Previously on Digimon Travelers...
The five children: Mirai Watanabe of Fukuoka, Andre Harris of Atlanta, Felix Chevalier of Quebec City, Hestria Lastname of Cape Town, and Kuroko Nijino of Fukuoka. Together, they have met their destined partners and overcome many obstacles for the sake of preserving the peace of the Digital World. Arriving at Ashurimon's castle, they bid farewell to their ally, GrapLeomon, who dies fighting Nabimon. The Mercury Celestial General, the last obstacle between the children, their Digimon partners, and the King, finally falls. Now they are confronted by Ashurimon himself. They have reached their final destination...
The room of pristine tiles and spotless pillars had been turned to ruin, covered in dust, the marble shattered. The Digimon who had been protecting its unspoiled nature and its primary occupant had left nothing behind, not even traces of fading data, leaving only five children and five exhausted Digimon. So this is how the end begins, Youseimon thought to herself. This isn't how I wanted to start.
"That's Ashurimon?" Mirai asked of no one in particular. The question was rhetorical; there could be no doubt that the Digimon in front of them was none other than the King of the Digital World.
"So that's the King of the Digital World," Andre said.
"No doubt about it." Milomon took a step back, placing himself in front of Andre. Not that it would do much good in his current form.
Golden eyes drifted across the room, taking in the five humans and their Digimon, and then Ashurimon let out a sigh. The sound was weary, like someone who had been up against enemies for decades instead of a few scant months. "So you've come here at last, you who defy my order. I'm very disappointed that this generation of humans have turned out to have fallen so far from the ideal."
"What's he talking about?" Felix asked Rusalkamon in a whisper.
"I don't know."
Ashurimon turned to look at Kuroko and Peledramon, and both shrunk back from his gaze. "You I'm most disappointed in, Nijino Kuroko. I would have thought that at least you, of all the people in the world, would be the one who would stand by the Digital World no matter what."
She swallowed, the color drained from her face, but at length she said, "I stand by my friends."
"Are the Digimon not your friends, then? Come here, Kuroko. Leave those who would drag you down. That is not the place where you belong. You, at least, I would like to spare from their fate."
She turned her face away, eyes screwed shut. "You don't understand anything about Kuroko-san," Mirai said, placing herself between Kuroko and Ashurimon. "Leave her alone."
"You shut up!" The snap in his voice made the air itself feel sharp, and Mirai backed a step away without thinking about it. "You are the one who knows nothing about that child! You damned disgusting piece of trash! How far are you going to go to tear apart a world that's done you no harm? Humans - the humans who come to our realm - they're meant to protect the Digital World, not destroy it!" He threw an arm around at the ruined audience hall. "This speaks for itself. This destruction is just like the filth that's in your hearts. Get out of our realm and stop ruining it."
None of the humans spoke, unsure of what to make of Ashurimon's fierce anger. "Who is it," Youseimon said from beside Mirai, "Who is it that's ruining the Digital World? Just who is it that has a filthy heart? Wouldn't that be you, you selfish son of a bitch? The Digital World does not exist for you to use as you please! It's not meant to be some totalitarian regime! Digimon are meant to be free!"
"Just what would you know?!" He narrowed his eyes as he focused on her with enough intensity to kill from stares alone. "Or is it perhaps that you do know something? Have you... recovered those memories?"
Youseimon pressed her lips together. "Just what memories would those be?"
"As I thought... you knew nothing, after all." Even though his face was more feline than human, his frustration was clear. "I should have never let you hatch. I should have reduced you to a DigiEgg and left you in that place. All of this could have been avoided if I'd just kept you there."
"And that is why you are unfit to be a King!" Youseimon's anger was so thick it sharpened the air just as Ashurimon's aura had. "You claim you're on the side of righteousness here? Are you even aware of what goes on in the world you claim to have control over? Every Digimon in this world is forced to suffer because of you. You shove them into the roles that you want them to fill regardless of what their feelings are. You hand Digimon over to your subordinates like expensive toys, as if they have no will of their own. And if someone can't or won't fit into your mold, in your eyes, that's justification to destroy them. Your kingdom is one of decay. You ignored the problems of the Digimon that needed your help, that were bullied and mistreated. Indeed, it's fair to say that you were the reason for their mistreatment in the first place, at the hands of the subordinates following your orders. Where's the freedom a king should guarantee? Where's the peace? There is is no one in this world that lives in peace and freedom. Not in the entire Digital World."
