Chapter 20: For Everyone's Sake

Disclaimer: Not sure why I still bother with these

Evan could only stand and look on as Craniamon dissolved into streams of data and disappeared. He gripped his weapon tightly and glared at Duftmon, who seemed to take no notice. He looked behind him to see Hanae standing next to her unconscious mother, her face bearing a look of shock. Labramon was at her feet, growling aggressively at the knight's arrival. Duftmon looked down upon the body of Craniamon until it had dissolved completely, before finally turning to face Evan.

"Well now," chided the knight, "I must give you humans credit. Turning even The Sturdy against his own kind would have been quite a feat. Although that power doesn't really belong to you, does it?"

"Shut Up," snapped Evan. "How could you so easily cut down one of your allies?"

"Justice is swift. He was no longer an ally, and was now a traitor to her Highness Queenmon. I simply dealt him his due punishment."

"You're a monster. First you strike down Hanae and her Partner, then even one of your own comrades."

"I will not be lectured on the nature of monsters by someone who serves a Demon Lord. You even consumed your own 'partner' to gain the power to defeat Craniamon."

"I did no such thing; my partner is here fighting with me."

"It matters not. The time has come to deal with you humans for good. This time I have no reason to hold back."

"I should say the same. For Hanae and Craniamon, I will cut you down."

"Evan wait," came the voice of Betamon inside Evan's head, but it was too late.

Evan rushed towards Duftmon, bringing his weapon down into a straight charge with the blade. Duftmon sneered and brandished his rapier. Just before Evan could connect with the knight, he sidestepped the charge. He slipped his rapier under the forward blade of Evan's weapon and tipped it upwards, throwing off Evan's balance. He then delivered a straight, sharp kick to Evan's middle, winding him.

As Evan stumbled backwards, Duftmon swung his rapier in an arc, creating a thin crescent of energy. 'Aussterben' he called, hurling the energy blade at Evan with a thrust of his hilt. Evan brought his weapon down in front of the blast, but the thin, sharp blade cut right through the halberd's pole, connecting with Evan's chest. The impact left a gash in Evan's armour and threw him backwards. He landed on his back just in front of Hanae.

Evan pushed himself into a sitting position, and then felt a weird sensation come over him. He looked down to see that he was bathed in a soft glow, which covered all of him save the parts that did not bear armour. When the glow faded, he had returned to his normal self, and Betamon had materialized next to him, looking fairly beat up. There was a clattering noise as his Digivice fell to the ground beside him. Evan was confused, and looked to Betamon, who bowed his head.

"What happened?" Evan asked, hoping his partner would understand better.

"I tried to warn you," came his partner's reply. "With the injuries I sustained from Craniamon, I didn't know how long we could maintain that merged form. When you lost control and became enraged at Duftmon, the link created by your virtue broke, and we weren't able to maintain the Holy Armour Fusion any longer. That's why Duftmon was able to walk all over us."

"Damn it. Can we do it again?"

"I don't know; I'm really low on energy right now, and until you calm down I don't think you can restore the link."

"It's okay Evan," came the voice of Hanae, placing a hand on Evan's shoulder. "You two have done enough. Now it's my turn."

"You don't have to do this Hanae. Last time you fought this guy, he killed Labramon. I don't want you to have to go through that again."

"I appreciate your concern," stated Labramon. "However, right now you are in no condition to fight. I shall take on the responsibility of defeating Duftmon. Besides, as you said, I have a bit of a score to settle with him."

"Glad you're with me Labramon. Evan, you stay back and look after my mom, okay?"

"Alright, but be careful."

Hanae simply smirked and stepped away from Evan, turning with Labramon to face Duftmon. "You've hurt a lot of people Duftmon," she said, clutching the still stitched up wound she had received from their last encounter. "For that reason, we have no choice but to defeat you, for all the people you've hurt, and so that you can't hurt anyone else again."

