Chapter 25:- The War's Last Phase

Yoshi sighed. This was boring. And at the same time it was also frustrating. There she was, sitting on a bed, her entire right arm bandaged, while everyone else was fighting. She remembered the days when all of them, except Marcus, would just let their Digimon fight while they watched from the sidelines and encouraged them. But at that time, she wouldn't feel as bad as she did now. In fact, she wouldn't feel bad at all.
But now, every one was fighting. Even Thomas who once considered this act vulgar.'But I...I am still the same. I still depend on Lolamon. And worse, I am not even by her side, encouraging and supporting her. I am really of no use for this team.' A tear rolled down her cheek and she hugged her knees.'All of them would do better off without me.'

And while she was lamenting, Thomas's face right before he walked out the door flashed in her mind. And so did his words."I have some unfinished business to attend to. And you are not going to stop me."

And all of a sudden, her concern changed from herself to Thomas. She wiped the tears off her face."That was strange. I have never seen Thomas so worked up before." She wondered out loud."And those eyes..." She shivered."Those scary eyes. I have never seen eyes with so much...Hatred in them.
"It was like he was thirsty for revenge. They were just like the eyes of some revenge-driven anime character."She tilted her head upwards, staring at the ceiling."Just what...What could have happened to make him so angry?"
She brought her left hand towards her mouth and bit the index finger, deep in thought. A thought crossed her mind and made her eyes widen.'Could it be...Henkenmon?' But she shook the thought away.'No way, how can that happen. I mean, how could Thomas know that Henkenmon came?'

"This young Lady?" The policeman nodded his head as he looked at the picture."Yes, yes. I saw her. About half an hour ago."

"You did!" Megumi exclaimed. She put Miki's picture back in her pocket. She then further questioned the fat police officer who had introduced himself as Adrian.
"Where did you see her?"

"Near Exit 8, in Shigame block." Came the reply.

"What was she doing?"

"Well, she had encountered a drunk lady who had lost consciousness. But I took the woman from her and safely took her home. Boy, You should have seen the face of her angry mother."

"And then what did Miki do?" Megumi asked, finding the information on the 'drunk lady' a tad bit redundant.

"Beats me, Mam! After taking the lady from her, she just thanked me and went away in her car. Whoosh!" He added, laughing.

"So you really don't know where she went?" Megumi asked in a dismayed tone. The last ray of hope and just disappeared from her heart.

"No, Ma'am." Came the reply. Then curiosity got the better of him. He asked, "What happened Ma'am? Was this girl up to any mischief? A runaway? If so Ma'am, let me lend a hand. I will find her in no time!"

Megumi's vein pulsed. This policeman's silly attitude was getting on her on top of that, he just made false assumptions that could lead to rumors on her best friend."Don't worry yourself, Sir. This girl is very smart, agile and great at disguises. She just fooled you by wearing our uniform. And she is so clever that I doubt it would be hard for her to fool the same person twice."

With that, she walked away before the police officer understood what she meant by her last sentence.
As she drove away, she called the Commander.

"Yes, hello, Megumi. Tell me, got any news?"

Megumi opened her mouth to reply, but hesitated. She hated delivering bad news."S-Sorry Sir. I checked every place you told me to. Miki is nowhere to be seen.

"I see..."

"Sir, what should I do?"

Before she got to hear the reply, A black hole appeared behind her car and she, along with the car, was sucked in.

~x~

The call cut off, Much to Commander Samson's surprise. He redialed the number, only for a female voice to say that it was switched off. Samson slipped the mobile into his pocket."What happened?"

The tide of the battle outside the barrier changed when Gallantmon appeared. Until now, the digimon that were fighting were only Champion or Ultimate level. The arrival of a Royal Knight was a great help for the digimon under Thomas. They now fought back with renewed vigor.

~X~

Keenan smirked.
"You hear those cries, Gatomon? Those are coming from your digimon. I am pretty sure that Gallantmon has arrived." Keenan put a hand on his waist and raised and tilted the other one."And with his arrival, there is no chance for you guys. You might as well retreat!"