"Shut your mouth." His cat-like pupils narrowed until they were all but invisible, and his power radiated outward, whipping the wind back. Humans and Digimon alike had to put arms in front of their faces to protect them from the wind, struggling to keep their footing. "If you understand nothing, then stop talking as if you understand. Or is it possible that you were infected with Tiamatimon's power after all?"
She didn't respond. It was difficult to tell if Ashurimon was drunk on power, driven mad, or both. Either way, the name Tiamatimon meant nothing to her. "Hold on here," Felix spoke up. "Who's this Tiamatimon?"
Youseimon looked back at him, and he met her eyes, trying to silently convey his thoughts as he put a hand on Rusalkamon's shoulder. They were tired, she realized, all of them. None of them, including herself, had fully recovered from their fight with Nabimon. Taking a step back, she held her tongue, waiting to see what Ashurimon would do.
"What do you care?" Ashurimon directed, his voice no less rageful.
"You said it yourself, didn't you? Humans are supposed to be on the side of justice. So convince us that's your side. It might change our minds."
"He's got a point," Hestria said. "We don't have the whole story. GrapLeomon mentioned that you were the only survivor of a disaster that destroyed the Digital World. Why is that?"
He turned away, his expression shifting from anger to pain, as if she'd hit an old wound. When he spoke again, his words were sad. "Myself... and seven others. I don't know how long ago it was in the human world, but it has been many years for us. It was us... who met the first humans to enter the Digital World."
"There's been others to the Digital World?" Andre asked. "For what reason?"
"How they came here... even we were not fully sure of that. At first, we did not know why, either. We were all young, and so we spent our time idyllically." His eyes were unfocused. "We spent many days with no more agenda than to pass time in each other's presence."
This was a different Ashurimon, Youseimon thought. The creature before her with the sad expression, she might have believed might have not done the Digital World harm. But the King wasn't that person.
Ashurimon's eyes came to rest on Milomon. "You... don't remember those days, do you?"
Milomon pressed his lips together. "You're saying I was involved? I don't remember anything like that."
Ashurimon smiled, but it was more pain than happiness. "I didn't expect that you would." He looked at Milomon with more clarity. "I did not just 'hand you to my subordinate' for no reason. I had you brought here because you were one of us. You belonged here."
Milomon didn't respond. Youseimon doubted that there was a response that could be given to that. "But something must have happened," Felix prompted. "Something that changed those days. Was it the Sea of Chaos?"
"Thanks to the humans' partnership with us," Ashurimon said, "we were able to grow and gain immeasurable power. We all dedicated that power to the Digital World, to protecting the weak and bringing peace and harmony to the world. But among us, there was one that didn't share that same aspiration. That... was Tiamatimon." The way he spoke her name, Youseimon couldn't tell if it was merely hatred, or something more complex. "She betrayed us all and brought the Sea of Chaos forth. Nearly all of the Digital World, and every one of its inhabitants, fell to that sea, dissolved into fragments of code that were nearly irretrievable. She gave in to the Dark Power so thoroughly, it took all of us everything we had to revert her to a DigiEgg. And I... was the only one who did not die to see that goal fulfilled."
No one spoke. Ashurimon looked down at his paw-like hands, briefly clenching them into fists. "At that time, myself and the humans were the only living things still left in this world. I put myself in the Sea of Chaos to return what I could of its damaged code, its lands and people. And that is where I found you. You, whose egg lay as untouched as if it were in the Village of Beginnings. What are you? Why do you exist in this world?" He drew himself up, staring down Youseimon. "I have spent every waking moment since that day repairing the destruction Tiamatimon wreaked upon our world. I will absolutely not let you take it away."
She met his eyes, but the initial anger she'd felt was gone. All she could muster up was pity for someone who had fallen so far from his intended path. "What do you think I am? Do you think I'm infected with Tiamatimon's data or something?"
"I don't see how you couldn't be. She is-was-the master of the Sea of Chaos. None save her and myself could survive that corrosion. You want me to believe that it's just a coincidence that you happened to have been born with the same ability?"
