Reality Redux
By ArchangelUK & Digicowboy
AAUK: This is a disclaimer of the disclaimer,
I have no responsibilities of it's content or the content of previous disclaimers
or disclaimers of disclaimers which would result in disclaimers2.
DC: *blinks* WHAT?
AAUK: Nor have we seen Season 4 so
if any information is inaccurate in chapter 28 *shrugs*.
Chapter 29 - Digipocalypse Now (Part 2): Veritas
Arnakmon loomed above the Traveller and the Gatekeeper, and an expression of amusement passed across her face, as far as anyone could tell. With the worlds merging, she was becoming stronger by the minute as her unique abilities came into play. On the ground below, Angelus and Ben were completing the short gap remaining between them and the Keymaster. It's eight legs, each thicker than either of the Chosen Ones, were the only available targets, at least until Angelus was significantly recovered to fly.
It was akin to the Charge of the Light Brigade, Ben couldn't help feeling. The cut on his forehead had started to seep blood into his eyes, and his chest burned. He had a feeling that it was probably going to get a lot worse in a very short space of time. To his side, Angelus swung a heavy blow at the immense leg in front of him. That was oddthe leg seemed to shimmer for a moment, and then the blade went straight through, without harming the limb at all.
Did you see that? he demanded of the Gatekeeper.
I saw it, but I don't believe it! he shouted back, dodging to the side to avoid being crushed under an immense foot. My sword did nothing!
Not that! The light!
What light? Angelus took another swing. There was another glow of white, no. The light was there all the time, but he hadn't been able to see it through his pain.
How could Angelus not see it? Ben stumbled over to the side and took a swing at the nearest leg. The golden orb changed into a blade shape atop the staff a second before the blow connected, slicing clean through the leg just like Angelus's sword had done.
Ben stopped, wiped his eyes clear, and frowned. We may have a problem here.
YOU GOT THAT ONE RIIIGHT. The sneering Keymaster laughed, before batting them both aside. Angelus wrapped his wings around himself as best he could to protect his body, crashing into, and through, a storefront window. Ben was sent knocked in the opposite direction, landing hard on the pavement and tumbling forward.
He muttered, then made his way back up to his knees, propping himself on the Traveller staff. His vision wavered, this was not the time to black out. Ben had always had a very simple philosophy on life – he knew that all he'd ever wanted was to have some fun before he died. And now it looked very much like he was about to die, and he wasn't having any fun at all. He took another breath, and started to walk forward again.
Angelus pushed his way out from under the display he'd landed in, breathing heavily. If only they'd been in better shape! But the recent events had taken their toll, and neither of them was really in any shape to do what they now had to. Not that they had a choice.
"I hate glass." He muttered, shaking the stray shards from his feathers and reaching for his DX. "What is this thing?"
"Arnakmon." The device replied, Angelus blinked and shook it a few times before it decided to state more than the blatently obvious. "Level: Hybrid, Type: Unknown, best match as Angelic Virus."
"Angelic Virus?" The Gatekeeper looked up as best as he could as Ben charged yet again, swiping his now spear-esque staff at Arnakmon's legs again with little success. "Of course, that makes sense. If I'm on the side of good traditionally that would make me a vaccine, the opposite of a virus. Yet she is not a demon but an Angel, an Angel if that is what I am and what she is how could an Angel be like this?"
"Abilities: Specifics unknown, boasts an ability to manipulate reality."
"Of course. That's why we can't hit her!"
"A little help here?" Ben's voice called out as he ducked a swinging appendage that sliced through a lamp post behind him only inches above where his head was.
"Then how can we defeat her?"
"Insufficent data to extrapulate."
"What the hell does that mean???"
"Explanation: Insufficent data to extrapulate."
