for dear life, hiding behind a large piece of debris to avoid getting sucked in as well. "Growlmon!" He exclaimed. "Use a Pyro Blaster attack!!"

Growlmon did not hesitate. "Pyro... Blaster!!"

The Pyro Blaster attack had only one way to reach Kongoumon... through the Heaven's Gate. As the flame attack travelled through the gate, it was amplified, becoming even more powerful. That was something that Takato had been hoping for. A scene from the show flashed in his mind of MagnaAngemon using the Heaven's Gate to unleash an aurora beam at Apocalymon. So instead of a holy beam of energy, he decided to give Kongoumon a taste of true fire power... literally.

But Takato was not about to stand by and do nothing. He was also going to make sure this trick worked. Chances were that this would be his one and only chance, and he planned to make it count. "Digi-Modify! Offence Plug-In B! Activate!!"

The fire attack was further amplified, spreading out to an entire ark. Takato was slightly worried that the expanded and far more powerful Pyro Blaster attack would burn him alive, but sighed in relief when the attack passed his hiding place. However, he still felt enough heat to make him sweat, and he had a ton of rock between himself and the attack. Takato did not want to guess what was happening to Kongoumon, but it was made all to clear by the screams of pain he heard.

"AHHHH!!" Slowly, the screams faded, as did the attack. Takato took a peek, rising above his little hiding spot.

The attack had set most of the cave either scorched or on fire. Through the fire, he saw the last of Kongoumon's data fading away, before a familiar item fell from the remains. A Digimental of Miracles. Takato got to his feet, edging toward the Digimental slowly. He never did know what happened when an Armour Digimon was defeated. He reached the Digimental, and inspected it.

However, when he tried to pick it up, it faded into data in his hands. Oh well, but at least we won. Takato allowed another smile. Guilmon, now dedigivolved, walked to him, tilting his head to the side and looking at him curiously. The ground suddenly rocked, causing Takato to snap out of his happy trance, and forcing him to conclude that the other could very much be in trouble.

"Not so fast!"

"Huh?"

Out of the blue... or rather, the darkness, shot out two swords that pierced into MetalGreymon's fleshy side. MetalGreymon let out a roar of pain, but could not reach the two swords with his other arm to pull them off. A sickening and blood chilling sound echoed through the cave when the blades were yanked out. Pharaohmon, who had appeared to be a little shaken by the feriousity of the new attack, overcame it and charged his own.

Pharaohmon jumped toward MetalGreymon with surprising speed and agility, and his fist glowed in one hand, the other wielding his staff. "Fist of Nile!" The fist was thrown at MetalGreymon's face, which caused the latter to lose control and tumble back to the ground. Shock waves were produced once MetalGreymon made contact with the solid rock, while Taichi grind his teeth at the new enemy and the effort to stay on his feet. His Crest and Digivice still glowed brightly. Who is this new guy?! We already have enough trouble with one enemy, not to mention two!!

Then, he heard what he remembered to be Karatenmon's voice announcing an attack... against MetalGreymon. "Crow Swords!!" A single beam struck MetalGreymon in his armoured chest. The latter roared yet again in pain. Taichi felt anger boiling within him. What is he doing?! Why is he attacking us and not Pharaohmon?!

"KARATENMON!! What are you doing?!" Someone shouted for him. Taichi turned around to see Takato, running toward them with Guilmon in tow. "Why are you attacking MetalGreymon?!"

"Yeah! Why?!" Taichi enforced.

Karatenmon turned his attention to them, the Crest of Courage showing his features to be surprised. "Why not?" He asked. "Isn't he the enemy? Ryo said-" But Taichi never discovered what Ryo said, for the next instant, a green and red light filled the area behind Karatenmon. Following that was a large explosion, and Karatenmon's wings folded, causing him to fall to the ground. Behind him, Pharaohmon floated, palms smoking from the recent attack. If he didn't hate the latter before, he did now. Karatenmon didn't even begin to suspect the ambush.

Karatenmon's limp body hit the ground like a ragged doll. Takato gasped. "He, he, he..." Pharaohmon chuckled, sending chills up Takato's spine. "I really must thank him sometime..." Pharaohmon put a wrapped finger to his mask. "... I think... now. Decayer Reign!!" Pharaohmon aimed both palms at the downed Karatenmon, shooting both beams at the latter.