Hanae brought out her Digivice and released Amemit, which appeared on the ground in front of Labramon. He slipped a paw into the weapon's cuff, which the erupted in a burst of golden light. 'LABRAMON WARP EVOLUTION! ANUBISMON!' Anubismon emerged from the evolutionary light and stepped forward towards Duftmon. The Knight twirled his rapier nonchalantly and smirked at the other Mega Digimon. Anubismon brought his hands up, brandishing his claw at Duftmon and giving him a stern look.

At this time, Duftmon began to laugh, almost uncontrollably. "Are you quite serious? The last time we met in combat, I killed you. You're lucky that you were even able to reformat so quickly. What do you possibly think will be different this time?"

"This time I'm going to defeat you," was Anubismon's reply.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

With no further exchange of words, Anubismon lunged toward the Royal Knight, the claw of Amemit extended. Duftmon took a single step backwards and raised his rapier into the path of the oncoming Digimon. Anubismon snagged the blade of his opponent between two of Amemit's claws, and began to press into the rapier firmly. Duftmon attempted to loose his blade from the claws, but instead was only able to twist the blade in place. Each of his motions were matched by Anubismon, keeping the weapon in check.

Duftmon grunted and placed his other hand on the hilt of his rapier to try and apply more strength against his foe. Anubismon was able to hold fast, as he had the leverage provided by his claws, as well as being slightly larger than the Knight. Duftmon brought his leg up and forward in an attempt to kick Anubismon, but came up short when his leg was caught by his free hand. With the knight standing on only one leg, Anubismon took the opportunity to throw his balance off, and trip his other leg out from under him.

Duftmon released his off hand grip on his rapier in order to catch himself as he was tripped. His extra hold gone, Anubismon gave a mighty twist of his claws, wrenching Duftmon's rapier out of his hand. The Knight proceeded to cartwheel back several feet in order to regain his balance, while his rapier spun through the air above his opponent. As he stood back upright, the blade landed, embedding itself in the ground right next to Anubismon. Hanae's partner then grasped the hilt of the weapon, and raked it with Amemit, severing it into three pieces.

Duftmon looked on, furious as his weapon was rend into three. Each piece clattered to the ground loudly before dissolving into streams of data that dispersed and vanished. Anubismon dropped the hilt he had been gripping, which also dissolved immediately. He took a few paces forward, to which the Knight responded with no motion whatsoever. Anubismon stared down his opponent, who seemed to be frozen in the shock of being so promptly and efficiently disarmed. He was shocked shortly thereafter, when the Knight began howling with laughter.

"My my my, this is certainly unexpected," called Duftmon, still snickering. "I think I see now how you may have been able to best The Sturdy. Then again, the legends say you also defeated the Demon Lords, which would have taken as much or more. Then again, the legends are difficult to believe when the lot of you are working for Beelzemon the Bandit."

"If you see that you are outmatched," replied Anubismon, "then perhaps it is best if you were to surrender."

"Surrender? Outmatched? Clearly you have no idea who I am. I AM DUFTMON THE SWIFT, AND NOW I SHALL SHOW YOU THAT I AM WITHOUT PEER!"

Duftmon let out a roar like a mad beast and began to surge with energy, creating ripples in the air around him. He bent over double onto all fours, and began to change shape. His armour shifted and morphed to match his new quadrupedal stature, and his hands changed into beastly paws that sported vicious looking claws. His face changed as well as what had been his helm folded over the rest of his head, giving the visage of a new head like that of a wildcat. Upon completion of the transformation, Duftmon no longer looked like a knight, but rather like a great mountain lion covered with metal. He growled gutturally at Anubismon.

Anubismon was unsure of how to react to his opponent's change. He kept his eyes on the beast, waiting for him to make a move. However, when Duftmon did finally make a move, Anubismon's eyes failed him. The beast before him moved at such a speed that it was gone before he knew he had moved. Anubismon spun on the spot, expecting an attack on his rear. Such an attack was what he got, but not until after he hard turned. Duftmon had lapped around him as he turned and leapt at his back, raking his wings deeply with his claws.

Upon feeling the impact of the blow, Anubismon spun around once more, trying to catch his opponent on the recoil of his attack, but he was already gone. This time when the beast came back, he rolled under Anubismon's legs, knocking him off balance. His wings torn from the first blow, Anubismon was not able to slow his fall, and hit the ground hard. He raised his head and saw Duftmon standing before him, mocking him just by standing still.