The whiteness. It was still there, permeating the Gatekeeper, trying to cover him or shield him from that which was going on. It hurt, good God it hurt, his senses seemed like they were actually on fire but he recognised the presence trying to influence him. It was the trait he recognised simply as 'Gatekeeper', there was no sign of 'Archangel' yet he heard three voices in his thoughts. One was his, one Gatekeeper's, one of something else.
Cannot...
You cannot...
We cannot....
We must...
Me.
Embrace me.
Embrace the truth.
What I am.
What we are.
"Gatekeeper?"
We are Gatekeeper.
"What is the Gatekeeper?"
Opposite.
Opposite of that which is Keymaster yet from the same fabric.
Cut.
Cut from the same cloth.
We must destroy.
"No. I am not what you claim I am."
Gatekeeper is what came before all.
Before time.
Before space.
Before reality.
Before the Three.
"Before the Three?"
That which was created at the dawn and shall exist to the end of it all.
To be Gatekeeper is to be that force.
It is primal.
Vicious.
That primal nature is in your heart.
Your very being.
It resides in your core.
It is you.
These beings, your friends are as nothing to you.
A drop in the ocean.
A blink of an eye.
"Untrue."
Humanity? Pitiful.
The DigiDestined - Tiresome.
The Traveller species - Nothing.
DESTROY!
"NO!"
You have the power to rip apart the cosmos!
"I refuse. I like the cosmos the way it is thank you."
Someone's lying to you.
"Who?"
Link with me and find out.
"Leave. Me. ALONE!"
EMBRACE THE TRUTH.
"Your truth you mean."
My Truth, our Truth, the Truth.
You will understand.
Our way.
The way.
"NO way."
Refusal is not an option, it is what you are.
Accept or fail.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HEAD YOU SON OF A..."
"YOU CAN'T DO IT TOGETHER, EITHER." Gloated Arnakmon, then lifted Ben above the ground in one titanic claw, till he was on the level with those monstrous eyes. "YOU AREN'T THE ALZARI YET." She sneered, before flinging him away again. Ben closed his eyes in panic, and thrust his arms around his head as a primitive form of defence, not that he thought it would do any good. Then was a thud as he made contact with something, and he opened his eyes in shock. None of his bones were shattered by the contact, which was sort of what he'd been expecting. Then he realised that whatever he'd collided with was still there, but he was still moving, judging by the wind he felt all around him. He opened his eyes.
"You've got to be careful!" Admonished a familiar voice. Lilymon? He blinked. But how was that possible? All the Digimon had taken a severe beating! How had she found the strength? His eyes narrowed, and he looked around at the buildings near him. Sure enough, there was a familiar figure a short distance away, who nodded to himself (literally) then disappeared from view. Lilymon glowed for a moment. "I'm Dedigivolving!"
"Don't worry." Ben said confidently.
"Don't worry? I think now is the time to worry!"
"We're lower down now, and we're moving slower! We'll survive!"
Angelus screamed, and screamed again, clutching at his head as the conflict within him teetered on the edge. Joltingly, he pulled himself together, standing shakily. Gatekeeper had come close that time, and Angelus didn't know if he could stop him a second time. But now was not the time for such introspection. He focused on the immediate situation, cursing.
"Why can't I remember how we did this last time?"
"He's keeping it from you." This was a different voice. Not the blank tones of the Gatekeeper, but the concerned, angered tones of Archangel. "He's stronger than me. He's keeping the memory from you in the hope that he can force you to join with him. He doesn't think like me... Like you, like us. Be very careful with him, Angelus. He'll stoop to anything in order to achieve his ultimate goals, and if he overwhelms you, or if you choose him, I'll be gone. You'll shrug off all of your human aspects – Mortality, age, hatred, compassion and love. All of that, the Gatekeeper is purpose, and purpose alone. I don't know what happens then." Angelus got the impression that deep within his psyche, his mortal soul was laughingly ruefully. "I'm only human. But then, I suppose that's exactly it, isn't it?"