MetalGreymon abruptly flew into the path of the beams, taking the attack. The metallic dinosaur roared in pain. Taichi turned to Takato, desperate. "Takato! Can..." Taichi gave himself a second to remember the name. "...Guilmon do anything?!" Takato, on the other hand, was staring dumbly at him. Taichi took the former by the shoulders and shook him violently. "TAKATO! HELP!"

Takato snapped out of his trance and began stammering. "I'm really sorry, I was just looking at the Crest and I-" He was forced to stop when Taichi shook him again, fear for both MetalGreymon and Karatenmon making his Crest's light begin to fade.

"Takato! I need Guilmon's help!"

Takato shook his head hurriedly. "Guilmon is too weak to Digivolve again. He can't!"

"He has to! He is MetalGreymon's only hope!"

Takato glanced past Taichi, looking at his partner, who had a frown on his normally jovial face. "Takato... I want to help." The red Rookie said.

Taichi let Takato go, turning to face his partner as MetalGreymon took another hit to protect Karatenmon.

In the long past... or future, Ryo had once said: If you can't beat them, join them!

He took the words straight to their literal sense... but one would have made a mistake when one thinks that the two 'thems' he referred to are the same. Flamedramon admited, Ryo at that time was not very sane, but his rather naive mind took in more things that Flamedramon believed anyone would. That was how Ryo managed to win the bogus D-1 Tournament. He took things and twisted them around sometimes, making some strategies from old illogical ones and new strategies from totally odd phrases.

In this case, the first 'them' did indeed refer to the enemy, but the second 'them' actually meant...

Flamedramon and his allies.

What allies did Ryo have in the past/future? That was another story for another day. Now... Let's do this! "Strikedramon! I'll take the lead!"

Strikedramon had what Flamedramon thought was a startled expression. "But... you..." Strikedramon seemed to go mute, pointing to the ground where Flamedramon himself laid not too long ago due to his 'memory recovery' and at him standing upright. Even Daisuke looked stunned. But Strikedramon gathered his wits, and took a deep breath. He had obviously remembered the situation his partner was currently in. "... What do you have in mind?"

"Follow me." Flamedramon began a charge at the Digimon trying to kill Ryo, injuries long forgotten. Strikedramon nimbly followed, both of them going into step as they synchronised with the other's timing. Flamedramon decided to attract some attention to himself. "Hey! Over here! Flame Fist!"

Fireballs shot from his fist to impact the Digimon. Flamedramon heard the Digimon growl. "Grr... you are very annoying. You keep interrupting the deletion of my prize."

"That's the idea!" Strikedramon shouted, but lacked a long range attack to back up his words. Instead, he jumped simultaneously along with Flamedramon into the air, his body heating up in preparation for his attack.

"Strike Fang!"

But Flamedramon did not follow. Instead, he hung in the air for a moment longer. Just as before, the Digimon used his tail, sweeping it at Strikedramon to swat him away. However, Strikedramon dodged the tail, twisting his own body to one side and giving Flamedramon a clear shot. "Fire Rocket!!"

One after the other, the attacks landed. The Digimon seemed to be weakened now, his breathing was loud and uneven. All they needed was one more powerful attack to finish him off... and Flamedramon knew just how. Both of them jumped back and prepared to attack again, but the Digimon had no plans to wait for them. "Toltec Wind!!" The gust of wind blew at them, pushing against them and forcing them to abandon charging their attacks to stay standing.

"Strikedramon! Flamedramon!" Ryo exclaimed. Daisuke had already gone to him, helping him to his feet. Flamedramon grunted in reply. His plan was... not going according to plan. He and Strikedramon just needed a chance, one more chance to attack to finish the Digimon off. But Ryo was still a hint of the excellent strategist he had been... or will be, even without his memories. He, with Daisuke's aid, had taken out some more cards, and were now rapidly shuffling through them.

"No, no, no, no..." Ryo muttered with each card he browsed through. He seemed to be looking for a particular card. Flamedramon pleaded for Ryo to hurry. "Alright! This!" Daisuke stared at his cards in wonder, such that even Flamedramon could see from his rather uncomfortable position, but Ryo ignored the former, using him as a support. "Digi-Modify! Strength Plug-In O! Activate!"