Yumi bared her teeth. But at she knew Keenan was right. Even if many Ultimate-Level digimon swarmed around him, they would be no match for the strong Royal Knight. Victory was imminent for the other side. She kicked the Ptermon she was riding on. Although it hurt, Ptermon understood the signal and slowly flew away.

Keenan watched them retreat with a smile of satisfaction. But before he could completely savor his small victory, an Aquilomon attacked them. Crowmon was able to dodge the horns easily and slashed at the red bird-type digimon with his claws. Aquilomon tried to dodge but the claws were able to cut his left wing deeply. Unable to be airborne anymore, the Aquilomon plummeted down.

"Even though Gallantmon arrived Keenan," Crowmon stated."It does not mean the battle is over yet."

Keenan sighed."Yeah, you are right."
Crowmon smiled,'But still, the uneasy and desperate feeling crawling on my heart has disappeared somehow.' He glanced at the explosions taking place where Gallantmon was fighting.'Gallantmon, we owe you big time.'

~x~

"Sir, we have a small issue here..." Yumi stated sheepishly.

"I can see that, you idiot." Came the reply.

Yumi started. She was expecting the Boss to be a lot angrier. But he sounded almost nonchalant, like he was expecting this. Yumi wasn't sure on how to respond."Wh-What do you want me to do, Sir?"

"What do I want you to do, huh..."There was a brief pause. For a second, Yumi thought for a second that the connection was lost. But her Master continued just when she was going to speak up.
With words that left her utterly shocked and speechless.

"I was expecting that this would happen."

It took a moment for Yumi to respond.
"Sir...You...Knew?"

There was a snicker at the other end of the line.
"What's wrong, dear Yumi. You seem surprised. Don't you think that I am not smart enough to predict the arrival of Gallantmon?"

"N-No...That's not it..."

"Hah! This is not like you, Yumi. You are behaving like Patamon!" The Master composed himself with a sigh."Gallantmon has always stepped in at the time when those kids needed help the most."
Yumi heard a low growl from the other end of the line that startled her.
"He was also the one who *************************. You think I wouldn't have expected him to come here? In fact, I am wondering why he wasn't here from the start?"

Yumi turned around to look at the battle going on around her. She then repeated her initial question, her voice was a lot more stern."What do you want me to do?"

He was about to reply when his door opened and a Patamon dragged himself in slowly and grudgingly. For a moment, the Master forgot about Yumi, who was waiting for the reply at the other end of the earphone.

"Ah! Patamon! You have returned."

Patamon gave no reply. But he momentary glanced at his Master after averting his gaze away again. His Master noticed this and smiled."Do you have something in your mind, Patamon? If so, feel free to tell me."

Patamon held back a sigh."It is nothing, Master."

The smile didn't drop.
"So are you now going to lie to me, Patamon?"

Patamon stopped in his tracks. A simple question. Ten words.
A simple question containing ten words.
So what was this cold and deadly pressure that was suddenly crushing him from all sides. It was like an ominous hand had gripped him. Had gripped his heart. How can words, words said with a smile, have so much power.

The Master spoke again. But this time, the words had no such effect. Rather, they were deceptively sweet.
"Come on, Patamon. It is not like I am going to disintegrate you or anything. Do tell me what is on your mind."

This time, Patamon answered truthfully.
"I...I wanted to fight, Sir. I wanted to fight...Fight till the battle was over or till I was dead. I...I didn't want to back just because things got rough back there."

"You say, you want'd to stay, huh?" The smile turned into an amused smirk."Don't be silly! You can't fight! You are just a rookie!"

"We have, had this conversation before as well, Boss." Mumbled Patamon.

"Yeah, it all goes back to that."

"Sorry, Sir, but I still believe that only if I go out their and fight battles will I be able to grow stronger. Only then will I be able to protect you."

The Master was about to reply when he heard a voice in his head. At least, that was what he thought before realizing that it was just Yumi.
"Sir, if you don't mind, what are my orders?"