"I doubt it's coincidence," she replied. "But I am not Tiamatimon. I am Youseimon, Faimon, Titanimon. I did not come to this place to destroy the Digital World, Ashurimon. Like you, I understand what it's like to have precious friends that I don't want to see lost. There isn't anyone here that wants to destroy the Digital World. We want to save it." She took a step toward him. "Is it necessary to be at odds with each other? Let's make use of each other. Whatever original purpose there is to my immunity to the Sea of Chaos, let's use it for the betterment of the Digital World. I only want you to stop persecuting and harming the Digimon of this world. So what if they're not born according to a plan? So what if they're aligned with the shadows? We can still live together."
"You..." He closed his eyes. "Are naive. A dark-type absolutely cannot be trusted. No matter how much they seem trustworthy, just like Tiamatimon, they'll turn on us, because they're full of avarice and greed. Even now, they're the ones that break my rules and produce Illegal eggs. They corrupt normal Digimon to the darkness. You're also a holy-type; you should understand this."
Youseimon opened her mouth to protest, but from behind her, Rusalkamon spoke. "It's you who doesn't understand anything, Ashurimon. Stop talking like you could possibly understand."
He turned to look at her. "You, at least, I'm not surprised at-"
"Will you shut up, you mangeux d'marde." Rusalkamon stood next to Youseimon, staring down the King of the Digital World. "We're all well aware of what you think of those who just happen to be born into the dark alignment. Every day, I got to hear about how I was dirty, and evil, and how I might as well start hurting others and rampaging about because everyone expected me to do that. I hated being what I was. So many times, I wished I had been born into the holy alignment. If I hadn't met Felix... if I hadn't met the other Digimon who are standing here with me, I might very well have turned out how you say I will. And that would have been your own damn fault." She raised her chin, eyes daring him to argue with her. "Just because I live in the shadows does not mean I am bound to them. I can be as 'good' or as 'evil' as I want. At least I haven't killed countless numbers of Digimon just for being born in the wrong places. I am going to stand with Youseimon. Because I agree that she's right and you're dead wrong. But also, because I absolutely will never betray my friends."
Milomon stepped forward to Youseimon's other side. "Ashurimon, I don't have any memories of the time we spent together, that you say we had. But I do know that you must have been different in the past. I would have never become friends with the current person that stands before me, that warps and destroys lives under the pretext of saving them. You said that Tiamatimon betrayed you. Isn't it you that's betraying the memories of your friends?"
"If you remembered the horror that cost you your life... you'd be on my side, here with me," Ashurimon said. "Why can't you understand?"
"Because what you say and what you and your armies do is two different things," Raptomon spoke up. "I'm not an Illegal, nor am I a dark-type. Yet it was your army that nearly drove me to death. It was a human that saved my life. After what I went through, I'd be a fool to stand with you, Ashurimon. It'd only get me killed."
"Ashurimon," Peledramon's eyes held a sorrowful expression. "Having been by myself until I met Kuroko... Having understood her heart... I think I can understand yours. You're... lonely, aren't you? Even though you were able to bring your friends back to life, they had no memories of the time spent with you. They looked at you like you were a god, not a friend. And it's because you're lonely, because you're scared to trust again, that you've done these cruel things. I don't think you're a bad person, if you could just stop your harsh judgments and have hope for the future...!"
Ashurimon shut his eyes. When he opened them, there was no trace of hope or understanding. "Are you finished talking? It's time I remove you from this world."
"We won't let you!" Mirai held out her phone, letting it release its red light. "I'll stand by my partner."
"Not that we had any intention of not doing that," Felix said, standing shoulder to shoulder with her as he held out his phone.
"Well, we did try to resolve this peacefully." Andre held his out as well, adding green to the mix of color.
"Less talk, more ass kicking," Hestria said as she joined in.
Kuroko looked down at her phone, then to Peledramon. "I'm sorry," she addressed Ashurimon, standing next to the others, releasing her yellow light. "But you're wrong."
Ashurimon took a step back, holding up a paw against the blinding light of evolution as the colors fed on each other, pushing each other to their pinnacle. When they shattered apart, five Ultimate-level Digimon were staring him down, ready for battle.
"We need to get back," Hestria said, taking Kuroko by the arm. "Let's give them more room to fight."
"Over this way," Felix said, pointing to the pile of rubble from the previous battle. "We can hunker down behind this. I don't want to go too far."