Strikedramon glowed slightly, before pushing forward, against the wind conjured by the snake Digimon that had almost tired to kill Ryo himself... almost did not describe it enough. Step by step, Strikedramon pushed. Suddenly, the winds died and Strikedramon propelled himself forward at the Digimon as he had used too much force against the now none existent winds.

Flamedramon shot out a claw grabbed Strikedramon's own before he got too far. Strikedramon landed hard on his front and glanced back. "Thanks," He said, jumping to his feet as the Digimon unleashed a Fossil Wave attack.

"No problem," Flamedramon replied casually as he helped Strikedramon regain his footing and jumped from the attack.

"Time to truly end this! You are getting far too annoying to exist!" The Digimon shouted, angered at his lack of progress.

"Time for you to shut it!" Daisuke's mouth fell open, as though he could not believe that Flamedramon had actually said that. The same reaction occurred with both Ryo and Strikedramon as well. Flamedramon himself was slightly startled. It seemed as though his recovery of memories unlocked a certain... rebellious part of his personality. The scary thing was... he liked it. "Strikedramon! Let's attack! Together this time!" Flamedramon added with a slight grin, eyes twinkling. Strikedramon blinked in confusion for a moment, before understanding reached his eyes. The latter nodded, grin in place.

Together, as one, they charged again.

"Fools! The same tactic wouldn't work twice! I know how to counter it this time!" The Digimon boasted.

In his mind, Flamedramon rolled his eyes. Please. He thought sarcastically. Dumber guys could give a better comeback. Were the future Ryo, both younger and older than the one currently present, have heard his thoughts, he was bound to give a nice applause. It was a thing that he both would say in future and had said in the past... in his past anyway.

"NOW!" Flamedramon shouted, jumping into the air. Strikedramon leapt at the same time, but both had to duck an attack that the Digimon sent their way to block the jump. Flamedramon barely managed to avoid it, and cursed himself for not anticipating it. But another part of him told him that anticipating the enemy was not something easily done while in the middle of an intense battle.

But instead of both of them attacking separately... both of them joined hands while in mid-air, individual orange and blue fires blazing around their bodies. Then, Flamedramon threw himself back, causing his back to face Strikedramon's, and in this position, Flamedramon held Strikedramon's free claws.

Back to back, Flamedramon pulled on one side, causing the both of them to spin. Their fires began to merge as well, a mix of blue and orange-gold fires. It began to swirl, spinning faster and faster, before the united attack began to fall... straight at its target.

The Digimon, as promised, countered the attack... or tried to. "Tortec Wind!!" The wind blew at the flames, threatening to put them out. But the fire vortex fought against the wind, not going out without a fight. Ryo seemed to finally understand their plan and took steps to help, as shown when Strikedramon glowed from within the vortex.

Ryo had swiped a card... an Offence Plug-In card.

The flames intensified two-fold, the blue flames burning even more powerfully than the orange. Flamedramon tried to match the blue flames with his own, but knew in his condition that he could not. However, the increase allowed the flames to overcome the winds. The flaming tornado edged closer. The winds suddenly stopped, as the Digimon was too tired to keep up resistance and prevent the inevitable. The vortex struck the Digimon... and went right through, leaving a gaping hole where the combined attack had pierced.

With a shriek, the Digimon dissolved into unidentifiable data. A single Digimental fell from where the Digimon once stood, one that Flamedramon recognised as the Digimental of Light... then it too, dissolved into data.

"That... was the coolest thing I have ever seen!" Daisuke said joyfully.

"Yeah! I never knew you could combine like that!" Ryo sang along in the same joyous tone.

But suddenly, Taichi's voice was heard. "MetalGreymon!!"

Ryo turned around, facing the direction from which the voice came from, a look of confusion on his face. "Huh? Why is Taichi calling for the enemy?"

"Enemy?" Daisuke asked.

"I thought MetalGreymon was the enemy..."

"Wha- NO!"

"But..." Further confusion filled Ryo's voice, but Flamedramon interrupted.

"Guys! We don't have time for this! MetalGreymon and Taichi need our help! We can finish explanations later!" Flamedramon said urgently. The others nodded, even Ryo, who was still very confused.