For a moment, Yumi's Master felt annoyed at her. But he flicked the emotion away and replied."Even if those idiot gathered up every Royal Knight outside the barrier, it still wouldn't be enough."
A sly smile crept up on his face."Because our ace is not outside the barrier, but inside it."

He stood up from his chair."As for you...You can go all out."

Yumi smiled. It was a smile that would keep even the strongest Digimon awake all night."Oh, Thank You, Sir."

He yawned and headed for the door, passing Patamon on his way.
"And by the way, Patamon...You are not a soldier. You are...How should I put this...Yes, you are a butler."

As the Master left the room, Patamon slumped. Those final words had sapped all the energy out of him.

Marcus's fist was swallowed in his DNA Charge. He defeated the Drimogen on his right with a punch to the stomach. Another one, the one in front of him went out with an uppercut. And the last one was also defeated by a punch to the stomach.
The one who was dealt with an uppercut lost conscience while the other two were left writhing and moaning in pain.

Marcus spat on one of them and walked away. There was now a limp in his left leg and he was panting. Soon, he was going to lose all his stamina.
And he knew this fact very well.

~x~

Crowmon brought down the Kokatorimon with a 'Savage Emperor'. Keenan shook his head in disapproval of this action."You didn't have to use that, you know. You could have brought down that digimon easily even without using a 'Savage Emperor'. We have to reserve our energy."

Crowmon didn't reply immediately. It was as if he was pondering on his human partner's words. But when he answered, the reply was nothing like what Keenan imagined.
"So now you are being the practical one of out team?"

He was immediately stamped on the back by a flustered Keenan."Shut up! And what do you mean by the 'practical one'? Are you saying that I was just a stupid, hot-headed idiot five years ago?!"

Crowmon turned his around and looked at Keenan in the eye. His voice was deceptively serious.
"You are telling me that you were not aware of the fact then?"

A vein pulsed on Keenan's head."Shut up, you damn bird!"

Before Crowmon could day anything, something whizzed past his head and struck a tree beside him. There was a cracking sound, then the top half of the tree fell due to the impact.

"Sorry to break your conversation."

Both Keenan and Crowmon turned to look at the digimon that appeared.
It had two long, black wings that reached it's calves. It had a mask covering it's face and only the mouth was showing. While the left arm was similar to that of a human, the right one was long, reaching the knees and it had long, pointed nails.
It was a LadyDevimon.

Keenan's grip tightened on his boomerang."So, I guess the enemy also has someone strong on their side, huh Crowmon."

A smile appeared on LadyDevimon's face."Oho, so you are saying that you don't recognize me? Well, it is not like it should be obvious though."
She swiped her right arm and held it in the air and then announced,"I, am Yumi, Master's right-hand digimon." She then pointed at Keenan and Crowmon with her right hand."And I vow, on my title, that I shall kill you."

His left hand had four fingers while his right hand had six. He stared at his left hand. Lying down on the green rug, he stared at the scar that ran from the middle finger to the elbow of his left hand. He stretched out his arm, his hand covering the bulb above him and let his gaze fall on to his bright pink finger.
He winced.

Five years. Five years had passed since he got that scar. But it wasn't just that one scar, he also had another long one on his back. And every time he saw them, anger and hatred boiled inside him with such ferocity that even the air around him would grow sinister and the digimon who would have happened to be in the room would have nightmares at night.

And the same hatred boiled in him now.
'It is all his fault. Everything is his fault. I wouldn't be here...I wouldn't be doing this if it all weren't because of him!'
His left hand balled into a fist and he brought it crashing down, forming a small crater in the stone floor.
Although the color of the boomerang made it hard to see in the night light, Yumi could faintly make out the outline of the weapon, and bends her body backwards. The boomerang misses her by inches and returns to Keenan.

"Savage Emperor!"

The attack was dodged fairly easily by Yumi and she countered with an "Evil Wing". Crowmon flew upwards, trying to get out of the attacks range. Keenan knelt down clutching Crowmon's back with one hand and his boomerang with the other. He was trying hard not to fall.
Once they successfully evade the attack, Keenan twists his upper body around and flings his boomerang, aiming at Yumi's head.