"I agree," Andre said. "I want him to be able to hear my voice."
It was less like a fight, Mirai thought, and more like a dance, each blow perfectly placed and each dodge glittering in the stirring dust. Without speaking, the five Digimon moved as one, always aware of where the other was, where the attacks were launched from. Ashurimon may have been the strongest Digimon in the entire Digital World, but he had neither the benefit of numbers nor of any tricks, such as Nabimon's nullifying magic. Whenever Ashurimon moved to strike, his target was elsewhere, and another had swooped in to take advantage of his opening. And none of them showed any of the fatigue from the previous battle, spurred on by the shaking D-Tai's power. This battle had been won from the moment they had been able to kikan shinka.
And they all knew it, too. Titanimon landed next to Ashurimon as he dropped to one knee, showing no fear of him as she held her spear out. "You still have a chance to surrender, Ashurimon. Let's work for the greater good of all Digimon. Not just those who happen to be in favor."
With a snarl, he shoved her spear aside, making a break for the stairs at the far end of the hall. Enchantemon and Asarluhimon moved to intercept, but he still had enough power to blow them aside, reaching the stairs. "After him!" Youseimon said, taking flight and following him through the narrower hallway.
"I'll join you outside," Asteridramon said, snaking out through the hole in the wall.
"Me as well," Hoatzimon agreed.
"Let's follow," Hestria said as Enchantemon followed up the narrower stairs and Asarluhimon flew out the hole. "He's up to something."
Mirai nodded agreement, and they took off at a run, followed closely by the others. The sound of their footsteps echoed all around the stone stairway, creating a cacophony that made it impossible to pinpoint Titanimon or Ashurimon. "Where are you, Ashurimon?!" Titanimon's voice added to the mix.
They caught up just as Titanimon and Enchantemon reached the top of the stairs, which opened into an observatory-like tower. Nothing was in the room, save Ashurimon himself. "I have to destroy that egg," he said to himself, "before it's too late. But where is it?!"
"You mean Tiamatimon's DigiEgg?" Enchantemon asked.
"It was here," he muttered, and then added in a more uncertain tone, "wasn't it here?"
"You have nowhere left to run to, Ashurimon," Titanimon told him. "Surrender now. Or we'll be forced to destroy you."
He ignored her, hands to the sides of his head. "Something's wrong," Kuroko murmured, her eyes on Ashurimon.
"What's wrong? Is he trying to pull out some new trick?" Mirai asked her.
"No, this is..." Kuroko chewed on her finger. "'Kitanai'. I don't know how to describe it."
Titanimon looked back at the pair of girls, silently asking for more information. "What does that mean?" Andre asked Mirai.
"He's... unclean. But I don't get what she means."
"Watch out!" Kuroko shouted, just as Ashurimon's gaze fixed on the pair of Digimon in the room.
The humans barely had time to land in a messy heap just below the top of the staircase; Titanimon and Enchantemon were slammed against the wall by an unseen force that had swatted them through the air like flies. "Surrender? To you?" Ashurimon's voice had a different timbre to it, and his eyes now lacked any sort of warmth. "You overestimate yourselves."
Felix looked up at Ashurimon, and then to Kuroko. "By unclean, do you perhaps mean that his data's mixed with something else?"
"Ah... Yes! There's something different."
"I'll ask you about how you know that later," Felix said. "Our problems just got worse. Enchantemon, can you open up the roof?"
She got to her feet, raising her hand. "Riding Hood's Wolf!" A portion of the roof fragmented away, debris and dust trickling down. Claws appeared on either side of the hole as Hoatzimon and Asteridramon pried the rock and wood back, trying to get inside.
Ashurimon looked upward, not impressed. "Five? Is that all you brought? Well, it doesn't matter; no force on this planet is strong enough to handle me." He waved a hand, the air darkening into shadows, aiming for the visible Digimon with snakelike teeth.
Felix bit at his finger in agitation. "Hey, Ashurimon? Or is it someone else I'm talking to? Are you... Tiamatimon?"
He looked down at his paws, then threw his head back and laughed. "Oh, how wonderful! I didn't think I'd ever hear that name again. It must just burn you up to have me, doesn't it, darling little Ashurimon?"
Then he grimaced, putting one hand to his head. When he spoke again, his voice sounded as it had before. "You... How could you..."