"MetalGreymon!!" Karatenmon heard Taichi shout. The latter sounded like he was the one getting hit by each attack, not MetalGreymon. Karatenmon cursed himself for making such a mistake as to get his allies and enemies mixed up.

"This is the end... Decayer Reign!!" Karatenmon pushed himself, trying to get up, but it proved difficult as he was attacked next to point blank range by the Digimon. He could hear the uneven breaths that MetalGreymon was breathing on the back of his neck. Another hit will mean the end, for both of them. Karatenmon pushed himself, and managed to up slightly before gravity overwhelmed what strength he had left, dropping him back onto the ground. He heard the sounds of the attack charging above. Karatenmon shut his eyes, awaiting the fate that had been due for so long.

But the attack never came... not for him and MetalGreymon at least.

"Fire Rocket!"

"Strike Fang!" Thanks to a little help. But Karatenmon heard the beams fire. His instincts screamed for him to run, fly, anything to get away. But he could not do anything. There was no way to get out of range in time. Karatenmon closed his eyes, and heard the impact of the beams...

Far away. They did not hit MetalGreymon. Instead, they seemed to have hit his and MetalGreymon's saviours. Karatenmon winced. He did not wish to think about what were the fates of his friends, instead keeping a little hope and getting to his feet, using his swords as support. MetalGreymon, who towered above him, dug his metal claws into the ground, using them for support as well. Karatenmon saw Taichi rush over to hug his partner's leg.

Above, the battle between Strikedramon and Flamedramon against the Digimon that ambushed him raged on. "Flame Fist!!" Fireballs shot from Flamedramon's claws at the mummy Digimon.

"Digitomb Defence!" A tomb materialised from nowhere and shut the mummy inside. The fireballs bounced off the tomb, ineffective. Flamedramon and Strikedramon landed on the ground before him, Strikedramon rushing over to him.

"Karatenmon! Are you alright?!" The latter asked worriedly.

"I'll live," was his reply.

Flamedramon had other dilemmas in his mind. "He keeps doing that! With his Digitomb Defence, we can't get any attack through!... AT ALL!!" He finished frustratedly.

"Isn't there anyway to remove it?" Ryo asked all present.

"How about we use a surprise attack on Pharaohmon?" Daisuke asked.

Ryo took a while to realise that Pharaohmon was the name of the Digimon that they were fighting. "Well, that wouldn't work," Ryo said dejectedly. "He's bound to know when one of us suddenly disappears..." Ryo stopped when MetalGreymon took off, sweeping a gust of wind at him, and making him wince. Karatenmon presumed that it was due to difficulty in perhaps having to accept who he thought was an enemy as Taichi's partner and having to always force himself back from sudden alertness when MetalGreymon did anything at all.
Meanwhile, conversation continued, though Karatenmon didn't consciously track it.

Still, Karatenmon thought hard, while muting out the sounds of battle between MetalGreymon and Pharaohmon that was so distracting. It was hard enough, but he browsed through his memories, trying to find something he had learned that could help. What popped up was a whole lot of ENIAC's talk to him about the effects of time travel and paradoxes. He seemed to have forgotten all of his past training before he was sucked by a random time wrap into this world. The other Digimon that now lived here had been sent here the very same way. According to ENIAC, he had pulled them there, else they would have been lost in the limbo of time and space for an eternity.

Now's not the time for this! He exclaimed in his mind, searching deeper for something else. But what came up was something a lot more recent. The conversation between Taichi and Daisuke before the battle. Karatenmon could have rolled his eyes. He couldn't have been more annoyed with himself. But then, what they were talking about clicked with something...

Karatenmon suddenly had an idea. It was unorthodox, but it might work... after all, if Taichi had really given them to Daisuke in the future...

Another explosion rocked his eardrums... or his equivalent of them. MetalGreymon barely dodged another Fist of Nile from Pharaohmon, and the fist had hit a stalagmite up above, causing it to fall to the ground. Strikedramon had lucky managed to deflect it before it landed on a rather unlucky Ryo. The latter seemed to be the target of everything.