"Did I not tell you this would happen?" chided Duftmon, his voice more feral than it had been in his Knight form. "I am going to enjoy tearing you bit from bit."

Anubismon stood up, defiant of the Knight's taunting. "My claim has not changed. I am still going to defeat you."

This time, Anubismon raised his other arm, brandishing the crystal therein at the beast. Before he could declare his attack, Duftmon was on him. The beast had virtually wrapped himself around his arm, tearing into it at the forearm and shoulders. Anubismon shook his arm to throw Duftmon free, but the he did not let go until he had thoroughly torn up his arm, leaving it riddled with deep gashes. The beast detached himself from Anubismon, leaving his arm limp at his side.

Anubismon clutched at his shredded arm, wincing at his own touch. Duftmon let out a snickering growl and began to circle his perceived prey. "You are such a fool, thinking you could possibly defeat me."

"I have no intention of going back on my word. Hanae and the others are counting on me for protection."

"You still think you can protect that girl? You can't even protect yourself. Once I'm done with you, I'll finish off that other rookie and bring the humans to Queenmon. I doubt there will be any mercy for them at this point, so you should be glad you won't be around to see it."

"Your childish taunting will not sway me, I shall defeat you."

"You tell him!" Anubismon was glad to hear the voice of his partner, and turned to look at her. She was stepping towards the two Digimon, while Evan and Betamon were moving her mother further away. "It's about time you got what you deserved."

Duftmon was clearly enraged to be spoken to as such by a human. He stopped circling Anubismon and bared his teeth at Hanae. The Child of Generosity was not swayed, and continued walking towards her partner. Duftmon was about to lunge at her, when Anubismon caught him in the ribs with a shoulder check, knocking him aside. At that time he rushed over to Hanae and looked at her, smiling. She smiled back, and brought out her Digivice.

Without any further exchange of words, Hanae's Digivice began to glow a bright yellow. She pressed the side button like Evan had told her and the light erupted around her any her partner. 'Engage; Holy Armour Fusion.' Hanae emerged from the burst of light just as Duftmon was getting back on his feet. She was clad completely in golden yellow armour, her Digivice now positioned in her abdomen. On each of her shoulders was a decoration in the shape of a Jackal's head. She also wore a helm of the same shape, which looked almost identical to Anubismon's head. On each forearm was a triad of claws, both identical to the ones on Amemit. She looked herself over once and smirked broadly; "Holy Warrior of Generosity."

Duftmon glared at Hanae's new form, snarling fiercely. "This changes nothing! If you'll recall, I struck down your friend even while he was wearing such armour, and I wasn't even exerting myself."

"You may find I have a trick or two up my sleeve," was Hanae's reply.

"Are you sure you can handle this Hanae?" came the voice of Anubismon.

"I think so. If not, you can always take over."

"Alright then, let's do this."

True to her word, Hanae surprised Duftmon by dropping to all fours just as he had. She arched her back and flexed her arms and legs, adjusting her posture to match her stance. Her helm closed over her head, matching the heads on her shoulders and giving her the appearance of a three headed jackal. She now looked every bit as bestial as Duftmon, and was ready to meet him on his own terms. Duftmon was taken aback at this transformation, and stepped away from her.

"This is absurd!" snarled Duftmon. "You think it fit to make a mockery of me?"

"No mocking here," retorted Hanae, a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "I'm just levelling the playing field a little."

"It matters not! I'm still going to tear you to shreds."

"Enough talk!"

In that instant, the two beasts charged at each other with all available speed. To anyone looking on from the outside, they seemingly vanished into a pair of blurs. Evan and Betamon looking on could only make out the occasional streak of brown or gold, slowing down only slightly when they collided with one another. However, to Hanae and Duftmon, it seemed as though everything in the world around them had come to a standstill. The only thing either one saw moving was the other. They would circle around each other, lunge inwards, collide, then spring backwards before repeating the cycle.