Ashurimon's eyes narrowed in fury as his voice changed again. "How could you. You were the one I thought most would understand. You were the one I wanted most to bring to the new world."
"Stop talking as if the old world is gone forever!"
"But it is, Ashurimon!" He threw out an arm in a frustrated gesture. Red and black scales flowed down from his shoulder, engulfing his arm in a reptilian appearance. "You think this world that you remade from fragments is anything like the world we shared? This is nothing but a shadow, your poor attempt to return to the past! That world deserved to perish."
He let out a roar as scales trickled across his face, massive wings springing from his back. The single eye on the unmarred portion of his face locked on to Titanimon. "Please... If you value this world at all... Please, stop her!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Mirai saw Kuroko's face, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Kuroko-san?"
"They were in love," she said, rubbing at her face with her sleeve. "No wonder... it's so painful."
Hearing the emotion in Kuroko's voice, in Ashurimon's, Mirai felt her throat burn, and she turned away from Kuroko. "Titanimon!"
"You don't have to tell me," she said, holding her spear behind her. "Ashurimon... No, Tiamatimon. Whether you consider this world a fragmented shadow or not is irrelevant. This is the world that we live in. No one, even you, has the right to take it away."
"You were one of the chosen ones," Tiamatimon said to her. "You should have understood the reason."
"Whether I understand or not is also irrelevant. I don't care, Tiamatimon. An illegal, or a dark-aligned, or a simply flawed and incomplete Digimon is still a Digimon. A flawed world is still a world. You don't have the right to destroy either."
"Oh?" Tiamatimon/Ashurimon took flight, massive wings beating against the air, whipping it around. "Knowing that I, too, am a Digimon... you still intend to kill me?"
"I was prepared for that outcome from the beginning. I'll do what I have to. Even if my sins become too massive to bear, I'll still bear them. You called me a chosen one, Tiamatimon. Perhaps this is what I was 'chosen' to do."
Tiamatimon only laughed in response, shooting upwards toward the roof. Data of stone, wood, and even air itself disintegrated into dust as they entered the sky, above the other three Digimon on the roof. Pulling that data to themselves, more of Tiamatimon began to form, filling the sky as if she was an eclipse, an omen of doom. Titanimon grimaced, crouching to launch herself into the air after her, but Enchantemon put a hand on her arm. "Stop talking like you're in this by yourself," Enchantemon said. "We all came here with the same goal, so don't act like you're in this alone."
Titanimon looked at her, and then closed her eyes with a smile. When she opened them again, they glistened. "All right. I won't." Shaking her head, she turned back to the humans. "Mirai!"
She nodded, holding out her phone. "You want my help. Right, partner?"
"As much of it as you can bear to give." Titanimon looked over at Enchantemon. "Let's go."
The pair launched themselves into the air, joining the three on the roof. Above them, Tiamatimon's ever growing wings flapped in heavy beats, the wind pushing waves of the Sea of Chaos outward. "We need to hurry," Felix said. "If those waves get going, it could be disastrous for the nearby zones."
"Asarluhimon!" Andre shouted up to his partner.
"We're on it." The three larger Digimon joined in Titanimon and Enchantemon's upward flight, flying as true as a volley of arrows aimed at Ashurimon/Tiamatimon.
Tiamatimon smirked with Ashurimon's mouth, and flapped her massive wings, sending a wall of wind at the group. They split apart in a single movement, each aiming an attack at her head, her chest, her wings and tail. As their blows landed, her form splashed apart into data like they were scattering water, but Tiamatimon didn't seem to be bothered in the least, swatting them back. "There's always got to be some fool that stands in the way of progress," she said, her wings blocking out the sun. "The process is already started! Can't you hear the dying groans of this world? Let it go to its natural conclusion! The new world will be a utopia for the chosen ones." She held out a clawed hand to Titanimon. "Stop your fighting for a world that tried to reject you. You have a place in the new world. Don't tell me that you have some attachment to these decaying islands of data."
"Are you joking?" Titanimon gripped her spear until her knuckles were white. "So maybe I've never settled down in one place long enough to come to appreciate it. So maybe I don't appreciate the good and the bad of this half-broken land. But the people who I spend my lives with-the people who I've fought beside, who I've learned from, who I've grown up with-there is meaning in these cracks and pockets. There's memories. Those people do love this land. That's enough reason for me to defend it from you until my dying breath!"