The color of the boomerang made it hard to see in the night light. But Yumi could faintly see the outline of the weapon and bends backwards. The boomerang flies above her head and returns to Keenan, who catches it deftly.
Yumi laughs at the futile attempt."Ha! you thought you could defeat me with a crooked stick?!"

"It was worth a try." Keenan replies, telling himself that he would not get agitated by her words. It would only please her more. Instead, he whispers to Crowmon."Hey, buddy. Let me down. I am going to only be a hindrance to you in this fight."

"Oh, you are a genius."

"Shut up!"

Crowmon leaves Keenan on a branch of a tree and faces LadyDevimon once again.

"So, you dropped the dead-weight, huh?"

"Shut up." Crowmon replied."I advise you not to talk much. If you want to defeat me, you need to conserve every ounce of you energy."

Yumi bites her lip, agitated by Crowmon's over-confidence and sends an "Evil Wing" at him. Crowmon countered it with a "Savage Emperor". His attack easily disintegrated the tiny black creatures and was about to hit LadyDevimon when she dodged at the last second. Seeing that her long-range attack was no match for her opponent, she flies towards him with great speed, trying to wound, or even kill, him by slashing at him with her right hand.

Crowmon reacted with an equal speed, flying backwards and missing LadyDevimon's claws by centimeters. Then with a powerful flap of his wings, he shot forward with great speed, aiming at Lady Devimon head. LadyDevimon reacted fast, bringing her right hand to cower her face. She folded her her claws catching Crowmon's beak. Knowing that just her hand won't be enough to stop a force as powerful as that, she reached out her left hand and grabbed her opponent's neck. She was able to stop Crowmon, but her right hand was severely injured. She had no doubt that it woud once bleed once she returned to base.

Yumi's grip tightened on Crowmon's neck and he let out a cough.
"Hah! I got you now, birdy!" As Yumi said that, she noticed that Crowmon was still flapping his wings, in order to not let the lower-half of his body droop. Just as she was about to ask why, the Dokkosho on both his wings started to spin and emit yellow light. And before Yumi could react, she was hit by a "Savage Emperor". Her grip loosened on Crowmon's neck and beak and she was pushed back. The impact was so hard that she went on flying backwards, breaking through trees after trees.

She finally hit a tree strong enough to withstand the impact and she fell down. And 50 meters was a long way to fall.

Crowmon reverted back to Falcomon and flew into Keenan's arms, exhausted.
"You okay, buddy?" His worried partner asks as Falcomon takes in huge amounts of air."Give me...A minute. The...Damn digimon nearly...Choked me..To death."
Keenan smiled and looked around. Wondering how, suddenly there were no digimon in sight.

Falcomon realized what Keenan was thinking."All of them must have gone after Gallantmon." He answered."We should go and lend him a hand."

Keenan looked down at the bird-type digimon and shook his head."No. You are too exhausted. We should rest for a little while."
Falcomon was about to argue when he hesitated.'Keenan was right. If we go to Gallantmon now...I doubt that we would make it back alive.'

~x~

"Hey, RizeGreymon!" Gallantmon called out as he fended off a digimon with his lance."Where is your partner Marcus?"

RizeGreymon fired a "Trident Revolver" at a Devimon before answering."Inside the barrier."

Gallantmon blocked off a Gigadramon's "Genocide Gear" and cut the digimon in half using his lance."Inside the barrier! Whose stupid plan was it to separate a digimon and his partner during a war?!"

"Thomas's! He said that they also needed a strong fighter inside the barrier!" Came the reply as the dragon-type digimon impaled the persistent Devimon.

"No way am I going to believe that! Thomas would never praise Marcus like that."

"Well, Marcus, Agumon, Keenan and Falcomon. You are going to be placed outside the barrier." Thomas instructed as he lay on the bed.