On each pass, both the Royal Knight and the Holy Warrior attempted to tear into the other. Jaws and claws crossed and connected, legs and bodies were slashed at, and ferocious roars were exchanged. Duftmon, his fury growing, was slipping in his concentration, while Hanae remained focused on her single goal of protecting her friends. Thus, with each subsequent exchange, Duftmon began to lose ground. Hanae would tear into his side with her claws, and attempt to bring his legs out from under him. Duftmon became more and more fleeting, trying to keep her from taking away his speed.

Then, with one final pass, it was over. Hanae slashed out the back of one of Duftmon's hind legs, and he skidded. He tripped over his own legs, and with the sudden loss of footing, he was thrown out of the blurring dash they had both been in. Hanae brought herself to a halt and watched as Duftmon barrelled end over end before sliding to a stop on his side. Knowing it was over, Hanae stood back up, resuming her human stance, and sliding her helm back to observe her opponent with her own eyes.

Duftmon was a mess. There were deep gashes on his sides from where Hanae's claws had torn into him. The leg she had slashed out lay splayed out to one side, twitching. Even so, Duftmon attempted to stand. He pushed himself up on his front legs, and dragged his limp hind leg up with the other. He shook as he stood, shifting his weight off of the damaged leg. He snarled gutturally at Hanae as he attempted to stand, while she simply stood and shook her head at him.

"It's over Duftmon," she stated simply. "You've lost."

"I cannot lose. Not to you; NOT TO ANYONE!"

Before Hanae could make any further attempts to talk Duftmon down, he turned away from her and set his sights on Evan, Betamon and her mother. He began to run towards them, snarling bestially. Hanae moved to interrupt him, but before she could reach him, another voice called out 'Lightning Joust'. A streak of bright blue energy flew past Hanae and enveloped the Royal Knight. Streaks of data were seen flying off as the attack passed through. After it dissipated, there was nothing left of Duftmon. Hanae turned and saw none other than Gallantmon standing behind her, his lance outstretched.

Hanae tensed up when she saw the other Royal Knight, and raised her claws towards him. In response, Gallantmon lowered Gram, which then faded from his arm. Hanae waited a moment, during which Gallantmon made no move towards her. She lowered her weapons and nodded to the Knight, understanding that he had no intention of picking a fight with her. After that, Gallantmon approached her, and the two of them began walking towards the others.

"I take it since you helped us there," stated Hanae, "that you're back on our side."

"You are correct, Child of Virtue," replied Gallantmon. "After my duel with Examon and Daichi, I was purified, and freed from Queenmon's control. I am saddened to say that before that, I nearly killed both of them."

"It's not your fault, you couldn't control your actions. Craniamon told us that after we purified him."

"You managed to purify Craniamon? Where is he?"

"Sadly," chimed in Evan as the other two reached him, "he was killed by Duftmon."

"I see. He was a good comrade, and his loss pains me."

"What about Duftmon?" asked Betamon. "You blasted him yourself."

"I know, and though it was hard, I do not regret it. Duftmon was always the most zealous of us Royal Knights, where the pursuit of evil Digimon was concerned. However, it seems that as time progressed, he grew more and more obsessed with the destructive aspects of his duty, as opposed to those regarding the upholding of peace. In the end though, I am glad to have spared the act of his destruction from your hands."

"Well, thank you then. What will you do now?"

"It was my desire to seek out the rest of you Children of Virtue and render assistance. I had been hoping to recover more of my own comrades as well, but it seems that my luck is poor in that regard. However, your assistance will be required nonetheless if Queenmon is to be defeated."

"Alright then. However, before we do that, I would like to take my mother somewhere safe." Hanae gestured to her mother, who had still not regained consciousness. It was probably a good thing she hadn't, considering that she was once again in the presence of a Royal Knight, as well as her daughter wearing her Holy Armour. With any luck, she would remain that way until she had been taken to safety, and the Digimon had moved off.

Author's Notes: As of now, 2 Royal Knights have been purified and 2 have been destroyed. How will the others fare? I don't know yet /shifty eyes/, but we shall find out!