"Don't bother, Titanimon," Tiamatimon said. "You're different. You're stronger than these vermin that struggle with their petty lives, their petty flaws. You're strong, so you don't need them."
"It's because I'm strong that I need them. For a long time, I lived alone," she said, lowering her spear. "You're right in that I was strong when I was alone, too. But there wasn't any meaning to it. It was a stupid, annoying imp with no sense of humor that first put something in my life beside strength. And when we were locked in that room under the sea, wanting to save him was the first time I had a reason to use my strength. And then I met so many others. Least of all, a reckless, nosy human with a sense of justice that's likely to get her killed. A world with only strength has no meaning. A world without my friends has no meaning." Raising her spear again, she pointed it at Ashurimon's face. "Answer me something, Tiamatimon. Ashurimon couldn't come with you to your new world. Would you have left him behind?"
Her eyes widened as the words clearly struck home. Then she clutched at her head, back arching as she fought a battle inside the body that two opposing wills had been trapped in. "Mirai!" Titanimon cried out. "Everyone! For the sake of our world... For the sake of both worlds... lend me your strength!"
Mirai didn't speak, but only held her phone up to the sky, letting the red light burst forth anew in a wide burst that dwarfed the mere electronic device it came from. That red was joined by its companions, blue, green, purple, yellow. And then, it was joined by more.
"I just got your piece. Give me a minute to stitch it in to the counter-program." Harley barely took a moment to wipe the sweat off his forehead as he worked from the back seat of Saffron's car. "Okay, Travis, are you ready? I can-"
On the seat next to him, the phone shook, and then released a gray light strong enough to make him see spots, the light exploding through the sunroof and into the sky, cutting through the fog. "The D-Tai?" he questioned, taking the phone in both hands.
"Harley?" Travis's voice.
"Uh, give me just a minute." Harley held the phone in his cupped palms, closing his eyes. "They need my help."
Down on the bridge some distance away, an orange beam joined his. Saffron sat on Rosemon's shoulder, lettering her partner hold onto her as she held the phone, focusing her thoughts on a request that hadn't come in words so much as a feeling.
In the snowbound zone, IceDevimon looked up from his swatting of SnowGoburimon as a deep crimson flooded into the sky. Jezra had her head tilted back, her single eye etching the color into her memories. "Ain't that a sight."
Further north, a peach-colored light rose from a sand-tossed land set among the snow. "Brother?" Alexa questioned as she watched the light pour forth.
On a small island in the South Pacific, Temaru and Pauiti, their partners BlackGuilmon and BlackTailmon next to them, watched as turquoise and magenta came forth from their laptops, side by side as they reached out to a destination beyond what they could see. And then that light was joined by black from Fukuoka, amber from Kyoto, indigo from Cape Town, a mahogany and pink from Beijing. And those colors were joined by even more all over the world, as more humans who had stood side by side with Digimon raised the sign of their contract, adding in the hue which defined them. By the time the light reached its destination, it could only be described as a complete rainbow, every color mixed together in sparkling iridescence. Those colors were the ones that joined with the five colors of the D-Tais below Tiamatimon, engulfing her and the Digimon underneath her.
Tiamatimon let out a shriek, claws going to her head. "What is all this noise?" she cried. "Who are all these people I see?"
"It's the color of humanity, Tiamatimon!" Surrounded by the colored data, the fragments of human and Digimon memory, Titanimon herself was a rainbow, spear held out as she charged, the others right next to her. "It's the thing that we were missing!"
She let out a cry as the spear pierced Ashurimon's chest, her voice echoed with his own. She tried to beat her wings, but Asarluhimon and Asteridramon seized upon them, shredding them into data. She tried to thrash her tail, but Hoatzimon held it fast, crushing the data apart with her claws. She tried to raise her clawed hand, but Enchantemon held her fast, forcing her back, the scales falling away like tiny feathers stripped away. They all fell toward the sea, surrounded with the rainbow light. "Fools!" she cried out, pushing at Enchantemon ineffectively. "You'll all die with us!"
"It's time for you to leave his body, Tiamatimon!" Titanimon only drove the spear down harder, pushing Ashurimon's body down faster. "This time, be purified of your urge for destruction and return to being an egg!" As the sea rushed toward them, she tore the spear from his body in a glittering arc, forcefully tearing the data apart. "Humanity's Iron Tanaquill!"