Ben was growing increasingly angry, although it didn't show on the surface. Ben was one of those people that were hardly ever affected outwardly by insults and events, preferring to store it all inside him where he could deal with it over time. But now, the lake of rage was flooding in his mind – all the little things were adding up, and he was about to die, and everything that had happened recently was the fault of Arnakmon. He would get revenge even if the cost were his own life. He knew what he could do, but could he do it in time? Not on his own, that much was certain.
"Joe." He croaked through a raw throat and a bleeding mouth. The DigiDestined
of Reliability hurried over, his medical training urging him to hurry. "I need
to get something, but I need you to help me get there and back in time. It's
this way." Joe draped one of Ben's arms over his shoulders, taking some of the
weight off his feet. They started to walk.
"Ben?"
"Y...Yeah?"
"Why did you want me?" Ben was silent for a moment.
"I want to ask you something."
"Go ahead."
"I want you to promise, if... If anything happens..." Joe waited patiently. "...I want you to look after Mimi, ok?" A lump came to Joe's throat unbidden. It was clear that the teenager did not expect to survive.
"I promise." He choked. Ben gave him a weakened smile.
"Good man. We're here." Ben pulled himself away and staggered over to the skip they now faced, and pulled something out of it. It was about six feet long, and made of dark wood. Runes covered its surface and a golden orb topped it - the Exodus staff. Ben smiled grimly.
"This should do it." As he touched both staffs, the memories came unbidden to his mind. Aeth giving him this one, claiming it was the staff of the first Traveller, and Angelus and Sora declaring the same of theirs. As he looked at them, he realised something.
They were all wrong.
With a detached air, pain shooting up his arm, Ben touched the orb atop one to its mate on the other. There was a brief flicker of light. When it cleared, Ben only held one staff. But where the orbs had been golden, the orb surmounting this staff was crystalline. The sigils on the wood shifted restlessly until, one by one, they seemed to find their places, where they lay still. Had Joe been able to read them, he would have seen the inscription.
"He shall know the universe, but shall not know himself." Quoted Ben, running his eyes along it..
"Ben?" Joe said hesitantly. The figure in front of him tore his eyes from the staff, and looked at him.
"Perhaps. For now."
"What does that mean?" Asked the DigiDestined of Reliability, but Ben just smiled… and disappeared.
He reappeared next to the screaming Angelus, who was busy staggering around holding his head and shielding his ears from some imaginary enemy.
"Angelus!" He snapped, "Snap out of it."
"Rrrraaaaaaaagh!" Angelus' eyes bulged and for a moment became entirely white, Ben stepped back in surprise.
"Come on mate, we need to kill the Keymaster."
"Keymassssssssssssssssssssterrrrrrrrrr." Angelus hissed in a worryingly serpentine way, Ben blinked.
"Yes, come on. I've got the staff and half an idea but I need you to get your head together."
"HE ISSSSS TO FAR GONE TRAVELLER." Arnakmon chuckled, and then hurled the front end of a Toyota at the youths.
"What is happening to him?" Ben demanded, after diving out of the way.
"HE ISSSSS SSSSSSSSSUCUMBING TO THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE POWER WITHIN HIM. HE CANNOT CONTROL IT."
"Oh
fantastic."
Angelus staggered around in a circle before fixing his eyes on Arnakmon. "Keeeeeeeeeeymassssster."
"GATEKEEPER."
"You ssssshall be destroyed."
"YOU'RE DESTROYING YOURSELF, I HAVE NO NEED TO FIGHT YOU."
"You have no choiAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHGH." Angelus screamed again, the whiteness in his eyes flared briefly and was gone along with the aura had been surrounding him.
"NO…. IT CANNOT BE!"
Angelus grinned, "Oh I beg to disagree."
"Are you back now?"
"Yes." Angelus replied then pushed Ben out of the way as Arnakmon threw the other Toyota half at them. They ducked into another shop and hid behind the counter, drawing breath and planning their next move.