"What?! What about me?" Yoshi asked indignantly. She was seated beside the bed with Lolamon on her lap while the other guys were standing in front of the bed, facing Thomas.
Thomas turned his head to face her."You," he said."Have to stay inside the barrier. Lolamon will be with the other Lilymon, Deramon and Floramon, protecting it while you will be keeping a watch." He pointed towards a drawer."You would be using the binoculars kept in there."

Yoshi pouted."But that sounds so boring. And I bet it is."

"No it is not. And it is very important as well. In case something happens, you should warn all the digimon hiding." Thomas reasoned.

Agumon suddenly dropped in in the conversation."Don't worry, Yoshi! Marcus will be here to keep you company."

"Hey, What?!" Marcus exclaimed."What do you mean by that?!"

"Thomas. I don't need Boss with me on this." Agumon said, waving his paw in the air."Trust me."

Before Thomas could reply, Marcus punched Agumon on the head.
"Ow! That hurt, Boss!"
"You deserve it! And what makes you say that I should stay here?"

Agumon rubbed his head before replying in a cocky voice."Listen Boss. Things are going to get rough out there." He turned to face Thomas once again."And Boss will just get in my way."

"Say that in my face, you freak!"

"What? Have I said something wrong?"

"There is no way that I am going to stay here!"

"And there is no way that I am going to babysit you!"

"Who needs your babysitting?! I will be fine by myself."

"In the face of hundreds of digimon? Don't make me laugh, Boss."

"I told you that I will be fine!"

"No you won't!"

"Fine then! Let's settle this with a toss!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"You liar!" A voice stated and suddenly the Gigadramon that had appeared out of nowhere in front of RizeGreymon turned into a digiegg. "You solely are the reason why Marcus isn't here."

"MachGaogamon!" RizeGreymon exclaimed.

Gallantmon made a sound that sounded very much like one would make when they smirked."Someone just got caught lying."

RizeGreymon blushed."Why-Why are you here, anyway." He asked MachGaogamon.

"You were attracting all my prey." Thomas's partner replied as he punched a Devimon in the head, making him fall down."And shouldn't you be thanking me, I just saved your butt from the Gigadromon."

"Shut Up!"

Thee three Digimon were now fighting back to back. And now with Gallantmon and MachGaogamon both by his side, RizeGreymon found that fighting off the digimon was a lot easier. Most of them targeted the Royal Knight, giving the wounded Digimon a few minutes to catch his breath.

Things were finally going their way.

~x~

Thomas rested his hand on the stump of what was once tree, catching his breath. He touched his chest lightly with his other hand. It still hurt. But strangely, he was getting used to it.
'Maybe this is how the cancer patients lead their lives.' He thought.'They get used to the excruciating pain after some point.'

He then turned his attention to the tree ahead of him. It wasn't there before and strangely , even though Drimogemon and Digmon were passing by it, they didn't bother to cut it down like they were doing to every other tree. And why was that?

Thomas was the one who decided where the hollow trees would be placed. And although he was ridiculed by Marcus, he had memorized where each tree was placed and how big and how thick each tree was. There always was a too cautious side of him.
And the thing that troubled him was the ground underneath them.

Cherrymon's barrier didn't cover the ground. And he knew for a fact that this 'Master' had Drimogemon working under him. There was also the slight chance that Henkenmon would show up. And that was the main reason that he had memorized all that. But he didn't have enough digimon to guard the exterior as well as the interior of the barrier. That was why he had agreed to Agumon and kept Marcus inside.
He clenched his fists. Who knew that his suspicions would come true?

He snapped his fingers and suddenly his hand was engulfed in blue DNA Charge.
He suddenly felt weak.
Standing was a lot more harder than it was before. He had already used too much DNA Charge to digivolve Gaomon to his Ultimate he had studied extensively on Digimon and Humans in the past five he had learned that the DNA Charge of a person would enhance his/her physical strength. It explained how Marcus was able to inflict harm even on heavily armoured Digimon.

And in order to defeat Henkenmon, this enhancement was needed.

'Just wait Henkenmon.' Thomas started to walk towards the tree.
'Tonight, revenge will be taken.'