Light and sea met, and expanded outward, becoming brighter than the sun itself. When at last the light died down, Mirai dropped to her knees, the deactivated phone at her side. "Where are they?" Andre asked, rubbing at his eyes. "Did they fall into the sea?"
Hestria leaned against the wall, Kuroko still on her back and both their phones silent on the ground. With a grimace, she pushed herself away, shoving one of the windows out of its frame. "Raptomon!" she cried out into the air.
Felix leaned on the other side of the opened window, rubbing at his eyes. "Holy... Would you look at that."
Where the sea had been, dried land now lay untouched, stretching all around the castle from the point of the Digimons' impact. Shoving away from the wall, Mirai paused only to scoop up her phone before tearing down the stairs, trying to reach the plains below. "Youseimon... Youseimon!"
Andre was behind her, then Felix, then Hestria and Kuroko, all going as fast as they could despite the lack of strength in their legs. Each one focused on the same thing: the state of their partners. Even the D-Tais lay unnaturally quiet. Below the castle, the land leveled out into rocky plains which already were starting to show signs of new growth. There, at last behind a rock, she saw Youseimon, sitting up weakly, two eggs resting near her. "Youseimon," Mirai mumbled, falling to her knees next to her partner. Youseimon didn't say anything in return, only held out her arms as Mirai held onto her, squeezing her tightly. "Youseimon, you did it."
"We did it," Youseimon corrected, snuggling against her shoulder.
Hestria had barely set Kuroko down before she had Raptomon in her arms, stroking her feathers soothingly. Kuroko cried openly as she pressed Peledramon's fur against her face, gripping her as if she'd never let go. Even Felix and Andre had their partners in their arms, murmuring tired words of congratulations. Finally, Mirai let Youseimon go, turning back to the eggs. "Is that Ashurimon and Tiamatimon?"
"I'll take responsibility for them," Youseimon said. "In their next lives... I want them to have a better chance."
"Even the Sea of Chaos is gone," Kuroko said, looking around as she clutched her partner. "Isn't that great?"
"It isn't gone." Peledramon pointed out into the distance. "But it's an improvement. And it shows we can turn back the Sea of Chaos."
Rusalkamon pointed upwards from Felix's lap. "The data above all the zones is going out. Like little stars."
"Harley must have pulled it off," Felix said, absently stroking her hair with one hand.
"Yes. That means your world is safe. There won't be a reason to run the Digizone program ever again." Youseimon pushed herself away from Mirai's arms, looking to the rest of the humans. "You all should leave here while you can. Once the boundary between worlds is stable again, it might be much harder to return you home."
"You won't... You won't be coming with us, will you," Mirai said, looking down.
Youseimon touched her hand. "You've done everything you need to do and more. But we Digimon still have a lot to do. If there's to be a day where we exist together, side by side... we have to first gain true peace and prosperity here."
"Will I... see you again?"
"You can see me any time you want," Youseimon told her. "With the D-Tai. It's there as long as our contract is kept."
"That's not the same."
"I know. But I have promises to many other people to keep."
"No!" Kuroko held Peledramon to her chest, tears welling up again. "No, Peledramon, I can't stand to leave you! I need you."
"Kuroko," the dragon touched a clawed hand to her cheek. "You can't stay here. You have things you need to do in the human world, just like I have things I have to do here. Ashurimon's death isn't going to be taken lightly. I know you'll be fine, Kuroko. You're not alone any longer."
Raptomon looked up at Hestria, who found something on the horizon to look at. "It's just as well. You're a bird; you're meant to fly in bigger skies."
"We'll fly again together someday," Raptomon said, rubbing her head against Hestria's shoulder. "I promise."
Hestria turned away from the rest of the group with a sharp motion. "Hestria?" Felix looked over at her.
"Something in my eye" was the muttered response.
Rather than give her his usual carefree grin, his smile was soft. "Is that so."
"Felix?" Rusalkamon looked up at him from his lap. "Will you... be okay without me?"
"Are you worried about me? You're a hundred years too young for that." He rested a hand on her head. "Don't worry about me. I've improved myself, too. I feel kind of like a big brother," he added, grinning like normal. "Getting to see my little sister grow up."