The unconscious part of Karatenmon finally brought back to him the details of what the others had been going on about. It seemed that Daisuke had suggested using the combined attack of Flamedramon and Strikedramon, though Karatenmon had no idea what he was talking about. Ryo had contradicted, saying that it was better to save it for last, since they could only use it once when they had surprised Pharaohmon and not able to do so again as Pharaohmon would be prepared. Finally, Flamedramon made a decision to try and simply distract Pharaohmon with an attack.

"Fire Rocket!!" Flamedramon jumped into the air, before letting his fire attack loose without him within powering it, making it weaker but safer for the latter as Pharaohmon could not counter with another attack instantaneously. Karatenmon was glad for Flamedramon's initiative, as it allowed him time to set up, though that wasn't really very long. He also doubted that Pharaohmon would be anticipating his next move. It was unorthodox... in more ways than one. Too bad he would have to sacrifice one sentimental item to pull it off.

But he presumed it would be a worthwhile sacrifice for their victory... and survival.

Karatenmon spread his wings and winced immediately. His injuries would not allow him to fly very smoothly, but all he needed was to be in the air for a few short seconds. Flapping them, Karatenmon took off, sheathing his swords that he had been using as walking sticks. Both of his claws were needed.

With that, he flew forward, simultaneously yanking off two sets of goggles from the heads of two particular humans. Both exclaimed in protest, but Karatenmon ignored them. He just hoped they wouldn't be too angry...

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Taichi yelped in surprise.

"Those are my goggles!" Daisuke blurted out.

"Why did you take their goggles?" Takato added.

"Let me borrow these a while," Karatenmon answered. As a short test, he tried to put the together, but felt a little resistance, like two magnets that had the same poles facing the other. Perfect. Meanwhile, Flamedramon had jumped back, teeth grind. He motioned for him and the others. "Flamedramon, Strikedramon, MetalGreymon!! Attack Pharaohmon once I give the signal!"

The said Digimon looked to one another in confusion, before agreeing. What other choice did they have? Mentally, Karatenmon hoped he wasn't about to pull of the dumbest thing on the face of the Digital World. Thinking about it now made him wonder. It was after all only a theory. He was actually basing a battle on a theory of ENIAC's. Well, time to test theories...

Taking a deep breath, Karatenmon forced the two goggles together. The initial resistance was easily overcomed. Light glowed from the forced fusion of the two goggles, goggles that were in actual fact one and the same. He soon began to feel drained, as though the goggles were sapping his strength. He even felt as though he was being pulled toward it, like gravity pulling him to the ground. I knew it! It's working!

But Karatenmon quickly flung it at Pharaohmon like a grenade, before it began to take too great a toll on him. Pharaohmon treated the two glowing goggles like an attack, immediately using his Digitomb Defense. Paraoid. Karatenmon mentally snorted. But he continued to watch what happened next.

The glowing goggles hit the front of the tomb, but stuck to it like a leech. Then, the goggles seemed to turn into a black hole, absorbing everything around it... including the tomb. What Karatenmon was left to see was just a hole of nothingness with the goggles right in the middle, both partially merged already, with only three quarters of one side still present, the rest in the core of the fusion.

"Wha... what's going on?!" Guilmon asked, head tilted to the side in awe of the spectacle.

"A paradox of sorts. Your goggles are the exact same object, just from different times and continuities. Thus, they technically cannot exist in the same place at the same time. In fact, reality is not intended to support the concept of time travel. The two 'same' objects are thus treated as different objects, allowing the world to 'ignore' the need to deal with them. When they come into contact, however, the world is forced to accept once again that they are the same object. Interactions between two of the same object sprouts an error in the fabric of reality. Thus, ENIAC theorised that in order to avoid the need to compute a complex problem of figuring out how these two can interact, reality resorts to a simpler method of fusing them together, thus allowing it to completely forgo the need to face the problem."

Guilmon looked giddy while Takato scratched his head. "Uh... can you repeat that? I think I'm lost," Takato said. Still, the 'show' went on. The front of Pharaohmon's Digitomb Defence was getting sucked into the goggles. Colours were swirling all around the core of the fusion in an all but unrecognisable pattern. At random times, energy surged from the core like a geyser, hitting Pharaohmon and causing him to cry out.

"But now what's going on?" MetalGreymon asked, backing away, as though the goggles would suck him in as well.