"Great! Well I have a plan."
"What?"
"You nip to Hyrule, get the Megaton Hammer come back here and wallop it."
"That's your plan?"
"You have a better one? God schmod." Ben said, putting his hands on his hips. "If I was to hit it with a big enough hammer it'd still die."
"Chaos."
"What?"
"Chaos."
"This is no time to discus Robot Wars Angelus!"
"No, not Chaos 2 - Chaos GATES!" Angelus smiled and his compatriot did too.
"I don't get it." Angelus rubbed his eyes and sighed.
"Just give me your staff."
"COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!" Arnakmon replied then reduced the building to rubble. There was a pause, then out of the dust and debris walked the chosen two confidently towards the Keymaster. "ARE YOU READY TO DIE NOW?"
"One question." Angelus said, "You do you propose to kill us when your body is turned inside out and back to front?"
Arnakmon froze and watched as Ben lowered his staff globe downwards at Angelus' feet. "NO!" She shrieked but it was too late by then, Angelus pointed his sword down and thrust it into the golden globe atop the Traveller Staff.
"Chaos Gate OPEN."
A deafening roar filled their ears as a Chaos Gate in front of Arnakmon, the red swirling vortex began to slowly pull Arnakmon in, but then a second appeared behind her.
"NOOO I SSSSHALLL NOT BE DEFEATED!"
Angelus
and Ben concentrated, their own power coursing through them into the twisting
or that send electricity shooting through the ground. A third Chaos Gate appeared, and a fourth and a fifth and a sixth
- until ten Chaos Gates surrounded Arnakmon each pulling her in a different
direction. She screamed a last defiant
scream then her data simply fell apart as it was ripped asunder by the different
gates pulled into the never-ending oblivion of the Chaos Plane for all eternity,
never to return.
A brief flare of purple caught Angelus's eye and he instinctively raised his
hand, a ball of energy zipped into it then disappeared into him. Ben looked up and nodded as the last of Arnakmon's
data vanished and the Gatekeeper with a great heave tugged the sword free from
the staff. There was a huge explosion
as the gates collapsed in on themselves and the pair collapsed in a heap from
the abrupt release.
Silence descended on Tokyo.
"Ben?"
"Yes?"
"Are you alive?"
"I think so?"
"Am I?"
"Well we're either one or the other."
"Hmm."
"I think… we're still here."
"Oh."
"Arnakmon's gone."
"Jolly good." Angelus tried to get up, finding it rather difficult to do so. "Looks like we won then."
"I… suppose we did."
"…"
"…"
"ALL RIGHT!" They chorused and began dancing around in joy, amazed that they had somehow survived a fight to the death with the most powerful creature on three worlds. The others came over and begun whooping up their victory, lots of hugging, patting backs and shaking hands went on.
"You sent her to the Chaos Plain?" Ken asked, seemingly in disbelief.
"Yup." She won't bother the Three ever again.
"She is dead though right?" Patamon said frowning, Angelus winked.
"Hell yeah."
"I do have another question." Gatomon said, licking a paw. "What was that thing that flew into you?"
"I think it was the Keymaster powers. As the victor I suppose I gain the abilities of my nemesis, to help alter reality within Rebirth."
"Oh."
"Speaking of Rebirth we need to hurry, the Temple of Light is on Infinity Mountain and that's where we have to go." Angelus was cut off by a terrible rumbling noise; bits began falling off buildings as the ground shook. In the distance the Tokyo Tower fell, as something seemed to push it's way out of the ground underneath it.
"Oh well." Ben sighed despondently, "At least we won't have far to go now."
It was Infinity Mountain.
The final stages of Total Unification had begun.
Sora: Can the chosen two figure out the mystery of Rebirth before Total Unification destroys the Three true worlds?! Find out next in another decisive chapter of Redux I: Reality Redux!
ArchangelUK 0:o)
Digicowboy c):o)
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