She stood up, giving him a little kiss on the cheek. "Don't you worry about me, either. I can take care of myself, now."
"You'd better. Or I'll come knock some sense into you myself."
"Andre..." Milomon's watery eyes and flopped-back ears were a picture of kitty sadness that could have moved Lucemon himself to tears. "I don't want you to go. I want you to stay here with me."
"I know. But I have to help Mom take care of my little sisters. Sorry to have been so selfish, keeping you in the human world all this time."
Milomon shook his head. "You're not selfish. I don't think you even know how to be selfish. So I'm going to worry about you a bit." Milomon grabbed his hands. "You call me the moment you need any help, you understand? I'll get there. I don't care how."
"I will. You take care of Kudamon."
Mirai rubbed at her face, determined to keep her eyes dry. "This isn't forever, Youseimon. We'll definitely... be together again."
Youseimon turned to her, and held up a hand to shake. "Thank you for everything, Mirai. I couldn't have done it without you."
Mirai shook her head, declining the handshake, and then held open her arms. Youseimon threw her arms around Mirai's neck, burying her face in her shoulder, and the two held on to each other as if they'd never let go.
The end of summer passed, and the crispness of winter began to seep into the air, until it was time to change over to the winter school uniform for class. And that was turning out to be a problem, Mirai thought, grimacing as she looked in the mirror. Somehow, she'd gotten taller again, just enough to make her uncomfortable with the length of the skirt, but there was no helping it now. Kuroko-chan's going to make fun of me if I say it, but I kind of wish I was wearing the boy uniform right now. Picking up her sports bag, she tossed her school books inside. Reaching for her phone next, she paused, her fingers hovering over the icon of the D-Tai's program. A program that had laid silent ever since her return to the human world. A program that was part of a world that, even with the continued studies of Harley and his friends, they still didn't fully understand. It's just not time yet, she thought, placing her phone inside her bag.
"Mirai-chan?" Her mother called to her as she entered the hallway. "Do you want breakfast today?"
"I'll just take toast; I've got practice to get to."
"This early?" Her father looked up from his newspaper. "Would you like a ride? Papa will still be around for another day."
"Sorry, I already promised my friends. Don't forget to be back in time for Christmas!" she told him as she accepted first her boxed lunch, and then a slice of toast from her mother. "You promised this year."
"Haha, I understand. Don't grow up too fast, now."
She slipped on her outdoor shoes, then stepped outside, bag over her shoulder and toast dangling from her mouth. Across the rooftops of Fukuoka, the mix of old and new and undeniably Japanese, across the tops of the buildings she'd fought to protect, a fine morning fog hung in the air. Even through that, it took no effort to see the silhouette of the black obelisk, the control tower that was a standing symbol of what had happened the previous spring and summer. But for that symbol, one might have thought it was nothing but a dream, a hallucination, as most of the world seemed to treat it. Indeed, the panic of a few months ago seemed all but forgotten, relegated to the corners of the Internet and the whisperings of the fringe of society. But those who could see the towers would never forget. Or perhaps it was because they'd been irrevocably changed that they were visible in the first place. Who knew how the Digital World really worked?
"Oi, Mirai-chan!" Below, Rina waved at her. "Hurry your butt up! It's freezing!"
"Yes, yes," she said with a wave as she moved for the stairs. "But it's only in the sixties."
"Only in the sixties my cold and adorable butt!"
"You know, Rina-chan," she heard Kuroko's voice as she came down the steps, "I hear they have a revolutionary new solution for keeping out the cold. It's called 'wearing clothes'."
"Don't be so jealous that I look this amazing in a school uniform."
"You two are always so energetic in the morning," Mirai said with a smile as she exited the stairs, joining Rina and Kuroko. "Well, shall we go?"
"What were you spacing out upstairs for?" Rina asked as she shouldered her bookbag.
"Eat your breakfast," Kuroko instructed.
Mirai took another bite of the toast, pointing in the direction of the tower. "Oh, yeah, that," Rina said. "Weird, huh? I wonder if Tentomon is doing okay."
"We'll see them again," Kuroko said. "Absolutely we will."
"Yeah. But in the meantime, you two have entrance exams to study for. And I," she hefted her bag, her practice swords sticking out of the top, "have practice to get to."