But before Karatenmon could answer, the entire front of the tomb was absorbed by the black hole and the fusion of the goggles completed at the same time. At the next instant, a shockwave of energy suddenly blasted from the goggles, so powerful that none of them could hold their ground and were blown away. Pharaohmon had it a lot worse, as he was in contact with the goggles. The raw energy that surged from the goggles at that time was so tremendous that Pharaohmon suffered damage the equivalent of a Mega's attack.

Karatenmon had finally regained his footing again, even though the aftermath of the energy surge was not yet over. He was very much stunned, as this was not what he had expected, not at all. He did not understand. It should not have been so powerful. The fusion of the two into one should have only caused enough damage to take away the tomb shield, not so much... not that Karatenmon wasn't grateful for it.

But now... was the time for attack. "Everyone! We have to attack NOW!" Karatenmon yelled, drawing his swords. "Crow Swords!" He fired a laser at Pharaohmon, which caught him right in his unguarded chest. No one was as shocked as he was, he did not even react to the attack.

MetalGreymon took a while to shake off the shock and actually register Karatenmon's words. "Right!" MetalGreymon had crashed into a wall, causing deribis to crash on him. Still, he stood up and targeted Pharaohmon, who was lit up by Taichi's suddenly brightening Digivice and a necklace, though the necklace outshone the Digivice by a large margin. "Giga... DESTROYER!!" His chest plate opened up, revealing two black missiles that shot toward Pharaohmon, before blowing up right in the latter's face. Literally.

"Flamedramon! Strikedramon! Now's the time for that attack!" Daisuke called out from somewhere under the rumble of what had been the wall of the cave.

Flamedramon and Strikedramon jumped out from under the rock, nodding to each other. Karatenmon would looked to them curiously, not really understanding what was so unique about the attack.

Together, they charged at Pharaohmon. However, it was no longer a slaugther, as the latter had regained his wits. "NO!!" Pharaohmon leapt forward to meet them, clearly hoping to bring them down along with him. All of them knew that he had already lost, thanks to the power of the 'attack' he received from the goggles' fusion. "TAKE THIS! FIST OF NILE!!" Pharaohmon prepared a glowing fist, in wait of Flamedramon and Strikedramon's next attack...

Which surprised him completely. They firstly leapt at Pharaohmon, before holding the other's claws and begining to spin. Fire gathered around them, made up of two different colours. The fire began to mix together. Pharaohmon nonetheless still attacked.

With yet another spectacular explosion, Pharaohmon's limp body hit the solid ground, while Strikedramon and Flamedramon landed safely, but fell to one knee due to the effects of meeting Pharaohmon's attack headon.

All of them stared at where Pharaohmon had landed. Pharaohmon raised an arm, trying to get up. Karatenmon recoiled. That couldn't be. That assault was everything they had. But his worry was for naught when the arm dropped back down, and Pharaohmon burst into data. Karatenmon let out a sigh of relieve, feeling the tension around him fade slowly away as the others allowed gravity to take them.

Well, what do you people think? Using the paradox for this kind of thing is rather... unorthodox don't you agree? If any of you are wondering what happened to the goggles, they are still around... just that there is only one of them now.

Moving on, I would like to thank the reviewers, both new and old, for... reviewing of course! So... thanks Canis Black, Twilight Archangel, jdogno1, and Kitsurumenokitsune. Thanks especially for your opinions Canis Black, and your ever constant support Twilight Archangel. I am eternally grateful... though actually and eternity is not really forever as it ends at the end of time, and the end of time may take forever to come seeing how we can't really see any goons like Millenniummon messing with time and bringing about its end yet...

I was messing with your minds with all the time going in circles talk, so ignore it and to put it simply, I am grateful. XD

And of course, I can't forget the contributions of Crazyeight. Thanks for pointing out the stuff I missed, and my rather horrible mistake of using 'bashful'. I have checked and rechecked, but it seems that Daisuke didn't say anything about the MetalGreymon thing. I still can't figure out what I left out though, but what the heck.

Alright, next, plans. Now is the long anticipated updating of Aftermath of 02, one that hit 10 reviews in one chapter within a few days of its release... utterly amazing. But as for Brave Tamer, I have decided that it will be next to impossible to reduce the battles, but what I can do is do more character development, starting the next chapter.

Right, now... Review! XD